This was where Kate's demeanor shifted entirely. The surprised friend vanished, and the razor-sharp litigator took her place. Her eyes narrowed, not in judgment, but in analysis of the current situation. She pulled her tablet from her bag, her fingers flying across the screen.
"Since you told me it was his work," she said, her voice now cool and analytical, "I've been paying closer attention to the media cycle than I normally would…. I watched the news too, so, I kinda noticed that the news patterns are… a bit off.".
Kate as a lawyer, she had to follow the news, and naturally she had noticed the oddity of the current coverage, and since then by coincidence had been collecting and taking notes of everything. She turned the tablet around. On it was a complex network diagram, linking various news outlets, social media influencers, and online publications. All were connected to a few central nodes.
"This isn't organic criticism," she stated, her tone leaving no room for argument.
"Organic backlash is messy, uneven…. It's passionate fans arguing with passionate detractors, or just happenstance that happened… but this…" She tapped the screen.
"This is not that…it's too coordinated… Look at the language they used it is too similar across unrelated platforms…. The headlines hit with synchronized timing, this is a targeted narrative, not public opinion…".
"You think it's an attack?". Vera's face paled.
Kate's gaze was grim. She gave a single, sharp nod. "It's a classic corporate smear campaign… I see it all the time in litigation. When a competitor can't beat you on quality, or price, or innovation, they attack your reputation... They dig for dirt, and if they can't find any, they manufacture a moral panic, they're trying to make his success radioactive... They want to strangle this phenomenon in its cradle by making it too controversial for the mainstream to embrace….".
"I know this, because… I usually do this sort of things as well, without a doubt, it is an attack… damnit, Cathy, Vera... why the heck didn't you two tell me about this, quicker?". Kate closed her laptop and stared at the 2, for keeping this away from Sael, who is practically her god-son.
The confirmation was shocking to both Cathy and Vera, Cathy's hand flew to her mouth, her eyes wide with a new, more profound fear. This wasn't just random internet hate, it was a calculated assault by powerful, unseen enemies. Their boy, their sweet, brilliant Sael who had just started to smile again, was in the crosshairs.
Vera reached out and gripped Cathy's hand tightly, her own knuckles white. Kate's expression softened slightly, the lawyer receding to reveal the woman who had helped raise these children from across the hall. She saw the raw terror on their faces—the terror of mothers whose cub was being hunted, and she felt the same way too.
"I've known him since he was in diapers," Kate said, her voice quieter now, layered with a personal concern that matched their own.
"I've watched Emily and Bella grow up… They're the closest thing I have to my own kid, and that boy… as asshole as he can be, hah~ I loved him too,". She trailed off, a rare vulnerability showing in her eyes. She, the perpetually single, married-to-her-career woman, cared deeply for this family. "This isn't just business… This is personal now; we need to get home… Now."
***********
The walk back to their apartment building was a silent, determined march. The cozy warmth of the café was forgotten, replaced by a cool evening breeze that did nothing to dispel the heat of their worry. Cathy and Vera flanked Kate like loyal soldiers following their general into battle. The usual comfortable chatter between them was gone, replaced by a shared, grim focus. Their sanctuary had been violated not by a physical threat, but by an insidious, digital one aimed at their heart: Sael.
"DING! Ladies, I stopped by my apartment for a bit, put down my bags first, if you both don't mind,". As serious as the situation can be, Kate bag Is a bit too heavy for her to hold on, to it, since they were now standing on their floor, might as well drop the bag, before meeting with Sael.
"Sure, go ahead, we'll wait for you, here,". Cathy replied and Vera nodded.
Kate and the Hardcox lived on the same floor, their apartments were just facing each other's, Kate on the other hand lived alone, in a shared apartment. She emerged moments later, having dumped her heavy work bag. She was still in her powerful pantsuit, but without the weight of her files, she looked more agile, ready for action.
The moment the door opened, the atmosphere shifted again. The sharp, delicious smell of sautéing onions and garlic washed over them, a familiar blanket of domesticity. The sound of Nadia humming an old Russian folk tune mixed with the sizzle of a pan. It was a stark, comforting contrast to the cold corporate warfare they'd just been discussing.
"Hey, moms! And Aunt Kate," Emily called out from the kitchen, her voice cheerful. She was chopping vegetables, her back to them. And turned around and saw that Aunt Kate were here too.
Vera managed a tense smile. "Hola, mija… Where's Sael?".
Nadia turned from the stove, a wooden spoon in her hand. She was in the middle of preparing a small tray: a cup of black coffee and a plate of perfect, synthetic cubed apple fruits. "In the living room with Bella," she said, her warm eyes crinkling. "He's been working hard all afternoon… Needs a little fuel, you know, him and his coffee,". Nadia said putting Sael coffee mug on the tray.
"I'll take it to him," she said, her voice softer now. She took the tray from Nadia, the warm ceramic of the coffee mugs a small, tangible thing to focus on. The three women—Cathy, Vera, and Kate—exchanged a look. The mission was still on, but the battlefield was now the heart of their home.
They moved from the bright, noisy kitchen into the softer light of the living room. And the sight that greeted them made all three women stop dead in their tracks, their serious expressions momentarily wiped away by pure, primal appreciation.
Sael was on the floor, in the middle of the rug. Shirtless. He was doing sit-ups, his body coiled and glistening with a fine sheen of sweat that caught the lamplight. Each contraction of his stomach revealed the hard, defined lines of his emerging abs. The muscles in his arms and shoulders bunched and relaxed with a powerful, rhythmic grace. He wasn't the boy they remembered; he was a young man, raw and potent and breathtakingly masculine.
Bella was kneeling at his feet, her hands firmly holding his ankles. She was cheering him on softly. "...forty-eight, forty-nine… come on, bro, you got this… fifty!"
"Arrgghh!! Fifty!! Fuh~!".
Sael finished the last rep with a grunt and collapsed onto his back, his chest heaving. He saw them standing there and an easy, panting grin spread across his face. He pushed himself up in one fluid motion.
"Sael, Baby… here's your coffee,". Cathy put down the tray with my coffee on the table.
Both mom and Vera were out by the time I woke up, usually when they were feeling troubled, both of them would be going to their favorite café to decompressed. It was something that they usually do, so it was kind normal. But since it was the first time, I saw her and aunt Vera for the day, Mom wanted her usual, greetings and welcome, as she just glared at me.
"Mmmhmmm~ Slllrrppp! ". Cupping the back of her head, and I planted a deep, wet, lingering, sloppy kiss on her lips.
"GRAB!! Hmmm~ PAH!". Sliding my hand down, I grabbed her juicy ass hard, as I pulled her even tighter and intimately. "Mmmm~ Hey, Mom, Welcome home,". Mom nodded her head, smiled wide and clearly satisfied and pleased.
"Over here too, Mijo,". Aunt Vera opened her arms, ready, waiting for her turn. Happy, I walked to her, and delivered the same intimacy I gave mom.
"Smmoochh~ Hola, mamacita,". With the same fire and passion, I gave to mom, I do the same thing to Vera, 'Mmmhhh~'. Vera moaned into my mouth as out tongue wrestled, in a sloppy dance. Slipping my hand inside of her pants, I grabbed her giant bubble ass possessively.
"PAH! Ah! I'm home, Mijo,". Aunt Vera appreciated her part of my loving greeting. As she yelps seductively when I imprinted my palm on top of her ass.
With both of them, pleased and greeted properly, I turned to the last woman in the group. A flicker of data from the old Sael's memory banks comes in, Aunt Kate. Mom's friend. A Lawyer. Very Formal. Be Respectful and be polite. Made sense, she is at aunt rank and she's a lawyer. But in my eyes, what I saw completely taking out of my balance.
'Holy. Fucking. Shit.'. Aunt Kate, she was a dead ringer for that actress from those vampire flicks in my old world, 'Underworld'. Kate Beckinsale. But this was the version of her, was even more deadly, Severe, dark hair pulled into a bun so tight it looked painful. A sharp, intelligent face that could probably wither a rival in court. And a suit that was trying its absolute best to be professional but was losing a brutal war against the curve's underneath. Her breasts were a generous, perfect handful, her hips flared out, and her ass… fuck, her ass, currently encased in that tight, grey skirt, was a goddamn masterpiece. It was the ultimate mind-fuck: strict, untouchable authority wrapped around a body built for sin.
The old Sael's would say 'just a polite peck.' But for me, I wanted to 'claim her.' Still, I know best than to jump on my primal instinct. A lawyer, remember. I shoved the thoughts aside and offered a smile that I hoped looked more easygoing than a weirdo.
"Hi, Aunt Kate..." I stepped in and gave her a light, respectful peck on each cheek. Her perfume hit me—something expensive, like jasmine and night-blooming something-or-other—and it went straight to my other head.
"Just a peck?" she said, and her British accent made the words sound both haughty and filthy. "Are you excluding me from the family now? I see how it is… The moms get the full treatment, and I get the distant relative special…".
That was all the invitation I needed. A wolfish grin spread across my face. Game fucking on.
"Hehe, sorry, Aunt Kate," I chuckled, the sound coming out dark and low. "My mistake. Come here…".
"AHH!!!". I didn't give her a second to react. I moved. One arm snaked around her waist, yanking her flush against my sweaty, solid torso. She gasped, a small, startled sound.
My other hand didn't ask for permission; it went straight to the hem of that professional skirt and shoved it up, my large palm immediately finding and groping the full, round curve of her ass. I could feel the sensible cotton of her panties—a fucking travesty against skin that soft.
"Slllrrppp!! Mwah! Mmmhmmm~". Then I crushed my mouth to hers. I owned her mouth. My tongue plunged between her lips, tasting coffee and mint and her surprised, hot sweetness. It was wet, sloppy, and brutally dominant.
"Schlurp. Schlluuup… Ngh♥ Nghhhh♥". Kate, the unflappable lawyer, melted. Her body went pliant against mine, and she let out a soft, muffled moan into my mouth, her hands coming up to grip my slick shoulders, her fingers digging in.
"Hah~ Hah~ Mmmm~". After a long, breath-stealing moment, I pulled back. A thin string of saliva connected our lips for a second before breaking. My hand stayed right where it was, kneading her ass like it was my personal stress ball.
"Hi, Aunt Kate," I said, my voice a husky growl.
She was flushed, her perfect composure in ruins. Her breath was coming in short, sharp gasps. She tried to glare, but her eyes were glassy with lust.
"That's… that's more like it," she stammered, trying and failing to sound reprimanding. "Be fair to everyone…"
"Sorry,.. GRAB!!". I said, not meaning a word of it. I gave her ass another firm, possessive squeeze.
"Still learning to do it properly… also," I added, dropping my voice to a conspiratorial whisper as I leaned in, my lips brushing the delicate shell of her ear.
"I like it if you wear sexier underwear from now on…" To punctuate it, I nipped at her lower lip. A full-body shudder wracked her frame. I felt it everywhere we were connected.
"Strings or lace?" she breathed out, the words seeming to escape without her permission.
"Strings," I answered instantly, my voice full of wicked promise. "That way I can feel your skin even more...".
"Alright," she surrendered, the word a soft exhale. "I'll put them on from now on…" She finally managed to push weakly against my chest.
"Get clothes on now, you sweaty beast. We've got something serious to talk about." She was aiming for stern, but it just came out as a breathless, aroused huff.
"PAH! Alright! Be back in a minute~". I grinned, releasing her with a final, lingering pat that made her jump. And ran to my room.