by Amy Brent
I rolled my eyes. Go figure it was about money. It also happened to be the artwork that she had insisted on keeping through the divorce. Saving myself an even worse headache, I rubbed my eyes tiredly.
“I’ll pay whatever you want for it,” I said. “I’ll have someone stop by the house tomorrow with a check.”
“Pleasure doing business with you,” Stephanie said and laughed into the phone. “Don’t sound so stern, Cole. You’ll give yourself a heart attack by being so serious.”
She hung up before I could think of a reply. I slammed the phone down onto the receiver and stalked over to the windows that looked down on Manhattan. Rage simmered in my veins as I gazed out across the skyline, trying to calm the storm brewing inside of me. However, that storm took an entirely different course when Violet stepped into my office after knocking and shut the door.
***** End of Sneak Peek*****
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Claiming Cinderella (Sneak Peek)
Chapter 1
Ella
If there was one thing about my job that I hated more than anything, it was that I was constantly having to argue. Today it was the personal chef for the Blue family, Jon Staff, who was being resistant. I couldn’t blame him. “Do they ever realize that they aren’t the only people in this house? I can’t just change the entire weekly breakfast rotation without asking their mother, and she’s said no a thousand times.” He was shaking his spatula at me, but I knew his anger was directed at my clients, Halle and Sadie Blue, also known as the Blue Twins, daughters of rock icon, Scott Blue, and the just turned twenty-one reality stars who I’d worked for a grand total of three weeks. The hardest three weeks of my life.
It wasn’t as if the job itself was hard, but since the two were a pair of the biggest spoiled brats I’d ever met, much less worked for, it wasn’t a cake walk either.
“I’ll pass that along, but they’re just going to send me back. Maybe I could ask Nola? Surely changing the breakfast menu isn’t that big of a deal?”
“They’re sending you on a fool’s errand. Nola will never allow such changes, and because of her food allergies, I’ve got to keep things the way she wants them. The family always has breakfast together.” I wasn’t sure why he hadn’t just told me that to begin with, but I had a feeling that the Twins were in on that too.
I didn’t say a word as I turned around and headed for the stairs. I had to go over their weekly schedules and make sure everything was coordinated and luckily their reality show was on break. The writers were busy writing their scripts so that their lives would look more meaningful and counter the bad press the girls had recently landed themselves in.
Halle, the older of the two had gained attention when her ex-boyfriend released nudes she’d sent him, and then, of course, there was the rumored sex tape that was reported to have been confiscated, including both sisters, together, showing a bit more than your normal sisterly love. But nothing had yet surfaced.
Sadie, the younger by three minutes, was the quiet one of the bunch, and that didn’t make her any easier to deal with. On the contrary, it made her a proper psychopath. She was a ticking time bomb waiting to explode, and her temper had gotten the best of her three months earlier when she’d wrecked her car and punched a paparazzi.
I walked up the stairs on my way to their suite of the Blue Mansion, where I’d lived since taking on the job per request of Nola Blue, who was my mother’s best friend before she died of breast cancer.
She’d been a famous jewelry designer, but apparently, it wasn’t enough to leave me anything. Most of her fortune, even our small beach house, had been confiscated. Nola was not only helping me out by letting me be the twin’s personal assistant, but she was handling all my debts as well.
As I hit the top landing, I took a right and went into their wing of the grand estate. Sadie was on the couch, and she waved me away before I could say a word. I headed into the bedroom like I’d done a million times before, but on this occasion, Halle wasn’t alone.
She was bent over the side of the bed, her legs spread wide, her ass tilted upward and she was getting worked over by a guy I’d never seen before. I froze in my tracks, and when I turned around to leave, Sadie blocked me in, smiling at the couple behind me.
As her sister panted and moaned, through what sounded like the orgasm of her life, Sadie’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t tell me a little sex bothers you. You came all the way up here. Now tell us what you want.” Halle wasn’t paying much attention, but the guy she was with laughed.
I turned, not quite facing the busy couple, but enough to let the twins know I wasn’t intimidated, but then the guy caught my attention. “Hey, blondie, you want some of this?” I turned to see him stroke himself, fresh out of Halle’s channel, his cock glistening with her juices, and then she spun around to drop to her knees laughing.
She eyed me up and down. “You’re welcome to have a taste. I’m sure you’ve read we don’t mind sharing.” She took the man’s hard length into her lips, and my eyes widened as she took it down deep until his balls pressed against her chin.
“She’s amazing, isn’t she?” Sadie gave me a saccharine smile and crossed her arms in front of her.
I straightened my posture and held up my chin. “Truly. I talked to the chef, and he said that your request is denied and before you send me back, he also told me about your mother’s allergies and how the menu needs her approval.” Sadie laughed, and then her attention went to her sister who was still deep throating the man. I took a quick glance but looked away.
“Are you sure you don’t want a taste?” Halle crooned from her knees. I glanced that way solely to tell them they didn’t intimidate me, but my cheeks burned red as he shot his load all over her tits. She dragged her finger through the mess and gave it a taste. She got up and used the silk sheets to clean the rest of his release from her and then dropped it to the floor. She pulled her robe around and kissed the man.
“I’ll be waiting in the shower,” he said. Then he glanced in my direction. “You’re welcome to join us, Blondie. Actually, both of you.” Without a word to Halle, he strolled into the bathroom and turned the water on, leaving the door, so all three of us had a view.
He looked a bit older than her but not much older than me—maybe twenty-five or six at most, and he was incredibly handsome with a dark tan and sandy brown hair and smoldering eyes. Not to mention his impressive size, which Halle took like a pro.
At twenty-three I was hardly a prude, but I didn’t care to see things on display, and I despised the girls that they played these wicked games. I didn’t understand why they couldn’t just be normal, but then I guess they’d never been.
I turned to Sadie. “We still need to go over your schedule. I know it’s freed up a bit, but you still have that promo shoot and that guest appearance.”
Halle walked up behind me, the smell of sex wafting around her. “Relax, our manager will remind us.” She was referring to their mother who had taken on the job as their manager since they were old enough to say Hollywood.
“No, she won’t actually, your mother told me to handle it. That’s why she hired me.” I let out a breath as they laughed.
“Is that what you think?” Sadie and Halle both said at the same time in creepy twin fashion, but then Halle continued alone. “That’s what she wants you to think. You’re her charity case, nothing more, and she’s simply trying to make you feel relevant since your mom died.”
Ouch. My jaw clenched, and I lifted my chin, determined not to let them get to me. “Wouldn’t be easier just to let me do my job?”
The two exchanged a look, and then a shared smile spread across their faces, but this time it was Sadie who spoke, “What would be the fun in that?”
Halle sauntered away to join her man in the shower, and Sadie stepped out of the way so I could escape.
There was no sense in complaining about anything that had happene
d to Nola. She’d take her daughter’s sides in any matter I put before her.
As I headed down the stairs to the second story landing, the sound of music filled the air, a familiar sound, but not a familiar song. I crept down to the open door and peeked inside the music room where Scott Blue, a rock legend, played his guitar. He was so handsome for an older man, and there was something so familiar about him. It wasn’t just that I’d known him most of my life since his wife and my mother were best friends, but it was like when he looked at me, something in his soul recognized mine. It was like a kindred spirit of sorts, but maybe it was because I’d grown up listening to his music, to his voice, and the poetic lyrics that the world knew and loved.
He kept his head down, his shoulder length, brown hair tucked back in a ponytail, which looked very similar to the twins’ in color, as he strummed his guitar. I left him undisturbed but ran into his mother on the way down the hall.
“I don’t care how old we get. I will always love to hear him play his guitar.” Mama Blue, or Millie as I called her, had a faraway look in her eyes as she listened to her son play.
“I’ve listened to him my entire life, too. I suppose that’s something we have in common.”
She laughed. “I’ve got that in common with millions, but no one gets to hear the imperfections, the rough notes, or when he tunes his guitar. Those times are special to me. No matter how famous, no matter what an icon or idol, he’s my baby boy.” She released a breath and turned her head to meet my eyes. “What’s troubling you? Don’t you like it here?”
“I’m not exactly a guest, I’m practically staff and please don’t take it the wrong way, but my job is a bit testy at the moment.” I had to watch what I said about her granddaughters.
She chuffed a laugh. “Between me and you,” she leaned in closer. “Don’t let those little bitches get to you. They’re spoiled rotten and are more like their mother than my son.” She stood upright and then nodded in my direction. “I knew your mother. She was a good woman, and you remind me so much of her.”
About that time, Scott Blue tuned his guitar, and the old woman smiled and continued down the hall.
She was possibly the only person in the house that understood me.
Chapter 2
Aiden
Hearing my mother’s ringtone was like hearing an alarm, and nothing could wake me from a dead sleep quicker unless it was her own voice. I rolled over to answer, seeing that I wasn’t alone, still. I’d hoped that by the time I woke up, Zep would have gotten rid of the young ladies we’d picked up at the club the night before.
I nudged her as I rolled over as I sat up with the phone in hand, but my mother had already hung up. By the time I went to call her back, a text buzzed through the device and three words appeared on my screen that sent me into motion. On my Way.
Fuck.
I got to my feet and hurried down the hall to Zep’s room, hoping my live-in best friend and soul brother would act fast.
I threw open his door and walked in before I noticed the look on his face or the redhead who was leaned back and riding his cock. She covered her breasts but continued to work him as I stopped in my tracks unfazed.
“She’s on her way!” Those words sent Zep into motion and growled out as he lifted her up.
“The party is over, princess. It’s time to leave.”
“But you didn’t even come.” She pouted and dragged ass to the hall where her friend had come to see what all the commotion was about and Zep dressed as he ran down the hall beside me like two soldiers preparing for inspection.
The girls headed for the door, and the redhead turned and called across the room, “Call me.” I shook my head and hurried them out the door, but it was no use, they passed right by my mother on the way down the path of my house.
“I’m going to make the two of you move back into the main house if this kind of behavior continues. You’re not a child anymore, Aiden.” She glanced over to Zep who was still buttoning his shirt. I’d been smart enough to grab a tee, but it was wrinkled, and I wasn’t sure I hadn’t used it to wipe up my come the night before. I checked it for spots and realized that my sexy waitress was probably wearing the stain. You’re welcome.
“You’re not one either, Zep.” She rolled her eyes and then turned her attention back to me. As her son, she was going to have the most opinions about me and the bigger expectations.
“We just went to the club and met some ladies.” I had defended my right to pussy more times than I cared to in my life.
“Those strippers were not ladies,” she barked.
“They were waitresses,” said Zep as if it would help.
Patricia shook her head. “Now, I let you get away with acting like a scoundrel after your father’s death. I knew that it was a way for you to release your emotions, but now it’s time to settle down and preferably with someone who isn’t wearing a name tag.”
“Heaven forbid I end up with someone beneath my status and income. Like I’ll find another billionaire in the world who wants to settle down.” She was always riding me about my kind of friends.
“I’m not going to sit around while one of these common gutter trash skanks moves in on you for your money. You know plenty of good girls from fine, wealthy families who are not looking to be gold diggers or suck off the Prince family tit.” Zep laughed at the word and then I gave him a nudge.
“Sorry, I wasn’t aware there was a tit,” he mumbled. I shook my head as my mother rambled on about how things were going to change.
“I’ve decided to host another gala. It’s been a while, and I’d like to focus more on the younger generation, so I’ll be sending out invites accordingly.” My blood boiled. Mother had been known for hosting lavish events before my father’s death, and they were usually a way for her to find a new lover, which is what the tabloids had all said over the years. I wouldn’t have held much stock in those sources if I hadn’t known it to be true, but aside from that, it seemed like a terrible time and a huge waste of money. I didn’t need her using me as an excuse to do her trolling.
“Is it really appropriate for a ritzy event? It hasn’t even been a full two years. Don’t you think you could give it more time?” I kept my tone clipped, but she wasn’t having it.
“You dare talk to me about what is appropriate when you’ve been bringing in women like this guest house has a revolving door? I’ll decide what’s appropriate.”
With that I met her eyes, mine still narrowed with anger and hers equally as fierce. “You always have, Patricia.” Calling her by her first name instead of some maternal endearment was like throwing ice water in her face, but then she stood a bit taller and squared her shoulders.
“We’re having the gala. I suggest you be prepared to use the event to find a nice girl and settle your ways before you impregnate some gutter trash waitress and spoil the family name.”
“I don’t know, Patricia, your gutter trash reputation didn’t spoil it.”
Zep stiffened beside me and mother’s shoulders drooped for a moment before she held her head high. She’d had a troubled life and spent her teen years rebelling again an abusive mother only to claw her way up in the music business as a producer.
“I want better for you, and with the opportunity you have, that I didn’t have, that I had to beat a path to, you will have better.” She turned and stormed away, her heels clicking against the floor like a soldier’s march until she was gone.
“Wow, that was a little brutal, don’t you think?” It was a bad thing when even Zep thought I was being too hard on Patricia. As a master at insults, I’d have thought he’d be proud, but then again, he’d always had soft spot for my mother. She had taken him in when his father had been killed in a plane crash along with the rest of his band, when he was just a kid. He’d never known his mother, and Patricia had filled that role long enough to earn his respect.
“You’re always taking her side.” I turned and went to the couch where I plopped down, covering my temples wi
th my fingertips.
“It’s a party. Even you know the Galas always attract the ladies, and this one is for you. Hey, I know, let’s talk her into making it one of those masquerade things, then you can hire a body double and slip out.” He poured himself a drink at the bar as I sat straight up.
“That’s not a bad idea. If everyone wears masks, then she’d never know who I invited.”
He threw back his bourbon and stood in front of me. “I was only kidding. Those parties are a teenage girl’s wet dream as it is, all fairy tales and magic and a reason to dress up in a gown. It’s bad enough we’ll have to get tuxes.”
“Yeah, but we’ll do that anyway, and with Patricia hell-bent on me meeting the girl of my dreams, I’d like the guest list to be more than just rich bitches and trust fund brats. I’d like to meet a real girl, one not spoiled by wealth, who has a simple life with hobbies and a job. You know, brain cells.”
Zep laughed. “Good luck with that, man. You know your mother will be sending out the official invitations. No one can get in without one.” He was right. She always took special care to make sure that the guest list was nothing but the elite.
“That’s why you’re going to help me send out duplicates of our own. We’ll simply have the same company make extra invites, and we’ll hand them out all over town. Everyone gets to bring a plus one, and we’ll make sure to tell them to bring a friend.”