Tom's POV
I took a sip out of my juice and glanced up at Eve to see her cleaning her mouth with a napkin. She was done? Damn that was fast. Usually she tended to take forever when eating meals, I had complained about it a gazillion times. Now, watching her eat quickly made me feel an uncomfortable ache in my chest.
Now that I think about it, she ate her meals very quickly these days. Sometimes, when I came back home, she would have had dinner and would be up in bed napping. Was sleeping the only damned thing she knew? That was all she had done in Hawaii as well. Slept like a fucking panda every single day.
No, that wasn't right. There was that one time when I had gotten back to the resort in the evening and she wasn't in the room. I'd searched the lobby and fountain for her and she'd literally disappeared until I sent a text asking where she was.
I ha
Eve's POVI held my breath, waiting to hear the sound of Tom's car driving out of the garage into the distance. It didn't come, not yet.That meant he was still home.It was several minutes past eight in the morning. The sun was looking particularly bright and so was I. I was brimming with excitement. Tom's schedule since we had arrived from Hawaii had been a bit weird and I hadn't wanted to open the gift Adam had given me just before we left when he was around.It had taken everything to conceal the gift parcel from Tom. I had to pack my clothes early, way before he woke up so I could hide them in the many folds of my clothes. And when we got back to New York city, I had managed to find a hiding spot for it among the shoes.And I hadn't touched it since then. I had been afraid that Tom would see the parcel and then I would lose it
Tom's POVThe day started well enough. I had a great breakfast. A couple of meetings and by the time it was eleven, I was having a blast. Until my phone pinged with a message.Barlow.I didn't bother reading it because I was too damned busy to be running around doing his bidding as if I was a damned slave or something. What the hell was the pig's problem anyways? We had signed a deal together, that didn't mean he got to boss me around now, did it?I ignored the message and continued reading through the files when barely thirty minutes later, the phone rang and of course it was Barlow.I sighed as I stared back at the screen. Had something happened? Did the police find him? No, it couldn't be the end yet. Not yet.After contemplating for a while, I picked the call, wincing when the bastard yelled right into
Eve's POVI sighed and turned on my side, staring into empty space. The room was dim. I had turned off the lights except for the lamp on the bedside table. I had tried turning that off as well but I'd gotten terrified at the pitch blackness that resulted and stuck with the lamp.The darkness was terrifying, it felt like I was locked up in the basement again. With the light on, it felt easier to breathe.I wished that made it easier to sleep too. I had moved to the bed an hour ago after staring at the boring TV screen. And yet I found it hard to sleep. Perhaps that was because I had slept a bit that afternoon.The room felt hot despite the cotton nightwear I wore and I sighed, sitting up. What was the point in trying to sleep when sleep eluded me anyways? I shuffled out of bed, turning on the lights in the room. It was almost ten at night and Tom wasn't back.&
Tom's POV"Shit! Shit! Shit!" I muttered as I stormed into the study, my body trembling like a damned leaf in autumn. What the hell? What the actual hell? I could see it all over again, playing over and over in my damned mind. Barlow. The gun. The kid on the floor. The blood around him. Dammit! I let out a growl, marching towards my desk to pour the contents to the ground. My hands trembled as I shoved it all to the ground, watching the perfect set of stationeries fall to the ground. The noise was a bit comforting. It drowned the crazy sounds in my head for a while. The sounds that called me names. Murderer! Killer!"I didn't kill him," I scoffed at the voice but there was that damned tremor. That shaking of my voice as I denied what my head and heart decided to be true. "I didn't kill him, I didn't!"My words came out as a whisper. I glanced down at the blood on my shirt. I hadn't known it was there. I thought I had gotten rid of the evidence by destroying the coat. I
Madeline's POV"This is it John,"Freaking perfect."Yeah no shit," The jackass grunted over the phone as if we hadn't managed to do something so fucking amazing.I glanced out the window at Stone's industry, the glass windows catching the sun and sending it right to my eyes. The shit burned but I didn't care. I would conquer it. One day, whether Adam wanted it or not, which was most likely the latter, I would be his wife.And I would be queen of the Stone Foundation."Sound a bit happier will you?" I told the sour idiot. "Today's when we go public. All key investors in the stone foundation will be there.""I'm sure they can't wait to authorize you as Mrs Stone's representative. They're just dying to do so." He said sarcastically and I rolled my eyes.
Adam's POVI had my head buried in a gazillion documents when the door to my office flew open. My sister stood at the entrance looking like she had won a dumbass lottery with how hard she was grinning.A sigh escaped me as I reluctantly reclined against my chair. Anabelle's presence here could mean nothing but chaos. We hadn't had a chance to talk ever since mother's birthday party and I knew, I just knew she had a gazillion questions to ask about Eve. I had seen it in her eyes when she came calling me to attend to the ruckus mother would have created."To what do I owe this pleasure?" I grunted. Don't get me wrong, I was pleased to see my little sister. I was just too tired to deal with whatever shenanigans she was determined to throw my way."To honor?" She chuckled, the grin on her face widening as she strode into my room."What?" I fr
Eve's POVI was home again.No, not the faceless bland home I shared with Tom, a place that has felt more like a cage than a homey shelter in the past ten years. I was back at my parent's house.When I was a kid again.I could see my carefree father's smile as he raced towards me, trying to get a bug I had trapped in my hands out of it before I did something stupid like stuff it in my mouth."Papa!" Little me cried as he snatched the bug and launched it far away, beyond where my eyes could reach. "My bug!""Bugs are a no no," Papa said, his eyes crinkling delightfully as if he was having a blast, watching me.Mama was inside. Probably reading a book or watching through the window. She never really liked the idea of playing outdoors. She would rather we sit round a table of
TOM’S POV“How’s the building plans coming along, Mr Erik?”Mr Erik, the architect for the mall we wanted to build with the Stone company, grunted as if I had asked him to change a baby’s diaper. “It is going well, I suppose. You and Mr Stone are literally asking for the impossible here. You want me to turn in a huge mall design in a week? It’ll be easier to ask me to give you the moon.”Unpleasant jackass, I thought, a sour taste filling my mouth. I already had a terrible night, I did not need a sour puss on my case. I gripped the phone tighter, trying not to lash out.“You were given two weeks, Mr Erik. Giving excuses instead of results does not suit you,”“Two weeks to turn in a building-““You were informed of the duration before you got the job!” I snapped, unable to reel i