Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 104239 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104239 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
“Thank you for everything.” I barely hear the words over my pounding heart. This can’t be happening. I’m alone again. Me, by myself, in that huge house. Where do I even start putting a life together?
How do I do it without Lucas? What’s any of it worth without him?
As promised, my bag is waiting. I pick it up and walk through the front door—sure enough, there’s a sleek, black car parked there, the driver standing beside it. Waiting for me.
This is it. The beginning of the rest of my lonely life.
And he never even kissed me goodbye.
35
LUCAS
I watch her through the window as she gets into the back of the car, and the driver shuts the door and walks around to get behind the wheel.
This is for the best.
At least that’s what I keep telling myself.
Stepping away from the window, I head to my room. Sending her away was hard enough. I don’t want to see the car drive off just to hollow out the open wound in my chest further.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I get it out, intending to decline the call and shut my phone off. I change my mind when I see Aspen’s name flashing across the screen.
I hit the green button and bring the device to my ear.
“Aspen,” I greet, failing to hide the now ever-present guilt in my voice.
“Lucas, I didn’t know Xander was going to send you away. I’m sorry.”
Despite everything, I can’t help but chuckle. “Why in the world would you feel like you are the one who has to apologize? I’m the one who fucked up. I’m supposed to keep you safe.”
“Did you and Q rehearse that line together?” I can almost hear her eye roll through the phone. “You can’t be everywhere all the time. I’m responsible for keeping myself safe, and I did. Thanks to your training, I had the reflexes to catch myself and the strength to pull myself up in time. Nothing really happened. I have two tiny bruises on my leg, and that’s it.”
I know she is downplaying it, so her words only make me feel slightly better.
“I’m glad you’re okay, and I’m sorry I left without saying goodbye. To be honest, I didn’t know if you wanted to see me.”
“Of course I do. You’re still my…”
“Father,” I finish for her, realizing that she might feel obligated to have a relationship with me. Is that all it is? An obligation?
“It’s still weird to say it out loud.”
“Yeah.” I couldn’t agree more.
“How is Delilah?” Aspen changes the subject.
“You don’t have to pretend to care about her.”
“I do care about her. She and I had a lot in common.”
Another reminder of why Delilah and I will never work.
“She is safe and well taken care of.” Just not with me. “I’m going to give Xander some time to cool off. Hopefully, he’ll let me come back to Corium soon, and if not, I want you to know I’m always just a phone call away.”
“I know.” She sighs. “I better get back to Q before he sends out a search party. Talk soon?”
“Of course. Bye.”
“Bye.”
The line goes dead, and I’m left to wallow in my misery again. Making my way up the stairs, I wonder what Delilah is thinking now. Is she crying, hurt, angry? Probably all of the above.
She’s hurting right now, but it’s for the best.
That’s my mantra as I get undressed while the image of Delilah’s wounded eyes burns in my memory. I know how this looks to her. Like I’m getting rid of her, throwing a stack of cash her way, and turning my back. If it means she’ll harden her heart and forget me that much sooner, it’s for the best.
She’ll be fine. She’s overwhelmed. That’s all. Anybody would be overwhelmed in her place. Once she gets over the shock and settles into her new reality, she’ll be fine. Better than fine.
After all, she won’t have me fucking up her life anymore.
But she said she loved you. Yeah, well, people say a lot of things. She’s too young to know what she wants, anyway. I’m sure she thought she loved Nash, that piece of shit. She probably would have done anything he asked because he was nice to her. When compared to how poorly she was treated by everyone else in her life, the slightest nugget of kindness meant everything. She didn’t know what love looked like, so she latched onto the closest thing.
That’s what she’s doing now. She doesn’t love me. She feels connected to me. She needs me, and she’s mistaking that for love. She’ll figure it out with time and a little more experience. Now that she’s got more money than she’ll ever need, life is wide open to her. She’ll never have to beg for crumbs of affection again.
This is the right thing. Getting her away from me. What could I do for her? Hurt her, push her away, ruin her. She’s too good for that. She’s too good for me.