Share
Chapter 28
Related chapters
Struck by Love Chapter 29
Angelo headed back downstairs to the Dream Ball, which was still in full swing. “There you are,” a man’s voice called out. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” “Nikolas,” he said, going over to greet his brother. They briefly embraced, patting each other on the back. “Hey, man,” Nikolas said. “Where’d you go? We’ve been trying to find you.” Nikolas, a couple of inches shorter than Angelo, with a slightly slimmer build, had the same coloring and blue eyes as his older brother, but kept his hair shorter. Plus, whereas Nikolas always wore a tie to work, Angelo almost never did. Nikolas always teased him about his model-worthy bed-head look and how he should have a more polished business appearance. Angelo refused. He liked a few loose threads here and there. “Yeah, I know,” Angelo said, running his fingers through his hair. “Portia’s been texting me non-stop. What is it with your wife? I shouldn’t be on her leash.” Nikolas laughed. “She thinks anyone wi
Struck by Love Chapter 30
Laura had a long, sad ride home. She entered her apartment and was greeted by a very anxious and lonely Jasper. It was nice to be needed and know he was always waiting for her. She changed out of her ball gown, into baggy sweats and an old, worn out shirt. She carefully placed her diamond heart pendant and chain back in its box on her dresser. She looked at it for a moment, then over at the beautiful gown hanging in her closet. She thought of Angelo picking it out for her, then slipping it off her. Her heart felt heavy. She had been Cinderella for a short time at the ball, but now she was back in her small, humble home. Alone. This wasn’t the way she had pictured this night going at all. She fed Jasper and gave him some attention. She was exhausted. Physically and in every other way. It was going on 7:30 a.m. now and she hadn't slept. She felt like she had just been through an endurance race, having so much adrenalin pumping through her system over the last few hours.
Struck by Love Chapter 31
She sighed. She poured herself a second cup of coffee, took the phone, and went and sat back down on the sofa. She set the phone down beside her. She had a few sips of coffee then texted him back, ignoring his request to call him. She wasn’t ready: 'I’m at home, just got up. Sorry I missed your call. I needed to get back. I’ll call you later, k? xo.' Laura nervously hit send and then took another sip of coffee. She knew she was stalling, but she still didn’t have her mind wrapped around what she would say to him yet. She really didn’t want to get into an argument with him, and she was afraid that was exactly where this was heading. Still, she felt a bit cowardly. The seconds and minutes ticked by in agonizing uncertainty as she awaited his reaction to another of her rebuffs. Ten minutes later she got her answer as her home phone rang again. She set her coffee down and looked at the display. It was him. Presumably wanting to know if she was telling the truth about b
Struck by Love Chapter 32
After her conversation with Angelo, Laura made herself some breakfast and polished off her coffee. She was bagged. She jumped in the shower and changed into pajamas. She had some time before meeting Sarah, so she decided to try and get a bit more sleep. She felt more relaxed now that she had spoken to Angelo. Things weren’t perfect, but they were good enough for now. Besides, she thought, perfect and relationships don’t really seem to go together. She was very nervous about the presentation tomorrow and especially about telling Angelo afterwards that she had asked Sarah to look into the online attacks on his company. She hoped he wouldn’t be angry about it. But that was a battle for tomorrow. She was too tired to think about things anymore, so she curled up in bed, setting the alarm, just in case she was able to fall asleep. Jasper joined her. The two of them fell fast asleep. Laura’s alarm went off at 4 p.m. She awoke, feeling very groggy, but grateful she’d actually been
Struck by Love Chapter 33
Finally, the day of the presentation ended. Laura was incredibly relieved to have the pressure of the Kinetic ad proposals for Tsar Enterprises off her shoulders. It was a terribly awkward situation for her to be in a business meeting with the man she was dating, especially after all of the drama of the Dream Ball. She wanted to impress him, but she found it hard to focus around him. She was grateful that Raquel insisted on presenting everything herself. Laura didn’t think she could withstand the scrutiny in front of him. She desperately hoped Angelo had been happy with what Kinetic had proposed for his company. Angelo picked Laura up from work at 5:30 p.m. She felt a bit shy at first when she saw him. They had both agreed to act strictly professional with one another during the meeting. It had felt pretty strange and surreal to her. Much to her relief, he took her into his arms right away when he saw her. “My beautiful girl,” he said, wrapping his strong arms arou
Struck by Love Chapter 34
“What is it?” “Well,” she started to say, feeling embarrassed, “Raquel aside, there were so many other women coming onto you at the ball, just when I was with you…” “I can’t control what other people do.” “I know, it’s not that…it’s just, if Raquel made a second move on you that night, I imagine there were others as well after you went back down.” She looked up at him, trying to gauge his reaction. He gave her a soft smile. “Nothing happened with anyone, Laura. I promise you that.” He reached up to touch her cheek and leaned in for a long, lingering, passionate kiss. Laura felt partially relieved. She melted into him, her hand resting on his thigh. She moaned softly as his tongue found hers. She felt his hand slide down her shoulder and arm to her waist. His hand then slid to her hip, gripping it and giving her a slight tug. She could tell he wanted her. Her body became aroused at his touch, the feel of his lips on hers. She rubbed his thigh, inching her hand a
Struck by Love Chapter 35
“Well, she and Nikolas have been married about four years now. He met her at the annual museum gala. They seemed to hit it off right away. She hung out with our family a bit. He proposed six months later. She expressed an interest in our business. She had finance and economics degrees and graduated top of her class, so we gave her a job. She’s been working for Tsar ever since, heading up our financial services sector.” “She seemed quite friendly with you the night of the ball. I got a really cold feeling from her.” Laura wanted to say this next part as delicately as she could. “Did you and she ever…?” “What? No! She’s with my brother.” He was clearly offended. “I mean before that. She seems quite…flirtatious, very touchy-feely with you.” He sighed. “It doesn’t mean anything. She’s just like that.” “And that doesn’t bother you or your brother?” Angelo paused, feeling some buried emotions coming to the surface. “He did once say something to me, but that was a
Struck by Love Chapter 36
It was Tuesday night and Angelo was home alone after getting in from a long day at the office. He looked at the clock. 9:15 p.m. He was hungry, but tired. He flicked on a lamp, took off his suit jacket, and flopped on his couch. He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to decide what to do. He unbuttoned the first several buttons of his shirt. His life seemed like it was just one frustration after another these days. He’d had it with just about everything and everyone. The business announcement they had made earlier today had been immediately met with mixed reviews and he and Laura hadn’t spoken since last night. He was still fuming over what he felt was a constant barrage of accusations from her. He felt attacked on every side lately. He decided to start by pouring himself a glass of scotch. He got up to grab a glass when his door buzzer rang. He grunted in frustration. He wasn’t expecting anyone and it was late. “Seriously, can’t people just leave me alone for a c
Latest chapter
