Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 24576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 123(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 82(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 123(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 82(@300wpm)
“Of course,” she said. “You’re chairman of Atlantis Records. But Robert was the one who raised you in the lap of luxury.”
“No,” I said slowly, shaking my head. “My mother is a scion of the Phelps clan, an old banking family from Long Island. When she married Robert, Robert was not much more than a small-town lawyer. It was my mom and her trust fund that paid for our apartment on Fifth Avenue,” I said.
“But,” she sputtered. “But Robert Woodson is a partner at an investment fund! He’s running for political office! No one can do that without deep pockets.”
“That’s right,” I nodded again. “My mom’s pockets. The hedge fund was set up for Robert by the Phelps family so that he could have a respectable position, but it’s never made the kind of money needed for our lifestyle. His campaign is being funded by my mom’s trust even now,” I said, gesturing with my hands. “Maybe he never gave Alison anything, but that’s because he never had anything to give,” I said. “The trust ensured that all the money stayed in the family.”
Lilly turned a deathly shade of white. Her mouth opened and closed a few times but only a raw choking sound came out. She sat down limply on an ottoman and buried her face in her hands.
“What have I done? What have I done?” she moaned as she rocked back and forth.
Although I’d come to destroy this woman, I no longer felt anything but pity for the old lady in her ramshackle house. She wanted to destroy my mother’s happiness, but her reasons had been completely baseless and wrong. The end result was that she’d only harmed her own daughter.
“I’m going now,” I said to no one in particular. Lilly didn’t seem to hear me as she rocked back and forth, this time with cries of “Alison, forgive me!”
I knew my job here was done, and returned to the City to get back on Wildflower’s trail.
20
Alison
“So Alison, can I come in tonight?” said Danny. The big oilman was brawny, with wide shoulders and a shock of red hair. He leaned against the door jamb, looking hopefully into my room with its saggy double bed. Georgie’s crib was in the corner, empty right now as Miss Lyons babysat him.
“Oh Danny,” I said, gesturing helplessly at the space behind me. “My son will be back soon, and I just can’t,” I said.
He looked hopefully at me. “Babies don’t know, you know …” he said, his voice trailing off.
I couldn’t pretend that I’d misunderstood.
“That’s true, Georgie’s too young to know anything about adult relations, but it doesn’t make a difference,” I said. “I’m just not in a position to entertain male visitors right now. Good night,” I said firmly, stepping into my room and shutting the door.
I breathed a sigh of relief as Danny’s footsteps retreated down the hall. As the only woman under forty at the rooming house, I’d attracted my fair share of attention from the oilmen. Quite a few had asked me out, and I’d finally consented to seeing a movie with a big puppydog of a man, Danny. He was harmless, even if he was six foot five and as wide as a refrigerator. But I just wasn’t ready to move on with another man. Thoughts of Liam still ran through my head, and my increasing belly only served to remind me of the one and only male I’d ever love.
I lay back on my shabby quilt and rubbed my belly gently. A fluttery kick moved against my hand and I laughed softly. He or she was going to be a soccer player!
I missed Liam desperately and glanced at the phone next to my bed. A call would be prohibitively expensive, but I’d run out on him once with his child, and didn’t want to do it a second time. He deserved to know that he was going to be a father again, even if we couldn’t be together.
I tentatively picked up the phone and dialed his cell, his number memorized in my heart. A deep male voice answered and ground out, “Are you home?”
“Y-yes,” I stammered. How did he know who it was?
“I’ll be right over,” he growled and hung up. I lay back again, my head spinning. How did he know it was me? How did he know where I lived? A few minutes later, I heard the hum of an expensive car pull up outside the boarding house, and lifted my window shade for a peek. A Porsche was parked at the curb, its wheels steaming from the drive. An ominous-looking Liam got out of the car, catching my gaze at the second floor window, and my heart almost stopped. He was as darkly handsome as ever, his blue eyes penetrating with that massive build that made my mouth water. I darted downstairs and flung open the front door.