AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She got out and shut her door before following him to the front. He pulled out a set of keys and unlocked the entrance.
The smell of stale air tinged with fish still lingered even after all the years this place had been left empty. She wrinkled her nose. He switched on the light, illuminating the large open room. It had been gutted out and cleaned. A blanket was laid out in the middle with a picnic basket, a bottle of wine, and two glasses.
“What’s this?” she asked.
He took a seat on the floor and patted the spot next to him. She joined him, still trying to understand what all this meant.
“This is Atlantis—or it will be. I bought it. I’m gonna build a wraparound deck outside so guests can dine overlooking the harbor. And I’ll renovate the whole place.” He looked around, his eyes sparkling with vision.
“Your restaurant?”
His gaze met hers. “I’m moving here. I’m building a business in Shattered Cove. And, I hope, a life with you.”
She shook her head. He was really doing this? Amazing. “What about New York? Your family? The job you wanted so badly?”
He took a deep breath. “I didn’t really want that life. I did it because it was what was expected of me. But it never made me happy. I was too scared to do my own thing. I wanted them to . . . see me as worthy. But you made me question things.”
She nodded.
“They offered me the position I wanted so bad, and for once I was the son they admired. But it felt like . . . nothing. Worse than nothing. I realized the only thing I truly wanted was you.”
She chuckled with sardonic humor. “I bet they loved that.”
He dipped his head. “I had to walk away from everything. My job, my family, my income. It’s all gone. I don’t have much to offer you, except me.”
She sucked in a breath. “What do you mean you walked away from your family?”
“If you don’t follow their rules, you get disowned. I chose to leave for myself because I deserve more than being a pawn in their power game. I want to be a chef, run my own restaurant, and bring people together to enjoy great food. But more than anything, I want to be there for you and Zoey in any capacity if you’ll let me. I’d like to date you without any pretenses or secrets. Just the two of us getting to know each other and building a life with Zoey.”
She swallowed, digesting what he’d said. “Why did you say what we’d had meant nothing? Why would you try to hurt me?”
He looked down, his shoulders slumped in shame. “My whole life, Oliver had been chosen over me. I thought I’d finally found one good thing that wasn’t touched by him. Finding out you’d thought I was him the whole time, I assumed you’d do the same. I thought you’d want Olli instead of me.”
She winced. “I didn’t fall in love with Oliver. I fell for you.”
His gaze met hers, hopeful. “I was too stubborn and insecure to see that. I wanted to believe I wasn’t good enough, so that’s how I filtered the situation. I won’t ever make the same mistake. I thought you played me. Like Veronica and several other women have in the past. That’s still no excuse for how I treated you.”
“You said you wanted something untouched by your brother. But, Atlas, Zoey is his. I can’t be with someone who wouldn’t give her the love she deserves simply because of who her father is.”
He shook his head, reaching out and cupping her face in his palms. His eyes bored into hers. “I swear, I can’t explain it, but that little girl stole a piece of my heart the moment I met her. I’d never think less of her—or you—because of Oliver. He’s the one who’s missing out on two incredible ladies. The only thing she got from him is his eyes, which happen to be the same as mine.” Nothing but honesty was reflected back in those grey orbs.
“I’m not an easy person to love. I’ve got a lot of baggage—things I’ve never told anyone about. I can’t afford to let you in and have you walk out so easily another time.”
He shook his head. “Never again.”
“You can’t say that without knowing it all.”
His hands dropped to hers, waiting patiently. She inhaled a shaky breath. Was she going to do this? Tell him just how fucked up she was and see if he ran for the hills? No, she’d tell him because each time she did, she reclaimed power over the trauma. Because he did need to understand there were things she may never be able to do sexually. That depression was a struggle for her that came and went.
“My stepfather started molesting me when I was five.”
His hands tensed in hers. His jaw ticced, anger and deep sadness roiling in his gaze.
“It escalated over the years. He made me . . . that’s why I couldn’t give you a blow job.”
He pulled her into his arms, holding on to her tightly. His chest rose and fell with steady breaths. Atlas’s heartbeat thumped wildly.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to . . . I can’t tell you how many men I’ve had sex with because the truth is, I don’t know. I lost count.” Shame swirled inside her.
