Page 77 of Perfect Pursuit

Over and over, my mind rejects what just happened.

Filia and Fallon telling me about their green lace.

Filia and Fallon sauntering across the patio.

Filia tripping, me catching her as she fell.

Aloud, I whisper, “Maybe they know each other?”

Fallon, the woman I love, can’t be working for the phone sex company I’m investigating for a possible connection to the individuals out to harm Leanne. But how is it possible “Filia” and Fallon both walked me through the exact same sexcapade? “The odds don’t even exist.”

And I’ve learned the hard way there are no such things as coincidences.

Reaching for my computer, I gather my bearings before I ease my way into the employee files of Devil’s Lair. My throat closes over a knot so large that I’m surprised I’m not choking on it.

The proof is irrefutable. I snatch up my cell phone and send a text.

Ethan:

I am going to have some business in Seven Virtues soon.

Fallon:

ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?! When?

Her excitement is palpable. My own, much less so because once I see Fallon face-to-face, I know what I’m going to have to do.

The very idea of which feels like I’m ripping off an appendage.

Ethan:

Soon. Real soon.

Suddenly, I’m grateful I never shared my true relationship with Fallon with my family because if my devastation is anything to go by, their disappointment in my lack of judgment might be too much to bear.

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

SEVEN VIRTUES, NORTH CAROLINA

@PRyanPOffical, Let me assure you, not all men are created equal.

—@CuteandRich3

@CuteandRich3, Now see? That was funny.

—Viego Martinez, Celebrity Blogger

I roll over, pluck my phone off the end table, and silence the alarm. Quickly scanning for texts, I see Ethan checked in this morning already. Deciding I want to hear his voice before I start another day, I dial his cell.

Before the first ring is over, I hear his sexy voice in my ear. “Hey, darlin’.”

I let out a huge yawn before asking, “What are you doing up so early?”

“Never went to bed,” he admits. “I’ve been working with the company I’m contracted to and inspiration took flight around midnight.”

Right around midnight, I had my last call at Devil’s Lair—with Whiskey. Emotions I’m not prepared for make my stomach churn—anger at a God who could make my mother so ill. Resentment at my mother for not allowing me to share the burden of her illness. And worse, an unceasing guilt at not telling Ethan the extent of what I’m doing to try to prolong her life.

Pressing my head back against my headboard, I whisper, “I miss you.”

---