"Good morning," Xavier said with a lazy smile when Charlotte opened her eyes that morning. "Good morning," she greeted back with a blush when she realized she was still lying on top of him. That was weird because she was an active sleeper and never remained in the same position all night. "You kept slipping off but I placed you here myself," he answered her unasked question, while removing a strand of hair that slightly covered her eye. "Oh," she muttered, suddenly feeling self-conscious now that it was bright everywhere. It was one thing to fondle and bang each other's brains out at night, but it was another to face him the next morning, completely naked and under the full glare of the daylight. Daylight, where everyone could see everything. Her eyes popped open when a sudden thought occurred to her. "What if there are cameras here?" she asked with a note of alarm in her voice. Xavier didn't seem perturbed. His lips curved up a little in amusement at her worry. "The Prime mini
“My father is not impressed that he’s the only one bringing in money for my wedding,” Valerie complained bitterly to her fiancé, Jonah. “Do you want people to laugh at me? They’re already saying I ended up with Charlotte’s sloppy seconds and now you can’t even afford the wedding you promised everyone would be a million times better than your uncle’s wedding.” “I’ll get the money,” Jonah assured her, holding back his hurt at her demeaning words. “My mother has gotten Xavier’s attention. It’s only a matter of time before he responds and pays us to stop speaking about the case.” Valerie stared at her husband in disgust. This was beyond embarrassing. Her soon-to-be husband had no money of his own, refused to get a job and was proud to admit that his hopeful source of income would come from slandering his uncle and being paid to shut up. How did her life go downhill like this? Her father, Sir White berated her everyday for ending up with the loser Roman. He had constantly pushed for he
Charlotte woke up with a smile sometime the next morning, although she didn't know what was causing it. She was extremely excited as she writhed on the bed, a plethora of pleasures washing all over her. The excitement settled in one part of her, making her moan out loudly. "Xavier?" she whispered. "Mmh," he said with his mouth full from between her legs. He increased the pressure of his tongue on her clit when he realized she was awake, and added an extra finger inside of her. She gasped loudly, and shut her mouth immediately with the palm of her hand, but he only increased his pace as if he wanted her to keep screaming and announce to everyone who cseed to know, that she was being greatly pleasured by him. He made slurping sounds as he lapped her juices up in his mouth like a starved man. One leg was on his back while the other was pressed against the bed, spreading her open and giving him complete access to pleasure her. His hands reached under her shirt to play with her nipples
“It’s beautiful,” Charlotte exclaimed, looking down at the view from the Montmartre. There were several other couples around them, exploring what was rumored to be one of the most romantic places to visit in Paris. “Just like you,” Xavier said, kissing her slightly. She stared at him for a few seconds, smitten but smiled back when she realized she had been staring and turned back to look at the view. When he did stuff like that, it felt too real. That nagging voice returned again, but she tuned it off, deciding to focus on what truly nattered. Xavier's hand wrapped around the small of her waist as they stared out at the surrounding areas of Paris together. "They don't call it the city of love for no reason," he remarked. Many other people were in their position, probably tourists like the , holding hands together as couples and looking down, completely in love. She ignored them and rested her head on Xavier’s chest, letting herself bask in the warmth she felt in that moment, not
A flashing light pierced through the eyes of Charlotte and Xavier, completely ending their little entanglement. “What the…!” Xavier exclaimed in disgust, turning to where the camera light had come from. Charlotte’s heart pounded when the man’s eyes turned to her. His lips were lifted at the sides with a smirk. “Goddamn paparazzi!” Xavier yelled and lightly dropped her. “How many of you are out there, huh? Won’t you just give me a breathing space for a minute? What the heck do you even want?” The man wearing the hoodie made no moves to try to escape even though he had been caught red handed, taking pictures of the couple. That angered Xavier the more. Walking to the smirking camera man, Xavier grabbed him by the collar and easily pressed him against the sharp metallic railing. For the first time, a note of alarm flashed through the young man’s face as he looked down. “Who do you work for, huh?” Xavier blared, his fingernails digging through the man’s collar into his neck and hang
Xavier’s hands balled into fists, but besides that, he showed no other reaction. He hated feeling this way. What was Charlotte hiding from him? Was this why she was so desperate to get the payment he had promised her? He never planned to monitor how she spent her money. It was hers after all even though he had given it to her, but if she was giving that much money to someone who she reacted like that around, then something iffy was definitely going on. “What kind of relationship do they have?” He texted the detective. “I haven’t been able to verify. Like I said before, he always kept a low profile and so did your wife until recently. I’ll still keep checking and I’ll definitely reach you as soon as I find out anything new.” Xavier typed “Matthew Sullivan” on his search engine, even though he knew he wouldn’t find anything meaningful. Was he a distant relative? Why would she send him that much money when she never tried to send any to her own family? Xavier had considered linki
Charlotte tossed and turned for hours on the bed, unable to catch a single lick of sleep. Her mind was torn between turning to the other side and telling Xavier everything, but if she did, he would see her in a different light and all their progress so far would come to nothing. On the other hand, as she didn’t say a word, he already suspected her and that was not good either. He had looked extremely hurt when she lied to him about Matt, especially right after attacking him for lying to her about work. He had probably already found out everything and had only asked her to hear what she had to say for herself. The thought of that almost pushed her to tell him the truth, but then a stubborn part of her hung onto the slim chance that he had simply been curious. She wanted nothing to ruin this honeymoon, but it seemed like the universe kept sending hurdle after hurdle to shatter her perfect myth of happiness. Charlotte heaved a sigh of relief when she heard Xavier’s footsteps leaving t
“It took me a while but I was able to find out who exactly this Matt Sullivan is,” Xavier’s detective told him a few days later over the phone. “In fact, this was very hard to find. It was almost as if someone was purposely leading me the wrong way.” “Tell me everything,” Xavier said breathlessly. He was doing a morning run, an exercise he hadn’t done in months. Now more than ever, he needed a reason to get out of the penthouse he shared with Charlotte. He was no longer afraid of whatever answer his detective would give. He didn’t care what it would do to his relationship with Charlotte. It was long overdue. Xavier had been lied to and deceived several times in the past by people who wanted to take advantage of him in business most especially, but none hurt as much as this. The problem was not the fact that she had lied. It was his severe reaction to her betrayal that seriously bothered him. Watching her look him straight into his eyes and lie to him, not once but twice had twis
“It’s time for bed, Caleb. Let’s go,” Charlotte told Caleb with her arms crossed over her chest, giving him no room to argue. “Just let me win this game…” he argued absently, more focused on the game he was playing on his iPad. “You’ve spent your extra fifteen minutes,” she said, taking the device out of his grasp. He frowned, but conceded in the end. “Fine.” As Charlotte tucked him into bed, she couldn’t imagine how the times had changed. It had been six months since Laura had been taken away, her parents had been released and since she had started running her own business. Caleb had started therapy again, and it had definitely worked. These days, he spoke so often and did whatever he wanted to do that it was hard to believe he had been the same mute boy from months ago. He had just turned four, but the topic of his birth mother never came up fortunately. He seemed to blend right in, just as sweet and annoying as any other four year old boy. “I love you mommy,” he wh
When Charlotte saw Jonah being led out by a prison ward officer, she froze and started to wonder what she had been so scared about. He looked nothing like he did before. He had slimmed down to an almost unrecognizable state and his face looked like he had permanently lost the ability to smile. He walked with the slouch of someone that had given up on life in general. Charlotte doubted that whatever he was going through had happened in that prison in such a short time. “You can wait for me,” Charlotte whispered to Carlos who reluctantly left her side when he understood. “Hi,” Jonah said when he was sitting opposite her. He tried to smile, but it ended up looking like a grimace. He couldn’t meet her eyes. “Hi,” she said simply. She couldn’t let him see she pitied him. “How have you been?” He managed to ask. “You look good.” She couldn’t say the same for him. “Why did you call me here, Jonah?” “Straight to the point like always, huh?” He said with something she suspec
Xavier could only relax comfortably when they were back on the jet and on their way back to California. He could finally let himself be convinced that his dream had been nothing more than that. It hadn’t been a sign of anything, because it had gone on perfectly with no dramatic appearances from anyone. Unfortunately, the thought of one day running into Laura again came often to him and disoriented him. However, he always pushed that possibility away to the back of his mind. He had run a background check on the psych ward Don had placed her and from his research, it was a very exclusive place, so her chances of leaving were lower than zero. It was like a madhouse for wealthy people to drop off their family members who had lost it through drug use of whatever means. Their security was so prioritized that it was practically impossible to get in or get out unless the very owner of the establishment permitted. There was also no possible way Laura could bribe anyone there. It was afte
“Xavier, wake up! Wake up!” The sound of the female voice calling out to him sounded so distant at first, but the hand violently shaking his shoulders brought him back to consciousness. He was breathing fast, as his eyes got accustomed to the light around him, his chest heaving rapidly. “Are you okay?” Charlotte asked him, peering into his eyes as she touched the sides of his face. He could see the fear in her eyes as she studied him. “Charlotte,” he whispered, holding her arms and wrapping her in a tight hug. She was alive, here in front of him. “You’re alive.” “Yeah,” she said uncertainly, hugging him back. “Did anyone kill me?” She asked with a chuckle. He finally pulled out of the hug and glanced around. They were still in the jet, on their way to Orlando. He had just had a bad dream. “Where’s Caleb?” He asked. “Right here,” she said, pointing at a part of the jet where a small makeshift bed had been made for Caleb to lie on. “Is everything okay?” “Yeah,
After bidding Kate and her family goodbye, Xavier and Kate had to take the journey back, while consoling Caleb, who couldn’t understand why the twins had to leave without him. It was a Saturday, and for the first time in such a long time, Xavier had a free day. They all decided to spend the day together, to make up for Caleb’s friends leaving. Charlotte was extremely happy. She chatted and laughed all the way to the four seasons Orlando, where they decided to spend the day with their son, since he had seen a video about it online and wouldn’t shut up about going there. She held Caleb’s shoulders during takeoff in Xavier’s private jet, more to distract herself than him. No matter how often she rode in the jet, she still got jittery when they had to go anywhere in it. She had made an appointment with Dr Anna that morning and she couldn’t wait to finally carry out the surgery the week after. “Are we really going to Orlando?” Caleb asked, peering out of the window of the jet.
The ride home was mostly silent, with Xavier at the backseat, pondering on all that had happened that day while Carlos drove them home, shooting glances at his boss from time to time. “How was your break?” Xavier asked all of a sudden and Carlos cleared his throat. “Great. Thanks again for it. I really needed it,” he said with a smile. “How did it feel to have an actual conversation with her after so long?” Carlos sighed. “Not as bad as I thought. I actually feel better. Thanks for advising me to do it. We cleared some things out. She was mature about it and that’s that.” Xavier nodded and looked out the window at the trees that were zooming past. He remembered when Carlos had come to him for help when having to see Kate after the history they had was threatening to drive him insane. He had advised him to take a break, and then discuss with her when he was ready. It seemed to have worked. Carlos looked like himself again. It had been weird to find out that there had been a
“When will you come back, daddy?” Caleb’s little voice came over the phone and Xavier smiled. He could picture his son standing next to Charlotte and holding the phone to his ear with both his hands. “I’ll be there this night, I promise,” he replied. From the corner of his eye, he saw Private trying to get his attention. “Take care of mom for me, okay? I’ll see you soon.” “Bye daddy,” Caleb said and Xavier nodded before he ended the call. “What’s up?” He asked Private. “She’s causing a scene, boss. She’s yelling at everyone and she even pushed her brother and broke a glass on the doctor’s head when he tried to sedate her,” Private told him. There was an urgency in his private investigator’s voice as he reported to him, but there was also a hint of amusement in his tone. Xavier rolled his eyes and walked past him toward the ward he had left to answer his wife’s call. “Why was there glass next to her in the first place?” He asked no one in particular when he enterrés t
“My daddy used to beat my mommy before that woman took me and told she’s my real mommy,” Caleb explained the best way he could. “He told me he’s not my real daddy and that my mommy sold me to him.” “Wait, wait,” Charlotte told him. She had no idea what he was talking about and the more he spoke, the more confused she became. None of what he was saying made any sense. At this point, he was just throwing the words ‘mommy’ and ‘daddy’ around. “Laura, the woman that brought you to us, she’s your mommy, isn’t she?” She asked him slowly, hoping his answers would make sense to her this time. He shook his head. “That’s what she told me and then she brought me here after,” he said. “So you had other parents before she came?” She asked and he nodded. When Charlotte realized he wouldn’t give her an understandable answer, she decided to stop asking him so that he wouldn’t confuse her more. Since Xavier had gone out to find answers, this one might be one of them. She would ask him wh
“Mommy!” Caleb squealed when he saw Charlotte and ran up to her. She carried him up and enveloped him in a tight hug. She was still not used to him calling her ‘mommy’, but hearing it was so natural and calming. Whenever she was with him, she secretly hoped something would happen to Laura or that she would say she didn’t want him again. She didn’t think she would be able to move on if he had to leave to go back to his real mother. “Did you miss me?” She asked, tickling his tummy. “Uh huh,” he replied, laughing and trying to get her hand away from him. Charlotte kissed him on the forehead and carefully set him back on his feet. She held his small hand and allowed him to lead her into the house. She had been in a sour mood after the meeting with her parents, but just a few minutes with Caleb had softened her up. Kate looked at her and smiled. With a playful frown, she nudged Caleb and asked him why he didn’t notice her. He started to laugh. “What did you do today while we were g