- - - - - ONE WEEK LATER - - - - -
~ Audrey ~
“Girl, you disappeared on us for the 3 weeks! We thought you’d be somewhere in Ukraine by now, kidnapped for ransom or something,” Mikey put a hand up and rolled his eyes dramatically.
A week had passed since Audrey’s return to New York City, and her friends were dying to see her. They were doing their routine Sunday brunch this morning, and Mikey and Liv were adamant about getting Audrey to spill the tea. They knew Audrey wasn’t the type of person who’d just disappear for weeks without telling them. Something big must have gone down, except they didn’t know how big just yet.
“Guys, I told you, I was taking a short vacation with the Vanderbilt brothers,” Audrey said as she sipped her coffee nonchalantly. “We were getting away
~ Killian ~Killian never knew the true meaning of the phrase ‘dressed to kill’ until tonight. When he saw Audrey walking out of her room in that red silk dress, his breath was caught in his throat. It was a simple dress, but it hugged her curves in all the right places. Killian couldn’t stop staring and Caspian shook his head as his eyes went wild with excitement.“So, what do you think?” she said, smiling sheepishly. Her two friends were walking behind her and they looked like proud parents.“Goddamn,” Caspian muttered and clapped his hands. Then he leaned closer so only Audrey and Killian could hear and said, “If only your friends aren’t here, this dress would’ve been torn off in a second,”“Cas,” she glared at him. “Behave,”“I’ll try my best,”
~ Audrey ~When Audrey saw Killian disappearing into the corner with Cara, her breath was caught in her throat. She saw the way Cara was looking at him. She didn’t miss how her hand grabbed Killian’s and he let her. She felt a pang in her chest, though she didn't know what it was.Am I angry? Or worse, am I… jealous?Audrey knew she had no right to be jealous. Killian was not hers. Sure, the three of them were inseparable ever since the trip to Bermuda, but that didn’t mean anything. They were just having fun. Like Caspian said, it was no strings attached and no emotions.No heartbreaks.Audrey didn’t like the feeling of tightness in her chest. She tried
~ Audrey ~“I’m sorry I’m making you guys leave the party,” Audrey said lowly as the limo pulled up in front of her apartment building. It was not even midnight yet, and she felt bad that her little breakdown episode ruined everyone’s night.Well, not everyone. Liv and Mikey were still somewhere in the club. Probably chasing after poor Tom Holland.They didn’t talk much throughout the entire car ride and the two brothers just watched Audrey intently. Caspian was thinking hard about those girls and what they might have said to Audrey. Meanwhile, Killian felt ticked off that Audrey refused to let him touch her, but she was completely fine towards Caspian. He wondered if he did something wrong, but Audrey wasn’t giving anything away.“Audrey—” Killian started to speak, but Audrey cut him off quickly.
~ Audrey ~When Audrey opened her eyes next, she saw the warm sunlight streaming through her window. Her hands reached around the bed, but she caught nothing but air. She remembered falling asleep with Caspian and Killian next to her, but now her bed was empty. She was butt naked, absolutely sore, and the sheets were a mess, so last night couldn’t possibly be a dream.Where did they go?Audrey groaned as she pulled herself off the bed. With her entire body sore and tired, getting up from bed was an exercise on its own. She walked over to the closet and grabbed the first sweater she saw before draping it lazily over her body. She noticed the marks on her skin and it reminded her again that last night was, in fact, real.Walking out of her room, Audrey rubbed her pounding head with her hand and promised herself she would never touch another glass of champagne. H
- - - - - ONE MONTH LATER - - - - -~ Killian ~Killian was smiling as he was finishing up today’s paperwork in the office. It was a rare occurrence because doing the paperwork wasn’t a task that he would enjoy. Everyone in the office thought it was weird, but no one dared to ask. Even Caspian thought his brother was going over the cuckoo’s nest. Last week, for instance, the company suffered a huge loss due to a failed investment in Hong Kong, but Killian only shrugged. He didn’t yell at anyone or throw a phone across the room like he did before. He simply said, “Meh, there’ll be better days,”Killian knew something was off about him, but he didn’t know what or why. For the past month, he felt a lot less stressed and a lot happier in general. When Caspian would tease him and say maybe Audrey had some
- - - - - ONE MONTH LATER - - - - -~ Caspian ~Caspian was never a fan of the annual Thanksgiving dinner at the Vanderbilt house. He always thought it was a stupid and archaic event. His family wasn’t like most families where they’d sit around the table, thank the Lord for the provision, and maybe watch the game when it was on. No. Thanksgiving at the Vanderbilt house was more like an internal family meeting where everyone had to be on their best behavior and talk about this year’s achievement.“So, I heard a lot of buzz about the club you two are managing downtown,” His mother said in a cheerful tone. “People are saying great things about it,”“Well, if the people said it then it must be true,” Caspian replied.“How are the projections at the company overall?” H
~ Audrey ~With her hands cuffed and her legs tied to the bedpost, Audrey could barely squirm. She looked at Caspian’s deep blue eyes, and his face wasn’t giving anything away. Audrey let out a gulp. Her body shuddered as Caspian stroked along her thigh with the flogger.“Remember, you can say the word whenever you need to,” he said lowly.When I need to?* SMACK! *Caspian whipped the flogger on her thigh and Audrey’s body was lit on fire. She let out a yelp and she tried closing her legs together, but it was impossible. Caspian ran the flogger gently on the spot it once hit and Audrey felt the stinging pain.* SMACK! *Without warning, Caspian whipped the flogger again and Audrey screamed. The sound of the flogger was
~ Audrey ~“I love the holidays this year,” Olivia beamed. “It’s one of my favorite Christmases, if not my favorite Christmas ever!”“Me too,” Mikey chimed in. “Oh girl, you two should’ve come with me to Italy. It was beautiful out there,”“No, I’m sure Audrey’s got plenty ofbeautifulthingsto do in the city,” Liv answered and nudged Audrey’s elbow playfully.“Shut up,” Audrey glared at her friends, who were grinning mischievously.It was the first Sunday of the New Year and the three best friends were enjoying their routine Sunday brunch. Liv was telling Audrey of her Christmas trip with her family to Martinique, and Mikey was telling them of his adventures in Italy. Meanwhile, Audrey didn’t have to say much and her friends alread