Her body was still shaking many moments after her shattering orgasm. She was breathing fast and so was he. She watched him breathless, with her back slightly turned to him, wondering what would happen next. Her legs were shaking and he could see that. She'd missed him being this intimate with her but in his office, that was a first. Noticing the open door again, she suddenly felt self-conscious. What if someone walked in? Or worse, what if someone had walked in while they were in the heat of it, saw them and walked away when the person saw what was happening. A part of her wanted him to hold her and tell her everything was settled. She didn't like this feeling she was having and couldn't explain. However, he looked her up and down once again as if to remember her features forever and then went to where a pile of clothes were and put them on. She didn't do anything. It was like her mind could no longer control her body. When he was fully dressed, he sat down in his office chair, l
Asher surprised her by laughing and soon enough, the lawyer began to laugh as well. "Everytime," he said, reaching into his briefcase and bringing out a new pile of copies of the exact paper she had just ripped apart. "There are several more where that came from and it is still saved in my laptop. So we could either waste each other's time or you could just calmly read the contents of the documents." She felt like such a fool. He was a lawyer, of course he'd have photocopies. But ripping those papers apart felt good. An adrenaline rush if nothing. She didn't dare look at Asher. She could imagine the amused look that would be etched on his face, mocking her. She swallowed as she picked up the first document with trembling fingers. …will be allowed visiting rights every two weeks. She will not be allowed to take the children outside the home without the father's permission. She should not be seen around the children until her allocated weekends…"You have to be joking." "I'm not,
Anne didn't even try to defend herself when for the first time in her life, a pair of handcuffs was tightly fastened on her wrists. He had won.It was mere fantasy to think she could possibly win against him. As she was escorted into the police vehicle she'd somehow missed earlier, she half expected her sons to turn around and notice her. They could at least wonder why their mother was being treated like a common criminal, but they didn't. Instead they kept smiling up at Asher and eating up every word that came out of his mouth. He was right. He could tell them anything and they'd quickly forget about her if he wanted. But from what she'd seen he wouldn't even need to tell them anything. As she fought back tears, she tried to remind herself it wasn't their fault. They were only children after all and probably just thought she was somewhere else. They rarely saw their father, so it was always a big deal whenever they did. At least she'd done something right, she thought as the ca
As she held the check in her shaky hands, the urge to rip it apart like she'd once done before returned to her strongly. Once again, he thought he could fix everything with money. The tears were still in her eyes as she kept holding the offending paper, the reality of it settling in her. He really expected her to take the money in exchange for her kids. And she was considering it. Another paper fell out from the envelope and she opened it. It was a handwritten note addressed to her. Let's just make things easier. Asher. It was so impersonal, like he was laying her off from a business deal they'd both agreed to. A bile rose in her throat once again and she swallowed it. There were so many things she could do with that money. The possibilities were endless. But none of it would ever be worth it if she didn't have her children there to enjoy it with her. Resting her head on the steering wheel, she tried but failed to still her pounding heart. ***"The house is totally worth it.
"I'm sorry," Anne whispered, hugging her best friend. "Shh. Shh. Don't beat yourself up. I just needed a lens to see the relationship was already over and you just happened to help me with that. I know you don't really like him so we're cool." "Never let a guy come between us," Anne repeated, smiling sadly. Lola shook her head. "I honestly can't believe how quickly we all broke that pact. Although Gabby is taking hers too far." Anne shrugged. She didn't really want to talk about Gabby now or ever. "I was surprised when I heard it. I even tried to convince her to stop what she was doing but she blocked me on all social media. I never knew she had that side to her. It all made sense why she wanted you to break up with Asher then. But I don't understand why he'd just fall into her trap like that. What did she tell him to make him not want to fight for you?""She probably didn't have to say anything," Anne said, leading her friend to the bench in the kitchen where they both sat down
Having the kids all to himself had not been anything like he'd expected. There were several things he never thought he would experience. He was only used to seeing them once in a while, usually when they happened to be on their best behavior because they were just excited to see him and tried to please him, but when the excitement wore off within a few days of them spending day and night with him, everything changed. Just at breakfast the other day, they'd asked for their mom and when Gabby told them she wouldn't be joining them soon, they began to complain about how the crusts of the bread hadn't been cut off like their mom always did. Danny made a fuss and threw the contents of his side of the table away and Damien soon followed suit. When he tried to get them to stop, they only spat at him and threw tantrums.. He wished that was the end but it wasn't. They complained about the most random things and threw a tantrum anytime anyone corrected them. The most unbearable part of it was
Fear engulfed her body, making her mind run places as she searched for her sons. They were nowhere to be found. Oh God. Why did she have to turn her face away to listen to what Asher had to say. "Damien, Danny!" Asher screamed their names and she followed suit, suddenly remembering it was a possibility.Where had they gone? She had to be positive, she told herself, and realistic. No one could have possibly kidnapped them right under her nose without them screaming or yelling for help. They'd either left to find some other more interesting place not so far from there or worse, like the last time, they'd seen someone they knew and followed them."Danny, Damien!" She called, desperation entering her voice. "Mommy!" She heard from not so far away. She turned immediately to the sound of her sons' voice. "Oh, God," she breathed in relief as she ran to where the boys were. Asher was still on the other side of the field looking for the boys but she called him over, signaling to him th
Her newfound admiration for Asher died down the moment he bade her goodbye, revved his car and started to leave with the kids. Perhaps she'd been wrong to assume that after the culprit responsible for her grandmother's demise had been found and him taking her out, the least he could do was let her have her children back, at least for some time. "I don't really think you're in the right frame of mind to have the children hovering all over you. I don't want you to lose it," he'd said before giving her an apologetic look and driving off. Now she was in her new house, telling everything to Lola after finally finding her voice. "Did you just say Jake was arrested?" Lola asked in disbelief. "For arson?" "I'm just as surprised as you are.""Hmm. I knew he was wicked but not a murderer. Are you sure the detective was right?" "They've been trailing him for a while now and even got his confession on tape." "Hmm. I suppose I'm lucky for everything that happened. Imagine we were still datin