"Rise and shine sleepyhead," Chloe teased as she put down the tray on the bedside stool, "You've been sleeping a lot lately."Max's eyelids slowly cracked open, as he took in the early morning sun rays which made him forget about his worries for the moment. He just wished that the morning would continue going on for however long."Breakfast is already here," Chloe announced, running her hand through his muscular chin, "Get up and dig in. I bet you already had your fill of sleep in the weekend."That single statement floored him back into the hard slab of the reality that he was living in. He'd been levitating from his worries up until then. The weekend had been one he wished to forget as quickly as he could. Remembering the incriminating pictures in his phone, made his appetite vanish, though he could perceive the delicacies on the tray— delicacies which he would kill and die for on any given day. Breakfast seemed to just bring memories of his ordeal with Debby that Saturday morning.
"What then?" Max said, still reeling from the sudden news he was being tackled with, "What then does he expect us to do?""He told me to play along, and go for the meeting," Chloe said, "But that would be too damn difficult, I can barely pick up his calls, let alone present a business proposal."Max was perplexed by the news more than he was perplexed by the solution itself. He questioned how many other things had been going on without his consent the past few days. Why did all the drama have to wait up until they were on the brink of their breakthrough before it all unfolded?"I've gotta call Gray." He said."But that's not going to change anything," Chloe said, "It's not going to make all the legal defense that he has behind him suddenly disappear into thin air."Max was thrown into complete disarray. They were left with no option but the one that Gray had offered. The consequences would be unspeakable if Alejandro ever found out that they were aware of who he really was. Their stay
Kylian had woken that morning, feeling quite on top of his game. He hadn't felt that refreshed in a while. It had been a close call when he saw Shirley at the concert venue. He hadn't known of his apparent fame up until then when all the eyes were on him at that point.He had a lot of problems lined up, but his time with Maya made it all seem like unimportant trivia. Every time he left her, it felt like he was slowly coming back in touch with his harsh reality.Every passing moment in his office had him glancing at his phone, expectant of a possible text from her, which was yet to come. He knew that was bad for his concentration, but still, he entertained the bad habit, which was so uncharacteristic of him."C'mon Kincaid, you've got work to do," he told himself as he looked at his phone once more. He didn't know how much time he had for work before his mother would come with the lawyer to discuss his divorce. He quickly threw his phone in his bottom drawer and locked it. Forgive me,
The beeping of medical machinery, the chattering of medical personnel, and nightmares of death had all made a seemingly frantic endeavor to slowly bring Francis back to reality. He had thought he would die the moment the bullets came piercing through his upper back, but somehow he found himself awake and alive.It took a few moments before he could feel his body, the intense pain in his midsection, the bandages on his skin, and then the soft mattress of the hospital bed underneath his body.What had happened? He couldn't recall how he had gone from getting out of his car to talking to Emma to being at the point of death and in the hospital and in that pitiful state.Slowly, his mind recalled how he'd been scooped into a stretcher while he had been bleeding out. The desperate utterances of the medics inside the ambulance, trying to keep him alive still echoed as it all played back in his mind. He had instinctively pulled out his phone and dialed 911 as he watched Emma drive off and lea
Sofia was roused from her sleep by the voices she heard outside her room. There seemed to be a heated argument going on, but it was more like an outright expression of rage, as Diego's voice was all she heard.For some reason, she was scared and worried that the heated verbal session somehow had something to do with her. She slowly got out of bed, gaining her orientation as soon as her feet hit the floor.His voice got more audible and his words more articulate as she made for the door. She gently opened the door, hoping that he wouldn't suddenly turn in her direction, as his voice seemed to come from the balcony, on the right.She stuck her head out of the door, out enough to see Diego standing at the railing of the balcony with two others with their hands behind their back and face to the floor as they received a brutal tongue lashing from Diego.Diego was all tensed up, "What did you do?" He fumed at his men. "I told you to aim for that bitch. Just, what the heck did you do?"The t
"Look who's out in New York City flirting when he's barely made it through his second divorce in the same year." Emma jeered as she walked closer to the both of them."Divorce?" Maya asked, being totally lost. "What's that Kylian?""It's nothing, Maya," he angrily turned to his would be ex-wife, "What exactly do you want Emma? Why are you just being such a sore loser?""Sore loser?" She chortled dramatically, "I can see why you wanted out of our marriage so bad.""Whoa...slow down," Maya said, "Married? Seriously? Who's she?""Don't pay attention to her, just listen to me, okay." Kylian said, looking her in the eye, being as earnest as he could, but Emma was still in the background negating everything he had to say to her. "She's just my—""I'm his wife!" Emma yelled out in an annoying rant. "And he's about getting a second divorce frome me, all because of his cheating ass can't just stick to a single woman at a time.""What the fuck, Emma?" Kylian retorted as he was torn in-between d
"Don't worry you're going to be just fine," Max reassured Chloe."I hope so," Chloe sighed as she took one last look at herself in the mirror, scanning for any possible faults.They had been up since the early A.M. trying to get her act together for the presentation. It was bound to be a big day for her, and they couldn't afford to let anything ruin it.She had gone over her intro uncountable times but still, she felt something was desperately missing, if not wrong with it."Just go with the spur of the moment. Besides you've got such a good plan to deliver your value, there's no way they can refuse." Max cheered on, "Plus, I'll be there for you. You won't be going alone."Chloe was doubtful— desperately doubtful. "It's not as easy as you make it out to be.""And don't make it harder than it is meant to be," Max chimed in. "Relax," he urged as he stood behind her, staring at their reflection in the morning sun, with his arms around her waist."Alright," she said reluctantly, leaning h
"Kylian?" His mother's voice came with an unexplainable pain in his temple. He was too tired to tell her to stop calling his name that loudly. It took him a while to realize that he was lying in a hospital bed. His mother's face was a bit blurry at first before he could see every detail clearly."Mom?" He barely got out a whisper. He slowly recalled all the events that had led to him being there at that time. Slowly and painfully, he recalled his shameful trip and fall, in front of all of New York. "How'd I get here?""Some girl at the scene of the fall was able to call the ambulance to come get you. The fall was really severe, you had a concussion, Kylian."Maya...he thought if she could have been the one that had called the ambulance to come get him. Or had she left him for dead? No...he doubted that."How are you feeling?" His mother asked with concern and worry."My head hurts, real bad..." And my heart too. He wished he could say that out loud, but was just too weak. He didn't k