Page 107 of Reign of a Billionaire
Me: Just send me the name and number.
Dante: Are you finally dealing with your shit? I’m proud of you.
Dante Leone could be such a prick. Fun to hunt and kill pricks with, but thoroughly annoying.
Me: Stop wasting my time.
Dante: Why did you ghost us?
Me: Are you sending me the fucking name and number or not?
Dante: Don’t get your panties in a twist. Coming right up.
The next message was a shared contact. Dr. Violet Freud, PhD from Harvard. I didn’t waste any time booking Lou for an immediate session.
By morning, I’d talked the shrink into flying out here—well, I made her an offer she couldn’t refuse that involved many zeros, but that was neither here nor there.
Careful not to wake Louisa up, I slid out of bed, showered, then got dressed and made my way to the helicopter pad. The sun was just rising over the horizon, and no matter how many times I came to my property in the Mediterranean, the sight never failed to impress me.
Today, it meant more than ever. This was what the two of us dreamt about. Living on the beach where the cold would never find us. Away from the world.Safefrom the world.
The rich tang of the slightly salty air swirled around me. I loved this island. It had become the only place I considered home, now more than ever.
I heard the helicopter before I saw it. I watched Alexei, the only man I trusted with the coordinates, land the bird on the helipad. The moment it touched down, Dr. Violet Freud emerged.
“Mr. Ashford,” she greeted me. “Next time you pull this shit, don’t expect me to come running. I don’t care how much you offer me, I don’t appreciate being strong-armed.” Alexei came up behind her, and she shot him a glare. “And don’t send scary people like him to pick me up.”
Putting my hands behind my back, I dipped my chin. “I’ll take that into consideration.”
“You do that,” she snapped, pushing her gold-rimmed glasses up her nose and meeting my gaze. “Now tell me more about the patient.”
“Louisa seems to be struggling with some sort of deep memory loss.” From my periphery, I saw Alexei’s body lean forward, his expression curious. I gestured for the doctor to walk ahead, then steered us in the direction of the house. “She has.” I cleared my throat before continuing. “Hada twin. She seems to think she’s her.”
“Identical twins?”
“Yes.”
“How long has she thought this?”
I pushed my hand through my hair, forcing my feet to keep moving. “I don’t know.” I pretended all this wasn’t cutting through me. “Until last night, I thought Louisa was dead.”
Dr. Freud reached for her glasses, her hand shaking. She must feel out of her element, but to her credit, she hid it well.
“Are you certain she’s the twin you believe her to be?”
“Yes, damn it.”
“How can you be so sure?” My jaw clenched and it took everything in me not to snap. “After all, you believed her to be the other twin until yesterday. It’s easy to confuse identical twins.”
“Because she has the tattoo I gave her.” I held on to my cool. I couldn’t afford to lose the only shred of hope Lou had. “Nobody knew about it. Not even her sister.”
I stopped and took in the shoreline, the crystal blue water shimmering with rays, and fuck if it didn’t give me hope.
“I’m confused why you didn’t recognize her right away, then,” she pointed out.
“I saw her die… IthoughtI saw her die in front of me.” The memories of her torture shredded through me, tearing myfucking chest to pieces all over again. “She was beaten and tortured.”
My voice cracked. I’d never gotten over it. Louisa was my soulmate. As children, we started as friends. I was her rock and she was mine. Our friendship grew right along with us.
