Sia was running late . . . again.
“No, Millan! I told you I can’t be there today. I have family coming over!” she repeated for literally the hundredth time today. Why was it that the new clients had to show up on the exact date as her anniversary?
“Yes. Okay, I’ll check them tomorrow. For sure,” she answered Millan’s questions with her phone lodged between her ear and shoulder while her hands were busy with a ladle and a saucepan.
“Food’s about to burn,” Martha warned as she passed Sia on the way to the dining table, a pot of boiling hot chicken soup in her hand.
“Millan, I’ll call you back later.” Sia cut her off and hung up, before tossing the phone over her shoulder in no particular direction.
Just before it hit the ground, Leo reached out his hand and caught it in time. “Careful, Mom!” he told her in a mock berating tone at the close call.
Abhay and Selena’s One Shot:“Hurry up, geek!” Selena snapped in a hushed tone.“Well sorry, genius, if you can do this any faster, then by all means, be my guest,”came Abhay’s sour reply from his crouched position in front of the main circuit board.“Fucking the motherboard is your speciality.” Selena blew a stray lock of her hair off of her face as she checked her watch for the hundredth time.“Hey! Always respect the motherboard!” Abhay snapped at her. “It’s the heart of the computer.”“Jeez, look at you getting all emotional over a damn machine heart.” Selena shook her head at Abhay’s obsession with electronics. But she had to admit, the guy was a fantastic hacker.“Well, the government is paying us a handsome bill just so I can flirt with this ‘damn machine heart’ all I want,” Abhay reminded her. &ldqu
CHRISTIAN AND VANESSA’SDINNER DATEBonus ChapterBodyguardChristian looked into the mirror, once again debating the rationality of he was about to do.“You’ve lived in the shadows your entire life. It’s time to let people know what an amazing person you are.”Sia had told him that, a sister’s concern for a person she had so readily accepted as her older brother.Even so, the world wasn’t ready for him. Not yet. And he had his doubts if it’ll ever be ready.“The world is ready, big brother. It’s you who has to be prepared to accept yourself. And I think it’s time. People will talk. They always do. But you don’t have to let them get under your skin.”He’d always been the optimistic one, that Julian. He was scarred in an entirely different way than him. Julian’s scars had been internal, while his were
Julian Turner stared at his older brother in shock.“You’ll kick me out of my own company?” he asked the golden-haired, green-eyed man who towered over him by five inches.Anyone who’dlay eyes on Christian and Julian can immediately tell that the two weren’t related. And they wouldn’t be wrong in saying so, for they weren’t.Christian Turner was the legitimate son and heir to their late parents, Cecelia and Damien Turner, founders of Turner Security and James Bay Medical Center in Canada. While Christian had fair skin and a lean built, Julian had a slight olive complexion that hinted of an Italian ancestry,bulging muscles, and a body most women fall for.Where Christian had blond hair and emerald eyes, Julianhad midnight black hair and electric blue eyes. There was one thing about the older brother, however, that stood out more than his intimidating height. It was the scar on one side of his face,which hehad acqui
The room was fair-sized when one took the number of things scattered here and there into consideration. A few couches lined the wall to the right,anda slanting table to the left piled with sketchbooks and pencils and every other drawing equipment possible to mankind. That must be where Sia jotted down her ideas, Julian guessed.The room itself was painted in a soothing green color mixed with light accents of purple and blue polygonal designs placed at odd points in the wall rather than in a straight line. Julian didn’t know much about fashion, but even he had to approve of the clever designs.There were small potted plants here and there as well—all natural—which seemed to be the theme of the office. The plants had tiny white flowers that kept the room naturally fragrant. Julian took a moment to take in his surroundings before finally looking straight ahead in the direction of the woman who had hired him. And felt his eyes widen in surpr
Sia motioned for the file in his hands, and Julian obediently passed it to her. Sia went through it quietly, comparing it with the one she had in her hand, then closed the folder and passed them both back to him.“Mr. Turner, your success rate is quite impressive. You have never failed a mission before, and your records are clean . . . except for a few client complaints.” Sia finished with a raised eyebrow.She didn’t need to see his file to know that about him; she had done her research. He wasn’t too old, either. He even appeared a few years younger than her. Twenty-nine, maybe? But that was good. Youth meant strength and stamina,very essential qualities in a bodyguard, among several others.“I’m aware of the things that may trouble you, Mrs. Milton—”“Miss.” Sia immediately put a stop to that sentence.Julian nodded, wondering why that made him feel oddly satisfied.
When Sia finally woke up from her slumber, it was almost noon the next day.But she was in no hurry. She had created her best wedding dress to date and at the cheapest rate possible. She was happy that she was able to meet the demands of the underprivileged couple who will be starting their life together shortly. She sat up slowly and stretched, relieving the tension in her arm muscles. She hadn’t trusted anyone else with her designs this time, considering how the wedding season was in full swing. Employees are often tempted to sell designs to more prestigious companies who would charge a far higher rate for the gown she’d created, satisfying their own greed over bringing a smile on a woman’s face.Sia had learned that the hard way when the company she had been working for as an intern had stolen her design, and the man she considered her guru had taken full credit for the work. So through gritted teeth, she waited until her internship was over.After
Sia took her time admiring Julian. His black hair was still wet from his shower, and his bare arms showed powerful muscles.He was wearing a black shirt with its sleeves rolled up to his elbows and dark blue jeans with white and blue sneakers. Blue would’ve matched his eyes better, Sia thought to herself before she remembered that he was her new bodyguard, not her client.After almost 14 years of having no partner or, rather, avoiding the need to find one at any cost, Sia was surprised that Julian, aka Lucifer, had sparked an interest in her at all. Not that she would fuel it, but there was no reason not to admire this fine specimen. That is, unless she got caught in the act.Leo was already waiting for them when Sia took Julian to the living room. She could tell just by looking that Julian was surprised at the lack of resemblance between her and Leo. Unfortunately, Leo looked exactly like his father, which should’ve been cause for pain to Sia, but
The work station in Sia’s house was almost similar to her office. A table and a chair were placed in one corner near the windows,which allow natural light in. Numerous materials lined the shelves in a cupboard with a glass door, a few mannequins with partly styled clothes hung on them and numerous fashion magazines were strewn all over the room. The only odd ones out were the two bean bags in front of the lit fireplace and a huge bookshelf with a hundred or so novels piled in it.Sia sat in one of the beanbags in front of the fireplace, a glass of red wine in hand, and looked unblinking at the fire. It wasn’t winter yet, so the fire was only there more as a source of light rather than warmth, but it had rained earlier in the evening so the weather was a bit chilly. The fire gave enough warmth to beat off the chill.“You wanted to say something?” Julian asked, not wanting to interrupt Sia but also curious as to what she had to say.