Billionaire Romance Boxed Set 1(210)

I laughed. “It did. But only because of what they did to you. I know guys like that and they’ll never bother you again.” I looked at her for a moment, taken by her beauty and how full of life she seemed. “I’m sorry I hit on you. I should’ve realized you were upset. Guess I have bad timing.”#p#分页标题#e#

“Wait. You were hitting on me?”

“Of course, look at you.”

“Yeah, look at me. I’m a mess. I’m in this stupid uniform and I’m stuffing my face because I felt bad for myself,” she said.

“All I see is how beautiful you are. My name is Bill, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Charlotte.”

***

“We were together ever since. The day I convinced Charlotte to marry me was one of the happiest day of my life. The other was when Will was born.

“She never knew what I really did. She was so trusting and innocent. I used my dad’s old Hargrove’s store as a front and kept funneling money into it so it would grow. Once Will was born though I didn’t want to do the contracts anymore. I wanted to be home and be a normal family.

“I figured I would do one more job. Something of my own choosing. I discovered a new money laundering scheme being run by a bunch of novices. I heard they were coming into a large sum and I figured I could take them out, take the cash and no one would know what happened. After that I planned on retiring from my contracts and focus on growing the store.

“What I didn’t know was that behind all the laundering was a bigger, more established cartel. Had I known they were involved I would have come up with another final job. But it was that money, from that final job that enabled me to buy Charlotte her dream house, the mansion Will grew up in. That’s also how I was able to later fund the building of the store that made Hargrove’s into the fine department stores they are today.

“That winter’s night twenty-five years ago made me realize how stupid I had been. I thought I was untouchable. Stewart had warned me about the organization and how they were after me, but I didn’t listen. When everything happened and it was just a ridiculous drunk who wounded me so badly and killed the love of my life, I finally accepted I wasn’t meant to be happy and that as long as I was around, Will’s life would be at risk.

“When Charlotte died, I died too. I couldn’t stay. I couldn’t go back to that house she loved so much, just like this was the first time I returned to the monastery. Charlotte’s death turned me into a coward running from my memories.

“Eventually I did return to my old habits. It was the only way I knew how to survive. The ironic thing was my return proved to the cartel that I was still alive. Until then, Will was safe. My leaving was exactly what put him in danger after all.

“I spent all these years searching for them. Slowly taking each of them out one by one. Dimitri and his men were the last of them. Will is safe now. He’ll never be bothered again.”

Walking over to Deborah and seeing how she wore her emotions in her face, I knew why Will loved her. I wondered if she knew how much she meant to him and if he knew she felt the same. I knew people. I could see it in them.

“Tell Will I love him. And when he’s ready please tell him my story. Hopefully one day he’ll see fit to forgive me,” I said lowering my head.

“I will,” Deborah said. “I’ll tell him everything once he’s ready to hear it. He just needs some time right now.”

“I know. I understand. I’m glad he found someone and maybe one day you and I will get to know each other. In the meantime its time for me to go. If Will ever wants contact, Stewart knows how to reach me.”

Entering the abbey, I walked with Charlotte beside me hooting and spinning in circles with her arms stretched out, as she listened to the echo. She disappeared as I reached out to touch her hand. I understood Will’s being haunted by our deaths more than he would ever know.





Chapter Nineteen

Deborah



After a night of bad dreams, I awoke the next morning surprised to not find Will in bed beside me. My head felt heavy as I sat up and forced myself out of bed. I tried remembering what we did the night before but my head hurt too much. Guess this is what a hangover feels like.

Finally managing to make it to the door, I stumbled a few feet then held on to the doorframe.

“Will?” I said, my voice raspy and dry. “Will? Where are you?”

“Will’s gone,” said a deep voice.

A chill went up my spine, raising the tiny hairs at the back of my neck. I gasped feeling the icy clutch of fear again as yesterday rushed back to me. Reaching for the door, I tried to close it as quickly as possible but fell to the floor. As I attempted to stand, the sound of footsteps closed in so I crawled towards the bed hoping to hide.