#musebluebird

All it was, was a simple question. Surely she could as a simply question without messing it up too badly. Of course the problem was that it wasn’t that simple of a question. Michael dropping her off hadn’t been planned, and what happened when he did drop her off was something she never would have anticipated. Another dancer had come up to her, ranting about how awful she was to be so friendly with someone who’d hurt Serena so much. The entire thing leaving her confused, and when she’d explained that, along with the fact Michael was her brother - the other dancer had become more sheepish and made excuses before she could ask for some clarification. So she’d decided to go to one of the sources. Knowing she’d get nothing out of her brother, the only option was talking to Serena. “Um... Hey... Do you have a minute?”

“ Why would I try to do that? “ He didn’t look for compassion from her because Lucian knew he didn’t deserve it. Not with the way he ended things, but that was just what he did. Lucian was good at fucking up a good thing; he was good at hurting people. Very good at it, he’d learned from his old man and older brother. It was part of the family business, and he enjoyed his freedom too much too. Even to be with Sky, he couldn’t and wouldn’t do it, so he ended it, broke them before she got in too deep. It was the only thing he could offer, the only way he could show he cared without saying that he cared. He could see the worry in her face; what kind of sick fuck was he to be happy to see her so worried about him. What was he going to do? Show up at her door every time he got hurt. Be the sadistic fuck to put her through that pain so that he could see her. They had people to help him, hell the hospital in a pinch. It was easier this way, he kept his freedom, and he got to see her. In the end, it was a win-win for him. She was better off not knowing him. He was a shithead. “ Cute,” he muttered, watching as she organized the items on the table in front of them. “ Sorry about the blood,” he muttered, nodding towards her ruined sleepwear, before stretching out a hand. “ Give it to me; I can stitch myself up.”

Every suit was his finest suit, but today’s ensemble was exceptional. It was an important day, after all. After fleeing the country since the “family business” was in jeopardy - at the direct order of his father, no less - it was finally time for him to return to the world he’d left behind years later. Without a word, nor leaving a way to contact him, there wasn’t a day Gianpaolo didn’t think about Serena. Her blonde hair, the way her fragile frame dangled, the way she danced. She was waiting for him, he was sure of it. What they have is electric. It wasn’t hard to track her down thanks to the many...resources their family had, and so he pulled up in front of a ballet school in his luxury car, a bouquet of roses in his arm and walked in. And even from behind, only a bit of her profile showing, he knew this was the right place. Class was over for that day, and the children ran past him, hopping on their heels out the door. He positioned himself against the door frame, leaning in a way he knew she liked, and knocked to make his presence known. “I was told this is where I might find a Serena Matthews?” he inquired, accent as thick as his confidence.

This was probably one of the dumbest things they'd done in a long, long time. Except, Evette couldn't really feel sorry about it, not when the little piece of paper folded neatly in her hand was a way to keep Aiden away from the awful woman he'd been planning on marrying.

For as long as she could remember, Evette had always trusted her intuition. It got her out of more sticky situations than she cared to admit, or even really talked about, but it was something she trusted implicitly. The people who saw Aiden as just another spoiled, rich bastard were sure, okay, mostly right, but Evette had also seen the way he'd struggled to read when they were in high school, the way people had bullied him for it. He deserved to be a bit of an asshole, after all that.

Besides, it couldn't be so bad, if he'd agreed to pay off part of her student debt for them to fake a marriage for a year.

"She's going to be so pissed," Evette said, a giddy little laugh escaping her as she glanced sideways to the man beside her. There was a mischievous glint in her eye, one that was mirrored in her grin. "Serves her right though."