"You make my family miserable! You take my grandson and keep him away from his family, keep him away from his dying father... you nothing but selfish. Why you want a man who no love you? No pride... you no pride. He love a good woman, he no love you!"Amaya gasped in horror and raised her hands to her mouth, defenceless against the hatred she saw burning in the old woman's eyes. Her eyes flooded with anguished tears and Aiden swore shakily before saying something soft and dangerous sounding to the three women on the other end of the camera but Amaya had blocked them all out and was struggling to her feet, ignoring Aiden's desperate protest.She was out the door and halfway up the stairs before he caught up with her."She's old, cara," he said desperately, holding onto her arm as she tried to wrest herself away from him. "She's old and stubborn. What she said was not true.""I didn't make your family miserable?" She asked brokenly. "Of course I did, Aiden. You know that's true... I did
Aiden had made good on his promise and had enlisted both Lisa and Phumsile's aid in ensuring that she took her vitamins and rested enough... but that was the only promise he kept..... A month passed with barely any word from him, his phonecalls, the few that came, were rushed and impersonal and barely lasted three minutes each time. When Amaya tried to contact him, he was never available, or so the cold female voices on the other end of the line told her. She had no choice but to take them at their word.She kept track of Aiden's movements through the news; online, televised and printed, his father's death and Aiden's subsequent taking over of an empire were pretty hot news items and barely a day went by that it wasn't mentioned in some form of news. There had been paparazzi coverage of the funeral, despite the media ban the family had put on proceedings, some intrepid photographer had managed to get a picture of Sandro standing over his father's open grave, his face closed up tighte
"It's the baby..." she whispered in fear. "I think the baby's coming...""No, no, no," the naked panic and fear in his eyes did nothing to alleviate Amaya's own terror. "He can't be coming now. He's nearly a month early! Are you sure?""I've been cramping all day but I thought it was due to stress," Amaya moaned after the pain had subsided. "But now I think I'm having contractions.""Okay, it's okay," he soothed, automatically gathering her trembling body into a hug. "We'll be fine. We have to get you to the hospital."Amaya had argued, begged, cajoled, attempted to reason but Aiden had refused point blank to defer his position as her coach to Lisa. In the end, Lisa had simply declined to go in to hospital with her, saying that it was best for Amaya to have her original coaching partner with her. Shocked and hurt by what she felt was an unforgivable betrayal, Theresa had refused to look, or even talk, to her cousin while Sandro shepherded her out to his car. Lisa had seemed to be chee
She awoke to the sound of angry, hushed voices and blinked groggily as she tried to get her bearings."I don't want you anywhere near her," she heard Aiden hiss furiously and tried to concentrate on the drama unfolding in her doorway where she could see two large men silhouetted. One was unmistakably Aiden and the other; she narrowed her eyes slightly, trying to focus a bit better. It looked like her father."She's my daughter and I'll damned well see her when I want to," the other man blustered, confirming that he was, indeed, Jackson Noble III."So that you can damage her more than you already have?" Aiden asked, almost shaking with rage. "I won't let you get close enough to hurt her like that again. And you can forget about getting that grandson you want anytime soon. I refuse to give you the pleasure.""Well then stay married to her until you do, or give up the vineyard," her father sneered."The vineyard never meant as much to me as it did my father. You can have the damned place
"You were hoping for a girl?""Yes. Very much," he staggered her by confirming, his eyes remaining steady so she was in no doubt as to his sincerity."I don't understand..." she shook her head slightly. "Why?" He didn't respond, dropping his eyes to the suckling infant at her breast."Aiden?" She prompted and he raised his eyes to hers once more. He smiled cryptically before shrugging."This is neither the time nor place to be having that particular conversation, Amaya'," he frustrated her by saying."But...""We'll discuss it soon but right now I think Lily is ready to be burped," he pointed to the infant whose tiny mouth had slackened. She awkwardly dragged her bodice back up and then clumsily repositioned Lily until the baby was draped over her shoulder."Could you get the nurse?" She asked Aiden, putting his previous comment from her mind for now. "I'm not sure how to do this.""Rub your hand on her back in a circular motion," he noted the surprise in her eyes before shrugging. "T
Amaya headed down to the kitchen for breakfast three weeks later and found her husband already seated at the table, newspaper in hand. He'd already dressed Lily and had her little baby carrier placed on the table in front of him. Lily was asleep and Aiden was so absorbed in his paper that he didn't notice her at first. It was Phumsile's usual day off, so he'd fixed himself a bowl of cereal, toast and some coffee. She smiled at the sight of them, her heart overflowing with love for both of them."Good morning," she greeted cheerily, as she headed over to the breakfast nook. She dropped a kiss on the baby's cheek and then, after the briefest of hesitations, one on her husband's lean cheek. While Aiden was a lot more affectionate these days, she still felt a certain reserve around him, not sure if she could touch and kiss him as freely as he did her. She knew she was being silly but she seemed unable to overcome her emotional barriers. He told her he loved her every day but she still cou
"Ours was just the biggest news because of your father's involvement. It made a bad time for the family even worse. I was so busy doing damage control after the news of Rosalie's pregnancy and subsequent abortion that when the story of our marriage first hit, I wasn't even aware of it, until my mother brought it to my attention. I dropped everything and flew home to you. I couldn't stand the thought that you'd think it was true... that you'd think I valued our marriage so little that I would file for a divorce without even talking to you about it." "What happened to the friend?" "She sold our secrets for a pittance but the status she had in our society has diminished to nothing. She is no longer welcome in the circles she once ruled. Trust me, there's no greater punishment for someone like her. Gabriella has learned a valuable lesson in discretion... and a few Italian publications are currently being sued for libel when they completely fabricated a lot of the so-called 'facts' to ba
Right, the knee-length silk slip dress was a little too low and made her swollen breasts look slightly too voluptuous for her liking. She felt a little uncomfortable in it but Lisa had chosen it, saying that the ice green colour did wonderful things for her hair and eyes."I mean, did you guys even think to make reservations?""Amaya, with your dad and husband being who they are, do you really think getting into any restaurant you want is ever going to be a problem?" Lisa scoffed and Amaya wrinkled her nose, conceding the point. Lisa flounced through the door and Rick stood aside to let Theresa in.The maitre'd smiled and led her through without question. Surprised, she followed him with a little frown on her face. He led her through double glass doors. The place was packed with people and for some reason no-one was sitting down. She squirmed uncomfortably when everyone turned to stare at her, not quite sure what on earth was going on."Surprise!" She nearly jumped out of her skin at
AMAYA'S POVWeeks had passed after the little scenerio that played at the De Lucci mansion and the little family kept living live the way it was supposed to be cleary Amaya was trying her best to overcome her emotional barrier. On a beautiful Monday morning after Aiden had left for work Amaya was staring off into space with nothing to do so many things crossed her mind like calling Lisa and Phumsile over for a girl's day after going back and forth on whether to call she finally picked up the telephone line and dialed Lisa number.“What up Cuz?”“Hey Lisa how are you let me get straight to the point…… I was wondering if you wanted to come over for lunch together with Phumsile?” “Of course, Seeing as you called me you must be really bored I even wanted to come over to get the full gist of what happened at the lunch with your in-laws” Lisa snickered.“No problem, come over and we'll talk till you feel satisfied” I smiled as she cut the line to go on and prepare for the little lunch par
On their way to his house Aiden could feel the anxiety oozing out of Amaya as she tried not to show it in her expression. He was well aware of the pressure cause he was experiencing it himself all he could do was hold onto her hand with an expression saying I'm here with you. On getting to his house, she was lost for words it wasn't like she hadn't seen his house before which was through the television and pictures but seeing it physically was just breathtaking. The distance from the gate to the actual house was a a suit a a mile.The scenery of the house was just amazing. “We are here…” Aiden said bringing her out of her reverie. The minute she got down with Lily it seemed like her anxiety never happened even Aiden noticed her confidence on stepping out of the car. “Are you ready?” “As ready as I'll ever be!” Amaya said as she and Aiden began to move towards the large door in front of them with sleeping Lily in Cara's hands. As they got close the door opened wide and in front was
Amaya was overjoyed, she made sure that she did not give it away from her face expression. She was wondering if she she should also reciprocate the her feelings back to him but she was scared, in between his family members not wanting her and he liking that lady. She felt like she would later be an outcast and the thought was not appealing to her at all. She did not like it, she loved Sandro with everything that she had. She had always loved him but she was scared to let him know how she felt cause of heartbreak. She remembered how she bared herself to him when they first got married. She was such a fool, because anytime she was in love she always fell in love with everything she had, with her mind body and soul and she was happy that he reciprocated how he was feeling to her but what if he changes his mind. She did not want her daughter to be raised in a family where there was no love, she had experienced it and it was what affected her till now. In between her mother dying and h
Amaya woke up some time during the early hours of the morning when she felt Aiden leave the bed. She blinked in confusion, not sure how she'd gotten to bed. She was stark naked and she didn't remember getting undressed, or even coming upstairs for that matter. She could hear Lily fretting through the baby monitor and was about to get out of bed when she heard Aiden's gentle voice crooning to the baby. Lily calmed down a little and Amaya smiled as she listened to him sing to the baby, his sleep-roughened voice slightly off-key. His voice faded and she sat up, switching on the bedside lamp and adjusting the pillows behind her back when she realised that Aiden was probably bringing Lily into the bedroom for her feed. He appeared moments later, looking completely rumpled and wearing nothing but white boxer shorts. He smiled when he saw her sitting up in bed."Your daughter's hungry," he nodded down at the fussing baby and Amaya reached up for her and he transferred the wriggling bundle ge
Right, the knee-length silk slip dress was a little too low and made her swollen breasts look slightly too voluptuous for her liking. She felt a little uncomfortable in it but Lisa had chosen it, saying that the ice green colour did wonderful things for her hair and eyes."I mean, did you guys even think to make reservations?""Amaya, with your dad and husband being who they are, do you really think getting into any restaurant you want is ever going to be a problem?" Lisa scoffed and Amaya wrinkled her nose, conceding the point. Lisa flounced through the door and Rick stood aside to let Theresa in.The maitre'd smiled and led her through without question. Surprised, she followed him with a little frown on her face. He led her through double glass doors. The place was packed with people and for some reason no-one was sitting down. She squirmed uncomfortably when everyone turned to stare at her, not quite sure what on earth was going on."Surprise!" She nearly jumped out of her skin at
"Ours was just the biggest news because of your father's involvement. It made a bad time for the family even worse. I was so busy doing damage control after the news of Rosalie's pregnancy and subsequent abortion that when the story of our marriage first hit, I wasn't even aware of it, until my mother brought it to my attention. I dropped everything and flew home to you. I couldn't stand the thought that you'd think it was true... that you'd think I valued our marriage so little that I would file for a divorce without even talking to you about it." "What happened to the friend?" "She sold our secrets for a pittance but the status she had in our society has diminished to nothing. She is no longer welcome in the circles she once ruled. Trust me, there's no greater punishment for someone like her. Gabriella has learned a valuable lesson in discretion... and a few Italian publications are currently being sued for libel when they completely fabricated a lot of the so-called 'facts' to ba
Amaya headed down to the kitchen for breakfast three weeks later and found her husband already seated at the table, newspaper in hand. He'd already dressed Lily and had her little baby carrier placed on the table in front of him. Lily was asleep and Aiden was so absorbed in his paper that he didn't notice her at first. It was Phumsile's usual day off, so he'd fixed himself a bowl of cereal, toast and some coffee. She smiled at the sight of them, her heart overflowing with love for both of them."Good morning," she greeted cheerily, as she headed over to the breakfast nook. She dropped a kiss on the baby's cheek and then, after the briefest of hesitations, one on her husband's lean cheek. While Aiden was a lot more affectionate these days, she still felt a certain reserve around him, not sure if she could touch and kiss him as freely as he did her. She knew she was being silly but she seemed unable to overcome her emotional barriers. He told her he loved her every day but she still cou
"You were hoping for a girl?""Yes. Very much," he staggered her by confirming, his eyes remaining steady so she was in no doubt as to his sincerity."I don't understand..." she shook her head slightly. "Why?" He didn't respond, dropping his eyes to the suckling infant at her breast."Aiden?" She prompted and he raised his eyes to hers once more. He smiled cryptically before shrugging."This is neither the time nor place to be having that particular conversation, Amaya'," he frustrated her by saying."But...""We'll discuss it soon but right now I think Lily is ready to be burped," he pointed to the infant whose tiny mouth had slackened. She awkwardly dragged her bodice back up and then clumsily repositioned Lily until the baby was draped over her shoulder."Could you get the nurse?" She asked Aiden, putting his previous comment from her mind for now. "I'm not sure how to do this.""Rub your hand on her back in a circular motion," he noted the surprise in her eyes before shrugging. "T
She awoke to the sound of angry, hushed voices and blinked groggily as she tried to get her bearings."I don't want you anywhere near her," she heard Aiden hiss furiously and tried to concentrate on the drama unfolding in her doorway where she could see two large men silhouetted. One was unmistakably Aiden and the other; she narrowed her eyes slightly, trying to focus a bit better. It looked like her father."She's my daughter and I'll damned well see her when I want to," the other man blustered, confirming that he was, indeed, Jackson Noble III."So that you can damage her more than you already have?" Aiden asked, almost shaking with rage. "I won't let you get close enough to hurt her like that again. And you can forget about getting that grandson you want anytime soon. I refuse to give you the pleasure.""Well then stay married to her until you do, or give up the vineyard," her father sneered."The vineyard never meant as much to me as it did my father. You can have the damned place