Anders wondered what changed as he took a slow sip, the heat from the scotch burning its way down his throat. He stared into the night, watching it go by at its own pace, while three friends, sharing the bond of grief, remained trapped in the past. “Camila had always known I enjoyed music,” Amanda disrupted the silence, answering Anders’ unspoken question. “She thought it was silly that I bashed musicians out in public, while in the comfort of my room, I sang my heart out like I was in a concert.”“It's pretty hard to see you in that light,” Anders muttered, spurring laughter from Lucas.He good-naturedly raised his shoulders in a shrug when Amanda sneered at him. “I thought so too. You can imagine how surprised I was when I walked into a bar downtown and saw her singing with a band. It was a rude shock.”“That led to something beautiful,” Amanda completed, looking into his eyes. They seemed to gravitate towards each other, like the north and south poles. Anders could be in the room,
Amanda's eyes shone in honest excitement, as she looked from Lucas to Anders. “Oh My God! Now, this is juicy. Who is she?”“Lucas doesn't know what he's talking about,” Anders said dismissively, throwing his hands in the air. “There's no one, okay? I'm just trying to get Sophia off my back without getting on the President’s bad side. That's all.”Amanda's face fell instantly. “That's really bad. I was getting excited about bonding with your woman. It would just be like old times.”“Nothing will ever be like old times,” Anders said forcefully, a vein visible in his throat. “Nothing.” He didn't want to remember it. All that pain had left him in despair. He was a shadow of himself. Anders would never think about his friendship with Amamda without remembering the later part.“Okay,” Amansa said warily. “Maybe not exactly like old times. But you know what I'm talking about.”“There's someone actually.” Lucas had been observing the situation, wondering if he should just say what he knew. An
Orleans didn’t mirror Anders’ smile. Instead, his face hardened even more, contorting into a twisted version of De Acosta, almost like his mother when things didn’t go her way.Anders had done business with her on multiple occasions, and if it hadn’t been for the fact that he never let people walk all over him, De Acosta would have had her way.He stepped forward in controlled aggressiveness, and Anders smirked. “I want to ask you how you found me, but then again, a desperate man doesn’t reveal his secrets now, does he?”“Can we talk?” he said, motioning to Amanda and Lucas standing behind Anders. “Without the company.”Maybe it had something to do with the scotch bubbling in the pit of his stomach, or the fact that he was in the mood for a fist fight. But, Anders took a dangerous step forward, his immaculate smirk still in place.“They’re family,” he sneered, placing his hands in his pocket. “But then again, I’m not sure you know what that even means.”“Hey, Andy,” Amanda called. “Do
“Now, this just got interesting,” Amanda chuckled. “I made the greatest decision to come back to Mexico.”But Anders wasn’t listening to her. Every bit of his attention was focused on the man in front of him. He noted the apprehension in his gaze, the way his eyes darted like he was trying to avoid something, how he cleaned his palms on his pants, the first trait of nervousness.“What have you been trying to tell me, Orleans De Acosta?”“I haven’t been speaking Spanish, have I? Stay the fuck away from Veil.” Orleans spat. He felt like he was in control once again before it got rudely snatched away from him.“I hear you loud and clear, Orleans,” Anders sneered, nodding. “But what I don’t understand is the reason you’re so passionate about this. I’ve read about you. One of your many traits is staying away from conflicts. Yet, you have embraced this so wholeheartedly that it has to stem from somewhere with depth.”“You’re trying to psych me up.”“You talked about Sophia getting married t
Loud music echoed through the walls as the group stepped in, and instantly, Amanda’s face lit up in a grin. She pulled Lucas with her to find a table, leaving Anders to trail behind them, questioning his reason for choosing to go with them. It had always been Amanda on the receiving end, with Anders and Camila making her tag along on their outings around the whole city. They sampled meals, and Camila made Amanda take their cute pictures for them. She was big on that. Anders snapped back to the present when someone bumped into him. It was too dark to tell the person’s identity. He swore and walked in the direction he saw his friends go, wondering why he hadn’t suggested they go to his club instead. Amanda had already ordered drinks for them when he reached the booth, and as he slid in on the opposite seat, Lucas pushed his glass over to him. It was the same thing they’d been having on his balcony. “I didn’t want to mess with what we already have in our systems,” he explained, sampl
Veil had just had dinner with her family, and they were in the living room seeing a show. She was smudged in between her parents, a huge bowl of popcorn in her hands. Her father laughed at something one of the characters said, and Veil found herself focusing on the sound rather than the show. She had missed that deep sound that echoed through the walls almost every day while growing up. It had seemed so normal that, at some point, she just got used to it. Maybe overly used to it. But suddenly, that voice was gone, replaced by gloom and quiet. Now, Veil wanted to appreciate every waking moment she still had him around—both of them around. She pulled them into her suddenly, sighing as their warmth met her skin. Her mother knew what she had been thinking about, and she pressed her lips against her hair. “It’s all right now,” she whispered. “We’ll be here for as long as you want.” If she could have forever, Veil would eagerly take it. Her father laughed again, and she pulled her eyes
Veil was stunned, her eyes shining in surprise as she stared at the drunken figures of Amanda and Lucas. She tried to rationalize it - the probabilities. Her number was perhaps the only one on his emergency contacts because she was his secretary and needed to be accessible at any time. Or maybe it was because of the contract they had that was binding between them. She refused to think about the other possible reason. In fact, Veil didn’t want to consider it. “What about you guys?” Veil asked as Amanda snuggled up into Lucas’ arms. It looked like he had it covered already, but she needed to be certain. “Caring and pretty,” Amanda muttered, sighing in bliss. “I like her already.” “You said that at the balcony,” Lucas chuckled. They looked so great together, and Veil felt odd watching them being so sweet to each other. It sharply reminded her of her own predicament and how long it had been since she had last felt that way. “Then I double like her,” Amanda replied, giggling like a ki
The first living room was dark, the lights from the stairs casting a dull glow on some parts. The furniture looked even darker, huddled in the middle of black, its arms couched like an obese woman with a child on her arm. Veil gasped as her body collided with a breathing brick wall, the door closing behind her. Her hands flew up instinctively, resting on his chest. It moved slowly, her hands along with it. It rattled Veil, and she released a breath, too, the heat swirling through her, sharpening her senses. She was aware of him, of the heat that radiated through him, his warm breath hovering over her head, his strong arm wrapping around her waist. Veil breathed him in, his heady scent that sent delicious thrills to the pit of her stomach and made her ache between her thighs. He whispered something into her ears, but Veil was too distracted by the low vibration traveling from his throat. She shivered deliciously as goose bumps erupted on her skin, her pores alert, sizzling at every