The men looked scary. Most of them had beards as long as the horsetail maidservants used to dust furniture. Their lips disappeared beneath these beards as they spoke. Even though Ethan was just thirteen, he wondered why Americans would keep such hideous beards; it was for the Arabs!It was a business meeting, he was told by his mother. She had sounded so urgent in his room."Listen very carefully, baby," she said with zero hint of tenderness. "This is your first ever sitting with the board members. I don't know why your father's doing this. But it's no problem. I just want you to outsmart your brother, Liam. Mm? If they pose any questions, rack your brain and answer it, quick!"Her eyes were fiery, and Ethan knew she wasn't here for jokes. She had chosen for him a white tuxedo, and a gold wristwatch. His hair was permed, and the scent of his perfume could be perceived from miles away. There was no way anything could go wrong with his looks, for he was a charmer. The only problem was h

"Six months? There's no way my son is staying in a coma for that long!"This was Ethan's father's voice echoing across the hall. They were seated in the living room over mugs of coffee, father, mother and son. It was roughly 8 AM."That's what the doctor said," Ethan said. "That's what Elena said.""What the hell are you saying?" his mother cut in. "Are you listening to Elena or the doctor? Where did you get the information?""Elena told me." Ethan didn't understand why they had suddenly become aggressively concerned about Liam. Was something happening that he didn't know?"Elena told you, and you believed? Did you confirm yourself?" His father's eyes burned like fire. Ethan felt jittery."She would not lie to me about such things. She's sensible. More than we think.""Bullshit," said his mother, aside."Where's she?" his father asked. "Get a servant to fetch her.""I'll just go myself," Ethan said.He had already taken three steps forward when his mother called him back. "You are no

Ethan Hemsworth tried to appear happy during the inauguration. It was indeed a big party; the gates had been thrown wide open, and anyone could come in. But there was tight security, both at the gate and everywhere else. The DJ was still giving out jams. And most of the girls, drunk from the excess wine, danced wildly among the scattered chairs in the large hall.The five truckloads of wine, which Ethan's mother had forced him to order, had long arrived. And the guards and maidservants spent almost an hour unloading these delicate monsters into the six wine cubicles in the mansion. All the old wines were removed and given out to the guards and maidservants, who really didn't need them. Yet, after this, there were still four trucks untouched. And even after the ceremony, it still remained the same.Ethan was standing outside the hall, trying to calm his head away from the bustle. He had met and shaken hands of congratulations with thousands of people, old

She sat still, staring dead into the detective's eyes. "Go on with your questions, sir."He scoffed, and pulled out a cigarette. "Hope you don't mind," he said to no one in particular, and went on to light it."You must have met Mr Packwood before, Elena," he began in the assertive style, "tell us how you met him.""I never said I met Mr Packwood. I saw him for the first time when he came here to threaten Liam.""There are no mistakes about that?""Certainly none.""What did he threaten Liam about?" He asked this question half-heartedly, as though the answer really didn't matter to him."It was about his granddaughter." She stopped here, having remembered that Lola had died while on the phone call with her. Panic rose in her, and she prayed the detective didn't notice this. He did."Go on," he said, leaning forward. "Be liberal with detail, please. It is essential."She glanced at Ethan, and found him looking very interested. She had no friends here. "Lola was Liam's ex. So..." She

His fingers were amazing on her shoulder and her upper back. She felt herself melting on him. He was half sitting on Liam's high bed, in a position that made her lean in more, squashing her ass on his groin, though she didn't want to. But her body was weak.They spoke about random things, to keep the awkwardness away."You have great hair," he mumbled."My mom says so, too," she blubbered, and then realized the crap she said.He grabbed a chunk of her neck between his fingers and pulled. It was slightly painful. But left a calming residue.She felt a hardening pressed on her ass, and she knew if she did not stop this now, she might not anymore."Thank you," she abruptly said, pulling away. "I needed that." She tried a grateful smile.But both of them knew there had been a spark of lust between them. And Elena had quenched it, or so she thought. She saw Charlie with a different eye now. If they could allow this small moment of intimacy to exist between them, then the future — six freak