The next morning I woke up to an empty bed. Dev wasn't sleeping next to me and when I looked around, he wasn't anywhere in the room. I figured he must have gone to his room to not raise any suspicion. He knew mom was already on us, I saw him staring at her during dinner. I had an early class, so I went to the bathroom to take a quick bath and dress for the day. When I went downstairs to the dining area, Neel was having his breakfast with Derek Lucas. Ian was on the kitchen island instead of the dining table, and to make him feel better, I, too, sat down next to him on the stool. We made small talk while we ate, and after breakfast, I went to college with Neel. Apparently, the rest of them were still sleeping. Derek allowed Leo to skip a day and help him with the event planning. I noticed Derek was more easygoing with Leo than Caspian, and it made me wonder the reason. I thought he was being strict with Leo because he didn't want Derek to be mad at him, but seeing the way Derek
After a very long class, the day finally ended and I couldn't have been more happy about it. The last class was communication, and the professor taking the class had no interest in teaching us anything or had the ability to communicate properly. Ironic for a communication professor. It was my first time in his class, he took classes while I was in London, and the other two professors who were taking the classes of communication, were amazing. He was the only one furthest from the subject he was teaching. I couldn't believe someone who was teaching communication could be so boring. His class was monotonous and lacked any information because he kept on reading the slides instead of explaining the subtopics or clearing out doubts. I absolutely hated being in the class and couldn't even remember the last twenty minutes of his teaching. Many students fell asleep, and others left, but I, being a first bencher, had to stick till the very end. I almost bumped my head into the desk becaus
“No one's at home. We are all alone.” There was a hint of mischief in his voice that I chose to ignore, thinking about playing with him. But before I could react the way I wanted, I felt his hands making their way up my skirt. I forgot about the play and did nothing to stop him; instead, I brought our lips together and started passionately kissing him.The whole conversation with Lucas was a disaster and I needed to get it out of my head. Kissing Dev seemed to do an amazing job of making me forget about the world around me. His rough hand, full lips, and the want to taste the insides of my mouth made me give up on everything. I forgot to breathe as he pressed me against the wall and pulled the neck of my top down, exposing my cleavage more. He gave me a small peck on the lips before his head went down and he started licking my cleavage. Then he grabbed both of my breasts, pushing them up such that his face was buried between them. “Let me get the top off.” I raised my arms so that
“DEV!!”If someone was home, I was sure they might have heard me; I was that loud. I wasn't sure exactly what he did because I couldn't see him doing it, but I felt him raising my clit and he used his index finger and thumb on either side of it. Then, instead of licking up and down, like he was normally doing, he went from side to side—across the clit and the clitoral hood. “Are you crazy? Not that loud,” he said, standing up, and I was able to see the proud smile on his lips. “Pray that no one is in the home because if there is someone, they might be running right now to get in the room.” “No one's home, relax. We didn't hear any car pulling in the driveway, and truly, it's your fault,” I replied, trying to cross my legs, but he parted them again and got back on his knees. “You should have warned me before doing that. I wasn't expecting it, and it came out of nowhere.” His glasses were gone and that made me feel hotter than before. He smirked, and God, I hated the haughty look o
Waking up after what I can only explain as the best climax of my life, felt like resurfacing from a deep, dreamless sea in which I was lost for years, but something pulled me to the shore. I felt fresh, a new version of myself as if there was a Katherine that existed before Dev's tongue fucked me—a tired, sad and pathetic girl who didn't know what a real orgasm felt like. Then there was me, a better version of the same girl, the one who had experienced the heaven of being teased and tasted, the one who had undergone the forbidden release. My head felt lighter, my mood was chirpier, and I could feel my heart was functioning better than ever. I felt like a princess in the Disney movie, waking up to a whole new world. I stretched my arms and tried to notice how amazing the things around me felt. Everything in the room seemed to be better than how they were when I entered with Dev. The first thing I noticed was how soft the sheets felt against my cold skin, and the second thing was tha
The moment Caspian entered the kitchen, the air around us shifted. He moved with his usual confidence and cockiness, his footsteps were measured and deliberate, the kind that made it impossible to ignore his presence. He looked at us, not trying to hide that he knew about us. I could see it in his eyes that he was waiting for me to say something but I kept my mouth shut. If he wasn't going to address it, I wasn't got to either. I knew it was a big risk, sleeping with Dev, but I didn't regret that. “I hope I am not disturbing anything,” he teased carrying the mischievous glint in his eyes. “Don't mind me, I'll be out in a minute. You guys could carry on with whatever you were doing.” “Caspian,” Dev started but was at a loss of words. I felt sad seeing him like that but I didn't know what to say to make him feel better. On the other hand, I didn't want to complicate things between me and Caspian either. I knew I was getting punished for what happened, and I didn't want to extend it
It had been three days since Caspian found out about me and Dev and he was keeping his distance from me. I tried talking to him, several times, but he was in no mood to talk. He kept turning me down and I started to feel like before. He promises me he would do it, but did it once again. At one point I got tired of it too, both him and Lucas had a lot to say and promise, but neither of them could hold onto their words. I felt trapped in my head once again. I talked to Dev about it, burdened him with my problems, but he didn't see them as a burden. He asked me to give Caspian some time and talk to him after the party because he was already stressed out because of Derek. He also gave me another perspective, the one that seemed more true or maybe it was my heart telling me that it was true.He told me that maybe Caspian wasn't talking to me because he was afraid that he might let out all the stress and frustration he had over the party on her. It made me feel a little good, but the impo
The world outside my window seemed so far away, like a memory I could no longer touch. The forest stretched endlessly beyond the house, its leaves shimmering under the sun's harsh light. Normally, it might have calmed me, but today, it felt more like an accusation.I felt trapped in a jail cell, waiting for my name to be called for execution. I was trapped in my father's world of perfection, and being broken, toys had no place in his heart. But that's what I was, broken. Beyond repair. I sat in the corner of my room, knees pulled tightly to my chest, my back against the wall. The air was still, heavy with the weight of expectation. Everyone was busy with the preparations—decorations, laughter, whispers of excitement. But none of it was for me.Not really.It wasn’t about me or Harry. Dad had turned it into his event, his spectacle, just like he always did. He’d invited his business associates, his polished friends, people who’d spend the night pretending they cared about us while sip
It had been more than a year since Caspian confessed his feelings to me, and life was finally finding a sense of normalcy. Derek was safe, though he remained permanently in hiding. The Salvatores had not only survived the disaster but had emerged stronger than before. The PR team had worked wonders in reshaping their image, and those who had attempted to bring them down for their own gain were now behind bars. The money laundering case was no longer casting shadows over their name, it was a thing of the past. The FBI cleared their name from any involvement in the money laundering—the world saw them as victims of their dad's actions. The business was doing good; Caspian joined the company, while on the other side, our relationship got pretty strong. We found a balance that allowed us to grow separately as well, because I moved into an apartment with my mom, helping her build a new life for herself. Meanwhile, Caspian remained at the mansion with his brothers. They asked me to stay,
I was always good at fixing things, maybe because I was broken from the inside and knew I couldn't be fixed. I became a lawyer to help my family, to help my brothers. I thought if I knew the ways of law and legal system, I could use it to my advantage, to protect them in any way needed. Yet, it had been more than a month and I was still fighting a battle with no end in sight. I gave up on too many things in my life, thinking I never deserved them. There was always a reason to hold myself back from being truly happy, about something or with someone. There were these little voices in my head that would make me question everything. For years, they had been silent, but ever since I learned the truth about Dad's involvement in the money laundering, they came back. ‘How could you let yourself be happy when your brothers are in trouble?’‘How could you be that selfish?’I couldn't rub my love for Kat on my brothers' faces, especially when most of them wanted her, too. It was not fair to
The sky was cloudless, the bright light of the moon covered the Salvatore property. We just had dinner, and it wasn't like the regular Salvatore family dinner. It hasn't been so ever since we returned to the mansion. Lucas was in Chicago, meeting with some of the investors whereas Caspian had himself locked in his room. Mom was back in Texas, and the twins went to their grandparents (mother's parents). We were all scattered, and the frustration over the situation was torturing us. The news about the Salvatores reached my dad in London and he had been calling and texting me constantly. He wanted me to leave them and come back to London. I almost laughed when he suggested that, but I controlled myself and told him that I would pay a visit soon.He wasn't satisfied with the answer, so I reminded him that I was an adult and he couldn't force me to leave. That shut him up for the moment, and I hung up the phone soon after. He had been texting me ever since, apologizing and asking me if
The Salvatore mansion didn't feel like home anymore. As I walked through the mansion once again, I felt the same way I did the first time—cold and out of place. The strange environment loomed around me, and with each step I took inside, I sensed a profound emptiness, the lingering ghosts of everything that had happened. Perhaps we changed while we were in the safe house, or maybe it was the mansion that had endured too much destruction in a very short period of time. The mansion was still recovering from the nightmares, and the gloom was maybe its way of narrating the pain. Not long ago secrets had been unraveled, trusts were shattered between the family members, and blood was spilled in the very entrance hall I was standing inside. In just a month, it was just a house again—not a home like it used to be. The brothers felt the changes, too; it was apparent on their faces. They could hear the silence everywhere inside the house, and the winds of winter that seemed to fill every c
Caspian barely slept in a week and it was showing. None of us really got any sleep, but it was a little different with Caspian. The lack of sleep wasn't the only reason for the permanent exhaustion in his eyes like us, it was the weight of everything he was letting press down on him—crushing him, consuming his thoughts. It had been a whole week since the news about Derek's involvement in the money laundering was aired all across the country. Everything had only gotten worse after that. The Salvatore name was plastered across every news outlet—big or small. Everyone had their own take on the case, be it the editors of the Washington Post or The New York Times, anchors from CNN or Fox News, and even the social media influencers who were reporting the controversy in the hope of getting views and likes.In no time it became one of the biggest scandals in recent times. And Caspian being the oldest, took it all upon himself. Although we knew it was the politicians and businessmen whose
The main purpose of us getting a safe house was to be safe, but the FBI made it feel anything but safe for us. The air inside the house felt suffocating to me, thick with an unspoken fear that we all felt, but none of us dared to voice. In the last three days, the FBI has visited us five times. The first day they took statements from us and collected evidence—the standard protocol—nothing more than that. We thought it was all, but Caspian warned us that it was just the beginning, and just like he said, they came back once again. This time they took our individual statements and cross-examined us. Since we were already prepared with our answers, nothing felt out of the ordinary. However, I noticed the way some of the officers were looking at us. They knew we were hiding something, but they had no proof. Caspian made sure that everything in the house was how it was supposed to be after Derek left. It was their sixth visit that day. The FBI agents sat across from us in the living ro
They weren’t kissing, but they were about to, I was sure of that. Matthew called just a few seconds ago, to update on the situation. It wasn't looking good for us and we needed to plan our next move. I went into the room Dev was staying to call them both so that we could discuss the problem and try to come up with a solution together. However, I didn't expect to catch them just as they were about to kiss. I saw the way Dev hesitated and pulled away from Kat when I pushed the door open, the way Kat looked utterly lost as if she didn’t know how to process what had just happened between them. I was heartbroken by that but hid my feelings because it wasn't the right time to have that conversation. Instead, I focused on my brother and noticed the slight flush on his face. His fingers were twitching at his sides like he was debating whether to reach for her again or not. And Kat… she was frozen. It looked like she hadn’t yet decided if what happened was a mistake or not.And for a secon
Kat was never mine to fall for, to hold, to kiss, or to even dream about. She was in love with Caspian even if she didn't realize it herself, or was too afraid to accept the truth. Everyone in the house knew it, and I tried to convince myself the same thing a thousand times, that she wasn’t mine to love, that she had never been mine. The moments that we shared together were the prize for the good deeds I'd done in my life. There couldn't be any other reason for someone as beautiful as her to be interested in someone like me. Someone who is predictable, obsessed with things that don't matter, and lacks any social skills. I had nothing to offer her and I knew I was just another fool caught in her gravity, nothing more. It wasn't her fault or mine, it's just the universe forcing the likes of me to orbit around her. Each one of us was attracted by her warmth and kindness at first but couldn't break free after because leaving her meant spending eons in darkness. In her heart, there ha
Silence filled the room as Lucas finally exhaled and nodded in agreement with Caspian. “I don’t like this plan,” he admitted truthfully, rubbing his temples. I knew it was a hard decision for him because he did blame Derek for the things that were happening to the family. And neither of us could disagree with him. We knew he was right, but the actual issue was Derek's safety. “But… I don’t want Dad in prison with Alaric either. You are right, Alaric would make friends inside if he didn't already have one.”“Not just Alaric, the politicians and businessmen whose names are on the list would also try to have Dad killed,” Harry added, scratching his head. “You know the legal system of our country, one can pay to get anything done. We have to find a solution for them too.”“True, they are going to be troublesome in the future,” Neel agreed with Harry, bringing another pressing matter in front of our eyes. They made many new enemies in order to get rid of Alaric from their lives. “We have