Aria left the car first, almost leaving Leon in the dust in her rush to return to their home. Leon couldn’t help but smile at that. She would learn soon enough that she wasn’t in control of anyone anymore, including herself. Leon knew she needed to grow up and learn a lot. Her father didn’t do her any favours and when he told Leon he’d washed his hands of her. Leon was content with the fact that his political career would never take off. Aria just had to realize that now. Her life didn't meet her expectations. He’d told her father what he thought of how he raised his daughter and Leon told him exactly what he forced Leon to do. There may have been threats on both sides of that phone call, but Leon saw he didn’t save his daughter, or even try. Leon’s threats weren’t hollow, but Aria’s father’s were. “Go take a shower and clean yourself up, Aria. You’re a mess and I won’t have you around if you don’t show an effort.” Leon ordered her as he closed t
Juliette lay panting under Michael as he spoke. Julie couldn’t understand why he said that. Did she somehow miss something that changed? She gasped as he left her body because he wouldn’t stop touching her. It felt like he was obsessing about her. “Michael…” “No, I’m talking Juliette. You’re listening. I want everything at once. I always get what I want. You know that. Come, we’re going to bed early.” Michael lifted her off the table and guided her to their bedroom. Her legs were shaky, and he might as well have carried her because he supported so much of her weight. He wasn’t finished talking to her. “I want my life back and I realize that means having you in it. But it also includes A.K. Crusader, and that means I must share you with her. Starting tomorrow morning, we'll revert to the way things were and adapt for A.K. Crusader. I’ve also been doing research on your condition, and I’ll be making changes around here to make this easier on both of us. There’
Leon blew his load into Aria’s mouth, and she easily swallowed it all. Mewling with pleasure the entire time. Her eyes never left his, so he knew she heard his words. When he slipped from her mouth, he hadn’t finished with her. He picked her up and threw her over his knee. He caressed her bum, slapping her cheeks as she moaned and writhed in his lap. Her thighs were damp with her desire and her pussy flushed and pink. “Look at how needy you are. Do you think you’re going the find me satisfying you? Do you think I should stuff this cheating hole with my cock?” He’d never said it like that before, but he hated the habit she had of wandering, and he’d finally decided it would end now. Aria panicked at those words and whined a little. Leon grabbed out the paddle and slapped her bare ass each time she opened her mouth. “No whining. You aren’t a squeaky wheel and there’s no grease for you.” Tears flowed again, but Leon ignored them. With t
Michael was the first one awake and witnessed Juliette waking up. She glanced at the time on the bedside clock. Not finding him in bed, she quickly jumped out before he could say good morning. Instead of calling her back, he let her go about doing what she was doing. The first thing he noticed was that she talked to herself about her tasks and plans. It was eye opening because she added how she felt and reasoned why she didn’t do things. It was like he had a window into her private thoughts. “No time for a shower again. Michael will want to start his day. Just brush my teeth. I’ll shower later if there’s time. Oh, geez, the coffee maker. He’ll want coffee after his shower. I must start that first.” She rushed back to the bathroom to shut off the shower. She was running. Michael followed her into the kitchen where she struggled to find the coffee supplies. She was banging the cabinets and searching the shelves when she noticed him. “I’m sorry nothi
- Leon’s POV - Leon enjoyed having Aria listen to him for a change. He’d spent the night playing with her and wearing her out. This morning, he could see the aftermath of it. She was sore, physically, and mentally. She was coming to terms with the new rules he’d bombarded her with. Leon didn’t let up on this. Oh, no, he doubled down. He made her sit on his lap and feed him. All the while, he played with the vibe’s controls. While she showered, he turned it on high and listened to her cum in the shower. By noon, she didn’t have any energy to fight him on anything. She lay on the sofa and watched the clouds drift by. He got the video of it and sent it to Michael with the caption. Discovered a method to silence and exhaust her. Onto the next step of my plan.] Michael texted back. [The movers are here setting up Julie’s office now. She’s yelled at me, cried in my arms, and tried to be a superhuman. She’s doing everything to
Juliette absolutely panicked at Michael’s idea. She saw three different intentions he might have with what he suggested. The first to show her how she didn’t fit in with everyone in his world. She knew she couldn’t hold a candle to Aria’s fashion sense. Or he wanted to control her appearance again like he did while they’d been married. She quietly cursed herself. They were still married for another six months. He expected to return to telling her what to wear and all that. Juliette never told him she struggled with her appearance all her life. She didn’t have a sense of fashion because she didn’t see the sense in half of it. Michael insisted if others saw them together that he would select her clothes for her. He figured if he controlled it, there’d be less of a chance, she’d embarrass him. Juliette always thought that it had been foolish because he allowed her to layout his suits and evening wear for him. She’d be the first to admit that men’s cl
Julie wanted to be there when her office arrived. Because she wanted her things so she could work. An office. That’s what Michael saw when he’d been at the apartment. But Julie really didn’t need all that much. For the last hour, a group of packers and movers packed up the guest room until the room lay practically empty. They vacuumed the flooring as well, even though the floor wasn’t dirty. Now the movers brought in new furniture and assembled it. A Murphy bed, so guests would have a bed to sleep in, but it didn’t take up most of the floor every day. What got her attention away from hovering, watching them, came when the lead mover reported to Michael. Beck stood there and between his unhappy face and Michael’s surprised tone. “What do you mean, her desk didn’t make the trip? What happened to it?” “Mr. Baron. We’re very sorry, but the desk’s condition was not the best. It was on its last legs and all but held together with duct tape
“Yes, Cherished. There are things I learned and now I see I’ve been selfish. I’m seeing my life as though I’m the only one affected by my plans and I’ve never cared enough about anyone else to care what happened to them after I’m done with them.” Michael felt his life shift as he spoke. Was she truly different to the other women who passed through his life, leaving him devastated and hurt after each abandoned him? “I don’t know what to say, Michael. You don’t sound like the man who gave his wife divorce papers as a present for their third anniversary. Please, I can’t process this right now. I just can’t. I keep looking at you are waiting for you to tell me I’m a fool and a sucker. Then punish me for being like that.” Michael couldn’t take it anymore. He took her into his embrace and buried his face in her hair as he felt her round curves mould to him, and he loved the smell of her hair. He’d never dissected why he’d kept coming home to her if he never planned
Julie removed her earbuds as she sat at her desk. She’d just listened to the ready-to-print version of her fifteenth novel. It was survivable, at least. She felt Stephen and her publisher would love it. She could hear everyone out at the pool having fun. Michael entertained the early bird parents and kids as they slowly arrived for Johnathan’s birthday pool party. Their children’s parties seemed to be an event where people wanted invitations and their presence recognized by their peers. Julie couldn’t believe the changes that had happened over the last few years. Johnathan’s birth shone in her brain as the mark when Julie knew Michael was hers. He’d not settled, but he’d found a different direction for his life that made him happier. Michael had help from the parents, nannies, and several staff members minding the chaos of children everywhere. They’d long ago child proofed the house, and currently Michael hid his genuine prized items in a series of locked rooms away from t
Aria’s honeymoon was so much more than she had expected, and she used her social media accounts to poke the bear that was her father. She posted teasing photos of the place where she got married. Sold a few of her wedding photos to a couple of magazines with an interview hinting at why her father really wasn’t at her wedding and how disappointed she was at his betrayal of family ties. At the end of the interview, Aria made it good and clear that she’d broken off all ties with her father and she wasn’t interested in ever reconciling at any time in the future. He and his staff burned those bridges. As she went around Europe and saw the unique way of life there, some of it initially felt confusing and complicated. But she investigated other differences in how they treated people. It was something she’d not given much thought about until her life spiralled out of control and she finally understood why she was the way she’d become. It wasn’t pretty, and she had the photos and v
“Edward has everything in the car, Julie. We’re ready to head for the hospital. Now, you’re sure you’re okay with going through with a c-section? I mean, if you change your mind, you can still back out.” Michael could see how large Julie grew and wondered how his son hadn’t torn his way out. Michael worried Julie could no longer stand and walk safely. Life kept changing and he couldn’t believe he’d once thought this part of his life could go on without him. Over the last eight and a half months, he’d learned so much about a woman’s body he had to wonder if they were the same species. Women were so complicated, and Julie had some unique complications. A common comorbidity Julie had called EDS would complicate even the epidural she would need. Her joints had more range, and it caused her shoulders, back, and hips to be uneven. It could complicate administering the epidural. If she couldn’t get it, then she’d have to give birth naturally without it. This terrified Julie, alon
“I’m glad you’re doing this, Julie. Honestly, I don’t know what her father is thinking. But if he thinks she could embarrass him normally, to not come to his daughter’s wedding. Campaigning or not, he’s going to look bad. He recognized her as his daughter when it was convenient for him. Now he pulls this because it’s not convenient. His poll numbers will go down and he’ll lose the public confidence. If it gets out and it will that we showed up after that entire mess that started all of this. He’s sunk.” “You don’t think this is a mistake? She will not pull something fast. Like become caught in someone else’s bed?” “Julie, Aria’s been through a lot in the last six months. Leon didn’t just send her to rehab to just get off the medication. He sent her to a location that deals with complex abuse cases. She doesn’t realize it, but they did. He had to wait for over two years to get her a place there. It’s why I took her in like I did. I admit there were other stupid
The small plane landed at the secluded island airport, and Julie sighed in relief. There was something about travelling she disliked. To come all this way for a wedding for someone she didn’t like seemed crazy. But Leon was Michael’s best friend and Julie would muddle through it for five days there. What she still couldn’t get over was Aria’s request to come and bury the hatchet somewhere other than Julie’s back. She’d apologized. The hadron collider must have tested something again, and the world altered in reaction to the outcome of that test. That’s how Julie thought of why things changed in ways she didn’t see coming. Not that she believed the conspiracies; it was just a humorous way to look at her problem because Julie didn’t believe she’d ever find out the true reason these things changed. But jumping off into another timeline felt as sane as any other reason, and perhaps sometimes more logical. They stepped off the plane with the other guests, and a protracted line
Michael had said that he didn’t want to celebrate something that didn’t change. He didn’t want to admit he’d changed, and that changed their relationship. His explanation for this was he’d not been aware that he could be any other way until he’d seen how she lived in perpetual difference. Her effort to give him an easier existence while ignoring her own struggles had him questioning and rejecting much of his father’s teachings. It’d crossed over into his work life to and several people mentioned it over the months. So much so it became part of the water cooler gossip. Julie only found out about this after they’d gone back to the gym, and she heard the gossip at the juice bar. Michael hadn’t gone with her today as he now often did. Julie still struggled to become used to his constant presence around her. But she knew why this time around she struggled with it. Julie had to fight putting up a mask for the world and in that moment with Michael at the gym, she couldn’t figure
Christiana brought Aria upstairs, showed her the room, and helped her to unpack her things. Aria had to wait an hour before Leon came upstairs to her. But once Christiana ended with that, she gave Aria an odd warning before she left Aria to her own devices. “My dear, you’re not as sweet as you pretend to be, but that’s not a mark against you with me. The problem you will have been with the men of this family. They run this family with an iron fist, and we are not part of the conversation or the family business. So, if you think you will control anything or anyone within this family, then you’ll be walking a thin line between surviving or disappearing within an unfortunate accident. Please be careful what you say and do. This is something we say to all women who enter this family. Think carefully and long. If you stay, learn to keep your head down and your mouth shut. You can do and say anything outside of the family but don’t allow the bad to reflect on the family.”
“Julie love, you fell asleep. We’re here now. Let’s go in for our appointment.” Julie woke up to Michael’s voice. During their trip to her doctor’s appointment, she’d fallen asleep. Today she would talk to the doctor about her pregnancy and what to expect, including her birthing plan. Something she’d been avoiding because it absolutely terrified her. With pain, she had an odd relationship with it. There was no normal response to it for her. It either didn’t register or she was in a world of hurt that no one understood. Medications didn’t seem to work correctly either when dealing with pain. She’d believed that she was imagining this issue for most of her life, but Julie learned not too long ago that wasn’t the case. Her body resisted many pain medications, and she did in fact register pain differently to other people. “Great, let’s get this over with because there’re things I need to get done today.” She’d been grumpy for most of the day. Between
Julie sat there in the conference room with her lawyer. They’d been hashing out exactly how things would go from here on out. Michael had given her a file of documents which gave her terms he was willing to work with and he’d changed all the wording. Her lawyer had to review it all over the last few days and he had admitted to Julie that the generosity in the new offer was off the charts compared to the first time they sat down to get through this. But to stay was more beneficial for both parties. However, he warned her not to do anything if it wasn’t in her heart, or best for her safety. She should do what she believed was best for her and her child. “I will, I promise you that. But I will have to say that things have changed greatly in the last six months. I’m still unsure what changed things. If it was a single event or multiple events, but he’s not the same man. No, before you say it’s temporary, understand he’s happier now with the changes he’s made. It’s