Total pages in book: 26
Estimated words: 24127 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 121(@200wpm)___ 97(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24127 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 121(@200wpm)___ 97(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
“All right, but this isn’t over. I’ll show you. I can be different.”
I want to tell him again it’s never happening, but I don’t want to prolong the conversation. He needs to get out of my room. My stomach is starting to turn again. Right now, all I want to do is get to the doctor’s and find out what is wrong with me.
I think I already know, but I’m not sure if I’m excited or petrified.
Chapter Eight
LEO
“You’ve got to calm down,” Flynn pleads as I pace the room again.
“Calm down?!” Rage floods my veins like hot lava, and I grab the chair in front of my desk and hurl it across the room. It hits a bookcase, and as they come toppling to the ground, I can’t help but compare it to my sanity.
“Did that make you feel better?” He raises an eyebrow, and I want to reach out and rip it off his face.
“No,” I say through clenched teeth.
“Why don’t we try something more productive? Sit.” He points to the leather sofa on the other side of the room, and I stomp over to it and flop down. “Today we’re going to try using our words.”
“I swear to god—” I start, but he smothers a laugh.
“All right, all right.” He sits down next to me on the sofa and props his feet on the coffee table in front of it. “Leo, you’ve been raging around here like a pissed-off hornet for months. You won’t tell anyone what the hell is going on with you.”
“It’s nothing.” It’s absolutely not nothing, but I’m not going to discuss it with Flynn.
“Liar.” He calls me on my bullshit, and I guess since he’s my best friend, he’s the one to see right through me.
“I can’t find her.” I finally say the words that have been stuck in my throat since the night we left the Cinder Financial event.
“Okay, buddy, I’m trying to use my context clues here, but seriously, what the fuck are you talking about?”
The sigh I let out is so deep it feels like it comes from the depth of my soul. “You remember the party at the Cinder estate?”
“How could I forget? Your mom was pissed.”
It turned out there was a dispute with the Vault twins and one of the executives at Evermore Holdings. One thing led to another, and there was a scuffle near the dance floor. Matthew pushed his brother Jace into one of the violinists, and it was a domino effect. The next thing Flynn knew, someone accidentally elbowed my mother in the eye, and it was a spectacle.
I’m not entirely sure what the initial argument was about, but trouble seems to follow those two. If Cinder Financial is to be left in their possession, then I’m afraid the company is doomed.
“After we took Mom home and I made sure she was okay, I tried to go back to the party.”
“Why?” He looks genuinely confused.
“I met someone. That’s where I was when you were looking for me.” I shake my head in frustration. “By the time I got back, everyone was clearing out, and I never saw her.”
“What’s her name? I can ask around,” he offers.
“I don’t know.”
“What’s she look like?” He tries again.
“The most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” I close my eyes and I can almost taste her. I would say she’s haunted my nights, but that would be a lie. Because she haunts every moment of every day like nothing else, and I’ve become obsessed.
“That should narrow it down.” When I look back at him, I feel my anger surge forward, and he holds his hands up in mock defense. “Okay, sorry. I’ll try and be helpful.”
“It’s no use. I’ve asked around to everyone I know that was there. I’ve hired a detective to dig around and see if he can get a guest list, but everything he’s come across is a dead end.”
I let my head fall in my hands and rub my eyes with the heels of my palms. I’m not sleeping, I’m not eating, and I can feel the ache of her absence all over me.
Flynn pats my back in the least comforting way, but I know he’s not used to seeing me like this. I’m never like this.
“Just to be clear, you’re sure she’s real?”
“Yes,” I say flatly.
“Sorry, I had to check.” He looks like he’s thinking over options and then shrugs. “Okay, so what now?”
I move my hands away from my face and lean back on the sofa. “I’m at a dead end. Which is why I tried to throw a chair through the wall.”
“Good point, but have you tried asking the twins?”
“Matthew and Jace?” I shake my head. “No, I don’t want them anywhere near her.”
“How do you know she’s not already?” Flynn says, and I peer over at him.