Pictures and videos of the confrontation between Anthony and Wladimir Klitschko were everywhere on the internet. The worst part of it was that Tallulah was caught in the middle of it all.

Headlines like the animosity between Anthony and Wladimir because of the belt or the girl? Has Anthony Joshua finally moved on from his late wife? Is the undefeated champ too wild to tame?

Social Media was the devil. Tallulah's name was being dragged by fans who wanted Anthony or trolls who had nothing better to do. Pictures of her that made her look horrible, were being put next to his dead wife, as they compared how badly Anthony had downgraded.

Tallulah was a strand of wheat in the vastness of the prairies. Her colors were as muted as those around her in real life, allowing her to hide in plain sight. She was as introverted as they came, so the fact that she was the trending topic of every social media site and every news outlet, stressed her to a point of no comprehension.

It had been almost a week after the story had broken the internet and still nothing was calming down. Paparazzi were camped outside of the house, waiting patiently to get a picture of the mysterious woman who was currently in Anthony's life. Anthony and Ben weren't in talking terms, and because of that, her work had been put on halt. Tallulah had locked herself into her room, focusing on the artwork because dealing with reality was worse than drowning in work.

The reality of the matter was that social media was right. Tallulah was nothing like Aubrey. Aubrey was the beautiful woman with eyes that made someone believe that there was a God. She was the woman who had been there when Anthony had no one and nothing to his name and she had built a family with the man. She was everything that Tallulah wasn't.

Tallulah believed everything the people on the internet said. She was too dark and looked too Afrocentric. Her hair was too kinky, the gap between her teeth too wide and her lips was too full. She didn't look good on camera and she looked even worse standing next to Anthony. The man deserved to be with a woman who looked good on his arm and she wasn't it.

The worst part of it all was that they weren't even together, yet the media was tearing her apart.

"So then the teacher told me to read my entire paper after she said that it was the best out of everyone's," Joe said, gaining her attention.

She was trying to listen to him ramble about his school work but she was too sad to focus on whatever was on the TV, thinking and listening to Joe. She laughed at herself. "Sad" sounded so childish, like something flimsy, something one should be able to cast off with a happy reflection or the smile of a friend. But that feeling sat inside her like the germ seed of depression, just waiting for the right conditions to grow.

"Are you okay?" Joe asked.

She smiled at him. "I'm fine."

"You know," he said shutting his computer. "Everyone online says bad things about my dad all the time. They say that he puts on a show and that he is an awful boxer but all that was a lie."

The doorbell rang before Tallulah could say a word and Joe jumped out of his chair to go open it.

Ben walked into the kitchen with Lucy, Joe's Nanny, trailing behind. She had gone to the grocery store to buy something for diner.

"Hey?" Ben asked, pulling her in for a hug.

"You've been gone for a while," she faked a smile. "Are you okay?"

Ben searched her eyes. "I was trying to come to terms with some things."

Tallulah looked away.

"Do you want to go out for dinner with me?" he asked, surprising her.

"Those people out there are just waiting for me to leave the house so that they can obliterate me into pieces," she replied.

"They won't suspect that you've left with me and my car is tinted. When was the last time you left this house?"

A painful lump build inside her throat. "It's been a week."

Ben nodded. "You need to leave the house and we need to talk business."

"Okay."

**

As expected, paparazzi didn't follow Ben's car because they didn't suspect that she would be in the back seat, hiding in plain sight. The anxiety was like being hooked up to a cattle fence - not enough voltage to kill but sufficient to keep things uncomfortable.

Moments later, they sat at the corner of a rooftop, as she took a sip of some red wine Ben ordered for her.

"They are making me feel like scum," she agreed with a smile.

Ben looked normal, relaxed and lounging back, with his legs splayed open in the lounge couch. "Which part exactly?"

The hairs on the back of her neck rose in alarm. "The part where I am ugly and not worthy any camera time."

Silence followed the deadly admission. "I shouldn't have brought you here."

Scowling at his response, she glanced at him. "Why?"

His eyes peered intently into hers. "Well for starters, just like every other woman I have ever been interested in my life, you ended up feeling something for my cousin."

"Ben..."

He raised his hand to stop her from talking. "He has that effect on women and a part of me hoped that you were different. But the worst part is that you're letting illiterate people who are social media gangsters dim your light. Your beauty isn't for many to understand."

Tallulah's stomach turned. "Thank you."

He turned to hold her gaze and for a moment too long they just stared at each other. The waiter brought the food and for the rest of the night, Tallulah and Ben talked about business and cracked jokes.

"Thank you for the food." Tallulah turned and looked at Ben as they stopped at the door to Anthony's home.

It was almost midnight and the paparazzi were long gone. After a couple of glasses of wine, she was a little bit tipsy, which was a good feeling because she was happy. She stumbled on a step but Ben was too quick to grab her by her waist, steadying her.

"No more wine for you."

She beamed at him happily. "Sim Senhor."

"You're so adorable," Ben complimented with a low whisper.

He grabbed her face into his callused hands and crashed his mouth into hers, kissing her lips softly. Almost immediately, Tallulah stepped back, sobering up.

Ben groaned. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that."

"No."

"I apologize for that. I just ...I'm sorry."

Nodding her head in agreement, Tallulah opened the door and rushed into the house, leaving him behind. Her heart pounded hard against her chest, the need to wipe her mouth with the back of her hand overwhelming. Before Ben had kissed her, Anthony was the only man she had ever kissed and now all that romantic shit that she had been holding onto was ruined.

"Where were you?" Anthony's voice startled her.

Tallulah raised her back from the door and moved closer to the voice in the darkness. Their gaze met in the shadows, and his eyes were eerily dark, his face etched with red-hot fury.

She was unable to read his profile. Her heart pounded a thousand beats per minute with every step he took closer to her.

"I just went for dinner with Ben," she answered, her voice steady. " I needed to get out of the house."

Her back was pinned to the wall but still, Anthony moved closer. For some reason, he looked bigger than ever. His hands flexed and fisted as he stared down at her. There was a fierce battle inside his eyes.

Tallulah tried to calm her nerves but she was unable to. He reached out with a trembling finger and touched her mouth. "You let him kiss you, where I kiss you ever night?"

Her eyes narrowed at the revelation. He saw everything. "I was caught off guard. I didn't mean to let it happen because..."

He circled his finger around her lower lip, trying to calm the anger that was boiling inside him. Anthony's arms came out and he tangled his fingers deep into her locks, yanking her head back and burying his nose in her neck. He dragged his tongue from her neck, along her jaw, breathing roughly as he searched for her mouth. His tongue probed at the seam of her mouth before he used his lips to open her mouth to him.

Tallulah's body melted into his hard one, until his arms wrapped around her waist, yanking her from the floor. She wrapped her arms around his neck, holding on to him for dear life.

"You've been avoiding me," she said between his lips.

"Is that why you're kissing another man?" He growled fingers dug into her waist, holding her against him.

Tallulah didn't register anything until her back was against the sofa. Anthony tore his mouth free, set his forehead on her, and held her face between his hands while he looked deep into her eyes, anger so fierce brimmed in them. "Are you attracted to my cousin?"

Tallulah shook her head no.

Running his hand down her breast, to her stomach and to her along her sex, Anthony kissed her ear and whispered into her hair. "Tell me that all this is mine."

Tallulah sunk her teeth into his lower lip in order to stifle a moan. "Yes...Yes. It's all yours AJ, no one else."

She clutched onto him, slipping her tongue into his mouth with smooth darting movements.

"The jealousy that is coursing through my veins is going to end me," Anthony groaned into her neck. He slid his hands around her hips and spread his fingers over her ass as he pinned her down on his erection.

A world of sensation rushed through her bloodstream when he squeezed her with his hands. "I'm sorry that you're all over the news because of me."

Tallulah moaned into his mouth. "Your son is upstairs, he could walk in any moment now."

Anthony pulled away and took her hand, walking up the stairs, heading directly to his room. Grabbing her by the waist, he hauled her up and set her on his dressing table knocking the lap to the floor.

"Take off your clothes." His voice was low and smooth and Tallulah was completely eroticized by the way that he commanded her.

She used his shoulders to propel her upwards and crushed his mouth with hers, as he grabbed the hem of her dress, yanking it over her head.

His eyelids drooped, and his expression softened as he met her gaze. Tallulah's breath stalled and she caught her lower lip between her teeth. He trailed wet kisses along her jaw, down her neck, and across her collarbone until his lips reached the swell of her cleavage.

"Oh my God," she breathed when he massage her nipples through her bra. Tallulah squinted her eyes tightly, throwing her head back and letting go of all her reservations.

"You like that?" he asked, repeating the motions while sinking his teeth into her neck. He patted her legs, grinding his hardness along her center ferociously. She began panting his name muddled with a breathy yes's.

"AJ, yes... AJ...AJ...oh my God."

Anthony took her legs and wrapped them around his torso. With his hands on her waist, he continued making her thrust against him. She buried her face into his neck and bit down hard. He growled, smacked her back side and lifted her to the bed, placing her on her back.

Shuddering uncontrollably, Tallulah screamed his name over and over again. A few minutes later, she descended from her sexual high in the most unladylike manner.

Anthony reared back and grinned seductively at her, biting down on his lips, fascinated by her body tremors. He leaned over and kissed her lips. "Mine."