Lilly.“You can pretend in front of Jake,” Leah said with a wide smile on her face. “But we can see right through you. You want to go talk to that man.”I chuckled, shaking my head. “That’s ridiculous. I don’t want to be anywhere close to that man.”I was lying, and the three of us knew it. I wanted to drop everything and go and have some drinks with Jake Rylland. His perfume was still lingering in the air and the image of that handsome face and hot body was stuck in my mind. Who, in their right mind, could refuse such a sexy man?Mary and Leah narrowed their eyes at me in a way that showed just how they did not believe my lies. “Okay, but I can’t be near him. His mother threatened me, remember? I don’t want trouble.”Leah looked around the bar. “I don’t see Carrie Rylland around here. Mary, do you?”Mary shook her head. “Nope. No sign of her, and I doubt she would expect her son to come here anyway. Someone already took a picture of him. Whether you meet up with him or not, you’ll p
Jake.I was left confused when Lilly ran away from me after us kissing. Damn, it had been the best kiss I’d had in a while and wished it had lasted longer. Sadly, I was interrupted because of my nemesis, Michael Strong. Michael was a forty year old man who ran a brewery and hated me because his fiancé had left him at the altar because of me. He made it his life’s mission to ruin my life. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was the one who hired Lilith to write about me. The coincidence made me quite suspicious. That I had been called about him when I was with Lilith actually raised my brows. Why did she run away when she heard his name? Was I falling into a trap? Had Lilith decided to partner with my nemesis to destroy me? The call was from one of my business partners Jamal Hansen who wanted to inform me that Michael Strong had just tried to buy off shares one of our partners. The man actually wanted to be part of my company. If he thought I was going to accept such nonsense, he w
Jake.The island was as exquisite as I remembered it, but there were a few improvements here and there. The island was fairly small. A fairly large percentage of it was covered in vegetation. There were a few small houses scattered all over it, but at the centre was the most important part of it. There was a large two story building with white walls and a bright green roof. It was surrounded by other small houses of the same colour. The resort had all the necessary amenities and was where most of the action took place. From above, I could see that the weekend party had started. It was dark but there were bright lights everywhere. There were many people in the square behind the main building dancing to loud music, drinking, swimming, gambling and indulging in many other times of fun. My colleagues shouted as the jet started going down to land. Almost everyone inside was tipsy. As soon as the jet landed, we all tumbled out and left the steward to take care of everything.We were alread
Lilly.“Kyle’s here?” I asked, my heart starting to beat faster. Leah placed her phone on the couch and stood up. “They’ve just sent me a message that they’ve reached. I can hear them.”“Shit,” I leapt from the couch and started grabbing my phone and purse. “Don’t let them know I’m here.”“I already told them.”“Tell them I’ve left,” I said, hurrying off. “Will be in your room.”A few seconds later, I heard the door opening and new voices.I hoped they would not realise that I was still around. Ever since my drunken one night stand with Kyle, I’d been avoiding him. I had neither picked his calls nor answered the messages he’d sent me countless times. I had never done something like that and I didn’t know how to deal with it. Could we really go back to being friends like nothing had happened?A few minutes later, I heard a knock and my heart leapt to my throat. I stayed silent, pretending that I had not heard anything.“Lilly, I know you’re in there.” it was Kyle’s smooth voice. I ros
Jake.Now that I was back from the getaway, my life felt empty. It was Sunday evening. My mother and heather had gone to the country club and the house was very quiet. It was what I always liked but for some reason, it didn’t feel quite right that day. It was like I did not want to feel along anymore.Going away from the city had not removed the issue that weighed heavy on my mind. It had merely distracted me from it. When I was there, I forgot all about home and Lilith Hellman. I busied myself with my friends and Ashley Kendall, who had been great company. Unfortunately, all we had was sex and I did not feel like seeing her anymore. The fact that she lived in New York was not very pleasant for me. There was a chance that we would run into each other. Now that we had formally met, I could not just ignore her if we found ourselves in the same location.Eventually, I couldn’t stop myself. I dialled Lilly’s number. The call went through but she did not pick. What was going on her mind?
Lilly.I was fool, the biggest fool in the world. I had fallen for Jake’s trap all over again. This time it had been so well played that I actually believed he was saying the truth. When was I going to understand that Jake could never be the one for me? When would I get into my stupid mind that I was too average for an accomplished man like him? His world and mine was so different. With all the beautiful women he could have, why would I think that I, a mere reporter with nothing to her name, could capture his heart or one of any man like him? The foolishness had to stop. The taxi driver seemed to sympathise me even without saying anything. I was pretty sure he was wondering why I had even dreamed something like being with a man like that. I refused to get out when we reached my apartment building. “Hey, I have to work. Get out, lady.”“Please wait,” I said and pulled out my phone. I dialled Kyle’s number. Thankfully, he answered.“I’m sorry for what I said,” I told him.“You don’t
Jake.It had been a week and I had not heard from Lilly. She had blocked me so I couldn’t call or send message her. Before I met Lilith Hellman, I had never been that bothered about a woman not wanting me. It had always been so easy for me. There were so many beautiful women who wanted me. All I had to do was just pick my flair of the month. They were still there, always on standby, wiling to satisfy each and every need of mine. Now, for the first time in my life, I wanted one specific woman and thought I couldn’t be happy without her in my life. I was pvssy whipped, as Johnny would say. I had always made fun of my friends who fell in love with certain girls and acted like those were the only girls in the universe. I had no idea how it felt like.Now, I was beginning to understand them. There is a way your soul can just pine for this one person. When everything about this one person makes you smile. You could just think of their name and find yourself smiling happily. At first, I tho
Lilly.Things did not remain the same after Jake left. As soon as he was gone, Kyle changed from sweet to monster in seconds.“What the hell was that man doing here?” he yelled.I was confused because I didn’t expect him to react like that. From the time we had started dating, he had been sweet and nice to me, never yelling or making a bad comment.“He wanted to talk,” I said.Kyle tilted his head and took two steps forward. “Since when are you and Jake Rylland on talking terms?”“We’re not. He’s the one who wanted to talk to me. Why are you overreacting?”“I want to know everything that happened between you two,” he said. “When I asked you if you hated him, you got so defensive. That means there’s more than meets the eye. I’m your boyfriend now so I deserve to know everything.”“I don’t have to tell you anything about Jake. If anything happened between me and him, it was way before you were in the picture. There’s no reason why I should tell you each and everything I have ever done i
LillyIt was a beautiful, sunny afternoon in the pack. The birds were chirping, the flowers were blooming and we were was strolling along the winding path. Jake and I were enjoying the serene ambience and talking about the future. We approached a fountain and I stopped walking to observe it.Suddenly, Jake dropped to one knee.I gasped.“Lilly,” he said, looking up at me, “You’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever known. You make me happier than I ever thought possible and I can’t imagine spending the rest of my life without you. Will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?”My eyes welled up in tears and I took his hand, helping him to his feet.“Yes, yes. I will marry you.”He slipped the exquisite ring on my finger.“I promise to always love and cherish you, and to make you the happiest woman in the world,” he said, kissing me softly on the lips. We then embraced before devouring each other’s lips. It was only after we pulled apart for air that I saw a photographer and my friends a
Lilly.I nervously clutched my bad as I walked through the white corridors of the station. I was led to a small, windowless room. I sat down at a table and waited, my heart pounding in my chest. After a few minutes, Jake was escorted in by a guard. He looked tired and pale but still fairly good.“Hey,” I said, trying to sound casual.“Hey,” he replied, his voice barely above a whisper.We sat in silence for a while.“I didn’t do it,” he finally said. “I could never do that to my own mother. She was driving me crazy but not once did I think of killing her.”“I’m sorry about what happened.”“Do you believe me?”“I don’t know. I find it hard to believe most of the things you say.”“I’ve never lied to you.”“You said you loved me.”“I love you. I never stopped.”“But when we broke up, you ran off with another woman. Anyway, that doesn’t matter. I just wanted to… I don’t even know why I’m here. Whether you killed your mother or not is not my business.”“I did not kill her. I’m many things
Lilly.“Johnny Knightley,” I said. Leah was watching me in silence as she ate an apple. “That’s the man who fooled me. He made me fall in love with him and ruined my life.”“Are you surprised? He’s Jake’s best friends. Birds of the same feather blah blah blah.”“How did I not know about him all that time I was doing my research? I get that he was away in some small town but I’m really surprised that his name did come up.”“He has a nice name, actually, better than Ian.”“That’s not helping.”“I pity that beautiful girl. Imagine falling in love with such a person.”“Well, maybe she’s as stupid as I am. I mean, I fell in love with the one who started the plot. Johnny was just helping his friend out, but Jake created the idea.”Seeing Jake and Johnny so happy had opened the wounds that had been just about to heal. When I saw them, I felt so much pain that I couldn’t stop myself from lashing out even though I knew my boss was right outside. I had thought Athena would be mad when she found
Jake.Although my father and I lived in the same city, we never spent a lot of time together. We did not have a lot in common. He was not very business savvy and had little interest in running the family business which was why he couldn’t wait for me to become old enough to handle everything. As soon as I took over, he decided to move to a quiet area in New Jersey and continue with his scientific research. I liked to think of him as a mad scientist. One of the reasons I didn’t like being around him was that he was always talking about science. After separating from my mother, he met some science teacher of his age and they started living together. They were both crazy about science since they even had a lab at home. Since my mother was driving me crazy, I had decided to go and see him because he was the only one who could understand what I was going through. He was the man who had married the devil, so he had idea what being a son of the devil was like. “I don’t understand why you
Jake.Johnny had been right. The sandy haired woman with wide and sharp eyes was quite the looker. The photo I had seen before did not do justice to her in a way. She was way more beautiful and warm in person, especially when wearing a casual red dress and heels. Her hair fell down the sides of her face in beautiful curls and her smile could melt the coldest heart. Had I met her first, I would have totally taken her.But Katarina Hayes belonged to my friend Johnny Knightley. Johnny and his beautiful girlfriend had decided to come to New York for a vacation. He also wanted to show her everything the big apple had to offer. As his best friend, I was one of those things. I was happy because they had come at a right time when I really needed a friend. Everything was driving me up the wall. Now that my best friend was back, I was starting to feel better.“So Katarina, do you see yourself living her or do you like your town better?” I asked. Katarina smiled. “That’s a hard one. I like my
Jake Some years back, I arrived at my first ever apartment, not far from the University of New York where I was to study. A lot of my high school friends had joined the same university and I had lived in New York my whole life so it was not a big change. It was like being home away from home. The only difference was that I was nineteen and had a kind of freedom that my parents had never allowed me before. I could do whatever I wanted.At Castle apartment building, I met James Milner. James Milner was your typical jock. He looked like those thirty something year old men who play teens in movies and series. He had a muscled body, pretty face and was the quarterback of the football team. My family was rich, but James’ family was crazy rich. While we were of new money, he came from old money. The riches had been in his family for generations and generations. James did not have to work for anything. James was in his last year of college, older than me but he took me under his wing. We qu
Lilly.“I think someone is stalking me,” I told Leah a week later. I had just sat down at the diner where she had been waiting for me after leaving work early. Walking from the office to the diner, I had felt that someone was watching me. Even in the morning when I arrived at work, I had felt it. I called the officer in charge of Kyle’s case and he confirmed that Kyle was still behind bars. “Are you serious?” She asked before closing the book she had been reading and placing it on top of the table. I glanced at it before turning back to her.“Yeah.”“Are you sure you’re not worrying too much about Kyle?” she inquired. “Maybe it’s the stress making you hear things.”I shook my head. “I don’t think so. I’m very sure that someone is following me.”“Who do you think it could be? Kyle’s still in jail, right?”“Yeah.”“Maybe Mrs. Rylland is having you followed. Maybe she found out about your little tryst with Jake.”I looked around the diner. None of the people inside it looked suspicious.
Ashley’s POVOf course I was not pregnant. I had made some stupid decisions in my life, but I was not that stupid. I only lied to Jake out of boredom, to see what he would say. I needed an excuse to see him and possibly seduce him. Since I had slept with almost everyone in my circle, I needed fresh meat.The door opened and Richard Eyck walked in. He was a 60 year old real estate billionaire I had been in and off and on relationship with for some time. What I liked most about him was that he never cared how much of his money I spent, as long as I gave him what he wanted. The best thing was that he always finished so fast.“Hey baby,” he said.I faked a smile. In the past, age had never really mattered to me but after being with young and energetic Jake Rylland, older men did not seem fun anymore. I wanted someone like Jake. I wanted Jake.There were a lot of men who looked like Jake, and had the kind of money he did. Most of them were total jerks. But Jake was different. Sure, he coul
Lilly.He looked so peaceful as he slept. He was perfect even in the morning when I looked like a ghost with a birds nest for hair. Jake, on the other hand, looked like an angel. But, he was far from it, and I had been full to let him in despite knowing that. He was the second worst male devil I knew, first being Kyle.I kept making the same stupid mistakes. But, I was done. No more. Reaching out, I shook Jake awake. He opened his eyes, and smiled when he saw me. “Good morning, baby.”“You need to leave now, Jake.”He frowned, sitting up. “What’s wrong?”“Just go. I can’t do this. I can’t pretend that everything is okay after what you did.”A few minutes after we broke up, he had gone off to Catalina Island with a woman that wasn’t me. If Jake thought I could act like that never happened, it meant he thought I was a total idiot. I was tired of being a fool for a man. “There are so many things I need to tell you. I can explain everything.”I shook my head, not wanting to hear it. “Ja