KIMBERLY

Liu with all my heart. Like, I would fight anyone who even dared to touch a precious strand of hair on her head. But, when she plays her stupid "meditation" sounds on our overhead speakers at eight in the morning, the urge to strangle her was overwhelming.

She knows I'm not a morning person, but she makes it her personal mission to make my mornings even more unbearable.

Although, my lack of sleep wasn't completely her fault this time.

After using my favorite two words on Jace last night, we had a very silent ride home—filled with an unbearable tension from the proximity, might I add—that ended with him telling me not to drink more before the press conference. His tone was annoyingly sincere and so was my reaction.

I flipped him my favorite finger and slammed the car door shut. I wanted nothing more than to rant to my best friend after entering the apartment, but that was shut down when I saw her bedroom lights off.

Begrudgingly, I made my way upstairs to my bedroom. Laying down in bed with Momo by my side, I stared at the engagement ring for a good two hours before finally closing my eyes. This proved to be futile; even with my eyes closed, our interactions ran through my head, torturing me.

I don't know why this man had such a powerful effect on me. I wasn't the type of person to let someone live in my head rent-free, but Jace put his flag down in my brain and was making no plans of leaving.

Just when I was closing my eyes for another wink of sleep, those god-awful sounds from our speakers interrupted my serenity.

"Vivian Liu," I called out to my best friend, storming out of the room. "If I have to hear two whales fucking this early in the morning, I will literally chop your hair off in your sleep."

Her hands immediately went to her long, black hair, too scared to accuse me of bluffing given the crazy glint in my eyes. "It's not 'whales fucking', it's 'Ocean Waves Crashing Into Rocks'." She acted like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well, keep it up and it's not gonna be the only thing crashing into rocks," I muttered, trudging to the coffee machine to pour myself a cup.

"You're especially violent today," she ignored my threat, taking a seat in one of the barstools at the kitchen island after turning down the speakers. "What's up? I'm assuming shit went well considering the ring."

Sipping on my coffee, I hopped up onto the island next to her. "It depends on your definition of 'well'."

With her mentioning the godforsaken ring, my eyes betrayed my strong will, glancing down at the object of my torture. The absolute beauty of the ring didn't help in calming down the angry wasps fighting in my stomach.

Vivian knew that I wasn't looking to be engaged anytime soon—honestly, never if you asked me—but God was having a real nice laugh after the situation I found myself in.

"Is he at least nice to you?" Vivian's voice softened slightly, sensing my frustration. I scoffed, taking another sip of my coffee. I didn't even need to respond because she already understood. "Well, what happened happened. All we can do now is make the best of the situation and take this one step at a time."

Vivian wasn't normally an optimistic person, but I could tell she was doing this for my sake. I had been a burden to her for long enough, so I decided to slap a smile onto my face and deal with it. "You're right. The press conference is this morning, so I'm gonna go get ready and head out."

I hopped off the island and placed a small kiss to the side of Vivi's head before walking to my room.

It was going to be a long day.

♕♕♕

"Fancy seeing you here, husband," I greeted Jace, plastering a fake smile onto my face.

He raised a singular, perfectly shaped eyebrow at my new nickname for him. "I don't recall attending the wedding, vixen."

"Would you prefer 'fiancé'?"

"I would prefer my name."

I scrunched up my nose in fake pity. "Too bad. Also, you need to find a new nickname. I don't believe the media—or our families, for that matter—would find 'vixen' to be particularly agreeable."

Pinching the bridge of his nose, he murmured something in another language under his breath. I took this time to look him up and down, feeling—I hate to say it—flustered by his clean appearance. The black dress shirt under his navy-blue blazer had me cursing whoever made these outfits.

Why the hell were they so fitted?

The top button was open, giving me a brief peep at the gold chain he always seemed to have on. His dress pants match the blazer, but the color was the least of my problems. I had to remind myself to keep my mouth closed at the size of his thighs. I don't know how I missed it earlier, but he could crush my head with those.

The thought of my head between his legs sent forbidden images into my head that I was desperate to shake out. There is no way that I would be going into the room with those rabid press, horny out of my mind.

On the other hand, my outfit was slightly on the dramatic side. It was an almost all-black ensemble. Well, it would've been if Vivi didn't give me an incredulous look before pushing me back to my room.

It was symbolic, in a sense.

The funeral of my freedom and independence.

The funeral of his sanity.

But, alas, my outfit was reduced to a black blazer, a black satin blouse, sheer black tights, black red-bottoms, and a black and white leather mini-skirt. It was still cute, I guess. I mean I looked great and my iconic red-lip did wonders for my confidence.

Still, I was silently mourning the black skirt that was now abandoned on my bed.

I didn't realize how deeply invested I was in my thoughts until Jace cleared his throat, trying to grab my attention. "Anyway, it's nice to see that your state from last night hasn't changed your cheery demeanor, Venus."

The urge to strangle him was not-so-surprisingly high at the tone of his last two words. "You're lucky it's cheerful. I don't think you'd be able to handle my violent side. Especially when it's you I want to be violent towards." I mumbled the last part, but given his expression, I could tell he heard me.

"Refrain from exhibiting this violent side of yours in front of all the cameras, wife." How dare he use my tactics against me? Hearing the word come out of his mouth sent a sense of discomfort down my spine. The same discomfort I was trying to displace onto him.

"Wait," I stopped him, holding my hand up. "Venus? I didn't know you thought so highly of me. I mean calling me the goddess of love, beauty, and sexual desire is such a high compliment, Jace. I'm flattered."

"Don't be," he snorted. "I'm comparing you to the planet with a toxic atmosphere and extreme temperatures that can kill anyone in mere seconds."

The psychotic smile I let out was purely genuine. "That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me."

"Shut up and walk."

For both of our benefits, I stayed quiet until we reached the door to the conference room. Our fathers were probably already there, answering general questions for the audience.

The second the door opened, we were met with bright flashing lights, catching Jace off guard. He was definitely used to press but that was strictly business press. The number of paparazzi I attracted because my 'hot mess of a life is a high level of interest'—Dad's words, not mine—is intimidating.

But, sadly, I was used to it. After all, traffic is a result of nosy-ass bitches wanting to feel better about their life by watching the trainwreck of others.

Jace quickly stiffened himself, as if those last two seconds of his shock never even happened, and placed a light hand on the small of my back.

I was about to swat him away before quickly realizing we had to play the role of a loving couple—I internally threw up a bit at the word—and placed a dazzling Astor-approved smile on my face.

The walk to the front of the room with the podium and mic was relatively short but still long enough to hear the multitude of questions being thrown in every direction.

"Kim, is it true you're engaged?"

"How do you feel about your future wife's social activities?"

"Do you two even like each other?" I snorted at this one.

Jace's commanding presence at the head of the room was enough to shut them all up. He looked like he belonged here. Like this was his natural state. No one would ever even question if he was born into this life.

I was envious of him. Yeah, sure, he worked for all of this. But so did I. Granted, I was raised to be here, but I still put in the work and no one, not even my own father, took me seriously for the role of CEO.

"If you could all settle down, we will be able to answer any questions you may have," Jace's smooth, deep voice filled the room.

Maybe I was still a little drunk or something because I wanted to hear him speak all night long. Something about his voice sent sharp waves of warmth and pleasure throughout my body.

Yeah, I'm definitely drunk.

My fiancé motioned for one of the reporters to ask their question. "How long have you and Ms. Astor been seeing each other? As everyone is aware, Ms. Astor shows up in a lot of tabloids, but we've never seen any mention of a long-term relationship?" I narrowed my eyes at her mention of tabloids, but Jace answered for the both of us.

"Kimberly and I have been privately seeing each other for over a year now. We're very careful about our relationship," he cooly responded before moving on.

For the next twenty minutes, the two of us answered questions about our relationship from wedding plans to business plans for the future. There were a few questions about Laurent that I let Jace answer for me, considering how bad my relationship with the current CEO was.

Boredom took over my mind, only for my mood to turn sour at this one reporter's particular question. "A source confirmed that Caleb Gray and Kim Astor were seen together last month. Any thoughts about this, Mr. Kingston?"

Bentley Finch was a pain in the ass. He surrounded his entire brand on how to make celebs look bad and catch them at their worst. For the last few years, he's been reporting my every move, going to every bar/club I was at, and filling the tabloids with his bullshit.

My eyes narrowed at the insinuation that I would cheat on my fake fiancé and I stepped up to answer the question that was geared for Jace. "What is this source of yours, Mr. Finch?"

"Mr. Gray, himself." An irritating smirk took over Bentley's features and I had the violent urge to slap it off his face. Caleb Gray was this young musician who I happened to meet a few weeks back. He was cute in the boy-next-door way, but I was not interested in the slightest.

He became completely infatuated with me and trailed behind me like a lost puppy for days. Apparently, he didn't get the drift of me being uninterested considering how he pulled this shit.

"I'd recommend double-checking your sources. It's embarrassing for a respected journalist to spew such false information." At this point, I was convinced venom was seeping from my voice. I turned my head slightly to see my future husband staring at me with an unreadable expression.

I couldn't tell if it was curiosity, indifference, or awe.

Shaking off those thoughts, I returned my attention back to the press, grateful to see them moving on from the fuming asshole. The next few minutes ended up with Jace answering the remaining questions.

The second we were done, I stormed down the steps to Alex, Dad, and his personal assistant, Matías. Without wasting a second, I reached them and dragged them out of the conference room to a secluded space. Jace trailed behind me, wise enough to not disturb a woman on a mission.

"Matías, can you please call Caleb Gray's manager?" His eyes widened, before he processed my request and dialed the number I had asked him to dial many times prior to get the boy to stop following me around.

The second I heard the phone pick up, I took the phone from Matías and brought it to my ear. "Hi, Mallory, right?"

"Yes?" Her voice was hesitant, as she took into account the angry undertones in my deceptively sweet voice.

"This is Kim Astor, again. I just heard from a big, ugly bird that your dumbass client is still telling people that we're in a relationship. I would like you to tell that immature child that I will literally get a restraining order on his puny ass if he tries to say this shit or follow me around. And, trust me, I can ruin his career in five seconds if he doesn't oblige. Understood?" I took her silence as acceptance. "Great."

With that, I hung up the phone to face Dad's disappointed expression at how aggressively I handled the situation. The only people who looked slightly amused were Jace and Alex, the latter with a huge grin on his face.

"Remind me to never get on your bad side, Kimmy," Alex joked, moving closer to ruffle my hair.

I sidestepped, not about to let him ruin the perfection that currently rested on my head. "I don't think you have the facilities to get on my bad side."

"Other than that, I would say this morning was a success," Dad interrupted.

He had this passive look in his eyes as they traveled between Alex and I. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was jealous of our father-daughter dynamic, but he had no authority to be. No one told him to abandon the spot that was rightfully his, only for him to get mad if someone took it upon themselves to fill that gap. Years and years of wanting his attention were now behind me.

I was done wasting time on people who didn't care.

"I agree. If you will excuse me, I have some work to finish before the party tonight." My fiance turned his attention to me, back to the stoic tone that filled me with an indescribable feeling. "I will pick you up from your apartment at six, if that works for you."

Not trusting my words, I nodded my head, to which he responded with a single nod and headed off. The sight of his large build remained in my gaze, my eyes drifting over how thick and muscular he most definitely is under those clothes.

Stop it.

Don't think about him without clothes, idiot.

I hated to admit how absolutely turned on he made me when he wasn't talking, but, sadly, it was the truth. He was the epitome of sex-appeal.

"Don't mind him too much," Alex voiced from my side.

I turned my head to him with raised eyebrows, signaling for him to continue. "I've known the boy for years now and I barely get any emotion out of him."

The sad smile on his face shattered my heart. Alex is genuinely one of the most loving guys on the planet, considering how his parents were such hardasses. He was the type of person to give all his love to other people without asking for any back.

It was clear—in the way that he raised Gigi and Ana—that he loved his kids and would do anything for them. So, seeing his one son, the one he never got to spoil with love, being so cold had to be weighing him down with guilt.

"It's not your fault." I didn't even realize the words left my mouth until his attention snapped to me.

A sad smile graced the handsome face that my future husband shared so many similarities with. It was quite unnerving, at first, to see someone—practically a stranger— who looked so much like Alex. Still, he didn't reply to my comment, but I knew it meant nothing to him.

He would always think that it was his fault.

Or, he should have done something different.

At that moment, I vowed to myself that, before these two years were up, I'd find a way to bring the father and son together.

I owed them that much.

♕♕♕

If there's anything that could distract me and put a smile on my face, it's playing dress up. I may have a slight buying problem when it comes to clothes, but I always donate.

Well, that's my justification for spending so much.

How can I not though? I mean the gold dress hanging in front of my mirror was absolutely to die for. Yes, it was definitely over-the-top for an engagement party—I still hate the word—but I am the epitome of over-the-top.

It's embedded in my DNA.

The dress had a beautiful metallic gold finish, but still was sparkly enough to catch the light just right. The skirt was a nice and flowy A-line but still had a structure that prevented it from flying around.

And, don't get me started on the top. The fitted, sweetheart neckline would be able to hold my tits up, keeping them perky without the need for a bra.

Ugh, those sleeves!

The dress kept the upper portion of my chest and shoulders completely bare. But the mesh butterfly sleeves started mid-upper arm and ended right below my elbow. Even Vivian took one look at the dress and nodded in approval before heading out.

When I asked her if it was too dramatic, she replied with "It wouldn't be you if it wasn't."

My best friend knew me so well.

I looked to the clock, seeing I only had two minutes before Jace would be here to pick me up. My time management skills were definitely subpar. His, apparently, weren't because the intercom buzzed, letting me know that our doorman let him up as I requested earlier.

In a matter of seconds, the elevator opened up, letting Jace into my not-so-humble abode. "Kimberly?" He called out, most likely hoping I was ready so we could head out.

Considering his punctuality, my lack of said characteristic was going to drive him insane.

"I'm in my room," I replied, hearing his heavy footsteps against the stairs of the apartment. "Don't come in, unless you wanna see me naked." I probably should've warned him about Momo—she didn't do well with strangers—but I decided against it.

The footsteps suddenly paused, taken aback by my cheeky statement. "I'll wait in the living room." His voice had a dark edge to it now.

God, this is fun.

Thankfully, I had already done my hair and makeup, and putting the dress on was the only part left. Mom didn't raise a dependent girl, so zipping the dress up myself was easy with a simple piece of string.

I turned back to the mirror, pleased by my appearance. As expected, the way my chest sat in this dress was absolutely phenomenal. Because of the surplus of exposed skin, I let my hair down in soft waves, braiding two small sections and pinning them together in the back.

I kept my jewelry simple with my 'angel' necklace and the one Mom gave me, gold cuff earrings that were shaped like delicate wreaths, and my engagement ring. The dress was glitzy enough to keep me covered in the flashy department.

My makeup was simple and dewy, paired with the right amount of golden shimmer and a glossy nude lip. The usual red-lip would've been too harsh—a fact that broke my heart—for this look.

Sadly, the same thing applied to my heels and I opted for a strappy gold heel, instead of my go-to Louboutins. The heels had small leaves up the straps, matching my earrings.

Grabbing my purse and other essentials, I finally left my room in search of my husband. It wasn't much of a search per se because this man was huge. He filled any room he was in, and he knew it. My eyes met his crouched down figure as he pet Momo with a small smile on his face.

Holy shit, what is this feeling?