Page 52 of Faking Ever After

I smiled at Percy as warmly as I could while turning away and I went upstairs to our shared room. Every step was heavier than the one before it and my heart sank whenever I heard laughter from the terrace.

I believed Richard that he would give me twenty-four hours. I believed that he would wait for my will to cave in and for the drive to return to him. He was scared of me, but I was scared more. Because he had done the one thing he had wanted to do. He had made me doubt whether this place was safe at all.

CHAPTER 19

Percy & Finn

“Interesting fellow,”Richie said as he lifted the glass, red wine swirling against the crystal walls. “Charming.”

“He is,” I agreed, unsure if Richie’s tone had a hint of resentment. “I’m very fond of him.” As I said those words, I realized just how tepid they were. Fond? No. I was fond of hot baths. Finn was in a stratosphere of his own. But I didn’t correct myself aloud.

“You just met him,” Richie said after tasting the wine. “Oh, that’s the good stuff.”

“Feels like it’s been longer than a couple of weeks,” I said.

Richie put on a smile that carried a hint of mockery. “Is Percy Davenport in love?” We shared a little laugh and I said nothing.

He had no business knowing that all I could think about was going upstairs to join Finn in the shower. I wanted to run my fingers through his wet hair and press our bodies together. I wanted to pin him against the tiles and kiss him until we melted away.

We settled into our seats to watch the last glow of the setting sun and enjoy Dimitrios’ wine. “Thanks for coming, Richie,” I said after a little while.

“You sounded like it was an emergency,” Richie said.

“It was,” I admitted. “I was coming here with someone I didn’t know.”

“Smart,” Richie chuckled.

I snorted in reply. It couldn’t have worked out better if I’d planned it. “And you know how my family gets.”

“How does your family get?” Mother asked from inside the house.

This made Richie laugh his ass off.

Feeling the rising heat, I hoped she hadn’t heard me admit that Finn had been a perfect stranger just two days before arriving here. “They eavesdrop,” I told Mother.

“We exist, darling,” she explained, passing through the thin curtains and stepping onto the terrace. She wore a loose summer dress that bared her arms and back. It was ochre yellow with a sprawling pattern of large red flowers, making me think of August sunsets. “It’s not our fault we have ears.” She settled herself near me and as far from Richie as she decently could. Her dislike for my old friend and one-time boyfriend was plain as day, but Richie was not someone who let those things bother him. He had never needed anyone to like him. It made him impervious.

“Where is Muffinn?” Mother asked.

“Upstairs,” I said. “He’ll be down in a minute.”

“Good,” Mother said. “He is delightful, darling. Don’t you think so, Richie?”

“Absolutely,” Richie said in a slightly tightening voice. Father joined us a minute later, sitting next to Mother and conversing with Richie about business. My old friend liked nothing more than to talk about his successes and part of me thought it was well-earned. If anyone had the right to brag, it was the man who had dragged himself up the ladder with hard work and sacrifice. It had turned him into a workaholic, and some found him full of himself, but if Richie couldn’t be proud of his achievement, Ididn’t know who could. I sure as hell couldn’t because, for all my tech skills, it had been Richie who made us wealthy.

Minutes dragged on. Emily and Aunt Judith joined the dinner table. Aunt Judith was in incredibly high spirits, talking about dodging a bullet and having immense fun with Benny Tupper rowing the boat. The poor guy had put in so much work only to realize his odds were better serenading the wealthy widow next door. This caused an uproar of laughter that only made Finn’s absence more acute.

It was only when Dimitrios began bringing Nektaria’s dishes out to the terrace that I decided Finn needed rescuing from the shower. “He might have fallen asleep,” I said. “We had a pretty tiring day out.”

Mother leaned close to Father and they spoke something in quiet tones that made them both look proud when they next glanced at me. Both needing to see if Finn was alright and to escape the inevitable sex talk my parents tended to bring up just before we all began eating, I excused myself and climbed the stairs to check in on Finn.

My Muffinn, I thought idly, then tapped the door gently with the tip of my finger. When there was no reply, I turned the knob and entered our room. The open window drew a draft that lifted its curtains. The bed was made perfectly, bearing Nektaria’s military tuck that was much smoother and crisper than what I had achieved this morning. “Finn?” I called, but it made no sense that he was still in the shower. There were no sounds coming from there.

I walked toward the bathroom merely to call him a little louder, but as I neared the closet, the gap was immediately clear to me. On the floor, next to my suitcase, Finn’s backpack was no longer sitting. And just above my suitcase, where the spare linens were, the safety box was wide open and empty. Emptyexcept for one golden bracelet with the pattern of infinite waves of the sea that rested in the middle.

Oh, Finn, I thought. My heart cracked at the sight of it as soon as the momentary confusion passed. Had I been so careless not to prepare Finn better? I had invited my ex, a billionaire like myself and a man I had repeatedly and loudly credited with my wealth, and it had never occurred to me that Finn might see him as competition.

Richie had mistaken Finn for an employee and it hadn’t crossed my mind that Finn might see that as an insult.

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