Filed To Story: The Lingering Kiss of Farewell Novel
She sighed.
He closed his eyes and wondered if it was time to out the truth of the situation; that he’d divorced Marrin only to have her disappear. But he’d kept that to himself. Only three people knew other than the judge that had approved the divorce.
“It’s not her,”
he repeated himself, and didn’t know if he was trying to convince her or himself at this point. Go meet her if you like, see for yourself. Anabell has come face to face with her. Wil stated she did recognise her.”
His mother huffed,
“Anything could have happened to her. She might not even know…”
“Enough.”
He snapped at her, knew what she was going to say and didn’t wan hear it, clicked the line closed
“f*****g amnesia.”
He snarled into the room.
“Like that would work on me. They all f*****g have amnesia.”
He headed home that night still angry about that woman being here in his city, turning his hometown upside down. His own family had been on him all day. His mother and then his father had called. His bloody sister had rung him. All of them wanted him to go and see the woman for himself, to see if it was her.
No amount of telling them it wasn’t her worked. She looked too much like Marrin for them to be able to ignore it. So much so, that his own mother had now gotten one of Marrin’s photos and had it aged eight years, and sent it to him in an email, the picture of Marrin from when they were married, the aged photo and a photo of Marilyn Riddley, all lined up next to each other.
The damned picture was near on identical, and now that was in his head, he was trying to do what Wil stated: let it go, to wait and see if she was like all the rest. Would she try and cling on to him because she looked exactly like Marrin?
He’d checked on the list of this Marilyn Riddley’s book tour places, and found out she’d been in Boston when he had been, and he’d thought he’d seen her. He recalled the woman with her stating the name, Marilyn as well, but now it itched at him, because he also knew she smelled the same, wore the same perfume as Marrin did, or was it maybe that other lady.
He was up looking at where her book signing was going to be. It wasn’t hard to find, and anyone could go and get a signed copy of her book. All they had to do was line up and wait their turn.
“Sorry Wil.”
He muttered into his penthouse apartment, because he just couldn’t leave it alone, he needed to know. To come face to face with this woman, if it was Marrin, she was risking his wrath coming back here, and there was no way she wouldn’t know who he was. He’d not miss the recognition in her eyes.
She’d been married to him for three damned years and the s*x had been damned good. She always looked at him, he knew every inflection in her light blue eyes, the way she looked when uncomfortable, was uncertain about something, annoyed, happy, excited and upset as well. He would know if it was her. He just needed to get up close to her was all.
He was certain she was going to be expecting him to turn up as well, likely to look at him like she had that one time in the stairwell at Wil’s place, before she’d had the hide to tell him she wasn’t his anymore.
Well, she was bloody his, even now not here next to him. If he found her, he would make her bloody stand next to him once more, punish her for what she’d done to him, Drag her back from the dead and put her on his arm where she didn’t want to be. Make her think about him for the next bloody eight years and see how she liked it.
Only this time he wouldn’t fall in love with her, wouldn’t bloody touch her, parade her around like the perfect wife once more and then shove her back to that house until he needed to use her again.
Marilyn
She sat at the table with her books around her, just like at the other book signings. This was, thankfully, the last one on the book tour. Even coming into this store just 15 minutes ago, she’d heard the shocked gasp from a staff member working here
“Is Marilyn Riddley, Marrin Reeves?”
She had ignored it, just like she had at the hotel yesterday, and all the stares she’d gotten from the hotel employees this morning, as she and Lisa had walked through the lobby to come here.
She knew who she was. Though Lisa had looked up Marrin Reeves, she’d vanished and was presumed dead right around the time Marilyn had lost her memories. She’d had to shake that one off. Lisa had chuckled herself, and told her it was a mere coincidence because she, Marilyn, had been writing years before that accident had happened.
Lisa knew because she’d always been her agent, even when her books had solely been online, before they’d gone to print. That anyone could look up her writing career on the online platform where her books were all featured for those that preferred to read off a tablet or reading device, their phone even. It was all there in black and white for anyone to see she’d been an author long before that woman, Marrin, had disappeared.
Lisa also strongly doubted that Mr Billionaire, as she’d nicknamed him, would be so dumb as to not check the facts of who she actually was, and just presume, like those around her, she might be his dead wife. He would be smart and intelligent and dismiss it as far as Lisa was concerned.
It was about an hour into her signing when there was suddenly a lot of hushed chatter once again starting among the crowd. She pushed what she was kind of hearing aside and ignored it, though the word Marrin came to her once more and a part of her just wanted to get up and snap at them all that she was not this
Marrin Reeves woman. mile at those there to get her She didn’t, however, she just took a breath in and kept her calm, continued autograph. She was going to be glad when it was all over and done with, and ner life was once again peaceful. She heard Lisa call the next person over as she took a sip of water before looking up to say hello.
Only to have her new book be unceremoniously smacked down on the table right in front of her, with a loud c***k. Marilyn flinched and stared at it for a moment before turning her eyes to the person who had just tossed her book at her, there was always one or two haters hidden in the crowd, wanting to step up and have their say about her work. That they didn’t like it.
Here we go, she thought, as a cold, hard voice grated out,
“Sign that, it’s for my wife.”
And her eyes moved not directly towards him but towards the crowd, as she heard many hushed words again, and she honestly just wanted to get up and call it a day.
“Her name?”
she asked, opening the front cover.
“Make it out to Rin, that’s RIN.”
he spelled for her, and even though she heard the harsh tone in his voice, she would not let this jerk make her write something nasty or neglect his wife. Maybe he just didn’t want to be here in line, and was only doing so because his wife couldn’t be there. Who the hell knew?
She wrote ‘Rin, I hope this read brings a little light to your day. Marilyn Riddley.’ She wanted to add I’m sure you need it, but refrained herself from insulting the woman’s husband. She slid the book across the table to that man without looking at him. She didn’t need to acknowledge rude people like that.
Though he didn’t move away from the table as she expected him to, he stood there staring at her. It was a good 15 seconds before she turned her eyes towards him, and he was looking right at her, and there it was the hard, angry look that matched his voice, why she’d not bothered to look at him. She knew that was what he was going to look like.
“If you don’t mind, Sir,”
she stated politely,
“There are others waiting.”
“They won’t mind waiting,”
he stated right back, and his hands were suddenly on the table, and he was right there in her face, his eyes locked on hers. He had hazel green eyes that were, she saw, filled with anger, and she shivered involuntarily, unsettled by his direct angry gaze.
She heard Lisa clear her voice a few seconds later.
“Sir, please move on, Marilyn doesn’t take pictures.”
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.