Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 83216 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83216 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
I shot one last look at Lorenzo. Damn it, he was hot—olive skin, dark hair, pretty brown eyes, a sexy mouth…and a sharp tongue.
I figured there were two possible scenarios. A, he was bad news and part of some weird scheme with the nurse, or B, he was a great guy who just happened to be buddies with my mom’s faux cousin and it was all an odd coincidence.
Did it matter? If I were smart, I’d let it go and concentrate on being a model citizen.
Janet had me signed up to do a surprise pop-in at a beach cleanup on Saturday and an interview for an environmental magazine that wanted my take on energy initiatives. Beach, no worries. Energy initiatives? What the fuck? I was going to have to study for that one, but that was okay. I needed to keep my mind busy and ideally not overthink the fact that everything in my life was smoke and mirrors—nothing was real.
Even that photo.
Yes, that was my mom in that picture…before she got sick, but in my gut, I knew I wasn’t related to Jasper Gowan. Maybe he’d lied just to meet me. Trust me, stranger things had happened. He didn’t seem like the type, though, and I was sure Janet had vetted him.
“What did you find out about the old man?” I asked, breaking the silence in the luxury SUV.
Janet set her iPad facedown on her lap and shifted in her seat. “He’s eighty-five years old. He was an engineer for an aerospace—”
“You told me all that. I’m not talking about his age or profession. I mean, what about his reputation? You checked him out, right?”
“Of course, I checked him out. I wouldn’t have lasted five minutes in my position if I didn’t verify every detail and present it all to Seb on a silver platter. You know that,” she said, sounding miffed.
“True. So?” I prodded.
“He’s a pillar of the community. His partner died twelve years ago, he never had a family of his own, and the people he’s closest to now are well into their eighties and nineties—other than the younger man who stayed in the room while you were chatting.” Janet cocked her head. “Do you think he’s Gowan’s boy toy?”
“No,” I replied automatically.
“I wouldn’t be so sure. He’s very pretty, and the old man is loaded. Why else would Gowan let him stay?”
“I don’t know, but I don’t see it.”
Janet scoffed. “I do. He probably told his sugar daddy that he wanted in on a meeting with the famous Pierce Allen.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“I bet you five bucks I’m right. Lorenzo drives a Beamer and dresses in Hugo Boss on a shop boy’s salary? Not likely.”
“Shop boy?”
“Enid told me that Lorenzo is a manager at BGoods in West Hollywood. It’s a cute home goods boutique.”
“Oh.”
“Watch out, Pierce. I saw the way he ran after you before we left. You might be next.” She snickered and poked me in the ribs. “Don’t worry. I won’t let him get to you.”
“Gee, thanks,” I snarked. And though I knew I should have dropped the thread, I couldn’t help asking, “Did you run a check on Lorenzo too?”
“No, I didn’t know anything about him till today. I suppose I could research him, but that’s a waste of resources. We’re done here. The studio wanted a feel-good story, not a family saga. And Lorenzo isn’t family. If he is Mr. Gowan’s pretty young thing, we don’t want to know.”
I bristled at the idea. He was too young and too vivacious for someone like Gowan. He was old enough to be Lorenzo’s grandfather, for fuck’s sake.
Okay, that made me sound like a judgmental prick. Whatever floated their boats and all that, right?
No, I still didn’t like it.
“Do you know what’s wrong with the old guy? He’s sick and maybe dying, but he didn’t say anything about his health, and I didn’t want to ask.”
Janet shook her head. “Not sure. Maybe he just has a bad ticker. He seems like a nice enough man and I’m sure you wish him well, but you can forget about him now, Pierce. We have enough content for our purposes.”
“Right, but…I don’t think it’s true. I don’t think we’re related.”
“Probably not, but who cares? It’s a photo op…nothing more. And it’s done. End of story. You never have to see him or any of them again.”
True.
I should have breathed a sigh of relief, but I felt oddly fragile in the moment. And hollow.
I was torn. It would have been nice to know someone with a connection to my mother, who could fill in blank spaces. Yeah, maybe that was it. But I sure as fuck wasn’t going to spill my guts to Janet. Nice girl and all, but that sounded pathetic and she hadn’t signed on for my drama.
Actually, that was exactly what she’d signed on for. The fun or mildly annoying kind of drama, though. Not the “lost a parent and is having trouble coping with family BS” kind. That shit was mine to deal with—the grieving, the sadness, the drunken mood swings. All mine.