#Ike evans x ofc

[justjessame]

Diamonds Are A Boy’s Best Friend Chapter 50

Vera was preparing for her first class as the premier dance instructor in Miami and of course being at the Miramar Playa only added to the appeal.  The Fourth had been a resounding success and Lauren had met a boy, to her brothers’ and father’s horror.  I was starting to think that I’d be the size of a parade float by the time I was ready to deliver our baby, and the time seemed to tick by ever slower - the heat of Miami bearing down on me harder and harder as the days went on.  

My fear wasn’t tempered by the appointments with the doctor, even with Ike by my side and Mimi coming along for support.  He was adamant that I be sedated and unconscious during delivery and that our child be forcibly removed with forceps.  I was horrified by the idea that I wouldn’t be awake to hear our baby’s first cry or breath, that I wouldn’t know what their sex was - or be able to hold them immediately.  Ike wasn’t taking it very well either.  He attempted to find a way to negotiate something more palpable for our family, but the hospital and doctor seemed unwilling to cooperate.  

Mimi went on the hunt for other arrangements, hopeful that she could find something better for us but I worried that we’d run out of time - even as I felt like the time grew longer and longer and I grew heavier and heavier.  

At some point, Ike had gently warned me, every pregnant woman gets to the point where intimacy becomes uncomfortable.  I’d scoffed.  A time when I didn’t WANT Isaac Evans?  Was he insane?  And yet, as the weeks and months ticked by and my body grew bigger with our child - I realized that while my internal hunger for him was alive and well, my physical hunger for him wasn’t as readily available.  Those naps he had once pressed upon me were now something I willingly took on my own, no reminder necessary.  And while I still adored having his heat and body against my own, the urge to be joined wasn’t quite as urgent.  

A tiny part of me worried, I admit, that he might seek the warmth of another bed.  Vera was a floor below us, after all.  Meg Bannock was across the way.  And I’d have to be completely blind to NOT see the other willing and beautiful women who turned their heads to watch my husband as he made his rounds as host of the hotel.  The old adage played in my head, “once a cheat -”, but I would push it down, only to have those photos that Ben had thrust into my hands early into my pregnancy showing Ike holding the towel open for Meg coming rushing back into my head.  

Late one night, so far into my pregnancy that I’d lost count, I woke in our bed and knew that I was alone.  His side was cold and I felt ice and fear creep into my veins.  Ben Diamond’s voice sneaked into our home and my head, reminding me that I was a Diamond and not good enough to be the Queen of the Miramar Playa.  I shut my eyes and pushed it down, thinking of what to do.

Rolling over, I slipped out of our bed, putting my swollen feet into my slippers and grabbing my robe from the back of my vanity chair.  Ignoring my reflection in the mirror, huge is huge after all, I left our room and saw that he wasn’t in the living room or dining room.  He wouldn’t be in Lauren’s room, so I steadied myself and stepped into the hallway and thought he might have gone to the office.  

I found him sitting on the main staircase watching them clean the entryway.  A glass of something brown beside him, he was in his pajamas and a robe and looked like he had just needed a moment of peace.  His eyes, like magnets, found me as I stepped off the elevators and he stood up, but I shook my head.  Silly man.  Waddling to him, he met me on the bottom step.

“Did I wake you?”  His hands went to my bump, his lips to my forehead, cool from whatever was in his glass.  “I’m sorry, sweetheart.”  

“I woke up and you weren’t there,” I murmured, feeling much calmer now that he was in front of me.  My hand went to my lower back, where a sharp pain was hitting me.  “Ow.”  

“Liz?”  Ike looked down at me with all the concern I’d expect from an expectant father.  “What is it?”  

“A knot,” I brushed off his worry even as another stabbing pain hit me.  “I must have rolled out of the bed wrong is all.”  But I ruined that argument when the next pain struck and the warm fluid ran down my leg and puddled on the clean floor under my slipper.  

“No, Liz,” Ike managed to sound calm even as he looked far less than, “you’re in labor.”  

And then everything started moving far faster than I expected.  He was calling for someone to call for a car, but I wondered if we shouldn’t be calling for an ambulance, while he was also asking one of the other workers to go wake up Mimi and also get Danny to stay with Lauren.  While he marshalled the troops, his hand had fallen to my lower back where the knot was and he was slowly massaging it, his other hand cradling my bump.  

“We should go upstairs so I can -” I was going to say change, but Ike shook his head, kissing my temple.  

“They’re just going to put you in a hospital gown when we get there, sweetheart,” he told me, but I was thinking of the squish in my slipper, the wetness in my underwear, the all over gross feeling that I was experiencing.  “Would you feel better if I had them put something down on the carseat?”  

I shrugged, not particularly, but it was better than nothing I supposed.  As Mimi, looking for all the world as if she’d been up and waiting for this moment, came to join us in the hotel lobby - taking over for Ike in the ordering of the troops, Ike returned to his natural state as my husband and partner.  Holding onto me, soothing my fears, but I knew once we got to the hospital I’d be on my own, in darkness, unconscious and without any knowledge of what comes next.  

What came next was a tense drive to the hospital with Mimi next to the driver - who looked as comfortable as any driver who was tasked with driving the owners of the premier resort of Miami while one was in labor as a very stern midwife sat next to him tersely shouting out orders - Ike’s hand was in mine and he was whispering assurances to me.

“I’ll be there, Liz, I promise.”  I was scared, he knew it, that I’d be alone and our baby would be alone.  “I’ll be right there waiting and I’ll make sure you and our baby are safe and -”

We arrived within minutes, or days - my nerves were frayed, the mess of my water - not a singular huge gush of fluid, but rather a series of warm gushes - the pains that kept coming and the unknown of what was waiting for me seems to make everything rush forward then slow down.  It was maddening, and terrifying in heavy doses.  

Ike was correct of course, I was rushed into the hospital and my night clothing was removed for a hospital gown.  And as he held my hand, as he stood next to me, while Mimi tried one last press for my preference of a natural birth, it was overturned for the new, improved sedated birthing method.  And I was given the sedative, and as Ike kissed me and promised me again that he’d be waiting for me when I woke up, when our child was safe and delivered, I closed my eyes and prayed.  

Waking up after you’ve been somewhat forcefully sedated during your labor is entirely disorienting.  I woke up and nothing felt right.  I wasn’t lying flat, for one, and I wasn’t in my bed at home for another.  Then there was the empty feeling - normally when I woke up, at least since the baby had started moving, they would remind me that they were there.  Kicking me from the inside, moving around to let me know that Ike and I had been too active or not active enough the night before.  

“Hey,” I turned my head and there he was.  Isaac Evans, my husband.  And in his arms?  A bundle in a pink blanket.  “She was waiting to meet you for hours, Liz.”  

“Hours?”  My eyes burned, thinking that our daughter had had to wait for me for that long, but he shushed me, and her as she started to fuss.  “Is she -” But then he was sitting on the bed with me, and her tiny face was all I could see.  Framed with dark curls, her tiny red face was perfect, as were her tiny fingers and toes - because I unwrapped her blanket and checked her all over.  She was tiny, as Ike reminded me she took after her mother, and she was demanding - he abstained from mentioning if she took after anyone we knew.  Feeding her by bottle, another new push that came from the advances of child bearing and medicine, formula, we were mesmerized by her.  

“She’s amazing, Elizabeth Diamond Evans.”  Ike whispered as she was drifting off after her meal, being burped, and a diaper change.  “Just like her mother.”  

“I think she takes after her father too,” his curls, I thought, and her eyes when they opened were as dark.  “She has the same little pucker you do.”  My finger traced her lips and I smiled as her mouth suckled naturally at the touch.  

“Are we still sure about her name?”  I nodded, watching her as she slept.  “I think it suits her.”  

“I do, too.”  And I did.  We chose a name that had no thread of our past.  We’d discussed memorializing my mother or even Molly, but both of us agreed that our marriage, our family was a chance to have a fresh start, even as we combined and grew.   

“She’ll have to grow into it,” he was taking her from me to put her back into the hospital’s idea of a bassinet.  “I suppose you had to grow into yours, too.”  He winked at me when he looked up from her tiny form, his hand was still cradling her small head.  

“Still growing into it actually,” I smiled at him and his grin grew.  “Miriam Sarah Evans sounds perfect for her, and I think she’ll grow into it just fine, Isaac.”  

“Why, Elizabeth, are we using our full names now?”  His smile was full enough to have his dimple peeking out and I was beaming back at him.  “I love you, Liz, and our daughter, and our family.”  He was at my side, our foreheads meeting and he was breathing deeply.  “I hated not being there with you when she came into this world screaming.”  

“Me too,” my eyes shut, I couldn’t do this again, not this way.  “She’s a miracle, Ike, but -”  His lips brushed my eyelids. 

“I know, Liz, I know.”

#ike evans x ofc #magic city #alternate universe #mention of smut #mention of pregnancy #mention of child birth #Family Fluff

[spooki-ghoztzz]

hiii!could i please request a Michael (1983) x child!reader who is always excited and things like those?(like,very happy everytime),but Michael doesnt really like the reader??(ik its kinda weird lol,sorry)

(PLATONIC,OFC)

you can skip this!:D

It isn't weird at all! gives me an excuse to write for Michael at least- (im sorry if these are lazy it’s like 7 in the morning and i just woke up and everytime someone requests i kinda have an urge to get it over with and not wait-)

Michael is a asshole,we know this and seeing someone just constantly happy means he’s gonna target you for a good while especially if you’re friends with Liz of C.C/Evan.

He calls you a weirdo? you just smile at him and shrug it off. That’s the only reason he hate your fucking guts- plus when you try to act all buddy-buddy with him it makes it worse.

He’d only ‘act’ nice if your parents are around with his father,really just forcing a smile and not wearing his dumb foxy mask for once. One time when that was the case you asked him to play Candyland with you,Liz and C.C and he just glared at you.”I ain’t gonna fokin-”He just went quiet when his father glared at him and just followed you-

He’s a sore loser at any board games,so expect him to just glare at you the whole time saying in his head “You’re a fokin brat”-

Listen,he doesn’t hate you for having a good life or something or we..it is- mostly since he’s rude to his siblings since they get more attention then him. C.C got a lot more than him and Liz was always spoiled,he was the oldest afterall. Seeing someone else who was either spoiled or have a decent family just ticked him off but like he’d ever admit it.

If you ended up following him like some lost puppy he wouldn’t get mad honestly,as long as you don’t talk or touch him he’s fine with you being around him. (you can talk to him sometimes but expect him to be mad at you for a sec-)

Listen,he isn’t THAT heartless. For example if you hurt yourself by accident and no other adults were around he’d ask you if you’re alright and “Don’t even peep a word about this or i’ll fokin haunt you when i'm dead.” You just smile as he puts a bandaid on the small cut. You gave him a quick hug with a small smile on your face.”Thanks Mikey!”You say before running off. “Oi brat! don’t call me that-..you’re welcome.”

#blueycapsules #blueycapsules x reader #blueycapsules michael #michael afton

[autophobiacomic]

Answering asks under the cut

Anonymous said to autophobiacomic: AHHH THANK GOSH ok I'm the anon who sent the Q about Chris' age, and I legit thought he was 20-something, so 19 is WAYYYY better and now I can stop gagging when he and Chloe get it on. 

Haha, he’s a wise old man on the inside tbh.

Anonymous said to autophobiacomic: For some reason I though Chris was older! Honestly, learning he's still a teenager puts him in a new light for me- he's still a kid himself, and to go through what he did with his parents not long ago must be tough. Also- how tf did he afford a store???                                  

Did I talk about his parents before? I vaguely remember this...I don’t remember LOL. But he’s a college dropout and his parents were pissed about it and kicked him out. He actually doesn’t own the store, he knows the people who did. He acquired his position...probably not too differently from how Chloe acquired hers PFF. Shady business, that music store.

Anonymous said to autophobiacomic: louis's legs in that first panel lmao  

They’re too much fun to draw weird :’)

kikaescoolio said to autophobiacomic:  Pffft! Louis and the banana. X,D This update- 👌💯👏🙏😂  

I couldn’t resist LOL

Anonymous said to autophobiacomic: Louis. LOUIS. L o u i s. Buddy. Pal. Son. The banana. Wyd.            

He likes his bananas! Potassium is good for you!!!

Anonymous said to autophobiacomic: "We're good at being subtle. It should be ok." LOUIS

LMAO

Anonymous said to autophobiacomic: (1) So I was rereading Autophobia (bcus it's amazing) and I got into that argument where Louis' dad takes away his phone. And... do you think that Claude's alcoholism affects their relationship even now? Considering how Louis freaked out because he worried he'd drive his father to drink by being bi, I looked at that fight differently. When Louis starts to raise his voice, and Claude says how tired he is and how he doesn't want to deal with Louis, I felt like Louis stopped in fear of pushing him (2) And whether intentional or not, do you think part of why Louis tries so hard to please his father and be so perfect is because it's kind of emotional manipulation? Like, the equivalent of trying to cut off a toxic relationship, only for the person to say "Please don't leave me like everyone else. I'd kill myself without you." But instead of that, it's more like, Louis worries that if he behaves in a way his dad doesn't like, he'll be driven to drink, so that fear looms over his actions?

I think you answered yourself with this ask haha. But it’s definitely not emotional manipulation, his dad is not doing anything to Louis like that. His father does struggle with alcoholism, but he doesn’t hold that over Louis’ head. Louis worrying about his dad drinking again is his fears amplified by his anxiety.

Anonymous said to autophobiacomic: Is it possible to die from secondhand embarrassment? BECAUSE THESE TWO-!!! Also: LOUIS IF THAT IS 'SUBTLE' I'M AFRAID TO SEE BLATANT.          

LOL!! Yeah...he’s caught up in the high of his romance rn.

Anonymous said to autophobiacomic: THE BANANA THING IN THE UPDATE KILLED ME HAHAHAH. One thing is for sure: you write teenagers scary accurately!            

Haha, thanks! I’ve had the unfortunate experience of being one once LMAO

Anonymous said to autophobiacomic: Hey! So I know it was a while ago but- where is Louis in the beginning of chapter 9? Is that the nurse's office?    

Yeah, the first panel shows the door that reads “Nurse’s”

Anonymous said to autophobiacomic: How long do you think this comic will be?

40-50 chapters or something like that. Not really worried about it, just having fun writing it

Anonymous said to autophobiacomic: Ik that right now Louis probably feels on top of the world, but I still stand by my TRUE fave ship for Autophobia: Louis and a good therapist       

Therapy would certainly help him with his anxiety and learning how to cope

Anonymous said to autophobiacomic: IM YELLIN poor Daniel was all hot and bothered and then Louis FUJCKIN SNAPPED OFF THE BANANA OH MY GOOOOO that is taking the euphimism to a TERRIBLE place     

LMAO! Poor banana

Anonymous said to autophobiacomic: I love how all your character's have developed over time! And yeah, ofc emotionally (ESP Louis bcus damn, that character development) but also stylistically! Like, I love how Melina has become more chubby over time! And Daniel's character looks SOOO different now (RIP staircase nose). It's really cool and honestly uplifting to see how much your art has improved over the years. It really gives me hope for my own possible art progression            

Aw thanks :) Yeah, it makes me feel good seeing how much I’ve improved. Always gotta keep at it and not give up, and don’t be afraid to try different things :D

Anonymous said to autophobiacomic: I couldn't tell- was that Evan asking "what are you doing" when Daniel and Louis were having a moment with the banana, or just a random hs student?                

It was Evan

Anonymous said to autophobiacomic: Is louis still, for lack of a better term, a dick? like obviously he's gone through SO MUCH character development, and he's no longer hot and then cold and then just plain rude to Daniel- but is he still like that with others? basically- has he just grown into being better when it comes to Daniel specifically, or when it comes to everyone?       

Guess you’re gonna have to keep reading to see

[justjessame]

Diamonds Are A Boy’s Best Friend Chapter 49

Five months pregnant, newly married, and the reigning lady of the Miramar Playa wasn’t something I could have predicted when I’d wandered into the hotel a scant half a year earlier.  And I certainly hadn’t planned on juggling redecorating the penthouse while working alongside June, who still grew somewhat strained when I attempted to assure her that I felt more than certain that she could handle the details with her discerning eye, on an upcoming event that wasn’t something I’d had much of a chance to celebrate while living abroad.  

The Fourth of July, Independence Day, wasn’t really a huge deal overseas.  At least not among anyone other than the expats.  

“Not too gaudy,” June and I were murmuring as we went over sketches that some of the men who would be decorating brought us their ideas for buntings and lights.  “We’re known for class, elegance.”  I reiterated.   “The fireworks?”  June nodded, pointing across the beach to where structures were being erected.  “That’s where they’ll be let off?”  

“Yes, Mrs. Evans.”  I smiled, feeling the small burn that grew across my cheeks every time my new name was uttered.  “Far enough away to keep the guests safe, but close enough so the spectacle will be -”

“A sight to behold,” I bit my lip as Ike’s deep voice rumbled behind me.  The warmth of his fingers sliding around my waist, growing broader by the minute it seemed, and locking in place as his lips found their home against my pulse.  “Liz, you look like you’ve been doing this forever.”  Rolling my eyes while relaxing into his embrace, I couldn’t help but feel pleased.  Being Ike’s partner in every sense was beyond anything I’d hoped for, when I’d been away at school, learning how to be the perfect wife.  This was more than anything any of my schools had considered us having.  “You look like you could use a rest though, so I’m calling it.”  

“You are, are you?”  My eyes met June’s and I could see how hers sparkled.  Ike’s care and love for me was something that could have engendered a great deal of jealousy, but instead it mostly just made people wistful for when they’d find it for themselves.  I hoped that the men in Miami were taking notes, because Isaac Evans was a tough act to follow.  “I suppose I’ll allow it.”  I giggled when I felt his growl against my neck and June’s laugh was almost covered by a cough.  “You’re scandalizing June.”  

“June’s fine, aren’t you?”  He asked, and she laughed while nodding and assuring me she had everything covered while I rested.  “See?  Now come along, Mrs. Evans, it’s time for your daily siesta.”  

“Yes, Mr. Evans.”  I shook my head and turned, taking his hand and walking with him to the elevator, mentally taking bets on how long he’d hold off on kissing the breath out of both of us.  

Ike had barely made it until he’d given the elevator operator a break and allowed the doors to shut behind her.  Far more time than I’d bet on, I have to say, and then his mouth was hot on mine and I wondered if we’d ever tire of it.  The taste, the fever pitch we could feel when we touched?  But when we were laying together, naked and sated, his arms around me, his hands soothing our active little one protesting the activity that mommy and daddy had participated in, I felt certain the answer had to be a resounding no.  Because even then, tired, deliciously sore, and glistening with sweat, I wanted him and as his caramel colored eyes met mine, I knew he felt it too.  

Mimi, after an exhaustive search on her own first, and then with Ike and I accompanying her to appointments with the doctors who made it through her tough paces helped us find a doctor to deliver our baby when the time came.  I thought I might break Ike’s hand when the white coated man mentioned forceps and drugs, smiling as he spoke about how I’d be conked out and wake up with a bouncing baby no worse for the wear, but there might be a few marks on my infant’s head from these metal clamps.  

“What happened to natural birth?”  I asked, eyes wide, thinking that while the fear of blood and pain was real, so too was being completely insensible while my child drew first breath and missing the entire thing.  “Do women no longer push the baby out?”

Mimi was staring at the doctor like she wished she should have possibly gone through the questioning a little deeper, but they all spoke about this new great achievement and I was terrified.  Ike pulled me closer to him, lips against my temple, murmuring calming words while his eyes stayed on the doctor.  

“Do I have no other choice?”  Fear was blossoming, fast and burning, fear that hadn’t been there even when I was seemingly alone before.  Because if I was unconscious when the baby came, I wouldn’t know Ike was with me, and he wouldn’t be, not that fathers were allowed in the birthing suite apparently.  Alone.  I’d be alone when I gave birth to our baby, aside from this ghoul in a lab coat and possibly Mimi.  If the hospital allowed her, that is.  

Dinner that night was somber.  I felt numb.  Scared and cold.  The baby was as upset as I was, or so it seemed.  Not able to get comfortable, kicking, moving constantly, I couldn’t get comfortable either.  All I could think about was how alone I’d be, and how alone the baby would be.  If I was out, completely out, then who would be there with them?  No one but a stranger in a lab coat and a nurse, possibly Mimi, but Ike would have to wait in a waiting room and I’d be useless.  

“Liz?”  I blinked, realizing that Lauren had been calling my name for longer than I’d noticed.  “Hey,” she looked worried and I felt horrible for being so inside my own head that I’d caused it.  “Dad told me that the doctor wasn’t a great time.”  I nearly laughed, but realized that she wanted to help.  Looking around I noticed that Ike wasn’t in the apartment, I missed him going down to do his rounds as host.  

Sighing I held open my arms and she crawled over to snuggle up.  Kissing her forehead, I sighed again.  “That, my dear girl, is a massive understatement.”  Her arms worked around so she could hug me and cradle my growing bump, the warmth of her and the soothing feeling of just having her try to help me feel better calmed her sibling down a bit.  “Thank you for that.”

“You were hissing a little,” she giggled, her hand rubbing against the press of a tiny foot.  “I thought baby Evans might be in a mood.”  

“Another understatement,” I murmured, smiling.  “I’m scared.”  It slipped out, a whisper.  

“I know.”  She nodded, breathing deeply.  “We’ll be there, Liz.  All of us.  Dad will fight to be right beside you, you know that.”  

I nodded, feeling a tear slip down my cheek. 

#ike evans x ofc #ben diamond's daughter #sy berman's granddaughter #magic city #alternate universe #mention of smut

[justjessame]

Diamonds Are A Boy’s Best Friend Chapter 13

I took my time choosing the outfit I would wear on my ‘date’ with Sol. I was in the silk dressing gown that matched my nightgown, my hair pinned the way I’d watched the stylist had to create the style a day earlier, searching for a dress I was certain I still had. I almost missed the knock, but called out just loud enough for Lily to hear. She came in giggling.

“What are you doing?” She draped herself across my bed and watched as I struggled to find the dress.

“Looking for one blasted-” I muttered several curse words and then gave a hoot of triumph. “THIS.” I pulled it from the closet and showed her the dress. “What do you think?”

“I think you stole that design from Elizabeth Taylor,” she answered with a smile. “Sol’s not going to stand a chance.”

I studied the dress, happy to see it wasn’t wrinkled or that the delicate overlay hadn’t ripped. “I think Sol will be fine.” I took a closer look at the lace covered bodice, making certain it was still perfect. “Now, shoes.” It was an easier task by far to choose the shoes. I took one look at the heels with straps slashed across them and smiled. “Just right.”

“You act like you’re preparing for war.” Lily offered, watching as I made sure the dress was hung flawlessly from the closet door.

I sat down at my vanity and began my evening makeup. A hint darker on my eyes, darker lips, heavier perfume. Required for dinner and dancing. “Isn’t it?” I was working on my eyeliner, one eye closed and I could see her studying me in the mirror with my open one. “Dating is like a battle. You have to have a plan. You need to wear the right uniform. And you definitely need to have a goal.”

“Sounds like too much work to me.” She sighed and I laughed as I moved on to my other eye.

“Depends on the end goal honestly.” I finished the eyeliner and checked to be certain my eyes were symmetrical. “If I was actually husband hunting, then I’d have picked a more modest dress. Less is more and why buy the cow and all that.” I filled in my brow, seeing that I had Lily captivated with my explanation.

“And if you aren’t husband hunting, you go full Liz Taylor?” She asked, on her stomach, but propped up on her elbows.

“If I’m not husband hunting, then I must be looking for a way to make sure that future husband never has a reason to think the grass is greener somewhere else.” I smiled at her wide eyes. “Practice makes perfect, Lily. And I DO know who Bettie Page is, after all.”

“Did they teach that at school?” I laughed, a real true laugh.

“Some things a girl has to find out on her own, Lily.” I lined my lips and leaned closer to the mirror to make sure none of the liner clumped in the corners. Satisfied, I chose the darkest lipstick I owned, a true deep Cabernet color. Once that was finished, I started unpinning my hair. “Finishing school teaches a lady which fork to use. You’re taught how to keep the maids on task, and how to NOT anger your cook so they’re tempted to ruin your meals. Oral sex doesn’t come up in the curriculum.”

Lily grinned at me. “Why did you take your education-”

“To the next level?” I sighed, my fingers working without thought. “I saw my classmates’ parents come to school looking as though they were strangers. I heard my classmates talk about affairs and divorces. Why bother with all of that if you can head it off from the first?” She nodded her understanding. “During summer breaks, when I was travelling with whichever chaperone Father hired for me, I’d go dancing and see the interest in men’s eyes. Finally I decided, what the hell, and gave in.”

“Was it terrible?” I considered it. “I mean, my first time was just-” she looked bored at the very idea of it.

“It wasn’t earth shattering, but Max was careful and he made sure the second time more than made up for it.” And the third, fourth, and fifth I added in my head.

“Max?” I chuckled. “Where would you meet a ‘Max’ in Europe?”

“France. His first name was Maxime.” I smiled at the memory of his dark hair and eyes. His broad shoulders and the way his hands could feel like they were branding my skin.

“Your first time was in France?” I nodded. “Guess that’s why Paris is the city of love.” I shook my head and my grin grew.

“I’m not sure about love, but he certainly gave me an introduction into making it.” I had moved on to putting my curls in place. Arranging them so they looked exactly how I wanted them to. “Then there was Jack in Edinburg, Liam in Dublin, and Edward in London.” A few one night stands on the coast of France, a fling or two here and there along the way. I met her eyes in the mirror and nearly bit my lip at her shock. “What?”

“Did you get souvenirs too, or just sex?” I gave in and laughed at that.

“Who needs a postcard when you can have an orgasm?” And that set her off on her own tide of giggles.

 I was putting the finishing touches when I heard the doorbell. Lily had left, saying she wanted to see the full effect when I walked downstairs. Almost like a real mother, I thought, if only she wasn’t three years younger than me.

Grabbing my clutch and taking a final look in the mirror I went downstairs to greet my date. Sol looked amazingly unconcerned about being in the foyer of Ben “The Butcher” Diamond’s house. That was a good sign. I took the stairs carefully, seeing Lily’s eyes light up when she saw the total package I’d put together.

“Sol,” I greeted as my feet touched the floor of the foyer. “You look very handsome tonight.” He’d worn his glasses, which had made seeing my entrance easier I hoped. He was smiling as he took in my dress and the rest of me.

“Miss Diamond,” I mouthed ‘Liz’ to him and I would swear he blushed. “Liz, you look stunning.”

“Doesn’t she though,” I stifled a scream at my father’s appearance. “You look absolutely breathtaking, sweetheart.” He kissed my temple and I forced a smile back on my face. “Take care of my girl, Mr. Drucker. Be sure to show her a good time.” If there were ever two statements that could be taken together in a very dirty way, he’d used them.

Sol held the door open for me, then the car door, and as we started down the drive, I asked where we’d be having our date. Another scream built when he said the Miramar.

 He’d reserved a table that was a little more private and for that I was grateful. Maybe in this out of the way spot, Ike wouldn’t see us and come over. After ordering, we settled in for small talk.

“Do you like working here?” I asked, curious about what Ike was like as a boss.

He was taking a drink from his glass when I posed my question, but after swallowing he nodded. “Yeah, it beats digging ditches.” I smiled at his little joke. “In all seriousness, working at the hotel is never dull.” I raised an eyebrow. “You never know who you’ll see or meet just crossing the lobby.”

“You flirt.” I sipped at my wine. “What exactly do you do here?”

And that gave him the room to go and expand, and keep going. Marketing wasn’t nearly as entertaining to me as it was to Sol, but I listened as close as I could even as I felt Ike’s gaze fall on me.

“I almost had to cancel tonight,” that brought me back to the conversation at hand. I must have looked shocked because he went on. “The boss wanted me to work over, we have so many events planned, he’s been high strung with making sure everything goes according to plan.”

“I’m glad you didn’t cancel.” I offered, thinking that Ike was taking the jealousy a tad too far for a married man.

“I promised to come in tomorrow.” He smiled. “Nothing would make me miss our date, Liz.”

I felt Ike’s gaze, burning as hot as the sun, and glanced to my left. He LOOKED like he was checking on a large party nearby, but his eyes kept flicking to our table. “Could you excuse me for a moment, Sol?” He nodded with a smile. “I need to powder my nose.”

I walked through the dining room, knowing I had two sets of eyes trained on me. I stepped into the lobby and took a deep breath. Then, a few heartbeats later, he was beside me. “Liz.”

“Ike.” I didn’t look at him, but when he started on the route to his office, I followed.

The door had barely closed behind me when his hands were pulling me to him. “This dress,” he breathed and then his mouth was on mine and words ceased to matter. His tongue danced with mine and I knew it beat whatever dance Sol had planned for after dinner. Ike had my back pressed against his desk and I wondered when we moved, but then his hands were at the hem of the skirt of my dress and I knew what he was planning.

“Ike,” I warned, pulling away from his kiss. “We can’t.”

“I think you’ll find that we CAN.” He was sliding the fabric up, his fingertips burning through the silk of my stockings. “I want you to go back to dinner, reeking of me.” I was gasping as his mouth found my neck. As he nipped, I nearly ordered him to be careful of leaving marks, but then his hands were lifting me onto the desk. “I want Sol to smell the sex on you, Liz.” His tongue was checking my pulse, and I knew he felt how fast it was pounding. “Sex and ME.” And then he pushed my underwear aside and I was left wondering when he had pulled himself free from his own pants because he was inside of me before I heard another noise. “You’re already soaked, Liz.” He wasn’t being gentle and I hoped he’d locked the door because he knew how loud I could get. “Is that because of Sol?” My fingernails were digging into the arms of his jacket. “Or me?”

“You,” I managed to moan. “Just you.”

It didn’t take long. We didn’t have the time, but we most certainly made the best of what little we had. I was panting into his jacket, as he slowly went limp and withdrew from me. “Liz?” I looked up my hands still clutching his lapels. “What is THIS?” I shook my head. “Is it just sex?” I couldn’t meet his eyes anymore. “Liz, please.”

“What do you want me to say, Ike?” I finally met his eyes again. “That I love you?” His hands were cupping my face as he stared into my eyes. “Would it matter?”

I didn’t give him a chance to answer. I brushed his hands away and lowered myself from his desk. Putting myself back to rights with my back to him, I sighed. “Liz?”

“Goodnight, Ike.” I left, afraid to look back. Afraid of what I’d see.

 I begged off from drinks and dancing with Sol. A headache. Terrible pain. And he dropped me off barely two hours after he’d picked me up. No one greeted me, and I was grateful again. Because I wasn’t sure what expression I wore and until I could put myself back to true rights, I didn’t want to talk to anyone.

#magic city #Ike evans x ofc #ben diamond's daughter #Smut #alternate universe #mutual pining

[justjessame]

Diamonds Are A Boy’s Best Friend Chapter 48

With Mimi doing the research on hospitals and maternity wards, Ike focusing on keeping the resort up and running while also in the black, it fell to Lauren and me to plan an event that would be fitting for the next first lady of the Miramar Playa. She recruited Judy who was well versed in event planning for the resort, even if she did constantly look at me as though I might start yelling at her for no reason at any moment.

She was showing me the flowers that were in season and easily available, and I was choosing from them, when she asked what she should do should my choices be unavailable.

“I trust your eye,” I was staring at the photo prints she had compiled, not paying attention to her, but realized she’d gone completely still and silent. When I looked up she was staring open mouthed at me. “Judy?”

 “It’s just-” she stopped, took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. “I’d rather you choose another selection, that way when the day comes, you won’t be upset.”

My head tilted as I studied her. “They’re flowers, Judy.” She was staring at me like I was planning on marching her into the ocean at gunpoint. “Should the ones I choose be gone or ruined, then another blossom will do, honestly.” I smiled at her. “Things happen, beyond human control, none of them are worth losing our minds or our calm over. I promise you.” I chose a backup for every choice, just to calm the young woman down.

Lauren helped, and by the end of the week, the details were almost entirely picked. Ike was needed for a few, however, and that’s how the three of us ended up in the kitchen with his pastry chef offering us different flavors of cake.

“Liz,” Ike admonished as I took up a dessert fork for the first tasting. I stopped, fork poised over the chunk of pastry, wondering how I could have made a faux pas. “Honestly, sweetheart,” he was smirking and Lauren’s dimples matched his from my other side. He took my fork from me and loaded it up with a healthy bite. “This is practice for the big day, Elizabeth,” he leaned closer, “open up, sweetheart.”

He fed me each flavor, then he tasted his own, while Lauren took a bite too. They were all decadent, delicious, and I was tempted to say that we should have all of them somehow, but this was our first wedding and the smaller one. Since it was a dual event, we chose to have two cakes. A small ‘wedding’ cake, and a larger cake celebrating baby Evans. With three of us, there were no ties, and we managed to choose two flavors.

 The days seemed to speed past. The rest of my things arrived from Chicago with Selma, because she LOVED to travel. She was far happier in Miami than she’d been in Canada. My other aunts, and the extended family came in waves, the resort seemed to be half of my bloodline before long. Ike and Lauren, Arthur and the boys, all welcomed them as though they’d known them forever. In some cases, Minnie told me, it was true. She and Arthur had crossed paths once upon a time, when Sy was an upstart, when Ben was truly a nobody. The fact that they welcomed the women of my family after some of the things she told me about Arthur’s past with my grandfather told me that I was lucky that the Evans’ weren’t as likely to hold a grudge as my own family.

 I woke up the Friday I would finally become Mrs. Isaac Evans with his body wound tight around mine. There were no superstitions that would force Ike to allow us to sleep apart, not for one more night, after we’d been forced apart for so long. His fingers were dancing down my spine, the mosquito netting decorating our new bed swaying in the slight breeze from the crack we’d left in the balcony door. The sound of the waves was our backdrop and I couldn’t ask for more, but he could.

“Good morning, Miss Diamond.” I smiled, my face pressed into his chest so I could inhale the scent of his skin. “That is the LAST time I plan on calling you that, Liz, the very last time.”

 It was the first and only morning since I’d returned that he would consent to NOT helping me get dressed. He left, muttering about the very idea that he wasn’t allowed to perform his long fought for duty, with his own wedding finery draped over his shoulder. He kissed me, promising that he’d be waiting for me at city hall, since I’d be driven by my own driver with Lauren and Selma.

Once he was gone, off to get ready with Stevie, Danny, Arthur, and a few of his friends, Lauren and I were joined by my aunts and Mimi. They kept me company while the beauticians from the salon came up to make sure we all looked gorgeous, room service brought us brunch and drinks for those who wanted to imbibe, and soon enough, Selma and Lauren were helping me into my dress.

I’d counted myself as extremely lucky when I’d found the dress. While it came to the knee, it also managed to look formal enough while not looking as though I were headed toward a shotgun wedding. With my dark hair twisted up, my engagement ring twinkling on my finger, and my makeup as subtle as normal, I was as ready as I could be.

A knock at the door made me assume it was my driver, but I had no clue that I was in for one more surprise. Judy had created a small, perfect and elegant bouquet. While it wasn’t necessary for a civil service, she shyly told me that it seemed like I SHOULD have one. I blinked back tears, thanking her, and took it from her.

With Lauren wearing her Maid of Honor dress, Selma in her own bridesmaid dress, and me wearing my best effort, we made our way downstairs. A short ride downtown, to a building that wasn’t necessarily where I’d imagined my first wedding would take place, but seeing Ike, wearing that same silvery suit that would always take my breath away, waiting for me made me think that city hall was a castle. Ike was a king. And I was destined to be his queen.

 A civil service takes the same form as a wedding. The same words, the same procedure, just spoken by a judge or a magistrate instead of a rabbi or priest. We didn’t have our Chuppah, but I knew we would at our ‘real’ wedding. My wedding band seemed as if it was trying to outshine my engagement ring, and Ike’s? Ike’s band looked like it was meant to never leave his finger from the moment I slipped it on his finger. And if the look on his face told me nothing else, it was that he agreed wholeheartedly.

We kissed, the certificate was witnessed and signed off, and then we left. While it was simple and seemingly anticlimactic, it was perfection because it did what it was meant to do. I was, from this day forward, Mrs, Isaac Evans.

 When we returned to the hotel, me in Ike’s car beside him with our hands linked, I was shocked by our reception. We were greeted, not only by our families, but by what seemed to be the entire employee roster and all the guests. Rice was tossed, well wishes offered, and I didn’t have to be reminded to smile.

“Elizabeth Evans,” Ike’s voice rumbled against my earlobe. “Welcome home.”

 There were toasts, of course. Happy wishes for our marriage, and the impending birth of our little one. Lunch was enjoyed by all, as was cake, and the gifts. I knew that our families would give us things for our new life, the life we created, but the guests of the hotel? People I didn’t know, people I may never know, gave us gifts and cards.

By the end of the party, I was tired, but so extremely happy that I felt like I was floating. Until I realized that I was being carried. Ike had lifted me and carried me to the elevator. Then through the door of our home and straight through to our bedroom. He didn’t pause until we were at the foot of our bed, and then he set me safely on my feet.

“Now, Mrs. Evans,” his smile would always take my breath away, always. “Since I was deterred from my purpose this morning,” his fingers slid down the length of my dress to the hem. “I swear, it won’t happen again.”

Liz’s dress

Lauren’s dress

#ike evans x ofc #ben diamond's daughter #sy berman's granddaughter #magic city #Smut #alternate universe

[justjessame]

Diamonds Are A Boy’s Best Friend Chapter 47

Lauren and I were pampered at the salon. I watched while the beauticians spoke with her, making certain that they weren’t coddling her as a child, but as the teenaged young woman that she both was and wanted to be treated as. She was telling them about the upcoming events for our family, a wedding and a babyshower, both sure to be the talk of Miami.

“Do you have hopes for a girl or boy?” The nail technician was asking me as she buffed my nails. Her smile was sincere, as I was finding most of the people I dealt with throughout the resort.

My free hand fell to my rounded stomach and I took a moment to consider her question. I hadn’t thought about genders, not really, with all the upheaval I’d gone through from the moment I’d know the baby existed. “I should say that it doesn’t matter as long as the baby is healthy, shouldn’t I?” Her smile told me that it was the standard answer. “I haven’t thought about a preference.” My eyes landed on Lauren as she chose a polish color that would pair well with the dress we’d chosen for my first wedding. “I think Lauren should have a little sister.”

 Once we’d been primped and pampered, we went back to the penthouse so Lauren could change for her dinner date with her father and I could settle in for an evening alone.

 “Are you sure you don’t want to come?” Lauren looked conflicted. Excited about being seen as the little lady of the Evans’ household on the arm of her very handsome father and the center of the Miramar elite, but not wanting me to feel alone. I smiled and reminded her that I needed rest.

“You look lovely,” it wasn’t an idle compliment. Her eye, so wonderfully discerning when she redecorated her room, was shining through in her choice of outfits as well. Pale blue, with a small Peter Pan color and a darker blue tie, the overlay of lace and cinched waist with the flare of the skirt was perfect on her. Paired with a pair of kitten heels, a consolation on my part, bartered down from the heels that I wore and she coveted, she looked both her age and her part as heiress of her father’s domain. She’d added the pearl earrings and watch I’d gifted her, proving she understood that less was more.

Her smile was the final and most important accessory to her look. “Thank you, Liz.” When Ike arrived, I thought he was going to faint. The sight of his daughter, with all the small touches added together to show him just how grown up she truly was, was almost too much for the man I love.

I watched, after he kissed me soundly and told me to take it easy and made me promise again to NOT take a long hot bath without him nearby. Rolling my eyes, I crossed my heart and kissed him back. I was smiling as they left, and I settled in for what I hoped would be a quiet night alone.

 I’d only just taken one of the books that I’d bought at the bookstore during my stay in Canada from the bedroom when the knock came to the door. Thinking that it must be my dinner that Ike had told me he would have sent up, I set the book down on the table on my way to answer the door. It wasn’t dinner, but the person waiting on the other side wasn’t unwelcome either.

“You don’t look nearly as rested as I wanted, but-” Mimi was smiling, which took some of the sting out of her words. I stood back to give her room to pass through to our home. “Isaac assured me you were having a quiet night in,” she was looking around with avid curiosity. “He had my bags sent to a room on the floor below this one,” she turned to face me. “Now let’s see how your little one is doing, I hear you have a wedding to get ready for.”

 Mimi was an odd combination of soothing and commanding. Where her sister had been abrasive and domineering, Mimi was the perfect mix. Her hands measured my bump, which she bared for her examination. A few well versed questions, a couple more pokes and prods and we were back to sitting as if we were simply old friends.

“You’re coming along nicely,” she made it sound as though I were baking a loaf of bread, which made the euphemisms about buns and ovens make a bit more sense. “As long as the wedding and the shower is kept mild and understated,” her eyes flickered around the penthouse as though she had doubts about my abilities to reign in the Evans family. “I think everything will be fine moving forward.”

“The birth?” We hadn’t really discussed where baby Evans would make their appearance. “Will I-”

“I’ll look into the hospitals and wards.” Mimi assured me, another knock came to the door, and she waved me off from getting up and answering it. “Isaac ordered my dinner as well, he was happy that I’d be joining his future wife,” her smile told me that she approved of him, who wouldn’t? She ushered the cart laden with our meals in, as comfortable in showing the young woman where to place our meals as I would have been, and smiling as she thanked her and sent her on her way. “This looks decadent AND balanced,” she said, uncovering our trays. “Come, Elizabeth, eat and tell me what you’ve been up to since you left Chicago.”

 I told Mimi, censoring the more exciting details, hoping to keep her from tying me to the bed with Ike’s help. I had a feeling she might, after all, she and her sister couldn’t be completely different. She listened, watching my intake of food, and taking note that I wasn’t rushing for the bathroom so clearly I wasn’t experiencing the same influx of stress that I had before.

She sat with me while Ike and Lauren were gone, listening as I told her about our plans for redecorating our bedroom, and how I’d insisted that my stepdaughter’s was updated as well.

“The rest of the-” she was looking around the penthouse again, searching for what to call it. “Family living space? Do you plan on making it more to your personal tastes?”

I had a cup of tea, less for the need to calm my unborn child and more for the routine of it, and was warmed by the normalcy of the cup in my hand. “Ike has asked me that so many times-” I shook my head and turned to place my cup on the end table beside me. “The penthouse reflects the Miramar Playa’s overall design, Mimi. Why would I try to alter that?”

“Because you OWN the controlling interest?” She knew, it was one of the less stressful parts of my tale, and I was a tad surprised that she was using it for this argument. “I’m not saying you should change the entire resort, Elizabeth, but this is to be your home. These rooms, at the very least, should have YOUR mark on them.”

Food for thought, I sat back, in contemplation until we heard Ike and Lauren’s return, the happy sounds of a father and daughter who had made peace with the past by being reminded that not all memories had to bring pain and suffering.

 Ike joined me in the long warm bath that I’d wanted so badly. Cradling my back to his chest after he’d lathered my entire body up and pampered me far more thoroughly than the salon could ever hope to, he told me about his evening with Lauren.

“You were right,” his lips brushed my temple, his hands slid down my arms and over my chest to curl around my bump from the top and underneath. “She loves having Molly’s jewelry, but I think hearing the stories-” his lips curved into the smile that I adored. “It felt right, sharing them with her, finally. It didn’t hurt, it didn’t feel like I couldn’t breathe anymore.”

I snuggled into his warmth, almost hotter than even the water covering us. “I’m glad you had tonight. You should make it a regular thing,” he hummed, his hands moving steadily over my bump, and was rewarded by what he was clearly wanting when our tiny one kicked one searching hand. “Feeling better, Daddy?”

“Much,” he lowered his head until his chin was resting on my shoulder. “I love you, Liz, and now that Mimi is in house, and she’s OK’d the festivities, we can start finalizing plans.”

“Are you going to paint me a picture of what you’re thinking of for our FIRST wedding?” My hands covered his, fingers sliding between his so we were linked.

“The ‘wedding’ itself has to happen at city hall,” he turned his face to press into my neck and inhale my scent, fresh and clean from his attention. “Then, I thought we would come back here, and be surrounded by our family and friends, and celebrate not only our marriage, BUT-” his hands tightened slightly on our bundle within me, and as though the baby agreed he got a nudge for his efforts. “We need to choose flowers and foods-” instead of focusing on choices, his lips were teasing my skin, causing my eyelids to droop closed. “You taste better than any dessert we have on any of the menus.” His tongue touched my pulse and I sighed. “I want you, Liz, now.”

And, like every single time that Isaac Evans told me something, he followed through with every single ounce of his being.

#ike evans x ofc #ben diamond's daughter #sy berman's granddaughter #magic city #alternate universe #Smut

[justjessame]

Diamonds Are A Boy’s Best Friend Chapter 46

When I met Ike and Lauren in the cafeteria, they were seated at a table and drinking sodas while having an animated conversation.  I smiled as I made my way to the table, excusing myself as I weaved through the other visitors.  

Ike stood up with a careful examination over my entire form top to bottom with his eyes, and returned the smile that hadn’t left my face since I walked out of my father’s room.  “Is that glass for me?”  I reached for the juice he’d gotten me and sat carefully when he held my chair.  “Now, once we finish our drinks, I think we should head home and have lunch before round two of shopping.”  Lauren was studying me carefully, and I wondered how much she’d learned through Ike and her own observant mind.  

“Is it over?”  She asked, taking a sip from her own glass.  When I nodded, she smiled.  “Good.  Now we can all stop worrying so much, right?”  I bit my lip and took care as I drank.  

“I swear, you’re getting far too wise,” Ike was smiling as he shook his head.  “When you’re ready, ladies, we’ll go home and unload.  And rest.”  His eyes landed on me and I rolled my eyes.  “You’re running on adrenaline now, Liz, but Mimi isn’t coming for my head if she sees bags under your eyes.”  Shaking my head, we sat and finished our drinks, then Ike helped me to my feet and tucked both of his ladies’ hands into the crook of his elbows and walked us back to the overloaded car.  

We gave Ray-Ray the chore of finding people to take Lauren’s purchases upstairs, but I kept the smaller bag with me.  Choosing to dine at one of the outdoor choices, I waited until we’d all ordered to finally put the bag in front of my stepdaughter.  “I felt like you should have a little something new to go with your new room.”  

Ike’s eyebrows rose,  watching as Lauren pulled the wrapped boxes out of the bag.  I hoped he approved of what I’d done, and as I shifted my gaze between the two, I felt more certain he did.  Lauren’s gasp, as she opened the largest box first, showing Ike the small strand of pearls I’d chosen, and each subsequent one, the bracelet, the watch, and the earrings made her father’s smile grow.  

She jumped from her chair and nearly tipped me out of mine in her exuberant show of happiness, but I wouldn’t have wished for a more regulated response.  “Thank you, Liz, they’re-”  She pulled back and I could see her dimple, and her eyes looking slightly glassy.  “Grown up.”  

“A young lady can’t do wrong with a set of pearls, Lauren.”  I whispered, brushing her bangs back and holding her face between my hands.  “And a nice watch.”  I kissed her forehead and felt Ike’s hand on my back.  “I’m glad you like them, sweetheart.”  

Lauren saw a friend nearby and asked if she could show them, Ike nodded his agreement and off she ran, her boxes carefully in the bag they came in, but the wrapping paper still littering our table. 

“That was a-” my eyes met his and he leaned close and kissed me lightly.  “You’re so good for her, for us, Liz.”  I smiled up at him and his hand fell naturally to the top of my bump.  “Now that we’re alone,” I snorted and looked at the people surrounding us.  “You know what I mean,” I chanced a glance toward our daughter and nodded.  “How did it go?”  

While Lauren and her friend gushed together over my gift to her, I told Ike every decadent detail of my meeting with Ben and Klein and by the end he was as relaxed and happy as I felt.  “It’s not over, not until he’s behind bars permanently.”  I reminded him, but my hand joined his on my bump.  “But I think Lauren is right, we can stop worrying as much.”  She rejoined us as the waiter brought our meals, taking away the wrapping paper with a smile as I thanked him.  

We enjoyed lunch, and after I convinced Ike that sitting down while eating counted as rest, we left the hotel for the second round of shopping.  I was taken aback by how knowledgeable Ike was about baby furniture.  I suppose I shouldn’t have been, he was a father three times over, but every single woman I’d met swore that fathers showed none of the interest that mothers did where their children’s needs were concerned.  

He knew my tastes, and he angled us toward the darker woods and high quality sturdy pieces.  He asked questions I wouldn’t have thought to ask, he tested features I wouldn’t have known to try, and Lauren and I watched in interest as he made careful picks.  The decor after the furniture was chosen was more of a family affair.

“Bunnies or bears?”  Lauren asked, her nose scrunched up at the offerings.    

I was surrounded by so many woodland creatures I almost felt overwhelmed.  Bunnies or bears indeed.  I bit my lip as I touched each pattern, wondering if the color mattered, and if blue, pink, green, or some mix of the three with a touch of yellow was the best route.  My eyes met Ike’s and his smile calmed me a bit.  

“Lauren’s was bunnies.”  His dimple teased me and his eyes twinkled.  “Danny and Stevie had bears.”  

Ah, masculine and feminine or luck of the draw?  Before I could ask, the softest looking white lamb caught my eye.  I walked to it, and touched it carefully.  “Lambs.”  I offered softly, turning my head to see the two of them watching me with mirrored smiles.  “Let’s do lambs.”  

Buttercream yellow, with lamb prints, dark wooden furniture and a growing sense of yearning to meet our little one was what we had when we made it home.  The furniture would come in a few days, the walls would be painted by then, and the accents we’d chosen would be in place and waiting.  

“We should plan a babyshower.”  Lauren said with authority as we had dinner in the penthouse that night.  I raised an eyebrow, but Ike nodded.  

“I don’t know anyone,” my words came slowly, but were no less true for the reluctance to admit it.  “Not in Miami, at least.”  I knew people in Europe, I knew my family in Chicago, but Miami?  Well I was having dinner with two of the small handful I knew by name.  

“Then we invite your family,” Ike said with a grin.  “And we make it an event for the hotel.”  I rolled my eyes.  “What?  If we combine the shower with our first wedding.”  My eyes widened.  “Did I mention that Sid left a message that the judge confirmed the divorce?  I got it before we left this morning.”  His eyes belied the casual tone he used to deliver such amazing news and I was gaping at him.  

Lauren squealed, but I stared.  “When would you want this to take place?”  He shared a conspiratory look with his daughter and I suddenly knew what their animated conversation in the hospital cafeteria had been about.  

“I have the office working on sending out the invites to your family now,” I nearly asked how, but shook my head.  Sid.  I had touched base with him before I came back and gave him contact information for Minnie.  “As for our wedding and reception/babyshower?”  His smile grew.  “I think Lauren and June might be able to make something come together.”  I shook my head, but couldn’t fight my own smile.  “I told you, Elizabeth Diamond, I want to marry you, SOON.”  

“And I want to make sure that everyone knows that my baby brother or sister is going to be so welcome to the family!”  Lauren added, smiling at me across the table.  “Are you too tired to come see what my room looks like so far?”  She’d been in the room most of the evening, calling out to Ike when she needed his help, and I’d been regulated to the couch to wait and rest.  

“Absolutely not,” I smiled.  “I want to see how magnificent it looks.”  Putting my napkin on top of my plate while Ike begged off to have a cigar on the balcony, I followed Lauren to her room.  Once again I found myself gaping.  She’d managed to change her room from small girl princess to teenage nobility in one day, and she was right it wasn’t finished.  We still had the painters coming, and the window treatments to select.  “Oh my.” I gasped, as she pointed out the touches she felt brought everything together.  “You have such a truly discerning eye, Lauren.”  She was beaming at me as I touched the high post of the bed she’d chosen.  While I preferred darker stains, she chose a lighter oak, but it managed to look just as regal.  The prints and the colors worked together so well that I wanted to tell her that her father should look to her if he chose to redecorate the resort.  

“I love it.”  She said, with a firm shake of her head.  “It’s so-” She sighed with a contentment that made my own smile grow again.  “Thank you, Liz.”  

“For what?”  I asked, as she easily folded into my body for a hug that I was growing accustomed to.  

“Being you.”  She whispered and my heart tugged at how much I found myself loving her, and Ike and his family.  My family.  “I love you.”  “I love you, sweetheart.”  

Ike was back in our bedroom in his boxers with a jewelry box beside him on the bed when I came to bed.  “Molly’s?”  I asked, starting to undress, but he was on his feet with his hands replacing mine before I had more than half a zipper undone.  

“I told you, Liz, this is my job.”  His lips touched the nape of my neck before he answered my dangling question.  “Yes, the box was Molly’s.  I thought that I’d get your help to make sure it’s all worthy of adding to Lauren’t collection.”  I nearly told him that it was, but he seemed to want me to go through it with him so I stopped myself.  Once he had me bare skinned before him, he pulled one of my loose and comfortable nightgowns from a drawer and let it fall over my head and settle on my body.  “Got to keep you covered so my mind stays on the task.” He offered with a long kiss.  “But as soon as we’re finished-”  I felt a stir with that lingering promise.  

Sitting on the bed with Molly’s box between us, I watched and listened as he told me about each piece.  He was right, there wasn’t a lot of it, but it was quality.  Which I expected from Isaac Evans when it came to the woman he loved.  

“Give her all of it,” I told him, once he showed me the last pair of earrings.  His eyes met mine and I smiled.  “Give it to her and tell her every story and detail you just told me.”  I took his hand and kissed each finger.  “Show her how much you adored Molly, how you remember the reasons you gave her each piece, and how she looked when she wore them.”  He was staring at me as I used my hand to place his on my cheek, leaning into the touch of his skin on mine as he cupped my face.  “Remind her that you won’t forget her mother, no matter how much you love me, no matter how excited you are about our baby, tell her how much she reminds you of her.  She idolizes her, Ike, and after hearing you tell me about her, I can see why.”  

The next morning, after reminding ME why he adored me, how every detail of every moment since we first met was cemented as firmly in his mind and memory as Molly’s was, Ike helped me get ready for another day.  And at breakfast, again in the penthouse, he told Lauren that they would be having dinner together alone that night.  When she looked at me with worry, I smiled.

“Every young woman needs a dinner alone with the first man to love her, Lauren.”  I said, calming whatever fears she may have harbored.  “And I plan on having a nice quiet dinner and a long hot-”

“No baths without me here,” Ike reminded me and I sighed.  “Please?” 

“Fine, a nice quiet dinner and I’ll disappear into a book.”  Amended, I could see that he was appeased.  “Now, as for today-”

We talked about Ike’s schedule, Lauren’s plans for a day of leisure, and I decided to have a salon day.  When Lauren heard, she looked at me with such yearning that I giggled and invited her along.  A girls’ day followed by a father/daughter dinner seemed like a perfect sort of day to me.  

#ike evans x ofc #magic city #sy berman's granddaughter #ben diamond's daughter #alternative universe

[justjessame]

Diamonds Are A Boy’s Best Friend Chapter 45

Monday dawned bright and sunny.  As I was quickly finding every day in Miami tended to, although Ike and Arthur, eyes twinkling had teased me that I might enjoy hurricane season.  Those choices seemed rather extreme, but I chose not to dwell on them.  Today was the day.  The day that Ben Diamond would meet his daughter in her full power, and then see just how badly he’d judged her.  I smiled as Ike and I got ready.  

Breakfast was a happy affair, Lauren excited because her room would begin it’s renovations while we were gone, and she was coming with Ike and I to pick up the accent pieces and to help us pick out the nursery furniture.  She would wait with Ike nearby in the hospital while I met with Ben, close enough for Ike to be able to rush to my side, but far enough to keep him out of Ben’s crosshairs when I stoked his irritation to hair-raising degrees.  

Dressed and happy, we piled into Ike’s convertible and headed out to do a little shopping before I was due at the meeting with Klein.  First we went to a department store, since Lauren’s room was first on the list to complete, mine and Ike’s I had deemed less important for now.  I wanted the salesman to have time to search for the items I requested before we got started, so it could come together with more ease.  While Ike indulged Lauren’s decor additions, my eye caught the jewelry counter and I was drawn toward it with another pressing need.  

I smiled as Ike and Lauren debated color schemes from my vantage point, asking the saleslady behind the glass display cases for something I’d thought about when I asked Ike about Molly’s jewelry.  She showed me several options, and I shot another glance to where Ike was in serious conversation with his daughter about throw pillows.  Taking in the slender young woman who was family, I chose the option I found most fitting and agreed to the few additional pieces the woman showed me.  Asking her to wrap them up carefully, boxed, gift wrapped and put in a sturdy shopping bag, I smiled as I paid.  

“She’s a lucky girl,” the woman offered, her nod toward where my future stood, comparing two bedding sets.  “Her parents clearly spoil her.”  I returned her smile with a nod.  

“She deserves every single thing we give her.”  I rejoined them and nodded as they showed me what Lauren had picked so far.  “That looks lovely.”  The colors she chose were elegant and understated, and she beamed at me, a very Ike-like dimple peeking at me.  “Let’s see what else we can find.”  

I helped her choose a larger jewelry box, even though she told me she didn’t have nearly enough to fill it.  Ike’s eyes met mine and his smile grew at the reminder that he wanted me to go through Molly’s things to give to Lauren, adding to her bounty, as it were.  “I’m sure you’ll collect more, Lo, you’re growing up now.”  

I bit my lip and we finished with plenty of time to get back to the hospital.  Once Ike and the helper from the store loaded up the boot of the car, and part of the backseat, we were off.  I smiled as I told Ike we might have to make a trip back home to drop things off before we went out for the rest of our shopping trip. His grin grew and I knew I wanted our life to be filled with this easy happiness that we were experiencing.  

As he pulled into the hospital lot, the cloud of one last less than enjoyable chore descended over me.  My father.  A man who should be adding to my joy was a blight on it, and until I had that issue well in hand, the cloud would hover and threaten every ounce of excitement Ike and our family could hope to have.  

Ike took Lauren off to the cafeteria, telling me he’d grab me something to drink for when I rejoined them, and I went to the front desk to ask for my father’s room number.  Once given it, I stepped onto the elevator and was taken to the appropriate floor.  I had a little time before Klein was due, so taking a deep breath, I walked through the doorway with my head held high.  

Ben’s back was raised, his hand holding a newspaper as he idly read through the pages as though he had not a care in the world.  I took a moment to study him before he took note of whom had entered his room.  

“Be a dear and-” his eyes met mine and he stopped.  “Elizabeth.”  Lips naturally inclined to smirk will smirk, I suppose, no matter the situation one is placed in.  “To what do I owe the pleasure of a visit from my erstwhile daughter in her current condition.”  Eyes landing on my very obvious state and my mouth curved in a smile of my own.

“Father.”  I tilted my head in the same slighted greeting.  “You look well, considering.”  He did.  For a man who had been shot at, if not shot into, and then having fallen through a glass ceiling, he looked no worse for the wear.  Pity.  “May I?”  I gestured to a chair near his bed and he gave a small nod of assent.  “I’ve been on my feet for most of the morning, shopping.”  His eyes widened subtly.  “I’m helping Lauren redecorate her room.  The whims of teenagers.”  My smile grew as his smirk started to fade.  “Didn’t you know?”  I raised an eyebrow, feigning surprise.  “I thought you knew every move I made, or that Ike made.”  Holding up my left hand I showed him my ring.  “I’d tell you the date, but well, there’s going to be two.  And with the divorce being fast tracked-” I shrugged.  C’est la vie.  “Aren’t you going to congratulate me, Father?  Isn’t this what you wanted?  Me and Isaac Evans joined in Holy matrimony with the added bonus of a baby on the way?”  

I watched as he chewed on the many words that I knew he wanted to spit at me, but an authoritative knock came to the doorframe and I smiled as I looked up.  “Mr. Diamond,” Mr. Klein offered a reptilian smile that looked as predatory as my father’s could look, gracing his rodent-like face.  “And Miss Diamond.”  His smile grew, and I could swear his eyes were twinkling with glee.  

“Mr. Klein,” I stood up and moved away from my father’s bedside, feeling that distance from the source of an explosion I felt may be coming would be a smart move.  “To what do we owe the pleasure of a visit from the State’s Attorney’s office?”  My smile was easy, I knew what was coming, after all.  And I watched, as the dawning realization flickered across my father’s face and suddenly, while Klein told him exactly what brought him to call and what fate my father could expect, he looked like he might need the hospital bed he was occupying.  

Ben’s eyes, flashing finally to me, where I’d moved closer to the door held more contempt than I’d ever seen him show.  More hatred, more anger, more rage.  And my smile grew as spittal formed on the corners of his mouth and his words finally came to flow as freely as a gusher.  The things he called me, the curses he issued, the threats all did nothing to make my smile drop.  As he finally stopped to catch his breath, I offered one final parting shot to the man who I should have felt something more than the indifference I felt for him.

“Oh and Ben?”  His eyes narrowed as I dropped the title he’d so happily crowed about when I came home.  “I do hope that the public defender's office has able minds, since you have slightly more than a poverty level of wealth.  Sy made certain of that.”  Turning on my heels, I left, with my head still high and my back straight, even as he unloaded another folly of rage at me and my Pop-Pop.

#ike evans x ofc #magic city #ben diamond's daughter #sy berman's granddaughter #alternate universe

[justjessame]

Diamonds Are A Boy’s Best Friend Chapter 44

Ike and I crossed the threshold of the penthouse and I sighed at how quiet it was.  No music coming from Lauren’s room.  No television program playing.  No voices or ringing phones.  Just Ike and me, and all I could think about was how much I wanted to enjoy it.  

“Mr. Evans?”  He turned to see me pulling off the thin sweater I’d worn over my outfit.  “Could I interest you in a siesta?”  

He smiled, reaching for me.  “I think I could be tempted, Miss Diamond.”  Head lowering to meet my upturned face, our lips brushed as our arms wrapped around one another.  “I love you,” he breathed, tongue dipping back into my mouth for another taste.  “And I cannot wait to answer you with ‘Mrs. Evans’.”  I smiled into his kiss and he lifted me into his arms, making me giggle.  

“You’re going to break your back, Ike.”  I felt huge, and he was a big man, but honestly.  “And that would be a damn shame, since I happen to need you in peak physical condition for what I have planned.”  

Eyes twinkling as he carefully lowered me to the bed, he shook his head.  “A nap, Liz, that’s what you have planned.”  I was unbuttoning his slacks after I’d unhooked his belt as he chuckled.  “Don’t make me-”

“What will you do to make me behave, Isaac?”  I dared, tugging his belt loose and throwing it to the floor, letting his unfastened pants pool around his feet.  My fingertips slid under the waistband of his shorts, my eyes locked on his.  “Will you punish me?”  I pulled the fabric slowly down, taking care to not hook him on the elastic.  I licked my lips as his shorts landed on top of his pants.  “Are you going to send me to bed without-”  I leaned forward and licked along the swollen head of his most private part.  I hummed when I heard his moan, and again when his fingers slid through my hair.  Sitting on the edge of our bed, I tasted Ike carefully, savoring him every single inch.  “Are we still sure I need a nap?”  I asked as I stroked the lubricated length of him.  

I was naked faster than I’d gotten his pants off of him, and he yanked his own shirt off, kicked his shoes across the floor and untangled his feet from his pants and boxers.  And then, I was straddling him, our mouths locked together as I showed Ike how much more enjoyable a nap could be after we had dessert.  

I woke up with him tight against my back, the sun dipping low outside our window.  Ike’s breathing was even and deep and I smiled, thinking that he needed that nap more than I did.  And then, as I laid there, with his hand on top of my bump, I felt it and so did he.  The first hard kick that both of us got to experience, waking him up and then repeating as he sighed and moved his hand over the curve.  

“Hey, Baby Evans,” he whispered, his smile curving against the skin of my shoulder where he moved to kiss.  “Liz, I think our little one wants attention.” 

“I think our little one wanted Daddy to notice them.”  I smiled, putting my hand over his as another kick came.  “I’ve been feeling them for a while now.”  

Ike moved until his face was beside our hands.  “Is that right, little one?”  Another bump.  “Do you know how much daddy loves you already?”  Bump.  “Just stay put for a little while longer, so daddy can make an honest woman out of mommy, ok?”  He kissed the curve of my stomach and I smacked his shoulder with my free hand.  

“‘Honest woman’?”  I raised my eyebrow as he kissed his way back up my body.  “I’m not honest enough for you?”  

Kissing me deeply, he pulled away and smiled.  “I think you’re honest, Liz, more honest than the rest of us.”  I shook my head and pulled him back for another kiss.  When we parted again he was still smiling.  “I do want to marry you, soon.”  

“I know, and we will.”  I swallowed as I stared into his eyes.  “Just the divorce finalization and-”

“Ben.” He sighed, but nodded.  “You’re right.  Let’s take care of business before we celebrate.”  We heard the door open in the main living area and voices.  “Lauren’s home.”  He stood up and pulled on his clothes as I sat up.  “You can stay in bed if you want to,” he started, but I was already pulling on my own things.  

“While that is very tempting, I want to see how Lauren’s day with her brothers went.”  He smiled and helped me with anything he felt I needed help with, and kissed me soundly before we opened the bedroom door.

“Pop is right,” he muttered, and I smiled, thinking about how Arthur wanted us together as a family, and what he’d said about my place in it.

Lauren was glowing with happiness.  And I was happy to see that Danny was still with her.  She was telling him about redecorating her room, and how I’d helped her pick out new clothes and he was smiling at her infectious glee.  Getting him to agree to a fashion show, she rushed off, leaving Danny, Ike, and me on our own.

“You’re good for her,” he offered, taking in how close Ike held me on the couch.  “And for him,” he pointed at his dad.  “I heard about the ledger.”  I nodded, knowing he wanted to have his say and with Lauren picking an outfit to exhibit he had time.  “When I-” he stopped, glancing at Ike and I knew what he was going to say, or the gist of it.

“My father isn’t cut off the same cloth that Ike is, Danny.”  I took a deep breath and covered Ike’s hand on my bump with my own.  “When I handed the ledger over, I knew precisely where it would lead.”

Danny nodded, but we had to stop our conversation as Lauren came back wearing her first pick.  Her brother smiled at her and told her how grown up she looked, and also offered he wasn't sure he approved.  With an eye roll, but also a huge smile, Lauren went back for another change.  

“I heard about what you requested.” The Evans family kept off the radar of the State’s Attorney.  “You know that only covers dealings with Ben, right?”  

“We know,” Ike answered, kissing my temple.  “Ben’s all there was, Danny.”  

Another nod, and then we all focused on Lauren’s show.  When she closed with her maid of honor dress, Danny asked the million dollar question.  “When?”

“The first ceremony,” Ike again came to the rescue, “is loosely planned for Friday.”  My eyes widened, I had to think about whether I’d checked the fit of my less formal dress.  “If Sid’s right and the divorce is finalized early, that is.”  That’s right, we may have to postpone.  “The second one, where I want everyone to see us exchange vows?  After the baby comes and Liz is ready.”  I smiled and shook my head.

“When is the baby due?”  Lauren had changed and heard the end of the conversation.  I told her and my eyes really did go wide when I realized what I’d forgotten since I’d returned.

“I need to call Mimi.”  Danny and Lauren looked confused.  “My midwife, she told me that she’d give me names of doctors and midwives when I got settled and it-”

“Slipped your mind?”  Ike was chuckling.  “I don’t know how you could have forgotten.”  Teasing me about how much was on our plate was he?  

“Yes, well, I keep being diverted, Mr. Evans.”  I smirked as Danny blushed and Lauren giggled.  “I’ll call her tomorrow.”  

Mimi had a list, but she also made an offer that I readily accepted.  With Ike beside me, she’d offered to come stay until the baby made its appearance and Ike nodded his agreement, assuring her, when he took the phone from me, that he would provide both room and board.  He wanted me to be comfortable and he wanted me to have someone near me that I trusted.  Mimi fit both bills.  

That chore done, we spent the rest of the weekend doing family things.  Watching shows with Lauren.  Playing games and eating family meals.  Dinner with the other three Evans men in the penthouse, I could see the strain leaving Danny and Ike, but there was still an undercurrent between Steview and Ike that I meant to find more out about.

In bed, the night before seeing my father, I finally asked.  What happened with Stevie while I was gone?  And Ike sighed heavily and told me.  Forcing me to understand just how far from the family tree Stevie fell and how much closer to mine he rolled.  

“No wonder Klein looked like he would rather eat glass than sign that agreement,” he had had a moment of irritation when I requested it, but the urge to get my father was higher even than his own parental grief apparently.  “And Lily is gone, of course, so trying to take out my father didn’t even garner him the prize.”  I shook my head.  “He wants to make his own way, Ike, but what you’re telling me-” I sighed as hard as  he had.  “What will we do?”

“Nothing,” he whispered, kissing my neck.  “I’m going to have to accept that Stevie is an adult, Liz, and his mistakes are his.”  I felt how tense that reality made him and I wanted to throw something.  “I have to hope that he learned something from me, and he won’t go too far wrong.”  I nodded, wishing like hell that I could fix everything for him, but that was silly and childish.  He was right, Stevie was an adult, young enough to think he was invincible and infallible, but old enough to be forced to face the consequences of his actions.  

“Then I’ll hope with you,” my voice was quiet, but I felt his smile curve against my skin.  “Side by side, Ike.”

“Forever,” he promised.

#ike evans x ofc #magic city #sy berman's granddaughter #ben diamond's daughter #slight smut #pregnancy #alternative universe

[justjessame]

Diamonds Are A  Boy’s Best Friend Chapter 43

Ike and I agreed that we’d spend the weekend as a family, with Lauren and Arthur, away from the hotel.  I think he realized that I needed to know that my life wouldn’t simply revolve around our business and home, and he also knew that I hadn’t really had an opportunity to see Miami.  The Evanses had a plan, which I was curious to know how they devised it without me noticing, to show me the non-tourist parts of the city.  

Arthur had a separate plot, which we found out about when we stopped at a restaurant for lunch, that made me fearful that Ike would either finally pop the blood vessel that had such a workout during our meeting with Meg or possibly end up back in jail.  Waiting for us in a more upscale eatery than our day had prepared me for, were Ike’s two sons, Stevie and Danny.  Lauren’s face broke out in a huge grin at the sight of her two brothers, but Ike’s arm around me seemed to tense and tighten.  

“You want the whole family together for the wedding?” Arthur muttered as we slowly made our way to the reserved table.  “This is the first step.”  I took a fortifying breath, and walked with the same poise that had been practically beaten into me during my school years.  “See, Liz understands.” 

I almost laughed.  I understood most certainly, but I also knew that Ike would have preferred to hash out family business behind closed doors.  As we finally closed in on the table I thought I could see Arthur’s point.  Witnesses would make the Evans men less likely to say things or cause a scene that would ruin the point of the endeavor.  

“Liz,” Stevie said with a smile that was almost as charming as his father’s.  He stood up to hold out my chair for me as Danny did the same for Lauren.  Before I could sit, he hugged me, causing Ike to stiffen further and I wondered what the issue with Stevie being slightly demonstrative with me could be?  “You’re glowing.”  He pulled away, a smile still in place.  “How’s my sibling growing?”  

I sat, thanking him for the compliment and his manners.  “The baby seems to be more settled now,” his eyes were twinkling, so I knew Lily had told him about my sickness.  

“Dad,” Stevie’s smile was looking more strained, but at least he was trying.  Danny and Ike had gotten their own greetings out of the way, and while it didn’t look cozy or comfortable at our table, at least no one was throwing bread or drinks.  Yet.

After ordering, as Lauren and her brothers talked about what they’d been doing since the breach, Arthur took a look around the table and sighed.  “Could you three schmucks get the issues out in the open so we can prepare for the next phase in this family?”  I bit my lip, thinking that Arthur wasn’t a beat about the bush type of man.  He gestured at me and smiled.  “After all, we have a new life coming, and a new lady of the family to welcome.”  He shook his head.  “Raised you better than this,” he muttered at Ike, and then shot the boys a glare.  “And you two, this is your father, act like it.”

I was taking in the fact that all three Evans men that Arthur had quietly given a dressing down to looked sheepish.  Good.  Ike took a drink of water and then reached for my hand.  “Pop’s right,” our fingers linked, my engagement ring twinkling.  “You’re my family, all of you,” he smiled at Lauren and it stayed as he looked at his two sons.  “I’m proud of who you’ve become, even if I don’t agree or understand why you choose the paths you choose, but-”

“I need to make my own way,” Stevie offered, taking a deep breath and interrupting his father, he kept going.  “I shouldn’t have tried to make that way through-” his eyes met me and he shook his head.  “Ben was a bad route.”  No kidding, I thought.  “And the mistakes I made,” what mistake other than my father, I wanted to know, but this was neither the time nor the place.  “I’m sorry that I put you in that position.”  

“The fact that you’re willing to admit you messed up,” Arthur said, before Ike could take the wheel, “shows that you’re growing up.  Good, it’s about time.”  

Danny was sitting quietly, taking in the conversation, but looking awkwardly on the outside.  The law-abiding one, I thought, but then he cleared his throat.  “I never would have gone against you,” yet, you took the job at Klein’s office knowing he had a vendetta against Ben which made your father a target.  “Never.  I just wanted a path forward.”  Onward and upward.  “I’m glad that Liz and you found one another, and-”  he finally met my gaze and smiled, I thought he must look more like Molly with his fairness.  “I want to be there when you two get married.  I want to meet my new baby sister or brother.”  

Ike had listened, even after being interrupted, and I glanced at him to see that the vein had relaxed and he looked far less tense than when we’d arrived.  “I want you both there too.”  His smile finally came out fully, and it felt like both Lauren and I released a breath we’d been holding.  “Liz and I,” he raised my hand to kiss my knuckles.  “This is right.”  

Lunch went far smoother than I had worried it wouldn’t go when we walked in.  Once the strain was released, not that I had any false hope that we wouldn’t have to truly delve into all of it privately and in depth, we had what anyone taking note of our party would assume was a completely normal family meal.  Laughter, joking, and even a few jabs were given while we ate through a meal that had me yearning for a nap.  Which Ike noticed, because the man was attuned to me and my needs better than I was, and he ended our day early.

“Let Lauren stay if she wants to,” I asked, as I saw that she clearly wanted more time with her brothers.  “I’m sure that Stevie or Danny can bring her home.”  

“Absolutely,” Danny said with a smile.  “I’ll make sure she’s back upstairs before nightfall.” 

“Yeah and I’ll take Grandpa home,” Stevie agreed, since he was living away from the resort it made sense.  “Get the mother of baby Evans home so she can rest.”  Another round of hugs, Arthur, Danny, and Lauren making sure I felt like family, and Ike was hustling me to the car.  

“I feel like a child,” I pouted, but the yawn that escaped ruined it.  

Ike grinned at me and I realized that we’d be all alone for hours in our rooms.  “First a nap, Liz,” since he seemed to read my mind.  “Then we’ll make sure we take complete advantage of the time alone.”

#Ike evans x ofc #magic city #alternative universe #ben diamond's daughter #sy berman's granddaughter

[justjessame]

Diamonds Are A Boy’s Best Friend Chapter 42

When one thing gets crossed off the list, the next one at the top can either be something enjoyable or something taxing.  While I knew that a meeting with Meg was looming on the literal horizon for the following morning, I chose to get Lauren and start shopping for her room update.  

Kissing Ike goodbye, with a promise that I wouldn’t overdo things, my future stepdaughter and I got into the car and drove to the area where I’d seen the bed I planned on buying for our bedroom.  I let Lauren lead, this was to be HER room, so she needed to make it her own.  I told her, when her eyes went wide, that I was simply along to offer my opinion when she requested it and to pick out a few things that her father and I had spoken about.

The bed, the mosquito netting, a few chests of drawers and a vanity that I liked more than the one at Ben’s house were simple.  I inquired about steamer trunks and explained Ike’s vision, seeing the salesman’s eyes light up at the amount of furniture we were buying and would buy if he could find what we were looking for, I felt certain that he would find them.

Once we were satisfied that we’d chosen the furniture we both wanted, I treated Lauren to lunch away from the hotel.  We talked, the ease in our conversation was a constant surprise to me, and it wasn’t shallow or uninteresting.  I found Lauren to be an insightful and entertaining girl, one that I was more than happy to add to my family.  

“You’re so different from-” she stopped, seeming to understand that comparing me to Vera or Meg might be rude.  “You don’t want to replace her.”  And that’s when I realized why she thought I was different from the two other main women in her life, because she was right, I didn’t want to replace Molly as her mother.  I simply wanted to be Lauren’s friend and her confidant.  

Taking her hand in mine, I gave her a tiny squeeze.  “No one can replace your mother, Lauren.  Not me, not anyone.”  Her eyes met mine and her smile gave her a dimple like her father’s.  “You and me?  We’re going to be family, yes, but I won’t try to become someone to you that I’m not.  Your mother was irreplaceable.  So, if you don’t mind, I’ll just be Liz.”  She nodded, her hand squeezing mine in return.  “Now, I won’t promise that I’ll NEVER tell your father if you confide in me, especially if what you tell me causes me alarm.”  I sighed, wanting her to know she could trust me, but that her safety and wellbeing was paramount.  “But you can confide in me, and I promise that I will only share what you allow, or what I think might cause you harm.  Deal?”  

“Deal.” She replied, her smile holding.  “And Liz?”  I nodded to show her I was listening.  “You’re so much more than ‘just Liz’.”  

Ike convinced his ladies to have dinner in the main dining room downstairs, after promising me that he wanted to show us off.  Lauren beamed, changing into one of her more grown up dresses, and Ike offered to help me change too, making his daughter giggle.

“You’re scandalizing your daughter, Isaac.” I muttered, as we went into our room to change for the evening.  “And your future wife,” I breathed as our lips met.  

“I highly doubt that my future wife can be scandalized by much,” his smile when he stood up to stare down at me took my breath away.  “But I’ll be sure to keep trying.”  With a wink, he helped me get ready for my first official in public, with a full dining room of guests and Miami’s elite to witness it.

The next morning, after a far more calm dinner that I expected, even after he convinced me that as his partner and future wife I should accompany him during his hosting duties, we woke up wrapped together with the sun shining through the windows and the sound of surf crashing outside.  

It was THE day.  A face off with Meg Bannock and her lawyers.  Today word would get out that I owned the controlling interest in the Mirarmar Playa and that not only were Ike and I getting married and having a baby, but we were partners through and through.  Ike took his time getting me ready for the day.  Pampering me as he had my first day back, making sure that every inch of me looked perfect, which wasn’t nearly as annoying when he said it as when my father had.  

He’d helped me choose one of the few suits that I’d ordered from my Canadian Godsend of pregnancy fashion, the red so deep it looked like blood, heels to match, the seam of my stockings straight as though he used a ruler to make sure.  A small diamond necklace, my engagement ring, and I was finished.  I watched as he chose a suit in a blue so dark that it almost looked black, coupled with a stark white shirt and a tie that had hints of the same red of my suit, and I had to bite my lip to keep from reversing course and taking him back to bed.

Ike looked up at me as he pulled on his socks and shoes and I knew he was reading my mind.  “Tempting though forgetting about this meeting and getting lost under those blankets with you, Liz, we have to get this out of the way.”  

A nod from me and then he helped me to my feet and we met Lauren in the dining room waiting with breakfast.  I asked her if she wanted to come down to stay hello to her aunt, but she shook her head.  

“No, thank you,” it was softened by her smile.  “I would rather wait and see if-” she didn’t have to finish her sentence.  She wanted to wait to see if her aunt would keep in touch after she fell out of the running for Ike’s affections.  

“I understand,” my smile matched hers.  “Perhaps after the meeting, we can have the maintenance people up to help us decide how we can make the simple redecorating as painless for all of us as possible.”

“Liz?”  Ike’s eyes were twinkling as mine caught his and I raised an eyebrow.  “Did you happen to pick out nursery furniture while you were shopping?”  My mouth dropped open.  How had I forgotten?  “Good,”  I waited, seeing his dimples flare to life.  “I’d hoped to come along for that trip.”  

“You want to help choose things for our baby’s room?”  I’d been told that men didn’t really care one way or the other about the details in fatherhood.  

“He picked out mine,” Lauren offered, smiling at us both.  “Didn’t you?”  

He nodded, and I knew that the Evans family was most certainly the right one for me.  “That I did,” he took my hand and our fingers locked together.  “And I plan on doing it for every one of my kids.”  

“Are you expecting more than just the one, Isaac?”  I was smirking around my juice glass.  “I think we should have that conversation after this one takes the first breath, don’t you?”  

After breakfast, I went with Ike to his office.  The secretary was waiting with a sheaf of messages, and my eyes widened when she handed me a few of my own. “Mr. Evans told me to make sure to take down anyone who called you while you were unavailable, Miss Diamond.”  I nodded my thanks, and smiled at the woman to show her I was surprised but thankful.  

“Let’s see what I can get through while we wait,” Ike said, letting me go to sit on the sofa as he worked through his own pile.  

Only one message mattered to me, for now anyway.  Mr. Klein had called, and between Ike’s use of the phone, I asked if I could take a moment to return the State’s Attorney’s call.  He pulled me onto his lap as I dialed, and after being put through to the man who I gave the evidence to put away my own father I listened as he told me when I’d be witnessing the fruits of my efforts.

“Monday?”  I wanted clarification, and confirmation.  “You’re planning on it happening at the hospital and around noon?”  After making certain that I had the information, I confirmed that I would be there.  And told him not to be surprised that I would be in the room waiting for him.  I had my own plan for the day that Ben Diamond learned that his daughter wasn’t to be trifled with.  

Once my call was finished, I tried to get off of Ike’s lap, but he was reluctant to release me.   “Monday?”  I nodded, snuggling into him.  “I want to be with you.”  

“I want that too,” his gasp told me that he expected an argument, but we were partners.  “We need to get all of our ducks in a row, Isaac Evans, and knock them down.”  

Meg and her attorneys came a half an hour later.  Sid was with us, since Ike decided this particular meeting only needed the relevant parties, and he was pretty sure that Meg would be more than willing to give him the option of buying back the shares he’d sold her to save lives.  

If she was shocked to see me, and my condition, she didn’t show it.  And I didn’t flinch when she kissed Ike on the cheek, leaving a large dark red lip print on his dimple.  Being raised well, with the highest standards of breeding, didn’t allow either one of us to show weakness.  Instead, we greeted one another with the same warmth we’d greet anyone beneath us and I pretended not to notice when her eyes took stock of my bump, and she feigned nonchalance when my left hand cradled it, my ring flashing in the sunlight and Ike’s hand joining mine.  

“I wasn’t aware that Liz would be joining us, Ike,” Meg offered, eyes only slightly tightening, smile not slipping.  

Ike’s other hand met the small of my back as he led me to the conference table that the lawyers were currently gathered around, sharing legalese.  “Of course Liz is joining us, Meg,” he said as though my not being present would be ridiculous.  He held my chair, the one next to his, and carefully pushed it in for me as one of Meg’s lawyers did the same for her, but Ike added to the attention he was giving me by kissing my head before taking his own seat.  “The reason for this meeting is because there were some questions about the company that owns the majority shares of the hotel.”  I watched as Sid’s smile grew, his eyes on me, and as Meg’s attorneys nodded.

“I thought we agreed it didn’t really matter,” Meg tried to sound unfazed, but it sounded forced.  

Ike took my hand, the left one that was nearest him and let our fingers link.  Her eyes were drawn to the movement like a lizard to an insect and she looked far less pleased with her findings than the reptile would.  “I decided it DID matter,” Ike offered, his smile so wide I wanted to shake my head.  “Meg, gentlemen,” he looked between his former sister-in-law and her lawyers, “I’d like to introduce you to the owner of the controlling shares of the Miramar Playa, Elizabeth Diamond, soon to be Elizabeth Evans.”  I bit my lip at how proud he sounded, and it nearly made me miss the fuming going on at the other end of the table.

“Isn’t she Ben Diamond’s daughter?”  Meg made my parentage sound disgusting, which to be fair wasn’t exactly surprising.  “Isaac, honestly.”  

Ike’s hand held mine carefully, even as I noticed a vein start to grow on his neck.  “Honestly  what, Meg?”  It came out as a challenge, and I knew he was throwing down the gauntlet.  “And I would think very carefully before you speak.”  His eyes left my face to shoot a look down the table. 

“I think what Miss Bannock meant,” one of her attorneys attempted with a soothing tone, “is simply that Miss Diamond’s associations with undesirable and potentially criminal elements would mar the reputation of this showcase of a resort.”  I raised an eyebrow and chanced a look at Ike.  That vein was starting to pulse, so I shot a look at Sid.

“Which is why,” Sid, my hero, spoke, pulling the attention away from a potentially explosive Ike Evans,  “we’re seated together today.  Miss Diamond and Mr. Evans are more than willing to buy back the shares that Miss Bannock purchased.”  

“To save you the embarrassment of continued association with the likes of me,” I offered, eyes on Meg.  “After all, I have problematic acquaintances, and it wouldn’t do for the great Bannock name, so full of philanthropy and warmth, to be associated with a DIAMOND.”  My tone was even, but there was no mistaking my feelings on the matter.  

“I’ve even taken it upon myself to write up the paperwork,” Sid offered, once again saving me from the full brunt of Meg’s group’s attention.  “Miss Diamond and Mr. Evans have been more than generous in their buyback offer, giving Miss Bannock fifteen percent over her original purchase price.”  

I let them talk, the lawyers, my hand stayed in Ike’s trying to calm him before he burned a bridge Lauren might want to cross at some point.  He was tense, anyone with two eyes and the ability to see could tell, but he was keeping himself in check.  

“We’ll need to take time to look over the offer,” another of her attorneys told Sid.  “And if Miss Bannock is agreeable, we’ll let you know.”  They stood, but Ike and I remained seated.  

“Isaac,” Meg’s voice was quiet, a hint of seduction trying to sneak in, but when he looked up she could have no doubt just how welcome that was to him.  I watched her swallow hard, my eyes on her face.  “I hope that you won’t take-”

“Leave, Meg,” Ike’s tone allowed for no argument about just how serious he did take her words.  “Now.”  

He didn’t stand, nor would he release me to stand, not that I would have.  Screw Meg Bannock and her high horse.  Sid was the last to leave, telling us that he had a contact in the courts that assured him the divorce was on the fastest track to be put on record, so by the end of the next week we could be married, and that marginally relaxed Ike.  Once Sid left, he let out a long sigh and stood up pulling me along with him.  

“I’m sorry,” he was holding me to him, kissing my temple and I wondered why he felt the need to apologize for Meg’s behavior.  “Molly was nothing like her, I swear, I missed how different they were until-”

“Until she tried to seduce you with your daughter present?”  I tilted my head back to stare up at him.  “You needn’t apologize, Ike, I knew what was coming.  Or at least I had an idea she wouldn’t exactly congratulate us.”  He moved a hand to cup my cheek.  “I can’t blame her, Ike,” he looked confused.  “Isaac Evans, you could make a blind woman crazy with lust, how the hell can I blame her for wanting you?”  bHe laughed, his head lowering to kiss me, but before our lips met, he whispered, “Only you, Liz, you’re the only woman I want or need.”  

When he pulled away, after showing me just how truthful his words were, I was smiling.  “Which is why she won’t meet the same fate that my father’s enemies have met.”  And that set him off laughing with more hilarity than I felt the comment merited, but then again, he knew I was joking.  Mostly. 

#Ike evans x ofc #magic city #alternative universe #ben diamond's daughter #sy berman's granddaughter #pregnacy

[justjessame]

Diamonds Are A Boy’s Best Friend Chapter 41

I managed, thanks to Ike’s vigorous help, to sleep well that night.  Waking early, wanting to mentally prepare for my meeting with Vera, and not wanting to wake Ike with my worries, I tried to lay still in his arms.  He sensed it, or felt me shift slightly, because his lips were on the back of my neck and his hands were cradling our baby’s currently living arrangement.  

“I can call and tell her you’ll do it another day,” he offered, his breath wreaking havoc on my skin.  I shook my head, my hands covering his.  “Liz, you’ve got so much on your plate, if we can push one off-”

He was worried, remembering how sick I’d been in the beginning, I was certain.  “If I push every unpleasant thing to the side, Ike, then it’ll pile up and be waiting there anyway.”  I pressed tighter into his skin, his warmth calming me.  “If I get all of it out of the way, then I can focus on us, the baby, our family, the future.”  I felt him hum his approval.  “That means, Vera today, Meg tomorrow, and Klein waiting in the wings to make his move on my father.  And once that mess was taken care of, the enjoyable parts.  Redecorating our bedroom and Lauren’s, getting ready for my first wedding to Ike, and then preparing for our baby’s arrival.  

We relaxed in bed until the last possible moment for the two of us to get ready for our day.  Ike felt the tension build since I’d asked to meet Vera alone, and I was starting to feel marginally more calm.  If I treated each situation like part of a list of chores to check off, then it would be simpler.  And so, after we dressed one another, after Ike kissed my bump and whispered to it, after he kissed me deeply and lovingly, after we told Lauren goodbye, he walked me to the elevator and took me downstairs to cross the first chore off my list.

The Atlantis was dim, as dim as it had been the day Ike first suspected I was pregnant.  I was early, and happy to see it.  Walking behind the bar, I opened the refrigerator and sighed in happiness when I found orange juice.  Pouring myself a large glass, I looked up when I heard the hiss of the door being opened.  

“Making yourself at home, I see,” Vera offered, but I couldn’t tell if she was being rude or not.  “Could I have a glass of that?”  I poured her one and set it on the bartop.  “I’m not sure sitting at the bar would be very comfortable for you in your-” I saw her flinch slightly, but she seemed to push it down.  “Condition.  We could sit at a table.”  I nodded and followed her to one of the booths close to the bar.  

I slid in, having only a slight bit of difficulty when the booth curved around.  “Good morning,” was my belated greeting, but it was met with a small smile.  

“I know that I haven’t been-”  she was looking down at the table, and seemed to be trying to apologize for her completely rational reaction to finding out about Ike and me.  

“You reacted exactly how any wife would have, Vera, with less physical attacks.”  I had thought she’d strike me, slap me, or call me horrific names.  What she’d done was sneer and shown her pain.  Hardly worth apologizing for.  “I never meant for any of this to happen.”  I was studying my glass, but I could tell she was looking at me, at the ring that gleamed even in the dimness of the room.  Damn it.

“No, I reacted the way people expected a wife to react.”  I looked up and saw that the smile hadn’t left her lips.  “I met Ike right after Molly died,” I knew this so I nodded.  “If I’d been more worldly, or if I was thinking with something other than stars in my eyes at him being my knight in shining armor, I think I would have seen what we were supposed to be earlier.”  I waited, she wanted to tell it, and she needed to.  “When you came along, I was so focused on Meg, on the thought that giving him a child of our own, of everything that wasn’t going to work to keep us or tear us apart that I didn’t see it.”  I felt my mouth go dry, here it comes, I thought, the anger.  “He watched you, you know, whenever you were here, his eyes found you without him even noticing.  I told myself it was because of Ben.  That the strain of being in your father’s debt made him want to keep you happy, but it was a lie I was telling myself.”  

I wanted to tell her something to make her feel better, but I was at a loss.  “I tried to stay away,” was all that I managed. 

“I know,” her smile turned rueful.  “I know you did, Liz.”  She sighed.  “I also know you helped barter a better deal for me in the divorce.  How did you know?”  Ah, about the pain she was in, how did I see it when others hadn’t?

“You are the most graceful woman I’ve ever met, Vera,” her smile stayed, but I could see she was going to wave me off.  “You move like the dancer you are, but when you came upstairs when I first arrived?  You were still moving gracefully, but it wasn’t as effortless.”  She was watching me like she’d never noticed that I was so observant.  “I know you love dancing, and I know that you want to stay a part of this hotel and family,” her eyes widened.  “Surely you don’t think I’d be so cruel to want you out of our lives, Vera.”  

“I don’t think I could-” I stopped her by reaching out and touching her hand, not grabbing it, but a slight touch so she could pull it away without feeling rude.  She didn’t so I patted it.  

“For six years you were a part of this world, his world,” her eyes met mine and I smiled.  “Erasing you isn’t possible, and I wouldn’t want to.”  Vera stared at me.  “I won’t push, or press you into socializing with me, or with us, but having you fade away isn’t right, you have to see that.”  

I went to Ike’s office after Vera and I finished up, rinsing out our glasses, and leaving them in the small sink.  His secretary waved me in, telling me that Ike’s orders were for me to go straight in, whenever I came up to visit.  Shaking my head, I opened the door to see him speaking on the phone with his back to the door.  I watched him, paying no attention to the conversation he was having, simply enjoying seeing him work.  When he turned around, his eyes landed on me and his dimples appeared.  Ending the call soon after, he started to get up, but I told him to stay where he was.

“New Year’s Eve,” I said, moving closer, watching how at ease he looked behind his desk.  “You were sitting right there when I came out of the bathroom,” the darkness of the night had been his backdrop then, his tuxedo causing his tanned skin to stand out even more. Now it was a stereotypical Miami day, bright and blue skies.  “I asked you if I was looking at the master of his domain,” I was standing beside him, looking down and thinking how beautiful he was to me.  “This,” I whispered, as he pushed the chair back and reached for, “is your natural habitat, Isaac Evans.”  His lips met mine, and I smiled into the kiss.  

Ike was surprised and happy to hear how well my meeting with Vera had been.  While I wasn’t sure we could count on her attending our wedding, I was certain that we wouldn’t be causing scenes in the hotel when we came upon one another.  He told me that she’d signed the papers before our meeting, and Sid was working them through the family court system.  Within the month I could finally become Mrs. Isaac Evans. 

#Ike evans x ofc #magic city #pregnacy #alternative universe #ben diamond's daughter #sy berman's granddaughter

[justjessame]

Diamonds Are A Boy’s Best Friend Chapter 40

While I waited for Klein to contact me about Ben’s arrest, Ike asked me for a favor. I agreed, without knowing what the favor was, but knowing that I’d deny him nothing.

“I want a meeting of the people who hold interest in the Miramar.” I nodded. “I want you to be there, and I want to tell them that you hold a controlling interest.” My eyes widened, knowing that Ike meant Meg was going to find out just how little her fifteen percent mattered with my controlling interest. “I’ll be right beside you, Liz, but I want her to understand, as much as Vera has to, that YOU are the one I want. And Meg sees things in-”

“Terms of money, and control,” I finished for him. “Alright, when?”

 When, I learned, was two days later, but he had good news for me as well. “Vera agreed to the divorce, she was a little surprised by the additions you wanted added.” I smirked. “She asked,” he took a deep breath and took my hands in his. “If she could talk to you, alone.” My smirk dropped and I must have gone pale because he was shaking his head and trying to calm my nerves. “Only if you agree, Liz, she isn’t demanding, and you don’t have to-”

“Yes I do,” I breathed. “I do, Ike. I owe her that much.” Closing my eyes, I breathed deep and easily, as Mimi had told me to. “Could you arrange for her to-” I considered when I wanted to meet with her. Should I try it before the meeting, or after? “Tomorrow?” I thought clearing the slate with Vera should happen before Meg gets her own warning. “Not here, though,” opening my eyes I looked around the penthouse. “This was hers, Ike, and I’d rather not rub my new position in her face.”

“How about if she meets you in the Atlantis before it opens?” Like I’d met Arthur for the first time, I smiled. “You’d still be in the hotel, but you’d be in a more neutral spot.” I nodded, agreeing to the logic of if. He kissed me softly and was smiling as he pulled back. “I’ll call her now, and then-” his eyes darkened. “Bed.”

 We’d had dinner. Ike told me that my meeting for the morning was set, and I noticed that Lauren’s face dropped.

“First, before bed, do you want to show me your bedroom?” I asked her and she smiled. “Did you get a chance to look at the magazines your dad mentioned?” She nodded. “Let’s go, and you can tell me what you have in mind.” Ike kissed both of us, settling in on the patio for a cigar while we girls chatted.

Lauren’s room looked like a princess’ room should and I smiled. A princess that was much younger, though, and I could understand her longing for something fresh. She had me take a seat on her bed and sat next to me with the magazine she told me had the best ideas she could find.

We talked about colors, and patterns, giggling as she told me she wasn’t interested in the pinup teenie bopper boy posters that the pictures in the magazine showed. She had more sophisticated taste than I think Ike, or Vera for that matter had suspected and I was nodding more than I was offering suggestions. I promised her that, as long as my morning meeting went well, we’d go shopping afterward and she surprised me again.

“Vera won’t be as mean as you think, Liz.” I stared down at her. “She’s more angry that she didn’t get to make the move to leave first, I think, than she is that it ended.” I almost asked why she thought that, but stopped. Lauren shouldn’t be put in the middle of our mess. “Just know that she doesn’t hate you, she envies you.” I dropped a kiss on her forehead and told her goodnight. I left Lauren’s room wondering how she knew that Vera had wanted to leave Ike, but afraid to ask, and I thought it was unfair to ask her. She had enough loss, let’s not add her trust or affection for me to the list.

I leaned against the doorway leading to the patio and watched Ike enjoying his cigar. His tie was loose, the top buttons of his shirt undone, and he looked relaxed. Biting my lip, the waves crashing below us, I enjoyed the light breeze that felt so rare to me in Miami. My eyes closed, so I didn’t see him stand, but I felt the heat of him, I could smell the hint of tobacco from his cigar, and then his hands were cupping my face.

“Liz?” Opening my eyes, I looked up at him, thinking that Ike in the moonlight was like a masterpiece that should be hung in the Louvre. His sharp lines were softened. His eyes shadowed, his lips in sharp relief. I drank him in as I once drank those martinis he teased me about, thinking that a man like Ike was worth more than his weight in gold. “You’re looking at me like you’ve never seen me before.” His voice was so quiet that the waves almost stole it.

“I haven’t seen you, not like this,” my hands moved, sliding up his chest, to the first still fastened button on his shirt. Licking my lips, I wanted, no I needed, to see him bare in the moonlight. My fingers worked fast, the last button freed, and then I was pushing his shirt from his body, not nearly as roughly as I might have in our room. I was right, of course, seeing Ike bared, even if it was only his chest so far, was a sight I needed to see. My hands fell to his waistband, and then working as quickly, but just as carefully, I freed him from those as well. His boxers slid down next, and then he kicked himself free of both, seeming to finally understand what I wanted. “Step back, Ike.” I bit my lip again, seeing the moon highlight all my favorite parts of him, and feeling far thirstier than I ever had.

“Come here,” again a breath, and I fought to hear it and then comply. Stepping carefully over his pile of clothing, I met his hands, feverish against my skin as he worked as fast and careful to take off the clothes he’d redressed me in after my meeting with Klein and his bodily praise that came after. Soon I was as bare as he was, with only the moon, waves, and soft breeze touching us. He swallowed hard, the moonlight caught the movement and then his hands reached for me.

We made love on the balcony of the penthouse, after he promised that Lauren’s room didn’t have a clear view of where we were. And it was one of the most magical moments of our relationship so far, and when I told him that, he promised me that it wouldn’t be the last one.

#Ike evans x ofc #magic city #alternative universe #Smut #sy berman's granddaughter #ben diamond's daughter

[justjessame]

Diamonds Are A Boy’s Best Friend Chapter 39

Mr. Klein was looking through my father’s ledger like Hanukkah had come early. I told him, in no uncertain terms that I expected him to give his word, in writing that the Evans family was off his radar. He gave it easily, having a secretary type it up with the normal inclusionary caution of adding the condition that I gave the evidence freely and fully. Simple enough. He knew, I know he knew, that there were pages missing, but he could see that he had more than enough without them to carry on.

“Another request, Mr. Klein?” He looked up at me, after I’d answered several more questions. “I want to be present when you give my father the happy news.” His eye brows rose in surprise. Perhaps a woman of my background shouldn’t have such a vengeful streak, but here I sat.

“You’d want to see me-”

“Arrest him?” He nodded. “I want to see his face when he realizes that I’m the one who helped put the lovely steel bracelets on his wrists, Mr. Klein. Will you agree to that?” Another nod. “Lovely, well, it seems I’ve been here quite long enough.” His secretary had brought my required proof of his promise, and I stood. “Don’t get up, Mr. Klein,” he hadn’t made a move, but I thought I’d be the one with better manners once again. “I’ll see myself out.” I pulled on my gloves in the elevator and was happy to see the car waiting nearby for me as I stepped out of the building. The driver had my door open as soon as I was within touching distance and I could see that he was relieved I’d come out within the time frame I’d given him. “Let’s head back to the resort, please.” I felt that Ike was no doubt ready to climb the walls, and I’d rather not put undue strain on the poor man.

 He must have been watching out the windows of his office for the car or for me because Ike was opening my door before the car was completely stopped. And then my hand was in his and he was pulling me into his arms, in front of the hotel, arriving guests, and everyone.

“I haven’t been able to keep my mind on anything at all, Liz,” he was whispering into my hair. “You know what that man did to Judy.” I nodded, leaning into his touch, and smiling at how easily he was showing the entire hotel he cared for me. “Let’s head upstairs,” to the office, I thought, but he bypassed the actual stairs and took me to the elevators. “I want to be inside our own home when you tell me what happened.” He offered, his hand still holding mine.

Inside the penthouse, with the door barely shut behind us, he pressed me into the solid surface and kissed the breath out of me. Ike’s hands were curling along the curve of my backside as well as my bump, checking for what I wasn’t entirely sure, but with his mouth on mine, with our tongues touching, I truly couldn’t make sense of much.

“I hated having you out of my sight and in his clutches, Liz,” his breath fanning the dampness our kiss had left on my lips. “Trying to get anything done while I was waiting was a lost cause.”

He pulled away, and led me to the sofa. And then I was on his lap, his fingers pulling my gloves off, as I told him what happened. “I have his written vow to leave you and our family alone, Ike,” I pulled the papers from my handbag. “He’s agreed to let me accompany him to Ben’s arrest.” I felt Ike stiffen at the thought of another moment in Klein’s presence without him. “I’d like you to be there, if not in the room, at least waiting for me.” That helped him relax, and me as well. “Now, shouldn’t you get back to work, Mr. Evans?” I teased, looking into his eyes as his hands were sliding down the dress he’d put me in that morning.

“Work?” He squinted in thought. “I do have a very delicate job I want to do-” And then he was lifting me into his arms, and stalking to our bedroom. “I have to remind my future wife just how much I love her.”

And Ike Evans, ever the overachiever when it came to me, took the rest of the afternoon to make sure he did a very thorough job.

#Ike evans x ofc #ben diamond's daughter #sy berman's granddaughter #alternative universe #magic city #mention of smut

[justjessame]

Diamonds Are A Boy’s Best Friend Chapter 39

Mr. Klein was looking through my father’s ledger like Hanukkah had come early.  I told him, in no uncertain terms that I expected him to give his word, in writing that the Evans family was off his radar.  He gave it easily, having a secretary type it up with the normal inclusionary caution of adding the condition that I gave the evidence freely and fully.  Simple enough.  He knew, I know he knew, that there were pages missing, but he could see that he had more than enough without them to carry on.  

“Another request, Mr. Klein?”  He looked up at me, after I’d answered several more questions.  “I want to be present when you give my father the happy news.”  His eye brows rose in surprise.  Perhaps a woman of my background shouldn’t have such a vengeful streak, but here I sat.  

“You’d want to see me-”

“Arrest him?”  He nodded.  “I want to see his face when he realizes that I’m the one who helped put the lovely steel bracelets on his wrists, Mr. Klein.  Will you agree to that?”  Another nod.  “Lovely, well, it seems I’ve been here quite long enough.”  His secretary had brought my required proof of his promise, and I stood.  “Don’t get up, Mr. Klein,” he hadn’t made a move, but I thought I’d be the one with better manners once again.  “I’ll see myself out.”  I pulled on my gloves in the elevator and was happy to see the car waiting nearby for me as I stepped out of the building.  The driver had my door open as soon as I was within touching distance and I could see that he was relieved I’d come out within the time frame I’d given him.  “Let’s head back to the resort, please.”  I felt that Ike was no doubt ready to climb the walls, and I’d rather not put undue strain on the poor man.  

He must have been watching out the windows of his office for the car or for me because Ike was opening my door before the car was completely stopped.  And then my hand was in his and he was pulling me into his arms, in front of the hotel, arriving guests, and everyone.  

“I haven’t been able to keep my mind on anything at all, Liz,” he was whispering into my hair.  “You know what that man did to Judy.”  I nodded, leaning into his touch, and smiling at how easily he was showing the entire hotel he cared for me.  “Let’s head upstairs,” to the office, I thought, but he bypassed the actual stairs and took me to the elevators.  “I want to be inside our own home when you tell me what happened.”  He offered, his hand still holding mine.

Inside the penthouse, with the door barely shut behind us, he pressed me into the solid surface and kissed the breath out of me.  Ike’s hands were curling along the curve of my backside as well as my bump, checking for what I wasn’t entirely sure, but with his mouth on mine, with our tongues touching, I truly couldn’t make sense of much.  

“I hated having you out of my sight and in his clutches, Liz,” his breath fanning the dampness our kiss had left on my lips.  “Trying to get anything done while I was waiting was a lost cause.”  

He pulled away, and led me to the sofa.  And then I was on his lap, his fingers pulling my gloves off, as I told him what happened.  “I have his written vow to leave you and our family alone, Ike,” I pulled the papers from my handbag.  “He’s agreed to let me accompany him to Ben’s arrest.”  I felt Ike stiffen at the thought of another moment in Klein’s presence without him.  “I’d like you to be there, if not in the room, at least waiting for me.”  That helped him relax, and me as well.  “Now, shouldn’t you get back to work, Mr. Evans?”  I teased, looking into his eyes as his hands were sliding down the dress he’d put me in that morning.  

“Work?”  He squinted in thought.  “I do have a very delicate job I want to do-” And then he was lifting me into his arms, and stalking to our bedroom.  “I have to remind my future wife just how much I love her.”  

And Ike Evans, ever the overachiever when it came to me, took the rest of the afternoon to make sure he did a very thorough job.

#Ike evans x ofc #magic city #alternative universe #mention of smut #ben diamond's daughter #sy berman's granddaughter #pregnancy