Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 109976 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 550(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 367(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109976 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 550(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 367(@300wpm)
He makes it sound so easy, but I know he knows that it can never be that way. There’s too much dirty water in my past and there’s still the senator looming over me like a dark cloud. I know that ignoring his calls won’t make him give up so easily. Not after his many years of trying.
And then there’re the things I couldn’t bring myself to write in my journal for fear of it one day being found. Well one thing really, but that one thing would make my life a living hell if it was ever discovered. So how could I ever truly be happy?
I gave him a small smile to reassure him but I don’t think he bought it. He moved over closer and put his arm around my shoulders and kissed my temple but didn’t say anything else. We drove the rest of the way home in silence, but as hard as I tried to bring back that feeling of gaiety I’d awakened with, it was already marred by my own thoughts.
Just as he’d promised the stylist showed up not long after our return. I wasn’t sure what to think when I recognized someone from my past. “Celeste?” We both looked at each other in surprise before falling into each other’s arms with laughter.
“What are you doing here? How long has it been now?”
“Four years more or less, as to what I’m doing here your man made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.” I looked over her shoulder at Gavin who was standing in the doorway like a papa bear watching over his cub.
I waited for him to leave before questioning her farther, still shocked by her presence. “Tell me, how do you two even know each other?” More to the point how did he know that she used to be my favorite stylist when I was modeling? I guess he wasn’t kidding when he said he knew everything about me.
“I’ve never met the man but when I got a call in the middle of the night from someone saying they’re Gavin Sorrento’s man I didn’t need to hear any more. Do you know how many people would sell their first born just to be in the same room with him?” She said it as a joke but I know it wasn’t far from the truth.
“Plus he’s paying me a mint and all I have to do is never mention coming here or seeing you. By the way I heard the bastard died, good riddance.”
“Celeste, shh.” I looked back to make sure no one was there as she led me over to the chair to sit.
I hadn’t even taken the time yet to look around the room but now that I did it looked like a top of the line luxury salon with every amenity one could ever need for a full day of beauty and relaxation. “Girl you know I never liked him, and I hated him even more after he made you cut ties with me.”
It’s true. She was one of the few people I ever felt comfortable with sharing some of what I was going through in the early stage of my marriage. Once Vance realized that she was a source of strength for me he’d nipped our friendship in the bud. It was one of the few acquaintances I’d truly missed. But how did Gavin find her? The man truly is scary.
I listened to her go on and on about him like a fan girl as she took care of my hair the way no one else ever could and felt myself relax in the presence of someone who knew me before my life went to hell. We joked and laughed as if time hadn’t passed, settling into our old friendship with ease.
Way too soon it was time for her to go and I found out then how she’d been brought in from the city by Gavin’s men. We made plans to see each other again in the near future and it seems Gavin had already persuaded her to be my regular stylist at home if it’s what I wanted.
Home, when had I started thinking of this place like that? I was beginning to think that any place where he was would feel the same. I didn’t have time to dwell on it though because as soon as she left Gavin was hustling me into one of my new outfits and down the stairs. “Where are we going now?”
“Away! Didn’t I tell you I was going to take you away after the funeral?” A man who keeps his word? How can he know how novel an idea that is for me? How many promises had Vance broken to the point that I stopped expecting him to keep his word?
Until I stopped believing in even the simplest things, to the point that I’d lost all trust in anyone. Until now! The man who now held my hand so securely in his is restoring my faith a little bit at a time.