1
Prologue
Four Years Ago
“I really appreciateyou coming with me.” Landon glanced at Verity then turned his attention back to the road.
“It wasn’t ever a question,” Verity assured him.
Landon gripped the steering wheel with tight knuckles and slowed the car as they approached a red light. It had been three weeks since he’d received the call from an attorney letting him know his grandfather had passed away and that Landon would need to come to Los Angeles.
Landon’s grandfather had appointed his long-time attorney as his executor, and the main purpose of his call was to tell Landon he was a beneficiary. That was a revelation Landon had found shocking. He assumed he’d been written out years ago owing to the fact his grandfather blamed him for his parents’ death, but maybe he’d been put back in after the shock of their loss had worn off. Landon wasn’t sure because they hadn’t spoken that day, or any day since.
“What did the attorney say he left you again?” Verity asked, flicking invisible lint from the thigh of their pants.
“Property, I know. He has the keys for me. I didn’t ask about it to be honest. I said we could deal with it when I came out here.”
Landon assumed there would be money, but he hadn’t said as much. His family was rich. Or, his family hadbeenrich, since with the passing of his grandfather there was no family left to speak of. Just him. But it was family money that sent him to New York for college and family money that was now apparently bringing him home. Not that he thought of Los Angeles as his home—it hadn’t been for years. He’d lived in New York for nearly a decade and he loved it there.
Landon met Verity their second year of college and they’d been friends and roommates ever since. Over time, their relationship had developed and, although they’d never had sex with each other, Verity was the most important person in Landon’s life. They hadn’t even blinked when Landon asked them to come to California with him for this.
“If you hit the jackpot, are you going to buy us a penthouse back home?” Verity laughed as Landon accelerated after the light turned green.
Landon laughed too. “I don’t even know how much money he had, to be honest.”
“At least enough to pay your way for four years.”
And that was true. Landon pulled the car into the parking lot of the attorney’s office and pulled the keys out of the ignition, dropping them into his lap. Verity reached across the console and massaged Landon’s shoulder while offering him a sympathetic smile.
“Has it really been six years since we were here?” they asked.
“Just about.” Landon scrunched his nose up and thought about the last time he’d been in Los Angeles. Verity had come with him then too. Though their relationship was only a few years old, Verity had sensed Landon wasn’t capable of making the trip alone and had forced their way along.
His parents’ funeral was exactly one week after he graduated. His mom and dad didn’t want to fly out for it, so they’d decided to make a road trip of it. He could still hear his mother over the phone, voice full of excitement and enthusiasm as she detailed all the stops they were going to make on their way to New York and back.
Diana and John Miller were hit head on by a truck driver who’d fallen asleep at the wheel when they were a few miles outside of Wichita, Kansas. The police promised Landon they’d died instantly, but he’d never been able to shake the guilt of their deaths from his shoulders. If he were being honest, Landon carried far more than his fair share of guilt around, and he spent far too many nights awake entertaining the “what ifs” of his life.
“Come on, then.” Verity squeezed Landon’s shoulder and popped the car door open, standing to stretch before leaning down to looked back in the window at Landon. “Let’s get it over with, yeah?”
Landon nodded and dragged himself out of the car, closing the door, locking it, and following Verity inside the office.
The receptionist noticeably startled when Verity walked in, and Landon muffled a laugh, so used to the way people reacted to them by now.
“Landon Miller,” Verity said, pointing behind them at Landon.
The woman’s lips parted slightly and her eyes widened. She tracked her eyes up the length of Verity’s legs to their slim waist and long, slender neck. Verity cocked their head to the side and smirked, running a hand through their hair and shaking it out.
Verity was unlike anyone Landon had ever met before, and you either appreciated them for that, or you didn’t. Thankfully, most people did.
Verity snapped their fingers and directed a stern look toward Landon, then turned back to the receptionist. “Landon has an appointment with Mr. Henchen.”
Landon wiped the smirk from his face and fell in line, just behind and to the left of Verity’s slender figure. He appreciated the dynamic of their relationship right now more than ever because, even though he and his grandfather weren’t close, Landon recognized the familiar sense of anxiety when he didn’t have control over a situation building in his gut. Verity must have seen the tension in his eyes and, as always, stepped up.
That had been the extent of his relationship with Verity. Each of them being what the other needed, when the other needed, as much as their own identities and preferences allowed. Never more and never less.
“Mr. Henchen is ready for you, Mr. Miller.” The receptionist flicked her eyes to Landon. “His office is the last door on the right.” She pointed down a hallway behind her.
Verity nudged Landon.
