“Could I get you something to drink?” At first, I thought he would refuse, but instead, he removed his hoodie and nodded.
“I would love something hot. It’s freezing out there,” he remarked.
“Maybe you wouldn’t be freezing if you’d wear a decent coat.
“Funny. Lake says the same.”
“Oh, what do us warm beings know,” I answered sarcastically to which he found no humor.
I disappeared inside the kitchen and placed a hand over my chest to calm my beating heart. It took everything to conceal my nervousness. It didn’t help that Keiran looked at me as if he saw straight through me.
It was enough for me to reconsider and come clean, but then I thought about my brother, I knew it would be a small price to pay for his life.
While the water boiled, I managed to slip to the bedroom undetected and grabbed the powder. I stuck them both in my jeans and rehearsed once again before I crept back to the kitchen.
I nearly died when I entered the kitchen to see Keiran pulling the teakettle off the burning aisle and setting it aside.
“It’s ready,” he said simply.
“Oh. I must not have heard it from the bathroom.”
He nodded and left the kitchen. Only when he was out of sight did I begin to breathe. I prepared the tea and pulled the powder from my jeans. I hesitated and thought of all the ways it could go horribly wrong before hardening my resolve and dumping the powder in the dark, steaming liquid.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
DASH
“WHAT’S GOING ON, Simon? I thought I was meeting you in Seattle.” I settled into the booth and studied his solemn expression. Just as I had been ready to board, I had received a phone call from Richard Simon saying he was here in Nevada and needed to meet. I made the detour and met him at the bar where we had initially discussed the merger.
“Change of plans. I’m looking for my daughter.”
“Really? I thought you said you didn’t have kids.”
“I said I didn’t have an heir, at least to take the reins of the company. Forgive me, but I’m old fashioned though, so I guess I shouldn’t be choosey. A few years ago, I didn’t even have a daughter but even so, after meeting her, I know running the company would be the last thing she would want. She’s a wild little beast.”
“Hmm. So why do you think she would come to Nevada?”
“She came to visit her mother who lives a few towns over a week ago and never came back.”
“Maybe she extended her visit for the holiday. I’m sure she’s fine.”
“In all the years she’s popped around, she never stayed more than a day. I try not to worry since she’s young. She probably came to gamble for all I know.” He tried to laugh it off, but the worry in his eyes overshadowed it.
My heart started beating and I felt gut punched as I began to connect the familiar dots. It had to be a coincidence but even as I tried to convince myself, I found myself blurting, “What town?”
“Six Forks actually, your town. My men are trying to find an address as we speak, but I figured you could help. You must know her.”
Only too well.
“If she only stays a day, why did you wait an entire week to start worrying about her?”
“Son, I’ve worried about her since she showed up on my doorstep three years ago with a tattered suitcase, a paternity test, eighteen years old, and said I was her father, and no answers… or questions. But I always thought one day she’d get tired of running and find her way home.”
My mouth had gone completely dry, and I fought over my tongue to ask the inevitable, “What’s her name?”
“Willow. Willow Simon.”
I frowned with confusion since Willow’s last name is Waters. “Do you have a picture?”
“Uhh, yeah.” He pulled out his phone and quickly found a picture dated three months ago. It was definitely her in the picture. She was smiling and appeared all too happy and as beautiful as ever, but it wasn’t she who had my attention. It was the fucking, smiling prick with his arm around her.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
WILLOW