Cara and I walked through the main lobby of the prison, quickly collecting our things before we stepped outside into the cool, mid-winter air. I swallowed then as we walked towards the parking lot, temporarily phased by the notion that something was vibrating from inside Cara's pocket. I raised my eyebrows slightly then as Cara dipped into said pocket of her slim-cut blazer, shooting me a look.

"Sorry, it's another potential client," she said, and I nodded.

"It's cool," I replied.

Cara hesitated for a moment, biting her lip before it appeared that she was sending a text, before she held up her finger and answered the phone call. She migrated towards her car then and got inside, deliberately not inviting me inside of it yet, due to attorney-client privilege. Her voice could vaguely be heard, even though she shut the door behind her, and I felt myself automatically tense up when the main doors of the prison opened from where I stood beneath the awning of the roof, a few yards away from Cara's car.

"Hey."

The hairs on my arms stood on end as soon as I heard the voice and, carefully, I turned around and spotted Axel looping towards me. "Hey yourself," I replied, crossing my arms as he came forward to stand next to me. "Let me guess—Cara sent you out here to babysit me."

Axel shrugged. "Guilty."

I smirked. "Right," I muttered, leaning up against the building. "So, now that we're here, why don't you tell me about yourself."

"Not much to know."

I scoffed. "Sure there isn't."

Axel pondered me then, mulling over my words for a moment before he allowed himself to speak again. "What do you want to know?" he asked.

"Well, I know that you're only Cara's half-brother..."

He nodded. "Yeah, that's true. Same mother, different fathers."

"Where is your father?"

He shrugged. "He's a wine dealer for big corporations in Europe," he replied, almost as if it didn't matter to him. "My mom met him during college, when she was taking a semester abroad in France. Whirlwind romance, all that," he went on, like it disgusted him somewhat. "Once he found out she was pregnant, he told her that settling down wasn't in the cards for him, and she came back to the States, had me, and gave temporary custody to her parents while she finished her college education."

"And then what happened?"

"Despite appearances, the Hastings and my mother's family were old friends," Axel said, his tone quiet, a layer of respect hidden inside there. "Humphrey Hastings initially agreed to marry my mother, Margot, as a favor, but they got feelings for each other within a year of the ceremony, and that's how Cara was conceived."

I mulled that over for a moment. "How old are you?"

"Twenty-seven," he replied.

I kept my eyes locked onto his profile then, waiting for him to look back at me, and, when he did, I felt my smile slowly developing onto my lips. "I see."

Axel blinked, apparently shocked at my brazen behavior. "Uh, no," he said then, his voice sharking, and I smirked then, knowing how much I had him. "I don't think you do... I mean, Cara told me how old you were..."

"I'm fourteen," I replied, shrugging. "What does it matter? Age is just a number, as I'm sure you know very well."

"What does it matter? Please. I work in law enforcement—just like my family. Do you realize the dangers of even talking about it, outside a prison? The higher-ups would be all over my ass and be locking me in a cell in ten seconds flat, probably less."

I cocked my head to one side then. "And if we weren't outside a prison?" I asked, and Axel's ears turned red at what I was implying.

"That's enough, Iana," he replied, forcing my name through his lips like it was a salvation. "We shouldn't even be talking about this."

I stepped closer then and, to my relief, he didn't step back. "I may be from a ghetto, Axel, but I know when I'm standing near my own kind."

Axel scoffed. "Ghetto? You're crazy."

I raised my eyebrows. "Meaning?"

"You're too refined for a ghetto. Plus, your clothes are new."

I shrugged my shoulders before I crossed my arms, which gave him an eyeful of what I was hiding beneath my low-cut top, and his eyes widened slightly then. "My adopted father is a lawyer, and my mother owns a restaurant. We may made good bank, but I'm one of five kids on her side. Trust me; I'm ghetto born and bred, like you."

"Where you from?"

"South Side," I replied, "just like my family. Can't escape it."

He nodded. "Wow. I'm South Side, too."

I smiled up at him then; slowly, my lips parting slightly so as he could see my teeth, knowing full well that I wouldn't bite him, unless he asked me to. I looked around to make sure that Cara was plenty involved in her phone call, and that there weren't any guards or obvious cameras around the pair of us. When I noticed that there weren't, I reached up then, gently cupping Axel's face in my hand and trailing my thumb across his lower lip, pleased when he shut his eyes to my touch and didn't walk away.

"Cara has my number... You think you can spin something to get it from her, or should we just be more direct about this?" I asked.

Axel's eyes snapped open. "Give me your phone," he ordered.

I felt a rush of something down my spine at the sensation of him ordering me, and I quickly got my phone out from my pocket and handed it over. I watched as he keyed in his information quickly, all the while looking over at Cara's car, but seemed satisfied that she was otherwise engaged in her phone call to the perspective client. I took my phone back from him once he'd finished, which is when the clouds descended around us, darkening the terrain, and the sky split open and doused the surrounding area with rain.

"Jesus," Axel muttered as I pocketed my phone. "That shit's really coming down..."

I bit my lip then, knowing that Cara was likely to wrap up her phone conversation at any time now, which meant I'd have to get back into her car and head back home. My heart was pounding from my closeness to Axel, plus the meeting I'd had with Tommy. I felt my hands shaking then as he turned his gaze on me, and my face flushed automatically. "Yeah," I said quietly. "Looks like we're in for a heavy storm..."

Axel hesitated for a moment before he took a step backwards. "Well, I should probably get back to my office..."

"Wait," I said, stepping closer then and grabbing him by the face, yanking it downwards then, knowing that I had to taste him for a moment before he left. I felt my heart hammering then as he pulled me lengthwise against him, anchoring his mouth to mine and tasting me with such reckless abandon that I could almost drown out the sound of rain falling around us. I finally pulled back from him then, stepping an appropriate distance away and smiling up at him, and was rewarded with a hot look, his eyes laced with desire. "Well, I have your number, Mr. Richland," I said, and I could detect him spasming as I addressed him so formally. "Let me know when your schedule is clear," I tossed over my shoulder, acting like it didn't matter to me as I walked towards Cara's car, the rain making my raven hair stick to my face, and smirked to myself at the potential danger my contact with Axel could bring.

. . .

"Listen, I never really got the opportunity to apologize to you," Penny said then, her green eyes filled with sadness then.

I blinked, sipping at the delicious decaf tea she had served me in her studio suite. "Why would you need to apologize to me?" I asked her, shocked. "If anything, I should be the one apologizing to you, Penny. I behaved horribly at your Halloween party that night."

She sighed. "I should've tried to get in touch with you," she said softly. "I literally didn't know that Liam was coming home a day early until about twenty minutes before you showed up. I honestly thought he'd just go back to that godforsaken penthouse of his and just crash, sleep off the jetlag, you know? But no—my big brother had to come and crash my party with potential and long-running investors and ruin your night on top of it. Stress isn't good for the pregnancy, that much I know, and I know full well that, with everything else you've got going on in your life, that you likely didn't need Liam interfering, and for that, I apologize."

I was pleased that Penny was being so considerate about this, despite knowing full well that the potential investors could've pulled their millions due to my behavior. "Well, still, I'm glad that you and I have an understanding on the matter."

She laughed. "My brother is my brother, and I love him—he's been like a father-figure to me ever since Dad died. He and Dad were never close, and I was still really young when he died, so I didn't know the man, and I think Liam prefers it that way. Anyhow, despite our familial relationship and my love for him, I don't condone his behavior towards you. But, I think it would make you feel better if we dropped the subject, so that's just what we'll do."

I nodded, thankful for that as I lifted the tea cup back to my lips. "You have such impeccable taste, Penny," I said, and Penny beamed at the compliment. "Surely, you didn't learn about all of it from school, or naturally. I mean, if you did, bravo, but is your mother artistic in any way?" I wanted to know. "Liam, he... Well, we never got too personal on a mutual level. In fact, you know more about my family than he does."

"Mother is a very interesting woman," Penny replied in a tentative manner. "Of course, she was much more affectionate than Dad was, but there's this stiffness to her that she's never been able to shake completely. Probably comes from her background—she's from the large Barrington family, where her older brother was named for my grandfather, and the rest of the girls, three of them, were all named after flowers. My grandmother, Elisa Barrington, was a prize-winning gardener from the time she was in high school, and promised herself that she would name all of her children after flowers. It's just... I don't know how to explain a bunch of rich, uptight people to you, Iana," she said with a laugh.

I smirked as I lowered the tea cup back onto the coffee table between us. "Considering that I'm neither of those things..."

Penny giggled. "No. No, you are not."

"So, why would you be friends with someone like me, anyway?" I asked, and Penny raised her perfectly-plucked eyebrows at me. "I mean, I'm a girl from the South Side with a...questionable past, to say the least, and you're..."

"Just a spoiled little rich girl?" she asked.

Immediately, I shook my head. "No. And I'm sorry if I came across that way," I said, my former bravado gone.

Penny shook her head. "No, I get it. Frequently in friendships like this, one party wants something from the other."

I sighed, leaning back up against the couch we sat on and cradled my swollen belly. "Well, I can assure you that I don't want anything. Like that, I mean," I said, forcing a smile to my lips as I looked up at her. "I'm cool with hanging out and drinking your expensive teas every now and again, for as long as you want."

Penny furrowed her brow then, considering my words. "You said just now that your past was questionable..."

I nodded. "Yeah. I mean, that's one word for it."

She swallowed slightly then, almost as if she wanted to know more, but didn't want to put any pressure on me by asking. "How do you mean?"

I blinked. "Wow. We're going there, I guess..." I said then, my voice quiet as I surveyed the pattern on the rug that the coffee table was stationed upon.

"It doesn't leave this room, of course," Penny said, and I raised my eyes back to hers. "Not like I'd run to my brother with any information about you. Not like he doesn't ask," she said, the last portion of her speech half to herself, so I decided not to pry.

"I started smoking when I was twelve, right after I got my period," I said, and Penny looked slightly shocked at what I was saying. "Started drinking when I was thirteen, right after I was raped by my middle school principal, who'd been harassing me for years... But that's another story," I said, and Penny nodded, obviously not wanting to pry if I didn't want to delve into further details about it. "Then the fucking started at fourteen."

"The fucking?" she asked.

I nodded. "Yeah," I replied. "Had one serious boyfriend, but that was a long time ago now, back when I was another person, seems like... Then he ended things, which royally fucked me up for a good long while. My parents even talked about sending me to a boarding school because I wouldn't talk to them about it. This was during the ending stages of a trial I was involved in, where if my diagnosis wasn't put on the record, I'd be in a jail cell now, probably not pregnant, and munching pussy in order to survive. I'd be easy, though," I said, shrugging my shoulders as I attempted to alleviate pressure slightly on my back. "I've dealt with worse. I'm half-Gallagher, half-Milkovich, so I can deal..."

"What trial?" she asked then, her voice small.

"My cousin, Franny, was seeing this guy we went to school with," I said quietly. "He got her pregnant, and things went south when that happened..."

"How south?"

I raised my eyes to hers then, and opened my mouth to speak.

. . .

The text from Franny seemed to be urgent, but I couldn't be sure as I yanked on my steel-toed boots, and deposited my brass knuckles in my pocket for good measure, as I put my leather jacket around my shoulders. I went out my window and got down the ladder as quickly as possible, running through the fall evening, heart pounding in my chest as I ran several blocks, knowing that I'd have to hop on a bus, and kept my fingers crossed that it was on time. I turned a corner at the edge of the block, and dashed towards the bus as it pulled up to the stop, and deposited a few dozen coins into the machine before I took my seat.

I leaned back against the window, attempting to slow my heart rate as the bus pulled along the dark streets. Looking up and down, I hoped beyond hope that the bus patrons had all managed to get their tasks done throughout the day, and that they wouldn't be wanting the service. I felt relieved when we pulled up a block away from the townhouse that Franny lived in with Aunt Debbie, and vaguely remembered the autumn welding conference that Aunt Debbie had to attend for the Northwestern University graduates interested in welding as a career. I rolled my eyes at the simplicity of it all as I charged down the street, whipping around the corner and coming towards the pristine building that Franny had lived in for a solid decade.

There were three units in the townhouse; two smaller ones in the front, plus a larger one at the back, which was where Franny and Aunt Debbie lived. I ran through the black, wrought iron gate and around the back of the house, seeing a light streaming into the backyard, among the thick hedges to keep peeping toms away. What entered my ears next was a distinct lull of conversation, but then a shout of fear, followed by a scream of anger, and then the sound of something shattering caused me to jump. Hoping that it wasn't anything valuable that Aunt Debbie had collected, I dashed around the remainder of the house and climbed up the trio of stairs, staring into the dining room, gasping at what I saw.

"Colin! Just listen to me, please!" Franny was begging, her hands held up in a moment of surrender, as she stood there, shaking like a leaf, from a corner. She was hemmed in by a panel of wall on one side, and a curio case on the other, and Colin was blocking her one means of escape, which was straight ahead.

"Listen to you?! For fuck's sake, Franny!" he yelled then, punching the wall right beside her head then, causing her to cower. "All right, I'll listen! Like when you told me that you were on the goddamned pill! Or when you told me you supported my dreams to go for a sports scholarship! Or when you forgave me for getting handsy with your cousin the night of the school dance! Yeah, I'll fucking listen!" he thundered.

I felt my blood boiling then, unknowing that they'd discussed his interactions with me the night of the school dance, much less that Franny had forgiven him.

"Please, baby, please," Franny said, begging him again. "I love you. You know that I love you so much..."

"Franny, we talked about this!" he yelled back.

"It'd be such a great life," she told him, her voice sweet. "You, me, and a baby... A little boy, who looks just like you—"

Colin cut her off then by slamming a fist into her gut then, causing Franny to understanably double over in pain. He grabbed her by the throat next, cutting off her ability to breathe, and then proceeded to thrash her, whereupon he held her in place with one hand, before his other hand curled into a fist and began beating her.

"Colin, stop!" she wheezed. "Please don't!" she cried out. Her eyes caught mine then, from where I stood, struck dumb, in the doorway, and her eyes widened in fear. "Iana!" she cried out then, reaching for me.

Colin whipped around then, his eyes filled with madness. "Fuck no!" he growled. "I'll finish you both off!" he yelled. "After what you did, to my family you little bitch," he screamed, before he turned to look back at Franny, "and what you did to my future, you cunt!"

It was then that I saw Colin draw blood on Franny, and I snapped out of my trance. "Stop it!" I yelled then, my voice tearing from my throat as I charged forward then. I yanked Colin off from Franny then, who fell to her knees and gasped for breath. I dragged Colin around to face me then and grabbed the brass knuckles from my pocket, punching him over and over in his perfect, golden-boy face. Next, I decided to truly take his future away from him; as he begged for mercy like a fucking pussy at my feet, I used my steel-toed boots to smash his kneecaps. And then, as he whined like a little girl, I stomped on his head until he stopped screaming...

. . .

"He was trying to kill her," I said to Penny's question. "I stepped in, like a fucking wild animal, and beat him until he stopped screaming..."

"Did... Did you kill him?"

"No," I replied, shaking my head. "Franny managed to get me to stop... It was almost as if it wasn't me. I mean, I know now it wasn't me. I was having an episode. Seems to happen to me a lot," I said quietly.

"You saved her life, and her baby," she replied.

I dragged my hand across my face. "Keep trying to tell myself that, you know?" I said, a bitter laugh escaping from my lips then as I feel hot tears stream down my face. "After everything that family did to me, and all I went through..." I shook my head. "My lawyer tried to justify all I did to him, and it worked. I think things worked in my favor because I had the best lawyer around, I got a diagnosis on the books, and Colin didn't die..."

"Where is Colin now?" she asked.

"He's been in a coma since that night," I replied. "His parents have some pull or something within the hospital system to keep him on life support. It also has to do with their religion, or something, I don't know that much about it," I said with a shrug.

"They think he'll wake up?"

"Unless their doctor is a total quack, yeah," I replied.

"How long has it been?" she whispered.

I sighed. "Well, I was fourteen when I attacked him, and the trial finished in March. I attacked him in September, right after my sophomore year of high school started," I said, giving her an idea of the timeline. "So, he's been in a coma for over two years now. But his parents are still hopeful. Doctors say he could have memory damage, or be childlike upon waking up."

"His parents are involved? Despite what his dad did to you?"

"His dad's still in prison, and his wife left him, but they're united as Colin's parents. God fucking bless them," I said, my tone sarcastic.

"Now, that's exactly what I like to hear," said a voice from the doorway, and, as Penny and I turned to look, we mutually got a glance of a well-put-together woman, who appeared to be in her late-thirties. She crossed the room then, the door closing behind her, her dark brown hair not an inch out of place, her dark green eyes matching her skirt suit as she smiled, her red painted lips going up perfectly, without causing a wrinkle to her beautiful face as she came towards us and sat across from me, crossing her knees. "Don't mind me, my dear," she said, no ill-affect to her voice as she blew Penny a kiss and turned back to me, looking me up and down. "I must say, Iana, you're much prettier in person; Liam's descriptions never did you justice," she says, and I immediately feel my face flushing pink. "Although, if I'm honest, Penny darling," she said, and turned to Penny, "I think Iana could do with some of your maternity wear..."

I immediately felt my blush receding then as I straightened automatically on the couch. "And you must be Mrs. Kennedy," I said.

She beamed. "Well, technically yes, my dear, but please, call me Rose," she said, and extended her hand to me, which I took a shook, marveling at how soft her skin was. "I'll tell you," she said as she sat back in her chair, "my mother named me Primrose, but I never liked it, especially after The Hunger Games came out," she said, clicking her tongue. "I was thirteen when they were published, and children can be so cruel..."

"I didn't know we had an appointment today, Mother," Penny said, her personal datebook already clasped in her hands as she leafed through it. "There, now. Our next appointment wasn't until the following week, for that charity function you've got."

"Your secretary phoned me and said you'd be in with a friend this afternoon," she said, as she turned and looked out one of the windows for a moment. "Ah. First of December, and the first snow of the season," she remarked then, and I followed her gaze towards the window. "I guess I thought the friend could be the famous Iana that stole Liam's heart, and who said some very nasty things to her," she said, and turned back towards me again. "I won't ask you to forgive my son, Iana, although I've spoken to him on his manners many times over the years, but none so much as recently. The very idea that I brought up my son to respect women, and he thinks he can shit all over your good name like that..." She clicked her tongue again. "I'm ashamed, to say the least, my dear. For I've only just met you, and I already like you."

I laughed aloud then. "Like me? You hardly know me..."

"Not so, my dear. From the moment I heard Liam's hushed conversations with Penelope about you, I simply had to know who you were."

"Don't tell me you ran a background check on her, Mother!" Penny cried out.

"Come now, Penny. Can you blame me?"

"I can't," I said, patting Penny's hand, assuring her that I didn't mind. "Even though my aunt and uncle live in this building, I completely understand your reasoning, Rose. I come from a different neighborhood, and I have some questionable blemishes on my record, and my pastimes have been known to be less than savory... Oh, and I'm sixteen and I'm going to be having a child in three months," I said with a laugh. "I'm quite sure that your mother only did it for your best interests, Penny, but I'm sure it makes you no less embarrassed."

"I like this one, Penny," Rose said with approval as she clapped her hands. "Not only did she deny Liam's untoward claims towards her, but she didn't even threaten to sue him for defamation of character."

I laughed. "Both my parents have law degrees, so I could have!"

Rose tossed back her head and laughed, her wavy, dark brown hair the spitting image of Liam's as her eyes, which Penny had inherited, danced. "I quite like you, my dear."

"And I like you as well, Rose."

Rose pondered my comment for a moment. "You strike me as the type who doesn't like many people..."

I returned her smile. "You'd be right," I reply.

. . .

"Okay, be honest," I said then, clasping my bra back into place on my own as I peered over my shoulder, watching Axel buttoning up his shirt. "Do you regret it?"

Axel took me by the shoulders then and turned me around to face him. "The law coming after me aside?" he asked.

I nodded. "Exactly."

He smiled down at me then without hesitation, before he tilted my chin up and kissed me. "I guess I could get used to this..."

"Could you?" I asked, my fingers slipping in between his buttons; I allowed them to gently touch his abs, which wanted to ripple and rip through his white shirt. God, he was sexy... "Could you get used to this?"

"Yeah," he replied, his own hands snaking back and cupping my ass. "Of course, had you not said anything, I would've just waited four years before asking you to dinner..."

I scoffed then, standing on my toes again, knowing that I needed to taste him again before he had to run away from me, as he always did. "I prefer skipping to dessert, Mr. Richland..."

"You are just like a fucking appetizer," he said, sloping his hands upwards from my ass and running them up my back. "Like a little snack..."

"A snack," I said, nodding my head at the comment.

"Yeah, that's what I said," he replied, his hands hesitating at my shoulders. "A snack."

I peered up at him then, before I allowed myself to cup him from inside his boxers, and Axel automatically stiffened at my hold on him. "I see..."

"Do you?" he wanted to know, his hands moving towards my collar bone. "Do you see?"

"I just might," I replied, running my tongue over my bottom lip then, not allowing myself to break away from the heat of his gaze. "I just want to know one thing..."

"What do you want to know, Iana?" he asked, his voice husky, deep, with an unadulterated desire for forbidden fruit as his hands began to lower themselves.

"I want to know," I said, deliberately speaking very slowly, "if this appetizer," I went on, knowing that I could be punished for it later, but wanting desperately to prolong his time with me, "this snack... Is good enough..."

"Good enough?" he asked, and, by the feel of him, he couldn't last much longer, especially given the pressure my hand gave him, as his hands moved to cup my breasts, and twist my nipples, which responded automatically to his touch.

"Good enough...to eat," I said, smiling slowly up at him.

Axel slowly smiled down at me then, his eyes darkening quickly. "I'd say it's a definite possibility, Iana," he replied then, before yanking me at full-force back onto my bed, and I had to keep my fingers crossed that my parents wouldn't come upstairs and catch us.