Page 98 of Driftwood Daffodil 3

She wasn’t there. The room was so pristine, that I didn’t think she had ever been there. The sink was dry, there were no spots on the floor, and the little rosebud soaps I had the staff put in all the bathrooms because I knew she liked the smell, were sitting untouched in their tray. That was the biggest sign of her absence. The last time she left my house it was with a pocket full of those soaps.

Where the fuck was she?

Her truck wasn’t here so she couldn’t have left. Wait a minute…

I left the bathroom and headed for the front door to make sure all the keys were there, which they were. Meaning she didn’t leave. At least not in a vehicle.

Turning around, I eyed the stairs and various hallways. Where the fuck was she?

“You looking for your girl?” Tony called from a room on the right.

“Yeah?” If he fucking touched her…

He tipped his chin to a hidden hallway on the left side of the stairs. “She went that way.”

“Why the fuck would she go that way?”

That area was for staff. I hadn’t been down there since I was a kid.

Tony leaned against the doorframe. “I’m more interested in why Mrs. Barone wanted to know where she was.”

“What?” This motherfucker. “Did you tell her?”

“Is there a reason I shouldn’t have?”

This motherfucker. Tony had walked in on Carissa and me on more than one occasion.

“I’ll deal with you later.” I said and headed off.

“Have fun.” He called after me.

I should’ve shot him last year when he blackmailed Carissa into sucking his cock. The sad fact was I couldn’t do shit. Not without my father finding out, which would get Carissa killed. And he knew it. That didn’t mean I couldn’t set him up for something else.

When I rounded the second corner, I internally groaned. Who did I see at the end of the hallway, leaning against the wall? Fucking Romeo. Great.

“What are you doing here?” If he was spying on me again…

Romeo glanced over his shoulder and held up the lit cigarette in his hand. “Kendall doesn’t like the smell.”

That was his excuse? “Since when do you give a shit about what Kendall likes?”

Neither Romeo nor Kendall cared about the other. Their interest was so lacking that they couldn’t even be bothered to hate each other. There was no wrathful or passionate spark, or fire. They were just eh. It was painful to watch, and the only reason Atlee was okay with their engagement.

“I don’t.” Romeo dropped his head back and breathed out a cloud of smoke. “But it gave me an excuse to get the fuck away from her.”

For the first time in my life I could sympathize with my brother. We were both forced to take women we didn’t want. At least that was how it started out for me. I despised the idea of having a Ford tied to me. I wanted the whole fucking family to burn. And that was how it should’ve stayed, but it didn’t.

“Have you tried talking to her?”

“Why the fuck would I talk to her?”

I shrugged. “She might surprise you.”

Kendall might come off as the vapid cheerleader, but she was fairly intelligent. If she wasn’t born into the family she was, I could’ve seen her running a fortune five hundred company. Andshe wasn’t exhausting and stubborn like Nova. That girl was the definition of wasted potential. I had yet to see her study for a single exam and she aced them all. It kind of pissed me off when I thought about it. Nova could be so much more if she only tried.

Did I want her to do good in life?

Fuck, I did. When did that happen?

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