Page 52 of Obsessive Cravings

Riley had worked her way into my heart, finding a way in where no one ever had and even if I had to give it all up, having her would make it okay. She completed me and made me whole when I’d never known I was anything but that. Even after the short time she’d been in my life, I knew that with certainty, a clarity I’d never had. If I were no longer the power figure, the boss of the network I’d built, no longer the mogul who owned this part of the province, I would still be something. I would be hers.

Standing, I slipped the ring back into its box. I looked around the apartment once more. The movers would be packing it up in the morning with instructions to send it back to Riley. There was no need to keep it any longer. She wasn’t coming back. I walked to her bed. The handful of scarves that had given me my first taste of her were still hanging there. I slid my fingers over the silk, pulling the red scarf out and bringing it to my nose. The smell of her lotion and perfume tickled my senses, threatening to tear down the barriers I was erecting around my heart. I put the scarf in my pocket, spying the blindfold on her nightstand. Smiling at the memory of lifting it the night she’d challenged me, I put it in my other pocket, knowing I couldn’t give up every piece of her, no matter how much I convinced myself I needed to.

Walking back to the table, I placed the ring box into a larger box, the tissue paper below making a soft crinkle sound. I laid my answer to her question on top of the box, then sealed the larger box, brushing my fingers over the label with Riley’s name and address. It was one last attempt to win her back, one I had little faith in, but I needed her to know the truth. To know that she’d worked her way into my heart where I hadn’t thought anyone could reach. That she’d destroyed my plans, taking my game and twisting it into something more, something longer, something deeper.

With one last look at her apartment, I took the box and walked out, leaving my key along with the memories and past that had left more scars on me than any bullet ever had.

Chapter Twenty-Four

RILEY

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 naïve 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.”

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