Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 96046 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 480(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96046 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 480(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
My stomach churned as I pulled up in front of Dorian’s rental property in a residential neighborhood, tucked away at the end of a cul-de-sac. The beautiful two-story brick house was huge. Not sure why this surprised me. It made perfect sense.
I’d planned to sit in my car and find my bearings for a few minutes, but I didn’t have the chance. Before I could even take my seatbelt off, the front door opened and Dorian appeared. He held a hand up in a wave, then slipped his hands in his pockets, seeming anxious. The beauty of the house paled next to the man standing at the doorway.
I got out of my car and walked toward the door. I stopped a few feet away, keeping my distance. I looked up at the house. “This place is nice.” Though as lovely as it was, it was a drop in the bucket compared to the Vanderbilt mansion.
“Thanks. It was the only thing I could find that didn’t require a minimum stay.” He moved aside. “Come in.”
The inside was even more impressive than the flawless exterior. The entry opened to a huge living room with a large wraparound couch the color of sand. Everything coordinated perfectly, and large windows let in an abundance of light. This place was meant for a large, wholesome family, not some mysterious meeting between ex-lovers.
Dorian had a roaring fire going.
“Let’s sit,” he said, leading me to the couch in front of the fireplace.
The flames crackled. It was a scene way too intense for eight fifteen in the morning.
“You’re nervous,” he said.
“I can’t help it.” I licked my lips. “I don’t understand any of this.”
He sat across from me on the far end of the couch, rubbing his palms along his thighs. “Believe me. I’m nervous, too. Can I get you some coffee?”
I shook my head. “No, thank you.”
He nodded and exhaled. “I don’t even know where to begin.”
“Why don’t you start with why you showed up at my doorstep after five years? Why did you wait so long if you have things to say to me?”
“I didn’t have much of a choice.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You’re not supposed to understand, but do you know anything at all?”
“What am I supposed to know about?”
“Have you googled me?”
“Only very recently. Like literally a week ago. That’s part of why it was such a shock to see you. I came across an article about you having gone missing, and I was afraid to keep searching because I thought you were…” My voice trembled. Shit. Why am I crying? He’s fine.
“Oh, baby. I’m so sorry.” He moved to sit next to me and took my hand in his. “I’m sorry to have worried you like that.” He sighed. “You’d never searched my name before that?”
Sniffling, I shook my head. “Not even once. I chose to erase you from my life like you did me. It wasn’t going to make anything easier to keep tabs on you. It would’ve been painful to see your face.” My confusion worsened by the second. “Why? What would I have found if I’d kept searching?”
“Just some things that wouldn’t have made sense without me explaining—like the real reason I went missing, why I eventually walked away from my father’s company. Nothing you would’ve found told the full story, though. You would’ve probably just been more confused.”
“I did know you put the mansion up for sale.”
“A while back, yeah. How did you know that?”
“I drove by on my way out of Orion Coast. One final goodbye. Saw the realtor sign. I was shocked but figured you had your reasons.”
He stared at me a few moments.
“What?” I asked.
“You’re so fucking beautiful. It hurts to look at you, Rosebud.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry. I knew it was gonna be tough seeing you. But it’s even harder than I thought.”
I cleared my throat, hardly able to breathe. “This is hard for me, too.”
“I know it is. Thank you for putting aside your fears and coming. It means a lot to me.”
My body stiffened as my protective instinct kicked in. “Well, I don’t have all morning. I’ve got to be back at the school by eleven, so…”
“So I should cut to the chase.” He licked his lips.
“Yeah.”
Dorian took a deep breath. “Nothing is what it seemed, Primrose. When I ended things with you, it wasn’t because I wanted to. It was because I had to.” He paused. “Your life was on the line. You just didn’t know it.”
My stomach dropped. “What are you talking about?”
“I need to back up a bit. Please bear with me because…it’s a lot to take in.”
Shifting in my seat, I nodded.
“I have to start by going back to the time right after my father and Christina died. Something about their deaths never sat right with me. It was a feeling I had even before I moved to California from Boston. My father had been working on a number of inventions at the time of his death that, for various reasons, could’ve been motivation for someone to kill him.”