by Emma Vikes
“She’s getting ready to meet up with Chris. He texted her where they are going to have dinner because they need to do damage control. She’s been all over the media, Pat. Photos of her with some guy are circulating and Lara’s claiming that she came here early to elope with the guy.”
Instantly, I looked it up on social media and there they were: hundreds of photos of Britney with an unidentified guy who wasn’t even me. I wasn’t sure who it was but the pictures were taken at an angle that suggests it was the guy she was dating. It was all so brilliantly planned, carefully executed by my own mother. The pictures, along with whatever story my mother had come up and fed the media and Chris with, were enough to cause a scandal for Britney.
“She’s fucking brilliant,” I muttered as I scrolled through the posts.
“I have a bad feeling about Chris and Britney’s meet-up, Pat.” Lauren’s tone caught my attention. “It’s not her father’s anger that bothers me, it’s just that judging by your story and how Lara made up this whole thing, I fear that she has another thing up her sleeve. Her desperation for you to have Stocks knows no bounds, Patrick. I was thinking that maybe if you were there, she wouldn’t be able to pull whatever ploy she has in mind.”
Lauren didn’t hesitate in giving me the place where Chris and Britney were meeting, and I had a feeling that my mother would be present too. She wouldn’t miss this opportunity to gloat in front of Britney that she had Chris wrapped around her finger like a blind idiot. As genius as he was as a politician and businessman, he was blinded by his attraction to his wife who had been playing him as the fool for years.
I tried calling my mother about this but she wasn’t answering her phone either. I tried contacting Chris - maybe I could get through to him first and tell him the truth about the whole thing? I was willing to tell him my part in all of this and I didn’t care if he would take back what he’d said about me and Stocks. I couldn’t have cared less about that. What was important to me now was that he wouldn’t disown Britney and that he would give his blessing to our relationship. All I wanted was to have her back in my life, and this time I would do it correctly.
I was on my way to Britney’s hotel when I saw her get into a cab. I was going to follow her when I realized that someone else on a motorbike was already following her. My heart began to hammer in my chest as a million and one possibilities began to take shape in my head. Lauren’s voice about having a bad feeling about this whole thing echoed in my head as I began to speed up to catch up with them, careful that the driver on the motorbike didn’t notice me following them too.
As I drove, I tried contacting Chris again but failed. There was no use contacting my mother. I didn’t want to let her know that I was aware of what she was planning and that I was going to stop it. By the time that the Uber Britney was in stopped in front of the restaurant where she was meeting her father, I’d sped up and stopped close to the motorbike.
Britney stepped out of the car and the rider pointed a gun at her – but I tackled him just in time.
A shot rang out and ruined the silence of the night. “Britney! Get back in the car!”
In my peripheral view, in her shock, she was still rooted to the spot. “Britney, get the fuck away!”
The guy managed to hit me on the jaw and I stumbled back, the impact too painful for me. My hand was on my mouth when I realized that the restaurant’s security guard had his gun pointed at the unknown gunman. I didn’t have anything to shield myself from him, but he wasn’t backing down even when a gun was pointed at him.
“Get away from Miss Baldwin,” the security guard said, his hands quivering as he tried to step closer to Britney who was in the middle of all this. But the gunman wasn’t even fazed. He slowly lifted his hand that had the gun in it and I realized I hadn’t been successful in removing it from him when I’d tackled him.
He pointed his gun at Britney who remained rooted, in fear, to the spot.
I did the only thing that I could.
I ran in front of her.
Bang.
Epilogue
Patrick
1 Year Later
AS SOFTLY AS I COULD, I knocked on the white hardwood door. Slowly, I opened the door to see my mother lying on her bed, fast asleep. The nurse was fixing a tray beside her, probably the lunch she’d just eaten, along with the medicines she’d just taken.
“Hey Martha,” I greeted the nurse with a warm smile. “How is she?”
Nurse Martha glanced at my sleeping mother. “She’s doing good. This morning, she played the piano at breakfast for the rest of the patients. Her behavior has been improving, Mr. Cunningham.”
I nodded my head, happy with the progress my mother was making. “I think I’ll just stay here for a bit until she wakes up.”
A year ago, I took a bullet from a gunman that my mother had hired to kill Britney. It was a part of her plan because according to her judgment, killing Britney would guarantee me as the only heir to every company and business that Chris had. She honestly believed that and, in her desperation to make sure that I had the best life possible, she had been willing to murder someone.
I wasn’t sure what had happened after the bullet went through me. I fainted, of course, and all I remembered before I blacked out was Britney rushing to me and cradling me as I bled in front of the restaurant. I woke up in a hospital a day after, the bullet removed and my skin stitched back. I was alone in the room until Chris came in to find me awake.
I told him everything right after. My mother had admitted that she’d been the one who’d sent the gunman for Britney so she was with the police at that time. But Chris had wanted to talk to me. Britney had been hysterical and was telling Chris that I was the one she was with and not whoever the guy was my mother had made him believe she was with. Lauren explained everything to Chris too but he’d still wanted my side of the story.
Chris hadn’t been happy with the truth. Had I not been in a hospital bed, I was sure that he would’ve beaten me up for what I’d done to his daughter. He’d asked me if I was in love with Britney and I’d told him the truth, that I truly was, that there wasn’t a girl in the world I wanted to be with other than his daughter, but our situation had made it difficult for me to be with her.
In the end, Chris had divorced my mother. Despite the feelings he’d had for her, it wasn’t enough to stay with a woman who’d plotted to kill his daughter. He’d also sued her for attempted murder, but it was then that we’d found out that my mother was mentally unstable and had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, which had been triggered after Paula’s death and my father’s abandonment. Due to her medical condition, she couldn’t be imprisoned but was sent to a mental facility, which was where I was now.
“Patrick?”
I smiled and stood up from my seat, kissing her forehead. “Hi, mom.”
She looked up at me and smiled, her eyes slightly glazed which meant her medicine was working and she was with me at the moment. My mother was suffering from voices in her head and they had forced her to do the things she’d done. Her actions were unforgivable but, when I look at the bright side of things, I end up realizing that had my mother not presented the idea to me, I wouldn’t have had the courage to pursue Britney. Maybe we’d had sex before my mother had told me her plan, but I knew that we would both have pretended that nothing had happened between the two of us.
“How are you?” she asked as I sat on her bed. She reached for my hand and laced my fingers with hers. We’d never acted this affectionate towards each other until she’d been sent here. At first, she struggled and refused to come to terms with her illness, but slowly she’d accepted everything. It was slow progress, but it was progress nonetheless.
“Tomorrow we’re going to open Prax Exchange and I can’t help but wish you were there to see me open my first company.”
Mom smiled slightly. “I wish I could, Pat, more than anything but we both know that’s impossible.”
I nodded my head in understanding. “As long
as you’re getting better each day.”
She squeezed my hand. “It’s progress, son.”
IT WAS ALREADY DARK and I was still in my new office at Prax Exchange. Alex and I had teamed up for this company to happen and now it was real and tangible and tomorrow would be its opening day. I’d never been happier. It was a money exchange company, which had started as a small business for me and Alex ten months ago and now it had grown into this.
“Alex told me you’d be here.”
I looked up and smiled when I saw Britney coming into my office. “Just making sure that everything is ready for tomorrow.”
Britney forgave me the moment I awoke in the hospital. After I’d explained everything to Chris, he’d given us his blessing for our relationship. It’d caused quite a stir with the public, but everything had died down eventually and Britney and I were in love and together, officially and publicly.
She slowly walked up to me and placed a hand on my chest, slowly inching to my face where she gently stroked my chin. “You know, we never really discussed anything about having sex in the office.”
I chuckled. “You and your fetish of having sex in public.”
But I didn’t deny her any request. My mouth hungrily crashed against hers as her hands immediately opened the buttons of my shirt. We were so familiar with each other that we had each other naked in a matter of seconds. I placed her on my desk and spread her legs apart so I could stand between them, my mouth latching onto her right breast as my other hand massaged her left.
“Patrick,” she gasped, calling my name.
“Yes, love?”
She smirked at me and then kissed me. “It’s not my favorite position but...” Britney pushed me away gently and bent down, her ass up in the air and her hands firmly placed on the table. “Fuck me from behind, my love.”
I didn’t need to be told twice and I relished the fact that she wasn’t asking for foreplay even when we both knew she loved it when I ate her pussy. I rammed my hard dick into her ass hole and she gasped at the impact. My hands gripped her waist as my thrusts quickened, my balls slamming against her ass as I fucked her from behind.
“Fuck, god, this feels so fucking good. Your ass is so fucking tight,” I murmured behind her ear and my hand reached down to her pussy. I slipped two fingers inside and fucked her with my hand too.
“Oh god,” Britney moaned, her eyes shut tight as I fucked her in both of her holes, giving her a tidal wave of pleasure.
She shuddered beneath me as she rode her climax and then I felt her body relax. I continued thrusting inside of her and I tensed as I neared my own climax. I tapped Britney’s hip and then slid out of her and she immediately knelt in front of me, opening her mouth as I pumped my dick until I reached my release. I showered her with my cum.
It took us a moment to collect ourselves. I slid down next to her on the floor and she rested her head on my shoulder. “If it wasn’t night, I wouldn’t have done this for you.”
I laughed and then kissed her hand. “I love you, Britney Baldwin. You are the very best thing that has happened to me.”
Britney placed a hand on my cheek and then caressed my cheek with her thumb. “Better than this company?”
I nodded my head and then pulled her closer to me, wrapping my arms around her. “More than anything that this world could ever offer me.”
THE END
Book 3: Too Bad... We Didn’t Realize
Description
FIRST DAY OF COLLEGE and I had already made an enemy of one of my classmate, thanks to his rude and impetuous self. Now years down the line, not only has he become my best friend, but also the person I rely on the most in this world.
And that’s why when I find myself in a conflict of emotions thanks to the marriage proposal from my boyfriend, there’s only one person I can turn to; my best friend Damian. This sets in motion a series of events that changes my outlook on everything. I also realize that I might have more feelings for Damian than I would like to admit. And so, begins my dilemma.
Do I maintain the status quo? Or do I take the risk and reveal my true feelings for Damian in the hope that he feels the same way to?
“Too Bad... We Didn’t Realize!” is the third book in the Too Bad Series of standalone contemporary romance novellas with no cliffhanger, no cheating and guaranteed HEA.
CHAPTER 1
Damian
I CLOSED MY LAPTOP and rubbed my eyes furiously.
The time on my table clock blinked 2:00 am.
My last exam paper was by 10:00 am later today and I had only managed to go through just about seventy percent of what I was meant to read. My eyes were threatening to close from fatigue just as sleep came knocking. I’d long since gone beyond my retention capacity but I couldn’t go to bed until I’d finished reading the entire course work.
The fatigue that was threatening to shut my whole body down had been accumulating since our exams started. Final exams in final semester, afforded everyone one last opportunity to try and push our grades higher. And even though I was in the upper 99th percentile of my class, I still needed to close my law school journey with a bang.
I needed to keep pushing till I reached the last slide from the last module; then and only then, could I climb into bed for a short nap.
I swivelled in my chair to face Vanessa who was sitting on my bed with her laptop open on her laps. Her back was resting on the wall while her eyes were rooted to her laptop screen. I wasn’t surprised to see her eyes till shining bright and eerily focused, with her face completely illuminated by her laptop screen. Vanessa Hodgkin could very well stay up reading, till the start of the exam at 10 am if she had to. I’d long since gotten used to her reading habits.
“Hey. I just got a mail from Professor Travis saying our exams have been postponed.” I joked in a bid to get her attention.
“Huh!” She responded without her face coming up.
“Did you hear me? We can go to bed now. Professor Travis says our exams have been postponed.” I said smiling.
Her head came up in confusion before realisation slowly dawned on her.
“Idiot!” she responded smiling. “You better get back to reading and stop distracting me.” She finished.
“But I’m tired.” I complained loudly. “Come on, take a break and give me company.” I protested.
She shook her head in rejection of my proposal with her eyes returning back to her laptop screen. “Get back to reading, Damian. It would be all over by noon today. We can get to gist as much as you want then with our exams finally over.”
“Oh come on.” I protested as I got up to my feet. “You are already top of the class. What else are you hoping to achieve.” I finished as I began to make my way towards the bed.
“Err...for starters; I have to make sure you don’t usurp me at the top of the class.” She fired back causing me to erupt in laughter.
I’d always trailed Vanessa in grades right from our undergrad and straight into law school. At the beginning of college, it had created a fierce rivalry between both of us. Observers could have clearly deciphered how much we had hated ourselves in the beginning.
It had begun with the first class in college. I’d made fast friends with some of our course mates in my dormitory. When classes had come around, I and my new friends had walked into class together feeling like the hottest crew on campus. Vanessa had walked in alone some minutes later, clutching her books to her chest.
I’d been sitting with my legs stretched across the aisle and conversing with my new friends when Vanessa had walked up the aisle. When she’d reached us, instead of asking politely for us to let her through to her seat, she’d asked me rudely to remove my legs from the aisle and sit properly. In her own words, “You are not in your parent’s living room back home.”
It had created jeers and whistles from everyone around me and caused be a brief moment of embarrassment. I’d made a snide remark along the lines of “Forgive me, Your Majesty” before pulling my legs to myself
and letting her through. My remark had managed to save me some face amongst my peers but I’d instantly taking note of her and where she’d gone on to sit down.
By the time the lecture had begun, I’d been glancing so frequently at her that one of my buddies had asked whether I was beginning to develop a crush on her. I’d responded with so much disgust causing another round of laughter to erupt within my little group.
We’d gone on to settle down for the lecture and still I continued to glance her way.
‘Who the hell does she think she is? What happened to simply saying excuse me? What the hell made her think she could make me a laughing stock, even though I’d recovered nicely?’ I remembered thinking completely distracted from the ongoing lecture.
Then the lecturer had asked a question and her hand had shot up immediately.
‘Oh you are also one of those ladies who feel they are more intelligent than the rest of the class, right?’ I’d sneered under my breath.
Seeing her hand as the only one raised in response to the lecturer’s question, he’d gone on to signal at her to answer. Her hand had come down immediately as she proceeded to reel out an answer.
There’d been a brief silence, before the lecturer had said she’d gotten the answer wrong. I’d chuckled then at her as the lecturer proceeded to ask his question once more.
“Does anyone else want to answer?” The lecturer had asked.
And just like that, I’d remembered the answer from one of my last classes in high school. With the whole class staying silent, I’d gone on to answer the question with so much gusto in my voice.
“So why did you stay silent when you knew the answer?” The lecturer had remarked then.
“Well, being sure I had the right answer was more important to me than being the first to answer,” I’d responded in jest causing the whole class to erupt in laughter.