AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Preston admitted to living close by to my condo, and he hadn’t been lying.
“Are you shitting me?” I asked when Sean pulled Preston’s file for the information.
“Nope.”
“Fucking three blocks from me!” I spat the words. “How the fuck have I not run into him all this time?”
“Preston Gibbons is a self-proclaimed recluse according to his file,” Sean said. “A tech geek who doesn’t go out much.”
“Yep, that’s him, alright,” I grumbled, some of my anger taking a backseat now that Preston couldn’t hide from me.
“Good luck, my friend. Keep me informed.”
“If you see anything on the news about Preston’s disappearance or kidnapping, you don’t know shit.”
“Gotcha,” Sean agreed with a chuckle. “Go get your man, and fuck anyone who gives you the side eye.”
We would get a shit ton more than strange looks once Jacqueline’s society found out her son shacked up with his stepbrother.
I needed to stop thinking of him as such. We weren’t related. Neither of our parents had adopted the other kid, and we were grown ass men. Why would anyone give a shit if we were involved?
That question rang through my head long after I got off the phone with Sean.
Preston would care—because of Jacqueline. He didn’t hide his desperation for his mother’s love, her acceptance. And with her seeming to have a change of heart toward him, I couldn’t begin to imagine my lover’s conflicting desires.
He’d rejected me for her. Discarded me for something he saw as better, a relationship that could be more fulfilling.
But Preston Gibbons—Casswell—whatever name he went by these days, belonged to me. End of. He’d always been mine, and no rich, self-righteous bitch would steal from me the one person who felt completely right for my future.
He and I had some words to exchange whether he wanted to or not.
Running away.
I snorted. The fuck did he think would happen? That I wouldn’t chase after him?
But did he even want me to? Was this his way of seeing how far I would go, how serious I was about him? A test to prove me worthy of owning his whole heart?
None of those suspicions rang true, but that didn’t keep my gut from twisting into a painful knot.
Preston’s heart was carved from pure gold. He wouldn’t hurt a fly, and if he inadvertently did, he’d be crushed from having made that decision.
My thoughts warred as the Mass Pike’s miles disappeared in my rearview. Woods faded into hints of settlement. Traffic slowed the closer I got to Boston. For the first time, the signs of life, the rush of the noise I couldn’t even hear inside my car’s interior, wreaked havoc on my overloaded brain.
Mind already crowded and rowdy, I didn’t need a city pressing in on every side, exasperating my anxiety. I finally had firsthand experience what Preston dealt with when he got all up in his feels.
Teeth gritted against my need to escape—or hide—I exited the highway, making my way downtown. Traffic lights pissed me the hell off, but at least the other drivers used to Boston’s fucked-up road system were aggressive and went with the flow.
Still, I cursed a dozen or so times, telling people to get the fuck outta my lane.
I had a man to confront and hopefully force into seeing things from my point of view.
My heart’s ability to beat hinged on it.
Chapter 24
Preston
I’d been sitting at my piano for over an hour, attempting to lose myself in music. Every melody spilling from my fingertips reminded me of Drake. The way he’d sat in silence, listening to me practice when we’d been teens. How he’d close his eyes and smile as though what I’d played on ivory keys overwhelmed his soul with happiness.
