Chapter 26
I didn’t have a freaking clue what just happened, but the only thing I cared about was getting Elliott the hell out of that house.
I’d never seen him look like that before.
The tremble in his fingers, the shallowness of his breath, and the beads of sweat collecting along his hairline. Standing in that kitchen, he was no more than a helpless deer caught in full beam headlights.
Seriously, if I didn’t know any better, I’d have said he was on the verge of a panic attack.
Florence noticed too, though the elderly woman seemed conflicted. Her eyes jumping between her grandsons, she remained in her seat, stuck between silence and intervention.
I, on the other hand, had no qualms about getting involved.
Frederic Dade may have scared the shit out of me, but I didn’t care, not when all I cared about was getting Elliott out.
However, I couldn’t fathom what caused Elliott’s reaction.
Look, Frederic terrified most people; that wasn’t a secret. There were reasons why people called him the Ice Man. However, the reaction he invoked from his own brother spoke more volumes than words ever would.
My heart physically ached for Elliott.
The raw hurt on his face when Frederic was speaking—pleading with him to talk to him, to tell him what was going on—brought tears to my eyes.
Whatever was going on between them was none of my business, yet I couldn’t fight the urge to want to help him.
Frederic mentioned that Elliott had run away, making me think his move from Ontario to New York involved more than a job promotion.
Driving into the center of Monaco, the memory of the pill bottle stuffed between his sofa cushions popped into my mind, along with the state of his apartment when I first met him and the sheer isolation he lived in.
Clearly, there were a lot of things Elliott was hiding from me, or rather, not telling me.
Then again, he didn’t have to tell me squat. We weren’t a real couple. We owed each other nothing more than what we agreed upon.
Yet it didn’t stop the need to dig deeper, to peel back the layers Elliott wrapped around himself, and get him to trust me.
Why bother? He’s leaving in three months.
Because any decent human would do the same thing.
Or maybe just stick to the rules? Don’t blur lines, don’t get attached, remember?
I wasn’t attached.
I simply cared about Elliott—a lot.
Too much, more like.
Listen here, inner voice. Caring about him wasn’t the same as blurring the lines between fake and real. I mean, it wasn’t like I was falling for him.
Aren’t you?
Okay, that’s enough of that. I was officially done with my own thoughts.
“As you may have guessed by now, I don’t know where I am going,” I said, silencing my own dangerous inner voice. “And unfortunately, I’ve left my Monaco travel binder back at your grandmother’s, so I can’t remember where places are.”
“Did you really make and bring a travel binder with you?”
I shot him a look from the corner of my eye. “Remember who you are talking to right now. Of course, I have a freaking binder with me.”
Chuckling, the color returned to his cheeks slightly. “We are only here for three nights.”
“Which is exactly why I had to organize the trip, we need to utilize every moment we have here. I want to see every part of this place.”
“You could have always asked me to help you plan things.”
“And take away my fun? Not a chance, Dr. D.” I turned the car down a random street. “There are so many places I want to see while we’re here, and heaven knows when I will ever get the chance to be back. So, I am not wasting a moment.”
His lips turned downward.
“Now, if you don’t mind, can you be a human SATNAV and tell me how to get to Larvotto Beach, please?”
Mercifully, I hadn’t gotten us completely lost and it wasn’t long before we were at the beach.
Parking the car, Elliott rounded the hood and opened my door before I got the chance to speak. Forever the gentleman.
Compared to New York, Monaco felt like a completely different planet.
The blue skies, the ocean beckoning me to jump, the sand beneath my feet—I’d taken my shoes off the second we got to the beach—and the way Elliott held my hand despite there being no on around to fool.
It was official, I never wanted to go home.
Dipping my toes into the ocean, the sun kissed the tip of my nose. “Do you ever wish you still lived here?”
“No.”
His blunt response rendered me speechless.
Alrighty, then.
If he hadn’t had such a strong grip on my hand, I would have pulled it away and created some distance between us, but I remained stuck to his side.
Elliott’s throat bobbed. “Monaco haunts me too much. It’s where my mother died, and it’s where my father’s spirit died, too. This place, to me, is a graveyard of memories I want to forget and never revisit.”
Mierda, why did I open my mouth?
I really needed to think before I spoke.
“I get it. Being here, it must bring back so much about your mom, and I can only imagine how painful that is.”
“Honestly? I don’t remember her that well. I was only three when she passed.”
Three years old?! He was only a baby when she died.
Remembering the photos in his apartment, Elliott and his brothers were all so young, so vulnerable to have lost their mother.
Freaking hell, my heart broke for each and every one of them.
“The years growing up here, even though I had my brothers and my Grand-mère, they were some of the loneliest years of my life.” Elliott struggled to keep his eyes on mine. “Every time I come back here, I am reminded of that.”
“And what about Ontario?”
His jaw set harder than granite.
Not letting go of his hand, I stood directly in front of him. “You know you can trust me, right? Zero judgment zone between us, I promise.”
He dipped his chin stiffly.
Inhaling deeply, I dared to ask, “Why did you come to New York?”
“I already told you, for a job promotion that I am being made to jump through stupid hoops for.”
The air in my chest deflated. “Then why did Frederic say you ran away?”
His mouth opened briefly before he clamped it shut.
Something inside me told me to leave it alone, to stop pushing on something that I had no right in pushing, but my heart—traitorous little fucker—screamed to keep going.
But before I got the chance to push, someone yelled behind me.
“Elliott Dade? I thought that was you!” Whipping my head around, I spotted a guy around Elliott’s age walking toward us. “God, how long has it been?”
“I’m guessing you know this guy?” I half-whispered.
Elliott’s lips flattened. “Went to university with him. He was my roommate for a year before he dropped out. We used to be, I guess, what you’d call best friends.”
“Used to be? Did he do something? Do you need me to kick his ass?”
The corner of his lips twitched. “Nothing happened. We grew apart, between life and work, all that usual boring adult stuff.”
“Do you want me to create a diversion so we can leave?”
“I think it’s too late for that, seeing as he has seen us.”
I waggled my brows with a smirk. “Ah, that’s where you are wrong, it’s never too late. Especially if I set fire to something.”
His lips lifted again. “Listen here, my little pyromaniac, setting fire to things is not the answer to every problem.”
My little pyromaniac.
My. My. My.
One word. One insignificant word sparked something back to life within me.
“We won’t know that until we try.”
Laughter rumbled in his chest before it vanished and was replaced with a forced smile, one that didn’t reach his eyes. “Calvin, always good to see you.”
“You liar,” Calvin taunted, clapping Elliott on the shoulder. “Christ, it must be four years, maybe five, since I last saw you?”
Elliott nodded. “Five. Last time was at your wedding in Vegas.”
“Oh yes, that’s right. What a fucking shitshow that turned out to be. You were there with Cassandra, right?”
Bitterness singed the back of my throat at the mention of another woman’s name. Not just any woman, but Elliott’s ex, and the same woman who ‘couldn’t love him back’.
A fucking fool, more like.
“From what I hear, we both dodged a bullet.” Calvin scratched his chin. “Thankfully, my divorce wasn’t as messy as I thought it was going to be. Thank your stars that you didn’t marry your disaster like I did.”
Elliott’s body tensed beside mine. “What are you doing in Monaco?”
“Why do you think I’m here?” Calvin laughed. “Racing season, of course.”
Being up close to Calvin, there was something about him that seemed familiar.
“Ah, of course. Calvin, this is my girlfriend, Olivia Garcia.” Elliott’s arm found a home around my waist. “Livi, this is Calvin Santoro.”
Ah, of course!
That’s why he looked familiar. His face was freaking everywhere these days. You couldn’t open a magazine or watch television without seeing him pop up.
Calvin Santoro, the current world champion and top driver for the Blackcrest Racing F1 team, was also the brand ambassador for Nordtime watches, and their adverts were literally everywhere in New York.
“Nice to meet you.” I offered him my hand. “You must get this all the time, but my friend Khloe is your number one fan.”
Eyebrows shooting up behind his sunglasses, Calvin’s lips curled into the kind of smile that no doubt made most women swoon. “And what about you, Olivia? Are you my number two fan?”
“Unfortunately for you, I find no real entertainment watching cars go round in circles at dangerous speeds.”
Calvin’s smirk grew by the second. “Aren’t you a piccolo volcano?” Taking my hand, he brought it to his mouth and placed a feather-light kiss on my skin. “Such a pleasure to meet you, Olivia.”
When his lips touched my skin, I resisted the urge to cringe. His skin on mine, his lips anywhere near me felt completely wrong.
Don’t get me wrong, the man was attractive, and by hell, he knew it too.
Sun-kissed skin, blond hair, strong nose and jawline, and a body that screamed ‘I work out at least thrice a day!’.
Truthfully, he was a more put-together and confident version of Daniel, and exactly the kind of man I used to call my type.
But now? Calvin did nothing for me.
My taste had changed; it had evolved.
Give me a dark-haired, glasses-wearing, thick-bicep doctor any day of the week. A doctor whose arm tightened around my waist and whose fingers were digging into my hip bone, the longer my hand remained in Calvin’s,
“You can let go of her hand now,” Elliott said tightly.
“Lower your hackles, Dade,” Calvin laughed, a shit-eating grin lighting up his features. “I’m merely being friendly to your bella ragazza.”
Taking my hand back, I placed it securely around Elliott’s bicep.
He flexed beneath my touch, and I swore my ovaries jumped back into life.
“How long are you here?” Calvin finally turned his attention away from me. “We should catch up properly.”
“We’re only here for the weekend,” Elliott said. “Visiting my Grand-mère and then we’re flying back to New York Monday morning.”
Calvin let out a low whistle. “So, the rumors are true, you’ve set up shop in the Big Apple. And here I thought you’d carved yourself a sweet little life in Canada.”
“Things change.”
“If you say so.” Checking his watch, Calvin adjusted the sleeves of his white linen shirt.
“I’d suggest we meet before you leave, but no doubt you’ll be busy with more important and fun things.
” He lowered his sunglasses to give me a boyish wink.
“And who could blame him with more gorgeous things to keep him occupied?”
I rolled my eyes. “Are you always such a shameless flirt?”
“Even in my sleep, darling.”
Elliott scoffed. “Rather than standing here and hitting on my girlfriend, I’m sure you have somewhere to be, Calvin.”
“For a matter of fact, I do,” he said. “Actually, I am on my way to meet a couple of the other drivers at the casino right now.”
“A casino,” Elliott echoed.
Despite his unfaltering cocky smirk, Calvin’s voice suddenly didn’t match his expression. “Would you like to join us?”
The air itself turned frigid around us.
Elliott’s spine straightened.
Cocking his head to the side, Calvin studied the man at my arm for several beats. His smug grin turned into one of sadness as he reached out and patted Elliott on the shoulder. “Looks like some things never do change, huh?”
My attention bounced between the two men.
Without saying anything, Calvin dipped into his pocket and pulled out a business card from within his wallet.
He grabbed a pen tucked into his shirt pocket and pulled the cap off with his teeth.
“The offer still stands the same as it did five years ago, Elliott.” He scribbled something on the card before offering it to him.
“And as I said all those years ago, please don’t punch me, I’m only trying to look out for you. ”
Elliott remained motionless.
I wasn’t sure he was even breathing at this point.
Exhaling deeply, Calvin handed me the card. “We may not be close anymore, but day or night, I will do whatever I can to help. I promised that then, and I promise that now.”
With one final look at Elliott, Calvin turned on his heel and walked away.
Daring a glimpse at the card weighing heavily in my hand, I flipped it over, and my heart stalled.
Imprinted in bold letters, the words ‘Valentina Santoro: Leading Addiction Therapist at Spring Hope Facility’ stared back at me.