“Darius has always been such a gentleman,” Mom continues, beginning to wash the dishes. “He’s so very good to you, Taylor.”
I’m staring at Allie. She’s staring at me. The hairs on the back of my neck rise up, my instincts coming alive. There’s something that I need to see. Something that’s hiding between the lines. And I know that, because I can see that same thought written all over Allie’s face.
I gesture toward the hallway and she nods, following me as I rise. “Leave the dishes, Mom. Allie and I can wash them up in a few.”
“Okay,” Mom says. Which is pointless. They’ll be done by the time we get back, because that’s Mom.
Allie leads us into my old bedroom with the same *NSYNC poster from the late nineties on the wall and twin-sized bed against the wall. The moment I shut the door, I turn around to Allie. “Why would he do this?”
She shakes her head, equally shocked. “I don’t know. I mean, I guess he’s really invested in getting the tabloids off you, but didn’t he already do that?”
I nod. “It’s like he’s making sure they couldn’t go after me again, because if they did, it would make the tabloid look bad.” I pause, standing in the middle of the room, thinking this through. “But, at the same time, it’s really totally unnecessary.” And the more I’m thinking about it, the more I’m seeing that he’s doing this to make me look good in the public eye.
“It is unnecessary,” Allie agrees. “Besides, Darius is not the type of guy who donates his money. Or at least I’ve never known him to do stuff like that.” She shakes her head, clearly baffled, flopping down onto the bed. “And on top of that, he wanted to keep you out of the tabloids, not put you in them.”
That’s what’s throwing me off, too. It’s so unlike Darius to do something like this. I mean, he’s doing business with his father. A man who ruined his life. He doesn’t make any emotional decisions. It’s all as if it makes logical sense to him, and of course, making more money makes logical sense.
It’s one thing to keep me safe. But this isn’t about keeping me safe. This is about changing the perception that the public has of me. This is the most unselfish thing Darius has ever done that it makes me pause. Every moment I’ve spent with him and every single thing he’s ever done rushes through my mind like a movie replaying before me.
“What are you thinking?” Allie asks, with obvious impatience.
“I don’t know. It’s just…give me a sec….” I leave the room and grab the laptop from the living room before returning to Allie. I jump onto the bed next to her and then Google Darius’s name for related news articles.
My heart is thumping in my chest, warmth spiraling through my veins. Line after line, it’s all business-related stuff, as well as odd purchases of properties that baffled the media. As I scroll through the results of my search, I begin to see large donations, but they’re not to charities.
The more I read, the more my tears make it harder to read the written words on the screen.
“Taylor,” Allie gasps, grabbing my arm. “What is it?”
I draw in a shaky breath. “It says: ‘Today, Darius Bennett of Bennett, Inc. purchased two hundred acres of prime land near the Twin Peaks, stopping San Francisco’s construction conglomerate from building a luxury condominium on the untouched land.’?”
Allie’s nose scrunches. “Er…what am I missing and why are you crying?”
“That’s our spot,” I whisper, barely managing to get out the words. “It used to be my favorite place to go to look at the stars and the city when we were together, and it’s a place he even took me to the other night.”
Allie’s mouth drops open, obviously understanding where I’m going with this.
I continue to read, my instincts screaming at me that I can’t stop now. I’m scrolling down, seeing more and more things that change everything. “Oh, my God…” I lift my head, shaking from the inside out. “It’s all here. All the purchases of the properties he’s made over the last five years. It’s my favorite restaurant, my favorite ice cream shop, my favorite bookstore. It’s like he bought everything to freeze time.”
Allie’s eyes fill with tears, hands press against her mouth, and she says beneath them, “Like, he wanted to keep San Francisco the same so if you ever came back, it would all still be here.”
I’m staring at Allie, and she’s searching my eyes too, trying to understand. “What have I done?” I whisper, my body going ice-cold. “Why didn’t I see this…?”
Allie’s eyes go sad. “How could you have? He never says anything.”
My mind is spinning as I try to understand this guy who is so complicated. A veil is lifted and I see everything so clearly now. He is passion, something so real it’s terrifying, and pure intensity, but now I see…he’s more.
“What are you going to do?” Allie whispers.
I shut my eyes, feeling my heart swell and crash at the same time. I never looked hard enough at him, never saw through the cracks of his shields, and when I look now, all I see is that Darius has fought hard to make me happy, and I have never, not once, done the same to the degree that he has. And all I wonder now is what would he become if I had.
“Taylor, what are you going to do?” Allie repeats, voice hard now.
I open my eyes, tears spent, determination rising. “I’m going to do what I should have done a long time ago. I’m going to make Darius very, very angry.”
“Ooh, I like this idea.” Allie begins to grin. “What trouble are we going to get into now?”
Chapter 19