Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 107660 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107660 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
My lungs gave out before my stubbornness could and small gasps were the only thing I heard. The world a muffled mess beyond the agony tearing through me.
A cleared throat pierced the muted bubble. My eyes snapped to an apologetic Felix.
“How long?” I asked.
His brows pulled tight. “Maybe six months.”
I swallowed. “And how long if you started chemo again?”
He shook his head. “Lucian. I can’t.”
My grip tightened around the knife again because he could.
“I won’t,” he clarified harder.
I knew that. We’d had the argument before, and I lost every time. He didn’t want an extra month of life if it meant spending three more in the hospital, and I couldn’t blame him. I just selfishly wanted him to do it anyway.
“Hence, why I brought the ring.” He pushed the ring closer across the table.
I eyed it sparkling under the restaurant spotlight and tried to control my breathing. Between the news and the expectation and the lies and the corner I was trapped in, I could barely focus on anything, let alone even breathing.
It was too much, and it threatened to swallow me whole.
“How are things with you and Aspen, by the way?” Felix asked.
The glint against the diamond held me in a trance while a voice in my mind screamed at me to come clean. Now was my chance. Explain that it was all a lie, and that I had no one to marry and didn’t want to waste time with anyone else when I wanted to spend every second with him. How could Felix refute that?
“If you do choose to ask Aspen to be your wife, I think a wedding will be the perfect event to focus our energy on. So joyful and exciting. I know Grace will love every second that she is allowed to help.”
I looked up into his hopeful gaze and knew I couldn’t take it away.
“Yeah,” I breathed. “And we’re good. Very good, actually.”
“Good. I’m glad to hear it. The way you’ve been talking about her reminds me of how your father told me he was with your mom. He claimed he kept her to himself for as long as possible so nothing could spoil them. Just like you’ve done with Aspen. That’s why I never pushed. I figured you were like your father and falling in love in your own way.”
The lie grew until it choked me, and I raised my glass to try to swallow it back down.
“Does Aspen know about your lifestyle?”
I choked on the liquid, coughing until a nearby waiter came by to check on me. I waved him off and focused my attention back on Felix.
“I don’t judge you for your choices, Lucian,” he said, holding his hands up. “Everyone is entitled to what makes them happy and if Aspen shares your interests, then even better. No one should do what Daria did and twist your happiness into lies about consent to use against you.”
I nodded, unsure of how to respond. While Felix—and everyone else that partook in the divorce trial—knew about my preferences, that didn’t mean I wanted to go into detail over lunch.
Felix nudged the box again until I finally accepted it. I snapped the lid closed and shoved it in my pocket, doing my best to ignore the intense pressure against my thigh.
“Maybe this is the push you need to finally pop the question after dating her for so long,” he suggested lightly.
I choked back a laugh, unable to recall how long I’d spoken of my fictitious girlfriend and how long I’d imagined Aspen in her place.
Dating her for so long? More like I’d known Aspen for a couple of months. And dating her? I’d never classify what I was doing with Aspen as dating.
“You’re missing one important thing, Felix. She has to want to marry me too.”
My godfather scoffed. “Who wouldn’t want to marry such an amazing man like you?”
Yeah. An amazing man who lied to his godparents and planned to screw the woman out of her family company.
I was a real winner.
What made it even better? I had no regrets about my business deal with Quinn Music Group or my deal with Aspen. The least I could do was have doubts, but even those were missing.
In their place, a wild idea grew that made me no less anxious. In their place, Felix’s suggestion to ask Aspen to marry me planted itself.
I barely choked off the manic laughter rising from my wild thoughts when I imagined her wide dark eyes if I did.
However, despite the mania building, like the pressure in my pocket, something inside me demanded I not dismiss the idea completely.
CHAPTER 19
ASPEN
I headed to the break room, needing a reprieve from reviewing resumes of the interviewees later this afternoon. I was so tired of the process, surprised how long it dragged on. I assumed—and dreaded—that we’d find someone capable and compatible with QMG quickly. Yet, even when Lucian and I met with my dad to go over the applicants, he agreed none would fit. I still held my breath, hoping to find Shiloh’s resume in the stack, and made a mental note to harass her about it soon.