Ignite Me (A Burning Desire Novel) by R.F. Allie Read Free Book Online

room,
determined to give him a chance to explain in the morning.

 
    The dawn had barely broken, when I’d felt his arms around
me. I relished it for a minute, pretending to be asleep, all the while,
gathering my density to pull from his embrace.
    “Please don’t leave baby, and don’t let me spend another
night without you.”
    His tone was a slow and harrowing stab in my chest.
    Wriggling around, I searched for his face and cupped it,
“Then answer me, please baby." I begged, "Just tell me whatever you
want to say.”
    I straightened myself on the bed.
    He nodded slowly.
    “But you won’t leave me, no matter what I say?”
    I shook my head yes,
    “I won’t, I promise.”
    He nodded once again. He looked as if he was in agony, and
it’d made me fear what he was going to say.
    Landon settled his back against the plush headboard, and
drew a sharp breath.
    “I first came across her when I was in college, in London.
She was modeling, and I was attending a show with Alec and Evelyn. During the
cocktail party, she’d sent one of her friends to invite us to some after party
in a house. At first, I didn’t even want to attend the fashion show. However,
Evelyn was nagging about wanting to see the designer’s new collection, she was
visiting me on her spring break, and Alec wanted to meet the models. So I went
anyway…”
    Landon caved under the pressure and went with Alec to the
after-party. From that night on, they were inseparable. Audrey was actually a
medical student, and she paid her tuition with modeling gigs and a scholarship.
A year into the relationship, Landon discovered that she was abusing drugs; he
tried to help her, got her into a rehabilitation center, and supported her,
both mentally and financially.
    However, when she returned, she was different. She kept
getting herself into trouble and requiring him to bail her out, until one
night, she tried committing suicide. To Landon’ surprise, when she awoke, she’d
blamed it on him.
    Evelyn heard about the whole suicide attempt, and fled to
London. It was his last year, and he had to pass the bar exam, but Audrey kept
dragging him further, and he started using with her. When he talked about his
experience, he sounded broke down; his voice was full of sorrow.
    Evelyn bribed Audrey with a big amount of money, and she
took it.
    “I woke up the next morning, and found myself in a
rehabilitation center. Evelyn told me what she’d done, and it wore me out. It
was about the money.”
    He swallowed thickly.
    “I passed the bar exam, and began working at Adrian &
associates. I got my life together again, started dating other girls, and
worked on my first hotel with Alec.”
    Landon continued telling me about how his businesses
evolved and started giving him some exposure. The year he first launched Davis
and Crawley, he started imposing his due-date clause in his relationships;
saying that he was unable to fall in love, and resolved to fill the emptiness
with some girls who agreed to his kind of relations. One night, while he was
working at the hotel, he got a call announcing that Audrey had come to see him.
    “I was baffled to see her walking in the apartment, but,
there she was, apologizing in tears and offering to pay Evelyn back. I believed
she was sincere, she’d seemed broken and truthful. It took me a long time to
forgive her, but I did. Six months later, she was gone. Ten months after that,
she pulled the same stunt and appeared inside my office, she made an
appointment, under an alias. She had to wait a whole month to get an
appointment with me.”
    Audrey, once again, swore to Landon that she had changed,
and that she was scared of her feelings. Then, she threatened to kill herself
if he didn’t take her back. Her first attempt, back in London had scarred him,
so he convinced himself, to try again. However, three months later, she
vanished into thin air with his money, to reappear eight months later, on
Ryan’s podium.
    Landon had sworn to close