“I’m fine.”
He straightened and gave her a “spare me the act” look. She winced. “I’m a little overwhelmed.”
His thumb traced her cheekbone gently. “An honest admission from Alice Reed. I’m impressed. Even if you are downplaying things drastically,” he murmured, his mouth curving into a small smile.
“Dylan?”
“Yeah?”
“I know you said Alan Durand never gave up that . . . I could be alive.” His nostrils flared slightly at her tentative “I”; at her referral to Addie and herself as the same person. It was going to take some getting used to. “But you didn’t, either. You kept the faith the longest of anyone. I just want to say it again—thanks.”
His expression turned very sober, even grim. He just nodded once and kissed her temple again with warm, lingering lips. “Get in bed. I’ll be out in a minute,” he said quietly, his mouth near her ear making her shiver.
After he’d gone into the bathroom and shut the door, she walked to the bed. Her fingers hesitated at the tie of her robe. Did he want to make love? She was a little confused by his manner tonight. He was so intense. So deep. It was as if their talk had begun to expose all of his layers, the manifold meanings of what Alan, Addie, and Durand Enterprises represented to him. It took her breath away, to consider that those folds and complexities of his character had been there already when she’d walked into the dean of business’s office at Arlington College and saw him sitting behind that desk.
He was a mystery to her, and yet she was such an integral part of his enigma. Or at least Addie was.
She thought of what he’d said regarding Sidney’s concerns for him. Sidney thought Dylan should have forged his life outside the long dark shadows of the Durands’ tragic past. What if Dylan had gone away after he’d finished college and never returned to his history at the Durand Estate? Surely Alice wouldn’t be standing there right now. But if by some miracle the truth about Addie Durand and the lies that constructed Alice’s life miraculously came to light, what would it be like if Dylan wasn’t there, holding her, reassuring her . . . touching her.
The thought chilled her to the bone. She drew off her robe. Even if he didn’t want to make love after their emotional talk, she wasn’t wearing pajamas underneath. Since they’d started having sex, she’d never once spent the night in anything but her own skin. She tossed the robe at the foot of the bed and climbed under the soft, luxurious sheets and comforter.
“He thinks that I’ve chosen to remain eclipsed by the tragedies that happened when I was a teenage boy. He is of the opinion that I’ve chosen a life of guilt and oppression instead of freedom to choose my life’s path.”
She shivered with cold and snuggled deeper in the covers. What if there was more than just a hint of truth to Sidney’s concerns? What did it mean to Alice?
Her anxious thoughts scattered at the sound of the bathroom door opening. She watched as he walked toward the bed, her heart sinking a little when she saw he wore a pair of thin black lounge pants that hung low on his narrow hips and left little to the imagination. He was coming to bed dressed—partially anyway. His cut, powerful torso was stunningly bare.
Their conversation tonight had been heavy and stressful. She was being shallow and needy by thinking about sex at a moment like this. It was just that . . . she did need him. In so many ways. Sex had always been the most natural and comfortable way to express her inexplicably strong need for him.
He walked to the opposite side of the bed. She kept herself from rolling over to face him, ashamed of her desire. Repressed air made her lungs burn. He shut out the light, and she felt the mattress give beneath his weight. He scooted toward her. A ragged sigh left her throat when she felt his arms go around her. Clamping her eyes tight, she curled into him, her back against his chest, his groin pressing to the lower curve of her ass. For several taut moments, they didn’t move or speak. Alice’s throat felt so tight, she wasn’t sure she could.
“What am I going to do?”
She gasped, half in shock she’d said the desperate words out loud. The question had been repeating in her brain over and over, but she hadn’t planned to utter it. Dylan rubbed her upper arm in a slow, soothing gesture.
“You’re going to keep moving forward, one day at a time. One hour. One minute, if need be. We both are. You go for the genetic testing on Saturday. That’s another step in the process. Maybe next week, if you’re interested, you could start to look at Alan’s will and the details of his estate, get a grip on how he planned for Addie’s potential return. I could have someone from the legal department come over and guide you through the trust, if you like. It’s an airtight but complex document. Alice?” he prompted when she didn’t respond.
“I don’t know,” she said brokenly. “It feels too soon for that.”
It’ll always feel like it’s too soon. It always feels like it’s too much. I have to move forward, despite all of that.
“I think what I’d like to start with for now is reviewing more of Durand’s annual reports and getting a firm handle on the company’s history and structure,” she said. “That’d feel a little less . . . personal.”
“If you think it’d help.” He kissed the side of her neck. She felt him inhale with his nose pressed against her skin.
“Dylan?”
He made a deep humming noise.
“I’m not sure I’m as convinced as you are that someone hired Stout and Cunningham. But given that you believe it, do you really think that whoever it was could still be around? Is that why you’re so protective of me?”
“Yes. And yes,” he said against her neck.
“But even if that were true, they couldn’t possibly know that I was . . . you know. Addie.”
“Listen to me,” he said abruptly close to her ear. His voice was quiet, but she recognized that steely tone. “I don’t have the full picture. There are parts missing. I’ve been over and over Alan’s original will and his current will and trust document. I can’t figure out a monetary motive—then or now. The truth about your identity will eventually come out when you’re ready. We have to prepare for it in the next few weeks. In the meantime, I’m still trying to figure out who would have had a motive for kidnapping and killing Addie. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a potential threat out there. It was only twenty years ago. Twenty years. If someone wanted you dead once, there’s good reason to assume they’d want it again. If that person was once associated with Cunningham, there’s no reason Cunningham couldn’t have told him what he told me. There’s no telling who Cunningham dribbled the truth out to at the end of his life. It’s not like he considered me special. I merely served a purpose to inflate his ego. Talking to me was a diversion from the boredom of prison life. Who else visited him? Did he confess to another prisoner? I’m not just being paranoid, Alice. If you take anything away from tonight, please let it be that.”
She turned, stunned by his intensity.