Leilani
Neil knocked on Adonis’ bedroom door again.
My heart started to beat a slow rhythm of dread. Oh god, Neil can’t see me in here! Does he know I’m here? Did he come for me? My skin had gone cold with trepidation. This is really bad. My wide-eyed gaze darted to Adonis. He was staring down at me, face impassive.“Adonis? I hope to hell you’re fucking not naked cos I’m coming in!” Neil called out, voice muffled by the thick door.I froze.But not for long, because one of Adonis’ large hands grabbed my arm, completely encircling it. Then he pulled me towards the bathroom and nudged me in.“Stay.” He said, nailing me with those intense eyes of his before closing the bathroom door. He didn’t need to tell me, because I definitely had no intention of not staying.My entire body was stiff with fear as I clenched my hands tighter around the shoes in my grip. How did I get myself into this type of situation? Hiding from my fiancé in a man’s bathroom? Only cheats do that. Am I a cheat? Am I cheating on Neil? Of course, I’m not! I only came in here because I thought there were no towels in here! I only came here because I wanted to make our guest comfortable.Then why are you hiding?My conscience hit me with a question that struck like lightning. Shame burned my cheeks in realization. I really had no reason to hide. I could just play it all off and Neil would believe me because I am telling the truth. Right?Sucking in a deep breath, I moved towards the door, quietly placing my palms on it and pressed my ear on it, trying to catch whatever they were talking about on the other side and failed.Closing my eyes briefly, I stepped back and waited.A moment later, the door swung open and I instinctively froze, expecting the worst. But it was Adonis standing in the open doorway. He was thankfully wearing pants this time. His silver ear studs glimmered in time with something in his dark eyes as he regarded me thoughtfully. My face burned in shame but my pulse steadied in relief when I realized that Neil was gone.Without a word, I walked past him and back into the bedroom, met with the sight of my once neatly folded towels dumped carelessly on a couch. I walked to the couch and sat on it, quietly putting my shoes back on. I had taken it off so Neil wouldn’t hear the click of my heels. But I’m sure as hell not going to walk out there with my shoes in my hands like a teen girl. This is so embarrassing.I felt rather than heard Adonis move towards me. “Leilani, you had no reason to hide.”I moved my eyes to look up at him, ignoring my burning cheeks and the flips in my belly as I drank in his handsome face. “Well, you hid me.”One dark eyebrow of his arched beneath soft strands of damp dark hair. “You were losing your shit. If Neil walked in here to see you so panicky, he'd definitely jump to fucking conclusions.” His eyes suddenly gleamed. “Besides, you fucking took off your shoes, intending to hide immediately you heard his voice. Just as a guilty girlfriend would.”Righteous indignation rose in me. “I am not guilty of anything.” Liar. “I was here for a reason but you were here looking so unexpectedly indecent and if Neil walked in to see me in here with you looking like that, he’d overreact.”A knowing masculine smile curved his lips. “I just stepped out of the shower. I could’ve as well been naked.”His deep sensual voice saying the word naked made my pulse skip.I have to get out of here.Sighing, I got up to my feet and gathered my towels, moving towards the door, feeling his gaze following me. As I reached the door, I pulled it open and stepped out, turning to look back at him.He was still standing in that same spot, mouthwateringly shirtless with an unreadable expression on his gorgeous face.“Your breakfast is waiting,” I said softly and shut the door. As I turned to walk down the hallway, the last words I said to Adonis suddenly replayed in my mind, this time, with a totally naughty meaning.*
“Babe, where were you?” Neil asked face shadowed in concern as I walked up to him. He had been standing next to his car outside the garage, his phone next to his ear.When I got to him, he cupped my face, eyebrows furrowed.“I was in the laundry room.” I gave a small smile. He only stared blankly. “Feminine problems,” I added.His eyes lit up with understanding. “Oh.” Then he chuckled.My heart ached. It hurt to see him fall for my lie, really.“You didn’t finish breakfast. Have something to eat, okay? I gotta get going now.” He said, pulling me closer.“Hm-hm.” I nodded and he leaned down to kiss my lips tenderly. Then he leaned away, giving me that dashing smile that I had grown to love. I was immediately hit by a truckload of guilt. This man loves me and here I am blatantly lying to him. I hated feeling guilty, so I grabbed him by the collar and pulled him down to meet my lips. I kissed him. I kissed him like that would ease my guilt. I moved my lips against his familiar lips and he reciprocated eagerly, snaking his arms around my waist to hold me closer to him. Neil knew exactly how to kiss me to get me craving for more. And so he did, raising my chin with his hand.But soon, I had to break the kiss to catch my breath and I met his shining blue eyes as I pulled away. They were filled with emotion.“Fuck. I’m ditching work, babe.” He said gruffly.I laughed, smacking his shoulder. He grinned at me. Wriggling out of his arms, I raised a playful eyebrow. “No, you’re not. Bye.”He chuckled and opened the door of the car. “See you, beautiful.”I watched him get in and drive away, the exterior of the car glinting under the morning sun. Then I released a sigh. What the hell am I doing?Leilani‘Iris, I’m in love with you.’Those words rang loud and clear in my mind as I hurried as far away from there as I could manage with tears pouring down my reddened face. I had heard their whole conversation. And he had said those words. Those words that I was dying to hear him say, those words that meant so much, so much to me… he had finally said them.But to another woman.My heart was physically searing up with pain at this point, and I just could not see the point of life anymore. After all of this, everyone left me all alone and abandoned. He is leaving. With Iris. I would never see him again. The memories were all I had, and they were like scalding hot coals burning everywhere they landed on my mind. It did not matter now that Freya was dead and Brooke was in jail. I had lost everything.They won.I stumbled out a set of glass doors, and out into the open, only to
One week later.Leilani“I am so glad that you are well enough to leave the hospital, now.” Belle smiled at me eagerly, as mom and Ashley packed my stuff into bags so they could take me home, since I just got discharged. My face was permanently set in a flat expression, and I just stared at the wall like I have done for days now, not bothering to say a word in response.Ashley muttered to Belle. “She has not said a word to anyone ever since she saw Adonis in the ICU. I am worried about her mental health.”I could not bear listening to them talk about me like I was not even there, so I got up from the bed and moved out of the ward, randomly walking around hallways and down stairs like a fucking lunatic. I lifted my hand to wipe the tears which now poured out randomly, anytime they liked. The first time I thought I was experiencing heartbreak, it’s nothing compared to what I was feeling now.
LeilaniI shot up from the bed with a gasp, eyes flinging wide open while the heart monitor began to beep drastically. I recognized that I was on a hospital bed, but my soul, my mind and heart were going insane to know what had happened to Adonis. I had collapsed like a pathetic weakling instead of helping Iris get him out of the wreck.“Leila?”I tore off the tubes connected to my hands and flung my legs off the bed, feeling the hospital gown drag down against my skin. I was hurriedly disconnecting all the shit that had been attached to me, while someone kept calling my name. “Leila?! Nurse! She’s awake- Leila!” I got up from the bed, but I was hit with a wave of dizziness so hard that I fell back on the bed, unable to even see clearly. Arms held me, and I tried to resist, muttering hoarsely. “A-Adonis… I need to see…”“She’s still disoriented. Pass me the
AdonisThe hostess was standing in the middle of the race track, a harsh white spotlight bathing down on her as she placed one hand on her hip, her skimpy leather clothes shining under the light. She let out a wicked grin, “READY!”The crowd had simmered down, eagerly watching, hundreds of eager eyes straining to catch every tiny bit if the action. Engines revved. Breaths slowed. Gloved hands gripped harder. Boots inched down on the accelerator. Adrenaline spiked. Heartbeats pounded. She raised her other hand, holding a red flag, slowly bracing her legs in stripper heels apart for more balance. My eyes followed her movements like a hawk, ready to fly the moment she brought that flag down.The race track was some kind of very dangerous road with sharp bends and ugly surprises, and like any illegal race, there was no fucking way to monitor whatever the racers do once they speed out of here.
I spread my arms and shifted to shield Cora away completely. “You’ll have to hurt me first, Freya.”She sighed. “Neil. I thought we already made some progress in our relationship as mother and son? Why are you taking her side after all that we discussed? Remember, you came to me, broken and destroyed and I welcomed you with open arms and helped you deal with all these problems-”“Problems that you planned?!” I yelled, the tendons on my neck straining against my skin. “You just fucking murdered someone right in front of me! So, it was you all along. How could you be so disgusting to make a sex tape of anyone, no matter who they are! How could you give Tina, a fucking psychopath, the power to destroy my honeymoon and shoot some shit up my neck? I thought Tina was crazy, but you are a fucking lunatic who should be locked up in that hospital forever!” I snarled. Cora whispered behind me, &ldqu
NeilI had experienced the three stages of severe emotional devastation these past few weeks. Pain. Sadness. Rage. But tonight, I just realized that I had slipped into a stage that was more destructive than the other three combined. And that was Numbness. I had gone cold. My heart had finally stopped feeling.From Leilani. To Adonis. To my fucking mother. They were all monsters, and I knew what to do now. I had gone back to Freya after I saw the sex tape, and she had gladly welcomed me… only to find out now that she orchestrated all of this in the first place. She was a fucking monster. I had struggled with accepting that fact all my life, and now it had forcefully sunk into my brain like lead.The night was bleak. Leilani was still missing. And I have been walking for fuck knows how long, with my hands buried in the pocket of my sweats, face thrown back to stare at the darkness above, my shirt drenched with cold sweat. Cor