Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 102970 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102970 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
She’ll run. I know her well enough to know that she will take off. That’s just what she does. What she knows.
She can try to hide all she wants, but I’ll find her. No matter where she goes. A King always finds his queen.
_______________
I sit next to her at the funeral. Her mother passed three days ago, and she hasn’t said anything to me. I don’t think she’s spoken to anyone. This is the Emilee York I know—completely closed off.
I get up and button my suit jacket and walk to the back of the church, giving her a chance to say goodbye to her mother alone.
“Have you heard anything about George?” Bones asks me the moment I walk through the double doors to stand in the entryway of the funeral home.
I shake my head. “No. You?”
“Same. It’s as if he’s fallen off the face of the earth.”
“Well, he couldn’t have gone that far,” I whisper, turning to face the glass. I see she’s still in the same place I left her, but now Jasmine sits on her right and Haven to her left. “Wherever he is, he’ll come back. Especially now that Nancy has passed.” He’ll want to collect on that trust we found. Legally, he was her husband and is now entitled to everything.
“Do you think this was accidental?” Bones asks.
“She was terminally ill. I think it was just a matter of time.” Very bad timing. He runs a hand down his face. I turn to look him in the eye. “You think it was intentional?”
“I don’t know. It just looks …” He trails off.
“Suspicious,” I finish.
He nods once. “How do we know George wasn’t here that night?”
“The detail didn’t see anything,” I remind him.
“Why wasn’t an autopsy done?” he asks.
“Emilee didn’t want one.” She hasn’t spoken to me directly, but she’s spent most of her time on the phone making arrangements. She wanted her mother buried as quickly as possible.
“Didn’t she learn her lesson with her father?” he growls.
“Titan? Bones?”
We both spin around to see a man standing before us.
“Yes?” I acknowledge him.
“I’ve been calling Emilee for the past few days now with no answer or return phone calls. Will you have her contact me, please?” He reaches his right hand out, and there’s a card in it. Bones takes it.
“Regarding …?” I question.
“I’m Yan. Her mother’s attorney. I need to meet with her regarding her will.”
Bones and I exchange a look. “Will do.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
EMILEE
“MR. YAN?” I say, walking over to Titan and Bones. I didn’t say goodbye. I refuse for it to end this way with me hating her and so many questions unanswered. I was so mad, but now it all seems for nothing. But I can’t let it go that she kept secrets from me. I’m an adult, not a child. Why wouldn’t she just tell me?
“Ms. York. I was just informing the Kings that I’ve been calling you.”
I say nothing because I’ve been avoiding him.
“We need to set up a meeting.”
“I’m busy,” I state.
He nods once. “Yes, but this is important.”
“More important than burying my mother?” I arch a brow.
His eyes soften, and he licks his lips nervously. “It’s about your mother’s will ...”
I hold my hand up to stop him. “I already know she was married to George. And I’m aware of the will. There is nothing for us to discuss.”
With that, I walk past them and out of the church. I make my way down the stairs and to the waiting black sedan by the curb.
“Em? Em, wait!” I hear Titan behind me.
I ignore him and open the door, but he catches up to me, grabs the door, and shuts it. “Hey …” I spin around to face him.
“How long are we going to do this?” he asks.
I hate how good he looks dressed in his all-black suit. His hair slicked back and sadness in his eyes. How much I miss him. And how there is a hole the size of Texas in my chest. I’ve never felt more alone. I’ve never needed someone to hold me before, but I’d give anything for him to. But a part of me just won’t let that happen. Now that both of my parents are dead, there’s nothing left keeping me here in Vegas. My apartment hasn’t sold in Chicago, so I need to go back there. That has been my home. That’s where I belong now. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You. Me. Don’t leave like this. Right now. Talk to me.”
I remove the sunglasses from the top of my head and place them over my eyes. I don’t want him to see me crying. “Don’t worry, Titan. I know I’m nothing special.” I slap his chest twice, and then yank open the door before falling into the car.
The first tear rolls down my cheek as we drive away, and I hear him calling out my name. I plan on going home and being alone for a few weeks. I’ve never needed anyone before, and I sure as hell don’t need him now.