FOLLOWING DAYArabella awoke to the weight of exhaustion pulling at her eyelids, her eyes swollen and sore from the tears that had plagued her throughout the night. Toc. Toc.Each knock on her bedroom door felt like a jolt, sending her heart racing as she hurried to open it.Standing on the other side was Mason, his presence a foreboding shadow in the dim light of her room."Surprise?" he asked, his tone dripping with cynicism and irony as he stepped into the room, a predator entering his lair.Arabella, clad in a robe, wrapped her arms around herself protectively. She knew all too well that Mason's unexpected appearances seldom brought anything but trouble, especially for her."What do you want?" she demanded, her voice laced with tension.Mason strode purposefully towards the door of Arabella's bathroom, his movements deliberate and calculated. "I saw the security footage. Damon paid you a visit."Arabella's stomach churned at the mention of Damon's name, a reminder of the tangled
Spencer opened the top drawer of his desk and pulled out a folder. He opened it and took out the top photo from the stack, extending the paper for Arabella to see. It was a printed image of a well-preserved man, in his mid-sixties, well-dressed, accompanied by an elegant woman."I've been investigating this man for years, but his record is cleaner than distilled water. The Banks family is above suspicion," he continued."So why keep investigating?" Arabella questioned."My intuition never fails. I know something is wrong. But the CIA never wanted to get involved in the investigation because if we're wrong, this family will be against us," Spencer commented, looking melancholically at the photo."I need to understand better.""I do not want you to be an undercover spy, Arabella. I just want you to... observe Damon. I want you to be my eyes where I can't be," Spencer said."And what if you are wrong?" Arabella questioned, never ruling out the possibility."If I am wrong, then we will fo
But before she could make her escape, Mason's voice cut through the tense atmosphere like a knife. "Arabella," he called out, his tone cold and commanding. She froze, her heart pounding in her chest, and turned to face him, her eyebrows raised in silent question."I hope you won't forget everything we discussed today," Mason continued, his words laced with a veiled threat."How could I forget?" Arabella shot back, her voice tinged with bitterness. The memory of their conversation about her mission to destroy Damon Banks hung heavy in the air between them, a constant reminder of the dark path Mason had set her on.Mason's lips curled into a smirk, a cruel glint in his eyes. "Angel and I will spend some time out of the country. In the meantime, work," he ordered, his tone leaving no room for argument.Arabella's fists clenched at her sides, her nails digging into her palms as she fought to keep her composure. She did not trust herself to speak, the weight of Mason's words pressing do
Japan was a country known worldwide for its successful lifestyle. The city of Tokyo, in particular, was the country's bustling capital, and combined ultramodern and traditional style, from neon-lit skyscrapers to historic temples.In the back seats of the SUV, Banks and her lawyer did the last work of the day after a meeting. The car slid through the streets of Meguro, the neighborhood where the businessman had an apartment. A beautiful landscape unfolded outside, with cherry blossom trees, but they were too wrapped up in their cell phones to notice.Banks's cell phone began to vibrate with the arrival of a call from his mother, Dorothy."I want Arabella's phone number, or her address" the matriarch said as soon as her son answered.Damon wanted to roll his eyes, but he just sighed. He knew his mother, and he knew that she was strong-willed enough to ignore any words contrary to her wishes. The man thought of the reasons why his mother wanted to contact Arabella, and he did not like t
"How much?" Damon could hear the urban sounds of the city he knew so well. From the noise of the cars, he assumed that Arabella was on a busy street.The man felt a sudden need to protect that woman, as if she were his responsibility. And he knew his need for protection was getting the better of him, because he had left his personal bodyguard (Alex) in America just to keep Arabella under his watch."Two glasses of wine, I do not know," Arabella replied, and then let out a typically drunken smile."And what else?" Damon insisted."Some pills, perhaps," the woman replied nonchalantly.That answer made the man lose his breathing rhythm. His concern was replaced by anger. Damon closed his eyes and took a deep breath, just to keep from shouting all the curses he knew, in all the languages he knew. However, when he spoke again, his calm still seemed to have not returned. "What the fuck? Did you get drugged?""Not just me. Anastasia too" she replied."Where are you, my angel?" Damon tried
Damon closed the distance between them, invading Arabella's personal space. She did not react, not at first. He grabbed the woman's arm and quickly turned her against the door.Banks used her body to press Arabella's body against the wood."What are you doing?" she whispered a question.Arabella took a long breath, which only served to carry the man's scent into her lungs, making her fully aware of the closeness between them. In the position she was in, she felt all the male hardness against her back.Damon grabbed Arabella's hands and brought them to the top of her head. He used just one of her hands to press her wrists against the door.The woman had no immediate reaction. "If you do not let go of me, I am going to scream"Damon ran the tip of his nose along the expanse of exposed skin on Arabella's throat. And despite hating her own reaction, she got goosebumps.In turn, the man placed one of his hands on the woman's waist, and then whispered: "Yes, I bet you are going to scream"D
Arabella knew she was falling in love, and there was no point in going against the feeling. After many years, her heart had finally found the place where she wanted to stay. After three years of a failed marriage, she had finally found… love.But, despite the feeling that warmed her, a whispering voice told Arabella that that happiness was fleeting. That passion had an expiration date; it would all end when Damon discovered the truth.Mason's manipulation.Spencer's investigation.Arabella's lies."That doesn't change much" Arabella tried to get up, but the man did not make room for it. The truth was that he wasn't ready to stop feeling the heat of that body, which seemed to be more intense than the flames in the fireplace."What needs to change?" Damon asked, and his tone betrayed emotions the man wasn't used to feeling."Everything, Damon. How can I believe in you when you still have several slaughterhouses spread across the country?""The apartments? Okay. Give me five minutes and
"So, you know that Arabella killed my mother," Mason murmured quietly."Was that what you used to keep her under your control?" Carter turned to face Mason. "Did you make her believe that you had evidence of her committing a crime? A murder?" He raised an eyebrow. "I hacked into your company's system, accessed your computer, and saw these images. I was intrigued, because a good girl like Arabella would never do such a thing. So, I began to dig deeper, to search more thoroughly..." The lawyer approached Mason. "I hacked into the cameras in your house, saw the real footage."Mason swallowed hard."Arabella did not kill Eleonor. Eleonor attacked her, and she fell on her own. But there's something else... Eleonor arrived alive at the hospital," Carter continued, getting closer. "You killed your mother," he whispered."You can't prove that," Mason's voice was barely above a whisper.Carter's hand trembled slightly as he retrieved his cellphone from his pocket. With deliberate movements, he