Page 168 of Lust & Lies
I remembered Tristan, who argued with me every chance he got. The two of us rarely agreed on anything. But when he had problems with the business, I was the one he called to help him brainstorm how to handle things.
And whenever he felt down, which was rare, and got drunk out of his mind, he called me to tell me that I deserved the best in life. That once he was in control of the family, he’d make sure I got half the shares in the company because I deserved them.
Tristan and Ethan were like brothers to me. But Aiden was the only man I’d ever been in love with. The only man I’d ever been with. The man who told me I was pretty, even when I didn’t feel pretty at all.
The man who told me I was special on those days when I questioned why I was born. The man who’d brought me to my dream house when I’d lost my memory and lied to me every damn day just to keep me by his side.
And though that was toxic as fuck, it probably saved my life. Without my memory, I would’ve been an easy target for my enemies. Plus, memory or no memory, there was no place I’d rather be than by Aiden Park’s side.
And that’s precisely where I found myself when I woke up. For a moment, I was disoriented as I stared up at the ceiling, trying to figure out where I was. It took a second for me to realize I was in my bed at the country estate.
I lay there, completely still, letting my thoughts catch up. I truly remembered everything. How crazy was that? I remembered my life, or rather, the many lives I’d lived. The many identities I’d been forced to take on.
I remembered every fucked-up detail of my life and the sweet ones, also. And those fragmented memories that had been confusing before were clear to me now. I’d thought I’d been dreaming of myself crying because Aiden cheated on me and didn’t love me.
Turns out, the person I couldn’t see in that dream was myself. And I’d been watching my sister bawl her eyes out because she couldn’t make the man she’d manipulated down the aisle love her.
Then the bitch had the nerve to get upset with me for not saying anything, for not doing anything to help her. Classic narcissistic behavior. I remembered how just recently I’d gotten so upset when I’d learned Aiden had cameras in every room of our country estate.
Yet, I now remembered my own toxic behavior and how I’d spied on him, making sure he wasn’t getting close to otherwomen during our time apart. And after my sister mentioned Julian Cattaneo to me, I even began spying on that man.
Yeah, that was wrong of me. I did it anyway. There hadn’t been much to see there since he already had a woman he was obsessed with. I pretty much stalked him only to find him stalking the local weather lady.
And there was no way I could get mad at my savage for kidnapping me since I’d had every intention of kidnapping him once my contract ended. He just got to me before I got to him.
Wait... my savage!
He’d gotten hurt in the fight against the Watchdogs. I needed to check on him. I needed to make sure he was okay. I tossed the covers off and started to sit up, but a deep voice stopped me.
“Don’t move.”
I froze for a second, then slowly turned my head to the side. And there he was. My savage. The man of my dreams. Mr. Forehead Kisses himself. The man who’d ruined me for anyone else. The one who knew how to calm me with one touch and seduce me with one kiss.
Aiden Park was in bed next to me, lying on his side, eyes on me. For a second, I forgot about everything else and just stared at him.That face. Those eyes. That mouth. My man.My heart ached with how much I missed him.
Sure, we’d spent every day together since I left the hospital, but that hadn’t been the real me. Not the me who remembered just how much I loved this man. This man was like the marrow in my bones. The air in my lungs. The destination I’d been striving so hard to reach for the last few years.
And now here we were, together again. I started to tell him just how much I missed him, but he raised his hand, and I felt a tug on mine. I looked down.Handcuffs. Our wrists were cuffed together.
“What the hell?” I whispered, lifting my arm again just to make sure I wasn’t seeing things.
The handcuffs clinked as I moved. This man had really handcuffed himself to me.
“You’re never running from me again, Noe,” he told me, his glare boring into me.
Run from him? I had no intention of running from him. I wanted to run to him and never let him go.
“From this moment on, I go where you go. You got that?” he asked.
He was wearing hisI mean businessexpression. His jaw was tight, his eyes locked on mine, daring me to argue. I didn’t. Instead, I smiled brightly, loving his special brand of insanity mixed with obsession. His brow furrowed upon seeing my smile.
“What are you up to?” he asked. “What are you planning to do? If you try to kill me, you’re going to end up forever handcuffed to a dead man because you will never find the key.”
I chuckled. “You know that I know how to pick this lock,” I told him as I leaned closer to him, wincing a little from the pain in my side.
“What are you doing, Noe?” he asked, suspicious of me.
Ignoring the question, I kissed him. Just a soft press of my lips to his. He didn’t move. Didn’t kiss me back. Just stared. Shocked silent.
