He was handsome.
The stranger, none other than Williams Herringbone. The young business magnate known for his enormous wealth and extreme good looks. She had not had the chance to look at him properly before, what with all the excitement of last night.
But now, with him just lying there breathing peacefully, Celine could take him in well. And she couldn’t take off her eyes, or stop the tingling sensation in her chest. He looked of a different breed from the men that revolved around her nowadays.
She had seen him on social media news rooms and on bulletin boards. But never so up close and personal. Never within touching distance. And Celine had touched him a lot already. Her palms itched to run down his velvety forearm again. He was simply the most beautifully handsome man she’d ever come across.
Though his jet black hair was a little ruffled at the moment, his equally dark lashes framed a chiselled face. A smooth, hairless, TV worthy face with high cheekbones and full lips that begged to be touched. He looked like a sculptor’s perfect work of art.
The killer feature were his eyes. Golden and blazing with brilliance. Mesmerizing. They were piercing and warm all at once. She couldn’t stop staring into them…
Wait a minute…His eyes shouldn’t be open…
Redness creeped up her cheeks and she looked away quickly, swearing at herself for not realizing that he was awake.
“Hey…You’re awake?”
He remained silent. The stranger…Williams Herringbone, just continued gazing at her.
She shifted in the chair, looking at everywhere else but him. Maybe she should’ve pretended to be reading a book instead of staring at him for close to half an hour.
“Eh…are you feeling ok? You practically died last night.” She said quickly. The tension of electricity sizzling between them was just too much for her.
Williams sat up slowly, and looked around. If he was surprised by what he saw he didn’t show it. Celine had nearly screamed her heart out when she’d half dragged half crawled the both of them in here.
The room was twice the size of Celine’s entire apartment back at Vaughn’s place, and looked like every child’s dream. Or nightmare, depending on where you’re coming from.
Life sized toys from Disney shows and movies crowded the floor, the shelves, the couches, every available space. Some hung from the high ceiling like angels while others glowed from fancy hooks on the bright yellow walls.
Williams pushed a barbie doll aside to get more leg space as he swept them over the side of the bed. There was a strange expression on his face now. It wasn’t anger or bliss.
“Where am I?” He asked quietly.
Celine pinched her lips but couldn’t stop the words from coming out. “Really? That’s what you want to know right now? Didn’t you hear what I just said? You almost died last night! We have to get you to a hospital quickly.”
“Why are you always screaming?” He sounded sincerely curious about that.
“I’m not screaming. I never scream. I’m just trying to get you to understand how critical the situation is.” She got up from the chair and began pacing along the foot of the bed, not paying attention to the squeals and squeaks of stuffed animals as she stepped on them. “Last night you decided to pass out at the wheel of the car you were driving on a very busy road. We are both lucky to be alive, thanks to my ability to keep a level head in the face of danger. You’re welcome.” She waved that away and went on. “Anyway, you seemed to had eaten something your body is allergic to. It stopped blood flow to your heart as you went into a panic attack. Good thing I took basic nursing courses in college or you would be...why are you staring at me like that?”
“This is not your house.” He stated.
“Of course it’s not my house. Whoever sleeps in such a crowded room must have a death wish.
He frowned at you. “You broke into someone’s house?”
“I didn’t break in. I knocked on the front door asking for help but no one replied. Who would’ve known that the first code I type into the electronic keypad would work?”
“That’s still considered breaking and entering.” He got down from the bed and glanced around for something. She knew exactly what that something was.
Celine was getting frustrated by the collected way he said and did everything. As if he was the most reasonable person in the world. Like he was right and everyone else was wrong. Ok, he wasn’t being arrogant, but she found it rude anyway.
“There was no time to second guess anything. I needed a safe place to take care of you. Did I mention that you were unconscious for close to five minutes?”
He reached the nearest couch and moved an army of Easter bunnies aside to peer under it. “That’s not an excuse that’ll prevent you from getting sued or arrested. Where are my shoes?”
“What other choice did I have? And you weren’t wearing shoes when I pulled you out of the car.” The last part was a lie.
Williams looked up at her. “When do you ever have another choice, Celine?” He disappeared out the room, his socked feet noiseless on the carpeted floor.
The deeper meaning to his words froze her up for a few seconds, before something else registered.
She never told him her name.
She rushed after him. “You just called me Celine. How do you know my name?”
He continued walking. He had a certain way he moved with a confident swagger in every step. Elegant. Like he was floating.
“I asked you a question.”
He came to a sudden stop and she bounced into his backside. She stepped back, embarrassment turning her face red.
He turned around to face her. The fire in his eyes as he stared down at her sent something racing through her heart. She was tall for a girl, but Williams was even taller. She came up just to his nose, her eyes level with those lips.
“Eh…sorry? You calling my name like that took me by surprise, and I just wanted to know how you could’ve found out—”
“Do you know who I am?”
She nodded. The sensation running through her body from standing so close to him was almost chocking.
“Then why are you surprised that I know who you are?”
She took another step back, allowing herself more room to breath properly. “You’re rich and popular. Everyone knows who you are. It’s not the same for me.” She paused, her mind putting certain pieces of what had happened from last night to the moment together. “What were you doing at the Carmolette last night? It doesn’t seem like your kind of place or thing.”
“Why didn’t you report him harassing you to the police?”
Celine was shocked. “How…How did you know?” She’d never told anyone about Vaughn. She had no one to tell, simple.
“It was obvious that last night wasn’t the first time.”
She looked down to her feet. Many times over the past month, she had thought of getting the police involved. Vaughn wasn’t the type of person anyone should let roam free on the streets. He was a predator. He and his friends.
But all those times she had done nothing. She’d endured all the anxiety of living in the same building with someone who practically undressed her with his eyes every single time. She’d not fought back whenever he attacked her verbally either. Why?
There was a good reason. Reporting to the police would’ve meant giving her true identity to them. They would dig into her past and unearth all the darkness there. This was the last thing she wanted.
Celine didn’t say any of this to Williams. She couldn’t bring herself to lie either, so she remained silent.
He considered her for a minute more before moving off towards the front door. He pulled up the pad covering the locks to reach the number keys.
“The password.” He said.
“What?”
“What’s the code you used to get us in here?”
“I don’t know.” She raked through her brain, trying to remember the four numbers she’d thoughtlessly punched in.
She couldn’t remember. Everything had been so fast paced and exploding last night.
“1470?” She offered finally.
He gave her a sideways look. “You sound as if you’re asking a question. Like you’ve pointed out several times, I was not awake when you brought us here.”
“It’s 1470. I’m sure of it.” Now wait a minute…Had it been 4 or 5? “Wait!”
Williams had already typed in the first number.
She blushed. “It’s 1570…”
“Are you certain this time?”
She nodded. Ok, maybe she wasn’t certain at all. But she didn’t want to appear more foolish than she already felt in front of him.
He punched in the remaining digits and pressed the enter key. The keypad went blank.
Williams turned the knob. The door didn’t move. Almost the same second, metal bars fell over the windows that faced the front street. Same thing for those in the kitchen, and as they would find out after checking through the entire house, every other window.
Dread pooled into her stomach as reality set in.
“Did we just get locked inside a stranger’s house?”
“It could be worse.”Williams resisted the urge to sigh in frustration and looked up at her. Actually, well across the sitting room at her.Celine may look like Natasha, she may sound a little like Natasha, but she was different from Natasha in every other way. Like two sides of the same coin.Williams was relieved about this. Celine, despite her face, didn’t bring up memories of Natasha anymore. Not as she had on the street car. Not like when he had woken up this morning. For one moment there he thought he had died and gone to…wherever the other side was called. He thought he was going to be with Natasha again even though it was in the world of the dead. But no. It turned out to be just her talkative, annoying lookalike.They’d been in here for two hours since he woke up to the shock of his life. And Celine had not sat down since then. Or shut up. She had been talking nonstop for hours. To herself, to him, to the house.She saw him looking and went on as if that was encouragement en
The ache in Celine’s stomach felt like a drill was at work in there. She was aware of the reason behind that. Pure dread. Fear.The metal spoons slipped from her sweaty palms and clattered on the table. She sat up straight, and hoped beyond anything that the panic she was feeling was absent from her face.“what are you talking about?”The question sounded wrong even to her own ears. Williams’ face, that strikingly handsome face, was as calm as ever. As if he had just told her about the weather, and not about the beginning of the end of her life.He speared a piece of chicken with his fork and with as much casualness, drew it into his mouth. He even thought it best to take another sip from his mug before fixing those golden eyes on her as he spoke.“Celine Winston didn’t exist until a year ago.” His face hardened. “Who are you?”A mighty blow struck her chest. It was over. He knew everything. Every terrible thing from her life before.He was the wealthiest man in the world. He had all
Celine Winston, not for the first time in the last twenty four hours, was going completely hysterical..“Ok, I was there. I was actually the main victim in all that happened last night. We just need to go to the police and tell them. I remember everything.” Her movement was feverish as she paced about the room. “Vaughn and his bloody buster of a friend ambushed me in the alley. He pulled out a gun and threatened me with it. You showed up out of the shadows to defend me, which I’m grateful for. You went into Jackie Chan mode. Moving with a speed that betrayed every law of physics I still remember from high school, you collected the gun from Vaughn and superkicked him into next year. His friend came at you screaming murder but you knocked him out with strategic strikes all over his body. They were fine, but unconscious. I made sure of that before you drove us away in your Tesla that costs as much as some third world countries. Then you decided to pass out on the wheel and I had to bring
Williams Herringbone had never been so confused in his entire life. No, never had he been both irked and excited by anyone to this extent. This strange woman was doing exactly that. Celine, the Natasha lookalike of all people. He had kissed her. He had moved towards her as if being controlled by an invisible force and given in to that primal urge to know what her full red lips felt like…what her sharp tongue tasted like. He wanted to kiss her again. Dear God, he wanted to kiss every inch of her pale skin. Suck on her delicate neck and run his fingers down the center of her chest. Sitting beside her on the bed in such a secluded room had sent the wrong message to his groin, making him go hard. That was why he had fled the room the moment he made the call. But why? Why did she make him feel this way? He knew nothing about who she truly was. He didn’t even know she existed until yesterday morning. What could be making him loose control in front of her? She simply looked like his first
Celine felt helpless. Not for the first time in her life, she hated the turn her fate was taking but had no way to change or control it. It was five years ago happening all over again. Five years ago, she had had to flee and hide herself for a crime she never committed because everyone kept pointing the accusing finger at her without a thought about her own wellbeing.They…those she called friends and family had wanted nothing to do with her and abandoned her when she needed then most. Granted, she had made some mistakes and terrible choices. But she was also human. Humans deserved some compassion no matter the situation because they were fickle creatures. No one had ever thought twice before hurting her with their words and actions. From her mother, to her brother and down to her best friends.Now here she was, in a strange man’s tinted glassed range rover, driving away from Frostone City, the place she had called home for the past five years. She was tucked into the back seat, hidde
Celine had lived a wealthy and privileged life before things went bad after the accident. She had worn the best clothes, gone to the most expensive schools and visited exquisite resorts for holidays. Yes, she came from a wealthy background. But compared to the Herringbones, she might as well had been nothing.That was the cause of her anxiety. What would they think of her? Williams had not had time to inform them about her arrival at the house, so she didn’t know what kind of reception she was going to receive. The Herringbones were in for a surprise, that was for sure.Sticking close to Williams, she had to keep her lips tight together to prevent herself from gawking at the things she saw. From the golden statues flanking the sides of the vast hallway to the priceless paintings on the wall. Old money, she had to remind herself. Williams grandfather had been one of the pioneers of the country and had founded the Diamond Empire that his grandson inherited. Nothing was beyond the reach
“What the fuck is wrong with you, Williams? You’ve been all over the news since last night and you only just show up now? That’s not good press for the company.” Ferdinand thundered the moment Williams took a seat at the table.It was a small oak table that could sit five, and presently all the seats were taken. Champagne flutes were already filled with rich wine, meaning that the meeting had already been going on for a while.Williams took this all in quietly, his eyes passing from one face to another. None of them looked particularly happy to see him.“I’m talking to you, young man. You can’t just disappear like that and show up without an explanation. That is incompetent behavior the company would not—”“It is my company.” Williams stated.Ferdinand gave him a look of unbelief. “What did you say?”“The company belongs to me, father. I of all people know the worth of the Diamond Empire and will never do anything to jeopardize it.”Ferdinand let out a breath and glanced to the person
“Uhmm…we are not going up the stairs, are we?” Celine had to ask. The twin marble stairs rose up before her like an endless rise to places she would never reach. Intimidating was the word to describe them.Ricco gave her an amused look. “Sure we are. That’s where Sir Williams’s wing of the estate is.”Unease settled into Celine’s stomach. She’d felt anxious ever since her encounter with Alicia, Williams’s fiancé and the queen of the castle in her own right.Ricco observed her face before understanding dawned over his own.“You must’ve met Alicia Darlings already.”Celine blushed. “I didn’t mean to go snooping around. I was simply looking for you after Williams dismissed me. Speaking of Alicia, she didn’t seem particularly happy to see me, and I understand that. I don’t want any other confrontation between us.”“Relax, Miss Celine. You are a guest of Sir Williams and you have as much right to be here as anyone else.”“It’s just that I don’t want to cause any misunderstanding between th