*With gratitude to you, Nordia Daley
"You...came?" The relief in that broken voice ignited Fiona's warnings against the actress; she had either gone nuts to return for the son she abandoned after 25 years or simply broke. Clara hoped it wasn't the latter but kept her mind open to possibilities, wondering if her sudden return could have anything to do with the endorsements she had dropped out of. Had something happened that the reporters weren't aware of? "I... appreciate you honouring my call. Thank you, Clara." Clara hardened her heart against the pool flooding the woman's eyes. She was never going to forget that she was on Andre's side and hadn't come to sympathise with her. Especially if there was a possibility that the woman was only acting to get what she wanted. "Why? Why now?" It was all she could mutter in response. Upclose, it was easy to get the features Marie shared with Andre which hadn't been lost during plastic surgery. It was that arrogant Roman nose and those haunting sea-grey eyes as well as the c
The dull shade of dark brown hadn't looked more interesting to her, engaging enough to take her attention, such that even when the limousine came to a halt, she wasn't immediately aware of it. Clara's concentration was however returned to her physical environment when her eyes observed the door opening, followed by the chauffer and guards moving out of the limo. She looked out the window then, her forehead furrowing in confusion as she realised that they weren't anywhere near her building. Had they informed her of a change of plans when she was deeply immersed in her thoughts? She got her answer soon afterwards when Ursula, the last person in the vehicle with her tapped her earplug and then turned to Clara. "The boss is here." "Boss...Andre... Quinn?" She had to be sure because they were parked by the side of the road a good distance from her house. Was he do much in a hurry that he hadn't even waited for her to get there? Or had something else happened? "Yes ma'am." That was a
"Clara, you will be more comfortable in the car." For a minute, she ignored him, hating herself for the sudden weakness and yet being aware that the panic attack hadn't been her fault. Her breathing had finally steadied, but she waited a moment before returning to her position, moving to the edge when he took the seat next to hers. He breathed heavily, linking his fingers together. "I just need to know what you were doing with her. I may have got ahead of myself with those assumptions but..." "You 'may have?' It's under probability? When I told you I loved you, did you think it was a joke?" Her anger had given way for ache and emptiness. Her body was starting to quiver, and she wrapped her arms around herself as she felt shivers of cold wash over her. Andre swallowed hard, leaning his heavy head against the seat. "I didn't know what to believe when I saw this." Clara chuckled humourlessly, lost on where to start from. "It was sent to me through a restricted number and..." "You
He could taste the bile in his throat which had spilled sometime last night, dripping fresh bitter juices in his mind, body and soul. It clogged his brain to a state of inability to think, and halted his lungs from functioning properly, inducing pain and discomfort in his system. He failed to think properly as those images he had suppressed for years, covering them with greater physical pains returned more clearly than those HD quality pictures Viscount had used to fuck with his head. Seeing the two women he had strong distinct feelings for discussing so intently did it to him, making him sprout those words he had vowed not to reveal to anyone. He had left the limo minutes after that unplanned revelation and driven aimlessly for hours till he'd run out of gas by the side of the beach. He had sat by the shore, stifling those images which were crawling with more strength than he could control, and before he had known what he was doing, he had been on his knees, punching the sand and s
Two familiar knocks sounded like alarm bells, reminders that he had a purpose he had held onto which Viscount had dared disrupt. He took slow steps towards the closet and pulled fresh underpants over his thighs. Next he wore joggers and tank top, before granting the other party permission. "Mr. Quinn, good morning, sir." "Morning, Luca." There wasn't a hint of surprise in the eyes of the ex-consigliere, he had witnessed his own share of this scenario over the years of working for Andre. The chains did nothing to faze him, neither did those sunken eyes get to him. He made no comment about the rough night his boss had obviously had and pulled out the seat nearby, slumping his butt into it. Andre combed through his disheveled hair with his fingers and sat at the edge of the bed, making efforts not to pick up the phone and reply those numerous text messages from Clara. He cleared his throat. "Do you have what I asked for?" His voice was in a rough gruffy state, hoarse and croaked
"Seeing as you answered on the first ring, you opened my package." Clara held the call and looked up to her assistant whose bubbly mood had dissipated on seeing the expression in her boss' eyes. "A moment please, I need to take this in private." "Oh...sure!" Jessica muttered with a polite smile and breezed out of her office the next minute, the doors sliding shut after her. Then Clara sucked in a deep breath and tapped the screen, turning around in her seat to face the drawn curtains, her mood pensive. "Viscount, why go through that much trouble?" She was forcing herself to remain calm despite the inner turmoil clashing in her head. Her fingers were gripped tightly to the phone, so much that her veins popped out of her skinny palm. The bastard at the other end of the phone chuckled, a deep guttural laughter which crawled like worms into her skin. She hated him for all he was worth. "Maybe it's because I've missed you. Come on, you wouldn't have answered this call if I hadn'
The global conglomerate chairman of chains of companies was a fickle coward, no different from the child who had dug his fingers into his own skin to cover up the pain that ached more than the self-inflicted one. Why else had he been hiding behind the desk of his office at The-Xclusive which was located somewhere on the rooftop where he could see others without being noticed? Living in the shadows had become his forte, which was the explanation to why he chose to explore himself under the concealment of a mask. The same reason he had switched off his phone against the numbers that kept calling; Andre Quinn was hiding from the rest of the world. The reality of what he was, which contrasted the image of the ferociously brave macho man was laughable to him. Here he was, at the night club he had built to hide away, his eyes roaming through CCTV recordings till they started to get dizzy. His paranoia had got worse with the bold return of Marie who had Tony behind her this time, drivin
Andre stared at her, waiting for a laughter to tear from those tempting full lips, for a withdrawal of those cuffs and perhaps something verbal that would indeed confirm how much of a joke it was. But there wasn't a hint of amusement lurking in those forest green eyes, rather, her expression of cold determination took him aback for a minute. A duration of time long enough to remind him of how much he had hurt her. "Babe, I'm sorry." He didn't reach for the cuffs as he took a step forward, but his fingers made contact with that thin dividing curtain, itching to tear it apart and break the barrier between them. "I'm... I was a fucking coward." He couldn't bear being at the receiving end of the coldness in her eyes which contrasted the warmth with which she had beheld him for so fucking long. Till he had gone and messed it up by taking the high jump. She remained mute and unmoving for a few seconds within which his heart pounded in loud anticipation and fear, before she moved forw