Marcus POV“One day, Flint will get knocked on his feet. I could not wait for that time when a woman would make him fall head over heels in love.” “G*d forbid! That would be a disaster waiting to happen.” I announced before Goldstone left my office. When the door closed on Goldstone, leaving Martina and me alone in the office, I walked over to where Martina sat. I hugged her back from behind.Martina leaned back and held my arms with her hands. “Was Flint that bad?” Martina asked. Somehow, the knot on her forehead says that she could not reconcile what she heard from the Flint she knew. I laughed. “Don’t worry about him. Flint is soon going to get his turn. You only have to wait and see. He was not a Ford for nothing.” I told her.Martina nodded.“Let’s go,” I said and helped her to her feet. “Where are we going?” She asked, clueless. I smiled. “My work is done for the day. I want to spend the rest of the day with you and the children. They are growing fast, love. I wanted th
Martina POVI stared at Marcus with tears burning my eyes. “How could I ever be this lucky?” I asked.My voice sounded hoarse, so I had to clear my throat. “We are both lucky. You endured so much because you did not want your family to use me. You don’t want your family to have leverage against me. We both made sacrifices for our love, Martina.” That did it!Tears streamed down my face. “I don’t deserve you.” I bawled my eyes out.Marcus hugged me to his chest.He lifted my chin to look at me eye-to-eye. “You deserve every inch of me, my love.”“But you can have any woman you like. You can date better girls than me. Why did you choose me?” That's what I don't understand. Marcus could have any girl he wanted, but he chose me. Marcus cupped my face. He tenderly brushed the tendrils of hair that clung to my face and eyes. “Because no one loved me better than you do! The women who professed to love me love me for my money, fame, and family name. You were never that. You loved
Martina POV The past few days, we got into our routine. Every other day, Marcus’ siblings would gather together, either in Briana’s house, Rowan’s, or ours. It has become a tradition for the family, a time for the Ford siblings to bond, and a time for the children to spend time with their cousins. It was a good family tradition. It makes me appreciate the value of having your family around you. At the orphanage, I never got to experience having a true family. Still, the Fords, when they embraced me, gave me more than a family. They gave me a safe place to belong to. I haven’t heard from my family, except that my brother and father were in prison for their crimes. Marcus told me how my father was responsible for the death of their parents, and the few things I knew about my family, I didn’t for a minute doubt Marcus’ words. I just hope that their time in prison would allow them time for introspection and remorse, though I highly doubt it. Still, people can change. “Mar
Marcus POV“What is it?” I barked at my secretary when she barged in on us. I was in a closed-door meeting, and Rowan had been calling me nonstop. When I did not answer his call, he badgered my secretary with his incessant calls. He called the office phone so my secretary had no choice but to knock on the conference room to disrupt the meeting.“Sir, your brother is on the line. He insists that you have to answer the call immediately.” My new secretary nervously handed me the phone, and I barked into it. “Get your a*s off your meeting and check on your family.” Rowan barked on the line. His tone sounded resolute that a frown instantly formed on my face. “What is wrong? Did something happen to Martina and the twins?” My heart beats fast in worry. “Storm called me. Your father-in-law committed suicide while in prison, and your brother-in-law has escaped. Storm and I have a feeling that the first person he would try to look for is Martina.”"Do you know where Martina is?" Rowan p
Marcus POVBeads of sweat dotted my forehead when I arrived at the supermarket building. At a safe distance, Storm’s men had already cordoned off the area and surrounded my car where my children were.“Martina?” I asked my brother Rowan when I met him outside the supermarket.“She is still inside. Storm’s men are evacuating the people.”“My kids?”Rowan stepped aside to let me see my children. They were sleeping and were clueless as to what was happening around them.A knot formed in my belly.
Rowan POVI watched my brother leave with a heavy heart.I have always been a fighter. At a young age, my godfather, Storm’s father, trained me to have the heart of a warrior.Under his tutelage, I became one of the top agents of the Guardians, a global security agency that protects and secures high-profile people and their families.Though my siblings and I got the same training, they did not love what they were doing. I do.Charles, Marcus, and Flint hated fighting.So, when we turned of age, we began to manage our family’s business under the protection of Storm&rsqu
Marie’s POVI watched Rowan looking at me dazedly as he wrapped around his head what I had revealed just now."I am their mother," I told him, seeing a frown forming on his head.But before my words fully sank in on Rowan, I ran away.Luke’s voice led my feet to him as I listened to him exchange angry words with Marcus.“Don’t try anything funny or I will kill her,” Luke warned, pressing the nozzle of his gun to Martina’s temple.He locked his arms on Martina's neck, pulling her to his body.
Marcus POVI continued to engage Luke while Rowan, Storm, and their men moved stealthily toward the back to attack him from behind. My whole body was poised and ready for any movement. I never left sight of Luke’. My eyes were glued to him while I listened to Marie’s story. But my main focus was Martina. She looked like she was ready to drop on the floor any moment. I was banking on Luke to hold her securely.Then, it happened. The moment Storm and Rowan grabbed Luke on the back, it surprised him. He lost his hold on Martina as well as the gun he was holding to threaten her with. I ran and dove the last few feet that separated us when Martina’s body collapsed on the floor. “Gotcha!” I murmured in her ears and pulled her to safety. The gun Luke was holding dropped on the floor, and it fired accidentally.When we heard the gunshot, I wrapped my body protectively around Martina, my arms cushioning her ears. At the same time, I saw Luke struggling from the lockhold Rowan and
Speechless! This word best describes what I was feeling right now. Do you know that you were amazing readers? Yes, you who stayed with me until this page. When I first started writing this story, I had so many trepidations. I did not think I would be able to pull this through. First, it has a little similarity to my previous novel, Billionaire Ex Wants Me Back, but my editor believed so much in my draft that she encouraged me to consider doing this. (My heartfelt thanks to Lyra Pinter, who had been a constant source of support.)My feeling of uncertainty magnified when I received so many attacks when the story was first published. Too many detractors lashed out at my characters that I had a hard time concentrating.I know what I wanted to do, but the first people who were vocal about the story did not give me enough encouragement. They did not give my characters a chance to redeem themselves as the story progresses. Fear grips me everytime I face the blank screen of my computer
Briana’s POVThe soul always knows how to heal itself. I had often heard that phrase before but it was never more gratingly obvious til now. After I volunteered to be Charles and Jenna’s surrogate, I had not counted on the pain the act would invariably inflict on me. At the start, it was all too easy. For 40 weeks, I would be carrying their baby in my womb, and that was it. Jenna and Charles will have that baby they desperately wanted. Of course, Noah and I submitted to counseling before I did this, but I never expected that when the time came that I had to turn over baby Amira to her parents, it would hit me so hard. I had not counted on how my self-sacrifice would backfire on me. It hurts so much. I was so heartbroken when I realized that Amira would no longer be a part of my life. Noah took me to several sessions of counseling, and with his support, I was able to get past the hurt and accept that Amira was not mine.The rest of the family helped. My brothers hovered over me
Hello my loves, Jenna and Charles’ story was one of the most painful stories I had written so far. It was because I had to dig up long-forgotten events in my life.But I had to do it for you to be able to understand the motives behind Jenna and Charles’ actions and the pain they invariably inflicted on each other. Jenna and Charles were both non confrontational. They keep things in stride and hope for the best, but sometimes even with the best intentions, our pain could not lay hidden for too long. It needed to be addressed and voiced out, not because you wanted to lash out at your partner or give them the same pain they were giving you.Sometimes, our silence is our cry for help. Or it was a way to protect ourselves. We retreated into the inner recesses of our soul to find solace and comfort because the people we expected to comfort and provide solace for us could not hear our cry for help.But all’s well that ends well. Am glad for those people who had requested me to do a story
Charles POVOne year later…I was standing behind the french windows of the room I was occupying at the Rosewood Hotel, eyes looking outside toward my wife.This past year was a crazy one.Just as Briana predicted, Jenna and I barely had time for ourselves. The kids were growing, and they were beautiful to watch.Jenna’s laugh made its way to where I was.As I watched Jenna play with our children, I could not help comparing her to a rose in bloom.I could not help feeling proud of the changes in her.&nb
Charles POVWe placed our babies in a customized baby carrier that could fit the four of them, and Jenna and I walked out of the suite that had been our temporary home for the past month.At the lobby, we looked like we were on a parade with our nannies in tow and bodyguards, but that’s a small price to pay for the security and safety of my family.“Jenna! Charles!” Beth called out to us.We stopped when we neared her.“Where are your kids?” I asked after she and Jenna hugged each other.I learned this past month that Beth chose to be a stay-at-home m
Charles POVThe next day, our other two babies were born one after the other.Jenna and I were also there to witness everything and become part of our children’s birth.Jenna’s eyes were puffy when she held our two other newborns in her arms. She had been crying nonstop since yesterday because it still had not sunk in that she was a mom of four babies.When we visited Briana, she and Jenna had a long talk.Briana was smiling, but I could see that she was at a loss when it was time to take the baby away from her.I realized that this ordeal put a lot of strain on
Charles POVThe phone in the delivery room rang, and a nurse went to answer it.“Dr. Martin, it’s delivery room 2.” She said from across the room, allowing us to hear.Dr. Martin went to answer it. Her face was serious when she placed the phone back in its cradle.Then, she turned her head back to her medical team.“Are you still up for another delivery?” She asked her team.Their high spirits rubbed off on Jenna and me. We were smiling when they shouted, of course.
Charles POVIt was a crazy day.We were having a meeting when I heard that Briana had been rushed to the hospital.“Brie is having our baby,” I told my brothers and friend after I dropped the call.It was Jenna. She, Noah, and Biana were already in the hospital because Briana's water broke.My face contorted as emotions I could not name assailed.A mix of fear, excitement, nervousness, worry, and happiness barraged me.Briana, my baby sister, was going to deliver my and Jenna's baby right now. 
Jenna POVThe days quickly passed by.Though we did not talk about it, it seemed as if Charles and I were in tacit agreement to take things slow concerning our careers and concentrate more on each other.We go out of town and do things we had never done before as a couple.It was marvelous.“It’s good that you spend more time with each other because I tell you, once the four babies arrive, you won’t get even a wink of sleep,” Briana told me when I came to her house that afternoon to catch up and to check on her.It’s the baby’s