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Chapter 18: The Secret Is Out
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The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Mystery of You Chapter 19: An Unexpected Ally
I bolt down the stairs as fast as my heels allow, not bothering to see if he follows. When I reach the foot of the stairs, I find Ashlyn waiting, trying to look casual as she lingers by the railing. She takes one look at me and concern fills her face."Edie," she says. "What - ""I'm leaving," I tell her, pushing past. I don't like being rude to her, but the faster I get away from Rafe and his family, the better. I dash toward the front door, but Ashlyn catches up with me quickly."What happened?" she asks."Nothing," I tell her. "Nothing at all. Which is my cue to leave. I shouldn't have come here."Ashlyn keeps pace with me as I hurry down the steps to the driveway. It's only when I reach the bottom that I remember I have nowhere to go, no way to leave immediately. I'll need to call a taxi."Edie," Ashlyn says, "please tell me what's going on."There's nowhere to run. I stop and force myself to take a breath. My eyes are aching, but they're mysteriously free of tears.I look
The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Mystery of You Chapter 20: Dante and Ashlyn
When I wake, I hear voices.It takes me a moment to remember where I am and how I got here. I roll over in the giant bed, reveling at how smooth and silky the sheets feel against my skin. My hand finds my belly."Good morning, sweet one," I say softly to my baby.The morning light peeks in around the wooden blinds on the window, casting long, warm sunbeams across the bed. I want to stay beneath the covers a while longer, hide from the rest of the world. In here, my baby and I are safe and secure. For the time being, anyway.But try as I might, I can't ignore the voices outside my room. They're not particularly loud, and half the words are muffled, but I can hear enough to make out Ashlyn's voice. And the male voice, I'm assuming, belongs to Dante.I sit up, trying both to hear and not to hear their conversation."He should know," Ashlyn says."I agree," says Dante, "but you know how Rafe can be. We need to figure out what happens if he continues to be stubborn.""Which he will.
The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Mystery of You Chapter 21: The Interrogation
I brace myself. I knew this was coming, and I have nothing to hide. Besides, I'm too hungry to care about what Dante and Ashlyn think of me. They can think whatever they want as long as they keep feeding me these cinnamon rolls. After breakfast, I'm never going to see these two again, and answering a few questions is the least I can do after they gave me a place to sleep and provided me with heaven on a plate."I'm from Montana," I manage between bites. "I'm sure you've never heard of the town, but we're about an hour from Missoula.""And that's where you met Rafe?" Ashlyn asks, her questions becoming a little more pointed. "At the diner? Oh, wait - you said it was at someone's ranch?""No, we met down by the river," I tell her. "After I got off work. I usually work the overnight shift.""This was when he was shooting that campaign for Mercutio's new cologne?""Maybe." I take another bite. "We never really talked about why he was there. I just heard they were doing some sort of
The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Mystery of You Chapter 22: The Agreement
Ashlyn and Dante are better, kinder hosts than I ever could have hoped for. Better hosts than I deserve, considering I showed up out of the blue and dropped a bombshell on their brother.After I agree to stay, Ashlyn wants to take me shopping for clothes. I refuse to let her or Dante spend more money on me than they already have, but I finally agree to borrow some of her clothes so I don't have to wear this party dress for the next week. Fortunately, I'm not really showing yet, so I can still squeeze into her stuff without stretching it out. I'm grateful to see that even though money obviously isn't an issue for Ashlyn, most of her clothes seem normal. No designer tags or luxury fabrics. I can't imagine wearing expensive stuff all the time - I'd be so afraid of dripping something on a silk top or getting mud on a fancy pair of shoes. What's the point of clothes if you can't do anything in them?But Ashlyn's sundresses do just fine for me. She offers me some jeans and blouses, too, an
The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Mystery of You Chapter 23: A Visit From Rafe
I leave the zipper only half done and dart to the closet door. Rafe is here. What am I supposed to do? Tentatively, I open the door. Ashlyn is nowhere to be seen."Dante!" Rafe calls again. His voice sounds odd. "Dante, where the fuck are you? You fucking fuckwad."He's drunk. Or at least crazed out of his mind.I creep forward to the bedroom door. Now I hear footsteps moving toward the front of the house. They're too heavy to be Ashlyn's, so I suspect Dante has heard his brother's shouting.Sure enough, a moment later my ears pick up Dante's voice, but he's speaking too quietly for me to hear what he's saying. I open the bedroom door and move to the top of the stairs. Due to the curve of the stairs, I'm out of sight where I'm standing."Why don't we talk about this in my office?" Dante says."How the fuck are you so fucking calm?" Rafe demands as their footsteps move toward the back of the house.I know I should wait for Rafe to come looking for me, or for Dante to call for me,
The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Mystery of You Chapter 24: "Prove To Me That You're Different"
Rafe's eyes burn into me as he repeats, "Why are you still here?"Every word vibrates through me like a kiss, a delicious but dangerous touch on my skin."They asked me to stay," I tell him. "Dante and Ashlyn.""That's not what I mean." He shifts ever-so-slightly nearer. "You were different than the others. And then you lied to me. So I'm going to ask you one more time - why are you still here?"I can hardly think straight. That look in his eyes...the heat of his breath on my face...the nearness of his body, up against me... All of it makes it impossible to put more than a few words together.But I have to. So I choke out the words."I never lied to you."He moves so fast I have no time to react. One moment he's leaning over me, the next he's turned and pushed me up against the door. Not violently - in spite of his intensity, I don't fear violence from him at all. In fact, I'm not even sure he touches me. It's just one minute he's leaning over me, and the next I'm against the do
The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Mystery of You Chapter 25: Exactly What Rafe Needs
Rafe's nose wrinkles, his confusion visibly deepening, but I don't have time to explain it to him. My stomach lurches."Bathroom!" I say again, desperately, and his eyes finally seem to register some understanding. He steps back and points to a door on the far side of the room."Over there."I run. The dress falls down around my waist, but thankfully it's still zipped enough to stay up around my hips. I barely make it to the toilet before everything comes rushing up.I don't even hear Rafe come into the bathroom behind me. I only notice he's there when I feel a pair of hands pulling my hair back. The scent of him washes over me, and it's comforting, even as I puke my guts out.When I'm done, I sit back on my heels. I don't want to ruin any of Dante's and Ashlyn's fancy hand towels, so I grab some toilet paper from the roll and wipe my face before daring to look up at Rafe.His expression is unreadable. If anything, though, he's looking at me as if I were some sort of alien. Somet
The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Mystery of You Chapter 26: A Fontaine Family Gathering
Somehow, I let Ashlyn talk me into a snug green dress that makes my breasts look three sizes larger than usual. I'm sure the pregnancy thing helps, too, but I can't remember my boobs ever looking even half this size.My hair is down around my shoulders, and I've crammed my feet into a strappy pair of Ashlyn's shoes. Ashlyn tries to convince me to wear some of her jewelry, too, but I draw the line at wearing someone else's fancy jewels - even if Ashlyn insists they're just from the mall. I'm not sure I believe her.Ashlyn seems to think that showing up at this party looking gorgeous will be enough to seduce Rafe. I have to laugh at her. If anyone is doing any seducing around here, it's definitely not going to be me. I lose my head every time I'm around Rafe. I can tell myself that my baby and I are better off without him...but that determination falls away the minute I fall into his eyes.I'm feeling oddly calm as we pull up to the party. Maybe I've just finally accepted how absurd a
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