BlueBryant and Dane escort me back to the hotel. They must sense I’m in no mood to talk because they don’t say a word even when we reach the room. I walk to my bedroom and close the door behind me, cutting the rest of the world out. My thoughts and feelings are a mess right now and I need time to understand it all. I’ve never felt anything like this before and it’s making me mad. I carefully hang my new dress in the closet where Artemis has been keeping his suits. For a second I consider messing them up a little, but once again I refrain from letting my emotions get the best of me. Bastard. I’d like to kick him in the shine. Taking a deep breath, I close the closet and drop down on the bed with a huff. Day…what it it? Day four? I can’t even tell any more. It feels like ages since I was teleported into this alternate universe where a super-rich guy asked to marry him. Deciding I have given him enough thought for today I decide to watch some TV and order a huge ice cream sundae. Ha
ArtemisAfter the dress fitting I head back to work per Blue’s request, but damn if I’m not confused as hell. I thought there was something between us for a minute there, but she changed. Rhea sensed it too because she asked me what was wrong but I didn’t have an answer for her. I suppose if Blue needs space for whatever reason then I should give it to her. She hasn’t contacted me for hours, so I decided to dive into work. By four o’clock I know I won’t be going back to the hotel tonight. I need the extra time to go over every inch of this code and sleep isn’t going to help me. I need my mind sharp and that only happens for me when I don’t give it time to reset. Is it healthy? Absolutely not but it’s my system and it helped me build this company, so I’ll keep doing it. Abigail came in at four thirty to ask if I needed dinner sent up. I took her up on the offer but asked her to have it delivered around seven. I want to work another few hours without distraction. Or that was the plan
BlueArtemis is moving before I can get off the couch. I scramble to my feet and jog after him. When I reach the door to our room he’s already pulling things out of the closet. To my surprise, he isn’t being careful with his suits. He grabs them all in one go and throws them on the bed. Next he pulls his shirts, socks, and boxers from the drawer he chose as his and throws them in his overnight bag. When he notices me, he stops short wand looks at me confused. “What are you doing?”I point to myself like I’m not sure if he’s talking to me.“Yes you. Get your shit.” He starts moving again and I rush over to do as he asks. He looks determined and in no mood to be messed with so who am I to get in his way? Since I haven’t had a chance to unpack the box of clothes that came for me I just throw all my stuff in it. It’s not like I have a bag to put them in since no one has given me back my stuff. Seriously are they holding it hostage? Where are the damn bags? I’m starting to wonder if Arte
ArtemisI’m sure Blue hadn’t expected me to kiss her when she said give the paparazzi what they want, but I am a man of opportunity. When she first broke our kiss, I thought she would look upset or push me away, but Imagine my surprise when she didn’t. Then she wrapped her arms around my neck and I forgot all about why I had kissed her in the first place. She fit so well wrapped in my arms that I didn’t want to let her go. I had no choice when I started hearing sirens from outside. “Ladies and gentlemen, you are intruding on private property! If you do not want to be forceful removed or arrested I suggest you leave!” Blue and I separate from each other enough to look in the direction of the lobby doors and see a group of police officers walking in. Their warning thankfully does the trick and the people who had been surrounding us start to quickly leave. I keep Blue close to me until enough people have left that we can make our escape. “Let’s go.” I let her go and grab her hand. Da
BlueArtemis looks at me confused and I smile because he doesn’t know what’s coming. He isn’t ready for this but this is the coolest place ever and I’m too excited to contain myself. I run from the balcony and jump at him for a huge hug. He catches me with a grunt but catches me. “What’s going on? You had me worried!” He sounds like he’s ready to scold me but I lean back and kiss him on the cheek.“This is the coolest place I’ve ever been! I love it!”He sighs and shakes his head at me like he can’t put up with anymore but he doesn’t let me go.“Can we live here after we get married?” I all but beg. His forehead scrunched up. “You want to live…here.”He looks a little disgusted by the idea but this place is adorable and the view is amazing. Some of the houses even have Christmas lights up already which only makes the neighborhood even more beautiful. The way the lights sparkle on the water…I love it. “Why not? It’s so homey and you said no one knows about it.” He sets me back down
BlueOnce Artemis finishes packing he turns to me where I’m still sitting on the bed looking at our agreement like it might bite me if I touch it again.“I need to talk to my business partner for a while. I’ll be in the office.” He glances my way and opens his mouth like he’s going to say something else but he walks out instead. I can’t understand the guy. His moods change faster than the Seattle weather and I don’t like it, but that’s something to deal with another time. Right now I need to call Diego. Unfortunately, I don’t have his personal number but since the café doesn’t close until nine I still have time to catch him. I pull out my brand-new phone and open the internet browser. In my little experience I’ve learned to use a few apps, but this one is still iffy. I type the small section on top and type in MONICA’S CAFÉ, hoping it will lead me to her website. Thankfully there is only one place under the name and from the pictures I can tell it’s right. I see the section where th
BlueArtemis leaves me again to make a few work calls and I decide to get ready for bed early. I shower and climb into our bed before eight. At some point I feel the bed dip but I ignore it and go back to sleep. My mind works over time while I sleep sending me nightmares of a different kind. Instead of reminders of my past they are glimpses of my future with Artemis. None of them end well. I haven’t been someone who believes dreams are glimpses into the future but these dreams are so posable that could easily be premonitions. When I finally wake up I wait to see if I can feel Artemis cuddling up against me again, but there’s no warmth. I roll onto my other side and see the other side of the bed empty. Did he even go to bed last night? I roll onto my back and sigh loudly. I don’t know how long I lay like that but the sound of my phone going off gets my attention. It’s sitting on the table next to me, so I roll over again to grab it. The screen lights up again and I see it’s a text fro
ArtemisI’m feeling off today. I have never gone into work unfocused more than I have since Blue entered my life. Now my mind is occupied with the word vomit of a confession I made to her last night. When I heard her flirting with someone on the phone I couldn’t help but lay claim to her. Once I told her how I felt I had hoped I would get more of a reaction out of her, but she didn’t give me much. She looked at me like she wasn’t sure if she could trust my words. It confused me and I had to leave the room to get a grip on myself. Working seemed to be a good distraction but it only proved more frustrating. I thought I had a breakthrough but when I ran a simulation there was still one mistake that traveled through everything and stalled the whole thing.This project has tested every part of my sanity, and here I thought I was a skilled coder, but this problem has me questioning that. I’ve considered reaching out to an acquaintance who is an amazing hacker. If anyone can find a weak poin
BlueWhat is going on? Here I was expecting some yelling or fighting but got hysterical laughter instead. Are they all high? Well, probably not Iris, but she looks a little confused as well. Same girl, same. “What is so funny?” I yell. They all slowly calm down and it’s Rhea who speaks next. “Blue, I know that this may seem strange, but we’re happy.” Say what now?“What do you mean? You guys would be getting nothing!” I remind them as if it weren’t clear. “We know and that’s the great part. Honestly, it’s a relief. That money is tainted with bad memories for us. It’s a burden, but to someone who’s as kindhearted as you it could be a huge blessing. You’ve come from having so little to having enough money for a hundred lifetimes. You could do anything! We are happy to let that money go and let you decide what to do with it. Once the funeral is over we can finally let that time of our lives die too. It’s the last tie to what our family name used to
ArtemisThis week has been hell. My grandfather and parents did not want to leave this world without one last special, and I’m hating every second of dealing with it. Still for my sisters it means closure even though our relationship with them was strained. Then there’s the whole matter of the will. Honestly, I don’t want to know what my grandfather has left me to deal with. If what’s happened in the last few months are only a piece of what I have to face then I’m going to hate the rest even more. My sisters are happy to let me handle it since they don’t want a thing from my father or grandfather. As much as they feel a sense of loss, they also feel relief. The last die-hard Rhodes are gone and we can all move on. My charity work with blue has been a lot more rewarding than any of the other work I’ve done, and seeing her smile is all the payment I need. Fuck. I haven’t been able to spend much time with her thanks to all this, but as soon as it’s over I am taking the fi
BlueI make it back to the bookstore just as Dane comes in searching for me. “Everything okay?” He asks looking me over for injuries. “Yeah, they didn’t have what I was looking for and I even asked an employee to look, and it took forever just for her to tell me they didn’t have the book. Crazy right?” I laugh weakly and hope he doesn’t notice my discomfort in lying.He doesn’t ask anything, so I guess I did okay, but as we drive home my anxiety hits an all time high. How am I going to look at Artemis and his sisters knowing what I know and not say anything. These people have been rich all their lives and even though they are individually wealthy do they expect more now that their grandfather and parents are dead? I can only imagine the amount of money those three died with and now it’s coming my way. There is so much anxiety and pressure waring inside me that when we get home I rush through the front door and to the nearest bathroom to throw up. No one seems
BlueI need to find a way to get out of here without anyone asking questions. Also, that means leaving the babies and Lilly which I’m not sure anyone will be willing to do with everything else going on, but I need to go to this meeting. There’s no time to debate logistics, so I head back to the living room where I see the Rhodes siblings still discussing something. Artemis’s eyes lift when I walk into the room, and he gives me a confused look. Maybe he sees something in my face that has alarm bells going up, so I try to smile and act like nothing is going on. “I’m sorry but something came up at my office, I need to run in and handle it. Can I leave the kids with you?” I ask him. “Of course. Is everything okay?” He asks standing and stepping around the couch to walk in my direction. I don’t really want him touching me right now. It feels fake now. After what I heard it has me overthinking still and I don’t have time to dig deeper into all those feelings right now.
BlueThe door opens behind me, and Artemis walks inside with Iris next to him. His sisters are on their feet in an instant and rushing over to wrap their little sister in their arms. The three of them start to cry while Artemis stands off to the side watching them. His forehead is creased, and his jaw is tight like he isn’t sure what to do but also like he’s worried. So, I walk over to him and slip my hand in his. “You okay?” I whisper. He sighs. “I’m glad she’s okay.” That’s enough for me. This is all so fresh, so it makes sense that none of them know what to say or do next. “What can I do to help?” I ask him. “We need to wait for the lawyer to the estate contacts us. They will let us know our grandfather’s and parent’s wishes for burial and memorial services. Then we go from there. After the funeral there will be the reading of the will, and we’ll all know where we stand in this family.” He grinds his teeth at that last part. I may not know much a
BlueAfter Artemis leaves, I stand in the hallway and try to figure out the best way to go about this. Rhea is torn up over the news and I want to be there for her, but what can I do? I don’t want to just sit back and have them handle everything while they work through everything emotionally. It’s no secret, things were strained between all of them but that was still Artemis’s parents and that has to be hard for him. Before I can come up with a plan one of the babies starts crying. All of them have a different cry and this one is Eros. I walk into the nursery and pick him up right away. His head turns to my boob as soon as he’s in my arms. Before I take him out to feed, I check on Selene and Damion, but they are still asleep.Those two sleep like the dead when they want to except apparently at night when the smallest sound has them wide awake. In the end all of them end up in bed with me and Artemis to finish off the night. Not that either of us care much, we love cuddling u
ArtemisI hadn’t heard from my grandfather in several weeks and I’m wondering when he will send Iris to us. I’m willing to fly to wherever they are and pick her up myself but any attempts at contacting my grandfather have gone unanswered. That is until Rhea comes stumbling into the house looking as if she’s seen a ghost. “Artemis…” It sounds like saying that much was too much effort. “What?” “Rhea? What’s wrong?” Blue rushes over to my sister and helps her to sit down on the closest chair. “Rhea, what’s going on?” “Just look.” My sister hands her phone to Blue, but I can hear the audio. 'Another tragedy involving the famous Rhodes family. Unfortunately, this accident resulted in the death of three members including the Patriarch of the family, his son and his daughter-in-law. The following information may be upsetting for some. The police and rescue crew discovered the pilot a mile away and the members of the family different distances from the crash. Ou
ArtemisSeeing Blue juggle, the children’s home and motherhood is like watching a bee buzzing around a hive. She has been going non-stop and is trying so hard to make up for the time she lost not being there to help. I know she thinks that she will let someone down if she isn’t giving one hundred percent of herself in everything she does, but I can see her burning out. At night she’s been crashing as soon as her head hits the pillow, but she’s up any time the triplets need to be changed or fed. I try to help as best I can, but she always tells me to sleep, and she will handle things. Only she doesn’t realize that she sleeps through a few of the nightly cries, and I make sure nothing wakes her. Now that she will let the babies in the nursery, I turn off the monitor while I’m in there and switch to getting alerts on my phone. That way she can sleep, and I’ll still be able to hear the babies. She needs the rest. Since the babies came, I’ve been in full dad duty. Not that
BlueThe first few weeks home with the triplets is chaos. Lilly is such a sweet girl and even though she needs a lot of help with things she hasn’t complained once having to share our time. Artemis has made everything so much easier by just being here and helping wherever it’s needed. He was joking about the personal chief either. I mean when does he ever not mean these things? I should know that by now. He also did have a whole medical room set up in the house. There are plans to expand the house even more thanks to all the plans he has. Athena found a house down the street from us and has been so happy with her decision to adopt. She’s an amazing mother and it’s been great having her so close by. Rhea, not wanting to be left out also bought a house on our street and has been stopping by with her kids almost everyday much to Artemis’s displeasure. He’s gotten a lot better with having his sisters around but he’s still his grumpy self with them. Now they just find it fu