It was all that I remembered: the cocaine, the alcohol flowing from left and right. Before I knew it, we were at the hotel in the best suite money could buy. "Come now, give the bride a kiss," Callista enticed, grabbing my face and kissing me. The familiar scent of her perfume, her delicate lips, her tender touch, I missed this. My body caved into her without hesitation, inviting her in. "You still taste the same," Callista purred against my lips. She gently eased me onto the smooth wooden coffee table. I saw Reign, Dimitri, and Roy looking down at the both of us. Callista propped herself up, took out a small container, and emptied a small pile across my chest. My cheeks flushed red; I'm not necessarily used to an audience. "Shhh," Callista hushed, brushing my cheek in comfort. She inhaled the line from my chest and seductively licked it clean before kissing me once more. The bitter taste on my tongue soon numbed both my mouth and throat. Callista removed my top, gentl
I quietly left the hotel room before the three woke up from the party the night before. Ariel called to let me know my son wanted to see if he could have ice cream for breakfast. I couldn't resist saying yes, and it made me realize how much I missed him. I needed to get home and clean up for the day ahead. I know I will see all of them again; it's just a matter of time. "Reign?" I hesitated while walking from the cab, "What are you doing here?" Reign hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck, uncertain of how he should speak. "I left last night because the thought of seeing someone else touch you makes me angry," Reign confessed. "I-I-" I stammered, "You and Dimitri-" "I did it because you wanted it," he interrupted. "Oh," I hushed. "You fucked them last night, didn't you?" he questioned. "That's not any of your business," I replied. Reign turned thunderous and angry, a reminder of who his father was. He kissed me deeply and passionately. We collided into my front do
I rushed Reign from my home moments later. After that, Arie came back to drop off my son. "Sorry, I didn't know you'd have company," Ariel apologized. "It's alright; I didn't think I'd have company myself," I admitted. "Seems like you two know one another," she commented. "What makes you say that?" While drinking some champagne, I asked, "Aodhan, why don't you shower? It's getting late." "But mom!" Aodhan protested. "No, baby," I groaned. I rubbed my temples. "Everything alright?" Ariel asked. "I feel like my head is squeezing in on itself; I forgot what it was like having a cocaine hangover," I replied. "Oh, you had that kind of fun," she giggled. "Sory of," I sighed, "Never thought I'd ever do that again, especially after my son, but I had the best time." "I can tell you've been smiling despite being hungover," she smiled. "If I'm being honest, I was wrapped up in work and Aodhan and forgot about me and the woman I am. I'm not just a power career-driven
When I awoke, Ariel was lying in bed, and the red suction and bite marks all over her body gave me a sense of pride. Instead of waking her, I went to the kitchen and made a quad over ice for us. Coffee hasn't been strong enough since I became a mother. I walked out to my back porch and watched the sun over the horizon. The light blue shades with yellow lines dancing among them let me know it was almost sunrise. I leaned on my elbows, playing with the coffee cup as the breeze ran its fingers through my long red hair. "Hey," Ariel greeted me while hugging me from behind. "Good morning," I greeted, "I made you your favorite." "Four shots of espresso?" she beamed. "Yes, but iced," I warned, "It's already seventy-five degrees out here." "Yum," she purred before drinking. We stood there side by side quietly. Had I just done the unthinkable? Ariel was the one person I could trust. I mean, sure, I thought about fucking her before, but I would always stop myself. The thought o
"We have two weddings this month and a divorce party in between," Veronica stated."Divorce party? How rich do you need to be to throw a divorce party?" I complained. "The type that pays two hundred fifty thousand dollars," Veronica implied. I waved my hands in surrender, "You just had a baby two months ago, and you're running around like it never happened." Veronica glared, "While I'm here, I'm not Mom. I'm Veronica; believe it or not, that holds some meaning to me." "Jeez, calm down," I hushed. I'm just saying you're a badass. Not everyone will insult you for being a working mom; I am myself." "I know; it just can't be more obvious how most people feel, including my mother." "What did she have to say?" "You know, the usual, why don't you be with a man who can care for you and my grandbaby? Why must you work? Why must you must you make my heart hurt and ache?" "At least you have a mother that cares." "I know, sometimes I just wish I could go spontaneously deaf when
The dinner was nice, but Cameron's intentions were clear. Anyone with a brain would know what he wanted. Ironically, all I could think about was Dimitri and Reign. One of them was the father of Aodhan, and now, my baby is growing in my belly. I didn't want anyone but both of them. Sure, Cameron was a very handsome young man, but I don't feel like having another man's cock shoved up in me with my son in there. I decided to talk at home; it was a beautiful, warm night. Ring. Ring. Ring. "Ariel, how's it going? Everything okay?" I answered. "Well, there's two men here, Dimitri and Reign, and they said they needed to talk to you about Aodhan?" Ariel said. I felt my heart sink to my stomach. I froze, the tightness in my throat growing, making it more and more difficult to breathe. My lips began to tingle, a numbness filling me. Without thought, I started sprinting home. "How long have they been there?" I panted. "They just got here. That's why I called," she replied, "I
How could this happen? How did they find out?! What do I do now? "Why don't you both just leave? You won't get the answers you want," I grimly groaned while drinking my espresso. "We know he's one of ours. We won't be leaving," Dimitri responded while cooking breakfast. "We'll both stay and raise him if you insist on not having a DNA test to see which of us is his father," Reign added. With a frustrated grunt, I tossed my espresso aside and wanted nothing more than a drink. Only I couldn't drink. This situation was making my head spin in circles. "You think you can just move into my home?" I snapped. "I think you'll let us," Dimitri replied. "Why's that?" I huffed. Dimitri's eyes met mine. Fuck. Why did he have to be so handsome? "I'm a good father, and Reign is an exceptional young man. We both love you. We'll both love Aodhan in the same way. We have a right to be in his life. He shouldn't grow up thinking he had a father that didn't love him," Dimitri stated.
"We're back!" Dimitri announced. "Mom! I learned how to ride a bike-" "What happened to your knee?" I interjected. "Calm down, all kids scrape their knees," Reign hushed. "I fell a few times," Aodhan said sadly, dropping his head, 'But I did it!" "He did. We got a video for you," Reign confirmed while extending his phone. I glanced at the phone and then at my son, "Why don't you go shower? Dinner's almost ready." I watched the video of Aodhan successfully learning to ride the bike for the first time—the victorious look on his face from succeeding. "You aren't going to leave, are you?' I questioned. "No," they replied in unison. "Nervously, I bit my lower lip, "Well, I work a lot with the bar, and I can't be home as often as I'd like, and Aodhan looks happy that you're here." They both perked up in a pompous way. "If I think you need to leave," I warned while closing the gap between us, "Then you leave." "We're not leaving-" "I'm not negotiating," I interr
"Mom! It's Aodhan!" Rowan cried. I looked over and fell to my knees; tears began falling in pools from my eyes; Aodhan had been shot, too. My son, lying there lifeless. "Ahh!" I screamed. Panic settled in; blood was pouring from my baby, and I couldn't plug the hole. What can I do? I tried applying pressure with my hands, unable to stop sobbing. "Go! Pilot! Go!" Dimitri hollered while latching the stairs/door closed. The Pilot took off, knocking everyone over, but continued to press on Aodhan's wounds, his warm blood slick on my fingers as I tried applying pressure to his chest. I saw Dimitri protect Rowan from falling over, scooping him up. "Dimitri! Help me!" I begged. A look of shock overtook Dimitri briefly before he rushed, overmoved my hands, and began applying pressure to the wound, "Pilot! Closest hospital!" "What happened to Reign!? Oh my god, Ariel was shot, too!" I whined. "I don't fucking know, someone was shooting, but I couldn't see who it was. They
Standing perplexed, I aimed for Zeus, but he dodged and missed both bullets. "Are you crazy?!" Zeus hollered. "No, I'm twisted!" I corrected myself. "Just like how you made me!" I shot once more, Zeus running and diving behind the desk. "Ivy, stop!-" "Don't!" I hissed, pointing the gun at Reign. I'm tired of both of you Castles telling me what to do!" Before I knew what was happening, I felt heaviness tackle me to the floor, accidentally firing another shot. "Get off of me!" I screamed. I fought beneath him, but I was no match. Zeus took the gun and backed away from me. "Fuck! Ivy! You shot Reign!" Dimitri hollered. Panic briefly flooded over me but was replaced with a barrel now pointed at me. "What do you want?!" I shouted. "You! I want you! But that's never enough! Everything I do is never enough for you!" Zeus complained. "Your son is dying-" "I can have more!" Zeus winced. Dimitri tackled Zeus to the ground, and the two began exchanging blows. I
"Okay, knock it off, you two," I groaned, "Leave Zeus." "No," Zeus declined. "Then you're going to watch me fuck her-" "Mom!" Rowan came running in alongside Aodhan with a big smile. I blinked in confusion. One of his front teeth was missing, but he wasn't crying or sad about it. The dried blood on his teeth indicated it happened a while ago. "I fell off my bike and lost my tooth!" Rowan excitedly jumped up and down. "Are you okay?" I worried. "Yeah! Aodhan said if I were a big boy and didn't cry, the tooth fairy would come and give me money for my tooth!" he said, shining. Aodhan knew the tooth fairy wasn't real. I glanced at him, and he gave me a 'Mom shut up' look. "Of course!" I fibbed. "Come on. I'll get you cleaned up, and we'll put that tooth under the pillow as soon as we're done," Ariel said, lifting Rowan in her arms and taking him to the bathroom. "Do you enjoy making my sex life miserable?" I snapped. "Miserable?" he retorted, "How is it misera
How could such a man be so naive? I never gave him an answer. Instead, I left the room and went back to my own. I knew it bothered him, me not answering. From the looks of it the following morning, it drove him crazy. Zeus made me a luxurious breakfast, eagerly awaiting an answer, which I still refuse to give. "Why not, Ivy?" Zeus pressed. I bit into the juicy strawberry. The hint of sweetness followed by the rush of jaw-clenching sour made everything much more enjoyable. "I like you son more than I like you," I admitted, "And Dimitri." "What if I told you they aren't who you thought they were," Zeus reasoned. Narrow-eyed, I annoyedly glared at him, "What do you mean?" "What if I told you they knew I was alive all along, and we made a bet," Zeus added. "What type of bet?" I pressed. "Now that takes the fun out of the bet," he taunted. "Fuck you," I scoffed while hastily rushing back to my room. Zeus always knew how to lift me and get under my skin. "Asshole,"
Everything was such a blur. I don't remember what happened. Zeus was pinning me down, then nothing. I blinked; it was dark, and only the roaring fire lit up the dark far corners of the room. This was Zeus's room. My throat was dry. I could barely breathe. I tried rolling over when something caught on my wrist. "What the fuck?" I yanked again, this time hearing metal clanking. Both my wrists and ankles were shackled to the four-poster bed frame. "You're awake," Zeus commented. Looking at him furiously, I could prop myself on my elbows and say, "Let me go, now!" "No," he denied. "Now-" "No one is here, so there's no point to scream," he interrupted. "Why the Hell did you shackle me to your bed frame!" I shouted, "I would have fucked you if that's what you wanted, but instead, you knock me out. I began coughing uncontrollably, and Zeus rushed to my aid, raising the water glass to my mouth to quench my thirst. "You knew you would be punished," he reminded. "How do y
"Do you like frustrating me? Making me angry? Toying with my emotions?" Zeus growled upon approaching me. "Yes," I teased, "You look like a hurt little puppy." "What about these past five years? Does that not matter? Have the nights we spent together meant nothing?" Zeus questioned. "I do love that the boys have father figures in their lives, but I already spoke to them about it, and they want to move back as well," I sighed, "As for the nights, a woman needs sex too." "Their children!" Zeus's anger grew, his eyes turning dark. "If you're doing this to get back at me, I'm sorry. I've been apologizing to you for the past five years. Can you not see that?" While sauntering over to Zeus, my eyes locked onto his. The fury beckoning behind them made me want to do conniving things. I took his glass of whiskey and downed its contents. "I do see it, and I don't care if it hurts you," I lied. Zeus gripped my wrist; this time, it was painful, not in a fun way. "Ah!" I winced.
My bar was engulfed in roaring flames. Tears streamed down my cheek as Veronica tried to deviate when the fire department arrived and finally extinguished the fire. I stood there, listening to people speak about property insurance and the time it would take to rebuild everything that had burned. "Ivy!" Zeus hollered, running up to me. "What are you doing here?!" I panicked, "Aodhan-" "Ariel called your phone, and she told me what happened. She's watching him," he reassured. His eyes widened in shock, and he looked at the catastrophe the fire left behind in its wake. Zeus was about to speak when he pulled aside the man trying to talk to me about the building. My blank expression spoke volumes. Hours passed in a blur, and Zeus returned home with me. "So it seems, perhaps three years, the bar can be rebuilt. They have to tear everything down and start from scratch," Zeus explained. "So, I lost everything?" I whispered. "No, Ivy," Zeus looked at me, trying his
"What?!" Zeus snapped. "You heard me. If I let you be a part of my boys' lives, then there would be no need for a DNA test, right?" I repeated. The rage building behind his eyes gave me the satisfaction I needed in this situation. "Why is it such a big deal about knowing who their father is?" he diverted. "Why do you care if I allow you to be in their lives without issue?" I debated. "She's not wrong," Ariel giggled while pecking me on the cheek. "Hey, now, she's not all yours, you know," Zeus reminded, I began to kiss Ariel passionately. "All right, fine, I concede," Zeus surrendered. Ariel and I began to laugh hysterically like candy from a baby. "I suppose me offering you to stay in Ireland with me is out of the question?" he asked. "Not necessarily; we could always use it to escape the city," I smirked, "Keep it." Ariel scurried off to work, and success reared its corner when I could see the jealousy in Zeus's eyes. "It doesn't bother you that I fuck Di
I could not sit at the dinner table and keep my thoughts to myself. I hadn't drunk since giving birth, but today, I was having a liquid dinner, whiskey. "You sure you don't want any lasagna?" Zeus offered. "It's delicious, Mom," Aodhan agreed while placing his dish near the sink. However, he was still too short to reach past the countertop. "Yes, baby, why don't you go with Ariel and get ready for bed?" I ordered. "but mom-" "No, but baby," I groaned. "Come on, I know a great movie we can watch before bed tonight," Ariel beamed while tickling Aodhan to the bathroom. "Come on, Ivy," Zeus grumbled while filling the dishwasher, "Do you need to be so dismissive? He was having a good time, and you shut him down." "Who the Hell do you think you are?!" I spat while grabbing the crystal pitcher full of whiskey. I stumbled up the stairs to a separate bedroom that wasn't my own. I knew what would happen tonight; I knew what Zeus wanted. I might enjoy it myself. I giggle whil