"The same Cecilia Stromberg I am thinking of? Did she say why she is here?" Linc asks an unfazed Mr. Hageman. "No, I didn't ask." He replies. Curt and professional. I am reeling. I pull away from Linc like he is a furnace and this time around, he doesn't pull me back in against his body. The name is like a sour odour in the room. It fouls everything. Why is she here? Why now? What is going on today? I can't seem to catch a break. I haven't seen her since the funeral and she hasn't kept in touch either. We were never going to be seen in the same room together. Kathryn was the only link that connected us and even then, it was clear that I was not interested in being like my mother in any way. We were too different. Her clique did not appeal to me and they never shied away from how unlikely they found me. "Mr. Hageman. I expect better from you." Linc chides the butler who remains standing straighter than a pole. "Should I go ask?" He asks, there is no malice in his tone or anything
"Uh, sorry? I don't understand." I say. "What do you mean why? This is her home. Where else would she stay for summer break? Especially as she is interning at my firm according to Kathryn's wishes." Linc cuts in. He doesn't sound bothered or anything like that. It's not even defensive. He says it like he also doesn't understand Cecilia's question. Like her question was unfounded. Which is a perfect lie. We both know why she is asking. Everybody in our collective circle knew I left that first summer, and it wasn't likely that I would be back. They all just assumed that since Kathryn died, I cut ties with Linc. Which was understandable, seeing as we didn't have anything linking us anymore. I didn't want to be lugged along with Kathryn and her wild social life. As soon as I was eighteen and independent to an extent, I was ready to leave her and her crazy life behind. But then, she died just a year later. That kind of muddled everything else. "Well, I guess that makes sense. But then,
I turn to look at him, he doesn't look at me. Cecilia stares at him, her mouth could be hanging open but it is not. He doesn't spare her a glance either. His face is set in a resolute grimace. "I want no part in all that." He adds tightly. "Why, if I may ask?" Cecilia's enthusiastic voice is undampened. Her plastic smile is still on her face. "What do you mean why?" Linc sits up. He looks properly agitated now. Angry. The dark veil he has kept tamped down since Cecilia walked in has lifted. Linc is boiling mad underneath it. I wonder how I missed it. And I also wonder why he is so angry. I can't seem to come up with a reason quick enough. "I don't know. You just seemed ready to refuse. Without giving it a fair thought." Cecilia actually pulls out her upper lip in a pout. I can't believe the woman but I don't blame her. "You realise Kathryn and I were separated at the time of her unfortunate demise? What am I saying. I know you knew. You and the girls." There is a sneer in Linc's
Linc POV::It is with great effort that I don't fly out of my seat and start pacing the length of the den with stomping footsteps. That is how frustratingly mad I am right now. I am livid but I manage to keep it reeled in. I know Amelia would be thinking that Cecilia knows something about us. But I seriously doubt that is true. It is highly unlikely. I haven't seen the woman in over two years and the only connection we had was Kathryn. Our circles never quite got intermingled. Besides, it is not like I have gone around telling everyone I know that I am in a relationship with my stepdaughter. Even Chris, my best friend doesn't know yet. It is not that I am ashamed of us and the beautiful thing we have created, but the choking guilt of it all is close to shame. The line is muddled and it is tough, especially on days like this.Cecilia is just bluffing with her subtle jabs. She walked in not expecting to find Amelia here, and when she does, she starts weaving suspicions out of the air.
Amelia Pov::"Well, Linc, what do you say? This is all just for Kathryn. We owe her as much." Cecilia takes her eyes off me and I heave a breath of pure relief.Once she mentioned Charlotte, everything immediately slid into focus. I almost forgot about that corporate hag in the chaos that my life became in the past few weeks. Of course, Charlotte's gossip must have found its way out of the firm. Somehow. I don't know how Linc didn't fire her then when I mentioned her, but thinking about it now, I don't see how that would have done any difference. It probably would have worsened the situation instead because then Charlotte would have been vengeful if she got fired. "I don't owe Kathryn anything. You keep insinuating that, Cecilia and I can't stand it. You know how our marriage went down. You knew when she was eloping with Arthur. You knew everything. I don't know how you can sit in front of me and tell me I owe her anything. I did my one noble thing. I gave her a respectable funeral a
"You do realise I didn't come here to actually ask you for anything, however you thought you could contribute to something as important as this, I assure you, it would be basically useless." Cecilia says after a second of an intense stare down where I squirm in place and keep my face frozen in my innocent earnest smile. Finally, I drop the smile and take a breath. "Oh." Is all I manage to say. The rudeness is more familiar. Not that scary sweet façade she put on with Linc. This is the woman I knew. And hated. "Imagine the frenzy that would be generated if it is revealed in yet another exposé that not only is Kathryn's daughter still living shamelessly off the poor heartbroken Linc, but she is also fucking him? You think you know scandal? Oh dear, you wide eyed innocent poor thing." I stumble backwards. The icy hard hitting well timed words hit me like she reached out and slapped me right across the face. My neck burns with the heat of it and it spreads to my face, I know I currentl
I pull my face away from his touch. It is probably the first time I would be resisting his charm. He looks confused. Then when I take a step back, his face falls. "She knows." I whisper. It is like I have lost all the fight left in me. Now I am just tired. I can't believe it is the same day as when we had the detectives come in to question us."That is impossible. Cecilia is a great bluffer. No matter what Charlotte told her, she must also know it was just gossip. I doubt she believes it or is going to act on that. She didn't accuse you directly, did she?" Linc stretches his arms for me but something in my face makes him pull them back, I can't stand the hurt in his eyes. He has been such a hard immovable rock all day. Never cracking, no matter who was on the other side of the couch. But now, the heartache in his expression is enough to make my knees buckle. "You are not listening to me, Linc." The anger in my tone is unmistakable. Linc looks at me like he is seeing me for the first
"Why can't you? You realise I would be the worst hit if Cecilia takes this up right? It already happened with the whole exposé mess and I wasn't even directly linked to that. I don't even know what the artist looks like. I have never met him. I didn't even know my own mother was in Paris for that long. And yet, I am the easy target for the anger of thousands of internet strangers. So, please, Linc, tell me why you can't yield this once?" "Because it makes no sense to just yield. Do you really believe that doing those vapid women this little inconsequential favour would be the last we hear of it? No!" Linc raises his voice on the last word and I jump. Startled. It is the first time he would be raising his voice when talking to me. The first time he would be using that tone on me. I don't know what to make of it. My anger ebbs within me. A part of my brain, the logical part, gnaws at me with the acknowledgement that I am not mad at Linc, he hasn't done anything wrong. I shouldn't tran
The door swings open and Ashley walks in, she comes straight to where I am perched in the middle of the room in my expensive wedding dress that costs seven figures, designed by a top rated designer to flatter my body and make me look unreal. It was unspoken but also to make my tiny pregnant bulge not very visible. And it is perfect. I feel like a fairy in the low V-neck, long sleeved, ankle length gown made with sheer lace, embroidered with real diamonds along my silhouette. I feel pretty. "Are you okay?" She asks.I shake my head. I am far from okay. My life is a fairytale and I can't seem to snap to reality. We are having the wedding in a quaint countryside ranch in the south of France, magical and ethereal. How can I be okay? It is a small wedding. When I say small, I mean it is just Linc and I, Ashley and Dylan, Chris who is Linc's best friend who I am just meeting who happens to be a very jovial man with a wicked sense of humour, his girlfriend, a french model whose name was so
I am alone in the bed. But Linc's scent lingers in the pillows, sheets, my senses. His side of the bed is warm. I can tell he just left. But to where? It is still Sunday right? I look around for my phone, it is six p.m in the evening of the same day so he didn't go to work. My bladder pushes all the other thoughts from my head as I make to get up and go pee. After peeing, I look at myself in the mirror and I find that I can't quite recognise the woman looking back at me. Sensual and free. My eyes are glazed and it is not because of sleep. Wild and sated. My hair is a tousled mess atop my head, hanging loosely down to frame my breasts. Linc had left me multiple hickeys. On my neck, clavicle, shoulder, breasts, everywhere I look, he is there, he has claimed me in ways that I could never detach from. It is not our first time but something about the selfless way he pleasured my body till I came, felt different, new and exhilarating. I need him to come back from wherever he went to immed
I skip over her waiting flesh, the clean trim of her pussy, the little triangle of golden hair, I kiss her inner thighs, raising them up for easy access to the feast I am about to have. Amelia quakes in my arms, I can't help the cocky smirk that comes on my face. We are only just getting started, my love. I give her a little bite around her smooth bikini line and she shivers, the sound of her breathing is audible. Quicker. Shallower. I am positioned in between her thighs and I look up, holding her eyes. "Look at me, my love. I want you to watch me as I worship you." I say, my voice is raspy and endlessly choked full with emotions that overwhelm me. Her scent is in my head, clouding my senses, holding me captive, I am hers, forever. "Linc." She only breathes in response. Waiting. Hunger. Writhing. Arching. Pleading. Wanting. I lean down and run the pointed tip of my tongue through her slick pussy folds, maintaining eye contact, enjoying the rapturous look of pleasure stretching her
Linc Dmitri POV::I kiss her like she was life itself. She is my life. She is my everything. She just made me sob like a child with the heartwrenching news that she was pregnant. Never have I ever been that overwhelmed. Completely caught off guard. I am going to be a father at forty four. Amelia, my girl, my precious little love, she is going to make me a father. It is hardly believable, I can't seem to fully come to terms with it. When I turned forty, I kind of stopped bothering about the whole heir thing. I figured I would just pass down most of my wealth to charity and the other half to her, even if she wasn't in my life anymore. I reviewed my will a few months ago, before I even called her to come back to New York, I reviewed my will and made her the part beneficiary of my entire wealth. That was the extent of my loyal affection for her. I was never going to let her struggle for anything. And then she returned and we gave in to this beautiful fire that was our relationship and I
"What?" "What?" Linc's voice overshadows Ashley's. I look away from the intensity of his eyes burning into me. My heart is beating hard and fast. I am not scared or worried, I am a lot of things. A lot of bubbling emotions and I start crying again. It is definitely the hormones. The test I did didn't say how far along I was, just that I was pregnant. Positive. "When did you find out?" Linc is in front of me. Hovering above me. He is all I see through my tears, he places his hands on my cheek gently, softly, like I was a feather he could blow away easily, like I was fragile and he was scared of hurting me, I am crying too hard to talk and he just quietly swipes away the tears, cradling my face with so much affection, the tears would not stop falling. "Yesterday night." I manage to say through my tears. He pulls me close and I get lost inside him. His huge hard body engulfs mine and I look at Ashley, her face is wet again and she is trying to wipe her face clean, she pats down my ha
"I knew her through Trent. We paid her a condolences visit and help her out with little things occasionally." Ashley says and I realise that I asked her the question out loud. She is telling me her connection with Sheryl and it only makes the sense of dread tighten in the coil of my empty belly. "I pay her a visit every Thursday to check in on how she was doing. When I got there this week, she was drunk and started sobbing uncontrollably about revenge and all sorts of things I couldn't follow till she brought out the phone and showed me the video. She said she was going to share it since, but hadn't found the courage to. She was an emotional grieving mess. It was sad to watch. I stayed with her till she fell asleep and I took the phone and deleted it from the cloud it was saved on. When she wakes up and finds it gone, she might believe she did it herself when she was drunk or whatever. I went to your place that night but you weren't around. I expected to see you in class the next day
Amelia POV::I hear the knock at the door but I don't move. I don't know when I slept off last night, and when I open my eyes to see that it is morning, I couldn't believe it. Yet, I did not move even then, not even to go pee or brush my mouth. And now with that persistent knocking, I remain inert. I didn't order anything and I am not expecting anyone so maybe it is a neighbour's guest at the wrong door. I am not bothered to go check it out. They would leave when they figure it out. My entire world is spinning and I can't seem to get a grip. A thousand thoughts rush through my mind and none is comforting. I am hot and cold at the same time and I am hungry but incredibly nauseous and sensitive to the faintest smell. I couldn't keep anything down if I tried. I sit up suddenly, alarmed by the unmistakable click of the door and then it is open and I hear that familiar voice, that silky smooth baritone that makes my insides melt and feel like mush. Linc. A weak smile plays on my lips in s
"Mr. Dmitri, are you there?" Mr. Hageman's voice comes on again, polite and persistent. Sometimes, I forget about the man's existence in the house with me. But I feel his presence in how pristine he keeps the mansion. It is not an easy job to do, but he manages it all perfectly. His bookkeeping is honest and professional, I have had him for close to ten years now and I have never had any issues with his work. I send birthday and holiday cards to his wife and kids through my assistants every year. "Yes. Send her in. I will be down in thirty minutes." I reply, getting up. I didn't plan to get out of bed today but here comes Ashley of all people, to drag me out of it. I am very curious about her visit but not enough that I would clean up before meeting her. Amelia told me she doesn't have the best opinions of me and that makes her visit all the more suspicious. Is she here for Amelia? I thought they fell out with eachother. I take a quick cold shower, put on clean casual clothes and
Linc Dmitri POV::I stretch my arms out and I come up empty. Air. Nothing. She is not here. I open my eyes and glare at the sunlight splashing on my face. It is Sunday morning and I am in a foul mood. Just yesterday, I woke up in the best mood, with her soft body in my bed after a long night of ravaging her body to my soul's satisfaction. I woke up to her warm body snuggling into me and I couldn't resist fucking her again. And now, she is not here anymore. I can't wrap my head around anything. I swing my arm up to cover my eyes. I can't stand the brightness of the morning, it feels like the universe is taunting me. How can time be moving on when my world is unstable?Did she break up with me? Are we broken up? I am forty four and I can't tell. But I do know one thing. The ugly ache stuck in my chest. Her words hurt me and I was too numb to act when she finally said she had to leave because she needed space. I just watched her. And she left. It took me hours of stunned hurtful silence