Lara and the City of Angels by Elle Chardou Read Free Book Online

of your unusual…predilections for so long but I can’t do this anymore.
    “I won’t raise Auriel in a loveless marriage and I won’t have her thinking this is the kind of relationship she should want when she finally becomes of age. It’s toxic and neither one of us is happy. Surely you can see that. You hold on so tight yet I am left to wonder if you ever really wanted me at all. Am I just a prop, a pretty woman who looks great on your arm? It isn’t normal for a husband not to want to sleep with his wife.”
    “I thought that is why you married me, Lara. You told me you never wanted normal and it scared you to death to end up with some man your father might set you up with—”
    “Precisely, but that is because I thought I was getting a good man who would love and respect me. I do not doubt your love but this obsession with possessing me yet…not wanting to touch me drives me crazy. I know what I want and the kind of relationship we have at the present isn’t it.”
    Sean’s silence spoke volumes. “Fine, I will give you the space you need. When you are ready to see me then I will visit. How’s that?”
    Lara breathed on the other end of the phone. “Thank you. I will call you tomorrow and I hope you have a wonderful day. I love you.”
    “Love you too,” he responded and ended the call.

     
    ***
     

     
    I n the past when they’d disagreed with one another, Sean was always safe in the knowledge that Lara would calm down and everything would return back to normal but this time it was different. He wasn’t sure of much anymore and the only person he could truly confide in happened to be family.
    He had one older sister, Sorcha. Their small family was something of much discussion in their Irish neighborhood but his mother had a difficult pregnancy with him, hemorrhaged and given an emergency partial hysterectomy after his birth. The Buchanan family would always be small because his mother could no longer have any additional children.
    Sean and Sorcha were close. She was definitely the brains in the Buchanan household and as soon as she secured her law degree, she began to work hand in hand with Markus Goldsmith when it came to her brother’s contracts. She managed his money and he trusted her implicitly. Due to her smarts, she had tripled his wealth and he would soon be a billionaire due to her.
    She lived in the modest neighborhood of Sherman Oaks in the San Fernando Valley area. She had no wish to live on the West side and she stayed true to their Boston roots. She still had her thick Boston accent as she had no reason to lose hers, unlike Sean.
    It had taken years of voice coaches but eventually, he could turn his on and off like a switch. When they were together, it came back with a vengeance whether he wanted it to or not.
    Before he stopped by her house, he visited Gelson’s and bought more than enough food. He loved his sister but between her incessant exercising and healthy lifestyle, she didn’t seem to eat as much as she should and had managed to lose weight since moving to Los Angeles several years beforehand.
    Sorcha answered the door with a surprised look on her face. Like her brother, she possessed blue eyes except hers were sky blue. She also had their blond hair but hers had been enhanced with the help of a skilled beautician and was now flaxen instead of its natural dishwater state.
    She was of medium height at 5’7” and one hundred and fifteen pounds. Although very good looking, she dated the same guy who was only average in looks by most women’s standards. However, they shared the same philosophies about life and both preferred to keep their personal and professional lives separate.
    “Sean, what are you doing here?” she greeted before she slipped her arms around his neck and hugged him.
    “I was in the neighborhood? Okay, I know that one isn’t going to fly. I just wanted to stop by and see my girls’ if that’s all right with you.”
    “Of course,” she replied