LILITH POV:
For my son, I had tried to keep my emotions at bay, but I wasn’t sure how much more my heart could handle. I could do anything for my son to be happy and healthy and loved. But I wasn’t sure how much more I was capable of giving while my heart was being trampled on.
How could a smart man like Kai be so stupid and thoughtless and think that his actions wouldn’t invoke some sort of reaction in me? That kiss… It was brief but beautiful.
I ran towards the greenhouse which was the farthest from the house, needing to find some space away from everyone to help calm myself down. And if I was honest, to yell and scream as my anger grew by the moment.
“Lilith?” I heard Kai’s desperate yelling as I passed through the door.
A few moments later, I heard his footsteps on the concrete floor. “Lilith? Sweetheart?” he continued as I kept my back to him, my arms wound around my middle as if trying to
Our kiss lingered, slow and breathy, hot air, hands loosening to soft caresses as the emotion of my outburst dissipated and I let the realization of what it all meant settle into the depths of my heart. Could we be together? Truly together like a normal couple? It was all I had ever really wanted and now that I had it within my grasp, I was letting it get away from me with self-doubt."You look worried." Kai's face was full of concern as his eyes studied mine, so close. Shining with an emotion I hadn't seen in so many years.“I don’t know where to go from here. Which is absurd, considering I have had years to think about it. I just never thought that you cand I could ever be like this,” I rambled as I motioned between our bodies. “I’m still not sure we can—” He gently pressed a finger over my lips."We don't have to have all of the answers now, my love. Our lives couldn't be further apart and as much as I hate to admit i
After my morning outburst, I felt completely drained for the rest of the day. I kind of just went through the motions as I was reintroduced to Eric and Daniella. They were both pleasant enough, though the atmosphere was a little uncomfortable. I mean, we'd all met before, so it was odd being reintroduced under a different name. Their little boy Ed was adorable, and clearly very loved by his Uncle Kai.Kaiden seemed to take to Ed quickly, coddling him and looking after him like he was his own little brother. The age difference didn't seem to matter to him as he played his games and with his toys in the sandpit.At lunchtime, Kai and I snuck away for a private picnic. On the one hand, I wanted to jump him… immediately. But on the other hand, it was important to put some physical distance between us while we talked about the past, the present and I guess our future.After we ate our lunch, Kai was resting lazily on the rug that we had spread under a massive
[Warning: Sexually explicit content up ahead. Read at your own risk!]KAI POV:My day had ended up entirely different from where it had begun. After our encounter in the greenhouse, our picnic, and then the afternoon and dinner with the entire family, I could see that Lilith was exhausted. So instead of monopolizing more of her time, I left her to go to her room with Kaiden for an early night. Kaiden wasn't used to all of this family, so I was sure he probably needed some alone time with his mother. The two of them were understandably close, and I could only imagine it was difficult, for both of them to suddenly share so much of their time with people who were, for all intents and purposes, strangers.So, it was with a ridiculous amount of teenage level glee that I found myself in the kitchen at 3 am in the morning, watching Lilith's figure as it was silhouetted in the light from the fridge. Her arms were outstretched as she held the door open with one and propp
"So, are you and Kai together, or are you just fucking?" I don't know why, but I was taken aback by Daniella's question. "You know... because there's quite clearly something going on again. Not that I'm surprised, he was a mess after you left."Daniella exhaled as she lay back on her sun lounge and pulled her sunglasses down to cover her eyes. I stilled beside her as I tried to figure out whether she had an agenda here or not. We'd been polite to each other since their arrival, not really having the opportunity to be alone, until now. So, I wasn't entirely sure where I stood with her.Daniella turned her head towards me and smiled ruefully as I remained silent.“Does that surprise you?”I snapped my mouth shut quickly, glad she couldn't see my eyes. "Um, no I guess not. I was a mess too when I left."“So, why leave? Why didn’t you just ask Kai to protect you?” she asked in a bored tone.“Can you imagine wh
KAI POV:It was time for Lilith and Kaiden to leave. I was agitated and moody, my mind wandering to places I didn't want it to as I thought about the last time I said goodbye to Lilith here in such a situation.It was over eight years until I had laid eyes on her again. And while I knew deep down this was not the same situation, I was edgy about the two-week separation. I was definitely looking forward to being with them at Lilith’s house. I already had my assistant hire someone to look for properties there for me to buy. I couldn't very well do it myself yet, it would set too many alarm bells ringing and I wanted Lilith to have a look at a few while she was back in the city, before the people found out and life became crazy for her.I walked them to the car, hugging Kaiden to me and kissing him goodbye with the promise of speaking to him every day. I pulled Lilith into my arms and held her for an inordinately long period of time. I never wanted to let her
LILITH POV:Ah, the capital of the country. I loved being there, and from the looks of it, so did Kaiden. This was his first trip, and I reveled in watching his face light up as he looked at his surroundings, taking in the familiar buildings and sights that he'd seen on television. We were on our way to Kai's condo. He would be joining us in two days, while Esme would be joining us tomorrow to help look after Kaiden while I was at the book events for the book launch and the charity auction.Dave drove the big black SUV slowly past Kai's building. He pointed it out to us from the front, before driving around the block, telling us he was pulling into an underground parking garage, the entry being around the back of the building. He said he was also on the lookout for photographers of which he said there were none. Not surprising, given that Kai wasn't expected back in the country for two days.Getting through the security gates in the garage looked like no easy fe
“Lilith.” He cleared his throat. “Lilith.”My eyes remained glued to the black screen. I sucked in a deep breath and exhaled through narrowed lips.“I was going to tell you,” I responded as calmly as I could.“How much of that statement is actually true?” he asked.Finally, I turned to face him. “I have a son—”“I know that much, Lilith. I am referring to the rest.” He paused. “I am not going to ask you why you never told anyone about who your son’s father was. Your private life has always been that: your private life. And I have never wanted to interfere. How much of the rest is true? Because this is about business.”I opened my eyes and held his gaze firmly. “Kai… Kai Rivera is my son’s father.”His expression didn’t change. There was not even the slightest shift in it.“We met when I was younge
“Mom, you’re home! Aunt Dani and Nana and I are making cookies. Oh, I beat Uncle Eric at football today. After dinner and cookies, I want to go out and practice again.”Emma gave me an anxious look over Kaiden’s head.“That’s wonderful, sweetheart.” I smiled as I kneeled down to his level. “But Kaiden, I need you to stay inside for the rest of the evening, okay?”“Why?” he asked, his brows scrunching in confusion.I looked up at Emma and Daniella. They both shrugged.“There might be some strange people hanging around us today.”“Why would strangers do that?”"Well…you know how you were so happy about your Dad finding you?" He nodded. "Well, there are people who are very curious about that, and they may start hanging about asking silly questions."“Why?”I held his curious gaze and felt the tears welling in the cor
KAI POV:I woke to the sound of vomiting— really loud vomiting. Eyes still closed, I reached over for my wife.My hand skimmed warm, soft sheets… before coming up empty.“Lilith?”More loud gagging erupted from the bathroom and it hit me that Lilith was, in all likelihood, the one in there puking."Shit," I muttered, raking a hand down my face. "Lilith!"I lunged out of bed and sprinted to the bathroom, where sure enough, I found my wife leaning over the toilet and expelling what seemed to be everything including her vital organs.Not knowing what else to do, I curled my hands around her shoulders, which rose and fell with each continuous heave. She stopped for about ten seconds, and I breathed a sigh of relief.Right before she started up again.“I am calling the doctor,” I admonished.Lilith grabbed my arm in a death grip, nails digging into my tendons."Wait," she man
The trees surrounding the dock were decked out in thousands of white, glowing lights that twinkled brightly and turned the night sky from pitch black to soft grey. The white tent set up on the small beach nearby was decorated with dozens of white and red flowers in large crystal vases.Outside, the winter wind blew cold but inside, the fireplace-shaped space heaters and the absolute happiness of the event kept all of us warm.Kai and I were anything but a traditional couple, and while I wished my mother could've been at my side today, I knew that she was watching from above, and so it was Kaiden and Dad who walked with me.My Kaiden looked like a prince in white in his suit. Dad wore a matching tuxedo. It was simple, yet on these two people whom I loved, it looked perfect.As for me… Well, the tent was set up beautifully, my dress was lovely, but it was the man waiting, whom I couldn't take my eyes off. He wore an immaculately fitting dark tux that
[WARNING: MORE SNU SNU UP AHEAD. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.]LILITH POV:My eyes opened to the sun rising over skyscrapers, sparkling with dozens of silver lines of jewels, up and down as far as the eye could see. For a second, I was a bit disoriented, frowning at the bright, orange circle as it makes its ascent into the sky.The clock on the nightstand indicated that it was six a.m. I lay there for about ten minutes, watching each digit move up slowly, forcing my heart rate to remain steady, my shoulders to rise and fall in measured rhythm. He was sleeping, holding me spooned into him while his lips grazed my hair and soft breaths tickled the nape of my neck. His hands clutched my waist tightly, even in his slumber. I could feel his morning hard-on pressed up against my ass, rocking rhythmically against me every few seconds.Slowly but surely, the night came back to her. It had been spent in a surreal state.We had drifted in and out of the periphery
[WARNING: SNU SNU UP AHEAD. SKIP IF YOU ARE SQUEAMISH ABOUT IT.]With the renovations complete, we moved into the condo soon after. The following three nights were a lesson in how to get your son to sleep in his own bed.After the first night, Kaiden managed to keep himself in his own bed - for most of the night. It wasn't until the early hours of the morning, Lilith informed me, that Kaiden tip-toed into her bedroom, snuggling in next to her.The following night, my mother helped Kaiden get ready for bed and told him stories until he fell asleep. It seemed to do the trick because Kaiden stayed in his bed the entire night. With just Lilith and I popping in to bid him goodbye, he seemed happy.Unfortunately, by the next night, he was back to sneaking into Lilith’s bedroom in the early hour.That week, the government’s case against my father continued to build, the current President’s popularity continued to plummet, and with every
That night, Lilith and I put Kaiden to bed and then half-closed the door before walking out. In the end, we were out in front of the pool, staring at the sky as I spoke about the project I was currently working on.It was rare to look at the stars without the interference from skyscrapers and street lamps. The sound of the pool filled the background.“And that one there is the Cassiopeia,” I informed Lilith, pointing out some of the constellations I remembered from when I was a kid and in the astronomy club. “See? You can recognize it… The one to the south of it is Andromeda, and the one to the east is Perseus. According to mythology, Cassiopeia bragged that her daughter Andromeda was more beautiful than the sea nymphs, so as punishment her daughter was to be sacrificed to a sea monster. But Perseus, the demigod saved her from that fate and then claimed her as his.”I felt Lilith’s eyes on me, so I turned to her.She l
KAI POV:When I was younger, my mom used to sing this song. It was a story about a beggar who fell in love with a princess but turned out to be a prince. She got so into it that it was fun.At times, my father would join in too, hard to ignore.“Do you understand the song?” He had asked me once.I had shrugged. “It’s about two people falling in love.”He smirked, laughing at me. “It is about more than that. It’s about a boy who grew up struggling and turned out to be a great man. He grew up and upheld his legacy and his responsibility to the people and his family.”I blinked in confusion. Mom was holding Eric in her lap as she chuckled. “Kevin, he is too small. Don’t turn everything into a lesson for him. Let him have fun!”Father mumbled something about teaching me when I was impressionable but mom scoffed. I didn’t heart the rest of their conversation, but I alm
We had a movie playing for a few hours and it was coming to an end when my phone started to ring. I glanced over at Kai and Kaiden and found them engrossed in the movie. I pulled away, angling away from Kai so that I could reach my pocket. As soon as I saw the Chief Editor’s name flash on the screen, my heart dropped to my feet. I felt slight panic even though I knew I had done nothing wrong. Still, as I answered, I glanced at Kai. He appeared to be still paying attention to the screen. But when I stood up, his eyes immediately moved to mine.“I will be right back,” I mouthed, quickly walking to the kitchen, feeling his eyes still on me.The Chief Editor and I shared some small talk before I heard the grin in his voice.“I just wanted to let you know how the sale of your book is going.”From what the news was reporting, the book had sold even more than the expected sales projected by the publishing house. In just the first da
Late one night, Kai and I sat side by side in the living room. Everyone else in the house was asleep. The television was on in the background with the news playing. "…for the past couple of weeks, the country has been reeling over the announcement that businessman Kai Rivera recently discovered the existence of his son. The child's mother is Lilith Hill, the best-selling author. Apparently, the two met while Mr. Rivera was on vacation, and they had a love affair that resulted in the child. Different versions have arisen as to how Ms. Hill broke the news to Mr. Rivera, but it is becoming increasingly clear that the businessman's own father, former President Kevin Rivera, was somehow involved in a cover-up that kept his son from knowing of his son. “In addition, the current Presidential Administration has been on the defensive for the past couple of weeks, after Kai Rivera’s lightly veiled accusations. It's been a tough few weeks for his team, with rumors of a culture
[Warning: Mild smutty content up ahead. Read at your own risk.]“Part of the security team told me and before you get upset, don’t worry. They don’t report your every move to me. I simply wondered and they responded.”His tone raised my hackles. This wasn’t the Kai I knew. This was the masked man people saw on the television.“So, what happened?” he repeated.“He wanted to meet me and ask if I wanted to publish the book I wrote shortly after leaving you.”He nodded. For the first time, I couldn’t read his expression and it was bothering me.“What do you think about that?” I asked after a couple of minutes of no response.“I don’t think it’s a smart business move. It would worsen the crap the tabloids are saying and your branding would be ruined.” Not that there was a semblance of it left in the first place.“It would make money