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
DARLENEMy ears rang in the silence that followed after Laura told me what she’d seen on the guest list, the foamy sponge of my brain skirting around the information so that I deliberated a moment before giving the dark-haired woman a puzzled look.“What do you mean you saw Kayla Storm on the guest list? Mrs. McKenzie just said it was by invitation only!” I croaked, trying to tamp down on the heat that was rising in my chest as I felt my breathing shorten to shocked gasps.We’d had a brief tussle in his office, his eyes darkening the second I shut the door so that he pulled me farther into the dimly lit expanse of his office.“What the hell Darlene? What was that? What's wrong with you?” Alexander whispered hotly, his eyes flashing with annoyance as he stared down at me, the hard barrel of his chest rising and falling with a quickness I hadn't seen before.Oh, I knew sure as hell he did not just try to pin this on me! I felt my teeth clench as I marched right up to him, stabbing the n
ALEXANDER MCKENZIEI felt the truck fishtail sporadically, away from the line of guards who had jumped away as I swerved the steering wheel into the forested path, only just missing the beam of my brother’s headlights up ahead.“Shit,” I cursed under my breath, my eyes darting off the road so I could slap the hades music off before I lifted my gaze back to the stretch of asphalt, swerving wildly to avoid the signpost that the car had been leaning toward.Green almond-shaped eyes met my cautious gaze in the rear view mirror as I watched the manor’s security team run into the brightly lit street, with some of the hump-chested men stomping their feet on the granite angrily and the other suit-clad protocols appearing to shout into their phones.We’d done it, stolen the shipment from right under their noses. Duke Chabok was not going to like this, Not Stephan McCoy either, No siree. I could tell the bastard had been gunning to outbid us if his plan to outs us hadn’t worked back at the Chab