Joan since Nolan's sudden visit to Asher's apartment finds herself constantly anxious. She acknowledged that trouble was coming for her. Nolan coming to Asher's apartment had marked that. Still, she had no idea what form the storm coming would take but she knew why it was coming. She has flown too close to Asher's sky. And just like with Emily, the sun that is Nolan probably wanted her burnt.She was anxious, yet, at the moment she felt confident and safe. She recognized that her confidence perhaps came from Asher who at present had his right hand intertwined in her left one. He was driving them to Maven, and he'd personally come to pick her up. She knew he was being protective of her, it was odd, but gestures like this made Asher more appealing to her.Asher's sideways glance was met with Joan's amber eyes focused on him. It seemed he'd caught his lover taking sneak peeks of him. This was made evident by the sudden turn of her head to the other side and the bright crimson on her chee
Jacob stared at the multi-floor home before him with some apathy. The night was still in its youth, the sun had set not too long ago. It was evident that Jacob was weary as he stood before the brownstone townhouse a frown creasing on his features. Visiting a townhouse in the West Village, alone, was not part of his schedule when he rose from bed that morning. Needless to say, the townhouse before him is an annoyance, it was not a place he wanted to be, nor did he have any business there. However he had no choice but to come, it was the location his blackmailers gave him. His unknown blackmailers had sent him details about his and Mabel's misappropriation of company funds that hit too close to be ignored. They had given him the location of the townhouse and he had come with the hope of striking a deal, probably to pay them off. As he steps closer to the house, Jacob thought it silly, who in their right mind would use a townhouse for such a base act as blackmail? On the other hand, he
It was a chilly evening, the sun had set a few hours ago and it was getting late into the night. The cold of the night was starting to get to her, she knew she should have brought a jacket. The full-sleeved t-shirt she wore was proving to be useless against the biting cold.Joan sat in front of the pastry shop near her aunt's apartment, where she was waiting for the bane of her existence, her stepmother.The pastry shop was the site of her fiasco with Cassidy Myers, just weeks ago. Joan chuckled at the absurdity of the altercation-if she could call it that-but she was happy at how things turned out. Especially with Asher. She found that thoughts of him were always enough to warm her heart."You must be happy to see me. That's a hell of a smile right there." Mabel said to her stepdaughter with a fake smile of her own, just as she took the other seat at Joan's table. She wondered what the broad smile on Joan's face was for."Do not flatter yourself," Joan rebuked her stepmother, she was
Mabel huffed and puffed before the door of the conference hall where the emergency meeting would hold. Her stepdaughter was the reason for her grief. The bothersome brat was running late and the meeting would soon commence. She had put all her eggs in one basket and that basket was Joan. Mabel would suffer through more minutes of irritation before Joan appeared, alone without Asher as she'd asked. Mabel had also instructed Joan not to tell Asher about her plans for the meeting. She didn't want him ruining her work. "I'm so sorry for my tardiness Mabel, I lost track of the time while getting ready," Joan recited her fake apology as she neared her stepmother. She had intentionally arrived late, in a bid to both piss off and scare Mabel. "Hello Joan darling, you came at just the right moment. Come, walk with me," Mabel muttered barely suppressing her gall. Joan smiled, she could see the fruit of her work by the crease on her stepmother's forehead and her visibly troubled face. Seeing
Joan and Asher intertwined their hands, as they walked through Central Park. They were on an evening date and are strolling through the park before Asher drove Joan back home. Asher had his eyes on Joan who was smiling brightly. Central Park without a doubt was her favorite place, not only because she could reminisce about the good times she shared with her mom. But also because it was the one place she could exist without worry. It has become even more special now that she shared it with Asher.Joan felt a bittersweet sensation as she thought about all that has happened the past few days. She was glad to finally get her family's company from Mabel's clutches. As well as getting her revenge for Mabel ruining her family and manipulating her with her father's death.While she felt that Mabel deserved what came her way, still she felt unease. And it grew with Mabel's fretting dialogue with her as she was dragged out of the emergency meeting. She never pictured Mabel being that scared of
"I've got you now, little bird, and there would be no escape," Cassidy said to Joan as she became drowsy. Slumping against the man sedating her. Cassidy had a triumphant smirk on her face as Joan slipped into a temporary coma. Joan's kidnapping was a success. She'd spent the last month fine-tuning her strategy, she was glad everything had gone without a hitch. Before Joan's abduction Cassidy and the men with her had taken care of both teams protecting Joan. That was the challenging part of her little plot, however, they had an advantage in surprise and numbers. Now the two teams of four guards are having a blissful sleep. "Bring the cars around, we need to get going," Cassidy said to one of the two men working for her. The other man had Joan drooping in his arms. "I have a message for you from Mr. Evans," One of the goons working for Nolan that he sent to provide support said. "A message? What message?" Cassidy inquired of the man. "He said this is the end of the line for your pa
Jackson walked briskly but silently behind a unit of the rescue team as they approached the side entrance of the abandoned warehouse. The rescue team had done a surveillance of the warehouse to ascertain Joan's location inside the building. Jackson and the team concluded that Joan would most likely be confined in a section of the warehouse, used as offices.Since Joan's rescue was paramount they'd decided to approach the building with as much stealth and speed as was possible while not getting found out.The warehouse had two points of entry, both through concrete paths to the side and front of the building. They broke the team off into two units with the first unit attacking from the front while the other charged from the side. Since the section Joan was held at was closer to the side entrance. It was decided that the second unit assaulting the building from the side would attempt her rescue.Both teams were to attack while concealing themselves from Nolan's goons. The first unit wou
"You're wrong," Asher said leaning over toward his uncle. "Don't be delusional, Nolan. Nothing is going according to your plan, you're in my trap now. This is my game, I rule and control how it is going to be played and you are nothing but a pawn in it.""Pawn, did you called me your pawn?" Nolan asked almost shouting. Asher's words and demeanor has earned him his uncle's ire. Nolan contemplated if he should just abandon any negotiation with Asher and have his fun with Joan instead."Yes I did. You've been playing my game all night and you didn't even know," Asher bluffed, everything he's done since he received Jackson's message was bluff. A bluff he was using to fool his uncle.The fact is he is scared. He was so close to losing Joan tonight. And he wasn't even sure if she was safe yet. Jackson had only sent him a message, informing him they were ready to breach the warehouse where Joan was held. It was not like she has been rescued yet"That's it," Nolan said and stood up. "Perhaps