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Willow happily took a glass of champagne off the shiny tray that was being shown to her by the young woman who worked for the dress store just as she found herself taking a seat on the long white suede sofa before her while Storm stood just a few feet away from her on the phone with her free hand on her hip.

"Yes, daddy, we're doing okay. The business is okay...you're worrying too much."

Just as Storm's father continued to bicker from the other line of the phone, Storm raised an eyebrow when she felt a presence approach her from the right followed by the sound of heels clicking on the smooth white marble floor which made her turn and see the saleswoman holding up yet another white gown for the fundraiser.

"How about this? It's an original."

"Originally basic and boring...hold on," Storm stated as she blew out a breath of air and shook her head before walking away from the saleswoman and finding herself a quieter spot in the boutique before speaking back into the phone. "Now, what were you saying, daddy?"

"Baby, I just need to know you're alright...you're in a different country with Jacob--"

"--Justin, you know this."

Storm heard her father laughing from the other end of the phone which made her playfully roll her eyes and smirk -- but only just a little bit.

"I know, I'm just kidding...but, just promise me one thing while you're there?"

"Yeah?"

"Never forget who you are, Storm. I mean it...I raised you to use your voice and speak out on what needs to be said."

Storm felt a sudden nostalgia feeling to herself at her father's calming words as they came through which made her get a warm feeling in her chest as she nodded -- even though her father couldn't see her obviously.

"Okay, daddy."

"I mean that, Storm...your mother and I didn't name you Storm on accident."

Storm let out a small laugh through the phone when she suddenly heard another pair of heels which made her look to see it was Willow standing just a few steps away, keeping her distance to give her somewhat bit of privacy she had left and gave her a closed mouth smile.

"Sorry, Storm, it's just that we're on a time schedule..."

"Oh, of course...bye daddy."

After exchanging goodbyes, Storm ended the call and placed her phone into the back of her baby blue ripped mom jeans as she followed Willow back over to their saleswoman who held up another white gown for Storm which made her place her hands on her hips and tilt her head at the dress.

"Well...?"

"I'm not feeling this one either, I'm sorry."

"Should we try another boutique?" Willow asked as she bit the corner of her bottom lip while watching Storm rub her temples gently and walk over to the suede couch and pick up her beige and gold trimmed Chanel purse.

"Well--"

Just as Storm turned her head to speak to Willow, she stopped herself short as she watched some employees start to place a dress on display in the window for the rest of the people passing by to see which made Storm laugh to herself and walk over to stop them.

"Wait!"

The employees stopped themselves short when they heard the sound of Storm shouting and her boots rumbling against the tile as she met them halfway with Willow hot behind her, upon approaching them, Storm simply smiled at their confused expression. "May we help you, ma'am?"

"Yeah, by not putting that dress on display."

"Oh--"

"Thinking outside the box, Storm?"

"As usual..." Storm murmured to herself as she continued to smile and watch as the employees carefully placed the dress back onto the golden hanger and then pass it to Storm who let her small smile turn into a wider one once the dress was in her possession.

"Thank you."

The employees smiled as Storm walked off and Willow followed closely behind her gown in hand as they headed for the register where Storm was happy to pass them her card as soon as she placed the dress onto the counter while Willow stood behind her and scoffed.

"This fundraiser is going to be one to remember."

"Got that right."

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Justin walked through the long hallway while looking at an email from his boss when he absentmindedly looked up to see his grandmother sitting outside in the family's infamous garden full of many different flowers which made Justin sigh softly and open the door slowly to walk over to her.

As Justin made his way to her, he greeted a few workers politely as they worked on other parts of their football stadium sized yard until he met his grandmother at the metal bench where she sat with her back to him while she quietly sat there.

"Hey, grand--"

"Come sit, Jay."

Justin raised a questionable eyebrow and chuckled to himself as he sat himself down next to her and let her somewhat tired eyes gaze upon him and look him over before deeply inhaling a breath of the fresh air.

"How are you holding up?"

"I'm...still in shock."

"I see..." Joanne muttered out slowly as she let the sudden silence fall over her and Justin that started to make her feel a sudden feeling in her stomach she didn't like which made her shake her head and reach out for Justin's hand.

"How long do you have?"

"I...I don't think we should talk about that."

"No, mom, we shouldn't."

At the sudden sound of the familiar voice, Joanne and Justin turned around to see Marjorie standing there rocking on the heel of one of her nude colored red bottom heels as she stood there before them with her arms crossed over her chest.

"What do you need, Marjorie? Can't you see I'm chatting with my grandson."

"I need to speak with Justin."

Justin fought his urge to roll his eyes as he looked down between him and Joanne and noticed they were still holding hands which made him smile weakly up at her and give her hand a light squeeze before getting off the bench with a soft exhale and fixing his shirt, but just before walking away, Justin looked back at her to speak.

"We'll talk at the fundraiser, okay?"

"Got yourself a deal, blondy."

Justin chuckled and nodded before following his mother back into the house and walking with her for what felt like the longest walk ever in silence until they reached her double-sided office door and slide them open before letting Justin follow inside and shut them behind her.

"Mom--"

Justin was suddenly cut off when his mother suddenly wrapped her tiny frame around him and squeezed his body as if letting go would mean he'd disappear into thin air at any given second which caused Justin to scoff and stand there as motionless as a pole while Marjorie gave him one last longing squeeze before letting go.

"I'm sorry, I just...I haven't had a chance to fully get you to myself so we could...well--"

"Hug?"

Marjorie remained silent.

"Right...listen, if you just wanted to show your true feelings behind closed doors, I'm not interested. Storm and Willow will be back soon and they'll need me--"

"Jay, I wanted to ask you something. It's important. About the business?"

"No. I told you I don't want anything to do with the family business anymore."

"But, Justin--"

"No. I don't want to hear it, mom. Look, I love you, but I'm a grown man and I can make my own life decisions...you should do the same."

Marjorie let her lips fall into a thin line as she watched Justin purse his and stuff his hands into the pocket of his jeans before casually sliding open the doors to her office and leaving out as if nothing happened while Marjorie tried her best to keep her composure in the growing silence of her office.

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The sound of Rain On Me by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande blasted throughout the casino as it began to grow busier by the second -- all with the help of Willow of course and her perfect event planning skills which had her feeling like she was seeing stars with Bruno by her side with his hands deep in the pocket of his slacks.

"Oh...this is amazing, right, Bruno?"

Willow raised an eyebrow as Bruno simply looked over to her with his same emotionless face he always had when the two interacted. Even though Bruno was older than her, sometimes Willow felt like she was the oldest just by Bruno's personality.

Willow simply kept her opinions to herself and gave Bruno a small pat on his back as he looked over the crowded room and let his eyes roam until they suddenly landed on his mother and saw her chatting up big donors for the fundraiser with a half-drunken glass of champagne in hand which made him roll his eyes and lean off the wall.

"I need a drink. I'll be at the bar."

"O-Oh okay, but just make sure you're back by eight? I'll need help with the stage equip--"

Before Willow could fully finish her sentence, Bruno was already walking away and -- more than likely -- tuning her out as he made his way to the bar on the other side of the casino while Willow stood there by herself and leaned herself against the spot of the wall Bruno's body was a few seconds ago.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Willow looked over to see Justin standing before her in a polished white suit with a black button up shirt with his infamous smile on his lips while he casually slipped his body next to Willow and bumped shoulders with her.

"I just really want tonight to go perfectly."

"And it is, plus the night is still young...why don't you go get some food? I hear there's a chocolate fountain."

"I know, idiot, I ordered it."

Justin snickered and shook his head as Willow let her eyes fall onto the entrance where different people were turning their head to see who was walking inside the casino which made her grin widely as Justin creased his eyebrows and followed her gaze.

"What?"

"Have you seen Storm's dress?"

"No, she wanted me to be..." Justin drifted off as he watched her casually strut into the casino with her long and toned legs showing off with the black puffed train of the dress flowing gracefully behind her while she tossed her curls onto her back. "Surprised..."

Storm showed off her dress a bit more as she kept her same confident stride into the casino when her eyes suddenly landed on Justin which made her smile wider and offer her hand for him causing Justin to turn to Willow and smile before fixing his blazer and mumbling to himself.

"God, I love that woman."

Justin proceeded to meet Storm halfway and took her small hand and interlaced his large one, Justin then pulled Storm close to him which made her giggle and wrap her free arm around Justin's waist as his free hand cupped her cheek.

"How do I look?"

"Gorgeous...black has always been my favorite color on you..."

Storm found herself biting her bottom lip at the soft and raspy sound of Justin's voice ringing through her ear that he leaned down to whisper into before he decided to kiss just beneath her earlobe as the sound of the music and voices faded.

But only for so long.

"Jay-bear."

Justin and Storm detached themselves from each other, but kept their fingers interlaced as Isabelle approached them with some random man -- who at first glimpse looked like some kind of Greek God -- at her side with his arm wrapped around her tiny waist as she plastered her white pearly smile.

"Oh, Isabelle..."

"I'd like you guys to meet Damian...we met on the set of our Calvin Klein photoshoot last month."

Justin glanced over Damian once while Storm kept her slick comments to herself and simply plastered a fake smile on her lips before nodding at him and looking anywhere else but at Isabelle and Damian which made Isabelle awkwardly shift her weight on her heels.

"Well...Jay-bear--"

"--Justin. We're at a formal event here."

"Justin...I was wondering if you could talk to Damian, he was saying he'd need a new man to take over his accounts for him since he's starting a new contract with Versace in a few weeks."

"Yeah, I guess--"

"And meanwhile, Storm and I can go grab a drink."

Without an objection of some sort, Isabelle scooped Storm up quickly and made a quick u-turn until their bodies were walking toward the gorgeous looking bar where a few people stood just as the sound of Havana by Camila Cabello started to play.

"What's your poison?"

"Something tells me I need to be on my toes tonight because of you, so I won't be drinking tonight."

Isabelle let out the most fake laugh she could've had that was loud enough to make the couple behind her turn their heads and look at her with concern before slowly turning back around which made Storm mentally roll her eyes and lean against the bar.

"Funny, but I actually wanted to talk."

"About?"

"Us. Look, I know we didn't start off on the right foot, but--"

Isabelle was interrupted by the sound of Storm laughing -- like an actual and genuine laugh that didn't sound forced.

"Isabelle I've only been here for three days and you treated me like I've been your nemesis since we were kids."

"Yeah..."

Storm creased her eyebrows and watched Isabelle suddenly fall silent, as if she had more to say, but Storm simply shook her head just as the bartender walked over and threw his white towel onto his broad shoulder and placed his hands on his hips and looked between Storm and Isabelle.

"What can I get you ladies?"

"I'm good. I think she might need something to give her liquid courage."

Isabelle let her lips fall into a thin line as Storm sighed heavily and shook her head before walking away just as the song transitioned to Dancing With A Stranger by Sam Smith and Normani as Storm looked around for Justin -- only to sigh in defeat at the large number of people at the fundraiser.

"You lost, doll?"

The sudden deep and husky voice was enough to make Storm jolt a bit as she turned around and came face to face with a tall blond man that was nicely dress with his hair straightened and tied back into a low man-bun with his beard neatly trimmed as the smile never left his sculpted face.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?"

"No, but I know you. You're my little cousin's new arm candy."

"Arm candy?"

"Yeah, you know, the gold-digging girl that he only dates for a bit to keep himself from feeling lonely."

Gold-digger.

Arm candy.

Doll.

Storm was fuming.

Who was this guy?

"Look, I don't know what Marjorie or Isabelle or whoever told you, but I'm Justin's fiancée and I sure as hell am not a gold-digger."

The man simply laughs at Storm's sudden reaction, noticing he was hitting a nerve which made him lick his lips slowly and step closer to her and bend down just a bit to whisper to her so only she could hear before whispering out.

"Why don't I just give you l50k now so you can leave...how does that sound?"

Storm had to fight the sudden urge brewing inside of her to slap this man, he was cocky and without a doubt an inconsiderate asshole that seemed to purposely throw his fortune around in people's face just to make them feel bad about themselves.

"I don't know who you think you are, but trying to get a rise out of me won't work."

"Oh?"

"Yes, unlike you, I have enough respect for myself."

Just when he cocked his head to the side, he saw Justin come storming up behind Storm and protectively stepping in front of her and clenching his sharp jaw in his cousin's direction while Storm watched the whole scene fall out in front of her eyes.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Greyson?"

"I'm just introducing myself to this beautiful woman here, no harm no foul."

"Greyson, get the hell away from her. If I so much as see you looking at her--"

"--What're you gonna do, JB? Run? Run like you did for the past three years?"

Justin took a threatening step toward Greyson and suddenly felt the small familiar hand touch his forearm from behind just as her soothing voice ran through his ears as she used her free hand to touch the exposed part of his tattooed neck.

"Jay...please don't make a scene...he's not worth it..."

"Listen to your lady there, JB."

Justin moved another inch, but instantly felt Storm's grip on his forearm grow a bit tighter as she used her hand on his neck to try and get him to meet her gaze causing him to exhale a deep breath and meet her beautiful eyes and see the pleading and loving gleam in them.

"Jay..."

"Yeah..." Justin breathed out as he stepped away from Greyson and unclenched his jaw as Storm took Justin's hand in hers and rubbed his arm soothingly as he ran his hand down the side of his face and shook his head.

"I love you, but don't put yourself in predicaments like that for me, okay?"

"Yeah, it's just...Greyson always tries to get under my skin."

"You and me both."

Justin laughed softly with Storm as she rubbed his jawline and placed a chaste kiss to it before turning around to walk away with him -- but only to stop when they heard the familiar deep voice once again which made Justin turn back around.

"Oh, JB?"

Justin didn't speak.

"Congrats. You know, on the engagement."

Justin clenched his jaw again and remained silent as he turned back around and took Storm with him as they walked away and found themselves walking down a hallway with little to nobody in sight to bother them which made Justin let out a puff of breath and rub his hands down his face.

"Now you see why I hate these things? You get caught up trying to schmooze donors half the night, meet ungrateful and snobby family members, and--"

"--Have a good excuse to get drunk?"

"How bad do I smell?"

Storm tilted her head to the side and hummed as she leaned closer to Justin and placed her hands on his chest and got a whiff of his scent before giggling to herself and pulling back while shaking her head before speaking softly. "Just like some fancy Chardonnay."

"Great."

"Do you just wanna leave?"

"I would love to leave and have you to myself right now, but Willow's got a speech in a few and I have...damnit..."

"What?"

"I-I was supposed to meet my grandma, we had some things to talk about, I--"

"Go, I'll just...go gamble a bit."

Justin cocked an eyebrow.

"Okay, fine, I'll just go look at all the shiny stuff around the casino."

Justin chuckled softly and licked his lips before leaning forward and cupping Storm's face softly before pressing a kiss to her plump lips a few times before letting go and looking around where he is before sighing softly.

"I promise I'll make it up to you, okay?"

"Yeah, baby."

Justin smiled brightly before jogging off and back into the crowd of people while Storm stood in the darkness of the hallway for a moment with her arms crossed over her chest as she blew out a raspberry and looked at all the social people and then turned back around and let her heels click against the marbled floor.

After what seemed like a long time of walking, Storm found herself standing near a glass door with gold trimming that led to an outside balcony which made her crease her eyebrows when she recognized the curly haired guy that stood leaning over the balcony.

Slowly walking toward the door, Storm slowly opened it and found herself biting the inside of her cheek momentarily and clearing her throat to get his attention which made him jolt and turn around to see her and scoff before turning around and taking another swig of his drink.

"Can I help you?"

"Um...just thought you'd want some company?"

"Hard pass."

Bruno's even meaner than I thought, Storm thought.

"I just...look, I don't really go to these kind of things--"

"Clearly." Bruno stated as he looked Storm up and down, indicating he was not impressed with her outfit which made Storm scoff and cross her arms over her chest while leaning against the balcony with him.

"Okay, what the hell is your problem?"

"My problem is that I was here, alone...then you come out here and think I'm like my sister: ready to be best friends the minute you step into the house. Well if you're looking for a friend tonight, you're going to have to go back inside."

Storm puffed out a breath as she stared blankly at Bruno and saw his jaw tighten as he turned his attention back to whatever it was on as her mind started to race.

This night just seemed to get longer.

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omg.......hi? i have been gone for so long! i know i abandoned this book and left y'all hanging, but i swear i'm back and i'm so ready to finish this up for you guys! i hope this chapter was filled with enough drama for y'all cause it's only part one and we're just getting started lol.

also, these are some of the visuals for justin's family casino, there's more features to it, but these are the main areas where events will happen throughout the book!

also, this was storm's dress! she decided to go against the dress code for the night, how yall feel about that?

okay, now that we're all caught up and fantasizing, i'll let y'all try and figure out what's gonna happen in part two! but don't be afraid to tell me how you feel about this chapter, feedback is amazing! see ya in the next chapter! 🦋✨