“Are you okay?” Allan asked for the hundredth time that night as she crawled into bed next to him. She nodded, placing her hand on Aurora’s back as she slept on her father’s chest. God, she came so close to not having this… Riana took a deep breath to ward off another bout of crying. She had cried for what felt like hours, seeing Aurora and Allan go through her memory album. Allan laid his hand over hers on Aurora’s back. “I don’t think I’ll be able to thank you enough for what you did. Aurora would have known me if I had—” “Don’t say it,” she interrupted. “Let’s just treasure this moment with our daughter.” She placed her head on his shoulder, close to Aurora’s. “She looks so beautiful and innocent when she’s asleep you wouldn’t believe she is as destructive as a bulldozer!” Riana chuckled. “Well, I’m still not convinced,” Allan commented defensively. Riana smiled. He was going to defend Aurora no matter what. She loved him for that. Loraine had brought her laptop with ‘the
Riana Albury stood frozen at the doorway of her bedroom, stunned. She couldn’t move her legs let alone avert her eyes from the scene that played before her. The shock had her rooted to the floor. Her eyes bulged out and her mouth was ajar. There was a buzzing noise in her ears and dinner from her boyfriend’s favorite Thai restaurant that was two subway trains out of her way spilled onto the floor after slipping through her fingers.And yet, in all the chaos, only one thought filled her mind—a porn production studio would pay top dollar for the noises Claire was making. And not only for not only the noises she made but for the moves she made on Steve as well—evident by his horse-like grunts he made as she rode him like a professional horse rider.What did they call them…ah yes, jockeys, she thought.Riana turned around to the floor-to-ceiling mirror. Steve had insisted on her getting that room just because of it. Claire was leaning over him, one hand pressed to his chest and the other
Riana looked up at her one, true friend. She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. She shut her mouth then tried again, but this time a sob escaped. Riana covered her face with her hands and let the threatening tears flow.“Oh, no.” Loraine hugged her, back stepping into the apartment then she pushed the door shut. “You caught them in the act, didn’t you?”She nodded, keeping her shame filled face covered with her hands.Loraine rubbed her back. “Don’t cry. They don’t deserve your tears.”Riana broke away from her and stomped to the two-seatter couch. She dropped onto it, pulling her legs under her. “Just say it,” she sniffed. “I know you want to.”Loraine sat next to her, a gentle smile on her face. “Oh, honey.”Riana cried some more, relieved her friend didn’t…“I did tell you so.”“Really, Loraine, really?” she shrieked, jumping off the couch to pace in front of her. “You are supposed to be my best friend. The last friend I have at this point, actually. Or am I wrong abou
He chuckled again, standing to his full height to tower over her so that her head was on par with his chest, and dropped his hand from her chin. “I’m glad I provided a good distraction.”Riana whined inside at the loss of contact, which surprised her enough to bring her out of her daze. “What?”He lowered his head and Riana had to press against the wall to try and move away from him. He brought his hand up and placed it on the wall close to her ear and leaned even closer to her. Riana thought he was going to kiss her, and it oddly excited her. She wanted him to kiss her. A total stranger.Correction, a smoking hot total stranger.He let out a lusty sigh and stared deep into her eyes before shifting them to her lips. Riana swallowed audibly then ran the tip of her tongue over her dried lips.“I wouldn’t mind providing another kind of distraction. One that would leave you feeling very relieved for dumping your ass of a boyfriend, just for his shortcomings.”“Thanks, but no thanks.”Ria
Allan watched Riana’s back as she ran away. He chuckled. The bold, slight girl who’d barricaded the door to keep him out now ran like the devil was nipping at her heels.When he’d first seen her crying, he was ready to walk right past her. But the way she had forcefully wiped her face dry, a new determination mirroring on her face, he’d just had to go and congratulate her on being the first female he’d met who hadn’t acted like the world was over after catching her boyfriend cheating.And it was quite obvious she’d caught her boyfriend cheating on her. If it had been just an ordinary break up, she would have looked different. He’d watched his baby sister move from one break up to another, all for different reasons, and that made him an expert on ‘Breakup Body Language.’But when he’d seen her brown eyes, with faint strokes of green in them, staring up at him like he was a world wonder, he was hooked. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the color play in hers. And when she’d sighed it
Riana watched the huge double doors for Allan. She knew he was livid and hurt and she just wanted to give him the same comfort he’d given her. A distraction he’d called it. Well it had worked. It also opened her eyes.Riana found herself wondering if she ever did love Steve, because she shouldn’t have reacted so wantonly toward a man seconds after meeting him, right after her breakup. What she knew for sure was that the betrayal by two people she lived with and trusted was what cut her deep.“Riana, you’ve been staring at that door since you walked in,” Loraine said, pulling the empty tray of appetizers out of her hand and replacing it with a full one. “If the dragon lady sees you, she’ll fire you and you’ll have no money to pay me rent.”Riana rolled her eyes and walked alongside her friend as they made their rounds in the large ballroom. “I just want to know how Allan is.”Loraine sniggered, clearly an effort to keep from laughing out loud. “I would have loved to have seen them gett
“Half a million dollars! Really, Allan, if you don’t want to go with her just say no. You are allowed to. No one can force you otherwise.”Allan grabbed her hand and dragged her away without a word in response, but that didn’t stop Riana from rambling on. She had to run to keep up with his long strides.“Do you have any idea how much half a million dollars is? That’s too much! Let her pay. They can’t possibly force you to go if you don’t want to. What, is there a clause that says you’ll go to jail if you don’t agree to this?”Allan brought them to a quick halt then turned to Riana with his brows creased. “You babble a lot. You just go on and on and on without a single break to breathe. Do you know that?”Of course she knew that! The most Riana ever spoke was when she rambled and this situation deserved a babble! “Five hundred thousand dollars, Allan. That&rsquo
Allan’s lips parted in a sinister smile. “You are smart! If only your brain was working when you were fucking my girlfriend. Yes, I am firing you. And Theresa, if you haven’t caught on yet, it also means our relationship is over.”Theresa’s jaw dropped open, forming a large, deep red ‘O’. Riana heard the gasp from the crowd that seemed to have grown in number.Note number two, never cross Allan Sinclair. Riana squeezed his side, hoping he’d understand her. The embarrassment in front of all the people who mattered in society was enough punishment. If he cut them down another foot, they would never survive it.“Is there a problem here?”“Oh, damn!” Loraine groaned next to her. Riana couldn’t have said it any better. The dragon lady—known better as Mrs. Nicholas—had landed. Shit just got worse.“Yes, there is a problem.” Theresa pointed a pai