Obsessive Cravings (Wicked Cravings Book 1)

Chapter 24

Days passed, and I couldn’t remove the sight of Greyson’s pained expression from my mind. Mason had been away for a few days, and Tyson watched over me. He’d skipped bringing me dinner, so I wandered to the kitchen, noting how empty it was. Usually, Mason’s men were in and out, but tonight it was quiet. An opened box sat on the island, and I saw a note nestled within the tissue paper, my name scrawled in familiar handwriting. I picked the note up, seeing a smaller box below it. Unfolding the note, I grabbed onto the counter for support as I read the words.

You asked me who I’d be if I gave it all up, and I couldn’t answer you. But now I know the answer.

I’d be yours.

My chest seemed to leap to my throat, the wound in my heart so agonizing that I dropped the note. Slowly, I lifted the smaller box from the tissue paper and opened it, my breath catching as my eyes took in the diamond engagement ring that sat atop a receipt. I pushed the ring aside, my tears falling. The receipt was from a jeweler around the corner from his firm in Bridgeville. He had blacked out the price, but the date was visible—three days before Clint had attacked me. A small scribble was on the bottom, reading: I hope this is her best Christmas ever. More tears fell with the realization that Greyson had bought it, intending to propose on Christmas. The confirmation that he was telling the truth tore at me, twisting my thoughts and emotions about the situation and all he’d done.

I shoved the two notes in the box and put the lid back on. No longer hungry, I returned to my room and sat in my window seat, holding the box. I stayed there, dozing off and on through the night until morning lit my room. With it, no clarity came. Confusion was all that greeted me. How could I forgive him for what he’d done, no matter that he’d changed his mind? I opened the box again and took the ring out. The diamond was enormous, and it sparkled in the morning light.

There was a knock at my door, and I rolled my eyes. Mason had checked in on me when he’d returned, but I’d shooed him off, not wanting to talk to him about it. I was certain he knew what was in the box. He would have known it was from Greyson.

“Go away, Mason. I don’t want to talk yet.”

“Not even to me?” A mop of brown curls peeked around the door, her hazel eyes smiling at me. I hadn’t seen her in years, but I’d have known the smile in those eyes anywhere.

“Casey?”

She nodded as she moved further into the room, and I put the box aside, jumping up to hug her. The appearance of my old friend could not have come at a better time. She was Tyson’s younger sister and when their father died, their mother moved across the country to another province. Tyson had stayed with Mason, and I now understood why—they were in business together. Even though they were only twenty-one at the time, it had already started.

Casey had still been in middle school, so she’d had no choice but to go. She hadn’t been back, and I’d missed her dreadfully, flying out to see her every so often with Tyson when he would visit her.

“I hear you’re moping in here about a man,” she teased, pulling a handful of my hair forward. “You look terrible, Ri. When was the last time you showered?”

I grimaced. It had been a few days, and I was sure I was ripe. I had no energy to even bother showering.

She glanced at the window seat before walking to the box and sitting. Her brown hair shimmered with highlights of red in the sunlight. I’d forgotten how pretty she was. She’d always been self-conscious of her fuller figure when we were younger, complaining that she wanted to be thin like me, but I didn’t think she’d look as pretty if she were. She was beautiful the way she was, and I was happy she embraced it now and noticed how men watched her when she entered a room.

She peeked at me and patted the seat next to her as she fingered the ring. “This is some rock.”

“Did you know?” I asked, sitting and pulling my feet to my chest.

“That a diamond this size existed?”

I pushed her leg with my foot. “No, smartass. About Mason and Tyson.”

Her lips pursed, and she was quiet for a moment. “Yes. I knew when it first started. Tyson made me swear to keep it quiet because Mason didn’t want you to know. It was one of the reasons my mom moved us and why I never returned. Tyson wanted me to stay far enough away so that nothing would happen to me.” Her eyes searched mine. “I’m sorry, Ri. It wasn’t my secret to share.”

Laying my head back on the wall, I stared out at the snow, wondering just how na?ve I’d been to live for so many years without seeing anything in my world for what it was.

“Do you love him?” she asked me.

It was a question I’d asked myself a million times, and the answer was always the same. “Yes.”

“Tyson told me what happened. They would have killed him if he hadn’t saved you. But they didn’t, and I can tell you, that’s saying something. Mason would take down anyone he thought was a threat to you.”

“It doesn’t matter. He used me.”

“That’s what Ty said, but he came here, Ri. You don’t know what that means. Bosses don’t step foot in each other’s territories. Coming here risked his life and his entire organization, and let me tell you, Greyson Tides doesn’t take risks that jeopardize his business.” I gave her a questioning look. “I may be in another province, but that doesn’t mean Ty hasn’t trained me well. Mason made a mistake keeping you in the dark. You need knowledge to stay alive in this world, and he chose not to give it to you.”

She handed me the ring. “He let you go, Ri. The guys know what that means. Do you?”

Standing, she kissed the top of my head. “I’ll be here the next few days if you need me.” She walked to the door, and glancing back at me, said, “Why didn’t you tell me Mason was so sexy now?”

I gave her a grossed-out look.

“What? He is. Shit, those muscles and those tattoos.”

“That’s gross, Casey.”

“Not for me,” she said, giving me a wink before she closed the door.

I tried to clear the thought of my brother being sexy from my head. He was handsome, like my father had been, but sexy?

“Yuck,” I mumbled.

Setting the ring aside, I rose, determined to shower and regain some sense of hygiene. Once I was clean, I forced myself to leave my room, leaving the ring behind. For the first time in too long, I spent the day with Mason, letting his smile at my appearance ease the pain in my heart. We shared dinner with Casey and Tyson, and I let Greyson slip from my mind for a few hours.

When the night ended, I returned to my room, my mind clearer. The ring was still on my window seat where I’d left it. I tried not to look at it as I prepared for bed, snuggling into a pair of snowflake pajamas Mason had gotten me for Christmas the year before. I sat on my bed, the diamond on the ring shimmering in the moonlight that poured through my window. I felt more like myself than I had in a long time, and with that knowledge came the realization that a part of me was missing. A part I’d given to Greyson. One I didn’t want to take back. And that was what hurt so badly.

He”d let me go. Casey’s words settled into my mind like a snowflake that nestled into your hair and refused to melt. He had let me go. If his intention had still been to use me, why push me behind him when Mason drove up? Why not hold his gun to my head like Clint had or kill me to hurt Mason? And why had he let me go? He and Mason were enemies. He could have easily taken me and shot them both before turning the gun on me. But he hadn’t. He’d stood there, looking as defeated as I’d felt. Fractured. Just like I was.

I lay there, thinking through everything that had happened. The way I’d invited him in before I’d known he was my stranger. How he’d protected me from Matt and his lies and protected me from Clint. How he’d saved me and then let me walk away.

Pushing the blankets back, I went to my window seat and picked the ring up with the note.

Yours.

The word was a powerful one. He would be mine. He hadn’t said I would be his like he had that day in his office. The day he’d claimed me. I wondered if he’d been playing his game then or if the game had changed for him.

He was giving himself to me, giving me his heart in that one word.

I slipped the ring on my finger, amazed at how he knew enough about me to know my ring size. He knew everything about me, yet I barely knew him. But I knew how he made me feel. The way he touched me, like he worshiped me. The way he made love to me. I knew the reaction he caused in my body and my heart. The way his grin could light me on fire, or his touch could melt me.

Lifting my eyes, I stared out at the silent landscape. I’d run two months earlier to escape a life I didn’t want. Running right into that same life with a man who’d left his mark on my soul. Maybe it was time I stopped running.

I returned the ring to the box and rushed out of my room, finding Mason in the living room. His eyes were creased with worry as he held a glass of alcohol in his hand.

“Ri? Is everything all right?” he asked, the creases deepening.

“I want you to tell me all of it. Bring me in. Teach me. I want to know everything there is to know about this life.”

The worry lifted, his smile returning. “Are you sure you’re ready?”

“Yes.”

“Then get your ass in the chair, Ri. Let’s talk.”