He exhales slowly, leaning back in the chair. “I live in Ashthorne Hall. The place is too big and too cold, but it keeps the city out. It’s been in the Ashthorne family for generations.”
“Do you live alone?”
There’s a pause. He doesn’t flinch. But he does lower his eyes. “No,” he says. “Not anymore.”
I go very still.
“I did. For a long time. After you disappeared, it was hard to stay in that house. Too many memories. Too much silence.” He flexes his hand on the armrest.
“A few years went by. I kept working. Kept searching. That’s all it was. And then, there was a contractual agreement I needed to meet to keep my position.”
“So, you got married… for business?” Lucian was a powerful man, a CEO. “I’m guessing a contractual agreement came into play to keep some sort of image up for your company.”
Lucian gave a dry, almost-smile. “Yes. In part. It wasn’t some grand love story. Adrienne and I. She understood the arrangement. She’d lost her husband years before. I’d lost you. It made sense on paper.”
He paused, looking down at his hands briefly, before looking back up to meetmy eyes.
“She has a daughter. Dakota. She’s your age. She was 9 when we got married.”
He must see the flicker in my expression because he rushes in with, “She’s not a replacement. I need you to hear me when I say that. No one could ever replace you, Gracie.”
I nod, letting it sink in, the shape of this new life he tried to build in the ruins of the one he lost.
“Does she know about me?” I ask after a beat.
“She does. I told her I was coming to see you last night.”
“And how did that go?” I bite the inside of my cheek.
“She was excited.” Lucian’s gaze softens. “She’s always known about you. Dakota used to ask about you, even when we didn’t have any answers.”
“What’s she like?” The question escapes before I can stop it.
“She’s strong-willed. Ambitious. A little dramatic. She’s a dancer, so that comes with the territory. But she’s kind, bubbly. I think…” He hesitates. “I think you’ll like her.”
I blink, not sure what to do with that — this girl, my age, a stranger who’s known my name for years. I don’t know how to feel about any of this — this entirefamilyI never knew about, this version of Lucian who seems steadier than the ghost I imagined for years.
I’m not mad. Not exactly. I just suddenly feel… behind. Like they’ve all lived a hundred lives while I was trying to survive just one.
“She’s had everything,” I whisper.
“Not true, she went through hardships of her own, losing her father at a young age,” Lucian says.
That surprises me. So much that I actually look at him again.
“She’ll want to meet you,” he adds, quieter now. “It might not be perfect. But I’d like you to have that choice.”
Choice. There’s that word again. I sit with that word. Let it expand in my chest.
“I don’t know if I’m ready to meet her,” I say.
“I’d be surprised if you were.”
We sit there in a silence that feels like a beginning.
When Maeve returns, Lucian and I have settled into a comfortable conversation. We cover the lighter topics and just take the time to get to know each other. Lucian orders us lunch and it’s a hundred times better than the hospital food.
When Brenda comes after work, she brings us all dinner and Lucian helps her set out the food containers and portion them onto paper plates.
