Jaz finally decided to move here and agreed to live with me. With Cash as the new boss, Badlands was doing so well that he is opening another club in Vegas, and Jaz is going to work there. She joked and asked if I wanted to come and dance once a week, but no. I’m done with that life.
“Sooo…Still no word from him?” Jaz asks as I stand and brush my pants off. Glitter is everywhere.
After the memorial for Declan, Tony, and Mac, I brought Jaz to my parents' house and told her about Myles. I made sure to leave out his kidnapping, the murders, and our escape. She thinks he is going to call or just appear out of nowhere one day. I always tell her she’s wrong, but secretly I hope she’s right. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t miss him.
“Nope. I told you, Jaz, he doesn’t love me.”
“Bullshit! I read that note bitch. That man is head over heels, Cupid's arrow stuck through the heart, puppy dog eyes, in love with you.”
“Well, if you could find him and tell…”
“I already did.” She has a devilish grin on her face. My eyes widen in horror at what she may have done.
“What do you mean you already did?”
“I found him.” She stands and walks out of the room like she didn’t just drop a bomb on me.
I’ve ignored everything to keep myself from looking him up and obsessing over him. All I know is his first and last name. I didn’t want to know anything other than what I could piece together from the note and glimpses of him from the photo album.
I quickly stand to follow her and almost trip over the many boxes scattered around my home.
“What do you mean you found him, Jaz? Why?”
She’s in the kitchen pouring each of us a glass of wine.
“Because. I’ve known you for over five years. I’ve never seen your eyes light up when you talk about someone. You love him.”
“It doesn’t matter. It’s been six months and not a single word from him. He doesn’t love me.” I grab the glass and practically down it in one gulp.
“What if I told you, you could go see him right now…” She brings the glass to her smirking lips and waggles her eyebrows at me over the rim. Bitch.
“I mean, if I wanted to, sure. Just point me in the right direction…”
“He’s in Vegas.”
I practically choke on my sip of wine.
“Bullshit.”
She laughs and pulls out her phone. After a moment of typing and scrolling, she slides the phone to me. It’s a news article about a hospital...my hospital. It’s dated from shortly after I started working there.
It’s a photo of him and our chief of medical staff.
LOCAL BUSINESS OWNER, MYLES LANGSTON DONATES $500,000 TO PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL
“So...You want to tell me again how he doesn’t love you?” She slides the bottle back over after topping off her glass. I pick it up and drink straight from thebottle.
“How…”
“He’s kept an eye on you, Mina. That donation was made less than a month after you started working there. You can’t tell me that’s just a coincidence.”
She grabs her phone back and starts swiping again before sliding it back to me.
Octavia.
“It’s his company. I looked it up. It’s dedicated to your father,” she says as I stare at the screen.
I slide the phone back to her and walk to the fridge. I need more wine. I grab another bottle and the wine opener, then walk to my back patio. I sit on my patio swing and fumble with the bottle, trying to get the cork out.
