Page 342 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 5
We drove on in silence until I pulled to a stop in front of her mom’s old apartment building. Kennedy tried to protest again, but I carried her up the few flights of stairs. I tried not to lookat Brooklyn’s apartment door. It would be filled with another family now. One not aware of the people that had lived there before. Something in my chest tightened.
Mrs. Alcaraz opened up the door like she knew we were coming.
“Mi amor! What happened?”
“I’m fine, Mama,” Kennedy said. “Matt’s just being…Matt.”
I laughed at that as I laid her down on the couch.
She smiled up at me.
“Matt.” Mrs. Alcaraz looked up at me. She looked almost exactly the same, but she had a few lines around her eyes now. She put her hands on both sides of my face. “Mi amor,” she called me, just like she called Kennedy. “Why do you look so sad? You’re in good company now.” She let her hands fall from my face. “Let’s eat. Dinner is getting cold.”
***
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d smiled so hard. I used to eat here all the time when Brooklyn and I had dated. Mrs. Alcaraz was the only woman I knew whose cooking rivaled my mom’s.
Kennedy walked me to the door. “Thanks for tonight. It was nice seeing a friendly face in this city.”
“Any time.” My eyes wandered to her lips. I have no fucking idea why.
“Matt?”
My eyes lifted back to hers.
“Give me your phone.”
I didn’t ask why she wanted it. But I handed my phone to her without protest.
She typed something in and handed it back to me. “You can text me when you’re missing her. I bet I’ll be missing her too.” She shrugged. “Two lost souls in this crazy city could maybe feel a little less alone with a friend.”
A friend. Right.I shoved my phone into my pocket. I believed that two lost souls could feel a little less alone together. In one way or another.
“You deserve to be happy,” she said.
“So do you,” I said.
She smiled up at me. “How is it that you look almost the same after all these years?”
“How is it that you look even more beautiful?” I shouldn’t have said it. I was used to flirting. But flirting with my dead fiancée’s best friend? Definitely off-limits.
“You know what? Hold on one sec.” She left me alone standing at the door for only a minute. “It’s vacant right now. And my mom still had this.” She placed a key into my palm.
I looked over my shoulder at Brooklyn’s old apartment. I couldn’t even imagine going in there.
“It was the first thing I did when I got back. I think being in there gave me a little closure.”
I doubted it would do that for me. But I closed my hand around the key anyway.
She leaned forward to hug me. It took me by surprise, but as soon as her arms were wrapped around me, I sighed. I took a deep breath.Home.God, I wanted to just hold her right here forever.
But she pulled back. “Goodnight, Matt.”
“Goodnight, Kennedy.”
She closed the door and I turned around and faced the door to Brooklyn’s apartment. My mind screamed at me not to go in. But my feet seemed to have a mind of their own as they approached the door. And my hand as it unlocked it.
The door creaked opened and I stared at the empty kitchen. The whole place seemed so small. I stepped inside, picturing Uncle Jim’s warm smile. And Brooklyn’s big blue eyes. This place was filled with ghosts. I felt a tear roll down my cheek as I made my way into the small living room. It used to feel so full oflove and laughter. And now it just felt…empty. I stopped outside Brooklyn’s bedroom door, leaning against the doorjamb.
