{ Aiden } Being in a trial relationship with Madison only makes it clear that I'm not ready for a real relationship yet. I'm not emotionally involved or mentally present when I'm with her and I’m not vulnerable enough to form a true bond. I can be myself with her, but to a certain extent. I've never been able to be fully myself with anyone except Lily. And I didn't even try; she just brought it out of me. For fuck’s sake, I hate that everything comes back to her, all the time. I haven't seen her in almost three weeks and I plan to keep it that way. I've done everything possible to avoid my entire family as much as possible and for the first time in my life, I'm realizing that I'm not really a robot without feelings who just works, processes data, solves problems and gets things done for others. It turns out I like enjoying life too. And even fucking up sometimes… it hasn’t happened yet, but maybe I will do something wrong just to see how it makes me feel. I like going o
When the officers say goodbye to us and leave the house, I give myself a few seconds to close my eyes and breathe. There's no need to panic. There's no need... “Fuck!" my dad blurts out, "How could this happen? Aiden, I thought you had it under control! I trust you to deal with this type of shit.” I clench my fists and force myself to stay calm. I slowly turn to my dad. "I controlled ‘this shit’ as much as someone can control a lot of women your son has abused. Watch your fucking tone, because I'm not in the mood for you to talk to me like I'm your fucking assistant," I say, my voice clear and loud enough for him to understand. I'm not going to yell or make a fuss, but I'm not going to let him walk all over me either. My father's eyes widen as if he's shocked by what I said. "Aiden, what the hell? This is not the time for you to find your voice," he scoffs, rolling his eyes. Fuck him, "We need to stick together. I just want to know how..." "I have no idea how this happened,
Oh, my God. “How? How do you know?” I ask, surrendering immediately because I know he’s right; there’s no way I can convince Aiden of anything. “Are you angry? Are you going to kill me?” Aiden lets out a small laugh. “I still know you, Lily. You’re a very basic and simple-minded person, you wear your emotions on your sleeve. If this were actually a surprise to you, you’d be excited and petty, happy to hear that karma caught up with the man who hurt you. But you were trying very hard to pretend you’re worried and that gave you away,” he replies, once again showing me that he notices everything, even the smallest detail, “I’m not angry, but I need answers.” “Where are you going then?” I ask when I see he’s driving out of town, “Aiden, you’re not actually going to kill me, right?” “No, Lily,” he replies, rolling his eyes, “We’re going to my friend’s house and we’re going to talk there. I won’t miss my party just because Damon was arrested.” “Oh okay,” I murmur, still confused
The return to the main topic clears my head again. I swallow and turn on the bed to sit cross-legged, facing Aiden. “Are you on my side?” I ask, biting my lip nervously. Aiden sighs and sits up too, now we’re literally face to face, “Because I can’t tell you everything if you’re not.” “Even if you don’t tell me, I already have an idea of what’s going on in my head. If I wasn’t on your side, you’d know,” he says, making my nervousness even worse. I don’t know what to say, “Alright, I’ll tell you what I think and you can fill in what I’m missing.” “Okay,” I answer, taking a deep breath. “After years, you had the courage to tell your mother what Damon did to you, and she told you about the girls because she obviously doesn’t give a shit about Damon,” he starts, and he’s more or less wrong, “Berenice has ways to get the contacts of the girls, so she convinced them to talk. She paid them more than I did or offered them something better, revenge. And you finally got your revenge too
{ Lily }"Wake up, dear. The day has finally come," my mother says, out of nowhere.Literally, out of nowhere. I haven't seen this woman in TWO years. I haven't spoken to her in... months. I almost don't understand what she means because I'm hangover and she just woke me up, but then I realize what she means.The day.I think she means 'the day' she promised me ten fucking years ago. The day when my revenge against my stepbrothers will begin. I guess we’re powerful enough to actually take them down now."How did you find me?" I ask, groaning as I get up. Then I look down at the guy in my bed… I don't know who he is, "How did you get inside my house?”"This is my house, smartypants," she laughs, looking momentarily at my naked form before I grab my robe and cover myself up, "I can explain later. The day has come, just like I promised. Today, we will start the downfall of those sick boys.""How?" I ask, blinking and trying to keep up. My mother is not a jokester and she doesn't waste
The building is icy cold and I shiver as soon as I step foot inside but my mother walks in front of me with all the confidence in the world. I try to mimic her, but I’m too hungover for that. My head hurts every time her heels go clack-clack.And much sooner than I’m ready for, we arrive at a glass-walled boardroom. I can see three men inside. Men I know very well.“You can do it,” my mother says without looking at me before opening the door for me. I swallow my fear down and walk inside, repeating her words: you can do it, you can do it.Damon and Aiden are seated at the table and I can feel their eyes on me as soon as I enter, but I don’t pay attention to them yet. My eyes land on the man who stands up with a smile to greet me.Harry. Forty-five years old. A tall and athletic body, warm amber eyes, neatly styled light hair and a face that belongs in an action or superhero movie. Harry is still as handsome as the last time I saw him, but that’s no surprise. This family’s genes ar
I walk out of the building like something is chasing me. I’m very overwhelmed by seeing the two guys that ruined me, but also because… what in the fuck am I going to do as the CEO of a company? I've never had a job. I dropped out of college. I don't know anything about math. Or finances. Or business. Or science. Or anything, really. "Mom, what the hell?" I say when she finally gets in the back of the Escalade next to me, "I can't be the CEO of anything.""Of course you can. Horizon is the smallest company we have and it's easy stuff. Think of yourself as the manager, you’ll just make sure everything is running correctly. You don't have to handle finances or legalities or technicalities, just overseeing production and making sure they deliver what they need to deliver to those three stores. That is literally it."I know it sounds easy, but that's still to much responsibility for someone like me. And I kind of liked being unemployed. Think I said that last part out loud because my mo
**** 11 YEARS AGO ****{ Lily, 15 years old }I don't think my mom knows what the hell she's doing. She got married to her boss after only dating him for five months. Mom said she got into this relationship solely for the money, but Harry is very handsome, not a wrinkled old man, and I've seen them kiss each other. I don't think money can buy that type of chemistry. I think she actually likes him. And to be honest, he has been nice to me so far, so I like him too. And he’s the reason why I'm here. Living in the rich side of Altamira, in a HUGE mansion by the beach with three random boys around my age. One of them is sweet: Dean. One of them is terrifying: Damon. And the other one is... I don't know yet. Aiden is an enigma.I haven't been able to really get a read on him. I think he wears a mask most of the time. But the worst part is how insanely hot all three of them are. Tall, built and beautiful, they all look a lot like their father. Brown hair, olive skin, amber eyes, thic