I chuckled at the venom in his voice. “Sandwich first.” Standing up, I reached out to him and helped pull him up. I used a little too much force and he wasn’t quite ready. Zach nearly fell forward but caught himself on the counter. “Jesus, how much strength do you have?” “I deal with a lot of bags of flour on a daily basis.” I pulled a stool out of the closet and set it up for him. Putting the sandwich on a plate, I cut it in half and slid it over. He smiled and took a half. Watching him take the first bite, he looked slightly surprised. After another bite, he narrowed his eyes. “This bread…” Chuckling, I leaned against the sink. “Took me two years to get the ratios right. It uses three different types of flours. I had tried different butters, different techniques for kneading, baking, and even resting but I managed to find the perfect recipe.” “Even France can’t compete with this.” “Have you been comparing everything you eat here to France?” He took another bite. “Maybe.”
I fell asleep around 12:00 a.m. after finishing cleaning up from the night’s festivities. Today was the Friday meet-up, so I got up before three in the morning to make extra bread and baked goods. Since coming back from New York, I was sleeping a max of 4 hours a night anyways, so it didn’t matter. By the time David showed up, I had three batches of four different baked goods already cooling. Not including tripling my bread batches. “Holy cow.” David placed a bag of flour on the shelf. “How long have you been up?” “Hours?” I laughed, brushing some hair out of my face. “Do you want a muffin to go with your coffee?” “You know I could never say no.” “Let me grab your coffee. Hold on a second.” I headed to the front and made his coffee. I already had warmed up the machines at around three-thirty, so it was immediately ready. Pouring the cup, I put the lid on it and placed a fresh muffin in a to-go container. Heading back, I saw David was placing two large bags on my counter. “What
We got to the cafe and Mike was already putting the chairs up on the tables. I opened the door for Zach, who was still carrying Elliot. “Uncle M! Look! My dad came to visit!” There was an imperceptible look that fell over Zach’s face, but Mike cracked a smirk before turning to Elliot. “That’s great, kiddo! Why don’t you head up and get dressed for tonight? Your mom and I need to get everything together.” “Okay!” Elliot dropped out of Zach’s arms and thundered upstairs. “The cakes are cooled and ready for frosting.” Mike ignored Zach. I sighed. “Do you know how much I love you?” “Too much.” Laughing, I hip checked him as I walked by to the kitchen, but he barely moved. “You know, if you didn’t lose those thirty pounds this month, I might have felt it.” “Cállate, pendejo.” [Shut up, asshole.] I yelled at him. He yelled back. “Estas enojada porque sigues casada.” [You’re mad because you’re still married.] I laughed. “El único que está enojado por eso eres tú.” [The only one who
The beach day had been chaotic. On more than one occasion, I had to step in before someone tried to give Zach a piece of their mind. Elliot, luckily, hadn’t noticed and had the time of his life. Running and playing at the beach, he ran circles around Zach. I only laughed. It felt good for once not being the one chasing him around. Ron had headed back early to the hotel, claiming he had a meeting he needed to get to in the morning. Elliot fell asleep in my arm around 9 p.m. after tiring himself out completely. I figured he would sleep in pretty late tomorrow, but it was always a coin toss with him. “Let me.” Zach stepped in and took Elliot from me as we walked home. I smiled as my little man snuggled into his father’s arms. Getting to the cafe, I unlocked the door and opened it wide so he could walk in. “I’ll make some coffee if you want to put him in bed. Just don’t forget Fitz, his unicorn. He’ll wake up if he doesn’t have him.” Nodding, Zach quietly walked up the steps and disap
He was quiet for a moment before he turned and picked me up in his arms. I squeaked as he walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Setting me down on the edge of the bed, he seemed a little lost as what to do next. Grinning, I took his hand and led him into the bathroom. Leaving a crack in the door, I turned on the shower. My hand went to pull off my shirt, but Zach’s hands were already there, pulling it off for me. He slowly undressed me. A blush ran across my face. No one had seen me naked since having Elliot. Zach took in every part of me with his eyes. He touched only what was necessary to remove my clothes. Once he was done, I reached up and helped him take his shirt off. He undid the button on his jeans, but I unzipped him and pulled them down. Smirking, I turned from him before he could say anything. Stepping into the shower, there was a long moment before I felt Zach step in behind me. I didn’t acknowledge him and just rinsed off all the sand from the day’s festivities.
My eyes slowly opened and I looked around the room. I was alone in the apartment. Rubbing my face, I reached over and grabbed my phone. I coughed when I looked at the time. It was 10 a.m. Scrambling out of bed, I pulled on some jeans and a shirt, quickly pulling my hair up. Thundering down the stairs, I slid into the cafe. “Well, look who decides to wake up.” Mike smiled from behind the register. “I’m sorry! I…” He shook his head. “You needed it. When was the last time you slept more that four hours?” “Years…” “Asshat and Ron left this morning with Elliot. They were going to a bookstore, I think. So go get the lunch sandwiches started. You don’t have to worry about anything.” Nodding, I smiled. “It’s weird not waking up with Elliot. After the lunch rush, I’ll head up and strap on my arm. It would take too long right now.” “Got it. I’ll make you a cup of coffee.” “Thank you!” I hopped into the kitchen, feeling more refreshed than I had in a while. I started building sandwiches
“So, Ron, Jacob, Anne, Elizabeth, David, his wife, and your dude…probably.” “Elliot wants to invite the girls over as well. So, add their parents if they want to come. Maybe Frank and his family?” Mike nodded, scrolling through his phone. “I’ll send out the invite. I already have the girl’s number from the last family day.” “Thanks.” Another knock on the door and Mike went out. He came back, followed by Ron and Zach. Elliot didn’t acknowledge either of them. Ron ruffled his hair, but Zach looked upset. “Hey kiddo, you alright?” Zach came up behind him and went to rub his back but Elliot moved away. “El…” I started but he huffed and grabbed his book. “I’m going to read.” Jumping out of his seat, he disappeared through the doors and I could hear him walk up the stairs. The door to the bedroom slammed shut and I winced. I held my cup of coffee tight in my hand. It started to shake until I finally couldn’t take the frustration. Throwing the mug at the cabinets, the ceramic shatter
“Mike, I don’t think Jacob knows.” I spoke up after we broke apart and I served everyone a glass of lemonade. “Knows what?” Jacob looked from me to Mike. Mike’s smile rivaled the Cheshire Cat. “I don’t believe he does. Should we tell him?” I hummed. “Maybe we show him?” Mike nodded. He went over to the shelf and grabbed the bag of French flour. I bit my lip from giggling. This was such a rare chance and it had me giddy. “This whole reason why we closed down today.” Mike set the bag down gently and caressed the top of it. Jacob came over and his eyes grew wide. “Fucking hell. Holy fucking hell. Make me a line and I’ll do it right now on the counter.” We snickered and I patted him on the back. “What should we do first?” “What shouldn’t we do? Bread? Cakes? Pastries? I mean…the possibilities!” Laughing, Mike slapped him on the back much harder. The three of us were what was left of our culinary class friends. This was a huge deal for us. Having access to this particular French f
Hello everyone! I know it's been a minute since I've updated on the things going on. I just wanted to update those who enjoyed my writing that I also have a new story I am writing called The Rogue Kings. It's currently being updated and I know fans of Alpha Desmond and of this story, which it's emotional pressure points, will enjoy the new one. It's a stand alone werewolf book, that will actually be in two parts. However, it won't be separated into different stories but all one. I chose to mark it as a more mature story since the themes and the things that happen within the story will be strong emotionally. I really hope you guys will check it out. I think it is one of my bigger undertakings and has been a labor of love that I've been working through for a while. Rrecently, I've been hit one after the other with health issues. The last of which I was out for two weeks with covid + pneumonia and landed myself in the ER. I was already in a compromised state but here we are. I'm slowly
I thought it was my father shaking hands with people as they walked in, but I realized that there was no grey hair. I was looking at Adrian. Evie touched my arm, and the metal was cold. It jolted me to glance at her and there was a concerned look on her face. “Sorry. I saw Adrian for a second.” I whispered in her ear. “Why do you look like you saw a ghost, then?” I looked down at her, my lips pressed together in a thin line. “Because I thought he was my father.” Her eyes widened and then she nodded. The grip she had on my arm tightened and we waited in line for the final photo to be taken. Walking in front of the logo, I stood with Evie close to my left side. Rissa was in my arms, and Elliot between us. I hadn’t spoken to my father since the night I told him I was done. He had tried to worm his way back into the company and bring his Mafia influence with him. At first, I was able to fight alongside Adrian until my father started to give Adrian something he always wanted, recognit
***Three years later*** “Honestly, I don’t know how I agreed to this. You know I don’t do this shit anymore.” I huffed, looking in the mirror. “One, it’s for charity. A charity that we frequently work with and help out. Second, your brother is actually putting this on. You haven’t seen him in two years, Z. It’s getting ridiculous.” Sighing, I shook my head. “I have a reason for that, Evie. It’s not all going to go away.” “I get that, Z but he is still your brother. You help him from the shadows and he doesn’t even know. It’s ridiculous. Just confront him.” “At a charity event with a red carpet and all the kids there.” Evie let out an exasperated growl. “For fuck’s sake, Zachary Anderson, grow up. I swear to god.” “Mom! Fuck is a bad word!” “Then why did you say it, Elliot?” She called back. “Shit!” I looked out the door. “Elliot!” He chuckled. “Sorry, Dad. Rissa is ready, as am I.” I walked out, rolling my shoulders and adjusting my sleeves. It had been so long since I dr
Evie was waiting for me at the elevators, behind the row of security so that none of the reporters could sneak onto the upper floors. I lifted Elliot up and held him, also reaching out for Evie’s hand. We entered the elevator and Jason raced in. He shook his head. “That was ridiculous. I can’t believe you just decided to chill with the reporters.” Shrugging, I stole a kiss from Evie. “I’m enjoying this…being relaxed. If I could have shown up in jeans without the stock market plummeting, I would have.” “It absolutely would have dropped by ten points at the very least.” Jason laughed as he pressed two different buttons and the elevator started to rise. He turned, holding his hand out to Evie. “It’s nice to meet you. It’s been a crazy few weeks but I feel like we are friends already. Especially if you have the patience to handle him.” Jason nodded in my direction. I tightened my hold of her hand but eventually she shot me a glare and pulled it out to shake his hand. “You as well. I
While Stacy, Elliot, Evie, and I drove together, Stacy and I went in the back way to the office, meeting up with Jason and his full security team. Evie would enter through the front and find a space to watch the press conference. Elliot wanted to see it, since I refused to tell him what was going on in the company beforehand. He had asked his mom multiple times to check her phone to see the stock prices of A.A.W., as he called it. Taking a deep breath, I pulled up my talking points on my tablet, choosing to not go with a prompter because it just seemed silly. Adrian was worried about it, but he just wasn’t used to being in the limelight. Not while I was around. Looking around, I tried to find Adrian, but he wasn’t anywhere. “Where is he, Stace?” “I don’t know! I called Nicole but she said he left at six in the morning, and she hasn’t heard from him either.” Cursing, I looked at my watch. We did not have time for this. We were supposed to go out in five minutes. I wanted to go over
I looked at myself in the mirror. It had been a while since I was in a full three-piece suit and tie. It felt uncomfortable. I looked like my father. Sighing, I asked to see another tie. The associate disappeared and I wondered where Stacy was. Usually, she was my style compass when it came to these sorts of things. All I wanted to do was to wear the jeans and button-up shirt that I had gotten used to lately. “If that’s what you are going with, I wonder if anyone will take you seriously.” My eyes widened and I whipped around, watching Evie walk toward me. She was smiling brightly and I nearly dissolve into tears right there. She was wearing dark jeans and a shirt with a band I didn’t know; her usual combat boots on her feet. Her hair was pulled up in a ponytail, no makeup, and she looked like the goddess I knew and loved. “Dad!” Elliot came running up and jumped into my arms. I caught him and planted a kiss on his cheek. He was wearing jeans and a dinosaur t-shirt with a backpack, h
A pin could drop and it would shatter the windows with the sound of it. Those who didn’t know, their mouths were wide open. Those who did were smirking. I lifted up my hand and spun the ring around my finger. How it still managed to fit perfectly still boggled my mind. I always meant to ask Evie more about her father, but she wouldn’t say much about him. I always figured it was still a loss she felt deeply. She had more time with her father than I did with my mother, but he was also all she had. He was a single father and that made him all the more important in her life. Looking up, I smiled. “Jennifer, have you ever been to Greece?” “Once or twice.” “There is an island, Zakynthos. My parents have a summer home there, it’s lovely. The beaches are beautiful and it’s just an all-around experience. I went there for three weeks for my honeymoon, and it was spectacular. I would highly recommend it.” Jennifer spit out the wine she was drinking, coughing slightly. I looked over at my pare
Pulling up to my parent’s house, I sighed. Stacy and Jason were also with me, since they had been added to family dinners long before they entered the company. Waiting for a moment, I stared up at the looming shadows of the house. “Zach, you okay?” Stacy put her hand on my arm. I nodded, but didn’t look back at her. “There are two ways I can play tonight. One, I can be straightforward and upfront with them. Explain everything as best I can and just walk out of there. Step up to my father man to man and have an adult conversation with him.” Jason snorted. “Please. You fucking hate the man. You could never just sit and talk with him.” Smiling, I looked up at the two of them. “Or I can go in there and throw everything in their face. I can make the biggest scene I can and show them I don’t care about anything they say.” “At this point, I think balls in is the only way to go. They destroyed you, destroyed your happiness. I think it’s time they get a taste of their own medicine.” Jason
Stretching, I leaned back on the couch in my old office. Adrian had taken over the office already and all my stuff had been sent to the office in LA. It had been chaos for the past three days. Projects getting moved and adjusted while debriefing Adrian on all of them. The lack of their CEO didn’t seem to be part of the talk. It was mostly that Adrian was now going to all the meetings. My father had noticed it too, but I just brushed him off. My phone buzzed and I looked at the caller ID. Brow furrowing, I stood up and walked over to the window. I leaned against them and held up my phone at eye level, answering the video call. “Evie?” “Dad!” A smile filled my face as I saw the bright look from my son. He seemed like he was sitting on the bathroom floor from the background. “What are you doing with your mom’s phone?” “She won’t notice. She is talking with Uncle M. I said I was going to read.” Sighing, I shook of my head. “It’s not good to lie to your mom and sneak around, Elliot.