Back at the Maine residence the following morning, Emily had just opened her gates to her uninvited guest. "Where are they? Where is she?" Aaron asked. “Hello to you too,” said Emily, closing the door. “And I have no idea where they are. I was stood up.” Aaron sat down and threw his head into his hands, then got back up and started for the door. He must really be drunk. He was listening to Henry and doing stupid shit. What was he going to do even if he did find her? His mind was a mess. He’d probably just push her further into Troy’s arms, not that he imagined she needed help with that at this point. They’d spent the night together, heaven knows where. Troy didn’t strike Aaron as the kind of guy to drag his feet on this kind of thing. “Hey come on, you look like you’re drunk out of your mind. Sit down. Have some water or something.” He walked back into the house, went straight for the kitchen and started opening cabinets until he found the vodka, opened the bottle and started
Aria and Troy showed up arm in arm an hour later. Emily had breakfast served outside, watching them closely. This was not the man she had dinner with only three nights ago. Say what you will about him, he was absolutely taken with her. Either that or he was faking it really well and she’d underestimated him yet again. If the former, her cousin really must be something in the sack. Hell if they weren’t family, Emily would be considering doing her at this point. “Aren’t you two getting on well?” Emily observed. Perhaps it was less apparent because of the stupid smile on his face and the doting way that Troy was looking at Aria, but he was watching the other Maine too. She seemed agitated, frustrated. Emily kept raising a cup to her lips, only to set it back down again without drinking from it. Had she already found something? And if she did, why wasn’t she sharing with the rest of the class? That was after all why she’d brought them out here, wasn’t it? Not that he
2017, October 10th Returning home a disappointed man that morning after Adele was a no show, Aaron Condor was about to be a shocked man too. Henry and King Edward, the king of Warlanda, were in a video conference call with Troy and CC. “I’m afraid that with the appearance of Prince Dean in Sartis Est, a union between our countries at this time will not be feasible. I fear for Caroline’s safety,” said Troy. CC gave Troy a confused look. “What are you doing?” “Unfortunately, your fears may be justified,” said King Edward. “Your brother’s amassed quite the following. There are talks of a rogue army. I’m afraid of what he’ll do if he can’t bring Diane home.” “If it pleases Your Majesties, I would like to send Caroline back to Caines, at least until the matter has been resolved,” said Troy, refusing to look at CC. “Absolutely not!” CC exclaimed. “What she means is put us on a plane,” said Aaron, throwing CC a stern look as he entered the room. “I’m not going! Not while-”
Meanwhile, inside the warehouse Dean and Diane were sitting down to a talk. He was losing patience with her. She’d apparently changed her mind about leaving after all. “Di, things are already in motion here. I won’t be able to get you out again,” Dean said, restraining himself. “I know,” she smiled. “But Troy’s right. Ethan’s here and I don’t want to be without him and there’s no reason we can’t discuss living in Warlanda after the wedding.” Troy, fucking Troy! Of course he’d gotten into her head, undone all the work and effort Dean had put in over the last few days. No matter how much Diane adored Dean, she respected Troy. It was no wonder. The kid was quick witted. He saw things other people didn’t, paid attention and maneuvered accordingly. It wasn’t just that he collected information in a way most people couldn’t, it was the way he used it once he had it. Troy was a born leader, a soldier. Someone who saw Dean coming more times than he liked, including this time. Dean was si
As Diane and Ethan approached them, Aaron took Adele’s arm. “You, me, talk. Now,” Aaron said too loudly, the ringing from the gunfire still doing a number on his ears. “Is this about this morning? I was kind of busy,” she said, knowing that this was not about this morning. Aaron wanted to know what she was doing at Ethan’s side. She didn’t know how it happened, but until today Aaron and Ethan hadn’t met again since that day at the club when Ethan introduced himself as her brother. Aria was putting it off, prolonging the inevitable. She liked not being a princess to him, liked feeling like she was in control of things. That he only knew and saw as much of her as she would allow. Because the truth was she was living a fantasy. This thing between them was never going to be serious, certainly not for him. He’d probably forgotten the names of women he’d spent more time with than her. What’s in name, right? “Who are you Adele?” Just then, Ethan came up to them and threw his arm a
“Anyone who knows Troy Pierce knows that there are no faults, no weaknesses there. He’s the perfect prince. I’m a means to an end, nothing more.” Dean looked down at his wrist and CC saw it. He knew he didn’t have a lot of time before Troy figured out where he was, what he was doing. She knew it too. She just had to keep him busy long enough for Troy to get here. “I thought so too, but then I saw him with you. He allows you to be close to him, lets you in, plays nice with you. Tell me, how do you do it?” “I could ask you the same thing,” she said, her morbid curiosity getting the better of her. “How do you manage to piss off Troy Pierce? I’ve been trying for four months straight and never could quite do what you did in ten minutes.” Dean chuckled. This must be it. She was smart, just like his brother. She didn’t ask what he wanted, showed no fear. Even if she was bluffing, she was doing a damn good job of it. He closed in on her, squatted and took her chin into his hand. She d
2017, October 10thEthan tugged on Aria’s arm as she was on her way out that morning. “Where to?” he asked. “Just heading out to join the morning sparring session,” she shrugged, making her way down the stairs. “It’s not for another hour. Dawn’s just breaking.”“I like to get an early start.”“Oh? Are you sure it has nothing to do with the crown prince waiting for you in the courtyard, Adele?” Ethan's question stopped Aria dead in her tracks. Busted. He descended the stairs, grabbed her arms and turned her towards him. “I thought we agreed that you wouldn’t be seeing him anymore,” Ethan sighed. “He’s leaving in three days Ethan. He doesn’t even know who I am. It’s harmless.”“The hell it is! I’ve been watching you with him. You guys are all over each other and don’t think I haven’t seen the way you’ve been looking at him either. You like the douchebag. He’s just playing with you, Ria.”
“Well knock me over with a feather. You’re a closet nerd!” she said, exploring her surroundings.He sat up, patting the space next to him on the bed. “This is why I don’t usually bring chicks home. They get stupid obsessed with my brain and ignore all this,” he said, indicating towards his body.“They’re probably just blown away that you have a brain,” she said. “I know I am. Advanced Mandarin, Japanese, French, Spanish. How many languages do you speak?!”“Just ten,” he shrugged. “Oh is that all?” she said, flabbergasted. “You’d understand if you met my parents. Henry and Mary demand excellence, no exceptions.” She moved on, taking in all the other little things he had laid out all over the room. He was only visiting, but the room had a lot of obvious personal touches. She tapped a punching bag on her way to the crystal chess board. “You play chess?”“Only when I want something from Henry. It’s jus
When Aaron got to Elegantor Ludo, Emily had already made it up to her room. He walked through the doors like he owned the place, past The Purple Guard soldiers who didn't dare intercept the pissed off prince and banged on the room door. When she didn't open up, he shot the lock and kicked in the door. He walked straight up to Emily and grabbed her shoulders. "Talk!" "Trust me, you don't want to be involved in this," said Emily. "I'm sorry, did someone else just save your ass? Explain yourself!" Troy and his men showed up then. "Secure the room. Find the kid," he said, watching them fill the room. Emily whipped her head in Aaron's direction. "You called him?!" "What kid?" Aaron asked. Emily and Troy exchanged heated glances. "You know what? Forget this. What does all of this have to do with Adele?" He'd meant to say Aria, but Aaron was tired and confused out of his mind.
2019, December 22ndWhen CC got home that morning, the sun was already high up in the sky. Bart was waiting for her on the porch of the Arden Mansion. This was home now. They'd started living together because CC wanted to be with Bart so that she could hold him at night when the loss of Ethan overwhelmed him. How things had changed. They'd been at each other's throats for the last few days and it always ended the same way. It needed to stop. They had to actually talk. "I'm sorry Caroline. I don't know what else to say. Aria called and said-" CC sighed. "Can her name not be part of the first sentences that come out of your mouth right now? I'm super wasted and I just want to go to bed." Bart turned around and squatted in front of her, offering her a piggyback ride. She smiled. It was a start. She could be mad and still want to touch him. CC wouldn't look at him, but she'd gotten onto his back. Her hands had slipped up his shirt, onto h
2019, December 19thAaron was burning the candle at both ends. He and Jesse had been following both Emily and Troy around for the last 10 days and it was starting to take its toll. He honestly didn't have the foggiest what the big fuss was about, but they were both on the move constantly. And they were both packing some serious heat. Emily had Hotel Elegantor Ludo's penthouse suite drowning in Purple Guard soldiers and Troy wasn't being shy about showing off his manpower either. This was it. Whatever or whomever the big hype was about, shit was going down today. He now knew the identity of the woman in the photograph. Once his head cleared after his drunken night in Maine, he had Jesse find someone to clean the photograph up and find out who she was. She turned out to be Troy's dead sister, Diane. Aaron had been stewing, turning this information round and round in his head. Was that it? Did she somehow survive the war after all? And what would become of Aria and h
When at last he did quiet down, she got up and went to him. Troy got up too and walked away. He remembered what last night had been like. He could have really hurt her. And talking about this stuff that he really shouldn't have talked about, especially not with the woman who he could have choked to death last night, left him shaking with dark rage. All this time spent worrying about who was watching and he had been the one holding her life in his hands. She wanted to say the right thing, to say so many things, but when she finally laid her head against his back all she could say was, "You were right. Your dad was a dick and so is Dean." This earned her a little chuckle. He focused really hard on stilling himself, the anger. She'd seen it once and not flinched, but Troy didn't want her to see it again. Even her acceptance of it was dangerous. He kept going back and forth on what to do, whether they should be together. "I'm sorry I didn't ask before. I ju
Troy entered the nursery first. He took baby Ethan out of his crib and sat down with him on the carpet."Hey kid. You've been waiting a long time for your Aunt Aria, haven't you? I know how you feel. I think I've been waiting a long time for her too."This earned him an eye roll and a smile."You're that guy now? You're going to use your mad baby skills to hit on me?"Troy shrugged, holding out his hand to her."Not much else he can do at this point other than get me into your pants."Her eyes widened and she chuckled. Taking his hand was as effortless as the night he'd offered it to her for the first time, even as she faced this difficult situation. He sat across from her, the baby in between them as they held hands. The moment didn't feel like Aria was afraid it would. It would always hurt that Ethan was gone, that they all were, but this was her family now. The little guy laying his hand into hers and the big goof behind him, watching her and the baby, alw
2019, December 22nd"So which one was it? Boyfriend A or Boyfriend B?"Aria smiled, taking her place next to Troy by the piano."You know, A for Aaron, B for Bart," he said, handing Aria her violin."You're just full of surprises, aren't you? I suppose you really are the jealous type."Only when she held her violin up to her shoulder and started playing did Troy's fingers find the keys of the piano. Was it silly how she liked that he just assumed she would play with him now? Aria was so angry over the last two nights that she didn't see how intertwined they'd become, how he gave her little bits of himself everyday. They hadn't played together in two nights, which meant that neither of them had played at all because they almost never played alone anymore."Which one?" he persisted. "So I can know how jealous I should be.""If you must know, Barry came by to see the baby."She still couldn't say it, couldn't call him Ethan. Troy brushed off his concern.
The oceans in his eyes were on fire and if he was lying, those flames made his lies her truth."How long do you mean to drive me crazy like this? Can't you see what you're doing to me? What you've done to me? Just say you'll be mine, tell me I can be yours," he begged desperately, leaning his body against hers again.What was she supposed to do now? He was leaving today and she meant to reject him, to protect her heart. Aria laughed at herself. She had always known. He'd had her from their first dance in that club. She was already his. Why did he have to make her say it?"I can't do what Diane did, Aaron. I can't look the other way. I can't wait and hope that it'll just be me someday.""Then don't," he said softly. "Let it just be you and me now, from today and everyday after this."He had waited long enough, been looking for her eyes to say yes long enough. If she couldn't get there with his words alone, he'd have to resort to his old tricks. He didn't care
2017, October 12th Aaron had sneaked onto the castle grounds the way Adele had taught him to and then into the castle itself. Diane and Ethan's wedding had just ended and he was meeting Adele in her room like they'd planned. This last second wedding meant that they had even less time together today, so he wanted to get to her quickly. Things back in Terres Somnia were moving fast. Henry was being even more persistent now, so they were leaving tonight instead of tomorrow. The wedding was very low key. Aside from the king, queen, Troy, Caroline, Keira and Adele, there were no other guests allowed, not even Aaron. He wanted to go to spend more time with Adele, but Troy was still being overly cautious with Dean at large. As Aaron made his way to the room he'd spent yesterday in with Adele, he stumbled upon Keira and Ethan making out in the hallway. Sensing someone's presence, Ethan's eyes went to Aaron. He pulled away from Keira. "Please, don't stop the p
When Aria left, it took Troy a minute to decide what to do. People usually did exactly what Troy told them to, especially women. This was new territory. When at last he decided he was going to go after her, he didn't have the foggiest idea where to start. This was feeling eerily like chasing after Caroline and Troy hated it. Everything with Aria had been different up until now. Everything she did with him was of her own volition, even if he did sometimes coax her into things. Aria liked her time with him. What was he going to do when he found her? Would the rage in his eyes scare her? There was no holding it back now. She was not with him. She was out in the open somewhere being an idiot just to spite him. He should've held on harder, been more persistent. He wouldn't make that mistake twice. Aria was about to tell the Red Guard Soldiers she'd been left with that she was ready to leave when she saw him. Troy had just entered the club, looking livid. The way he walked, moved, hi