AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Not wanting to put on a false smile to celebrate with everyone in town, I turn my car around and head back to the guesthouse.
I’ll be gone before Jen returns.
CHAPTER 27
Jen
Knowing I’ll encounter lots of protests if I tell anyone I’m leaving the party, I end up slipping out the back door of the Four Cups Café to make my way back to my car.
I need to talk to Fallon.
My parents and Bernard told me a lot of things about him, and I’m not sure how many of them are true. Things about the past six months, and his frequent visits to prison. Things about the years he spent in prison himself…and even possible gang affiliations?
He’s never said a word of that to me, and I want to know why.
“Uh-uh!” a voice says behind me. “Where do you think you’re going, missy?” I turn in the back alley to see Candice standing by the back door, hands on hips with a sassy arch of her eyebrow. “You think you can sneak out on us?” My oldest friend strides toward me, then stumbles when she sees my face. “Hold on. What’s wrong? Who do I need to kill?”
I snort. “No one.”
She lifts a finger. “No one…yet.”
“I’m just tired, Candice. Thought I’d turn in early.”
“Girl, I’ve known you for decades. Do not lie to me.”
My shoulders drop. “Fine. My parents tried to convince me to move to France with Bernard to be his… I don’t even know! His concubine? His employee? His mistress?”
Candice rears back. “What? What about Fallon?”
I let out a sharp huff. “Well. That’s a whole other thing.”
“What’s a whole other thing?” Simone saunters out from the café, joining Candice and me in the alley.
I swallow a groan. “I just need to talk to Fallon.”
“Where is the big guy, anyway?” Simone asks, frowning. “The nerve of him missing a party we threw in his honor!”
“Fallon’s not coming?” Fiona drifts through the door.
This time, I can’t hold back my groan. So much for leaving without anyone noticing.
Candice curls her fingers around my elbow and drags me closer. “Now, Jen. You haven’t told us a single detail about you and Fallon. We’ve been patient for weeks, but it’s time to fess up. Where is he? Why didn’t you come together?”
“I…” I look at each of them in turn as my throat locks up. “I’m not sure. He was packing up his things when I last saw him.”
Fiona tilts her head, dark brows tugging together. “He was packing? Like, to leave? Right after you guys won?”
My pulse speeds up. I knew that was weird!
“Hold on.” Candice throws up her hands. “First of all, you guys have been sleeping together, yeah?”
I nod. “Yeah.”
“And what’s this about your parents trying to sell you to one of the judges like chattel?”
“What?” Fiona and Simone yell in unison.
“They cornered me. Bernard kept talking about us having a ‘connection.’ Wanted me to move to France to live with him.”
