My fiancé forgot my birthday. Then I caught him getting a blowjob. From my stepsister. My dream of having a child of my own had never been farther away.
But somehow, I found myself laughing uproariously with Phantom. Like a girl without a care in the world.
“So what should I call you?” I asked when we were done with that round of laughter. “Phantom or Hak-kan?”
8
PHANTOM
Phantom came to regret his decision the next day.
He woke up way later than usual, thanks to last night’s activities—nearly noon. But the sight of Olivia’s dark body wrapped up in his white sheets…
His dick turned to concrete, ready to go again as if last night had never happened.
But it had. Her presence this morning proved it. And he wanted to make last night happen again. Maybe spend the entire day in bed repeating the challenge.
But first, a real birthday celebration.
He got up, rinsed off in the shower, and threw on some sweatpants. Only to immediately regret the decision when she rolled over. She must have taken off her bra sometime during the night. The sheet pulled down, revealing one of the perfect dark breasts he hadn’t taken the opportunity to sample when he had the chance. Fucking hell…
Alright, jeans it was. But when he looked back up after the wardrobe change, the sheet had slipped even further. Both breasts….both supple breasts were now exposed, those black cherry nipples just begging to be touched, and sucked, and a whole lot of other things—
Food, he reminded himself. Gotta feed her.
This responsibility was the only thing that allowed him to rush out of the room before he could give into temptation.
Victor and Han loved having at least a handful of their Silent Triad ranks at their avail at all hours. So every meal they ate was either prepared by their full-time chef in Rhode Island or brought to them by someone else. He doubted either of them had any food delivery apps on their phone or even knew how to make their own restaurant reservations.
Phantom preferred to do all that shit himself. He didn’t even bother with guards unless it was for show during a big meeting. But that afternoon, he felt kinda conflicted about his usual stance.
On the one hand, he would have preferred to stay in bed with Olivia. On the other, he knew exactly where to go around his place to celebrate her right.
He ran down to his favorite brunch spot, where everything on the menu was chef’s kiss. Then he went a few doors down to the bodega for some champagne and ran across the street to the French pastry shop and got a box of croissants, along with two cupcakes, so he could sing her “Happy Birthday” again.
The text from Victor came through just as he was headed back into the building.
VICTOR: “Where are you?”
Phantom immediately texted back.
Personal business.
VICTOR: Need you here tomorrow for breakfast to run interference.
Phantom cursed out loud. He’d forgotten about the ongoing drama of the Victor and Dawn show.
PHANTOM: Fuck your C-drama shit but K. B there.
Loyalty. No Questions. That was his three-word belief system. Especially when it came to his fellow Silent Triad Dragons, but that was another stance he was low-key regretting as he made his way back to the penthouse.
He wouldn’t have minded spending a few more days in the city before going back to Rhode Island. Maybe taking Olivia out on a real date to show her he wasn’t just a gorilla who knew what to do in bed.
Speaking of which, he took the time to plate up the food like a civilized morning after date. He even made a note on his Alexa device to put a tray on the shopping list so that he could do breakfast in bed right next time.
Next time…
His chest rattled with all sorts of emotions jumping up and down in there.
“Hey, wake up…Liv? Livvy?” he asked as he walked into the bedroom. “We never talked about what I should call….”
His words trailed off when he saw the note on the now empty pillow where Olivia’s head had been resting before he left.
“Dearest Hak-kan,
Thank you so much for last night. I’ll never be able to repay you.
I used your landline to call Garrett, and I was able to go home.
Again, I am so grateful. I’ll never forget you or be able to thank you enough for being there for me in my time of need.
If ever, you need anything, please don’t hesitate to call.
Now, I owe you one.”
Your friend,
Olivia
He could almost hear her flowers and molasses voice as he read the note.
No, you’re not pretty. But I don’t care about that…To me, you’re beautiful.
That was what she’d said. And he’d believed her. But one night. One night was all he got with her before she decided to go back to her pretty ex-boyfriend.