She subtly rolls her eyes and turns back around to tune into the conversation. I try to listen again, with more care and awareness this time, but then someone sits in front of me and messes that whole thing up.I look up abruptly, only to see Rafael sitting in front of me.Slowly, the conversation o
Ares’s POVAfter the meeting with the twins, I rush back into my office and sit behind my desk, mulling things over in my head and trying to think about all the things that happened.So I finally found Valeria. Or at least, her kids and possible friends. That brings me closer to her than I ever thou
And now, he’s one of the most well known club owners in all of Los Angeles. He bought a lot of clubs that were not doing well, and then he turned them into branches of his own creation.I could say that he made a name for himself. He made a good business that never went under, and he established a p
It feels weird to be in this position. I feel like some kind of stalker even though I'm not doing anything wrong. I look at the windows at the topmost floor and see no lights, and that brings me some weird kind of comfort that I still don’t know how to feel about.Perhaps what I'm doing is indeed wr
"Okay, Aunt Josie," the two kids say in chorus in a way that makes my heart squeeze with cuteness.Maybe I'm just getting old, or the kids are really just cute enough to get that reaction from me.I watch as they go inside the apartment and close the door behind them. I look at my watch and see that
Valeria’s POVI close the door of my unit and rest my back on the door for a while. I can’t believe I said yes to Rafael, after all this time. This is the first time I have ever said yes to him, after all the months he spent showing interest in me.At first I thought that maybe I would feel weird ab
“Valeria,” Ares calls out, and once again he starts to knock. I don’t want my kids to wake up and see this mess so I wipe my face furiously and open the door. When he sees me again, his whole face lights up and he even tries for a tentative smile. “I… Can we talk?”“Sure,” I say, my voice neutral. I
Ares’s POVMy heart breaks in one quick snap. I look at Valeria and try to find anything hidden in her gaze --anything that would indicate even the faintest hint of a lie -- but I don’t find any of that. She holds my gaze firmly as though challenging me, and that’s when the strong feelings of truth
“We’ll see,” is all I manage to say, then I promptly end the mind-link with Heather.Before I can even tell Frank to go, he already takes initiative. He starts to drive into the neighborhood, stopping in front of the lab and getting out of the car at the same time that I climb out. His fists are cle
“You don’t have to come forward and be public about your existence like we are,” I declare. I have to admit, I had no idea about that clause in the treaty. But then again, Nikolai and Ares should have known. If we were indeed doing something we shouldn’t then they should have spoken up about it. “We
Valeria’s POVI’m rooted in my spot, staring at the man in front of me. But at this point I suppose I should stop calling him a man, because he’s so far from that.Everything about him screams something else. Even though my heart rate has slowed down I still feel like I can’t move. I just watch as h
“No, mommy.” Edith shakes her head. “He just looked at me. And when I stopped playing, he left. I’m just scared that he’s there watching me again. I really want to play but I’m worried about him. What if I go out there and he’s watching me again? What do I do?”I can’t stand to see her this scared w
Valeria’s POV“Mommy, can I stay with you for a while?” Edith asks as I drop her and Emmett back to school. She holds my hand as we approach the building, and even though I hold her back reassuringly, I have to admit that I’m curious about this sudden shy behavior.“What’s going on?” Emmett asks. “D
My vice mayor has conducted some meetings with the delegates of important groups in the city while I was gone, and he compiled everything into papers. I read the papers all morning and finally come up with laws that bind the Lycan and Human world together.The new laws are similar to the initial one
Ares’s POV“I don't know what happened,” Vincent says as soon as we're gathered in my study, including Heather and Valeria. “I don't know how he managed to do it. But his hearing is next week and I heard that the judge is considering setting him free on a bail.”I stare at the back wall, still tryin
“It’s not like that, Ares,” I say, but he just turns away from me. I feel guilty for shooting down his feelings but I have no choice. It just feels too absurd for me. I recognize that I might be in denial, but I don’t think Gianna has enough power to sway the Vampire Kingdom into doing her bidding.
Valeria’s POVI whip around to face Lavinia. But of course, she just rolls her eyes like this is some senseless babble. “You better keep your mate in check. I can’t have him wreaking havoc like this.”“What did you do?” I demand at her, but she just waves her hand airily.“You should ask him what he