ALEXANDERI took the steps two at a time, a mechanical grinding springing between my teeth, my hands clenched into fists damn near the size of soccer balls by my side.Whatever my father wanted from me, I had no doubts in my mind we weren't going to be drinking morning tea under the rising sun in our crepe silk-leather suits, tea cups raised with dignity, and our pinky fingers shooting out.I rounded the corner, breathing heavily until I was face-to-face with the red pine wood door of my father’s study, bracing myself before I rapped my balled-up knuckles on the wood’s bark.“Who’s there?” Mr. McKenzie’s gruff voice thundered from inside, barely muffled by the thicket.“Who the fuck else could it be?” I grumbled under my breath, instead yelling out my name brusquely before turning the knob and swinging the door open.The double room study was lined by mahogany bookshelves filled with books I didn't care to read, and the Kenzie safe hidden between the paperbacks was all the relevance I
DARLENEI watched the hours tick away on the glass clock of the master bedroom and the uneasiness pressing against the base of my spine climbed with each passing second.What the hell was taking my husband so long? I sighed, groaning as I stretched to my feet from the bed wearily, sagging like a bag of wet potatoes in front of the fluorescent-infused vanity mirror that cast the porcelain of my face in a grayed-out cast.“Huh,” I huffed, puffing my chest out so that the pink of my areola poked through the lace nightie most alluringly before the sound of a woman clearing her throat in the doorway reached my ears.I gasped audibly, throwing my hands over my chest and damn near snapping the bone of my neck as I whipped my head to face the door, Stephanie McKenzie’s jade-green eyes pining me where I stood in her son’s master bedroom.I felt a sudden wave of inadequacy wash over me as the heat of her gaze traveled up and down the length of my form.“Mrs. McKenzie, I-uh, didn't see you there
ALEXANDERI couldn't seem to get my father’s words out of my head as I jogged down the stairs from the manor’s upper rooms.‘You've changed son, ever since you married that little wife of yours.’Could it be? Had Darlene really?I'd always known being with her made me want to be a better person, but having my father confirm it gave me mixed feelings I didn't know how to unpack yet.I sighed, gritting my teeth and nodding my head slightly as one of the bright-faced manor maids curtseyed past, her tarp-covered pixie-length hair bobbing dramatically.My eyes blurred for a moment as tears of frustration sprung to my eyelids before I swallowed past the bile, the rustic red wallpaper jeering me out of my musings right before I felt my chest slap heavily against what must have been a tree trunk.“Dammit Xander, what the fuck’s wrong with you? Watch where you're going!” Fredrick’s frenzied voice screeched and I reared back to frown at him, catching the crazed look of rage in his eyes before t
ALEXANDERMy brother heaved a long-suffering sigh, seeming to ponder my question a bit before I craned my head just in time to catch his nonplussed shrug.“It's a party of bidders Xade, fuckers’ r’ gonna be gunning for the shipment all night,” Fredrick hissed distractedly, snapping off the leather of his seatbelt and flicking his sunglasses over the locks of his golden hair to gape at the round-bottomed elite woman that strutted past, a comfy suited chauffeur on one arm and an expensive gold-studded purse in the other.I felt the bulbs of my green eyes roll until they grazed the foam of the wet spaces behind my eyes.It was like I was working the job with a hot-panted teenager.It was on the tip of my tongue to tell the blonde-haired chad to get a hold of himself when an odd thought dropped into my head.There were escorts in the building? How much more suspicious could this look when Darlene found out about it?“Here, take this,” Fredrick hissed snippily after he’d snapped open the g
DARLENEStephanie Mckenzie appeared to be talking to herself quite animatedly when I cracked open the green wood door to the music room, the soft notes of the grand, gold-keyed piano playing syncing perfectly with her honeyed laugh.“Oh my, that is simply, preposterous woman!” Mrs. McKenzie cackled, throwing her head back in laughter before blowing into the frilly handkerchief noiselessly as I closed the door quietly behind me, conserving the woman.I didn't know how she managed to make something as vile as hacking out mucus into a kerchief as graceful as she made it look, Lord knew I'd probably have missed a fraction of my nostrils and proceeded to rain spigots of mucus all over the surrounding, something I'd be wiping off myself for weeks to come.”Oh, you mustn't make me laugh so!” Stephanie continued, wiping tears from her eyes and grinning more than I’d ever seen her since the time I’d moved into their mansion.It took me longer than it should have to realize that it wasn't the a
ALEXANDERYou could have felt the energy in the room drop to arctic levels from the moon’s milky orbit as we stood face-to-face with the billionaire mogul that had just a little too much hair spray in his slick, jet-black hair.So much so that he looked like a water seal waiting in line for choir practice instead of the sick perverted new money bastard he was.“If it isn't Stefan Mccoy, I admit I had to think about the name a bit. A little low on the social calendars aren't you?” I cooed, watching the chiseled lines of his face harden until I could have sworn he’d been carved from stone.“Oh spare the compliments Alexander, the only thing low on social calendars is that pretty little wife of yours,” Stefan McCoy jeered, his gold tooth flashing briefly as I felt the ball of my fists clench and shake with subdued rage beside me.What the fuck was he talking about? How had he known about Darlene? Fucking hell, of course, he did, what with the way the tabloids have been carrying the papar
DARLENEAlexander’s mother looked at me like I had just told her Michael Jackson was well and alive, running cross-country in the Yorkshire Olympics.“What do you mean what party? The party I'm hosting in honor of my sons tomorrow night!” Stephanie said, jutting her needle-sharp chin outward with an air of self-importance before Laura leaned over the table, her eyes flashing mischievously so that I felt my jealousy cave a little.“Mrs. McKenzie wants to host a ball at the manor, happening tonight. She wants us to be her angels Darlene,” Laura simplified, and I forced the knot that had gathered between my eyebrows to relax into something I felt was more accepting.“It would be the most exquisite dinner event to hit New York yet! Oh, I simply can't wait!” Stephanie purred, pumping her small clenched fists with excitement and beaming at me as I hastily worked a constipated smile onto my face.“That sounds ...er...lovely, Mrs. McKenzie, what does the mon signour think?” I sputtered, and i
ALEXANDERI watched my brother bite into the full meat of his pink lips anxiously, his form slouched into the driver’s seat as cold air slapped at us from the slanted vents of the air conditioning as he stalled the car in the forest path where we had a clear view of Duke Chabok’s driveway and twenty feet mansion.“Damn bastards must have planned to kick us out from the moment we fucking walked in! Fuck!” Fredrick cursed and I gritted my teeth, wincing painfully.They’d gotten me good when they’d brought up my woman. What was that? Since when did I lose control of my faculties so completely e?I had to be sure it didn't happen again, at least not when I didn't want it to.A deep sigh rose from the cherry pits of my stomach to escape out the lines of my parted lips as I raked a frustrated hand over my head.“We can't go back home without the shipment Fredrick,” I deadpanned, and my twin shook his head like I had just told him that there was a stair to the milky way right next door.I re