Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 79670 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79670 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
“Thank you,” I reply softly and look up when I see Matty coming toward us.
“Your father is looking for you,” he informs me and then looks at Romeo. “I said I would find you so they would stop asking me questions about Sofia.”
“Who is Sofia?” Romeo asks, and he smirks before he breaks out into a huge smile, his eyes twinkling.
“A girl from school,” he explains and I just look at him., raising my eyebrows at him.
“You should have brought her.” I push his shoulder, joking with him. Knowing full well that before anyone introduces their girlfriend or boyfriend, it’s a sure thing. I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who wasn’t with my cousins before. It was like, this is my boyfriend and I will be with him forever.
“Her family is just as big as ours,” he tells me and my eyes go big as saucers. “Her father is in tech, I think, and her family owns a couple of ranches.” He shrugs. “Anyway, can you go and tell your father you are alive and no one kidnapped you to sell you to an oil sheik who lives in Dubai.”
I can’t help but laugh. “When will they realize that Taken was just a movie?” I ask as Romeo just laughs. “Excuse me,” I say, taking one more look at him before walking to meet my father.
“There you are,” he greets me as if I was just found.
“I was in the bathroom,” I tell him, and his eyebrows pinch together as if he knows I wasn’t. “What is it?”
“Nothing.” He puts his arm around my shoulder and brings me to him, kissing my temple. “I just missed you.”
I wrap my arms around his waist as we listen to some story that someone is telling, the whole time trying not to look around the room and see if I see him. My eyes always find him chatting with someone from my family. It feels so weird that he’s here, meeting my family members and I didn’t bring him. I’m trying to focus on the conversation that is going on in front of me. Still, one ear is trying to listen if anyone brings him up, and the other part of me is making sure he’s okay.
An hour later, Abigail waddles over to us with Tristan right behind her. “Okay, I’m going to head out,” she announces, putting her hand on her stomach as Tristan slips his hand in hers. “I’m going to have to ice my feet.” She looks down at her feet. “I just wish I would be able to see them,” she huffs.
“Can you drop me off?” I ask, and she nods at me. We both turn around and kiss our parents goodbye.
I walk out of the venue with my heart beating extra hard, thinking maybe I should have told him I was leaving. I look over my shoulder, not seeing him anywhere, so I get in the car. It’s only when I walk into the house and slip off my shoes does the whole night start to catch up with me.
Alone in the house, I start to pace in the living room back and forth. “What just happened?” I ask myself. “What did he mean by there are things that need to be said?” I march back to my purse and grab my phone to text him. “What could possibly be said that hasn’t? Does he want to tell me what happened in detail?” Just the thought makes me feel like I’m going to vomit all over the place.
Are you up?
I think it will take him a while to get back to me, but the little bubble with the three dots comes up and the phone pings in my hand.
Yes.
Where are you?
My fingers start to type are you alone before going back and deleting the last part. So I just press send for the first part.
At my hotel.
You were right. We need to talk.
I press send and put the phone down on the counter. My hands start to shake just a touch. “This is what needs to happen. We need to talk,” I tell myself. “What is he really doing here? What does he really want? Why after all this time?”
I’m looking down at the phone, waiting to see the little bubble come up with the dots, but they don’t. Instead, I hear a soft knock on the front door.
SIXTEEN
ROMEO
I walk up the steps in the darkness of the night. The sound of crickets fills the air as I hold up my hand and knock softly on the door. The phone in my hand feels like a ticking time bomb. My heart beats so fast that it is all I hear in my ears as I start to breathe even harder.
I watched her walk out tonight with Abigail, and I made my way out as soon as she was gone. My car and driver were there waiting for me. I got in the car and took off the tie as soon as he pulled away from the venue. I called the hotel right away and asked them to have a car waiting for me. It’s times like these that I am sort of happy that my name gets things done.