"Aria, stop the car!" Bart screamed. He had been trying to get her attention since the moment she started driving, but she wasn't hearing him. Now she wasn't just charging into traffic like a crazy person though, she was driving straight towards an SUV, one that meant to cut her off. Aria slammed on the breaks, stopping inches from the black SUV. The doors opened and there she was, his girl. Bart looked visibly relieved. CC didn't look hurt or sad, she was pissed. He laughed at himself and how eager he was to find out just how mad she was. "Guess you were right after all," Aria choked out. "She came for you.""Looks like someone came for you too," said Bart, seeing Aaron waiting behind them in the distance. "Be careful Aria. Aaron Condor is a dick."Aria laughed. "Tell me something I don't know."Her eyes softened. "Thank you Barry, for today. For having known Ethan.""I'll always be here for you, Ria. You and I, we're family," he said, kissing her forehead before getting out of t
2017, September 6thPrince Troy arrived the next evening with a man in tow, but she was not at his side. Aria had been anxiously awaiting their arrival, not knowing how she would face her rival. The wound was fresh. She meant to avoid this woman, to not go down for dinner tonight, but now it seems her anxiety had been for nothing. The prince’s anxiety, however, persisted as he was welcomed into the castle walls. “Forgive me everyone, I am afraid I cannot stay for dinner after all. I only came to offer a greeting, apologize in person and beg that you allow me to reschedule,” said Prince Troy.Diane went to her brother and hugged him. “What’s wrong?” she asked.Prince’s Troy’s face softened and he smiled at his sister, kissing her cheek.“You look well Di. I am very glad to see it. It’s nothing to concern yourself with. My fiancee’s… a bit of a loose cannon. It seems she and her brother gave Duke Dormer over here the slip.” Diane gave the duke a look and then returned her eyes to her
Aria, Prince Troy and Ethan went alone, not wanting to draw attention and risk being recognized before they’d found the duo. Her parents were super cool. She had had a more liberal upbringing than most princesses, but Aria was not often outside the castle’s walls. So when Prince Troy took them to a nightclub, Ethan practically attached himself to her. “Let go. How are we going to find them if your eyes and arms are glued to me? You’re freaking me out.”“Sorry. Just stay close okay? I don’t want to have to come looking for you too.” Her eyes wandered around the place like she was a child at an amusement park for the first time. Aaron grinned. She was like a little lost lamb. A foxy goddess with red hair flowing down her back like flames, but a lost lamb just the same. The first timers were his favorite, the ones he could corrupt. He wanted to run his fingers through those flames, touch her everywhere as he moved his body with hers, make her beg him to do it more. It had been a while s
Aaron was feeling generous and so he was going to let it go, he really was, but she was looking at him now, calling him with her eyes. He flashed her his pearly whites and she turned away. He laughed. Now she was just being a tease. He jumped down, took a pen out of his pocket and scribbled something down on the bar. Then he walked right up to her, pulling her back against his front. She gasped and tried to turn around, but he held her in place. “Relax,” he whispered seductively, his lips pressed up against her ear as he ran his fingers through her hair, dragged them down her arms, his hips moving with hers. “Just go with it.” Aria’s eyes found his as she looked back when he wrapped his arms around her. They were moving as one now, his hands gently manipulating her movements. He spun her out and when he pulled her back she surprised him. She jumped onto him and wrapped her legs around his waist. This woman was not at all what he thought she was. She might be new to nightclubs, but ca
"You played dirty. I thought you didn’t lie. I thought it was against the rules,” she said, hurt flashing in her eyes. He knew she was mad at him, but it hadn’t been his fault. She might not want to marry him, but there was a certain understanding, respect, trust even between them and she now felt he had betrayed that. “I can’t help it if your almost boyfriend bolted the second he heard you were coming,” said Troy. That stung. She didn’t like the way he belittled her relationship with Bart, mostly because everything he said was true. Nevertheless, she couldn’t afford to be the one acting on emotion right now. He was angry. Chivalrous Troy wouldn’t be showing up tonight, not for her. “Tomorrow morning I am taking you to see my sister and the royal family of Sartis Est. You will act like the princess that you are, not some commoner who dances on bar countertops. You will be agreeable, make polite conversation and smile. Do I make myself clear?” She didn’t say anything. Her mind was
2019, December 6thThe ride back to the palace was completely quiet. She didn’t fight him, kissed him as eagerly as he did her, needed it as much as he did, held on just as hard. But when it was over, it was well and truly over. Aria sat as far as possible from him in the SUV, practically hugging the door. Whatever was wrong between them was still very much wrong. The walls were all the way back up. She was safe now though and once they got back to the palace, he would have time to figure it out, whatever it was, and find a way to fix it. Aaron took Aria back to his room when they got back to the palace. He wanted to stay with her a little longer, talk to her, just be with her. “So now what, Your Highness? Are we going to pick up where we left off in the middle of the road?” she asked, popping one of the buttons of his shirt. Of course. This is why she didn’t argue, didn’t protest, came with him so readily. She didn’t want to let him in, at least not into her head, certainly not in
"I found the death certificates,” he said softly. He reached out for her shoulders and laid his hands on them gently. “I know it’s nowhere near the same thing. James is fine now, he’s great actually. He married a good woman and got the crown that was always supposed to be his. He’s happy.” Aaron turned her around slowly. “I can’t imagine waking up to all of these people in my life just being gone, to James being gone again.”She was looking down, the tears flowing readily. “And I know this didn’t start out the way it’s supposed to, that you don’t trust me, I get that. So if you really want me to take your clothes off and blow your mind in that bed, if you want to use my body for the night, if that’ll make it hurt even just a little less.”Aaron started unbuttoning his shirt with one hand, his other hand on her chin as he lifted her face to his. He wiped away her tears as their tear filled eyes met, his shirt falling open as he reached the last button. “If you want me to just
"I found the death certificates,” he said softly. He reached out for her shoulders and laid his hands on them gently. “I know it’s nowhere near the same thing. James is fine now, he’s great actually. He married a good woman and got the crown that was always supposed to be his. He’s happy.” Aaron turned her around slowly. “I can’t imagine waking up to all of these people in my life just being gone, to James being gone again.”She was looking down, the tears flowing readily. “And I know this didn’t start out the way it’s supposed to, that you don’t trust me, I get that. So if you really want me to take your clothes off and blow your mind in that bed, if you want to use my body for the night, if that’ll make it hurt even just a little less.”Aaron started unbuttoning his shirt with one hand, his other hand on her chin as he lifted her face to his. He wiped away her tears as their tear filled eyes met, his shirt falling open as he reached the last button. “If you want me to just
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