“It’s getting better,” Chan said, sipping her hot chocolate and staring at him over the rim of her mug.He was so good-looking. Dark hair, warm brown eyes, broody features, tall, well-built with toned muscles; he was every woman’s fantasy.Sam was watching her, too. He couldn’t help but want to pull her into his arms and onto his lap. Then maybe kiss her until she was senseless.Of course, the moment he’d seen her walking through the door and complaining about her pain, it both pleased and surprised him. No, that wasn’t it. The pleasure and surprise at seeing her was nothing compared to the excitement he felt the moment he’d seen her in her sleeping garments. Flimsy white tank top, short-short sleeping pants, and bedroom hair, she was exquisitely beautiful. The sight of her alone was an invitation, seducing him, making him weak with wonder. The woman was disarmingly alluring, and she didn’t even know she could bring men to their knees.“That’s right,” Soriya said. “Sam said he’s here
In the elevator, Chan succumbed to her inability to change Sam and her sisters’ minds and proceeded to sulk, waiting in dread for doom to come.They were outside the apartment building when Soriya said, “Wow! That’s a very nice car.”“Maserati,” Dara said. “Nice.”Sam chuckled as he clicked on the automatic button on his key. The doors unlocked, and he said, “Get in.”Dara opened the front door of the passenger side for him, and he gently placed Chan onto the leather seat. A few moments later, they were on their way.“So tell us about Lilly,” Dara said from the back seat. “Help us get some idea of what she wants for her presents.”Sam chuckled. “You can interrogate her when you see her.”Dara nodded. “Okay. We’ll do that.”Soriya rubbed her hands together and laughed out evilly. “Muah-ha-ha-ha-ha… We shall use rope. It needs to be in a dark room…”Chan rolled her eyes. “Your imagination is going haywire again.”“As if yours hasn’t,” Soriya said. “I heard the furious tapping of keys la
“Are you guys done?” Soriya asked after poking her head in the doorway.Sam nodded while Chan eyed Lilly watching her just behind Soriya. The little girl became shy suddenly, and Chan wondered why.Adam, after he’d finished wrapping the bandage around Chan’s ankle once again, said, “Yes. All done. Has Marian finished preparing lunch?” At Soriya’s nod, he got up from his spot. “In that case, I’ll go and help set the table.”Once he was out the door, Lilly took the opportunity and rushed in, straight to Chan. Behind her, Soriya rolled her eyes. “I knew it. I just knew it.” She turned to Sam. “See what I told you? Every kid likes her.”Sam chuckled. He’d admit it wasn’t just the kids. It was him as well.Lilly claimed a spot beside Chan on the couch and started telling the young woman about her school and friends, including Timothy and Jason. Then she went on about her birthday party coming up next Saturday.“Here,” she said, handing Chan a paper cut into a card.Chan took it and realize
Is Sam a single father? That realization hit Chan right in the gut. She hadn’t been kissing a married man after all. She hadn’t been liking a married man after all. Suddenly, she wanted to laugh in relief.“Is everything okay?” Holly asked.Chan jolted back to reality. “Yes. I’m fine.” She glanced to her right and saw Sam watching her, his eyes twinkling with amusement. Her heart skipped a beat in delight as she continued to gaze at him. Of course, the eye contact didn’t go unnoticed by the others around the table either.After lunch, Soriya and Dara helped clean up while Lilly, Timothy, and Jason spent time with Chan and Sam. Once the dishes were done, they were ready to depart.“Look!” Dara said at the door. “I don’t have to cook dinner tonight.” In her hands were leftovers in containers.Soriya said, “Thanks to Marian. She is awesome!”The two sisters did a high five. Lilly jumped up and down and begged to have one as well. The sisters happily obliged and gave her high fives.After
The moment Jeremy saw Chandra come in through the door, his eyes widened with delight. She was a sight to behold. Her hair was done up in a loose bun at the top of her head, and her cocktail dress fit perfectly about her slim frame. Her smile was radiant when she said, “Hi, Jeremy.”Sitting there, Jeremy’s throat felt rather dry. Opposite him were Dara and Soriya. They smiled at each other with delight at the reaction they’d received from Jeremy. Score! That was exactly what they wanted. A pleasant surprise of beauty showing up on a date. They could totally tell he was smitten with their sister.Jeremy cleared his throat at that point and then said, “Hi. You look beautiful.”Chan didn’t expect that. After all, she didn’t think she’d put that much effort into looking good for the date. She’d been told by her sisters The Twilight was a fancy restaurant and had urged her to dress up a little. And this was exactly what she’d ended up wearing. A nice cocktail dress, but nothing too fancy.
She couldn’t take her eyes off him as he got up from his seat and headed their way.Sam wasn’t surprised to see Chandra and Jeremy here in the restaurant. In fact, he’d known they were going to have their date here and had devised a meeting. Hence, this was not coincidental.He couldn’t take his eyes off Chan the moment he’d seen them upon the landing. She was beautiful tonight, dressed in a lovely cocktail dress and her hair done up. All he wanted to do was be with her. And hell, he wished this were his date with her, not hers with Jeremy.His eyes were locked on her as he came over to them. “Jeremy.”Jeremy chuckled. “I didn’t know you were having dinner here.”Sam was a bad liar, so he kept his mouth shut and simply nodded. He asked his cousin, though his eyes were on Chan, “I thought you were having a date today.”Chan didn’t miss the sarcastic tone beneath that deep, smooth voice of his. Nor the way he looked at her. God! Couldn’t he look at something else? Those warm brown eyes
“Are you sure it’s around here?” Chandra asked her sister as they drove along the streets, both sides lined with huge, breathtaking mansions accompanied by immaculate gardens.Dara nodded. “I’m sure it is. Here, turn left here.”Soriya said, “Man, this place is awesome. I bet only billionaires live around here.”“I think it’s quite a new development,” Dara said. “Most of the mansions here were only built within the last five years or so.”A few moments later, they found the house they were looking for. It was hard to miss since there were colorful balloons tied to the gate in front of the house, an indication of a birthday party for a child. Not to mention there were cars parked along this street. Chan was pretty sure those belonged to the people attending Lilly’s party.They found a spot at the end of the street a few moments later, and the sisters climbed out. Dara went ahead to get the container that held salad, while Soriya took the presents—three different sizes and shapes—for Li
It was nearer to lunch when Jayden, Alexandra, and of course, little Andy showed up, along with Alec and Ruby. Unfortunately, Chan’s other friends—Nikkita, Georgina, and Isabella—had all returned home. Nikkita back to South Australia and Georgina and Isabella to New Zealand.Chan greeted them with delight, and Dara and Soriya immediately went to kiss Andy. Jayden and Alec joined Sam, helping the man prepare the barbeque for lunch. By that time, more kids arrived along with their parents and, of course, Nina and her group of posh friends.Nina, dressed in a sexy black dress, her hair styled beautifully, came into the kitchen and told Marian in a condescending manner to start setting up lunch for the kids and adults outside because it was getting late. Marian rolled her eyes and wanted to slap the woman. But of course, she couldn’t. Her hands were deep in satay meat.Dara stared at the woman and said, “So you’re the one organizing this party?”Nina glared at Dara. “Yes? You have a probl
A GOLDEN COIN FOR A NECKLACEA Random Thursday“This brings back memories,” Chan said as they strolled down the street, exploring the Thursday Night Market along Surfer Paradise.Holding Darany in his arms, Sam chuckled then said, “Mm-hmm. The first time I met you.”Chan nodded. Sam leaned toward her and then planted a light, gentle kiss on her lips, which made Chan blush.Chanlina, in Chan’s arms, said, “Daddy kissing Mommy.”Suddenly, Darany chanted excitedly, “Monkey! Monkey show!” He was pointing toward a thick crowd of people on the other side where a monkey was performing.“Isn’t that...” Chan left her sentence unfinished.Sam chuckled. “Yeah. Let’s go watch.”“Yay!” Darany put his little arms up in the air in excitement.Once they were amongst others in the crowd, watching the monkey doing cool Kung Fu moves, Darany tapped at his father’s shoulder. “Daddy. Rany wants down.”“All right, but don’t go running off,” Sam warned.The boy simply gave his father an adorable, toothy gri
Old Mr. Jones was entering a new phase in his life: rock bottom. He had just lost his job, his entire savings swiped from his bank account due to identity theft, and he was in over his head in debts. Today, like yesterday and the day before that, he considered ending it all. Then again, he always hit pause. He had his wife and granddaughter to think about, after all.Sometimes life just seemed to come at you, bringing bad luck after bad luck and disaster after disaster. Not only had his only child and her husband just died from a car accident, leaving their only eight-year-old girl with him and his wife, but the company he had worked for had laid him off, along with fifty others. A week later, his wife had a mild heart attack, freaking him out so much that he himself nearly had a heart attack. Then that same week, he found his bank savings had been drained, and he hadn’t a clue how since he hadn’t been withdrawing any money. A phone call to the bank confirmed that it was a case of ide
One Year LaterWhen Chan fluttered her eyes open, she smiled, and a sense of contentment and happiness coursed through her being. The morning sun was bright, filtering into the bedroom through the window. She lay there in bed for a moment, just enjoying the moment, basking in the peace and quiet as she gazed out the window, enjoying the view of the beach and ocean in the distance. When she finally moved and got out of bed, she went into the en suite and took a good, long shower. Done twenty minutes later and now dressed in a lovely floral sundress, she headed down the stairs.As she approached the living area, happy chatter reached her, and she knew literally everyone was in there. It was a Sunday, after all, and it was well past ten in the morning now.She came to a stop at the entrance of the room, her heart constricting with emotions. Yes, everyone was in here, all right. Fran was holding one of her little darlings, Chanlina, in her arms. The baby girl was cooing as Fran tickled th
By the time they arrived home, it was dark. Once Detective Liam put the car into park, Sam got out and then drew Chan to him. He picked her up in his arms and then carried her toward the house. Of course, everyone was already at the door waiting since Jeremy had phoned Dara to tell her they had found Chan and that she was safe and sound.The moment they spotted Chan, the sisters came rushing forward.“Chan, are you okay?” Soriya asked. She had clearly been crying hard. Her eyes were red and her cheeks were raw.Chan gave her sisters a weak smile. “I’m fine now.”Once they were in the living room, Sam placed her on the couch, and Fran immediately brought over a mug of hot chocolate for her. Chan gladly accepted it, her hands shaking. She began sipping eagerly as everyone gathered around the living room, Keith included, who was now talking to Liam and Jeremy.Though the crowd was keen to ask Chan questions about her ordeal, they knew she needed time to gather herself. Once she finished
Chan swallowed hard, her body tense, her gaze fixed on Dave in front of her. He, too, had his gaze fixed on her face, a dark smile on his lips.He said, “When I discovered your father was quite a wealthy man, despite his and your living conditions back then, he had his will drawn up with me as one of his witnesses, believe it or not.” He laughed. “He was that trusting. He was so gullible. In that will, he was going to give his daughters everything, and I knew I just couldn’t have that. I knew Lisa and Amie would agree, so I pitched a plan to them. Oh, they got freaked out at first, but then the hunger for money was just too overpowering for mother and daughter. In the end, they decided to do what I told them. I taught them how to lace Michael’s food with antifreeze. He got sick and must have caught on as to what was happening, but of course, we persisted. Needless to say, we failed the first few times. That bastard was hard to kill, I must admit. That, or Amie was lousy at concocting
Chan hadn’t a clue how long it had been since she had escaped Dave and Lisa’s clutches, but she knew it had been a while. The sun had moved farther to the west, so she knew it was late in the afternoon. By now, Sam would have notified the police and be on his way to get her, since she had turned on the tracking device a while back.Suddenly, she stopped, feeling exhausted. She had been on the run this whole time, now and again scanning behind and around her to ensure that she was not being followed.God, she had no idea where she was going, whether she was heading deeper into the bush or out toward the road. She hoped it was the latter because if she was heading deeper into the bush, it’d be harder and longer for Sam to find her, and she didn’t want that, not when the sun was going to set soon.She was thirsty, and her body was sweating profusely, but she dared not stop because she knew the moment she did, she’d shorten the distance between her and Dave, and when he found her, it’d be
Sam hadn’t a clue why but ever since that morning, he had been having this sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach, as if his instinct was telling him something bad was about to happen. Hence, he hadn’t been able to concentrate on his work, and he had kept phoning Chan every two hours or so to make sure she was fine. The last time he had contacted her, she had said she was going to pick Lilly up as Mrs. Campbell had to dash to the hospital to take care of her husband.Everything was going to be fine, he told himself. Then again, why the heck wasn’t this bad feeling going away?“You okay, Sam?” Jeremy, who was sitting across from him, asked.Sam nodded. “Yeah,” he said distractedly.Jeremy shook his head. “You’re not fine. You look like you have something on your mind. Chan? The court cases?”Sam was about to tell Jeremy to stop prodding when his cell phone rang. It was his mom.He quickly picked up.“Sam.” Fran’s panicky voice came from the other side of the line, and Sam was imme
Chan knew exactly what type of talking they intended to do. They’d threaten her, like they always do, and she suspected that it had something to do with her father and the will. They must have been informed about Chan and her sisters contesting the will for the second time, now with new evidence and another set of new wills, and of course, them being suspects of the attempted murder of her father.Chan shut her eyes for a moment, doing her best to stay calm. Her mind, however, continued to race, working on how best to deal with this situation.Within five minutes, Lilly would finish school. When no one came to pick her up, one of the teachers would notice and they’d phone home. Fran or Marian would then contact Sam, and he’d suspect something had happened to her. When either Marian or Fran came to get Lilly, they’d likely spot her car parked three blocks down from the school, and of course, Danny in it.Oh, God, she hoped the little pup was all right. It was hot, and she hoped he woul
It had been a week since Chan and her sisters had the meeting with Keith and Liam, and since that day, the two men had advised her and her sister to be vigilant, in case Amie, Lisa, and Dave tried to make contact. Chan knew just what sort of contact the two men were referring to. She had doubt Amie would be able to track her and her sisters down since they had moved, but it was a good idea to be cautious nonetheless. Hence, she had avoided going out alone unless it was necessary and spent most of her time in the house, working on her next book, like she was doing now.“Chan?” Mrs. Campbell’s voice drew her attention away from her work. “Chan?”Chan got up from her seat and then opened the door of her office. She was coming down the stairs when she spotted Mrs. Campbell along the corridor. She noted the woman looked a little flustered.“What is it, Charlotte?” she asked, concerned.“Do you mind picking Lilly up from school this afternoon?” the woman asked. “Ian just called. He’s at the