Only Love (The Atonement Series) by Elle Chardou Read Free Book Online Page B

jeans—so I wouldn’t know.
    “I would think your girlfriend would be awfully jealous to have her boyfriend spending so much time with a strange woman, even if I am your next-door neighbor,” I remarked, changing the subject. I didn’t want to talk about Colin so if I could avoid that conversation by talking about his relationship then I would.
    Not that I had any interest in hearing about how a hot guy like Drake was taken by another woman. It was more of a burden than I cared to realize how lonely it was without someone special in my life. I missed quiet talks, kisses, sex, but most of all, the act of cuddling and feeling skin against skin.
    My condo was so empty; I didn’t even have a pet to keep me company but my hours were so sporadic, I’d only be good to have a cat. However that involved house training and I wasn’t in the mood for picking up “accidents” until the kitten learned where the litter box was so that pretty much meant pets were out. My options were limited to a fish, hamster or guinea pig; none of the aforementioned I found the least bit appealing.
    Drake and I stopped at a red light and he turned toward me. “I don’t have a girlfriend. My last one, Mikayla, also happened to be my business partner, and since we broke up six months ago, there hasn’t been anyone.”
    “Mmm, six months isn’t a long time to be apart—”
    “You’re one to talk. It hasn’t been a month between you and Colin. Kayla and I had been fighting for months before we broke up but you two were the picture of bliss up until you left.” The light changed and he pressed on the gas. “So, you know I have to ask…what happened?”
    “What happened between you and this Mikayla person?” I asked in response to his question.
    “Well, for one, we owned a business together so we saw too much of one another. Two, her family is one of the most influential Ukrainian mob families on the West Coast and I come from one of the most politically influential families on the East Coast—it would never work. Three, she cheated on me with one of my best friends and I found them in a compromising position with her on her knees and his you-know-what in her mouth. It wasn’t a situation she could exactly talk herself out of,” Drake explained in a tone filled with bitterness and regret.
    “Oh wow, that’s tough. How do you two…continue to run the business when something so explosive broke you up in the first place?”
    “We don’t spend any time together. She takes care of the business side regarding the restaurant and I am simply the head chef. All in all, it works out. We enjoy owning the business together but we can admit we shouldn’t be together in a romantic capacity.”
    “How very adult of you,” I murmured more to myself than him.
    “Exactly what happened between you and Colin that caused you to act the opposite of an adult and leave your relationship like you were some fugitive breaking out of prison?”
    “If I could tell you, I would but…it was something major and unfortunately, it involves criminal activity. People could still be arrested and sent to a maximum security facility for what I know so it’s not as simple as me telling you about it. Let’s just say he broke my heart and I don’t think I will ever recover from what he did to me,” I said in a quiet voice.
    Drake was silent for a moment. “Wonders never cease…I would have never taken you for the type to protect anyone when it came to criminal activity. Not with your Harvard education and perfect manners.”
    My heart seemed to stop before I inquired, “How did you know I attended Harvard?”
    He laughed out loud and turned toward me quickly before he focused on the moving traffic again. “Your ex-boyfriend, Drew, is my first cousin. I know more about you than you think, Deirdre.”

     

     
    How I wished finding out Drew and Drake were related had been the only surprise of my day. I arrived back at my condo to a “Welcome home”