Julian was a Crane.
A Crane always got what he wanted.
Everyone else be damned.
Julian was in Boston and went out that night to a popular nightclub. That was the first tme he saw Eve and decided he had to have her.
Julian Crane always got what he wanted. Eve didn't know what hit her when Julian walked in her life.
Words of devotion slipped easily from this young and handesome playboy's lips and reduced this once nice girl to mere putty in his hands. Eve would have done anything for him, become anything for him.
Limos, private jets, vacations to islands she never even heard of, diamond earings with matching diamond necklaces.
Julian was so different from every man she ever meant, Julian became her world.
Julian wasn't expecting this rush of feelings that Eve inspired in him.
He never knew a woman could make him feel this way, vulnerably in love, the son of Alister Crane.
But then his father found out and threatened his inheirtance.
And Julian regretted his actions ever since.
Eve hadn't seen Julian since the fight between his sons.
He had to make a difficult decision. And he did. Julian choose the one they shared over the other. Eve knew it must have been hard and she was starting to get worried about him.
Eve knew Julian had his vices and was liable to fall victim to them at any given moment. Drinking was one of his favorite pastimes. And Eve knew these past hours could very well have driven him to it.
Eve walked swiftly through the mansion's west wing, even though she had been living here for months there was still so many possible rooms for Julian to be.
Eve headed to the library, the place Julian like to escape to. Where he was alone and away away from his family's watchful eyes. He rather succumb to his weakness for alcohol privatly rather than in a crowded bar.
Eve dreaded every step she took down the long winding hallways, each one brought her closer to the library where she wittnessed Julian inebriated one too many times.
Eve could only hope that Julian wouldn't be there, drowning his sorrows in yet another bottle of cognac.
"Oh Julian," Eve sighed after opening the door. It was the sound any wife would make after they saw their husband's short comings right in front of them. It killed her to see the man she loved tending a bottle of liquor his head bent over his shoulders dejectidly. "Why?"
"Eve I'm sorry you have to see me like this, darling." Julian tried to stand up but stumbled back into his chair and Eve rushed over to steady him.
"Julian it doesn't have to be like this. You don't have to push Fox out of Crane for our son Chad. Call him Fox in the morning and tell him-"
"No." Julian said his voice calm and firm as if he hadn't drowned bottles of alcohol down. His tone left no room for compromise. A Crane through in through.
"Julian have a mercy! Fox he is your son."
Julian grunted, "I guess you suppose I don't love him. Don't you? Because I wasn't there at his baseball games and I didn't tag along on field trips? I love him, in the Crane way, I love him. Don't you think it kills me to throw my own son out on the street? It kills me! But I've given him everything! And what does he do to thank me? He goes after his brother's ex fiance right after they broken up. He was probably after her all along, even when Chad and Fox were friends. Fox is selfish and an ungrateful little bastard! And I will stand for none of it!" Julian said and drowned another bottle of expensive bottle of liquor placing another empty glass bottle along with the others Julian had finished on the table.
Eve sighed, she knew nothing else she could do but throw away all the empty bottles of liquor Julian had strewn about the table and urge him to go to bed.
Julian easily complied. He needed her now. These past few hours alone in his greif nearly drove him mad. Those hours had been enough, more enough. Now all Julian wanted the woman he loved in bed with him, his arms wrapped around her while she assured him with that sweet voice of her's he loved for so long telling him that everything would be okay and work out for the best.
Julian said as Eve threw one shoulder around her to help him stand up, "God, if Fox truly does love Whitney as much as he claims. Even with a third of the amount that I love you with. Their relationship will be an all-consuming and passionate disaster"
A year earlier...
Fox never bought that love-at-first-sight shit.
Hell, he hardly believed in love at all. Or atleast it never happpened to his knowledge. Well atleast it didn't work that way for a Crane. His parents were hardly in love, and his grandfather he never loved anyone.
But then Fox saw Whitney.
And his life flipped upside down.
He remebered it as if it was just yesterday, Whitney was on stage, singing an old jazz tune.
And, like that, Fox was in love.
Fox couldn't believe it.
He had Whitney Russel. Finally he had her. The girl of his dreams, finally in his arms and it wasn't a dream.
Just to make sure Fox checked again. He looked down and to his relief Whitney was still there. She was sound asleep perfectly peaceful while Fox's heart was beating so fast he hoped it wouldn't jump out of his chest.
Whitney's head was in the crook of his arms a white sheet wrapped losely around her and one long smooth leg comfortably laying on top of his.
Since Fox's father, Julian, threw him out the Crane mansion. Fox was staying in the very
humble abode of the Bennettes. Or was quant a more accurate discription?
Much to his surprise his mother, Ivy, seemed elated to be staying in this one story house with Sam, Fox's father-in-law. She seemed happier then he ever saw her when she was living in the mansion and and the various vacation homes she stayed at with Julian.
Fox felt Whitney's dark hair brush his bare chest as she unconously moved closer to him in her sleep. He let out a small, gratified moan and brought one hand down to feel the texture of her ebony strands against his fingertips and smilied.
Whitney was all love and laughter. Everything seemed light and effortless around her. Fox couldn't remember a time when he felt happier or more complete. He loved her with all his heart. He even trusted her. He trusted her! A Crane never trusted anyone! Even family couldn't be trusted he was taught.
Underneath all Fox's jokes, underneath his good looks and his charm. Fox was dark. He had been raised like a Crane. Shipped off to boarding school at a very young age, his parents throwing money at him so they wouldn't have to deal with him. Today was the first time he could rememer his mother hugging him. As a result Fox grew hard. He was hard. He knew how to stand on his own to feet.
Fox hadn't been raised like Whitney had with loving, supportive family who engaged in fun
get-togethers and heart-to-heart family discussions. Julian and Alister were hardly decent role models for him, unlike Whitney who admired her father TC.
The Crane's passed Fox down with no morals, ethics, or strong family values. He could be just as cruel and underhanded as any of his Crane relatives.
So what his "father", if one could call him that, had thrown him out the mansion? So what? Fox would find a way. He would worm his way back into Crane industries and the Crane mansion and take what was rightfully his. His inheirtnce. His birthright.
Whitney deserved it. She deserved just as much as any Crane wife. He wanted to give her everything his mother had when she was still Mrs. Julian Crane.
Luxury cars. Trips to the islands. Louie luggage and diamind encrusted rings.
No, Whitney would be treated better than Ivy had been. Because Fox loved Whitney and
would give her more than just materialistic things. He would offer her his heart. Hell, if Fox
could he'd lay down his soul at her very feet.
Fox loved Whitney. Adored her. Just as much as Julian loved Whitney's mother Eve. Even more because unlike his father Fox had the courage to stick by Whitney even when Julian
disowned him.
With Whitney by his side nothing would stop him. Nothing would ever get between them now that Fox finally had her.