“I’ll make sure he regrets surviving the day he found you.”
When Miles saidwe’d be staying at a safe house, this wasn’t even remotely what I pictured.
Nearly forty-five minutes later, we turn onto a narrow road swallowed by towering trees and tangled vines until a massive wrought-iron gate comes into view. Miles taps something on his phone, and the gates slowly swing open.
I blink in shock. “I didn't even know you could open a gate with an app.”
He chuckles, steering us onto the long driveway.
Late-blooming cherry trees line either side, their branches stretching overhead until the driveway finally opens up to the largest house I’ve ever seen.
Calling it a house almost feels insulting.
A three-story stone mansion rises before us, its wings curving into a wide C-shape around a circular drive. Perfectly manicured hedges frame the front of the estate, while an old fountain sits at its center, long abandoned. The basin is bone dry, its once-white stone cracked from years beneath the California sun. Thin streams of smoke curl from one of the many chimneys, the only sign that someone might actually be here.
“Who lives here?” I ask as Miles walks around the car and opens my door.
I step out, unable to tear my eyes away from the mansion. It’s breathtaking in a way I’ve only ever seen in movies. I can't help but wonder about the lives that unfolded inside these walls, the laughter they’ve heard, the memories they’ve kept.
I wonder what it would've been like to grow up somewhere that felt safe.
“I did,” Miles says. “Well... I used to. I don’t come here much anymore. Now it’s mostly Julius. He doesn't live here full-time, but he has a room and comes by every so often to keep the place from falling apart.”
I turn to him, completely blindsided.
I’d known Miles had money. Between his apartment, his car, and the effortless way he carried himself, it wasn’t exactly a secret.
But this?
This wasn’t just money, this was generational.
He catches the look on my face and smiles, lifting my hand to his lips. His kiss is featherlight against my knuckles before heslips his arm around my shoulders and presses another kiss to the top of my head.
“C’mon,” he says softly. “There’s someone very important I’d like you to meet.”
21.Miles
I wasgrateful Julius wasn’t busy when I called him earlier. I asked him to get the house ready for our stay and he did exactly that, starting the fireplace and doing some much needed grocery shopping. I walk Maddie into the house and I feel like I have to practically drag her in. She’s in absolute shock and I feel kind of guilty for not preparing her ahead of time for the life I’ve always lived. The life I hope she will live with me.
Julius greets us in the former living quarters and I’m shocked to see how much he’s aged since the last time I’ve seen him. I feel like it’s been decades, but it’s probably been about two years. His hair has grown more gray, and his face has new defined lines I don’t remember him having.
He smiles, and I can’t help but smile back at the man who helped raise me.
“Alexander, it’s so good to see you, son.”
A wide grin spreads across his face as he closes the distance between us, wrapping me in a hug. I return it without a second thought, patting his back as relief settles in my chest. Seeing him again feels like finding a familiar piece of home.
“Julius, thank you for coming at such short notice.” I pull away from him and look over at Maddie, holding my hand outfor her to take. “This is my girlfriend, Madelyn. As I said earlier on the phone, we’ll be staying here for a little while. I'd really like it if you stayed here as well.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Julius,” Maddie says, as she shakes his hand in greeting, looking over at me in confusion. “Alexander?”
I chuckle. “It’s my middle name. My full name is actually Miles Alexander Thornton III. Julius has been calling me by my middle name my entire life because he has always referred to my father by his first name.”
“I have your old bedroom set up and ready to go if you would like to stay in there or I could get one of the others ready for you if you would prefer that?” he asks, but I shake my head.
“My room is fine, Julius, thank you. Would you mind helping us with our bags?”
“Certainly, sir.” He nods. “Please let me know if there is anything else I can do for you.”
