Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 91361 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91361 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
He paid his respects to his parents first. They were Jacqueline’s godparents and like the rest of the world, Kellion had learned how to play with them.
“You were so amazing, darling.” Carina was gushing. That really was all it took to make his mother happy and proud. As long as he was cooler than all the sons of her other friends, she would always love him.
Kellion bent down so his mother could kiss his cheek. Afterwards, his father Maurice clapped him on the back. “I say he takes after me.”
Kellion had no trouble returning his father’s smile. “Naturally.” He was used to playing the role of the perfect son. He had been doing it for years. For Maurice, all that mattered was for Kellion to display ruthless strength and cunning – the kind that would make him a worthwhile heir of the Argyros.
He gave them a chance. One full minute to make him feel like they saw him as their son.
They talked to him and about him, praising his skills behind the bike, telling him how everyone envied them for being his parents, and how Jacqueline would surely be the happiest girl in the world to have him flying all the way from the United States just for her party.
But the minute passed and there wasn’t a single mention of how this was the first time they had seen him ride a bike in person and that the stunt he had pulled was dangerous as hell. No mention of the fact that before this, he had been hospitalized for a week because he had been practicing this stunt, over and over.
Nothing.
All they did was smile and beam at him.
Like he was their heir – their perfectly replaceable heir and not their son.
Something inside of him died at those smiles.
“Excuse me for a moment. I haven’t greeted Jacqueline yet.” Kellion’s voice was even, revealing not a single hint of how raw he felt inside.
“Oh, of course.” Carina waved him away.
Maurice smirked. “Don’t do what your father won’t do.”
And because he knew what was expected of him, Kellion shot back in a deadpan voice, “That means I can do anything, right?”
Both his parents loved it, their laughter as fake as their smiles.
He turned away swiftly before the sight of it could make him sick.
He found Jacqueline chatting with her friends by the pool. She was glowing, her eyes shining, and she looked even prettier than he remembered in her silver gown. Silver was her favorite color, and it was why he himself was dressed in the same shade.
Her friends noticed him first and as Kellion walked towards them, he watched her friends whisper and giggle as they told Jacqueline about him.
She turned to him with a smile – a real one.
And then she was running towards him.
Kellion caught her in his arms. “Happy birthday, pup.” He had been calling her that for years even though deep inside he knew it was the other way around. He was the one who felt like a damn puppy the way he secretly followed her around, using the Internet and even his own security team to know her every move.
“Thank you, Kellion, thank you!” She hugged him tightly as she whispered the words. Pulling back, she made a cute face and said, “But please stop calling me ‘pup’.”
He said easily, “All right, Jack.” He was the only one who called her that, too.
Jacqueline wrinkled her pretty nose. “Eeeew.”
After, she held his hand and drew him towards the garden. Stars and golden light from lampposts competed above them, their brightness reflected on the surface of the still waters of a granite fountain.
They stopped in front of it, and Jacqueline said again, “Thank you.”
“You know I’d do anything for you.” He meant every damn word.
“I know. I don’t deserve it, but I knew you wouldn’t let me down.” She smiled up at him. That was what he loved most about her, the way her smiles were always real, the kind she would withhold whenever he did something to displease her.
They talked and laughed, and all the while their hands remained entwined.
It felt like heaven, lulling Kellion into believing that maybe this time Jacqueline would realize he was the one for her. But when he reached for her face, something in his eyes might have told her what he wanted. Might have warned her it was not something she wanted.
When he bent down to kiss her, she turned away at the right moment, and his lips ended up brushing against her cheek.
Rejection crushed him, drowned him like there was a brick around his neck.
Beside him, Jacqueline was saying very brightly, “Should we go back to the party?”
Kellion’s fists clenched against his sides.
Maybe she was like them, after all. Wanting him because she needed something from him. Wanting him only because there was a role he could play in her life. And tonight, she had needed someone like him to come to her party and make everyone forget that Eugene had dumped her.