*Shelby*“Of course, I’ll marry you, Michael! I love you so much,” I said.He stood and wrapped me in his arms. I stood on my tippy toes to kiss him, and he slipped his hand up to cup the back of my head. His kisses were as soft as a kitten's but steadily grew in intensity as his hands wandered down my back. My hands gripped the front of his shirt, pulling him closer to me.In a flash of movement, Michael grabbed my thighs and hoisted me into the air. I felt as though I was hanging off the side of a cliff, supported by nothing more than his strong hands, but I didn’t care and kissed him harder.Michael eased us both onto the tartan blanket, where just minutes ago, we had been eating our picnic breakfast. The scratchy wool teased the inch of exposed skin at my waist as my shirt wandered its way up my torso.Michael’s hand explored my body as though determined to memorize every inch of my figure. His hands slipped in the small gap under my shirt and slipped it ov
*Shelby*The last day of our vacation came far too early. I’d be happy never leaving the castle if I was honest with myself. Instead, it felt like a dream of spending the past ten days with Michael alone in such a seemingly magical place.The diamond on my ring finger felt increasingly heavy as our trip came closer to an end. However, I loved the way it caught the light sending down rays of sparkles in all directions. I smiled to myself as I folded the last shirt hanging in the closet and put it in my suitcase, placing my ring hand facing up so I could admire my engagement ring."Are you ready to go?" Michael asked me, poking his head into the room."I don't know if I'll ever be ready to go," I said with a laugh."I know what you mean; maybe we could plan a trip together. As soon as you're out for the summer, we could just look at a map, throw a dart, maybe, and go," he said, rubbing my arm."I like the sound of that," I said, reaching up on my tippy toes
*Michael*“Billionaire Playboy Settles for a Nobody”I shook my head at the recent headline that Reggie had dropped off on my desk. We’d been seen in Paris the night before we flew home, and in the three days following our return, the magazines and gossip tabloids were having a field day with the news of our engagement. Under the headline was the picture of us at dinner. My hand was reaching out and brushing Shelby’s lip. I had to admit that she looked incredibly stunning in the picture. Of all of the pictures that could’ve leaked, this was the best one. I couldn’t help but stare at the way her lips closed in a perfect cupid’s bow.She had to fly back to Cambridge for the start of her classes after our spring break vacation. I’d been cooped up in my office since returning, trying my best to catch up on the work I missed while we were gone. Also, a larger part of me liked being in the office and away from the prying eyes of the paparazzi. With the leaked story
*Michael*“It seems he knows where to find your half-brother,” Lou Carmine said.Lou’s voice seemed to echo through the phone as the wheels in my brain appeared to slow as if they were running through peanut butter. I sucked in a breath. I thought that Blaine would stay on the run now that he was wanted for murder, but if the Carmine family knew where he was, he must not have stayed away for long.“That is big news,” I answered.“Leon wants to know if we should… take care of Blaine for you,” Lou said.Being responsible for Blaine’s arrest was one thing, but being responsible for his murder was a completely different ball game. A part of myself, a dark and deeply hidden part of myself, wanted to say yes, and wash my hands of it all entirely. However, that small part of me scared me more than the thought of spending my life in prison, which I almost did for this exact situation. If I let that part of myself take hold, I feared I’d turn into someone just lik
*Shelby*“How did you find all of these articles?” I asked Lin. “I searched Michael’s name instead of yours. Not all of the articles list you by name, probably so they won’t get sued for slander, but you know the internet. If people want to find out who you are, they will,” Lin answered.I scanned over the pages and pages of search results that popped up. All of which didn’t sound as though they were painting me in a very positive light. I clicked on an article titled “Astor's Secret Mistress Goes on a Drunken Ride.”The article had a picture of me right after I’d fallen off of my bike and was wandering into the little village below the castle rental. I was clearly bleeding in the photos, which were followed by a picture of me in the small cafe drinking wine. They painted a picture of me getting drunk on purpose, which caused the bike wreck. When in reality, I fell and then had a drink to calm my nerves. The entire article portrayed me as someone who was comm
*Shelby*The cold plastic chair pressed into my back as I waited anxiously to be called into my academic advisor’s office. Ms. Smith sent me an email the day before, alluding to the fact that there was something that needed to be discussed in person. I already knew that it had something to do with the horrible slander pieces being written about me since it came out that Michael and I were dating. “Miss Hatton, please come in,” Ms. Smith said, standing in front of her door to hold it open for me.I walked past her giving her a feeble smile, as I took a seat in the chair in front of her desk. She gently closed the door behind her and took her seat back in her office chair. She stared at me for a long time, creating an awkward amount of silence in the room. I knew she was waiting for me to bring up the articles, but I stayed quiet. Finally, she cleared her throat.“I’ve heard that you’ve become somewhat of an overnight celebrity. I just wanted to check in with y
*Shelby*With trembling hands, I reached for my phone and started to call Lin. She didn’t answer, and I remembered she was thankfully still in class. A sigh of relief washed over me once I realized she wasn’t home.That meant someone had broken into our house, which wasn’t an ideal situation either. Whatever happened had to have been recent. Surely someone would’ve stopped by if the door was left open for hours. Something was very wrong. My first instinct was to call Michael, but Bruce was the one who handled all security matters, so I rang him instead. I edged closer to the house, trying to hear if someone might still be inside.A feeling of absolute dread washed over me when I heard a phone ringing, the same one I was calling. Before I realized what I was doing, I rushed inside, stepping on broken glass and stumbling over a broken chair leg. Then I saw him.Bruce was on the floor, face down, blood pooling around him. An anguished cry escaped my l
*Michael*“I’m really sorry,” I said for the hundredth time. “I can assure you that Bruce is receiving the best medical care available. When he gets out, he’ll be given all the time he needs to recover and spend time with his family.”“Thank you, Mr. Astor. I was so worried, and I had no idea something had even happened to him. No one even called me! I’ll head down to the hospital now,” his wife said, her voice cracking. “I’ll send a car down for you immediately,” I said. “Text me the address, and they’ll be there as soon as possible.”“Thank you, sir,” she said and hung up on me.Yet another of the police department’s failures. What were they thinking, not alerting her to what had happened? If it wasn’t for my phone asking me if I wanted to start a workout session, I wouldn’t have realized that I’d just spent ten minutes pacing around my office. I was still thinking of the call with Bruce’s wife. Having to break the news of what had happened to her husb