6. Julian
JULIAN
“J ulian, I know what you told my mom, but you…you don’t owe us—me—anything. You have already done so much more in the last few days than anyone would ever be expected to do for a complete stranger. Please, I can’t handle feeling like there’s this list of things I’ll never be able to repay you for.”
I lean closer to her and cover her hand with mine.
“If you hadn't stopped me from walking onto that campus, I might be dead. I think you keep forgetting that little piece of the puzzle. I’m not a man who needs to be repaid. But I am a man who sticks to his word. Okay?”
She swallows and thinks for a moment. Then she nods slowly.
“Okay,” she whispers. I squeeze her hand before I look to Tyler.
“Ty, can you take us out to Bendmere?”
“You got it, boss,” he says.
We ride quietly but not in an uncomfortable kind of way. I replay some of her words as we go. “Complete stranger” keeps ringing in my ears. It’s true I’ve only known her for a total of about ninety-six hours. But “strangers” don’t go through what we’ve already been through together. Strangers don’t hold each other, share tears. I don’t know what we are, but “strangers” doesn’t quite cover it.
I’ve done a little of my own research on her, but I know there’s more than what’s going to show up in a quick internet search. And I want to know it all.
After about an hour, we’re pulling into the tiny coastal town of Bendmere, which my family has made famous over the last century. Bendmere is where my great-grandfather built our family’s estate, Bedell House, after the oil boom. Rivaling only the Rockefellers, Enzo Everett was the second richest man in the entire country. And as the bloodline went down, those fortunes only grew exponentially.
The thing I love about Bendmere is that because my family frequents it so much, the people who live here are largely unfazed by us when we do make our way into town.
“Bedell House?” Tyler asks through the rearview. I think about it for a moment, but I don’t know who from my family may be at the property today. I didn’t reserve it, and the last thing Sawyer needs is a run-in with any of the eccentric billionaires I call my family.
“Not today,” I say. “You can just drop us off at the boardwalk.” Tyler nods in the mirror. Bendmere is the only place my family doesn’t require a major security detail. Tyler will be close by, but we can have some privacy.
When he lets us out of the car, I lead her up onto the boardwalk. I have on a button-down and slacks, and I throw on a pair of sunglasses to at least play up some sort of disguise. She’s wearing an oversized sweatshirt and leggings, and she looks fucking adorable.
We walk a little ways, letting the chilly salt air blow around us. The boardwalk is fairly empty because it’s the off-season, so we have it largely to ourselves. We walk in and out of a few stores, and I watch her intently as she looks at things: some clothes, a bracelet, a candle, some coffee.
We get to a little Christmas shop, and she’s turning a gold-plated ornament in her hand that reads Bendmere .
“You want that?” I ask. She scoffs and shakes her head.
“No, Julian,” she says. “You’re not helping much with the whole not-making-me-feel-like I-owe-you thing.” She smiles as she walks out of the store, and I follow behind but not before I snag one of the ornaments and hand the shop owner a hundred-dollar bill.
I tuck it into my pocket. I’ll figure out how to slip it to her later.
We walk around for a few more hours, eating pretzels, cotton candy, and a few other things that would make my trainer’s head explode before we make our way to a bench. The sun is starting to go down, and she shivers as she wraps her sweatshirt around herself tighter.
“Can I take you to dinner?” I ask. She turns to me and bites her lip.
“Okay,” she says.
A few minutes later, Tyler is dropping us off at one of my favorite spots here in town, a little Italian place called Mama Tilly’s.
Tilly’s granddaughter, Marni, owns it now and brings us to a little private table in the back. I see her eyeing Sawyer, and for a minute, it makes me uncomfortable. Not because I give a shit what she thinks about me walking in here with a girl who is significantly younger than me, but because my protective instincts kick in whenever Sawyer is concerned. But I let out a long breath when she hands us our menus and slips back into the kitchen. Bendmere and the people in it are good to us. They practice discretion.
I watch her read the menu, and then I order us a bottle of the house wine and some mozzarella sticks.
Finally, we order our entrees, a steak for me and ravioli for her, and then it’s just the two of us.
“So,” I say, taking a bite of my salad, “a full academic scholarship, huh? So you’re real unintelligent, then.”
She giggles as she takes a sip of her wine.
“Did some research, did you?” she asks. I shrug and smile.
“Maybe. Tell me more about the parts that I can’t search,” I say. She looks at me through narrowed eyes for a minute then lets out a sigh.
“Well, there’s not much to tell. It’s just me and my mom. My parents had me at eighteen, and my dad ditched when he found out she was pregnant,” she says. “My grandparents kicked my mom out when she got pregnant, so it’s always just been us. She works three jobs to pay the bills. She’s the best person I know.” Her voice cracks a little bit, but she keeps going. “I applied to every state school and a bunch of others on the West Coast, but I got a full ride for academics to Carrington, so Carrington it was. Plan is to get my degree, get a job back home, and make it so she can finally breathe.”
I nod, hanging on every word she says.
“Full ride. Impressive. What is it that you want to do?” I ask.
“My degree will be in communications,” she says. “I’m not sure yet. Just something that pays the bills.” I nod. She takes a sip of wine, then she smiles. “You know, you’re not the only one who did some research.”
I raise an eyebrow and give her a half-smile as I take another sip of my wine.
“Oh yeah?” I ask. I hold my hand out. “Alright, then. Let’s see what you’ve learned.”
“Oldest of Cato Everett’s three sons. You’re next in line to run Everett Enterprises. You oversee most of the domestic businesses. Your youngest brother has a different mom than you and your middle brother. Your dad has a bit of a…reputation. Not super well-liked amongst people he employs. You are not the brother that dates all the models. You were engaged once about ten years ago, but it got called off,” she says nervously. She waits a beat, then she says, “And you’re thirty-seven.”
The corner of my mouth tugs up again.
“I am,” I say. “And you’re twenty-two.”