It had taken Gabriel's cry of pain only a few seconds to reach Leonica’s ears. She snapped her head around, a little too fast than she would like, and instantly rushed to his side when she found him clutching the side of his head.“Gabriel, hey, are you okay?” She questioned, placing her hand on his shoulder to steady his body that looked like it was ready to turn rigid at any given moment from the wave of pain he was experiencing.“Hey, talk to me.” She nearly barked at his silence, not liking it for one second longer when he remained silent, groaning in the obvious pain that he was experiencing.what the h*ll was going on? Leonica thought, frantically searching his body, his face to be exact, for some sort of answer to her question.The answer of question soon surfaced itself. But instead of coming in the form of words, a signal of him being okay or something opposite, it showcased itself in the form of a folded, line marked Polaroid camera photo of Angelina, laying peacefully on th
“Mr. Bryce,” Will called out to Gabriel as he stood in place even after Leonica and Ashley had driven away.The smile that had once played on his lips when she spoke to Leonica had completely vanished, leaving him with a look that screamed focus as he tried to filter his thought, dig deeper than the rosy scent of Leonica that seemed to fill his head and Ashley’s tiny loveable voice, all in a bid to pin point the face that had flashes through his mind the moment the pain had hit.Even though he had seen the picture, the girl in it looked familiar yet distance and he got that one feeling that would always wash over him when he found himself in the highest length of the Eiffel tower, seating down and holding a video call with Lila where she made a show of the foods she had prepared while he was all the way in Paris.That distant homesick feeling that settled in his gut, but would soon be consumed by anger the moment he realizes he can’t get his hand on his grandmother’s precious cooking,
“Pricey sl*t?” Standing in front of Leonica’s gate with his hand on his hips, Leonardo read out loud the words that had been spray painted into the iron gate.what the h*ll was that meant to mean? He allowed himself to think even though he was aware that the person, or people that could answer said question had fled several miles away, seeking shelter from their apparent crime.He had been in the office, handling, well, officially matters, when he had first gotten the call from her, close to an hour back. Leonica had sounded calm and composed, so when she told him something had happened, he didn't chug it up to this much trouble.Tucking his hand into his pocket, Leonardo sighed, deep frown marring his features as he turned around to watch his sister saunter through the entrance of her house and towards him, having freshly dropped Ashley with Grace who had coincidentally came back from her visit to the main estate, not that she could be a suspect."That's some reputation you've built
"sh*t!" Leonica hissed and staggered back, swinging her hand in a bid to get rid of the burning sensation that the coffee had caused when it poured on her blouse, as well as her hand."Leonica, are you okay?" Anastasia was quick to rush to her side, checking on her even before the culprit could utter a word.And when he finally did, both head snapped his way. "Ms. Romero, are you alright?"Leonica squinted her eyes at the familiar male. Stuart Reeds, forced a smile, the gesture coming off as a twitch rather than the actual action."I'm sorry, I wasn’t minding where I was going, hope you aren't hurt?" He asked, the tone of his voice carrying a hint of nervousness."I'm fine, it was an accident." Leonica answered, ignoring the look of confusion she was getting from Anastasia who was beside her.Stuart watched as she tried, but failed, grumbling underneath her breath about how she now needed to go home to get a change of cloth."Perhaps, I could offer some *ssistance." He offered, gestur
“Pablo? Our bestest Friend?” The name glided of Gabriel’s tongue, sounding familiar to his mind that didn’t seem to recall memories from years he had spent with Leonica.Said girl nodded her head and gently sank to her kneels, arranging the flowers properly in front of the huge tree.“Who’s that?” He asked.“Our dog.” Came Leonica’s answer as she casted an expectant glance on Gabriel’s direction waiting for anything to show that he recalled the said dog she had just mention.When his expression went unchanged, the pressed her lips into a thin line and side, nodding along. “Yeah, didn’t expect much.” She muttered as she rose to her feet, dusting her dress.“We had a dog?” Gabriel asked, choosing to ignore the fact that she had called a Dog their best friend and honestly speaking, he was more of a cat person. “When?” He quizzed again after several minutes of silence had been spared to pay tribute to the long lost four legged creature and they soon began walking back in the direction of
Arvan had just seen to it that Daisy was put to bed by her nanny, for an early evening nap when he was informed that Leonica was at the gate waiting for his approval to be let in.He made his way down after doing so and went towards the main Hall. Along the way, he adjusted his dress and stopped a couple of times to fix his hair, momentarily contemplating if he should get a hair cut.By the time he had reached the hall, Leonica was already sitting on the sofa, her side profile facing him as she took in the beauty of his home.The moment he began approaching her with slow and calculated steps, Leonica took notice of him and glanced in his direction, a small smile adorning her lips."You're finally here." He greeted, stopping a couple of feet from where she sat.Leonica took one last look at his house before commenting. "A beautiful home you have here, Arvan.""Thanks." He said, flashing her a smile which she didn't hesitate to mirror. "So, about the files...""Yes." Leonica nodded and
"You're, his wife?" Leonica questioned, disbelief and surprise evident on her visage.The woman, Irene Rosewood, nodded her head proudly. "Indeed. Now who the hell are you?”The look of surprise on her face was soon replaced with one of bewilderment. The balls of this lady? Taking up such a rude tone when she barely knew her.Apart from their striking resemblance which Leonica found troubling, she really couldn't think of any other reason in the book why some such as her, a total stranger, should be so rude to her.Or, did she perhaps think that She had a thing with Arvan. Possible, seeing as his speech had gotten millions of views, but the thought alone, despite the fact that Said man had confessed to her less than an hour ago, made Leonica chuckle."Is something funny?" Irene asked, her lips set in a hard line."Not really," Leonica answered, chuckling at her. "You see, I've never seen anyone who'd have the audacity to take such a rude tone on a total stranger they barely know."Ire
Not much to Leonica's surprise, Owen had sauntered back to sleep the moment he opened his eyes and called her name. She managed to hoist him up, raising herself from the ground and successful making it over to the room this time around.However, just as she took a step away, Owen's hand wrapped around her wrist."Stay." He said in an almost pleading manner.She wanted to refuse the idea but was never one who was fond of the idea of leaving a sick patient unattended to."I'll behave, I promise. Just...stay."He sounded like a kid who was being threatened to take his naps and didn't want to sleep alone."Okay." She gave in, the look on his face weakening her defenses. "But I have to call Grace first and inform her.""Of course." Owen said with a weak smile, finally releasing her hand.Leonica pulled her phone out and dialed said housekeeper's number.And after letting her know the situation, placed her phone down. "There, done.""Good, now come here." Owen tugged at her again, patting t
Anastasia had fallen asleep after her call with Megan, only to be awoken to the sound of someone knocking on her front door.Reluctantly, she slipped out of bed and made her way towards the front door and without checking who was at the door, opened it.When her eyes landed on the person standing in front of her, her expression switched from surprised to angry, then back to surprise, because she had not expected to see her mother standing in front of her door after so long.“At times I want to believe that you’re blind to my call, but then I see you winning all these cases on national Television and realize, oh wait, my daughter does have eyes.” Pushing her way into Anastasia’s apartment, Fiona dropped her purse and coat on the chair and turned to face her daughter. “Give me one good reason why you’ve been avoiding my calls?”“Didn’t Mason pass along my message?” Anastasia questioned, closing the door and heading to the kitchen to pour herself a glass of water.While doing so, she did
Whatever dark, alcohol induced thought that had been roaming Anastasia’s mind was dashed the moment she gave Lloyd the pass code to her apartment and instead of doing anything when he arrived at her room, he simply tucked her underneath the duvet and sighed.“You’re really a case.” He mumbled underneath his breath, but she clearly heard it, and just as he was about to turn around and leave, she caught his wrist.“You’re leaving? You’re not gonna do anything?” She had blurted out the question before she could control her own words and in seconds, she wished for the bed to open up and swallow her.Gosh, why had she said that?The alcohol, yeah, it is as definitely the alcohol!“Do you want me to stay?” Lloyd’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “Do you want me to stay, Anastasia?” He repeated when she remained silent.Her grip around his wrist loosened and Lloyd nodded.Of course she didn’t want him to stay. That was simply the alcohol in her system talking.Swallowing the bitter pill, he
Lloyd’s words had instantly sent Anastasia’s heart into an overdrive. Without even needing to focus on it, she could feel her heart beating hard against her chest, shaken up by his words, his proximity and the look in her eyes.And it scared her.Not Lloyd, but rather the familial pounding of her heart and the fluttering in her stomach, because she knew it all too well and it was a feeling she feared.It was the same feelings that had caused her unfortunate relationship with Derek.Those memories flashed within her mind and before Anastasia knew it, she had paled.Lloyd didn’t fail to notice this and in seconds, his expression changed into concern. But before he could say anything, she had broken free from his hold and stood up, walking towards her door and holding it open.“Get out.” She demanded.Lloyd was surprised by the sudden shift in her attitude. Just a few seconds ago, she seemed pissed at him, now the look in her eyes made it seem like she was trying to be on guard against h
Shrouded by the darkness her office provided after lights out, with her eyes glued to the bright screen of her laptop, Anastasia replayed the CCTV footage she had gotten from Danco.She studied the man’s movement, how he had approached Logan, his face shaded by the black hoodie he wore. She paused the video during moments of their interaction, trying to read the lips of Logan.It was clear he rejected at first. He even looked appealed by the idea. But then his eyes suddenly showed the interest that had sipped into his mind after heading something that he hooded figure had told him.What could it have been? Anastasia wondered as she watched the part of their interaction where Logan had indeed offered the hooded figure payment, in the form of raw cash, but he rejected, handed the drive over to Logan and walked out.Smartly, the hooded figure had walked in the opposite direction waiting until the attention on his had lessened before he came back and entered the black car, which belonged
“What?” Anastasia blinked in surprise after hearing what Logan had said. “He didn’t request for any money?”“Yes. As a matter of fact, it seemed like he was doing it not out of crude or hatred, but rather obligation. At first I thought something was wrong, I tried refusing it, trust me, but he insist and before I knew it, that bastard had dumped the concept and vanished.”Anastasia brows knitted together more. This wasn’t at all in the file that Kareem had given her. In fact, going back to what he had told her when briefing her about the case, he said the employee’s motive for selling the concepts was because they had gotten fired and had a personal grudge against the company.But that wasn’t the case, at least not from both sides.“And did you tell your attorney this or-““Yes, I have. I even explained the whole goddamn thing to Riley when his lawyer dropped by yesterday, but he refused to listen. He thinks I’m covering for the employee.” Logan sighed. “Look, I’m telling you the trut
Anastasia sat in the chair farest from Lloyd, listening to all his assistant had decided to tell her about the situation.Yes, she had accepted the job. Why? Well it was simple, the pay. The money that was offered for her to handle this case was more than enough to buy her a whole island.Who was she to turn down such an opportunity. Most definitely not her and most definitely not because of someone name Lloyd Riley.“And that is the case.” Kareem concluded.“I see.” Anastasia hummed, nodding her head in the process. From all she had heard, learnt and was able to gather, the situation on ground had come about because of an employee who had stolen confidential files from the company and took it to a rivalry company, selling it off.But the rivaling company, either they were not smart enough to change the concept of what had been sold to them or that they purposely wanted to rub the fact that they had gotten hands on L.R co’s latest concept.Either way, it was a stupid move and Anastasi
Lloyd woke up the next morning to find the bed beside him cold and empty. His brows furrowed and as he sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, his mind recalled the events from last night yet Anastasia was nowhere to been seen.Did she leave? He wondered.He looked around, and his eyes landed on a piece of paper on his bedside table.Lloyd frowned and picked the note up, his eyes skimming through the words written on it.Last night was great, but I could have gotten better. I left some cash to thank you for your service. Hope we don’t ever cross paths again, Lloyd Riley.After reading the message, Lloyd’s eyes quickly found a thousand dollar bill placed on top of his wallet and he chuckled.“Is this a fucking joke?”Did Anastasia take him as a sex worker? Or did she think he was a prostitute?And she even had the balls to tell him that she hoped they were crossed paths again.He shook his head, still finding it funny that she’d leave a message like this.“Oh, Anastasia, you’re so cut
“Lloyd Riley, I’ll make this a night for you to remember.”It was like a promise, or maybe even a declaration, but regardless, it was one Anastasia was determined to keep and she knew just how to do so.Over the course of years, she had dealt with boys like Lloyd, players, the call themselves. They waltz into your life, mess up your emotions and end up using you as a one night stand.Anastasia’s first experience at that had been painful, so right now, as she walked back to where she and Lloyd had been seated, she wondered how Lloyd would feel if the tables were turned on him.“You done?” Lloyd asked as she took her seat from across him, fingers curling around the glass of her whiskey.“Yes. The bathroom here didn’t really have much to offer.” She flashed him a smile, deciding to move on to her plan rather than delaying an further. “So, do you have any plans after this?” She asked, placing the tip of her glass on her lower lip and looking at Lloyd through her lashes.He narrowed his ey
Standing in front of the mirror, Anastasia sighed, a frown etched onto her face as she checked herself. For a second, she debated whether or not she could pull off the outfit she was wearing.Her usual dress code, always having had the mindset of a lawyer and boss woman, was a simple jumpsuit or trousers and a blouse. But tonight, she had decided to switch things up.Tonight, she was wearing a knee length, skin tight dress, a dress that was cut at the front, revealing the bare skin of her thigh. Her hair, usually held up in a messy bun, was free flowing down her back, her lips a deep shade of red and her eyelashes long and luscious.As she stood there, checking herself, her mind began running wild.Why had she agreed to a date with Lloyd? What the fuck was she thinking?She shook her head, this for sure, was going to turn out to be chaos.Being ripped away from her thought by the sound of her door bell ringing, Anastasia decided to lock up her worries in the back of her mind and appro