Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 80689 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80689 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
I head to the other side of the bed and settle on the mattress, enjoying a sip of my drink before placing it on the nightstand.
“So…” I say. “How is Chicago?”
If we’re making this believable, I have to find a way to talk to him about something. Simon wants more than fucking. He wants to see us bonding, creating a special connection between us. So I’ll give it to him.
“It’s nice,” he says. “Not as humid as here. This heat about kills me by the afternoon.”
I laugh. “Just wait until August.”
“That bad, huh?”
“I don’t know what kind of weather you get in Chicago, so maybe not.”
“It can get pretty humid in the summer. I’m curious to see how it compares,” he says. “Have you ever been?”
“No. I haven’t traveled very much.”
He winces. “Really? All that money, that’s exactly what I’d do. I’d love to see the world.”
“I did travel some when we were younger. Our father took us to London, Barcelona, Lisbon, Prague, Havana, Lima…”
“Oh…well, for someone who hasn’t traveled much, you make my one Caribbean vacation sound pretty dull.”
“That feels like lifetimes ago. Since Father died, we’ve just stayed here.”
“You call your dad Father? Sounds a little dated.”
I chuckle. “I’ve heard that before, but it’s what we called him, and as kids, we didn’t think anything of it, so it sounds more natural than Dad.”
I don’t want to talk about Father, though.
“So you don’t travel much?” I ask to change the subject.
“Not really. My aunt, my sister, and I have been on our own since Mom passed. And my sister’s been sick since she was a kid, so she’s always needed care. I tried to go to college, but even with health insurance, you’d be surprised how much it costs to manage with something as care intensive as cancer.”
Even knowing so little about him, it’s the sort of story I would have expected to hear. It justifies his putting up with all this for his sister.
I want to ask more questions about his family, but for me, that topic is a landmine, so I’m cautious; I wouldn’t want to feel as though he has to share anything he’d rather keep private.
“So what was it like growing up in this giant place?” he asks, and I’m relieved he’s brought us back to lighter topics.
“For a kid, it’s fun. So much exploring to do. So many nooks and crannies to hide in. Simon and I used to believe the place was haunted, which looking back, made our childhood exciting.”
“Exciting?”
“He was afraid of these ghosts and would need to sleep in bed with me. He’d cling to me desperately, and I’d hold him tight against me until he fell asleep.” Even after everything we’ve been through, after the rift between us, I still look back fondly on that time. Back when we felt safe in each other’s arms.
“You weren’t scared? You said you both believed in ghosts.”
“I was always the brave one. I went exploring, searching for the ghosts. I’d look in every closet. Follow every creak. The idea of a little magic in the world, a little adventure, was exhilarating. I used to tell Simon we needed to pretend to be ghosts.”
His eyebrow rises. “Why?”
“I figured we’d appear to them as they appear to us, and so they’d be just as scared. And I figured I was right since I never saw them.” I can’t help but smile, and I wonder if it’s a fondness for that brave kid I used to be, or because I enjoy that Simon might hear us and hate me for sharing with Jonas—an outsider—how scared he was.
“But it was different back then,” I go on. “Father kept more staff around the house. As you’ve noticed, it takes a lot of people to keep this place up and running, and that’s not really Simon’s priority. He’s let the house suffer over the years by understaffing. He’s more interested in how the financial affairs are handled. Investments, the trust, business things I don’t have any knowledge of.”
Jonas searches around the room like he figured what I’d shared might bother my brother, but really, the only thing pertaining to Simon that requires discretion is the proposal between the two of them so Jonas can get his reward and so that I could potentially uncover Simon’s motives for arranging this disturbing coupling.
Besides, if Simon’s going to fuck with me, then I’m going to fuck with him.
“Should I ask why it all went to Simon?”
“You can ask, but I’ll choose not to answer.”
Because even though Simon’s proposal requires discretion, I have other secrets I choose not to share for my own reasons.
“In that case, I’ll take the hint.” He takes another sip of his cocktail.
“If you decide to google it, just know that it’s not something the media has an answer for either. We Hawthornes do manage to keep our secrets.”