[Cordelia]Atlas' willingness to be more open about our relationship is both exciting and terrifying. I love that he loves me and that he wants to let everyone else know about it, but at what cost? I don't like how cavalier he is about how it might be perceived by others. What kind of man is engaged to one girl, marries her little sister, divorces her, finds his first love, is engaged to her, and cheats on that true love with her pregnant little sister?I can't shake the feeling that this is all going to come back and bite us in the backside while we are not paying attention. Even with my fears, I can smell Atlas on my skin and I can't help but feel joy. This morning has been rough and heartbreaking in many ways, but the night before was magic. I saw a side of Atlas that I was completely blind to before and something happened that I thought was impossible.I fell in love with my ex-husband.I thought I loved him before. I wanted to love him so badly. But Angelica was right about one
Tilly stumbles out of Clark's apartment wearing one of his t-shirts and a lopsided grin. Her clothing is gathered in her arms. Hands reach past the door, grabbing her back inside and a stylish ankle boot tumbles out of her hands forgotten as the door closes with a slam followed by sounds that cannot be mistaken for anything other than passion. If Clark were my real fiance, I'd be heartbroken by this display. But since Clark and I have never been a couple, and Tilly is my best friend in the world, I couldn't be happier. Maybe, if things go right, Tilly and I might be sisters. Visions of double weddings flutter through my head and I laugh quietly, so as not to draw their attention, as I pass by the door.Grinning devilishly I scoop up her boot. I wonder how long it will take for her to realize it is missing. What will she say when I tell her I found it?Normally I would have left it there for her to find. I'm not a tricky person by nature, but I'm feeling a bit mischievous this morn
Tilly's face goes from pale pink to beet red in less time than it takes to blink. Looking down at the shoe, and up at my smug face, she realizes that I must know something. "Um," she laughs, nervously rubbing her neck and averting her eyes. "I wondered where I had lost that.""It's a good thing I found it in the hallway this morning," I take a long sip of my coffee, eyeing her over the cup. "Right outside of Clark's door." "Oh," she tries to hide her horror behind her cup. "What a strange place for that to be." I laugh at her discomfort. "Oh Tilly, you can stop now. I saw you two."She freezes as her mind processes the meaning of my words. "So you were in the corridor spying on us?" her tone is a little frosty but not unfriendly. "Or were you sneaking around yourself?"She got me there. "Sneaking is too strong a word, more like 'quietly returning'." She snorts, breaking the ice between us. Laughing together, I tell her a bit more about my night with Atlas and why I didn't return u
Squealing I grab her hand and begin jumping up and down. She has no choice but to stand with me, the force of my glee making it impossible for her to stay seated. "I am so dang happy for you!!" I hug her tightly, jumping up and down some more until she starts laughing. "You're not mad?" Her voice shakes and I look up to see she's almost crying. "I was so worried you'd be angry." I can't stop smiling. My cheeks feel stretched to their limits as uncontainable joy fills me. "Why would I be angry about my two best friends finding love with one another?" "It's just," she looks to the side. "I knew that he had a thing for you, I just wasn't sure if maybe you had a thing for him as well." I sigh, as I retake my seat. "If only I did, but I've never been interested in him that way," I confess, "There have been times when I wished I could love him, but I never could see him that way." It's a shame I didn't want Clark romantically. Loving Atlas Steele feels like fighting against the
We both open our phones and walk in opposite directions for a bit of privacy. "Hello?" "Whatever you do," Atlas' sounds frantic and scared, "Do not turn on the television or look at your phone, please, not until I get there. We need to come up with a plan, but I don't want you to be scared." "Hold up," I retort, "Why can't I?" "Just trust me," he murmurs. "You don't want to see what I'm seeing right now. I'll be there soon. I need to hang up. I love you." The phone goes dead. I don't even have a chance to let him know that I love him too. When I come out into the living room Tilly has the television on. "Oh God," she moans, looking at the screen. "No, no, no." Tilly hears my footsteps and hurries to turn off the screen. "Clark was wrong. You shouldn't see this. You might..." "Tilly," I grumble. "Why are all of you keeping secrets from me? What is it that you don't want me to see?" "The news," she shakes her head. "It's ugly, Cordelia." A few minutes later, Clark is at the
[Cordelia]"Just show me," This is all so exhausting, trying to guess what it is they aren't telling me. "What are all of you hiding."Atlas opens his phone. Splashed on every media outlet is an official interview with Sydney Bryant, recently released from prison and returned to her native Canada. The first thing she did, as soon as she was safe on Canadian soil, was tear apart the Greyson family, and with them, Atlas Steele.In a one-hour face-to-face interview, she disclosed every "sin" of the two companies, including my parent's involvement with the illegal dumping of chemicals and using my name to cover it up. "She was definitely involved," Sydney confesses in her expose. "I was the one who found it and brought it to Atlas' attention."When asked about her drug and attempted murder charges she laughed them off calling them a "huge misunderstanding," and going further by saying that Atlas' lawyer helped her reduce the charges because Mr. Steele knew she had been "wrongfully accuse
I pull away from the warmth and comfort of Atlas' arms. "You aren't seriously considering their offer, are you?" I look at both men incredulously. "She is blackmailing you with photos of our private memories, ruining both of our businesses and for what? Sydney's pride?" "Our stocks went down 23%" Atlas states as if that answers all of my questions, as if the financial elements should outweigh any emotional concerns. "5 of our biggest vendors just pulled out. If we don't make a deal, Steele Industries could close for good, not to mention your business," Atlas points out. "With the EPA issue hanging over it, and the accusation of design fraud, nobody is going to put trust in your brand or your name--even if she comes forward and corrects her statement." "No." I insist, literally put my foot down as I stomp to add emphasis to my words. "We are not doing this. I do not want that viper anywhere near you, me, or our baby" I look around at my two best friends, "Any of us. She's toxic."
[Angelica]Seeing this whining little girl on the news broadcast makes me want to scream and break things. The way she simpers as the newscaster asks her questions is so cringe. Every part of the way she moves and the way she speaks makes me want to vomit. Especially her face. Her cute, perky, innocent-seeming face with her honest hazel eyes and glowing blonde waves cascading to her shoulders. He couldn't even be original when seeking out my replacement. He found someone who looked exactly like me. My family home line rings. Three times and then hangs up. Two times.I'm not surprised Magnus wants to talk to me. This whole situation stinks like him. "What kind of sick game are you playing at, Magnus?" I growl as I grab the phone in the kitchen and take it out into the main gardens so that nobody would overhear us. "Reinforcements," he replies smoothly, as if blissfully unaware of the chaos his actions created. "Sydney is the girl I found when you decided to not return. The best pa
[Atlas]Delilah Fisher steps around the corner in a long, silver gown, her makeup flawless, and her smile large and welcoming.She looks so much like Angelica did when I first met her that my heart stutters. I love Cordelia with my entire being, and yet a part of me still reacts to the memory of the shining girl who captured my attention almost a decade ago. But this isn't Angelica. Delilah, while beautiful and poised, lacks the immaculate grace that Angelica exuded. Each of the sisters has a unique nature that shines through, despite having almost identical faces."Atlas Steele," her heels click in the silent room as she steps into the light. "Why is it so hard for you to believe your brother? Haven't you seen enough wonders in this world yet to understand that anything can be possible?""There's no such thing as mind control," I repeat. "Believing in psychic powers is for fools.""And you pride yourself on not being one," she smirks, amused. "But a true wise man would keep his mind
[Jude]Sydney. Now that she has me under her control, I'll never be free of her. When I came to save her, I was convinced she was pregnant with my child. She had sent a distress signal to me using our private channels letting me know of her pregnancy and it was enough to get me to betray the Steele family and derail their plans to find their cure. Using what I knew about Atlas' missing mother was just a distraction.My goal had always been to claim my son.But then I discovered that beyond all logic Angelica is still alive.I should have realized this was possible and known that Magnus wouldn't give up such a valuable tool so easily. Angelica had been Magnus' toy for years before she was sent into my world. I knew he had modified her, and turned her into the perfect weapon, but I had no idea how deep those modifications went until I saw her face staring at me on that magazine cover.She shouldn't have survived that explosion. And yet here she is, unscathed, awaiting a new uterus in
[Atlas]I twist my arm away from the guard in black. His face is blank as he reaches forward again. "Don't." My voice carries forward, and although it isn't loud, it holds a note of command that makes the armed guard pause."Sir," he blinks retracting his hand. "You are trespassing. I was ordered to take you into holding." My face remains still as my voice rings out again, "You will not touch us. You have no right." The guard swallows, taking a step back, my words hitting him with the force of a slap. "We will leave," I inform him. "You will report our apologies to your boss." He nods, accepting my command. "Atlas," Clark calls my attention to our situation. Blinking I snap awake, and pull my gaze from the guard. As soon as I blink, the guard stumbles backward shaking his head in confusion, as if my words and stare alone were enough to entrap him in some kind of trance. Around the edges of my vision, I see more guards headed in our direction. If we are going to make it out of h
[Atlas]Damn it, Cordelia!"Pick up, pick up, pick up," the phone rings but nobody replies. "This number is unavailable as dialed, please try again," the message on the other end informs me as my blood pressure rises and my hands shake.A moment ago I had been talking to my wife. And then the line was dead. I sent her to Canada to keep her and our children safe, and she chose to bring herself to Magnus' attention. Sending a quick message to the guards in charge of watching over my family, I stare at my screen waiting for word of their status. "Atlas, is there anything I can do to help?"Blinking away from the screen I look up at my brother as our rented van parks a few blocks away from the luau. Our driver informs us of our arrival and waits for further instructions."I'm sorry, Clark," I close my eyes, rubbing my temples. "You were saying something?""Is everything okay?" He tries again and I groan. "No." I groan honestly. "Or at least, I hope everything is fine. Lately, it seems
[Clark]The message "Tilly SOS" flicked across the screen three times before winking out, leaving my screen blank. I open my email that I keep under an alias on a secure server. There is a single message alerting me to new information available on my server. I've used this system when working with people who needed to keep their identities safe and their messages secret. The last time I needed it was working with Jude while he was still under Magnus' watch.Even though it has been months since I used it, my fingers remember the passcodes. Soon, I'll be on the server. Two emails are waiting for me, both are from Tilly's parents. In the first message, they inform me that they have landed and are settling in their new place. It is a secure facility, surrounded by several acres of land, disconnected from the distant towns and cities. The Madisons, sparing no expense, went to extra lengths to include copious additional security.They are, after all, securing their legacy. Tilly is their o
[Cordelia]There is a loud explosion just to the right of the airplane. "What was that," I lower the phone, turning it off as I gaze out the window to see what had caused the noise. "Nothing, Ma'am," the co-pilot says over his shoulder, "Just a little turbulence.""Turbulence?" I shout back as another boom resounds just outside the passenger's cabin as a curtain goes up between the pilots and the rest of the plane, blocking our view. "But we aren't even in the air yet!""Calm yourself, Mrs. Steele," Jake, the security guard, takes his phone from my numb hand. "Sit next to your children and trust your staff to get you out of here safely. We've got this, Mrs. Steele."He almost seemed offended in my lack of faith as he types into his phone what I'm guessing is a message to Atlas to calm his nerves and let him know we are alive. "But nobody is telling me what's happening," I grumble as I buckle in next to Jasper and the little girl I've decided to call Saphira until I learn her real na
[Atlas]"What do you mean gone," I barked into the phone, my hand clenching it tight enough to hear it crunch. These new smartphones seem to get flimsier with each model. I've broken 3 in the last 6 months from anger or nerves. I love my wife, but I'm pretty sure she's going to stress me into an early grave. "Your mother created a distraction, Sir," my lead guard, Jake, apologizes over the phone, not making excuses as much as stating facts. "Mrs. Suzanna Steele arrived late last night along with a young man she called Sasha. The next morning, while your mother and Ms. Devaroux kept me distracted searching for a false threat, your wife and this young man escaped."Cordelia has always been sneaky when she needs to be, and until this point, he had been very good at keeping her from falling into mischief. I wasn't expecting my mother to be part of the problem. At least now I know where she ran off to. Her room had been empty when I returned to the boat yesterday. "Are you sure it is m
[Clark]There are things that I need to keep secret from my brother, not because I do not trust him with my secrets, but because I do not want to burden him with them.Which is why I needed to get away. Without Tilly, there is no reason for me to stay on the boat."I'll meet you later, when it's time to go to the luau," I promise Atlas as I give him a hug and take my leave. I know that I could just stay at our family hotel, but I need to be somewhere else, somewhere that nobody recognizes me. And also, I want to ensure that what I am about to do is as untraceable as possible. "Mr. Janus," the man at the front desk smiles when I hand him a wad of cash in exchange for a key card. "Enjoy you stay. Please call down if you need anything."Adjusting my sunglasses, lower the bill of my baseball cap, grab my small bag, and make my way through the other guests milling around in the hotel lobby. Located along the beach it has a spectacular view of the the ocean.And the location of tonight's
[Jude]Opening the door, I push back the clinician waiting for Angelica to rise. The poor man looks lost, most likely expecting Angel to greet him and not a gruff guard in black."Excuse me," he calls out as I walk down the hall. I don't owe him any excuses or explanations. I'm her bodyguard. I can be seen coming and going from her room. Besides, I don't have time for niceties. I'm already late reporting to work. The guards all bunk together in a large room on the basement level. There are beds and a shared shower as well as a kitchen so that we don't disturb the rest of the house as we take care of our daily necessities. There weren't any free bunks when I arrived, so I sleep on a camping bed on the floor. As I march down there, the leader of the group raises his eyebrow. He can tell by the unused state of my sleeping area that I haven't been back to rest."Late night?" he questions me as I walk down the stairs, "Whoever she was, she better be worth it." He smirks. "Mr. Fisher will