by Mia Ashlinn
He figured that either she could follow him or she could just stay put.
He didn’t give a shit either way.
Unsurprisingly, she emerged from his bedroom by the time he’d hit the stairs. Without acknowledging her, he made it the rest of the way downstairs and halfway through his high-end bachelor pad before she caught up to him.
Flicking her an annoyed look, he kept going until he entered his high-tech kitchen and crossed over to the refrigerator. As he opened the sleek stainless steel door, Addy came up behind him and snuck a hand under his arm.
Snagging a bottle of the Voss water he kept in his house just for her, Addy strolled over to the modernistic counter and hopped up onto Three Rings and a Rose
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the matching stainless steel top. “You really don’t want to know? Are you sure about that?”
Whipping his head to the side, he glared at her angrily. “I’ve already told you no,” he snapped. “I don’t want to know where she and Micah are. I don’t want to have to see them together.” Happy and in love—without me. “Frankly, I don’t give a damn.” I’m such a pansy-ass liar.
“Interesting,” she replied. Unscrewing the cap on her drink, she tossed it aside carelessly then took a dainty sip. “You assume they’re together.”
Caedon turned back to the refrigerator, staring at the contents inside with unseeing eyes. “I know they are,” he muttered, half-hoping it sounded garbled so she wouldn’t be able to make it out. “I talked to Micah.”
“Oh shit,” she cursed. “When?”
Damn it. I don’t want to eat or drink any of this. Closing the door to the refrigerator forcefully, he swung around to face her, and the entire area behind him shuddered. All his super stylish cabinets filled with overpriced plates, drawers stocked with ornate silverware, and anything else that could move shook with his wrath. “Two months ago,” he said tersely. “I called him, and he pretty much told me to fuck off.” Amongst other things.
Addy didn’t appear to know how to respond to that so she didn’t speak at all. She just gave him her pitying look, the one he hated so much, the one he wanted to curse at whenever she did it. So he did.
“Don’t fucking look at me like that, Addy.”
“Look at you like what?” she asked, frowning.
“Like you fucking feel sorry for me. I’m not going to die without them.”
“Are you sure about that? It looks like you already are to me.” Addy sat her water bottle down beside her without taking her sympathetic eyes off him. “Caedon, you aren’t living anymore. God, you haven’t been in a very long time, and it scares me. I don’t want to 28
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lose you.” She sighed. “You hide in this cold, impersonal dungeon you call a house. And you drink way too much. If it weren’t for your career, I don’t know where you would be or what you would be doing.”
“Hey, I went to that…” Shit, what was it? Awards ceremony?
Fundraiser? Fuck.
“You don’t even know, do you?” Addy asked gently as she hopped to the floor. Landing softly on the marble, she walked over to him and pulled him into her arms. He immediately tried to pull away but his friend wasn’t having any of that. And, rather than fighting her, he gave in and let her hold him for a change. He leaned into her emotionally, letting her support his troubled soul. “You can’t keep living this way, Caedon. You need to go see them. You need to talk to them. And if they don’t want you in their lives, you need to move on.
You have to.”
God, he knew she was right. He had to do something. Living life at a standstill wasn’t working for him. He had to find a way to move forward—even if that meant he had to do it without them, even if that meant he had to force himself to let them go from his heart and his mind. It was time to stop living in the past and waiting for a future that might never come. Looks like it’s now or never.
Squeezing his eyes shut, Caedon sucked in a deep breath and jumped in with both feet. “Where are they? And how fast can I get there?”
* * * *
Exactly five and a half hours later, Caedon exited an airport in a Kansas town near Serenity with Addy by his side. He walked casually, attempting to blend into his surroundings. Concealing himself carefully beneath a worn baseball cap and his favorite sunglasses, he looked nothing like his usual self.
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The only things that remotely reminded him of his notorious actor persona were the clothes he had on. He’d worn his typical jeans and T-shirt combo, which had been a risk, but he’d taken the chance.
Although, he had at least changed into a pair of jeans he never wore and matched it with a T-shirt in a blue color he loathed.
Addy, on the other hand, had chosen to go all-out in her clandestine costume. Unless someone had x-ray vision, they weren’t likely to recognize the actress in the expensive wig, floppy hat, baggy clothes, and copious makeup.
As the second set of doors whooshed open, the sudden heat wave from outside hit him square in the chest, and he took a small step back. Being on his air-conditioned private jet for the past several hours had obviously spoiled him. Irritated by the drastic temperature change, he swore vehemently. “Damn it. I hate the fucking heat.” Of all the things that could be annoying him at this very moment, he’d chosen quite possibly the silliest of them all. The risk of being caught didn’t disturb him all that much. The people walking to and fro, heading in all directions didn’t really register. Nothing did—
except the stupid heat.
The voice from earlier came back with a vengeance, taunting him with the truth of his heart. “It isn’t the heat that’s bothering you, dumbass. You just want something to bitch about so you don’t have to think about what is really bothering you. Or should I say who?” No, thank you. I know exactly what and who is on my mind. Now leave me the fuck alone.
Caedon could practically hear the voice’s laughter in the back of his mind. But he pushed it aside and pretended that everything was fine, that nothing was bothering him. He was the cocky actor the world knew, not the human man with thoughts and feelings. I’m Caedon Asher, goddamn it. I need to start acting like it.
Elbowing him in the side, Addy said, “Like the heat in Los Angeles is so much better.” She smirked. “You’re just spoiled, hot stuff.”
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“Hot stuff?” he asked, trying to sound arrogant as all hell, but more than likely failing. “Now that is more like the nicknames I’m used to. You’re finally catching on.” Curious as to why the sudden change, he couldn’t hold back the frivolous question that popped into his mind. “So what happened to dearest? ”
“Aw, I figured that I would be on good behavior”—she winked at him dramatically—”while we’re here. I would hate for the world to know that you are more than a pretty face.” Caedon chuckled against his will, amused by her irreverent ribbing. “Out of the goodness of your heart?” Addy grinned and touched his arm. “Yeah, something like that, hot stuff.”
Rolling his eyes, Caedon was distracted from what he’d been about to say when a station wagon pulled up in front of them and eased to a soft stop. The old, beat-up Subaru screamed Tree Hugging Vegan.
He wasn’t sure what caught his attention more—the various flower and smiley face decals in the corners of every window or the bumper stickers plastered all over the car. He’d be willing to bet that if he wandered around to the back of the car, he would find a Coexist sticker and a plethora of others just like it. “Wow,” Caedon said.
“That is…something.”
“Oh, good,” Addy murmured. “They’re here.” Whoa now. I don’t know about riding in that car. It’s an old-school Subaru—as in twenty or thirty years old. It probably has over two hundred thousand miles on it.
“Seriously?” Caedon asked, probably sounding like the spoiled rich boy Addy had just accused him of being. Arching his eyebrow at her, he frowned. “We won’t make it to
Serenity in that rattrap.” Patting his chest, she gave him a condescending smile. “Shush.
We can’t drive into Serenity in Eenie, Meenie, Miney, or Moe.” Caedon scowled at Addy. “Do you have to make fun of my babies?” he asked. “They are my prized possessions.” Three Rings and a Rose
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For as long as he’d known her, she’d given him hell over his obsessive love for the sports cars he’d collected through the years.
But she teased him about four in particular—his Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, Enzo Ferrari, Lamborghini Reventón, and Aston Martin One-77.
“First of all, that is a sad, sad thing to say,” she replied with a wide grin. “And secondly, yes, I do have to make fun of them. V, Enzo, Rev, and Martie cost more than the average person could make in a lifetime.”
“And so?” he asked quietly as the doors to the black wagon opened on both sides and two beautiful women emerged. He was shocked by how different the two women were. One was tall with blonde hair and an unusually striking face. The other was a tiny thing with copper hair and a girl-next-door appeal. But, as usual, the women fascinated him yet left him completely cold on the inside.
He suspected that this trip would be a massive failure that hurt more than helped if everything didn’t work out in his favor. Unlike Addy, he wasn’t convinced he could move on without Gabriella or Micah—even if he tried. He might very well be stuck in limbo for the rest of his adult life. That’s why he’d already called his real estate agent about purchasing a home in Kansas.
Caedon sighed, refusing to dwell on what would or would not happen when he got to the unorthodox town where Gabriella and Micah lived.
Serenity? Who would have thought a town like that one would exist, especially in the middle of no-freaking-where? Certainly not me.
Hell, it had taken Addy a couple of hours to convince Caedon that this wasn’t an April Fool’s trick—two months late. She’d spent a good portion of the plane ride here telling him all about this town filled with ménage-esque relationships.
Caedon had never been one to believe that people could share lovers permanently, but he might have had it wrong. God, I hope I 32
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have it wrong. If I do, I might just have a chance to share Gabriella with Micah.
Taking a deep, cleansing breath, Caedon watched the tall, leggy blonde approach him and Addy alone. The short, copper-haired woman barely even acknowledged them. With a nod, she circled around the old beater and opened the back hatch.
“Hush, you sound like a jackass,” Addy whispered then stomped on his limited edition Nike sneakers. “Do you want to make a bad first impression on the people we’re going to be staying with?” In one breath she asked him the question while in another, she greeted the unfamiliar woman. “Hello. You must be Brooklyn Sokolov.”
“Yes, I’m Brooklyn,” the exotic-looking blonde with bewitching blue eyes said then indicated her friend with a thumb over her shoulder. “And that’s my best friend, Josie Martin.” She smiled at Addy. Well, she half smiled. From the looks of it, that was about the best as they were going to get. He had a feeling she wasn’t one to smile a lot. “You must be Adeline.”
Addy smiled back at Brooklyn, putting her hand out to be shaken.
Only, the blonde woman hesitated. She stared at Addy’s hand fiercely before she sighed and shook it. “That’s me. Or at least, that is what they tell me.” Releasing Brooklyn’s hand, she brushed his shoulder and said, “This is Caedon.”
Brooklyn eyed him with a severe expression, and he wanted to squirm under her scrutiny. But he wouldn’t do it. He wouldn’t give her the satisfaction because she obviously had a problem with him.
Finally she gave in and spoke to him. “Hello, Caedon.” That was all she said. It was barely a civil greeting, yet that was obviously all she was willing to give him. Well, fine.
Flashing his sexiest smile, he took her hand in his. Unlike Addy, he didn’t give her a choice. He just latched onto her hand and lifted it to his mouth. Brushing his lips across the top of her hand, he murmured, “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” against her soft skin.
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Rather than doing what most women would do, she yanked her hand away from him. With a frown, she informed him haughtily,
“That doesn’t work on me. I’m not interested in that side of your nature. I want to see the human side. Otherwise, you have no chance with my friend Ella, and I won’t risk her being hurt for you or for anyone else.”
Josie, the tiny woman who somehow reminded Caedon of Addy, joined them. She picked up their bags then strolled off muttering,
“None of us are going to let him hurt her again. Asshole.” What the hell? He’d never been around women who seemed so disinterested in him. Shit, they didn’t seem disinterested. They seemed to flat-out dislike him. This didn’t bode well for him, especially since he was going to be sleeping on their couch for who-knew-how-long.
What had Gabriella told them about him? Had she told everyone what he’d done? No, she wouldn’t have. He knew better than that. His Gabriella was too private for something like that. She wouldn’t give away something that personal.
So, what do they have against me? Why do they look like they would love to set firecrackers off on my balls?
“Do you want me to tell you?” Brooklyn asked, making him wonder if he’d spoken aloud. However, he knew he hadn’t. He knew it for one hundred percent. So how did she know?
Scrutinizing her with his eyes, Caedon sized Brooklyn up. Only, he wasn’t looking at her external beauty. She had plenty of that. No, he was looking for something deeper, something in her soul. Or he was trying to. He wanted to gauge her determination to test him, her distaste of him personally, and everything in between.
Not surprisingly, she didn’t flinch. Her blue eyes met his, and she locked their gazes. In some strange way, she managed to keep him entranced as though she’d cast a strange spell over him. Finally tearing his eyes from hers, he broke his attention away. “I think I do,” he responded.
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Her eyes flared in surprise. A small smirk appeared on her face, and he knew that she was going to deny him. She was enjoying this.
“Well, too bad. I will tell you—when and if I want to.” He frowned. “And when will that—”
Addy cut them off, just as Josie slammed the hatch shut. “Why don’t we continue this conversation elsewhere? I don’t think we want anyone to know where we’re going. It was risky enough coming here.
I would prefer we keep this under wraps as long as possible. Even our manager, Ted, doesn’t know we’re here. Let’s keep it that way.” Without speaking, Josie hopped back in the car, buckled up, and started the engine.
“Sounds good to me,” Caedon replied. “We can chat about—”
“No,” Brooklyn clipped out before turning her back on him and strolling around the car. She silently got into the passenger side then shut the door behind her.
“Well, this is going to be fun,” he grumbled—to himself. While he’d been distracted by Brooklyn, Addy had abandoned him, too.
She’d gotten into the back seat behind the driver. Perfect.
Shaking his head, he stalked around the car and got in the only available seat which just happened to be behind Brooklyn. As soon as he pulled the door shut behind him, Josie put the pedal to the metal, and the car took off. He hurried to buckle up then sat back with an annoyed grunt.
“So,” Addy murmured. “What’s the plan, Brooklyn?” Turning in her seat, Brooklyn talked directly to Addy. “First, we’re going to go back to our apartment and have a very long chat.”
“Don’t you mean sneak them into our place?” Josie asked, sounding slightly hostile. She took her eyes off the road long enough to shoot her friend a dirty look then let them wander back to the windshield. “We are going to get busted. I know it.” Brooklyn didn’t so much as glance at her friend. The only response she g
ave that she’d even heard Josie was when she muttered,
“We’re not. Trust me, I know.”
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Josie mumbled something that Caedon couldn’t hear. Obviously, Brooklyn had because she ended up rotating her head and frowning at her friend. “Stop worrying. It’s going to be fine.” When Josie just ignored her, Brooklyn returned her attention to Addy and explained, “Josie is a worrywart, but it’s unfounded.” She grimaced. “We have gone to great lengths to make sure that Ella and Micah are not home for the next few hours.”
“We? Who?” Caedon inquired curiously. It obviously wasn’t Josie. She seemed pissed to be even here at all. That meant someone else was in on this whole damn thing. On the plane, Addy had explained how she’d hired a private investigator to find Ella. But for some reason, it had taken months for the man to find her. In the end, the private investigator wasn’t even the one to locate her. There had been a mysterious note sent directly to Addy. Although, he somehow got the impression that the note wasn’t quite so mysterious after all.
With the evident rapport between Addy and Brooklyn, he had no doubt that the two were in cahoots.
Addy glanced over at him, giving him one of her duh looks. “Me and Brooklyn.”
Big shocker.
“And a…friend of ours,” Brooklyn added.
“A friend?” he inquired blandly. However, he was anything but uninterested. He wanted to know everything from the beginning to end, but he had to bide his time. All would be revealed in time—
hopefully in the very near future. Otherwise, he might be forced to drag every damn detail out of them. “Anyone I know?” Brooklyn peered around the back of her seat. Narrowing her eyes, she regarded him carefully. A minute of uncomfortable silence passed. Then she replied, “His name is Deke Andrews. I highly doubt you know him personally.”