Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 25568 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 128(@200wpm)___ 102(@250wpm)___ 85(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25568 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 128(@200wpm)___ 102(@250wpm)___ 85(@300wpm)
“Charlie is waiting for you downstairs. He’ll be taking you. Pack your things.” With that, she turns to leave but pauses at my bedroom door. “You’re marrying him, and you will act accordingly.”
When she’s gone, I touch my cheek. It's warm, and a light sting lingers. It’s a literal slap of reality and a brutal wake-up call. I suppose if I ever wondered where I stood with her, now I know for sure.
I'm robotic as I go about getting my things together. A numbness takes over inside of me where I have no thoughts or feelings anymore.
"You need help?" Mason asks. My mother’s butler has a sympathetic expression on his face.
"Not the kind you're offering."
"You know I would help you any way that I can,” he says gently.
"I know." I nod, but I'm not going to pull him into this. It was terrible of me to have pulled Charlie into it. I could get them fired, and I'd hate it if that happened. The two of them have been nothing but kind to me, and if my mother found out they were going against her orders, she would ruin their ability to get jobs elsewhere.
“Is this everything?”
“Oh, I almost forgot.” I rush to my closet and dig to the back, where I have a box hidden. Inside are things my grandma gave me before she passed. I’ve kept it tucked away, and it’s the only thing in this house that matters to me. “That’s it.”
Mason grabs two of my bags, and I get the other, meeting Charlie outside. We load them up, and when I turn back around, I see most of the house staff standing there.
“What’s wrong?” I ask Charlie because they all appear so sad.
“They want hugs.” Charlie nudges me toward them, and my heart cracks a little at the sight.
“I’m going to miss all of you,” I say, a sob getting stuck in my throat.
I hug each one goodbye, not caring if it makes me late and pisses my mother off. Soon I won’t be her responsibility, but these people matter. They all had a hand in raising me and took care of me more than she ever did.
When I’m finished, Charlie opens the passenger door for me, and I slip inside. He knows I don’t like sitting in the back when it’s the two of us. When he gets into the driver's seat, he hands me his phone.
"There’s someone named Gideon that’s been trying to reach you,” he says, and there’s a little smirk at the corner of his mouth.
“Really?” I grab the phone so quickly it makes him laugh.
“Yeah, really,” he says, then points to the number as he pulls out of the driveway.
“Thank you, Charlie.” Suddenly there’s a small light peeking through the darkness ahead.
Gideon’s been trying to get in contact with me. That has to mean something, right? Since I ran out of his office, an ache has formed in my heart. Missing him has been painful, and I worry that it will turn to sorrow and consume me whole.
Chapter Twelve
GIDEON
The phone rings in my hand, and it barely finishes before I answer it. “Emerson?”
“Gideon, this is risky.” It sounds like she’s in the car, and I’m guessing her driver Charlie is with her.
“I need to see you.” I’m running out of time, and there’s no need to pretend I don’t want her.
“I can’t. I’m having dinner at the wedding hotel tonight with our families, and him.” She says the word him softly, but we both know she means Conner.
“Where?” I squeeze the phone tighter in my hand.
She hesitates and then lets out a long breath. “Maybe it’s not a good idea for us to see each other again.”
“Where?” I say again, this time with a demand behind it.
“The Crowned Saint on Fourth Street,” I hear Charlie say in the background.
“Charlie,” Emerson hisses at him before coming back to me. “Gideon, please. What happened between us was a mistake.”
The words are like a knife to my heart. “You’re lying.” I close my eyes and force myself to breathe. “If you don’t want me, Emerson, then say it. But don’t you dare say what we did was a mistake. Not when that was one of the greatest moments of my life.”
“One of the greatest?” The question comes out quietly.
“After meeting you,” I say, my heart beating faster. “And kissing you in the dressing room.”
“Gideon.”
“Every moment I’m with you is the greatest,” I tell her. “But don’t lie to me and don’t lie to yourself. I know that you’ve had to protect your heart all these years by keeping things from your family, but I’m not them. I’m not trying to make you trade one cage for another, Emerson. I’m trying to set you free.”
There’s a long pause on the other end, and I wish I could see her face, read her expression.