2019, March 25thAaron and Cassandra had spent all day running around with his team, following the lead they had acquired yesterday. He had decided not to take Zoey with today, telling her she would probably just get in the way. This, of course, got Zoey super pissed off, something that seemed to have become his favourite pastime of late. She spent all day worrying about the Condor brothers and what was happening between them. What little time she didn't spend angry or worried, she spent feeling guilty.So when one of Aaron's men came to her that evening and asked her if she needed anything, she'd jokingly said "a gun". Zoey never in her wildest dreams expected the man to say, "Right away, my lady" and actually bring her one."Who the hell gave you a gun?!" Aaron exploded, lowering himself down into a chair."I did, Your Majesty!" came a voice from the other side of the door."What would possess you to do that?!""Your Majesty said to give her anything she wanted, not to treat her lik
2019, March 25th"Wow, this is kind of scary. There's even ammo. These things aren't loaded, are they?"James stepped back, just in case they actually might be. That was so Emily."I bet she really is handy with a rifle too," he said to himself, lazily beginning to put together a disassembled rifle as he looped back around the room.He arrived back to where he had started, where she'd banged her phone and keys down on a side table in frustration."I guess it's really been a while, I'm really having a time of it," he said, bumping into the side table, tipping it towards himself and making the phone and keys slide off."Nice James," he said, picking them up.The screen had lit up. She had three missed calls. He was just about to put the phone back down when it rang again. Aaron was calling. James' eyes clouded over as his brain started working overtime, putting pieces together, some that fit, some that didn't. Going into survival mode, he rapidly began to complete assembling the rifle.
Aaron had become used to not taking his brother's calls. They had, after years of ignoring the issue, finally gotten into it last year when Aaron saw James and Emily kissing at the cabin, only to have him turn her away, saying that he didn't want to hurt Aaron. Despite James' good intentions, this angered Aaron and the brothers had not spoken since. After the incident, James went abroad to study, Cassie tagging along to be with her son, but now they were back and James wanted to talk.It wasn't that he didn't want to see the brother who had all his life been his best friend. Aaron just didn't yet have the courage. Not talking was better than losing him altogether. On top of that, their father had just become the king. Aaron knew that his mother had somehow found out about James and Cassie years ago. She had let it slip to him during one of her speeches about Aaron needing to do better, being that he was a future king. If Aaron had known the depth of his mother's hatred for James and C
Aaron tried to fix it, tried to tell Zoey who she was to him, who Emily was to him, but even as he poured his heart out to her, he couldn't quite tell her everything. How he'd struggled those five years waiting for James to reappear and then she showed up and suddenly there was light in his dark heart. That she may not have been first in his heart, but she was the first to light it up, when he'd thought it would forever remain in the darkness. The loss of his brother, his best friend, was just too severe, too devastating. He could not see past it. Until he met her.Even as he returned to the depths of the darkness from which she had pulled him, as he watched as they fell in love right in front of his eyes, desperately chasing after them, trying to undo it somehow, he was happy. Because the two people he loved the most in the world were happy.He was ready to walk away when he saw James carrying Zoey in a wedding dress, looking happy, perhaps for the first time since he'd hurt her. She
2019, March 26thZoey stormed out of the restaurant and onto the street. She didn't know how she kept getting into situations with Aaron that allowed him to make her angry. Feeling the skin tight, strapless little black dress, pulling up against her thighs, Zoey kept pulling the dress down, only to have to pull it back up. To add insult to injury, the dress had a zipper in the front that went all the way down."Where is she?" Aaron asked, answering his phone as he left the restaurant five minutes later."About to have a surprise visitor," said Cassandra, as she watched Zoey storm down the streets of Paris in 9-inch heel boots."That didn't take him long, did it?""You really went all out. No wonder she stormed out.""Isn't that the point of a honey trap?""She looks like a hooker.""Yeah, a really, really hot one.""Did you at least get something?""Yeah, talk back at the hotel."Zoey had been walking for about five minutes when she was pulled into an alleyway."Reckless woman, what a
2019, March 26thThey had stopped on a corner where a street musician was playing the violin. He took her closer to the performer, putting a few bills into her hat, speaking to the woman in French. The woman nodded and smiled as James walked back to Zoey."I thought we just talked about the not looking at other women without permission thing," she said, raising an eyebrow.He bowed gracefully and held out his hand to her. The music, the way he moved. She remembered it all somehow."Didn't I tell you all I see is you, Lady Beaumont?"She put her hand into his and looked up at him, sealing forever into her heart, burning into her brain the way he was looking at her as she gave herself over to him, letting him lead her through a waltz."We've danced this dance before, to this song, haven't we?" she asked. "When?"He dipped her, and she gasped."Perhaps. Perhaps I was a man afraid he'd be kicking himself every day for the rest of his life if he didn't ask a beautiful woman to dance."She
2019, March 26thWhen James and Cassandra entered Aaron's suite, the two brothers approached each other warily. Cassandra watched the tense situation unfold, hoping it didn't end like last time. In the end, though, they reached out for each other at the same time and hugged it out."You should've come to me, you dumbass.""I know. I'm sorry."Having changed and cleaned herself up a bit, Zoey waited at the door, content to watch the interaction from the other side of the room. She smiled. She couldn't remember the last time she was this happy. The sight of them hugging brought her peace. This meant that things would be okay now, didn't it?"I need to get back," said James, as they sat down.Aaron's eyes found Zoey, standing by the door. She was disappointed."I actually just came to ask for some advice," said James."I've been looking into Maine Industries. I took a look at the books, courtesy of Emily and it's not common knowledge yet, but I think Duke Maine is broke?""Sounds about r
2019, March 26thZoey was up early that morning. Aaron and Cassandra had promised her a complete picture of everything that had been happening over the last two days. It was just as well, because as it turned out Aaron had a mission for Zoey today. “What is all this?” Cassandra asked, as she watched the suite being filled up with dresses, shoes, handbags, jewellery, the works. “They’re for Zoey,” Aaron answered. “For our little visit to The Honey Trap.” “I see,” said Cassandra, giving Aaron a funny look. “What’s The Honey Trap?” Zoey asked, still groggy eyed.“It’s-” Cassandra began. “We’re just going to have dinner there tonight,” Aaron answered, holding up a dress to Zoey’s body. “In that?” both women asked together. “You wanted to be in on what was going on,” said Aaron, swapping out the dress for a different one.“You still haven’t explained anything about what’s been happening to me though,” said Zoey, as Aaron pressed another dress up to her chest. “Also, stop that!” she