JULIET POV The amount of tears I have shed in the last twenty-four hours is shameful. I don't even know who I am anymore. I'm a stranger in my own body, and all I want to do is escape. I'm certainly not the blabbering mess I've been ever since Farrah Moretti paid me a visit. I want to hate her. But I can't. She's only protecting her family, and right now, they need protection from me. I have the power to break their hearts the way mine is breaking right now. If only things were different. If only I was just a normal girl without any grudges and parents who weren't royally screwed up, we could have had a life together. I know it sounds crazy to think that I could have had a relationship with all three Morettis at once, but somehow, the idea doesn't feel bizarre to me. "Are you sure this is what you want to do?" Mai's eyes are downcast as I zip up my suitcase. "Maybe one day I can explain to you why I'm doing what I'm doing." I lift her chin, and the solemn look in
JULIET POV When I was on the West Coast for summer cheerleading camp, I'd walk on the beach and wonder what it would feel like if I just flung myself into the vast ocean. I've never swam in the ocean before, I've only been to the ocean once with the Millers on vacation, and I only ever put my feet in. So, one day, I mustered up the courage and walked into the water that had the power to extinguish my existence. I felt scared but free. I just stood there in the water waist-deep, and when a huge wave came, I did nothing. The wave washed over me and spun me around like I was nothing, the sound of being under water rumbling in my ears. That's what I feel like now. I don't hear anything. I'm underwater being tossed around like I'm nothing. "She's in shock." I hear someone say as if they're far in the distance, but they're standing right next to yet another hospital bed. Only this time, I'm not hurt apart from my previous injuries. "That is quite understandable."
JULIET POV Who the fuck am I? The agents asking questions about the shooting has left the room, leaving me with Henry and the other two from missing persons. And according to them, I'm a missing person. "I don't understand." I shake my head in confusion. I only found out recently that my father isn't actually my father, which means I'm not a real Monroe. I was even thinking of changing my surname to Whittle now that the triplets know of my true identity. I had nothing left to hide, but now I'm missing? Have I gone into a universe where everything I've ever known was a lie? The agent's eyes are kind as she nods at me. "When you came into the hospital after the hit and run, your blood tests went through the system, and it matched the DNA of two people who never gave up hope that their daughter was out there somewhere." My mouth drops open in shock, and I'm glad for Henry's reassuring hand on my shoulder because it's keeping me grounded. "But my mother...." I t
JULIET POV It feels like all of my organs are attuned to the two people standing in front of me. I never looked like Raquel Whittle. Now that this woman who is supposedly my real mother is standing in front of me, I can clearly make out the differences between me and Raquel. I'm almost the spitting image of the lady who had tears in her eyes and her hand in front of her mouth trying to reign in her emotions. Except for our eyes. Her eyes are a deep chocolate brown, but the man standing next to her has eerily the same color as mine. In Arcangelo's words, they're sky blue. The man I thought was my father was handsome, especially during the time he didn't drink so much. My real father, however, resembles a prince in his uniform. They are everything I never knew I wanted. All this time, I was wishing Raquel was alive when these people were out here all along. It's a cruel twist of faith that in all these years of me doing cheerleading, I never got hurt that I ne
ALONSO POV I've been so angry. It is an anger that I can't put into words. For the first time in my life, I opened myself up to the possibility of having a stable girl in my life. Someone I admired, someone I wanted to spend time with outside of sex. And I got royally fucked over. First, she fucked with my head by fucking with my brothers. I actually hit Alessi over her when we haven't fought since we were kids and never over a damn girl. The biggest betrayal of all came when our parents enlightened us she had an agenda all along. That stung the worst. And I blame myself for bringing her into our inner circle. The worst part is, I'm still looking for her. I don't know why. To confront her, perhaps? To look her dead in the eye so she can tell me she never really wanted to be with me, that she only used me to get to my family. But Juliet Monroe seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth. After the shooting in front of her dorm that made internationa
JULIET POV Tears run down my face as the car moves from the cemetery, and I look longingly out of the window at the three boys I know I have no intention to ever see again. "Are you okay?" Lilly takes her hand in mine and squeezes it supportively. She probably thinks I'm crying over Mai, but these tears aren't for her. I'm crying for what could have been. I could have had loving parents all along, but Raquel Whittle took that from me. Maybe me and the Moretti brothers were destined to meet each other somewhere in life, but because of Raquel Whittle, that is forever jaded now. I saw the anger in Alessi's eyes and the disappointment in Alonso's. And Arcangelo. He just looked so sad and forlorn that my heart physically bled, standing in front of them. Maybe if I wasn't so fixated on ruining the Morettis, I could have fallen in love with only one of them and not all three. Me leaving is the best thing for all four of us. Now everybody's life can go on, even though I k
ALESSI POV Life has become dull after the disappearance of Juliet Monroe. It's as if the life we were living wasn't good enough before she came into it, which I find so fucking stupid. We were good before her, we had goals and ambitions, things we wanted to achieve. The worst part is the betrayal. I knew the girl was bad news the moment I laid eyes on her, but not to the extent that she wanted to burn us. And burn us she did. Maybe not in the way she initially planned, whatever those plans were, but she certainly succeeded in breaking a little bit of our brotherhood. At night, when I close my eyes I still dream of the tightness and warmth of her pussy, I still hear the sounds of her moan as I was plundering her. I even tried hooking up with a girl who looked the total opposite of her, to try to forget about the impact she had on me, but I couldn't even get a hard-on. How completely fucking pathetic. My brothers aren't faring any better. Arc has been keeping himself b
I stand in the doorway of what would have been my bedroom if my parents had the chance to bring me home. It's artfully decorated in subtle pastel pink and creams, with the name Amelia in a neon sign above the headboard. "Is it too much?" I didn't even hear Lilly approach, and she leans on the other side of the doorjamb peering into the room. "People thought I was bat shit crazy for decorating this room every few years." "Why did you?" She smiles softly. "I wanted it to be ready for when we found you. I had no doubt in my mind you'd come back to me." The more I find out how I was loved before I was even born, the more I resent Raquel for stealing me. Now, I feel like an intruder with my own flesh and blood. "We can change the name to Juliet." "No!" I say quickly, making Lilly look at me with longing. "Leave it like that." I haven't been sleeping in this room. Instead, I'm sleeping in one of the generic guest rooms that looks like it belongs in a hotel. I haven't
ALESSI POV In my life, I have never seen something more perfect than my twin daughters. Love like I've never experienced before took a hold of me when these two tiny little girls were born. I've always been my brothers' keeper, the one with the solid head on his shoulders. I think those titles were just preparing me for this role. A father. "Are they supposed to be that small?" Alonso peers through the glass of the incubator. "Are they sick? Why are they in the baby growing thing?" Arc joins Alonso to peer through the glass to the perfection that is my daughters. "It's just procedure." I enlighten them. "They were born on thirty-seven weeks, but they're healthy and perfect." Utterly perfect. They look like their mom, but babies' faces change every single day. "Dude, you have to tell me how do I get Summer to marry me."I tell Alonso. He managed to bag Amelia, even with all the shit that was going on at the time. "You just ask her." He tells me without
AMELIA POV What was supposed to be the happiest time in my life has become one of the worst. Alonso is lying with his head in my lap, my fingers running through his hair as we're waiting for news from the doctors who are operating on Arcangelo. Bailey striked again. This time, she got caught, and her fucking parents can't get her out of this one this time. The shooting is on every social media site, it's trending on the internet. Videos are circulating around from fans. I feel so sorry for Lola. She's still wearing the dress she performed in, clutching Cassie to her chest as if she might lose her, too. They gave her something to wipe the blood from her arms, but there's a faint streak of it left on her cheek. The world would be a worse place if Arcangelo died. I kiss Alonso's cheek, and his eyes flutter open, sorrow in the swirl of green and brown. Alonso would not be the same person if he had to lose one of his brothers. They're all an extension of each other, and I pra
ALONSO POV I'm in seventh heaven. I know the bomb will explode very soon, but right now, I'm blissfully holding my wife in my arms as she's coming down from another orgasm. My wife. I fucking love the sound of that. It's not the way I wanted to do it. She deserves a big wedding with a designer dress and a big, fat diamond ring, and I promised her that I would give her all of that, but she said our wedding was the best. I thread my fingers through hers and kiss the diamond wedding band on her finger. I've already arranged appointments with jewelry designers for her engagement ring, and then I will do it the right way. "I fly out tomorrow afternoon with the team." I reluctantly tell her. "I want you there, but I also don't want you in the open where Bailey can easily get to you." She sighs and nuzzles her face in my neck. "I know. Maybe I'll arrange to see my parents while you're not here." "No!" I say definitely. "We face them together, I'm not sending you into the lion
ARCANGELO POV I must have died and gone to heaven. I have the girl I've been pining over up against a wall with her full, succulent lips eagerly moving under mine. She was a vision tonight in the elegant black dress with her dark curls spilling everywhere. Her lips were painted a fiery red that enticed me the entire time, and I just couldn't stop myself anymore. I tried being respectful because she has a child. My plan was to make her fall so irrevocably in love with me that by the time I did kiss her, she wouldn't be able to resist me. I wanted her to trust me implicitly, to make her feel that I would never let her down, that I'm solid. I hope I did enough because just this one taste of her is making me addicted, and I don't think I would be able to stop touching her now. She groans underneath my mouth, opening those lips like a flower, and I take that opportunity to plunge my tongue inside. She tastes like mint and desire, and a groan rumbles from my chest. I think I might
LOLA POV I don't exactly know what is going on with my life right now. It's like I'm in a twilight zone, part of a family in an instant. Arcangelo refuses to let me and Cassie go back to the label's apartment, and at first, I felt slightly awkward being at his parents' house, but everyone else handled it like it was completely normal. I understand that Alessi's ex-girlfriend apparently almost killed Alonso's girlfriend a few years back, so everyone who might be in danger right now has to stay here. But I'm not even his girlfriend. I'm just one of the artists he signed. Right? Wrong. I've never experienced anything that I feel for Arcangelo. The sexual tension is brewing underneath the surface whenever we touch. It's in the songs that we write together, in the way we gaze into each other's eyes when we think nobody is watching. Every night, after a big dinner, and I've given Cassie her bath and taken a shower, we climb into his bed. About an hour after when Cassie is f
ALONSO POV I can't believe one girl has the power to have all of us on our toes. I, for sure, never thought the sweet girl that we grew up with would turn out to be some obsessed psychopath. Apparently, Evan and Sammy Micheals have Bailey's son. They took her son from her when she was starting to talk about us again over the phone. My parents are pissed because they weren't even warned. Let's just say that the friendship between the Morettis and the Micheals would never be salvaged again. "What's with the security?" One of my teammates asks as we finish up at the stadium. "You good man?" Fuck, I love this team. We're new, and certainly the underdogs, but we're becoming a family. They've been concerned about me ever since the allegations of sexual assault. It's dfficult being in the public eye, and they all know how it feels to be under such scrutiny. "I'm good, but there's someone who's a bit too obsessed, just being cautious." "Be careful out there." He claps me on the s
AMELIA POV "Bailey Micheals has been sighted by Alessi Moretti yesterday." I hear the words coming out of my father's mouth, but it's like it doesn't register at first. I blink rapidly, trying to make sense of what he just said. "You said she would never set foot in this country again!" My mother jumps from her chair in front of my father's desk. "You promised!" "She didn't come in with her real passport. We're scouring security footage to try and see which airport she came through." My heart starts beating rapidly after it missed a few beats. Fear rushes through me in an instant. Bailey is going to kill me. "You don't have to worry about anything." Dad looks at me. "There's no way she'll be able to get to you here." Just another reason to keep me locked up in my gilded cage. I can't do this anymore. It feels like I'm going fucking insane. Even when I'm strolling in the garden, I can feel eyes on me like a hawk. I know I said that this is what I have to
ARCANGELO POV I'm in bed, and Bach is playing softly through the surround sound, but I can't fall asleep, my mind on the dark-haired petite beauty that is in my building. Lola is on my mind twenty-four-seven. She's the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning and the last person in my thoughts before I close my eyes. Working with her has been nothing but astonishing. We've been writing music about love, loss, happiness, hurt, and so entwined in our own little bubble that the assistants have to remind us to eat. I have never met someone who understands how I make music like she does. It's like she was always tethered to my soul, and I just had to find her in the cosmos. Even Cassie crept under my skin. She calls me her prince charming, and I'm not mad about it. I wonder what they're doing right now. Cassie is probably asleep already, maybe Lola, too. What would it feel like if they were here? Would Lola listen to classical music with me while I run my finge
ALESSI POV I feel slightly guilty for being this happy, but fuck, I can't help it. My internship is coming to an end. I still have the two-day assessment coming up before I'm officially a resident, but I've been working for this all my life. I'm prepared and ready. Then I have this gorgeous woman roaming my apartment with my babies in her belly. Granted, she's currently shooting lasers at me while I'm calmly sipping my coffee before I have to leave for my shift. "You don't get to decide if I work or not, Alessi!" Summer shouts at me, pink blotches appearing on her cheeks. "You're completely taking over my life! First my apartment, and now this!" I might have told her supervising nurse that she will probably have to hire another nurse soon, seeing that Summer might quit her job. "I was just thinking about the future." I shrug. "You're mine, and I have to take care of you. Carrying twins is not going to be easy on your body, you think you can work the shifts you do being se