I’ve tried various times within the past three days to trace the root of all this. When did this begin? Just when did she start to take such space in my mind, to the point I couldn’t even rest at night?
Was it since I took off her shawl in that alley and couldn’t even move again, held down by the shock that she was a woman? It was not that I hadn’t seen women before, but I had never seen a woman like that. A woman who would go so far as stealing and running to save her family. One who didn’t even flinch when I said I’d take her to the cops, and even went as far as to ask me to make sure she says goodbye to her family.
The friendship which I’d relied on for years before that – the pact I swore with Tom and thought we’d stand by forever – had been laid to ashes just a week ago. And throughout my years in the corporate world, I’d never seen such bold, unadulterated loyalty to anything. If that was not commitment, then I didn’t know what was. So I guess it made sense that I suddenly took interest in her.
Bringing her into my home had only been the nail in the coffin. And after that kiss, the deal was sealed.
I wanted her. More than ever.
But something was stopping me, a thought which, no matter how hard I tried to bar from my mind, wouldn’t go away. A fear that crept up within me whenever the image of Crystal’s face came up. That dread that, with her, sex wouldn’t be the end. No. It would just be the beginning. The start of a very long journey towards the deep-end where my dear friends Tom and Richard had both lost their heads.
Towards love.
Never before had I been so attached to the thought of a woman. And boy was I scared.
Why don’t you just call him?
I groaned, shaking my head against the car seat as that thought passed through my mind. Again. But no matter how hard I looked at it, that seemed to be the only solution. From every angle, it made sense. I even tried to consider the possibility of perhaps traveling back to Miami or even out of the country and vacationing in Asia or something – anything that would save me from the inevitable fate of having to call the one person I detested the most at this point in time – Tom.
But he’ll know what to do!
Tom has been here before. He has, as he so boldly told me in my former house, he'd ‘fallen in love’. He would know the signs and the pitfalls. He could tell me what to avoid.
Oh, what a twist of fate. But I couldn’t deny it. The conclusion was logical and if there was anything I understood perfectly, it was concrete hard logic.
With a grunt, I whipped out my phone, stared at it for a full, tension-filled minute before finally dialing the number.
I half-expected him not to pick up.
“I never thought I’d live to see the day.” And thus came his gruff greeting, tinged with more than just a bit of that annoying humor of his.
“This will be a quick one, I assure you.” I snapped, already regretting this.
“Hmm. Okay, okay.” He inhaled, and then I heard the sound of someone laughing in a distance. Was it a woman? His wife? “What’s up, then?” He said.
“I…” Pausing, I swallowed, wondering how on God’s good earth I was going to phrase this question burning holes through my mind, “How… did you know you were falling in love?”
He didn’t speak.
For a long time, so long I was starting to think that he’d cut the call, I heard nothing. I wouldn’t blame him if he indeed cut the call. Even I thought I was going crazy.
But then, I heard him make a sound. I couldn’t really place it. Was it a scoff? A small laugh? A sigh?
“Oh man,” He suddenly exhaled, his laughter becoming clearer, “Tell me… everything.”
Chapter Six
Crystal
"Are you…” I paused, swallowing as I looked at the doctor, my vision becoming blurry, “…are you serious?”
She nodded, smiling as she bit her lip and laughed, opening her arms, “Yes. I am. Your brother is fine now. Come here, darling.”
“Oh my God!” I exclaimed, laughter bubbling from my throat as I ran towards her and gave her a hug so tight my arms started to hurt.
“Oof. Dear, I’m happy for you too but if you keep up that hug, I’m gonna disappear into thin air!”
Giggling, I loosened my arms around her, bringing up a hand to wipe the tears fast falling from my eyes, “Sorry.” I sniffed, “Can I go see him now?”
“Nothing is stopping you now, darling.”
The words had barely left her mouth before I left the office and bounded towards the room where my brother was. I didn’t even waste any second more. And immediately I pushed the door open, the first thing I saw was his clean, smooth face. And his smile. Bright. Happy. Carefree. Just like he used to be when our parents were still around.
And I just… I just couldn’t help it. I started crying like a baby.
“Oh my God, Freddie!”
His smile grew even wider, showing his missing tooth and that observation made me laugh and cry harder. Before I knew it, I was beside his bed, my arms around him, squeezing him like the muffin I surely knew that he was.
I didn’t know whether I should laugh or cry at this moment. Neither could I keep track of the emotions wracking through me at the sight of my brother, all happy and alive again. Looking like the ten-year-old he really was. Not the ancient grandpa that horrible sickness made him look like.
“Why are you crying, silly?” I nudged him lightly on the shoulder as I saw the tears of joy in his eyes, raising a hand to wipe those bothersome ones off my eyes as I laughed again. Goodness, I had become a full-blown water pipe.
“Where is he?” Freddie asked, raising his head to look towards the door.
“Who?” I sniffed and turned around, my forehead furrowing.
“That man. The one who helped us.”
Oh.
Frank.
He’s asking for Frank.
I laughed, my expression becoming strained, shrugging in a way that I hoped came off as nonchalant, “I don’t know. I think he’s busy with his work.”
“Really?” Freddie pouted, his shoulders slumping.
“Oh don’t be sad. Come, give me another hug.”
I put my arms around Freddie, hugging him with all the warmth, love and joy overflowing my heart at that moment. But even as I stayed with him and gave him everything I could, my mind couldn’t go past that moment when he asked ‘Where is he?’
Maybe it was because of the innocent expectation with which he asked. Or it could be because he just reminded me how dependent we’d all become on Frank. Or maybe it was because I’d been asking that same question for the past three days with no response whatsoever.
But the point was, I couldn’t forget those words, “Where is he?”
Within an hour, I concluded my visit to Freddie and the nurse assured me that after one more day, he’d be good to go.
Within the time it took to get back to the house, all I could think of was Frank. His face. His voice. His lips. His touch. And how much I missed him. I wondered what it was exactly that I did. Did he perceive my growing feelings for him? Did that make him uncomfortable? Was that why he suddenly left the house… right after we kissed?
What did I do wrong?
The thoughts buzzed and flittered through my head, heralding me as I walked towards the front door and opened it. I didn’t even raise my head. And maybe that was why I didn’t see him.
But with a jolt, I stopped moving, my hand freezing on the door knob as I felt… something. A kind of sensation trickling down my back.
“Crystal…”
His voice – that same one that I’d spent the last three days and nights longing for – washed over me like cool water after a sunburn, causing me to turn around instantly.
“Frank!” Mine was more of a breathed exclamation as my voice seized and my throat felt clogged. He was standing in front of me. Right here.
He looked exhausted, his hair in a spiky mess ar
ound his head and his eyes scrunched like he hadn’t had a good sleep in days. He smiled, briefly, walking towards me, an intense look on his face.
“I… I missed you.”
Did he just say he… missed me?
“You did?”
“I didn’t know why I ever… thought I could stay away from you.” His voice was heavy, his expression tight, filled with unsaid emotions. He was in front of me now, his hand on my cheek, cradling my face as he looked deep into my eyes. “I’m the fool here, Crystal. These three days have been nothing but hell and…” He paused, inhaling deeply as he began to lower his head towards mine.
“Then why did you go away?” I whispered, our lips barely inches apart.
“Because I thought I could run.”
I wanted to ask what he meant by that. But then our lips touched and all thoughts flew away.
He put his arms around me, pressing my body against his as our mouths engaged in a kiss that made me see the stars. I gasped, desperate to be even closer to him. The past three days have left me with a yearning so acute it almost felt like physical pain. My body, heart and soul burned for him and knowing that I wasn’t alone, knowing that he felt this way too, just made that fire blow even brighter.
“I… want… you.” He whispered amid nibbles and kisses.
Without missing a beat, I swung my arms around his neck, letting him know without words that I shared the sentiment. And within seconds, he had me in his arms, our lips connected as we shuffled towards… somewhere. As soon as he fiddled with a door and swung it open, I realized we were in his bedroom.
I’d never been in here before. But that was a thought for another time.
“Oh…” I groaned as he moved his kisses downward, discarding my clothes as his hot mouth sucked my flesh.
“You are so… so… so… beautiful.” He whispered as he lowered me to the sheets. Feeling the cool, silky material against my naked back, I reached for him, moaning as he pulled off his shirt and covered my body with his.
Never in a million years did I think I could find such joy and fulfilment in another’s arms. Never did I think I could feel so empty and so complete at the same time. Frank embraced me, befuddled my senses with his touch, his scent, his kiss to the point where he left me gasping, aching, moaning for him and the final release I knew only he could give me.
He poised himself against my center, staring deep into my. Then he whispered, a pinched, intense emotion in his eyes, “I love you, Crystal.”
“I love you too.”
And then, I surrendered to his ministrations, knowing that I could never desire or love anyone else as much.
Epilogue
Jack
“Is it just me or is something really weird going around?” I exclaimed, embracing my bottle of scotch as I looked from the dancing bride to the beaming groom and back again. Just to be sure, I looked to and fro one more time, shaking my head.
Frank King was the last person on earth I expected to get married. Seeing the vision before me, I was officially shaken to my tiny little toes.
I often joked that Frank must have been a judge in his past life. He was such a self-righteous goody-two-shoes. In all the years I’ve known him, he’d never broken a single rule. Not even the pact. Especially not the pact.
So imagine my reaction when I’d been at my summer home, partying and enjoying the hot view of two girls getting their game on before me, when one of the servants approached me with a golden envelope. I opened it, saw the words “You are cordially invited to the holy matrimony of….” And when I’d seen ‘Frank King’ as the groom, I screamed.
The first thought to cross my mind was: If someone is playing a prank on me right now, then ha ha ha, well played.
But then I realized that it was real. He was actually getting married.
I wasn’t about to miss this.
As I watched him laughing as he whirled the bride around the dance floor – what was her name again? Crystal? – I had an overwhelming urge to, I don’t know, bark and howl? In frustration?
I’d had a brief conversation with him earlier where I expressed my disbelief and he actually laughed, saying that he’d thought so too. He’d been afraid of what was happening, he told me. But then he’d explained everything Tom who finally told him some cheesy stuff like “Love rarely waits for permission, you’ll regret it if you let her go”, before he finally realized that he was falling in love.
Was it just me or did none of this make any sense to anyone?
“Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” I turned around to the last member of the Merry Men club who also hadn’t gotten married; Kevin. The damn workaholic who wasn’t even paying me any attention.
“Kevin!” I snapped, “Will you stop looking at that phone? See the enormous danger we’re in!”
“What danger?” He mumbled without even lifting his eyes from the gadget. And I had no doubt that he was reading some email from work or tracking some deal his company was about to close.
Frankly, out of the five of us, Kevin was the one most attached to work. I wouldn’t call him dedicated but give me a dollar and I’ll call him a giant ball of never-ending annoyance. He seemed to completely forget that he was already a multi-billionaire. He handled his business like it was his oxygen and nothing we ever said seemed to have any effect.
“Never mind.” I sneered, turning back to look at the couple.
Swirling the glass of scotch, I admitted that this love disease going around the club was certainly making me nervous. First, it was Richard, then Tom – who, by the way, was the club’s founder – and now Frank? Who was next? Kevin or me?
Hell no!
I shivered and took a quick gulp of scotch, rejecting that curse immediately. Of all five of us, I was the worst candidate for love. I couldn’t even stomach the thought of being with the same girl for long. In fact, that was why I joined the club in the first place. I was a playboy by nature and the club gave me a legitimate excuse to live my life without ever getting married. It was so damn convenient.
So, this ‘love demon’ – whatever it was – had better not come near me. It was so not my cup of tea.
A blonde girl in a tight red dress smiled at me from the dance floor, distracting my train of thought, and I winked at her, making a mental note to walk up to her later. I had a party coming up soon. So I needed female company. A lot of female company.
Want to know what happens next? Stay tuned for "Drawn To Jack" Book 4 of the Alpha Billionaire Secret Club. Coming out on the 28th of May 2020
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