Clara's soft breathing was all he could hear when his chauffeur halted in front of her building. Exhaustion had first kicked in after that heavy sexual session, making him guilty for having used her to relieve his tension. Not that she'd had any complaints after her third orgasm, but guilt was nudging at him because he was supposed to be explaining to her why she shouldn't chant Marie Claire's praises to him, and though she would find out soon when he exposed the old bitch and had everything she had worked for crashing down, he felt guilty because he had used Clara. Simple. Which was a novelty for him considering how much he had reveled in using manipulative methods to get what he wanted from people. Those tactics had helped him get to where he was now. He hadn't lied to her about his background, but keeping her in the dark was close to that. Yet the thought of opening those wounds in his memory made it easier to shut his trap instead of spilling. The limo which had been following
'Don't wake her up, please' Please? The most arrogant aloof chairman of an ultra multi-billion dollar global corporation whose face the lower employees only saw once in a while hadn't only just carried Clara into her room and tucked her into bed, but had also politely asked them not to wake her up? To let her sleep and keep them- Sophie particularly- in suspense for the rest of the night? Like hell they were going to let that rare an opportunity pass them by. And did they wait for the door to close behind Andre before rushing into the room? Or did they gently nudge her awake as they would a babe? It would be a cold day in hell before they garnered that kind of patience. Brenda yanked the carefully tucked duvet off the sleeping princess' body in a manner which contradicted the request Andre had graciously made of them, while Sophie targeted the tiny cute ear exposed to them and pulled... Wickedly. "Oww.. Oh what the fuck!" Clara yelped and winced in pain, her eyes flying open,
Andre had gone past the beginning stages of looming headache. He was now in a state where the sides of his head were pounding incessantly and his vision was blurry as he stared at the multiple figures on the screen. His glasses which he picked again after so many months were tossed carelessly beside the laptop looking as useless as they had been to his burning eyes. He hadn't felt this kind of migraine in a while, but then, neither had he engaged in the kind of tedious activity he had done the previous day which could have been life threatening if he hadn't built his muscles in the gym. After those hours of rough sex and taking Clara to her room, he had driven aimlessly under the influence of fear and rage at himself, a combination which had been more dangerous than alcohol. It would have been better if he were intoxicated by a chemical which was bound to wash off with time. Because hours of long drive hadn't made his mood any better, but had instead offered him time to think about
"PR insists that using the cafe will be more private in case erhm... " Jessica's non completion of her words didn't do anything to lessen Clara's already damp anxious mood. She was as scared as the PR team was that something might happen to ruin the partnership which seemed too good to be true. Honestly, she had been feeling as though she won the lottery when they replied immediately in consideration of her proposal, because not only did they already have good advertisements and popularity, but she had dared give a condition. Then she had been too busy and excited about the project to think of any possibility which might hint at pessimism. Perhaps her already dampened mood born from heartache had influenced the sudden anxiety that washed her aglow, casting her brows and eyes into pictures of sadness, her lips barely able to make many sentences. "Are you okay, ma'am?" Jessica halted a little in her steps, her tone laddened with concern. Clara realised then that she hadn't said anyt
'There are many things going on with me that I can't explain now, but I want you to know that I'm not playing with you. And I don't intend to.'Those words, spoken with the calmest and the most affective voice had the burning fire of rage she felt quenching as soon as she heard them. But it did nothing for the anguish she was experiencing even as they kept replaying in her head.What was she to do? She had fallen in love with the one man who had made it clear from the outset that he wasn't interested in whatever that had to do with the depth of feelings she had for him.Yet she couldn't walk away from him even with that awareness, but had her traitorous heart going out to him when he muttered those words, her eyes taking on the resistance in his expression. His fingers had been itching to touch her, reaching out to her and withdrawing at the last minute.Then he had swallowed hard and requested that they make it through the meeting first. Honestly at the moment, she wasn't interested
If it was possible for the wheel which controlled time to come to a selective halt; ceasing breathing while every other activity happened in front of people, that was how Andre felt the moment he set his eyes on the woman who had dared appear before him of her own volition. He'd had it all planned out, fed on the imagination of making her plead for mercy all those years. But not once had he conjured the possibility of Marie coming on her own. She'd caught him off guard at the time he hadn't expected it the most. This was... supposed to be a business meeting to discuss a potential collaboration, not an opportunity for Viscount to make a comeback in the most vicious way; bringing the one woman he detested the most to him. Andre felt himself crumble inwardly, understood the concept of air being knocked out of someone unexpectedly, his heart wrenching in pain, his eyes watering in anguish. He was in an indescribable state of mental disorganisation and felt the world close in on him,
"Dinner has become cold, ma'am. Should I have them reheat it or are you still waiting for...the boss? You still haven't had lunch yet." Andre's housekeeper had a tone laddened with concern and a little bit of pity for her. As though she had been abandoned by her lover or something. The staff had started giving her that look three hours into her arrival, and then come to ask her each hour after that, whether she still wasn't going to have the meal they prepared. Apparently the chef had been excited by her presence and graced the table with courses of meal. A shame that she couldn't muster any appetite to eat. "Don't worry, you can just retire. I'll heat it up when he...returns." Her voice had grown soft after hours of lying and sitting and pacing the living room, her hair disheveled from the raking of her fingers scattering the permed professional style it had been in earlier. Now it was just a mess; full and cascading down her shoulders, her eyes dull from darting constantly towa
Clara Lynn was on a hot seat, more figuratively than literally. Coupled with the nudging worries on how to get Andre out of the shell he had reclined into, a newly received mail sat as elegantly as she did on the screen of her laptop. She wasn't aware of how Andre had handled it, but despite the fact that the meeting had failed to take place due to the presence of some unexpected guests, Marie Claire company was aboard and ready to sign the contract. And even more problematic? They wanted to present the actress Marie as their first model. Just as she had wanted it before. Clara may be stupid enough to ignore warning signs, but even her mental blindness didn't prevent her from seeing that the path she would take if she pushed forward with that deal was blazing flaming red. She had been pardoned and understood the first time because of her ignorance, but now that she was aware of whom the actress really was and the man she was in cohorts with, she wasn't planning on repeating that m
With each step Clara took towards the doors, she wished there wouldn't be any more surprises because her heart had taken too much of it. Yet as she stepped into the private room which catered to private performances for VIP members, she knew that her wish wouldn't be fulfilled and her heart might just find a way to keep from exploding. It was the room where she had reconciled Adonis with Andre, the foundation of the secret relationship she had started with her boss, boyfriend, and business partner. Including a hell of everything else he was to her. Yet everything from the arrangement to illumination wasn't the same, nor was the mood set by the soft music which blared through the speakers. '...'Cause all of me Loves all of you Love your curves and all your edges All your perfect imperfections...' John Legend's 'All of Me' had never sounded more emotional, that beautiful voice invoking to her mind memories of the man she had fallen in love with, who stood in the middl
Fuck, her palms joined together of their volition even before she registered that she was clapping, a tear forming in her eyes as the lights went off again. She wasn't even aware of the masked female concierge who came into the room till she perceived an enchanting feminine cologne and darted her eyes towards the direction of the third party. She and the mood she had been cast into already occupied the seats of the first two parties. "Good evening, ma'am. I'll be serving you tonight." She bore a tray of glass and a bottle of wine in the other hand. "A glass please." Clara muttered, suddenly aware of how patched her throat had become with dryness. A cold flute was soon in her hand, and she perceived the unique aroma before bringing it to her lips. It tasted sweetly sinful and smelt like soft sensuality although the alcohol level was only a background complement. Clara's eyes immediately went to the wine bottle with amazement clouding them; it bore an Italian name she couldn't
'I want your body on mine, forever.' A whisper, an imploration, a fucking vow. *** The theme tonight was ethereal. When the car halted in front of the X-Clusive and the chauffeur opened her side of the door, Clara Lynn stared at the tall building which now served as headquarters for another branch in Las Vegas as her Christian Louboutin rhinestone heels stepped on the floors. "Thanks, Will." She muttered to the chauffeur who replied in a similar polite fashion and shut the door, stepping into side with her. Some things like Andre's security following her around hadn't changed over the past one year, especially since their relationship had become public knowledge. But rather than the team who announced the presence of paranoia and made her friends uneasy at events, the slightly older man who doubled as a chauffeur escorted her to public functions. Once the gossip magazines had taken it upon themselves to get pictures of the hunky man opening doors for her, with captions which s
"This is impressive, Clara. I must admit, it's better than I imagined. We're definitely onboard." Literally, they had been onshore for more than four hours because Mr. Holmes apparently included her in her vacation plans for the day, and though she had kept glancing at her watch for the first thirty minutes, Clara hadn't been able to deny that the man did know how to enjoy himself. An ex workaholic in the business world who had decided to take a break as he was fast approaching forty, Holmes was looking for lucrative businesses to invest in so he could enjoy his rest while making money as well. It was a solid plan, and for the first three hours, Clara listened with interest as he talked about his plans for the future and even found herself laughing when he made a joke about wishing to get married to a smart woman who could match his ideas. Like her. A statement which she took care to laugh unnecessarily loudly to, just before making her own joke about already being engaged.
Andre Quinn was exhausted a few minutes after four in the evening when the hostess who served him another cup of herbal tea announced that they had arrived New York. It was the quickest journey he'd ever made to and fro his hometown, and that was a considerate setting of new record because he had never felt comfortable in the empty expansive mansion since his mother left. His mother. He was still coming to terms with how everything had unfolded, and was getting used to the idea of not mentally referring to Marie as 'the bitch' as he'd done for more than two decades. Even before he was legal enough to think the 'b' word. But giving himself a mental break over the past month had cleansed his spirits to a large extent. Apart from spending more time with his girlfriend and going on a drive with her sometimes in the evening, he had also mustered the courage to place a call to Thailand twice. And even when he'd heard Viscount's voice in the background on one of the occasions, he
Within twenty-four hours, Clara had succeeded in making headlines in office group chats which almost equated Andre Quinn's in international gossip magazines. Virtually every fucking person, including her subordinates turned to CCTV cameras and historians who documented her every move so as to analyse them later. And because her boyfriend thrived on being so damn generous it hurt, he rode the elevator down to her floor during lunch break and walked into her office amdist the obvious scrutinising eyes and fingers waiting for crumbs of information about them. He fed it to them; hot cake and ice cream to wagging tongues, and even offered them a dessert by staying in her office for thirty minutes after instructing her shocked assistant to hold her calls. And in the sweetness of his endless generosity, he gave them a ticket to their next meal when he finally came out of her office with his hand gently grazing her back, his eyes concentrated on hers as she told him about the meeting s
"Thanks, babe." *** Clara Lynn was a myriad of forest greenness. Vibrant and arrestingly charming in an army green suit whose skirt was designed to accommodate a slit that currently rode up to her thighs, she revealed an ample amount of eye-catching skin which glowed in creaminess beneath dark panty hose. Adorned with tiny jewelry of nephrite which complemented her skin as perfectly as the bright rays of the sun currently streaming through the open blinds, she had elegance and opulence revolving around her even before she began the meeting. And in addition to her silver blonde hair styled in tiny curls with waterfall braids to create a delicate look which complemented her glass make-up perfectly, she naturally drew attention to herself. However, irrespective of the awareness that she was captivating, Clara didn't make the mistake of being arrogant enough to think she owed it all to her physical appearance. Because over the last twenty-four hours, she had been placed at the cen
Andre understood what he hadn't said, and stared at the brown envelope with emptiness in his eyes and heart. He... Just needed a rest, a vacation. Marie cleared her throat as Viscount checked the time by the wall clock. Interesting, only twenty-five minutes had passed and twenty-five years worth of anger had been poured out within that short duration of time. "I... I didn't come with Anthony today to mock you, I'm sorry that I'm by his side despite the enmity between you two. I... I will end it with him if our union affects you. You're the most important person to me, baby..." "Becky?" Tony seemed genuinely betrayed and stunned and sad at the same time. Andre didn't know how to feel about any of it. Too many things had happened and his mind could only absorb little at a time. He couldn't give them his blessing because it wasn't in his place and watching his mother with a man who had been like an older brother to him wasn't exactly a sight for sore eyes. She was at least eleven y
"Dre..." Marie had started crying, quiet sobs spreading through the quiet room, her lean fingers pressed against her lips to stiffen the cries. But Andre didn't let that deter his continuation of that unpracticed speech. "Why don't you go ahead and pick the one you're the most beautiful in. Oh, you wouldn't know if you don't watch it. Should I play one for you...?" That was the point where Viscount's control snapped, and he stood with a force which made Clara's eyes dizzy for a second from watching him. "You fucking sleazy bastard! You are not in a position to cast judgement on her when you don't have a freaking idea what she's been through. Vengeance? Punishment? I should be the one casting it on you and your bastard of a dad for taking the company. My father fucking killed himself because of the way he was cast out!" "What? My father and I took the company? Remind me the number of times I contacted you after you started giving me the cold shoulder, asking what had gone wrong.