Echo: A Dark Billionaire Romance (Bleeding Hearts Book 1) by Zavarelli A

Author:Zavarelli, A [Zavarelli, A]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-10-26T07:00:00+00:00

***

When I woke up, I was still splayed across Ryland’s chest. He hadn’t even moved me. His hand was stroking my lower back, his eyes fixed on the ceiling.

We were cuddling.

It was surreal. It was completely insane. And yet, I couldn’t move. I didn’t want to.

“What are you thinking?” he asked in a sleepy voice.

There was a beat of silence before complete nonsense burst from my mouth. “I want to know more about you.”

I didn’t know where it had come from. And it had the immediate effect of making him stiffen beneath me, so I hurried to explain.

“Anything you want to share,” I amended.

He relaxed a little and started to stroke me again. “Like what?”

“Like… how did you come to be Ryland Bennett, CEO?”

It was good a place as any to start.

Ryland was quiet for a moment, and he didn’t take his eyes off the ceiling.

“My father was a businessman,” he explained. “I always admired him for it, for how hard he worked. But the truth was, he was too soft. He didn’t have the heart to do business. You have to be able to dissociate on some level, and he couldn’t do that. So his business failed.”

“But you can do that,” I whispered.

It wasn’t a question.

“As much as I admired him, his choices ended up costing him everything. It motivated me to take a different path.”

“Well, it worked.” I tangled my legs up in his and nuzzled against his chest, comforted by the vibrations as he spoke. I liked that he was opening up to me, if only a little.

“Are you happy?”

“What do you mean?” he looked down at me.

“I mean with your life. Are you happy with the way things turned out?”

Something strange passed over his features, and he tightened his grip on me but tore his gaze away.

“Happiness is an illusion, Brighton. It’s only something people think they can have. It’s fleeting. It can be taken away at any moment.”

My grip on him tightened too, and I wasn’t sure why.

“If that’s true,” I whispered. “Then what’s the point?”

He didn’t answer. I didn’t expect him to.

I changed the subject.

“Why did you pretend like you didn’t remember me?” I asked. “The first day I saw you again.”

This time, he didn’t hesitate to answer. “I thought it would be easier for you.”

“How?”

His eyes found mine again, and I had to remind myself to breathe. It was so easy to get lost in those blue depths. To feel like this was where I belonged, wrapped in his arms.

“I didn’t want you to expect things from me that weren’t possible. Things a girl like you probably wants from a man. Things I can’t give you.”

I fluttered my eyes closed and focused on the beating of his heart.

It did exist. I knew he had one. So why was he making it sound like he didn’t?

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