mention of drug abuse ahead

KIMBERLY

time in my life, I woke up with a pounding headache.

Although, for probably the first time in the last few years, it wasn't due to alcohol.

If I had to speculate, I'd chalk it up to the fact that I wasn't in my room. Sure, I was in a room that now belonged to me, but it wasn't home. And, it most certainly wasn't familiar.

Memories from last night flooded back into my head as I looked around my new room.

After Jace and I finished our first dance, Dad and I did the father-daughter dance. It was awkward, to say the least. The only good thing that came out of it was him telling me he was glad I told his mother off.

Apparently, Ash told Aunt Lucy who told Dad.

Then, dinner was served followed by toasts. The most exciting thing that happened was Ashton embarrassing me and me launching my shoe at him with perfect aim. The second he got up to the mic, I knew I had to get ready.

Emre and Sav were a dynamic duo, to say the least. With his big personality, the latter wasn't even upset about her girlfriend ditching her, yet again. Even though I warned Jace to tone it down, I didn't like the girl I hadn't met either.

Speaking of Emre, the guy was an absolute delight. According to Jace, he would be in New York for the next few months, which I had every intention to capitalize on.

My only issue with Emre would be the flirty glances he seemed to throw in Addison's direction. I expected him to have taste, but I was also heavily biased.

Once the party started dwindling down, Jace escorted me to his car to head to my new place of residence. Apparently, he lived in a townhouse not too far from my apartment in the Upper East Side, making it convenient to move my stuff over.

Obviously, the two of us were definitely not ready to share a room, so I had a room to myself that was similar in size to the room in my penthouse. I still had time to make it more me, but it was definitely more than enough for now.

I glanced at the clock to see it was a quarter-past eight, eliciting a groan from my throat.

I was usually never up this early willingly, but the new setting was getting to me. I rose up from the bed, careful to avoid the dress that pooled on the floor.

After getting here, I stripped down, grabbed the first nightgown in my sight, and took my makeup off before passing out.

Brushing my teeth in record time, I made my way downstairs to find something to drink. Anything to drink. Normally, I would admire such a nice kitchen, despite my inability to cook, but I was a woman on a mission.

Frantically searching through the cabinets, I groaned when I didn't find a single ounce of alcohol here. I didn't even realize Jace was also in the kitchen, until the coffee machine started brewing.

"Looking for something?" I turned around to face my husband, surprised but also not surprised to see him dressed for work.

"Where's your alcohol?" I didn't bother beating around the bush.

He raised his eyebrow, bringing his wrist up to look at his watch. "It's almost half-past eight."

"Okay, Cogsworth," I rolled my eyes. "I don't remember asking for the fucking time."

I moved to the fridge to see if there was anything in there, even though it was an insult to the integrity of the liquor, but Jace didn't seem like the type to care. Or, I just cared too much. Suddenly, a large hand grazed past my shoulder, grabbing creamer before shutting the fridge door.

I whirled around, not expecting to be so close to him after doing so. My mouth was merely a few inches away from the base of his neck and I could see his Adam's apple bobbing.

"Good luck finding alcohol here," his voice caressed my ear. "I don't drink."

Hold up. What?

Now that I think about it, I don't think I've ever seen him drink, proving his point. He huffed at my shocked expression. "I know. We're a match made in heaven."

"Fucking understatement."

He pulled back to return to his coffee. "Would you like some coffee?"

My eyebrows raised even further, not expecting him to offer. "Uh, yeah... thanks."

"Black?"

"Yep."

"Expected."

I ignored his comment, knowing he would say something about how bitter I was or how I preferred everything strong. "You're going into the office today?"

"No," he deadpanned. "I just happen to like sitting around in formal clothing all day."

I scowled at him, begrudgingly accepting the mug he handed me. "I don't doubt that."

"I have a meeting today with a Japanese investor," he finally responded to my question. "Before I forget, our fathers want to meet with us at the office. I'll send a car to pick you up after lunch."

I nodded.

My poor car was one of the only things left behind because of this mess of an alliance. Vivian and I shared the baby, considering how it was just easier to use public transportation when necessary. But, now that I had access to Jace's cars, it wasn't vital for me to have my own.

"Sounds good," I replied, taking a sip of the black coffee. The second the flavors hit my tongue, I let out an involuntary moan. I could recognize this roast anywhere, with its slight fruit flavor and natural level of sweetness. "Kona?"

His eyes widened at how easily I identified the beans. I couldn't help that—besides clothes—the next thing I spent the most money on is quality food. "Yeah, Van always gets me Kona whenever she goes back home to Hawaii. Her mom knows how much I love it, so they always stock up for me."

"Damn," I joked. "Straight from the source. I wasn't expecting you to have such good taste. Maybe these two years won't be as torturous as I thought."

Jace's eyes darkened as he took two long strides in my direction, effectively caging me between his body and the countertops. His gaze flitted down to the silk, black nightgown I had on before landing on my eyes.

"They may not be torture for you," his voice was deep and low, caressing my arousal. "But"—his finger hooked around the strap of the dress, pulling it down—"it's fucking Hell for me. We have a deal that I plan on taking full advantage of."

He proceeded to dip his head, lips meeting the soft skin of my shoulder.

Fuck.

My eyes clenched shut as he dragged those soft lips along the front of my chest to the base of my neck. Desperate to feel more of him, I tilted my head back to give him full access, but he suddenly pulled back.

"If you'll excuse me," he cleared his throat. "I have a meeting to get to."

With that, he exited the kitchen, leaving me soaking wet from a simple touch.

Fuck me.

I better find one of my toys in the next five minutes or I'm literally going to explode.

♕♕♕

The night before the wedding wasn't one of my brightest moments.

I felt desperate, rightfully of course, but still desperate. I, Kimberly Astor—now Kingston—did not need to negotiate having sex with a man. More importantly, I was never the one to initiate it either. But, Jace's willpower is stronger than fucking spider silk.

Then, when he had the audacity to put those delightful fingers in me and deny me of an orgasm, I was ready to revolt.

It didn't help that he was so hot. Like, disrespectfully hot.

I felt guilty and dirty, hence me crying myself to sleep.

But, before that night, I was great at pleasuring myself to the thought of how he'd feel around me... in me. Now that I knew how it actually felt, nothing could compare.

So, here I was, sexually frustrated out of my mind and getting ready to go see the source of my sexual frustration.

Just peachy.

I was standing in front of my mirror, fully dressed in a white turtleneck, black and red plaid skirt, and black thigh-high boots, I was contemplating a major decision.

Red or nude lips.

Jace's comment from last night had me overthinking a decision that once came as easily to me as breathing. I already had red in my outfit, so I—theoretically—did not need to do a red lip. But, red was my iconic color, and I'll be damned if I let a man ruin it for me.

But, did I want to show him that I was open to kissing him? Would he kiss me if I had my red lips on? If I didn't have red lips, would he think that I was too scared to kiss him? Am I overthinking this?

Yes.

I groaned aloud, stomping my feet like a fucking child.

Well, I could put the red lipstick on and tease him without actually kissing him. But, would he think I was desperate considering what he said last night?

I am going to kill him.

I closed my eyes and randomly picked one of the lipsticks, before applying it on my lips. I've been wearing lipstick long enough to do it blind, but my heart was still racing in anticipation over what color I chose.

Once they were open, my eyes opened and zeroed in on my lips.

Oh... interesting.

I rushed out of the house to see the car Jace sent for me, waiting in the street.

A short ride later, I got out, heading inside Kingston Industries. Compared to how I felt a few weeks ago when I first came here after he became CEO, it was definitely a lot more familiar now.

Well, as familiar as a place where you got fingered could be.

Walking in, I greeted Zina before heading up to Jace's office.

Savannah smiled coyly as I approached her. "Hello, Mrs. Kingston."

The distaste on my face elicited a large laugh out of her. "Van, I am not above murder." The girl laughed even harder.

Clutching onto her stomach, tipping over, she responded, "I'm sorry. I've been waiting to do that all day. But being murdered by you would be an honor."

"Jace's in a meeting with a Japanese investor, right?" I asked, popping in one of the mints she had on her desk.

She nodded. "Yep, I believe he's speaking with Mr. Hideyoshi now, but he should be done soon."

"Akira Hideyoshi?" She nodded again, and I rushed into his office.

In retrospect, I should've knocked, but I was too excited to think straight. The two of them looked up at the intrusion, one of them smiling at me and the other narrowing his eyes at my lips.

I left my lip color up to chance, and chance said 'nude'.

"Kimberly!" Mr. Hideyoshi greeted me, standing up for a hug before continuing in Japanese. "Long time no see!"

"It's good to see you! How are you and Sara?" I responded in Japanese, asking about his daughter.

He released me from the hug. "She talks about you all the time. Thank you for getting her the modeling job. I never thought I'd see my spoiled little girl start working and actually liking it."

I let out a laugh. "Well, she has talent. She just needed the extra push. But, I see you've met my husband." I gestured towards Jace, who looked surprised at my acknowledgement of him.

"Yes, I have. I didn't realize you two were married."

"Our wedding was yesterday," I commented before realizing how weird it sounded that Jace was back to work the day after the wedding. "But my husband is so dedicated to his work. I've never met someone with a work ethic that matched yours."

Mr. Hideyoshi smiled in approval, before turning to Jace and continuing in English. "Have your assistant contact mine. We'll work out a deal. It's the least I could do for Kim after what she did for my daughter. If you two ever find yourselves in Japan, let me know."

"I look forward to doing business with you," Jace politely responded, getting up to shake his hand.

"Likewise." Mr. Hideyoshi returned his handshake before patting my shoulder with a smile on his way out.

Jace still had a surprised look on his face, waiting for his new business partner to leave before speaking. "I have so many questions."

Dramatically sitting down, I brought my hand to my chest. "Wow, how the tables have turned. Ask away. Unlike you, I'll answer them properly."

"You're fluent in Japanese?" Interesting first question.

I shot him an incredulous look. "Not to toot my own horn, but I'm literally the heiress to a multi-billion dollar company. I went to a prestigious academy, traveled the world, and you're shocked by the fact that I know Japanese? But, to answer your question, I am fluent in multiple languages, Japanese being one. Something that my dearest Camelia is greatly benefiting from, considering I am her tutor."

"This is why I don't ask you questions," Jace snorted. "Your answers are too long."

"Would you prefer I answer your way?" I retorted.

Jace stayed silent. "How do you know Akira Hideyoshi?"

"Mr. Hideyoshi and I go way back," I waved my hand dismissively, getting on his nerves. "I was doing a photoshoot in Japan and Dad wanted to take care of some business there and make me meet some people, yada yada yada"—Jace rolled his eyes, pinching his nose—"and I was sitting in on a meeting when I met the most obnoxious brat. She's better now, though. But I kinda took her under my wing and had her join me for one of my shoots. She fell in love with modeling and fashion and is now one of the highest-paid models in Japan. Last I heard, Sara is starting her own clothing line."

Jace had an indecipherable expression on his face, making me self-conscious.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I scowled.

Without responding, he just shook his head.

What the fuck is that supposed to mean?

I didn't need to contemplate it for long because a knock sounded on the door.

"Come in." So, now the fucker decides to speak.

In a few seconds, our fathers shuffled into the room, pleased to see us both. Well, as pleased as Dad could look with the permanent stick shoved up his ass.

But, there was something else in his expression today. Something that I wasn't used to coming off of him. Guilt.

"This better not be some sort of intervention or I'm leaving." To a certain extent, I accepted that I probably needed help considering it's been less than twenty-four hours since I had a drink and I had a pounding headache to prove it.

Alex laughed, his eyes crinkling at the corner. "This happens to be more business-related."

I looked at the three men in the room, my spidey-senses telling me that I would not like where this was going. I narrowed my eyes suspiciously at Dad, "Spill."

He scowled at my tone, but still answered, "Before you get mad,"—I was going to get mad—"I told you about the possibility of stuff not working out in your favor."

"How so?"

"The Board decided that it would be best to have just Jace at the forefront of our two companies and have you step down from the running for CEO," Dad continued. "There's nothing we can do about it. They made up their minds."

What the fuck? What the actual fuck?

"What the fuck?" I seethed, sharply turning my head to face Jace. "Did you know?"

His remorseful face was enough to indicate that he did know, but I wanted a verbal confirmation. "Kimber—"

"Just say it." My heart was thumping so fast, I didn't even know if I would be able to hear him if he did respond.

"Last night," he admitted. "I found out last night."

"Of course you did," I scoffed. "So, you fucking knew this morning and you didn't bother even warning me. And after what I did for you last night too?"

Dad tried interjecting, "Don't get mad at him."

"I'll get mad at whoever I want to get mad at," I retorted. "Because do you know what all this means to me?" I didn't bother waiting for a response. "It means that you all had an inkling that this shit would happen and I got married for no fucking reason. Do you remember the meeting, Dad? The meeting when I was told that I would still be transitioning to the role and not be forced to relinquish my position just because I was getting married?"

Dad stayed quiet, and so did I.

The only thought that was running through my head is how I got married for no reason. How I put myself through that emotional stress just to become CEO for no fucking reason. How my husband knew.

His betrayal shouldn't have hurt as much as it did and it hasn't even been a full day of being married.

"Kimmy-"

"Please don't, Alex," my voice softened. "I really don't wanna blow up on you right now."

Alex backed off, sensing the anger that was pouring out of me and pooling on the floor. I knew I had a temper, but I didn't bother trying to change it or get help for it. Most of the time, it was the only thing keeping me going.

I needed to get out of here before I threw something and did some serious damage. Thankfully, my legs obliged carrying me out of the room. I hadn't even made it out of the room before I heard Dad make a comment.

"That went well."

How the fuck could everything go so wrong in such little time?

♕♕♕

I'd like to think I was hurting Dad by being here, but Vivian would tell me otherwise.

Should I be staying out of clubs to fix my image? Theoretically, yes.

But, without a company to inherit, my image was the last thing I gave a flying fuck about.

After storming out of the office, I went back to Vivi's and my apartment to get the very expensive bottles I left behind. Vivian tried getting me to open up, shocked to see me seething back at the apartment a fucking day after the wedding, but I stayed silent.

I swear poison would spew out of my mouth if I opened it.

Grabbing my things, I went to my new place of residence to put my alcohol down before crying for a good few hours. I checked my phone to see that Jace and Alex called me a few times, but I didn't bother answering or calling back.

Not even my shower did anything to help calm me down. So, I donned a new outfit and went to a club that I haven't been to in a while. A club where nobody would give a fuck about who I am because they were too strung out to even notice.

Drinks. Drinks. More drinks.

Dancing. Dancing. More dancing.

"I haven't seen you in a while," a voice whispered into my ear. "You're already crawling back for more, princess?"

"Miles," I smiled coyly, unable to control the seductive edge in my tone. "Don't act like you don't miss fucking me. We all know who's craving what more."

He scoffed as I turned around. Miles whatever-his-last-name-was is attractive in the seedy plug way, I guess. I was high every time we fucked, so it's safe to say my standards were low. "Considering you're here and your guard-dog isn't, I'd say you're the desperate one."

I raised my hand to slap him. Even when drunk, I didn't tolerate people saying shit about Vivian. But, my stupid drunk limbs could barely make their way up, making him laugh.

"Careful, princess." He handed me a little baggie filled with memories I tried locking away. "I think you want this. Consider it a 'welcome back' gift."

In all honesty, I wasn't thinking straight because I was contemplating taking it and by the way he was looking at me, he knew.

It's been almost a year since I overdosed on ecstasy and ended up in the hospital. I swore off hard drugs ever since, only resorting to alcohol to feel anything else.

I stopped mainly because of how worried Vivian and Ashton were, but also because Dad made a huge deal about cleaning up my reputation and threatening the CEO position.