PART 4
Chapter Thirty-One
Milo – Thursday
I had a genuine happiness in my heart as I woke up the next morning. I had Eliza back where she belonged, in my arms, and all felt right with the world. Of course, the warm glow would have to wear off, eventually; there was no chance of my clinging onto it for too long because I had reality to get back to, but for now it felt nice.
I actually wished that I didn’t have anything to go back to. Being this close to Eliza once more made me regret having a home and business in Nevada. In a weird way, I wished I’d given up everything to come on this trip to Florence because then I could just be with her. I could just fall into this head first and embrace it for what it could be…
I jumped up quickly, grabbing hold of my phone as it began to ring, not wanting it to wake Eliza up.
“Hey, Justin,” I murmured into the phone. “You okay?”
“Yeah, what’s going on? Why are you whispering?”
I slid out of the bedroom, closing the door quietly behind me as I went. “Sorry, just didn’t want to wake…” Shit, was I about to confess this aloud? No, not yet. I didn’t want it overanalyzed before I knew what I was doing myself. “Anyone up, so I’ve gone outside.”
“Oh, right, yeah, okay.” He sounded a little confused, but luckily, he didn’t push it. “Well, I’m in Florence today, and I’ve just bumped into Landon. He mentioned going out fishing, and I wanted to know if you were up for it again.”
I did want his advice on the company, so this would be the perfect way to let him see everything firsthand. “Oh yeah, sounds good. Shall I meet you down at the bay in a bit?”
“Yeah, I’m on my way now; see you in a bit.”
I hung up the phone and searched about for some paper to leave Eliza a note. I didn’t want to just leave her without letting her know where I was. How awful would that be after the night we just had? But it seemed like I didn’t actually need to because my quietness had failed and she woke up anyway.
“Morning,” she said sleepily behind me. I spun around to watch her rubbing the sleep from her eyes, making her look even more adorable than normal. In that oversized t-shirt and her hair all over the place like that, it made my heart ache for her. “How are you today? Do you want some coffee?”
“Actually, I don’t have time,” I told her regretfully. “I’m going out fishing again today, and I need to get going.” I felt an intense yearning for her, deep in my chest, but I forced myself to resist. I made my eyes break the contact so that I could think. “But you could always come back later, if you’re up for it?”
“Oh.” Her cheeks grew pink and her eyes shone with happiness at the mere suggestion of spending time with me. “Yeah, that would be great, thank you. I’ll come back after work.”
“And don’t you bring any food. I will feed you tonight!” I shot her a smile and winked. “So, I’m just going to throw some stuff on and get going, but I’ll see you soon, okay?”
I raced back into my room and threw on some clothes in a hurry, the whole time thinking only about Eliza. I knew I had to go back home, that was inevitable, but it would be the hardest thing I’d ever done in my life. Much more difficult than losing Veronica. Even harder than going through all that treatment.
As I moved back into the front room, I noticed Eliza sitting on the couch with Veil on her lap. She was doing it to irritate me, I could tell by the smirk on her face, but I wasn’t going to react. Mostly because she was far too sweet to yell at. Veil would just have to get out of his old habits when we got back home.
I moved in toward her and went to kiss her on the cheek, but she moved around and our lips connected instead, sending my heart racing wildly. “Well… I have to go. But I’ll see you later, okay?”
As I walked from the cabin, I left my heart behind me. I didn’t want to go, but I had to. Eliza would be going to work soon enough anyway, and to be honest, I didn’t want another day stuck in the cabin by myself.
This was business. This was why I came to Florence. And I wanted to see Justin again anyway.
***
“He’s good, huh?” Justin smirked at me as we got back out on shore. “Told you. I would never steer you wrong.”
“I know, I should have trusted you right away.” I patted him on the back and chuckled. “Although, it is a little smaller than I was expecting. However, as you know, things have happened, my priorities have shifted, and actually, I think maybe I should be picking up companies that need it. You think it’s a good idea, right?”
“Well, like I said, I will put you in touch with my financial advisor, but I think if anyone can make you money, and if anyone deserves it, it’s Landon.”
That just confirmed it for me. I already felt like I was doing the right thing, but to have that cemented by someone who knew what he was talking about felt great. Justin had made a solid name for himself, he’d gotten far all by himself, and now I could see even more that he was an amazing friend to me.
“Thank you for steering me right; I do appreciate it. Florence is awesome, too,” I gestured around. “I can’t believe I haven’t spent more time here.”
“I like it,” he replied with a smirk. “But that’s for more reasons than just the view.”
“Your lady friend, huh?” I plastered a smile on my face, but there was an intense jealousy coursing through my veins. Somehow, despite all the odds being stacked against him, Justin was making the whole long distance thing work. Of course, the distance wasn’t quite as huge, but still… I wanted that! “How are you dealing with that? It must be hard being so far apart.”
“Oh, we make it work. She’s the right one, so it isn’t hard!”
I wanted to question him. I wanted to find out how he worked out that this woman was the right one, but I didn’t get the chance because Landon came back out, holding mugs of coffee for us. I decided to use that moment to finally confirm the good news for him.
“So, Landon, I’m going to meet with a financial advisor soon, but I certainly want to put some money into this business. I want to give you the investment, and I’ll do my best to get it all done for you by March, okay?”
His whole face lit up, and I could almost see the new and endless ideas shooting through his brain. “Oh, wow, that’s incredible! Thank you so much. I feel like I should be taking you guys out for some real drinks to celebrate.”
“As tempting as that is, I have plans tonight,” Justin interjected, which I nodded along with. Yes, I wanted to celebrate the first step forward I’d taken in my new life, but at the same time, I would much rather spend my time with Eliza than anyone else.
“Yeah, maybe we’ll do something soon. I have to get a move on, too.”
We drank the rest of our mugs, discussing some of our plans for the future, with Justin actually making some awesome suggestions, before saying out goodbyes. I’d had a great day. I enjoyed being out on the water and actually felt like I was getting better at it, but I couldn’t wait to get back to the cabin. I needed to pop to the store, pick up some food, then I could hopefully have some dinner prepared for the moment Eliza joined me.
As I drove, I went past the salon, and I felt the magnetic pull trying to drag me inside. It would have been so easy to stop in just to see her, but at the same time, it might have made things difficult for her. I didn’t have any real excuse for visiting. I’d already had my hair cut, so it would be obvious what I was doing. If she wasn’t quite ready to tell Laynee that we’d hooked up again, it might have made things awkward.
I would have to just resist for now. I was going to have to wait.
Just as I was about to make my way into the store, my phone blasted. I assumed it would either be Landon or Justin, I hoped it would be Eliza (unless she was going to cancel!), but it wasn’t any of those. It was Bill, probably calling to report on the new security company.
“Hey, Bill, how’s it going?” I glanced down at my fingers, examining my nails, treating the news about the casino as more of a side business than my real focus. It just didn’t feel quite like reality anymore.
“Not good, I’m afraid.” It was only the fact that he sounded so shaken up that got my attention. “We’ve been robbed; it’s been… Well, it’s been one hell of a day, to be honest.”
“What?” I exclaimed a little angrily. “Why am I only hearing about this now?”
“Well, I tried to call you, but your phone was switched off.” Of course, I was out on the boat. I wouldn’t have had any reception. “Then I’ve been with the police all afternoon.”
I paced the parking lot, tugging my fingers through my hair. All of a sudden, my two lives were crashing together in the worst way possible. The dream-like quality everything in Vegas had taken on was now much sharper. It was all real once more. “Well, what was taken? What did the police say?”
“Money – they took lots of money. Tens of thousands, and they smashed up a couple of the machines. They… They think it was the old security company out for revenge.”
“Oh, fucking hell,” I muttered angrily. “Well, I need to be there. I need to sort things out.” Everything else spun from my mind; all I zoned in on was the casino and the problems there. “I should have been there all along. I should have known this was going to happen.”
“It isn’t your fault…” Bill tried, but it was too late. The blame already lay thickly on my shoulders. I’d been away for too long. I’d been treating this as far too much of a vacation; I should have known that was going to backfire.
“Just hold off for now, I’ll be back soon.” I jumped back into my car, already forgetting all the night’s plans. “Just… I don’t know, are you going to close the place for tonight or try and keep it running?”
“We’re open for now; we cleared up the damage and stepped up security,” he told me, confident that he’d done all the right things. He was an amazing manager, that was why I relied on him so heavily. “But, yeah, it’ll be good to see you so I can go through everything properly.”
“I just have to get my things, and I’ll see you soon.”
Shit, fucking hell, this is a nightmare. My casinos were doing well, but I couldn’t afford for this sort of fuck up. I didn’t need to be on the shitty end of a revenge plot; it was just a shame that I hadn’t considered this as a possibility. I needed to get back now; I had to return to real life. I couldn’t let this go on for another second longer.