VINCEJoy was standing by the door with her brows pressed together, studying us suspiciously. My heart skipped a beat. Somehow in my heart, it felt as though Joy wasn't prepared to know about Josh yet."We were—" Mr Gale's voice choked.I fell back on the chair, waiting for Mr Gale to clarify the situation. He would have to decide whether he would tell her. But my phone rang, drawing everyone’s attention to it. Beau's name flashed on it and I quickly answered, "Yes, Beau.""Vi, I have updates on Joshua. He was last seen around Joyce's house." His voice sounded rough, with a hint of horror."Joyce's flat?" I looked at Joy and watched her brows press slightly."No!" Beau panted, and then added in a breath, "George Gale's house."My eyes shot up at Mr Gale, beads of sweat dotting his forehead and his hands shaking. "When?"

VINCEI didn’t pick up. I couldn’t let my past ruin something that could be my future. I pressed the side button hard until the switch-off option popped up. I tapped on it with no hesitation and looked back at Joy, her eyes soft and face flushed red."Ms Gale, do you have any fucking idea how much you mean to me?" Placing a soft kiss on the throbbing pulse point of her throat, I asked, "Do you know how much I want you?"She shook her head playfully. "Actions are needed. Why don't you show me?""I can kiss you all day."“Then what’s stopping you?” She closed her eyes as I traced my kisses down her neck and released a heavy gasp. “Do you think of how I pleasure you when you're alone?” I asked against her soft skin.“Every fucking day,” she responded, her voice shaking.“Perfect. Because I am going to give you another memory to hold on to.” I dragged my tongue up to her lips a

VINCE"Joy has a habit of talking to herself?" Mum asked, her voice cracking because of her laughter.I nodded, "She does. A lot."Joy couldn't stop laughing either and neither could Richard. For the past half an hour, every one of us brought up stories that had our stomachs hurting."Well, it's not weird at all. Richard here has a habit of farting when he's nervous."Ri immediately retorted, “Now, that’s very embarrassing.”

JOYI walked over to Paige's side of the car to help her out.She had a grin stuck to her lips ever since she'd heard she would stay at my father’s house. Even Dad had cancelled all his work and had invited Julia's son over for her to play with. Both Julia and I had work, and neither of us had any idea how he would handle two kids on his own.But then, I remembered how amazingly he had raised me and Mason. And we weren’t the calmest of kids.Dad opened the door before we could reach the porch and his eyes immediately fell on the tiny figure walking beside me. Even from the distance, I could see a sincere smile tugging the corner of his lips."So, is this Paige?" Dad asked.Paige nodded her head ardently and said, "I am Paige Dorothy Brown, sir."I whipped my head toward Paige as Dad crouched to reach her height. "Oh, you're so well-mannered. So should I call you Paige,

  JOY Now it was crystal clear to me. Last night, Josh had been inside Vince's house and it was his footsteps that had me perturbed. The mere thought of what could've happened terrified me. But what was I supposed to do now? Run, leaving Paige and Dad to the mercy of this madman? My legs shook and my head spun. I wasn't selfish enough for that. "You kissed him right in front of me," he said, dragging my attention back to him, and then clicked his tongue. "You gave him what's mine." "I'm not yours." "Hm." He looked down at his feet. His smile disappeared, and disappointment marred his face, but within seconds, it was gone. He burst out laughing and said, "You're not his either. Too bad I’ll have to take care of him. Just the way I did—" "Just the way did with Mason?" I said, intervening. There was not a hint of guilt or regret on his face. I looked down at Paige, who kept giving angry glances at Josh and