Page 32 of Her Brother's Billionaire Best Friend
“So you’re not regretting this whole thing?” I frowned.
“Are you kidding? Since Mom moved out to that dump by the Depot, I didn’t know what to do with myself.”
“Uh huh.”
“Besides, once you two have patched things up, we’ll actually feel like a normal family.”
“I wouldn’t hold your breath,” I told him.
David rolled his eyes, but then he sighed in the silence that followed.
“You know, I think it’s that guy you work for.”
“What?”
“I think that’s why Kyle’s so upset. The other day he mentioned something about him and I just—I can’t escape the feeling that Kyle thinks there’s something wrong with that guy.”
“What do you mean?”
“He just says that Lucien’s probably a crook and that no one ever sees him and it’s not right.”
I shook my head, stunned at the things my son was telling David that he wasn’t sharing with me.
“I don’t know what it was that made him think that. Just wanted to give you a heads up.”
“No,” I confessed. “He’s not wrong. Lucien is…strange.”
“How do you mean?”
I thought of the secret door in his room, the old antique furniture in his house. And I pictured him, with one of his elegant Chinese cups, sipping tea. Who was Lucien, really? Where had he come from? Why did he move to Caluga Falls, this out-of-nowhere small town? And that scar… What has he gone through?
“Nothing.”
*
That night, I had dark and unfamiliar dreams. I dreamt that Lucien was chasing after me. Only, I wasn’t running from him because he wanted to murder me. He was trying to tell me something, something I didn’t want to hear, and I woke with a gasp at 9.00 am.
I’d interviewed a sleep scientist once for the papers who talked about how dreams didn’t mean anything and were just the things you’d seen being played back in your mind. Lucien had chased me—had pursued me, had tried his hardest to get me. That was why I was dreaming.
Or was there something else? Was Lucien trying to tell me something? He was always so careful with his words. But there was so much he didn’t say.
I got up and put on my dressing gown. Downstairs on the table, David had left a note.
Have gone to walk the ‘haunted’ trail. Be back this afternoon. Takeout on me. D x
David, you did it. Even though Tracey Solomon raised you, you managed to turn out a nice guy.
At least my son would be out in the fresh air. Even if I was beginning to feel like he preferred hanging out with David to me these days. But there would be plenty of time to see Kyle later, so I got dressed, drank some coffee and wound up in town that morning. I’d texted Jemma but hadn’t gotten a reply. I was hoping that maybe we could find something to do in Caluga Falls that wasn’t to do with hopelessly raising money for the library.
But before that, I had something to do. I wasn’t looking forward to it, but it had to be done. I didn’t want to write it down in an email and just send it. I knew Lucien might cause trouble for me. I had a much better idea. I got out a piece of paper and envelope, and there, as the morning light trickled in through the window, I wrote a letter.
Dear Lucien,
I am resigning from my post as your personal assistant effective immediately. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you but I believe we both know it’s for the best. I am aware that there are still a few days of my probation left but I wanted you to know that I won’t be back to the office today.
Best wishes, Laura Solomon.
I looked at the letter for a while, and then I put it in an envelope. On one side, I wrote Lucien’s address, and fixed a stamp. I’d take it down to the post office. There was no mail collection on Saturday afternoons in Caluga Falls and the post didn’t deliver on weekends anyhow. So it would be Monday by the time Lucien got the note. And that meant that he wouldn’t be able to cause a fuss for me this weekend. Meanwhile, I could look for another job.