Aphrodite had been expecting them to be riding in the pick-up truck that she had seen Devon using the time that she had dinner with him at Maggi D's. She wasn't disappointed in this vehicle, though she wasn't familiar with the make or model. It certainly appeared more befitting of a corporate president than a well-worn work truck."What's the 'B' stand for?" Alex asked.Devon had just taken his seat behind the wheel and answered, "It stands for 'Bentley'. This is a Bentley Continental GTC. Do you know much about cars?""Nope," was Alex's reply as he leaned over to smell the leather upholstery.Aphrodite knew that one didn't need to be an automobile aficionado to recognize that this was a very beautiful and luxurious car. The exterior bronze color was accentuated even further by the reflection of the sun as it was lowering in the western sky. The engine hummed powerfully under the hood, and she could sense that the car was yearning for the freedom of an open road where it could demonst
Humming to herself she moves around her bedroom with practiced ease, gathering up the things for her bath. Sweet smelling steam billows from the tub, in the master bath, as it is filled with water and a fair amount of bubbles.Setting the things she would need on the edge of the tub, she loosens the belt at the waist of her sea foam green silk dressing gown. Smiling to herself as the silk caresses her bare flesh, skimming over her shoulders and down her arms, she lets it pool on the floor at her feet.Lifting her right foot from the floor, she tests the temperature of the water with her toes before easing her foot into the tub. Stepping in fully she slowly lowers her lush body into the lilac scented water. The bubbles surrounding her, gently kiss against her skin as some pop filling the air with the heady scent. With a smile born of satisfaction and relaxation spreading across what some may think of as rather plain-featured face. The easing of tension causing such a difference in her
Devon returned to his seat only seconds before their meal arrived. As Anna was placing the large serving dishes in the center of the table, Devon slid a card across the table to Aphrodite."Gabo asked me to give you his card with his personal cell phone number," Devon explained. "He would like the opportunity to discuss the two of you getting to know one another better."Aphrodite left the card sitting on the table and said, "Let me guess, he wanted to speak with you to learn what our relationship was. What did you tell him?""What should I have told him?"Aphrodite laughed and shook her head. Why wasn't she surprised by Devon's response? He seemed to never miss an opportunity to toy with her in some fashion, and damn if she didn't find it an endearing trait of his. She had found most men were so intimidated by her that they would act like either timid boys or boastful buffoons. With Devon Justice, she saw a confident and self-assured man; one admired and respected by everyone who kne
"Okay," he said. "The 'when' will be tomorrow morning at 8:30 in the morning. The 'where' will be my house. I don't know what the weather has to do with anything, but we can check the forecast and dress accordingly before heading to church."Fighting to suppress her grin, Aphrodite kept a smile off her lips as she replied, "Mr. Justice. While most people admire a small ass, no one likes a smart ass.""Well, I'll take your word for that," Devon teased. "Because you likely know everything there is to know about having an admired ass."Aphrodite might have been shocked by Devon's comment, but she didn't want him to have the satisfaction of seeing it. "After what we just went through in court, you can't believe that what you said to me was appropriate."Devon countered with a smile, "After what we just went through in court, I know that what I believe is irrelevant. What matters is whether or not you believe it was an appropriate comment for me to make."Pursing her lips as she pondered a
"Oh, God, your shirt is soaked!""It will dry," Devon assured her with his words and by pulling her tighter against his chest."I'm sorry," Aphrodite said for the umpteenth time since they had moved from the patio to the couch in his family room. "Every time that I feel like I'm done crying, my guilt resurfaces."Devon wanted to try and assuage Aphrodite's guilt, but he was struggling with how to deal with his own. There was still a lot that they didn't understand about Athena, but what they had learned made several things very clear.First, they had learned that Athena had been one very ill young woman. A stubborn, very ill young woman. They didn't understand all the medical jargon used in the notes by Dr. Vinson, but they understood enough to realize that the doctor had been extremely concerned over Athena's mental state during the months of her pregnancy. Many of the transcribed recordings that documented Athena's discussion were those of a seriously depressed woman.Two of the thi
Devon led her across the patio and toward the beach through the dunes. The tide was out, so they had to trudge another twenty yards before the firmer sand along the shoreline provided them with a cooler surface and more solid footing for a leisurely walk. They were able to continue walking hand-in-hand on the firmer sand without the surf reaching their feet.They had to dodge or pause in their walk to avoid running into oblivious people looking for seashells or sharks' teeth as well as the occasional child running haphazardly to or from the water, but they were able to continue holding hands as they did so.They walked silently for several hundred yards before Devon spoke, "You said that you knew the psychologist that Athena was seeing when she was younger. Can you get her contact information? I know that we learned a lot from the documents, but there are still several questions, at least in my mind.""Mine too," Aphrodite agreed. "In particular, I need to know what caused her to act
"Make progress with?" Devon interrupted."Exactly!" Aphrodite exclaimed. She placed her arms around Devon's neck as she said, "I want to make progress with you, I really do. Being with you makes me excited to find out what happens next. I just need you to realize that I am in unfamiliar territory..."He whispered to her, "The beach is getting more crowded in this direction. Let's head back toward the house."His response, and the silence between them on the walk back to Devon's house didn't concern Aphrodite. With his strong arm draped around her shoulders as they walked side-by-side, she remained confident that he was merely contemplating what they had discussed and was not bothered by it."See, I told you it wasn't far.""I believed you," Aphrodite replied. "I'm just surprised how fast the trip was. The wait at the guard booth was the longest point in the trip."Aphrodite had been surprised when Lana had been unable to track down Dr. Vinson through her office in Greenville on Monday
"How is Mr. Vinson?" Aphrodite asked."His last name isn't Vinson. I use my maiden name professionally but my legal name is hyphenated with his. To answer your question, he is doing remarkably well. There are very few residual effects evident from his stroke and those are expected to improve within the next few months through his therapies. Our friends, Dru and Randy McLean have taken him to lunch so that we three would have the house free for our discussion. Please follow me. We'll use his office."She led them through a set of double doors into a large office that looked like it was a converted living room space due to its size and location within the house. There was an L-shaped desk with a computer monitor, keyboard, and mouse on its surface. Along the wall, under a large picture window was a sitting area comprised of a large leather sofa with a coffee table between it and two over-stuffed leather chairs. The walls were adorned with framed pictures of a handsome man standing besid
Cara pursed her lips and then said,” You really think that I am going to tell you anything?”“No I don’t. But I am not above hurting you and you don’t mean anything to me so hurting you is going to be easier and probably be even fun.”“You think you are a man and that is why you are stronger than me?”“There is nothing to question about that. It is a known fact. You are the one who has been kidnapped and not me, so there is actually no point in arguing with me. I can do a lot of things to you, querida and make sure that no one ever finds you again but I am a good man with a good heart. Help me with what I require and I shall make sure you are sent back to Australia safe and sound.”“I know that you are lying. And nothing you say is going to make me believe that..” Cara spat at him as she said the words. Diego wiped his face with the back of his hand and sighed and then back handed her again. Cara knew it was coming and she had already swerved away and his hand did not hit her.She mov
Clubbing is a place for a type of people. Firstly, they had to be rich. Clubbing wasn't a poor man's activity. The cheapest booze inside would be worth twice the expensive brands outside. Everything was outrageously overpriced—not that he cared anyway.Second of all, they had to be a crowd person. Being in an enclosed room full of drunk people isn't exactly a paradise for introverted people. Sure, there wouldn't be much talking. Half of the experience was having conversations you'd barely hear over the booming music, or even remember the next morning because you're wasted as fuck, but there are still people who'd come up to you and talk.So when Xavier saw her, standing awkwardly with her outgoing friend dancing wildly by her side, he knew she didn't belong to this kind of scene. The complete opposite of him; as someone who basically grew up here, Xavier loved everything about the place. It felt like home, more so than any of his mansions, actually.He watched the two women as they he
“I know who you are, Diego. You made the mistake of speaking to me. And now I know that you are the one who is torturing me and has kidnapped me.”There was silence for a while and then all of a sudden the blindfold was taken off from her eyes and Diego was standing there before her in his shirt and trousers. He looked quite normal almost as if nothing had happened and was smirking at Cara.“I am sure you enjoyed that, querida.”“Don’t call me that you freaking bastard. You are nothing else but a vile manipulative..” said Cara as suddenly she was slapped and she could feel her lips split and she was bleeding and she could only feel helpless because her hands were still bound.“Don’t call me names, querida…your mouth was made for far better purposes and not this. You are a lot more important to me that you are ever going to be to my bastard cousin.”“And you are never going to be half the man that Xavier is.”“Whatever you say is not going to make me angry. You are a beautiful woman Ca
Cara struggled desperately, trying to free her hands from the heavy ropes that bound them together behind her back. She couldn’t see anything, thanks to the blindfold which covered most of her face. The ball gag shoved into her mouth prevented her from making much noise at all. When at last she realized the futility of her movements, she lay still and listened.Abruptly she felt the car begin to slow down. Cara’s heart fluttered in fear, wondering where she would be taken. She didn’t have long to wait. Moments later the car rolled to a stop, and a door opened. She was grabbed and hauled roughly out of the car, where she stumbled a bit on unsteady feet. Two hands gripped her shoulders, forcing her to walk quickly and unsteadily forward.She heard a door open. As she stepped through it, her footsteps echoed on what she wagered were hard tile floors. She and her captor proceeded through the room, then stopped suddenly. She heard a bell, followed by the sliding of a door that she realized
Some say, 'From pain comes wisdom,' but Jean had endured a lot over the past weeks and felt no wiser. Her boyfriend left her and it had hollowed out her soul. When she pushed through the door and rang the bell at Trader Dan's, she was hoping to put a bullet in her old life and thumb her nose at the jackass who left her behind.And Trader Dan's is just such a place; where souls are bared, pain will be endured, and whatever healing occurs will be everlasting.As she settled into the proprietor's chair with the tools of the trade laid out neatly on a small table nearby, Trader Dan's resonant voice filled her ears with a tale from another age. It seemed charming but odd to her. Perhaps it was just his effort to entertain his clients or calm frazzled nerves. Regardless, Jean found herself drifting back in time while the man gave her 'wisdom,' prick by prick."Meijuan sang like an angel, and from a very young age her voice would echo in the cavernous St. Ignatius Cathedral in Shanghai. Alth
“Love is really that important for me, Xavier. I know it sounds really stupid to you and you think that if I would just not think about it, things would be better but I cannot imagine spending my life in this way…”“All the time that we spent together, was it that difficult for you? Did you think that I did not care for you one whit? That I don’t wish to make you happy? If this is not all that there is to love then what is it that you want from me?”“Want from you? Xavier, from the moment that I have come here and have stepped into your world I have never wanted anything from. I have just wished for you to know the woman who was my mother and who was your mother as well and you never had the chance to. I never asked you for anything. You showered me with gifts, but those aren’t important to me. Do you know what is?”Xavier remained silent and looked at her darkly.“What is more important to me is the time that you spent with me…not just the love making but all the moments that you wer
Seeing that the stands were filling as the start of the game approached, Ulysses headed toward them to grab and save seats for the rest of the family that would be watching the game while Devon headed for the outfield to call his team into their dugout. At six feet, Alex stood a good head taller than any other player on the team. He looked like an adult being followed by children when the rest of the team fell in behind him as he led them to the dugout.Alex's team would be the visiting team for today's game, so Devon explained the planned batting order to the players before taking his lineup card out to the umpire at home plate. He saw that Aphrodite, Athena, his mother, and mother-in-law had all joined Ulysses in the stands. He heard his daughter squeal when she saw him and paused to wave to her. Athena looked as much like a junior version of her mother as Alex did his father.As had been the trend all season, Alex and his teammates batted around their first at-bat with Alex hitting
She was hopelessly in love.And nothing anyone would say could change the fact ever.Cara stared at Xavier who was sleeping on the bed with his back towards her. Sometime during the night he had woken her up by kissing her and pulling her nipples and then entering her again and again in deep and long strokes and Cara could not do anything but moan and cry out in pleasure.“Come for me, querida…make all those noises for me. You will always know that I was the one who made you cry out of pleasure!”It was so ardently male and so egoistic in nature that Cara thought how could a man be so full of himself, be so arrogant that he was the reason for a woman’s smile or tears. Even though he wasn’t wrong but still, the inherent feministic tendency in her tried saying that this was something that she should let go so easily but looking at him sleeping peacefully after such a night was not something she could agree to. She wished for him to sleep. They had the food that she had cooked and Xavier
"Well, I don't have a fancy car for you to drive to demonstrate my love for you, so I guess you'll have to settle for my undying concern for you and copious amounts of carnal pleasure. That's it! I can drive your Bentley and you get to drive me wild like you did last night."Laughing, Devon said, "That sounds like a win-win. We better get up and start getting ready if we intend to meet your parents on time."Aphrodite didn't move her body from on top of Devon as she reached over to the nightstand and retrieved her cell phone."What are you doing?" Devon asked."I'm texting my mom to let her know to meet us an hour later than we had planned.""Why? Traffic shouldn't be a problem for any of us on a Saturday morning."Finishing her text and returning the cell phone to the table, Aphrodite smiled down and said, "You haven't taken any of my hints, so I'll just have to make my intentions perfectly clear, my love. I intend to verify a suspicion that I have had since waking next to you...""W