If you enjoyed "The Escort, Et Cetera" and "The Escort II—Princess and the Surrogate," you’ll love the sequel, "The Escort III—Son of an Escort." Theresa E. Liggins presents this alluring follow-up to her heart-felt dramas by continuing the trials of Sebastién Marcelis, as he attempts to live up to his devoted lover’s wishes—to raise their son nobly.
Princess left her son, Darius, in the care of her only true love and hero. However, no one counted on Princess also leaving behind her private diary detailing her innermost secrets. And no one counted on that diary being discovered by seventeen-year-old Darius. Here he learns, for the first time, that his father once covertly engaged as a highly sought-after escort and that his mother paid him handsomely and regularly for his services!
Shocked to learn that one of their paid encounters spawned his existence, Darius’ curiosity about his father’s occupation began to intrigue him. Consequently, the discovery of the infamous diary altered the many lives it touched along the way.
The fallout from the diary’s debut doesn’t deter Darius’ fascination and curiosity, though. This dynamic and conclusive story takes the readers into the hearts and souls of these powerful characters, as they each deal with the reality of the existence of such a scandalous entity.
Praise for books in The Escort series—
…Ms. Liggins has created compelling characters and written a story that should please readers of both romance and literary works. The story concept is age-old but with a contemporary twist. This author does an excellent job of describing scenes, setting, and characters' external appearances…
—WRITER’S DIGEST (reviewing the Escort II—Princess and the Surrogate)
Theresa E. Liggins was born in Columbus, Ohio, the second of five children. Her upbringing instilled discipline, authority, and order to her life, which influenced her natural introverted personality as a young child. However, as an adult, she has orchestrated those “influences” to work in her favor—to not speak out of turn, but to listen. And, listened she did.
It wasn’t until Theresa became a “wiser” adult that she found her “voice”—at which time, she began to express herself as a creative extrovert. She has gone on to discover many facets of creativity, from interior design, photography, ballroom dancing, to fictional writing. Although her most passionate expression of creativity is writing, she owes her inspiration for writing her first novel to the art and sport of ballroom dancing.
In 1999, she voyaged into the unknown, kicked off her street shoes, slid into her first pair of flashy ballroom dance shoes, and has never looked back. It was the sophistication, challenge, and adventure of ballroom dancing that gave her the courage and empowerment to write her first novel, and then another. But the thrill and the achievement didn’t stop there.
Theresa has five published novels to date; with novels six and seven approaching their debut in 2006. Theresa often travels on location to journey through her characters’ worlds—giving authenticity to her stories. Her past, current, and upcoming projects can be viewed on her web site by visiting www.romanticreations.com. Theresa credits her intriguing characters for captivating the exceptional male audience, as well as her loyal female following.
Theresa E. Liggins creates a “unique” flavor of romance and literary novels.
Darius Sebastién Spencer lay sprawled out on the bed as he continued to devour page after jaw-dropping, provocative page of the personal journal once kept by his beloved mother and fashion model—the late Princess Spencer. Her life prematurely and tragically ended twelve years ago at the age of thirty—at the peak of her illustrious career—and more significantly, right in the midst of her most rewarding pursuit in life, motherhood. Darius had just turned five when she died, but remembers it like it happened just yesterday.
*****
Now seventeen, Darius lives in the affluent Chicago suburb of Oak Brook with his father, Sebastién Marcelis, stepmother, Natalya Armanni-Marcelis, and two stepsisters, Arianna and Carmilita. Although somewhat of an introvert, a characteristic spurred by the absence of his mother, he rarely has a private moment to himself at home. He attends a private school in Oak Brook majoring in Political Science. However, his personal interests include, no doubt, acting and modeling.
*****
Since moving in with his father at the age of five, Darius has looked up to him and admired him. He desired to mirror the one man his mother idolized. Unlike his parents’ eyes, Darius’ eyes turned darker by his sixth month, and as a teen, they seemed to possess mesmerizing powers, which he often used to his advantage. His soft yet masculine voice sounded much like a romantic chant when he spoke, giving one the impression that he may be shy. He was not, although it came in handy when he needed to get himself out of compromising situations, which wasn’t too often. He developed a rather expanded vocabulary, which he used to wisely melt the hearts of suitors, or his parents for that matter. As an inquisitive child, he sometimes found himself in sticky situations, but his charming personality always came to his rescue. No one could stay angry toward him for too long. Even though he had it made and realized that fact early on; he never abused those gifts.
*****
As a young boy, Darius would attach himself to anything that would keep him filled with memories of his mother. He struggled emotionally for several years over the sudden loss of her. He also lacked developmentally, motivationally, and energy-wise for several months following her death. Sebastién, Natalya, and Princess’ parents, collectively, tried to give him all the love and support he needed, but nothing or no one could take the place of his mother. However, when he spent time with his baby sister, no one was aware of how connected he became to his mother through Carmilita. He never thought of it as Princess’ spirit inhabiting Carmilita; all he knew was that he felt different—secure—around Carmilita. He stayed near his baby sister, as much as he could—that’s where his memories were also strong. Their bond relieved everyone. Carmilita became his baby. She was his mortal replacement for his mother. He never let her out of his sight, just like his mother did with him. When she was born, he didn’t call her Carmilita, like everyone else, but instead, “‘Milita.” Perhaps, her name was too long for him to pronounce, which is what Sebastién and Natalya thought. But for him, he wanted his own special name for her—to make her, his.
*****
Darius remained glued to his mother’s diary in disbelief over the words that were leaping off the pages of the small book still clutched tightly in his hands. It shocked him to discover that it contained vivid accounts of very private moments written by her, obviously for her eyes only. But when he found it among her modeling cards, portfolios, casting shots, and countless magazine spreads, while looking for his birth certificate, he couldn’t resist glancing through it—thinking it would connect him to her through some wisdom left behind. It wasn’t exactly wisdom that she left behind, but instead, an open invitation to her most personal secrets, which he soon uncovered. He continued to miss her deeply throughout the years, making it tough at times being without her. So, what he had hoped to find inside would be notes about her modeling life, stories about him as a baby, perhaps an itinerary of the places she had visited around the world, as well as the celebrities she had met—but quite the contrary! What embossed these pages were things he wasn’t at all prepared to learn about the mother he deemed perfect in his eyes.
What Darius actually found, revealed entry after entry of his mother’s random thoughts and, most unsettling, her occasional explicit description of each sexual encounter, which she liberally documented throughout the diary. He sat on his bed hunched over the diary, so focused, he nearly looked statuesque, struggling to digest the shocking and disturbing revelation about his mother whom he believed, as a small child, to own the distinction of a real princess.
Although, he barely turned five when she died, he still maintained a few clear memories of her because of her devotion to him. She had centered her entire life around him, guarding him immensely. She had given him unconditional love from the very core of her heart, and purpose from the inner depths of her soul. He still cries in private because he misses her, but today he showed a very different emotion.
As though reading about his mother’s sexual exploits wasn’t upsetting enough, Darius’ whole body froze at the uncovering of an enormous secret—at least he thought it might be a secret. His attentive and caring father once led a clandestine life as a male escort and his saintly mother called upon his services. She paid him for sex! Darius’ voice reverberated in his head. That’s how they met? He continued to read on through his blurred eyes, as tears developed more and more with each page he turned. Every now and then a stray tear would fall onto the revealing pages, distorting the poignant words that described her most sensual moments and the events leading up to when she fell in love with his father.
*****
Darius read several more entries in his mother’s diary. They were mostly about her intensifying sexual relationship with Sebastién. Darius felt a stirring within himself as he read the words that described his parents making love for the first time. He didn’t know what to make of his feelings at that particular time. What he discovered was something so private that he knew he should not have found it, nor even have knowledge of it. But once he started reading the pages, he couldn’t stop himself. His curiosity about the love affair between his parents waxed deeper with each turned page. In addition, he found himself wanting to know more about his father’s role as an escort and the affect he had on his mother and the numerous other women. What a commodity! He was actually getting paid to give women pleasure. Even though this happened before he was born, he desired more than anything to know the truth about his father’s past. Perhaps this now explains why his parents never married or why they lived in separate states. How many other women did his father have paid sex with? And did he still have sex with them even after he fathered Darius? And did his father really love his mother or did he just use her for the money? These were just a few of the questions ricocheting in his mind. He interrupted those questions to read further...
*****
Darius just stared blankly at the descriptive pages that spoke of his mother’s most passionate experiences. Now, more than ever, his interest piqued about this mystifying power his father had over his mother. He could see that more pages were written about their uninhibited escapades, but he only thumbed through them, feeling a little embarrassed about what he was reading, until he found one entry that caught his attention. He read it over and over…
“I’m pregnant!!”