“You have to leave now, senorita.”Cara Welsh tipped her head back, and back some more, until she stared into the face of the uniformed security guard who towered over her. I am not leaving, she told him, making no move to vacate the chair she had occupied for over 2 hours in the waiting area of this vast marble foyer.The big man’s eyebrows beetled together. “You must go. The building is closing.”The building was the Velga tower---- a great big steel and glass monolith that rose from the heart of Barcelona thriving business district and dwarfed everything around it. It had caused $1.2 billion to construct, had taken two years and three months from foundation to completion, and comprised of 44 floors of bustling head office activity for one of Europe’s largest and most successful multinational conglomerates. Cara was well acquainted with these facts because she had picked up the glossy hardbound book titled the Velga corporation 60 years of success off the loot table beside her and,
The pale woman lying on the bed was nothing like the woman who had raised her since she was two years old. The woman who was lying before her with her shallow breathing was nothing like the strong vibrant vivacious woman who had made sure that she had a home and a safe place where she would not be watching things that no child needs to watch.“Mom, do you need some water?” asked Cara as she quickly blinked away the tears that were threatening to blind her vision.“You know that I can see you crying. I can hear you sniffling at all the points of time when I am sleeping,” said the woman on the bed. This woman’s name was Matilda Walsh and she was suffering from stage four lungs cancer which was the reason talking was so difficult for her.“You are not to take much pressure at all. You do realise that, right?” asked Cara as she wiped her face and then said,” I know that you have to speak a lot so I have made sure that you can talk to me. I have given you something to calm you down and you
“You have to leave now, senorita.”Cara Welsh tipped her head back, and back some more, until she stared into the face of the uniformed security guard who towered over her. I am not leaving, she told him, making no move to vacate the chair she had occupied for over 2 hours in the waiting area of this vast marble foyer.The big man’s eyebrows beetled together. “You must go. The building is closing.”The building was the Velga tower---- a great big steel and glass monolith that rose from the heart of Barcelona thriving business district and dwarfed everything around it. It had caused $1.2 billion to construct, had taken two years and three months from foundation to completion, and comprised of 44 floors of bustling head office activity for one of Europe’s largest and most successful multinational conglomerates. Cara was well acquainted with these facts because she had picked up the glossy hardbound book titled the Velga corporation 60 years of success off the loot table beside her and,
“Can you Miss Welsh?” Xavier’s tone was hard. “Because the last time I checked my parents were still happily married to each other. To my knowledge neither of them is hiding additional spouses or secret stepchildren.” Her blush intensified. She had expected this to be tricky. It was why she had put such careful thought into what she would say but how she would say it if she ever got the chance. But now that she was here and he was standing before her so much more imposing in the flesh than she had imagined she couldn't recall one single sentence now she had so painstakingly crafted in her mind. Cara swallowed. “Maybe we could sit down?” She suggested. For a long moment he didn't move just stood there staring at her eyes narrowed to the slit sub silver grey as if he were debating whether to have her thrown out or let her stay. Finally as her composer teetered on the brink of collapse gesture to a chair in front of the desk. Relief pushed to smile on to her face. “Thank you,” she sai
Girls did not look at their brothers and feel their skin prickle and heat or their mouths go dry.He wasn't even the sort of man she liked. In fact he was everything she disliked. Arrogant. Superior. Unfeeling. A self appointed demi god in a power suit ruling his kingdom from the top of his gilded tower.And Cara knew all about men with god complexes didn't she? She had dated a surgeon whose ego was the size of the sydney opera house and then even worse because she should have known better she had moved in with him and decided that she was in love.Jamming the bricks on her runway thoughts she focused on the cold handsome face of the man in front of her and made a snap decision,” I don't think you are ready for this letter Mr de la Velga.”And in that moment she knew she wasn't ready to relinquish it because what if he didn't treat it with the respect that it deserved? What if he threw it away even without reading it?Stiffening her resolve she talked to the envelope into her journal
Barcelona was basking in the heat of a blazing sun beneath the glorious blue sky when Cara emerged from the hostel just before 11:00 AM. She had risen late and lingered over breakfast chatting with the Canadian guy and the young German couple who had wanted to ask her a one your questions about Australia. She waited a bit, pausing on the pavement outside the hostel she Ramesh in her tote bag for her sunglasses and slip them on. She had a mild headache and her ears rank still from the over loud music in the club last night but at least she wasn't suffering with a hangover. She had one tequila shot with the girls and then stuck with lime and soda water for the rest of the time.The dancing had been fun but the clubbing scene really wasn't her thing. She had only gone because the 2 Irish girls with whom she was sharing a room had invited her out and the prospect of a few hours of defending music and final loving company had appealed more than sitting alone feeling sorry for herself.“Sen
The big man with mountainous shoulders who seemed no less intimidating even now that Cara knew his name waited in the reception area while she went to pack. The Irish girls we're still out for the count so she moved about the room quietly and left a farewell note saying that she was checking out due to change of plans said that she wish them well on their travels.When she emerged Juan reached for her backpack. “Let me carry it senorita Welsh.”Although she was more than capable of carrying her own bag she gave it up without any argument. He was under orders and she suspected even a burly tough looking man like when would not wish to invite his bosses displeasure.“I just need to settle my account,” she told him.“It is done.”She frowned. “But…”“Please come at once senorita. Senor de la Velga doesn't like to be kept waiting.”Cara wasn't happy about it but she held her tongue. She knew that arguing with the hired muscle was pointless. She would see something to Xavier though. She co
Turning away from the stunning view Cara went inside and took a shower in the massive ensuite bathroom and afterwards pulled on a pair of Navy dress jeans and a short sleeved white gloves she hadn't thought to ask Rosa about the dress code for dinner and she had never died with a billionaire in his home before so smart casual seems to be the safest option.After dying her hair into a loose not at her neighbor she checked the time and decided to make an appearance 10 minutes earlier than Rosa had recommended. If her host was a stickler for punctuality she would rather be early than be even a minute late.The villa was so big she took 2 wrong turns on her way to the formal dining room before she finally located it bossing in the hallway she touched a hand to her hair and took a deep breath and then walked into the room Rosa was there and then Cara smiled at her then shifted her girls to the long dining table and the single place setting at one end.Before she had fully processed the imp
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