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Chapter 1
Addie
Isquinted my eyes against the blinding sun, lifting my hand to create a visor. The building my parents had led me to was small, smaller than even the lobby of the resort, with bushes lining the walls and the beginnings of a garden near the front entrance. A long trail dipped down a slope towards a pond. The translucent water glimmered like diamonds in the basking sunlight.
It might’ve been a beautiful sight if I had been in any other company.
Mother and Father tended to suck the joy out of things.
Smoothing down my black, pleated skirt, I followed my parents up the stone staircase. A woman, red-hair piled high into a bun, greeted us at the doorway. She exchanged a hug with my mom and kissed my father’s prickly cheek.
I couldn’t help but notice that her lips lingered a second longer than appropriate. I also couldn’t help but notice that Dear Old Dad grabbed her ass.
Yup, that was my father for you. A cheating whore. At least he was classy about it (read as: my mother had been looking away at the time).
I pondered this new blackmailing material when the woman stepped up to me.
“Adelaide,” she cooed with a stiff smile. The woman didn’t like me just as much as I didn’t like her. Even though this was the fifth time I had met her, I had never bothered to learn her name. What was the point? “You have grown into a beautiful young woman. How old are you now?”
“Fifteen,” I answered automatically but then winced when D.O.D gave me a penetrating glare. Apparently, I wasn’t allowed to talk, even when asked a direct question. That also meant I wasn’t allowed to think either.
You see, I had a little problem with my inner musings. As in, they became outer musings due to my good old friend “trauma”. My therapists had told me that my need to speak my mind (literally) stemmed from my past, or more specifically, the death of my best friend, Ducky.
“It is turning out lovely, Rachel,” Mommy Dearest exclaimed, extending her arms to encompass the entire lobby of the apartment complex. Rachel, the owner, grimaced at being addressed by the “other woman”.
Oh boy. She was one of those. One of those women who thought D.O.D would leave his wife for her. I didn’t have the heart to tell Rachel that Daddy had approximately twenty other side hoes, both men and women.
How could he even handle that many relationships? I could barely handle one - not that I had one, mind you, but if I did, I wouldn’t be able to handle it.
My love life was seriously depressing.
“I can give you a tour of the upper levels,” Rachel said, purposefully turning her back on my mother to talk to my dad. I noticed Mommy Dearest slyly checking out Rachel’s ass.
Yup. Both parents enjoyed dabbling outside of their sacred marriage.
“What have you added?” Dad said. If he saw his wife’s blatant ogling, he chose to ignore it.
“Well, in the upper suites we put in new bathrooms, new flooring, and repainted the walls. I’m sure you’ll be quite pleased with how they turned out.”
Before D.O.D could respond, the front door opened, and a tall boy walked into the lobby.
The first thing I noticed was how huge he was. Seriously, he was easily a foot taller than my own five feet. His body seemed to be made entirely of muscle: broad shoulders, chiseled cheekbones, and mop of dark hair. Currently, he was scowling.
At me.
What the fuck did I do?
Without a word, he brushed past me, his leather-clad jacket cold against my bare arms.
“He lives on the second floor,” Rachel explained as we watched his retreating back. “He’s been emancipated for a couple months now.”
Conversation steered away from the angry boy to other matters. I didn’t think twice about him and his scowl...only once.
I mean, who wouldn’t think about a boy as attractive as him?
It would take me a month to discover that the stranger’s name was Calax.
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