Lydia was a bundle of nerves walking into the restaurant. Drake grabbed her hand and gently rubbed the inside of her palm with his thumb, his was of reassuring her that everything was going to be okay.
Drake walked over to the hostess stand. “We’re here for the Whittenberg party.”
“Names?” The petite hostess asked not even bothering to look up from her screen.
Drake was irritated at her lack of customer service but he tried to remain cool.
“Drake, Drake Whittenberg.”
The hostess let out a small gasp before looking up.
"What is she doing here?" Dianne shouted, causing the makeup artist and the photographers to stop what they were doing and stare at Dianne and Lydia, waiting to see what would transpire between the two of them."Mother!" hissed Sampson. "You are causing a scene and I invited her. As I recall this is MY engagement photoshoot.""Sampson," Dianne looked at him disapprovingly. "I expected this nonsen from Drake, but never from you. This is a family photoshoot. Think of the press."Lydia was fidgiting with her hands nervously, she didnt like the scene that Dianne was causing."I.. I can just go wait in the lobby until the photos are done." she said meekly."Nonsene," Drake said wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her closer to him. "As my romantic partner, you should be included in these photos. The photoshoot is the start of the Wedding Adventure. You are my guest to said wedding. I dont see w
As Drake approached the writers table with Lydia in tow he felt a sense of excitement. He’d love improve in theater when he was younger and now he was getting to do it again, this time for a major magazine.“Do you know the gist of improve?” He whisper to Lydia, the writers table just a few feet away.“Umm refresh me, what’s improve again?” Lydia asked a hint of nervousness in her voice.“It’s where you make something up right on the spot. So I’ll start and then you make something up along the way. We will take turns answering questions it’ll be fun.”“ Uhh I think you and I have a different definition of fun.” Lydia let out a nervous chuckle.“Come on Lyd, you’ve got this. Where’s that fierce tiger that came out earlier?” Drake teased her.Lydia swallowed loudly.“Okay, let’s improvise.&rdquo
Lydia sat curled up in the car rubbing her bare foot. “You owe me a footrub.” She said smiling at Drake before scowling. “And maybe a cheek rub too. I didn’t realize I would be smiling so much today.” “Ah yes,” Drake said with a sigh, “The Whittenberg family loves their publicity, well as long as it’s the right kind of publicity.” “Your mom is something else.” Lydia said putting her foot back down on the floor of the passenger seat.“Is that the polite way of saying she’s a total nightmare?” Drake asks. Lydia chuckled. “It seems she really wants to match you with Jessica. She practically threw her at you all afternoon.” “My my my, are you jealous princess?” Drake asks waggling his eyebrows in a teasing manner. “Me jealous? Never! I just feel like I’m failing at my job. I mean you did hire me, so your mother wouldn’t throw every eligible bachelorette your way.” Drake frowned, as if he’d forgotten Lydia was his escor
“Who’s this?” Lydia asked picking up the photo of the woman. Drake’s mind was racing. Fuck, he’d forgotten he had that picture of Amelia hung up in his room. He wasn’t ready to open up about Amelia yet, but he also didn’t want to lie to Lydia. “Can we put a raincheck on that?” Drake asked, reaching out for the picture.Lydia gave him the photo without hesitation, it was after all someone who was important to him at one point in time. “Is it Amelia?” Lydia whispered. She was hesitant to ask, but the only time Drake acted odd was when Amelia was brought up, or his family was around. Drake’s brows furrowed together, his was now glaring over at Lydia. “Damnit Lydia, Why can’t you just drop it? Can’t you tell I don’t want to talk about.” He said in anger, running his hands through his short red hair. Lydia was upset Drake would take that tone with her, yes she knew she was nothing to him but an escort, hired for her services, but
Lydia heard Drake let out a sigh at his mother’s shrill voice, shouting up the stairs. Lydia could hear her heavy footsteps as she climbed the stairs. “Drake.” Lydia groaned grabbing his head from between her thighs. “What Princess?” Drake looked up at her smiling mischievously, “You don’t want to give Mother Dearest a peep show? It would be her own fault for walking in.” Lydia couldn’t contain her laughter at Drake’s shenanigans, “As much as I would enjoy the look on your mother’s face for catching us in such a disgraceful act, I would rather not have to deal with that.”Drake let out deep sigh, “Fine.” He sighed stepping away from Lydia, helping her down from the desk. Lydia quickly busied herself, pulling her skirt down, and adjusting her hair. Seconds later, Dianne burst through Drake’s door a scowl on her face as she looked over at Lydia. “Can’t even be bothered to knock anymore Dianne?” Drake said addressing his mother with a s
Lydia was studying the clothes Drake had packed for her, trying to determine what would be best to wear for evening wear, There was one dress that she absolutely loved, it was a beautiful red dress, that reminded Lydia of something a princess would wear, it was timeless. It was a satin full length high low strapless dress with a sweetheart neckline, Lydia’s favorite part of the dress however was the built in pockets. It was beautiful yet practical. She wanted to ask Drake if the dress was okay for the night, but he’d left the room a little while ago and hadn’t come back, he said something about needing to ask Sampson a question and then disappeared. Lydia glanced down at her phone looking at the time, she didn’t have time to wait for Drake anymore, she needed to get dressed or they’d be late. She quickly picked out a red strapless lingerie set that Drake had packed, and slipped it on, before walking over to Drake’s desk to do her makeup and hair. She opted for a simple side bun with
Madilyn excused herself from the room momentarily leaving Lydia with her bridesmaids. As soon as she left, the bridesmaids confronted Lydia. “So,” Megan said looking Lydia up and down, “You’re Drake’s newest toy.” “I am his girlfriend.” Lydia responded, not liking Megan’s tone at all. “Drake doesn’t date. Especially not anyone of your class.” Megan responded, her distaste for Lydia clear on her face. “Maybe he wanted to break off from society snobs like you and actually date a woman with class.” Lydia replied haughtily.“What did you just say to me?” Megan screeched, her voice rising. “You heard me.” Lydia responded, noticing the reporters crowding around the door, trying to capture the events happening in the room. “You bitch.” Megan snarled, throwing her drink in Lydia’s face. “Takes one to know one,” Lydia replied, walking towards the door. “Oh and Meg, honey,” Lydia called stopping and turning to face
“So Madilyn and I have decided to go on the honeymoon first and then get married after.” Sampson said after everyone had sat at the table. “Wait, why?” Drake asked, horrified at the thought of spending more time with his family, he’d planned on leaving right after Sam’s wedding, “Well with the magazine feature, Madilyn wanted all of her bridesmaids and the groomsmen to be present during the Honeymoon, and we felt like people would dip after the ceremony.” Sampson said looking straight at Drake to let him know that comment was directed towards him. Lydia ran her hand down Drake’s thigh and gave it a gentle squeeze to remind him that everything would be okay and she’d be with him for the ride. “We have an announcement too.” Dianne said standing up with her wine glass in hand. “Umm okay, I’ll pass the mic to mom then,” Sampson said making a joke out of Dianne’s interruption. “Everyone stay the night here tonight, because tomor
“How did you get that recording?” Drake asked as he stared down at Lydia. He wasn’t sure if he was feeling jealous at the thought of Lydia contacting one of her own clients, or proud that she finally got the best of Dianne. “I had Martin gather a list of your father’s supporters. Daniels was one of the biggest supporters; knowing what I do about his… err sexual appetite, and what I know of your parents, I knew there was something there. I had Martin contact him and blackmail him into giving me information on Dianne. I was just luckily their little err… quid pro quo happened in his office.” Lydia replied. Drake felt a sense of relief flood through him when he realized Lydia hadn’t in fact contacted Daniels herself, “What were you blackmailing him with?” Drake asked suddenly curious on the dirty deets Lydia had on Daniels. “Well I figured since the world already knows I use to be an escort, I might as well use it to my benefit. I had some rather
“What the hell do you think you’re doing Drake!” Dianne yelled pinning Drake under her glare, not even bothering to acknowledge Lydia’s presence.“A pleasure to see you, as always Dianne.” Lydia responded to Dianne’s hysterics. The hallway stirred to life as Drake’s employees started to leave the conference room, each one pausing as they saw Dianne standing in front of their boss and his fiancée with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face. Drake’s employees knew he had an estranged relationship with his family as Drake had never felt the need to lie to his employees about his life. Aside from his relationship with Lydia, which everyone now knew about, Drake had pretty much been an open book. The lowest paid of the employees, a male named Issac, who worked as a recorder, slid his phone out of his pocket, slyly turning on the video recorder, before positioning his phone in his hand, where the camera could see Dianne, Drake, and Lydia, but no one could se
“DRAKE!” Lydia squealed as he began to kiss down her neck.“What do you say Lyd? Do you want to act out one of my fantasies?” Drake asked his voice taking on a husky tone. “Do we have time?” Lydia asked, clenching her thighs to ease the sudden ache. “If we hurry.” Drake replied, as he began to suck and nip at Lydia’s neck. As Drake’s kisses trailed down to Lydia’s breast, he covered her mouth with his hand, silencing her cries of pleasure. “Shh, we can’t have the staff here us now. They might get jealous, of the extra attention, I’m showing the new employee.” Drake whispered in her ear. “And what is my salary Mr.Whittenberg?” Lydia asked her voice breathless. “That depends on your performance Ms. Hunt.” Drake responded. “And how would you like me to perform?” Lydia asked feigning an innocent expression. “Turn around, lean over the desk and lift your skirt up.” Drake order.“Yes sir.” Ly
“Are you sure you want me to publish this?” Julian asked one more time. “Yes.” Drake and Lydia responded in unison. “It’s a story that will make your career Julian, and it’s a story that needs to be shared. It’s our story, and it’s time the world new the truth.” Lydia responded. “Okay,” Julian said with a sigh, “How about I let you read the draft, and then you can tell me what you think.” Julian responded, still hesitant on posting the article. “I’m sure whatever you’ve written will be fine,” Drake replied, as he handed Julian the original contract that he signed with Lydia, “And here, you can use this a proof that your allegations are true.” Drake had blacked out some parts of the contract, like the amount of money he’d bought Lydia for, and the minor stuff, like Lydia’s body was free use to him, etc. etc. HE didn’t want their story to seem raunchy, but he did want to be as truthful as possible, he didn’t want to leave any wiggle ro
“My mother was loved by many, she was looked up to by many. Her neighbors, her coworkers, the few enough to be called friends, they all could tell what kind of woman my mother was. She was the type of person who would give you the food off of her plate, even though her pantry is bare too. She was the person who would put all of her needs last just to make sure no one else went without.When my mother found out she was pregnant with me, she was given two choices. To get an abortion or to become disowned. Seeing as how I am here today to give this speech at her funeral, we all know my mother chose. Even when her boyfriend abandoned her too. My mother gave up her comfortable lifestyle to protect me, an innocent baby who didn’t have a choice.My mother never once regretted her choice in choosing me. From the minute she opened her eyes until the minute she closed her eyes, my mother brought nothing but happiness and joy into my life. It wasn’t until I was taking care of
It had been a week since Dianne’s phone call and Drake and Lydia still hadn’t found any new information in regards to Amelia’s disappearance. Martin had ran an inquiry on Amelia Kirkpatrick, but nothing came up except a sealed record from right before she’d come to the Whittenberg Manor. Martin was working on getting the record unsealed to see if it would give them a new lead, but unsealing records was a long process and time wasn’t on their hands. Samuel had already called Drake twice inquiring on when he was coming back, he was insistent upon Drake’s return stating he couldn’t get married without his brother beside him. While Samuel sympathized about Drake’s fallout with Lydia, he still felt like Drake should attend his wedding. Drake hated keeping secrets from his brother, but he’d agreed with Lydia that they should keep their reconnection a secret as well as their investigation. Lydia didn’t want the wrong information getting into the wrong hands. She was still positiv
The very next morning after a long night spent making up with Lydia, Drake awoke to a very long very aggressive voicemail from Dianne. “Drake, I found out some very interesting information about your dearest fiancé. I hope this information comes to you as a surprise. I would hate to think that you’d be willing to tarnish the Whittenberg name like this, as well as bring financial burden upon yourself. If you do not meet us in the Bahamas by yourself at the end of the month, then I’ll be forced to play the cards that that slut dealt. There’s no escaping your destiny Drake, you are a Whittenberg, you are heir to the Whittenberg foundation it is time you played the part. I expect once you arrive at the Bahamas that you will go through with your nuptials and marry Jessica. She is willing to dirty her name a little to help with the scandal your little toy is going to cause this family. That’s right Drake, Mommy Dearest found out your dirt
Lydia couldn’t hide the grimace on her face as she read through the report, pushing the papers back towards Drake. “This doesn’t look good for Amelia.” Lydia finally responds after she gets a minute to gather her thoughts. “Marvin has gone to find more evidence. It wasn’t until he was discussing your name change making it easier to hide your identity that I remembered that Amelia had also changed her name. She use to go by Amelia Kirkpatrick. Marvin is following that lead in hopes we can either find where Amelia has been finding out, or find more information on her disappearance.” Drake responds looking down at the papers before him, shuffling through them until he gets to the father’s interview. “Do you believe Amelia killed her mother and possibly her sister?” Lydia asks staring at Drake who’d taken the seat opposite her at his desk. “I…I’m not sure what I believe anymore. I’ve only read the Aunt’s interview. She said the father had more inf
Drake couldn’t control his laughter when he entered into his office. Somehow Grace had managed to cuff Lydia to his off chair and she’d shoved a sock in her mouth. If looks could kill Drake would be a dead man. Lydia looked like she wanted to bury him ten feet under. “Grace,” Drake bellowed between laughter, “Why is Lydia tied up like this?” “Well,” Grace replied looking as innocent as a newborn child, “She kept trying to leave. Obviously she’s someone very important to you if you’re willing to go through all this trouble, so I called in Antonio and he and some of his friends helped me with the situation.” Drake turned his head away from Lydia and starred at Grace, she’d called in a favor with her son. He knew that Antonio ran with a rough crowd and that Grace had had a falling out with her son because of it. But it seemed like their issues had been resolved if he was willing to come and assist her. “Thank you for your assistance today Grace,