Page 112 of Forever

Struck by the moment, she followed their progression as they passed in and out of the views of various cameras, the images shifting, the reality staying the same. Diagnosis: true love. And she was happy for them.

As her hand went to her lower abdomen, they passed through the final checkpoint at her main front gate… then they roared off. The last video she had of them was of Lydia turning her head to the side and laying her cheek on Daniel’s back.

She hoped they would enjoy the good days ahead, however many of them there were. Whatever had happened, whatever conflict had occurred, had clearly resolved itself—and she wouldn’t besurprised if she had to talk to Chef about a wedding cake.

Gus would have been great at that ceremony, as a best man, she thought. Maybe even the officiant. Then again… Gus was great at everything.

Tucking her feet under her seat, she pulled his fleece even closer to her. She had expected him to call her when he received the document she’d asked Daniel Joseph to witness and had one of her guards deliver, but he hadn’t. Perhaps he was getting his own legal counsel to look it all over. That’s what she would have done if she were in his position—that’s what she would have advised him to do. If he’d asked her for advice.

She really wanted to hear his voice. One last time.

She really wanted to tell him that he’d been right. She had been too rich for too long, and had gotten in the habit of everything—and everyone—going her way.

And she really wanted to explain that she had taken care of Rob’s ashes properly, and placed them in the back meadow in a very good spot—which was a strange confession, and maybe proof that she hadn’t yet learned the full lesson of not using people to her own advantage. Why would Gus want to hear that she’d paid her respects to the father of her child?

God… she missed him. Somewhere, along theline, her business partner had become so much more to her, but she had been too busy being a created persona that the real person underneath had lost out on someone who had been one of a kind…

Her eyes were still on the monitor, on a static black-and-white image of the landscape across the county road from her gates, when her cell phone rang.

Reaching out without looking, she turned the screen over. And rolled her eyes.

But if she didn’t answer, he was just going to keep dialing on his end.

Swiping to accept the call, she said, “I already told you, Gunnar. You need to talk to Gus. He owns Vita-12b now, not me. I even sent you a copy of the goddamn paperwork.”

She thought again of that document. Gus had told her she needed to appoint someone to take over her business affairs—so she had. Who else could she have left Vita to? And the fact that he had accepted another job before he got the envelope she’d sent him had been a funny punch line, hadn’t it.

“I would talk to Dr. St. Claire,” that European accent drawled, “if I could. But he’s missing.”

Cathy frowned and sat up properly. “I’m sorry?”

“When I couldn’t reach him following our conversation, even after many, many phone calls, I sent a representative to his address. His car was in thedrive, but the back door was open. My agent went inside—there had been a disturbance in the front room. Blood and scuff marks on the carpet.”

Cold terror tightened Cathy’s throat. And then she felt an anger that went into her marrow. “Gunnar, so help you God, if you are fucking—”

“I want to buy that drug. You know this. Why would I harm the owner of record—and then call you to tell you about it? No offense, Phalen, but you are stupid if you believe that.”

Her hand tightened on her phone. “I’ll find him.”

For them both.

“Good luck,” Rhobes murmured. “Nasty business we’re in. I’ve been a target myself of late, and it is not an enjoyable experience. Call me when you have him—or his body. If it’s the latter, perhaps you and I have something to talk about again.”

The call was ended and Cathy shot to her feet.

Her first instinct was to call for her guards.

But she followed through on the thought that came after that.

Daniel slowed the speed of the Harley as he and Lydia came up to the side entry of the apple orchard. After a series of humps created by truck tires, and then a stretch of molar-rattling vibration over uneven ground, they hooked up with the road that ran down the eastern side of the field. Given the season,the leaves were all off the craggy branches, but he loved the view.

Then again, with the sun on his face, his bike on a roar, and his woman on the back with her arms around him? He could have taken them on a tour of a municipal sewage plant and still thought everything was beautiful.

When the road made a fat circle and changed directions to intersect with another route, he took them deep into the acreage, slowing to a stop when they could see nothing in any direction except for the apple trees.

After he cut the engine and threw out the kickstand, he tilted the bike and let it set itself on the packed dirt of the lane.

Lydia got off first, and as the wind caught her loose hair, the waves of blond and brown feathered over her features. He was the one who tucked them back behind her ears, and then she leaned in toward his mouth.

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