This chapter was very hard to write so let me know how I did with capturing the emotions. And thanks for 40k views.
Alex entered his penthouse and slowly made his way towards the small bar built-in along the wall leading to the kitchen. It contained booze of various brands and flavors he hadn't touched in a long while. But today, the drive to do so was irresistible.Opening the cabinet door, he pulled out a large bottle of untouched scotch along with a shot glass. Without bothering to wipe the shot glass, he uncapped the bottle, poured himself a shot of the scotch, and downed it in one gulp.The stiff alcohol burned his throat, causing his eyes to water, but that didn't stop him from pouring another one and downing it just as quickly.“Alex, you're back.” A soft, feminine voice came from behind him.Nodding, he turned to face the owner of the voice. It was Nicole. He tried to smile at her, but the awkward stretch of his lips told him that what he had on his face was nothing close to a smile.“How's my sister? I suppose she's back from the business trip?” Nicole asked.The mention of Skylar caused t
Alex stirred awake somewhere in the middle of the night. He noticed three things immediately. The lights were on –and he never slept with his lights on. He was sleeping on his living room floor instead of his bedroom. But the most glaring realization was that he was naked with a very human-like weight on him,Stomach churning, he looked down, and he thought his heart was going to fly out of his chest when his eyes met a very naked, sleeping Nicole.He sat up abruptly like he'd been jolted with electricity, the sudden action throwing Nicole off of him and startling her awake immediately.He stared at her, his heart beating wildly as she yawned and squinted at him. “Alex." She said softly. Way too softly when he'd been expecting her to break into a panic just as he was.Why wasn't she just as freaked out as he was?Maybe she was panicking too. But she was trying to hide it so that he couldn't feel like shit. But he already felt like shit.“Fuck!” Cursing loudly, he shot up to his feet a
It was time, Luca decided. This time, he wasn't going to allow Skylar to escape the conversation that needed to be had like she'd done yesterday.He pressed on her doorbell and waited. A few seconds later, the door was pried open by the woman he was after, looking radiant in a pink sundress. He quickly took a stance, prepared to push back just in case she attempted to shut the door in his face.To his surprise, she merely stepped back to allow him entrance. Luca flashed her a smile she didn't return as he stepped inside her house.He heard the sound of music being played from a phone before he spotted Austin bouncing and shaking his body exhilaratingly to the beat while on his feet, Laura dancing along with him.As soon as his son saw him, he beckoned Luca excitedly to come dance too. Luca did, heart swelling with so much love he thought it would burst as he wondered whether his son got so excited whenever he saw him because he recognized him as his father, or it was all just part of t
As soon as the door closed behind Luca, Skylar sank into her couch, covering her face with her hands. Despite the tears burning her eyes, she'd done a great job of keeping it together while Luca was there. But now that he was gone, the sobs racked through her body unbidden, making her body quiver with its force as tears streamed through her palms.God, she loved Luca so much her heart ached. And seeing the heartbroken, tearful resignation in his eyes when he said he was letting her go had almost tore her apart. It'd taken every bit of will within her body to keep herself from fucking all her inhibitions and running into his arms.But no. This was for the best. She couldn't afford to make Luca keep thinking that he was her only option. That would make him continue to think he had power to do whatever he wanted with her.The doorbell rang. Skylar stiffened, her mind instantly going on Luca. He couldn't even handle five minutes of letting her go?The person at the door after she'd had wip
The first thing Alena announced when Skylar got to work the next day was that the CEO had resigned and returned to Rockford. Skylar quickly disregarded it, believing that it was just like the rumors last time when Luca went away for just a day.She was proved wrong when an impromptu board meeting was held later that day. Luca had really left, leaving Brandon Wood to run the affairs of the Chicago branch.Skylar didn't know how to feel about that. Sure, Luca had said he wasn't going to interfere in her life anymore, but to this extent? What about their son?Was the supposed love he had for their son so fake that now that she'd told him she didn't want to be with him, he would just leave and decide not to return?She shook her head to clear the thought. Luca's love was real. She'd seen it in his tears the first time he held Austin and his affection and adoration every time he was with their son. He was going to be back.But a week passed, then two, and yet she heard nothing from him. Sh
The woman on Luca's arm was gorgeous. With her glowing brown skin, an oval face shaped by pitch black hair that was swept to one side of her neck, thick brows, and body adorned in a body-hugging halter dress, the woman was every definition of stunning.She said something to Luca and when he looked at her and chuckled, Skylar felt like her chest was being stomped on. She nearly flinched when Luca suddenly looked in her direction, her heart picking up pace as their eyes met and held.She lost the unannounced staring contest too quickly, turning away while pretending like she was helping with the coordination of waiters even though she knew Cornelia had more than had that taken care of.In her haste to get out of Luca's view, she nearly toppled someone over. The person held both herself and himself stable, and she looked up to find that it was Alex."Hey, watch out!" He said, brows arched. "Is everything alright?""Yes." She nodded and smile
Just as Skylar started making her way towards Luca, Cornelia's voice came through the speakers, announcing that it was time for dinner. Everyone who was up on their feet went to take their seat, and sighing, Skylar went to do so too.The closest family to the birthday boy and girl, if she could even call Cornelia that, were going to be seated at one table larger than the others.There was Skylar herself, her mum and her dad, Austin, Cornelia and her husband, Ana, one of Luca's aunts, Ella, Abhishek, Laura, Luca, and...and what the heck was Aisha doing at the close family table?Her heart sinking, Skylar focused on picking her meal choice from the menus already laid out on the table. It consisted of a ridiculous amount of different dishes. The catering service was definitely charging a fortune if they were willing to provide all these for anyone who requested them.Cornelia insisted on feeding Austin, which shouldn't have been a problem, but at that moment, it was, because with Skylar's
He had to be dreaming. That was the only possibility Luca could think about for the things he was hearing. After all, it was only in his dreams that he heard Skylar saying those words to him. Nightly dreams that left him in a state of despair every time he awoke the next morning.Even when Skylar drew his head down and smashed her lips to his, he still couldn't accept that it wasn't a dream. Yet, he kissed her back, matching her fierceness and her fervour, his hands running all over her as her hands pulled haphazardly at him.The more he drank in the taste of her tongue and reveled in her moans of relish as they kissed, the more real it all felt.“Oh my God!” “Jesus fucking Christ!” Came voices that had definitely never been in his dreams. Skylar broke their kiss and pulled away so sharply that his head reeled from the sudden deprivation of her mouth.As Luca looked around at the faces all around them, it struck him more and more that there was no way this could be a dream. Apparent
Hey guys,This has been a long journey of a little over three months, and I know that reading this story must've been a bit frustrating because of my unscheduled updates where you never know when to expect the next chapter in a day. But y'all stuck with me, and I'm so grateful for that. Thank you so much for the patience.There were times I wanted to give up because writing was so stressful but all your comments kept me on my toes, along with all those beautiful gems you gifted me. They're truly appreciated.A few of you might not agree with some directions I decided to take, but I realize I can't satisfy everyone. I do believe in second chances as long as the other person is remorseful and willing to change. And I tried to be as realistic about the whole thing as possible.That being said, this is my first story on here, and I'm not perfect. There's always room for improvement for my future books, so do let me know; Where did I lack? What could I have done better? Were there issues yo
The first clue read: YES! YES! I KNOW THAT YOU'RE A DAY OLD, SO LOOK FOR THE FIRST TREASURE WHERE THINGS GET COLD.So Skylar did remember. Grinning like an idiot, Luca figured the first one out easily. It was obviously the fridge. But they had two. One in the kitchen and another at the corner of the wall near the dining table. He took a chance on the one near the dining area, and he was right.His first treasure was there, a somewhat rectangular gift wrapped up so that he couldn't see what it was. Attached to it was the second clue.It read: A MAJESTIC THRONE THAT NO ONE WANTS, YET WE ALL HAVE TO RULE OVER EVERY OTHER DAY.His brows drew together. A throne? Since he was standing around the dining table, his eyes went straight to the chairs there first. But the clue said no one wants it, so it definitely couldn't be those chairs. It took him five minutes of running all around the ground floor before he finally figured it out. When he did, he burst out laughing. What the heck? So the t
ONE YEAR LATERLuca was pissed.The day hadn't gone exactly how he'd envisioned it, and he'd been complaining the whole evening. The unfortunate listeners of his lashing out were Caleb and Abhishek.“How could she just forget?” He grouched. “Everyone remembered. My mum, Ella... Heck, even you guys remembered. And she forgets?”“Uh, with all due respect, your highness, your mother gave birth to you. She's the most inclined to remember when it's your birthday.” Abhishek had the very salient idea of mocking him, becoming the recipient of Luca's very unhappy glare.Caleb wasn't fazed though. “Dude, why are you making this a big deal? I'm sure Skylar had stuff on her mind and things to do, and she must've forgotten. Just remind her when you get home. No big deal.”Luca transferred his glare to the other man. “No big deal? It's not like we're 60 or something. We've just been living together for a year! How the hell does she forget my birthday? She didn't have to remind me when it was her bir
Licking her tongue down his neck, Skylar groaned along with him as she stroked his hard-as-granite dick. God, she loved how his dick felt in her hand. So warm and meaty and hard and just so damn good. She found herself salivating, her mouth's wish to get reacquainted with his delicious member.Without hesitation, she dropped to her knees, sliding his pants and boxers down to the middle of her thighs. His erection bounced out, the huge member bumping against her face Grabbing it, she licked him from the base up to the tip, reveling when he let out a sharp sound of pleasure."Fuck, Vanilla." He groaned. "Open that mouth of yours. Just like that."Taking the tip in, she swirled her tongue around it for a bit before taking him further. Just like she remembered, she could only get half of him in without gagging, but almost four years of not doing this didn't mean she'd forgotten how to work within her limits.She had Luca groaning and gasping for air as she bobbed her head up and down, let
Once Alex left, Luca refused to talk about anything having to do with him. He claimed he wasn't upset, but his actions afterwards proved contrary.He drove her to her house so that she could get dressed for work, but he barely said a word to her.Laura was horrified when Skylar told her about what Alex did, but the nanny ended up also concluding that Alex definitely didn't have bad intentions. That only seemed to tick Luca off some more.He drove to the company in brooding silence and didn't even give her a goodbye kiss when he parted to go check out some issues with Brandon Wood, the new branch CEO.Then again, Skylar was definitely not prepared for any PDA that would blow up the secretaries' group chat with gossip. She knew most of the people in the company thought she climbed up too quickly and had always linked it to her having an affair with Hector Lancaster. She didn't want them seeing her with Luca and making all sort of bullshit up to suit that narrative again. Luca didn't say
Alex caught the swaying of Nicole's body before she let go, so he had enough time to react and catch her in his arms."Hey. Nicole? Nicole?" He called out softly, realizing she'd passed out.Lowering her onto the couch, he held her cheek in his hand and tried to shake her gently, but she didn't react in any way.Panic shooting through him, he gathered her into his arms, ready to take her to the hospital. He didn't know what was wrong with her, but he wasn't about to take the chance of waiting for her to wake up first.Getting out of the apartment, he was just heading towards the elevator when she finally stirred in his arms."Nicole, you're awake. Thank God!" He said but he didn't stop the journey to the elevator."Alex, where are you taking me?" Nicole groaned."To the hospital.""I'm conscious now. I don't want to go to the hospital." She said and began squirming in his arms just when they got to the elevator, wordlessly demanding to be placed down.Alex obliged and placed her on her
Chewing on a bowl of popcorn, Nicole sat on her couch, fast-forwarding through scenes of the K-drama she was watching on her TV. There was only so much of the goofy, cute banter she could enjoy before she got tired of the lack of story progression.Just when she got to a scene that looked to be exciting enough, her doorbell rang. Pausing the film, she set her bowl of popcorn aside and went to get the door.Her heart nearly leapt out of her chest when she opened the door to find Alex. Partly because she hadn't expected him and secondly because his face looked like a mess. He had a black eye, other bruises, and stitches marring his face."Hey, Nicole." He flashed her smile and winced like it hurt him to do that."Alex, what happened to you?!" She exclaimed, scanning his face in horror."Uh, I got beat up?" He chuckled a bit, obviously trying to deflect the gravity of the situation with humour."I can see that!" She said, "But who did that to you?""Can I come in first?""Of course, of c
The muffled sounds of a screaming match yanked Skylar out of her deep sleep. Groaning, she snapped her eyes open and tried to focus on the altercation. She couldn't hear much, so she slipped out of bed and approached the door, the voices getting clearer the closer she got."You have some fucking nerve showing your face here, you imbecile!" That was Luca, and he sounded very angry.The sudden sound of screeching couches and painful groans snapped Skylar into action. Realizing she was just in her underwear, she quickly grabbed the dress she remembered wearing yesterday which had been thrown on the bedroom sofa and slipped it on. Opening the door, she rushed out of the bedroom and came to a startled stop at what was going on.Luca was beating the hell out of Alex who was lying helplessly on the couch. His body was vibrating with aggression, and he seemed to be channeling that aggression into every punch. Alex's face already looked like a bloody mess, yet his blows were so heavy that she
Before the tentacles of doubts could bury its roots inside his mind, Luca held himself firm and shook his head, slicing through it until it was completely dead.No, he refused to believe it. He refused to believe that Skylar had done this to him. It just couldn't be.She loved him. Over the weekend, she'd shown him that with so much passion he'd felt it within his soul. There had been nothing like uncertainty about her love.Besides, during their fight regarding his marriage proposal, she'd told him that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him too. She wouldn't have never said anything like that if she didn't mean it.And he believed her. He wasn't going to make the mistake of jumping to conclusions again. He'd been there before, and where had that landed him? In hell, for four fucking years. There was no way he wanted to go back there.There had to be some plausible explanation as to why she was in Alex William's house sleeping in his arms in that state. An explanation that