Max
Clara was the center of attention, so I pulled Celine aside to see how she was doing. It was easy for her to be forgotten now that all their attention was on Clara, and I did not want her to feel left out or neglected. So I lent her my shoulder to cry on. I loved hugging her, so this was a perfect excuse to be closer to her.
I was serious when I declared my love for her a few weeks ago, and have been dating like teenagers since then, sans the sex, since I did not want that to color our relationship. Yeah, I know suddenly I’m “Mr. Prim and Proper” who treats ladies with utmost respect and reverence. It was like I was a changed man.
It is not without difficulty that I go back to the hotel each night, and every time with blue balls*. Celine would give me the most mind-blowing, melt your socks off,
MaxEver since Clara chanced upon her kidnappers, everybody has been on high alert. The kidnappers had threatened to take Celine this time to make her uncle, Nicholas Jacobs, agree to their nefarious plans. They wanted to smuggle drugs across international waters using the containers that Navio International, Sebastian’s company, ships across the globe.The FBI had advised them not to make rash decisions and go into hiding, to appear as normal as possible and pretend that everything was normal.How can everything be normal when Clara and Celine’s life might be on the line? Why does it seem that universe is trying to conspire against their relationship from happening?Wasn’t it hard enough that Celine’s dad, Nathan, does not want to acc
Weeks later, when Clara had gotten used to having a shadow, she decided that she to visit her sister so they could go shopping. They each had their own bodyguard, and Clara made it a point to hire women because she knew their capabilities and their attention to detail, not that the men weren’t competent, but the guards could come with them into the restrooms and fitting rooms with no one batting an eye. It was harder to shake them and disappear, but Clara gave in and just accepted she would never be free unless the kidnappers got caught. And even though she was very annoyed, she knew that the men in their lives meant well.They’ve gone to several stores, and Clara noticed the guards were looking around suspiciously. Something had set them on high alert. So when they went into a coat store and tried on several outfits, Clara exchanged their jackets, claiming Celine’s yellow jacket looked b
CelineI wanted to appear strong to everyone, so I pretended I was okay even though I was shaking deep inside. My mind was playing tricks on me, and everywhere I looked were the men wearing black grabbing Carmen, again and again, just like when they were kids. It was like a movie on repeat where the screen kept going over the same scene repeatedly. The only indication I had that I was having hallucinations was that I knew the hand latched on to Clara’s was real, and I held so tight I knew she was uncomfortable. I wouldn’t let go. I will never let go because I did not want my sister to disappear.’I know I am a mess because everyone keeps asking if I was okay. We were waiting for our ride at the entrance of the mall when it got worse. We were supposed to report to the police station to prepare our statement. Our car was taking a long time becau
MaxCeline, we’ve almost been joined at the hip for the past couple of weeks until today. When my sister, Clara, had the hair-brained idea that they should go shopping and that none of us, which meant Sebastian and me, should go with them. So instead of working all day, I follow their trackers around like a stalker watching the screen, making sure they were always together. I began seeing red dots everywhere when I realized the two dots I’d been watching all morning were getting separated.The thought of losing Celine made my heart stop. The threat from the kidnappers was coming true, and they made good on their promise that they were taking her. ‘No!’ I screamed in frustration and fumbled with my phone. I had all the phone numbers of their security detail and was thinking of calling Celine’s personal bodyguard, Sandra, when
CelineWeeks later.My sister came in yesterday in a huff. She was angry at someone because of something, probably Sebastian. Not that I could understand anything anyway because she kept on cursing and asking why he would do that, but would not explain. After her tirade came the guilt trip, blaming herself for everything. It’s her fault, she’s not worth it, that sort of stuff.I know she is not used to sharing her problems with anyone, but now that we found each other again, I will teach her how to reveal her problems to me.The thing I gleaned from Max was that Clara had felt like everyone had forced Sebastian into proposing to her early. Max knew that he wasn’t coerced because like Clara, nobody can force Sebastian to do anything he
Max was supposed to stay at Celine’s house ever since Clara instructed him to, but her dad was not agreeable. So each. night, he would pretend to leave and stay at the hotel just so he could camp outside in his car to guard Celine. They had guards littered everywhere, but Max did not want to leave Celine’s safety in someone else’s hands. He trusted no one. In his mind, everyone can be bought, coerced, or convinced to abandon his post with the right amount of money and conviction.But ever since the failed kidnapping attempt, Nathan finally relented and allowed him to stay over and occupy one of the rooms away from where Celine was sleeping. He still wanted Max out of his house, but the thing is, he was not there when they almost got kidnapped, so he was not really responsible. He vowed that even with Max sleeping near his daughter, nothing would happen between them.
At the beginning of the event, Celine felt apprehensive about her and her sister attending Navio’s Annual Party. ‘Maybe we should just stay at home,’ she suggested. But Clara won’t have it. They needed to act normal if they wanted to catch their kidnappers, and if they disrupted all their schedules just so they could hide, then that meant their scare tactics won. This was also the first time the couple would have their relationship out in the open, and she was looking forward to it.Ariana informed that she and her security team scoped the Dining hall at the hotel, making sure all the exits are monitored and covered. If someone wanted to attempt something, then this would be the time. When everybody was pre-occupied, it was easy for the bad guys to blend in. Everybody was on high alert. With all the high-ranking officials and guests attending the party, Clara was not the only one wh
The house was eerily quiet when they got home. ‘Mom! Dad! I’m home!’ Clara called out as she came in through the door.That should have been an indication that something was wrong because the front door had been left unlocked, and none of the regular security guards were around the property. To which she just assumed had blended in with the background. But her excitement at getting away got the better of her, and she was not thinking with caution.Her mom, dad, and sister sat on the sofa in a neat line, with their hands behind their back, their mouths covered with tape. The gun that clicked and was pointing at the side of Clara’s head made everything fall into place. The kidnappers had a backup plan, and they were waiting at her parent’s home. They took the whole family hostage as a last-ditch effort to gather them up a
Peace had returned to their household, and everything felt right. Celine and Max traveled back and forth between San Diego and San Jose since Celine reconciled with her parents, and Max was getting to know his parents better. They were having fun riding Sebastian’s plane all the time. It was the perk of knowing a billionaire and being closely related to one. What they had really wasn’t a terrible deal, having 2 houses and a place to stay wherever they were. They didn’t even need to pack any outfits since there had closets full of clothes in both locations. The thing is, they couldn’t decide which place to choose, where to stay and which one to leave, and the more the couple got together, the more they wanted to settle somewhere, where it was just them, so they both agreed that Celine would join Clara’s company, SST and Max would find them a house to settle in, something they could call their own. Max was the first to separate from their group, but Celine did not want to live too far
‘I feel nervous as hell. We’ve done this a hundred times before, yet I feel like it’s our first time.’ Celine had been in the bathroom for the last half hour since the reception ended. She couldn’t enjoy the party because she kept thinking of what might happen tonight, resulting in frayed nerves and an empty stomach.Celine hesitantly left the bathroom. She knew prolonging the inevitable would only result in disaster. But the minute she walked into their honeymoon suite, the smell of fries and burgers invaded her senses.‘Hey babe, I ordered room service.’ Max greeted as he arranged the plates on the coffee table in front of the TV, as they always did when they were still dating and binge-watched one of their shows. ‘I saw you touched none of your food, so I ordered us some burger and fries. I figured
‘Do you know what really shocked me, aside from Raffy being my abductor? Is that when I woke up after he abducted me, his butler declared dad was on the phone.’‘Why was Raffy calling you dad?’‘I wanted to tell him you were in town because he kept calling the past few weeks and wanted to know when he could visit.’‘He said you approved of him as your son-in-law? How could you do that to me? You sold me to the devil, and he saw that as an excuse to do what he wanted with me.’ she looked at her father accusingly. Celine was so mad that her father had something to do with Raffy, thinking they had welcomed him into the family when Max was not.Celine and Clara’s parents, Nathan and Emelia Jacobs insisted on visiting afte
It took an hour for the couple to arrive at Sebastian’s house, and to expedite their travel, they were escorted by the motorcycle brigade to navigate and clear the traffic. Otherwise, with the congestion in the city it would have taken them a few hours to get home. By the time they got home, both sets of parents were present together with their siblings. ‘Max–’ ‘Celine–’ ‘We’re so–’ ‘You’re here!’ ‘I’m glad–’ ‘Are you–’ They all yelled excitedly, but Max ignored them and carried Celine directly to the bedroom. She tucked her head in his neck when she expressed she did not want to see anyone. And because she was more important than everybody else, he closed the door and drew her a bath. He wanted to help her relax and scrub all the terrible memories away. Get her clean so she could feel like herself again.Celine clung to him like a lost child would his mother, not wanting her husband to leave her even for one second. ‘Turn on the lights, please. They kept me in darkness most of the
Raffy laughed out loud as he watched the cops breaking into his mansion and finding nothing. ‘You idiots will never find me.’ He left his butler at the mansion to deal with the authorities as a taunt. He knew Max was more resilient than any regular husband, and could track him down faster than the police or the FBI could, so he had to take measures to cover his tracks.The house he was hiding in was purchased for the sole purpose of keeping his victims, like Celine. It wasn’t recorded in any of his financial books, or any of his aliases, and he figured it would take time before they find him, enough to carry out his plans and have sex with Celine. If she doesn’t cooperate, who knows what might happen? He might just do what he threatened her with, and tie her to the bed. He shook his head, remembering how the other women reciprocated his affection.
Celine pulled off all the pictures from the wall, every single one of them, and tore them up into little bits and pieces to satisfy her anger. The last piece that pushed her over the edge was a naked picture of her as she slept, with a hand squeezing her breast. She knows that Raffy probably had copies everywhere, but with Jeremy and Max’s help, they could erase all this embarrassing information from every computer, phone, and tablet Raffy might have them saved in.‘I’m so screwed.’ She cried while scrubbing her face with both hands. ‘Max will hate me for this. Fuck! Now I have to do what Raffy says or he’ll leak the pictures out. Oh, I don’t care. Fuck him! I won’t do anything I don’t want.’ she debated as she paced around the bedroom.‘Why do these assholes have to follow me all
‘Sebastian Colfer! Explain to me who this woman is with my sister?’ Clara barges into her husband’s office, at the same time, the security guard speaks. ‘Sir, there’s a person downstairs claiming his girlfriend never showed up to their date yesterday, and her phone shows she’s still in the building. We called her department, and they said she left early yesterday. What should I do?’‘Search the entire building and see if you can find her phone. Check the parking lot and see if her car is still downstairs. Maybe she ran away with another guy, who knows.’ Sebastian answered.‘What is it, sweetie? I did not get what you were asking.’ he focused on Clara and her laptop.‘This woman was in the elevator yesterday with my sister before she disapp
Celine lies back in bed and curses. ‘How am I going to get out of here if I don’t have clothes?’ So she started exploring Raffy’s bedroom, hoping to find something more decent to wear, when she noticed the pictures on the wall. ‘Fucking pervert!’ she exclaims.There she was, splattered on every surface of the room. Different sizes and images of her. One had her laughing, the other brushing her hair away from her face, and another of her eating. What bothered her more were the pictures of her in different states of undress. In one she was in a bath towel, another in her underwear, while the others had every outfit she has donned in the past year. She even had one in the lingerie she was wearing right now. The pose reminded her about that night she wanted to send Max a naughty video, to which he ended abruptly.
‘Yeah, but my sister, Clara, came… and I needed... You know what, it’s not important. I came by to get my car downstairs. I left it in the building.’‘Hey, tell me, isn’t the boss dating your sister? Is it true that they got married?’ she whispered while getting closer to Celine.‘Yeah, they did. It was a lovely ceremony. I helped plan it.’‘That’s a big ring you have on your finger. Rumor has it that you’re married as well.’‘Can you keep a secret? I got married in Vegas last weekend. Eeekkk…’ Celine said excitedly.May squealed, ‘Omg, are you serious? That is so unexpected. We knew you were dating but didn’t know it