Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 164263 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 821(@200wpm)___ 657(@250wpm)___ 548(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 164263 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 821(@200wpm)___ 657(@250wpm)___ 548(@300wpm)
I lie still as I try to make sense of my emotions.
“What’s wrong?” she asks.
“Nothing. Go to sleep.”
“Edward.” She pulls my shoulder, rolling me onto my back. “What’s wrong?”
“Why wouldn’t I ever have seen a woman have her monthlies?” I murmur.
“Never?” She frowns.
I shake my head. “Not once.”
“Hmm.” She thinks for a moment. “I guess it’s a very personal thing for women.”
I stare at her and an overwhelming sense of sadness fills me.
“They didn’t trust me enough to….”
“Hey.” She leans over and kisses me. “Not necessarily. They probably had IUDs and didn’t even have a period.”
“That doesn’t make me feel any better,” I murmur.
“Why not?”
“Because I never even noticed. Not once has the thought ever crossed my mind.” My eyes search hers. “Am I so self-absorbed that I don’t even know a woman’s body other than for my pleasure?”
She nods as if finally understanding my point. “Maybe…in the past.”
We lie in silence, surrounded by darkness, and while I reflect on one of my countless flaws…. She holds me in her arms and loves me.
ALORA
I sit in the back of the car as we drive through the streets of Monaco, I’m consulting on a house here today and Philippe and Stefan are taking me there.
I glance at my watch. “We’re early, can we grab a coffee and kill some time before we go to the house?” I ask.
“Sure thing.” They make a turn. “We’ll go to the main street.”
“Okay.”
Ten minutes later they park the car and we get out and walk along, I see a café. “I’ll go in here.” I walk in. “Bonjour, can I have a café Americano please?”
“Of course.” She turns to make the coffee and I glance out to the street to see a beautiful blond woman go to walk into the café toward me, Philippe intercepts her at the door and begins to walk her backward as he says something in French. What’s going on? She seems to try and catch my attention before Philippe turns her away from me.
What?
Stefan steps in and grabs her too and then they pull her around the corner and out of view, what the hell is going on? I walk out the front to see both boys missing.
“Café Americano,” the lady calls.
I look left and I look right, no sign of them, what the fuck is going on? It’s not like them to leave me here alone.
I walk back in and collect my coffee and then back out into the street, a good five to ten minutes later Philippe comes around the corner; he seems flustered. “Let’s go,” he says as if hurried.
“Who was that woman?” I ask.
“She was ….” He pauses as if searching for the right answer. “She looked dangerous, I didn’t want her near you.”
I stare at him as I reconcile his words, they bounce around in my head like an echo.
Bullshit.
“Where is Stefan?”
“He…is getting some lunch. We will meet up with him later.”
Why are you lying to me?
Who was that fucking woman and why wasn’t she allowed to talk to me?
EDWARD
“And this point here.” I point to the screen.
My phone vibrates and the name Philippe lights up the screen.
“I have to take this, excuse me.” I stand and walk out of the boardroom. “Yes,” I answer.
“Isadora just tried to approach Alora,” he snaps.
I clench my jaw. “Where was she?”
“In the street, Alora was in a café and she saw her and tried to enter.”
“What did you do?”
“We stopped her.”
“Where is she now?”
“Stefan has her.”
Fury fills me. “I’m on my way.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
ALORA
“And through here I was wanting it to feel really luxe,” Mrs. Dupont tells me.
“Yes.” I smile as I continue taking notes. “The color of the drapes, are you keeping that aesthetic?”
“No. We are changing it, but I guess it depends on the pieces you find as to where we go with it.”
“Right.” I continue to scribble in my pad, I walk over to the window of the upstairs bedroom and look down out onto the street, Philippe and the car are gone.
What the actual fuck is going on?
They would never leave me unaccompanied at a random house.
“And this over here,” Mrs. Dupont continues as she walks through to a dressing room.
Ugh…. I just want this over with so I can call Edward for answers. I don’t know much about anything, but I do know that woman was no stranger and the boys didn’t want her talking to me.
But why?
“Thank you, Mrs. Dupont, I shall have some ideas back to you by Thursday at the latest. It was lovely meeting you.”
“You too, dear.” She smiles as she walks me out, I glance up to see the car is back and the two boys are out and leaning up against it.
“Have a good day.” I smile as I walk down the front steps and the door closes behind me.