There was a knock on the door of my bedroom suite and a moment later, my housekeeper entered. “Didn’t I tell you not to disturb me, Stacey?” I said, irritated. “I know it’s the weekend, but I’ve got a busy morning. I’m getting ready to take Arabella to her tennis lesson, then I have to receive the ladies from the Garden Club.” “I’m sorry, Ms. Kim,” Stacey said, her tone contrite. “But I have a woman downstairs, Farah Hojj...

Mackenzie Alexandra Lovato (Grierson) I think of the day my mom, Amy McAdams, revealed that Jack Grierson was my real, biological father, as the first day of my adult life. I spent the next several days thinking and looking up information on the internet. So many things that had never made sense before began to make sense. Even though Mom was five foot ten, I was a full inch taller, nearly six feet tall. Mom’s husband, Ke...

I had a very unconventional entry into the United States. Jack Grierson and I were on a Boeing 777 freighter that landed at the cargo hub in Columbus, Ohio. Jo Ellen Taggart was on the flight with us. After we landed, she handed me a U.S. passport – it had my picture in it, but it was in the name of Sofia Antoniou. “You have green eyes, and your skin tone is creamy with olive undertones,” said Jo Ellen. “You can pass for...

Gretchen Lovewell The day I sold my soul began like any other. I had a lunch appointment with Farah Hojjat, the Executive Assistant to the CEO of the Foncault Group. She wanted to fill me in on the background for a multi-billion-dollar merger deal that I was working on as a corporate lawyer employed by Brewster Bailey Hamilton LLP (BBH). BBH had been retained to represent the Foncault Group by the CEO, Jack Grierson and h...

You’re such an asshole, I thought to myself, sitting in my den with my older brother, Ted, and his new bride, Sandy enjoying the fire and Christmas tree on Christmas Eve; my recently deceased wife was all that was missing. We had been talking about the good times, drinking cocktails, and even revisiting the passing of my wife earlier in the year. I was beginning to get a nice buzz and thought I might have overdone it beca...

I have known Bill and Annie for several years, and have always admired them for their honesty and commitment to each other. We had shared good (and bad) times together during our College days, and soon after we all graduated, they married in an unpretentious ceremony at the local Registrar. I had always fancied Annie, but she was fully committed to Bill and obviously loved him, so I never made any advances towards her; I...

The lonely virgin lit the pumpkin at the window and lay alone, waiting again. A year since the phantom's last visit. She wakes deep in the night, his body touching every part of her. Tingling, thrilling, teasing, tantalising, touching secret places. No weight upon her, no face to kiss, no sound or scent. Her body is consumed by desire, a feeling so foreign to her. Her head spins as she convulses, her heart pounding, her l...

Things were tense when we got home, less between my wife and me than between Travis and his mom. The two of them went out a few days later for a very, very long dinner. When they got home, both had been crying, but the tension had largely gone. Later that night, in bed, Allison curled up close to me and whispered. “Thank you so much, Luke. God, thank you. You’re such a good dad, and you’re a damned better husband than I d...

Tae laughed. “Come on, Cora. That’s not true. You’re a decent business manager. And you’ve made a fine nanny for our son.” Then she tilted Cora’s head up to look at her. “But there is something else that I do need from you, bitch.” Cora’s brows furrowed; what else could she take? Tae had her husband. She had her child. She had her devotion and her submission. My wife was broken; but just because something’s broken doesn’t...