Chapter 59
At Room 3688.
Rhett pushed open the door and strode in with a stormy look on his face.
A few big shots were getting sloshed, with girls in their arms and others hanging around, in an atmosphere dripping with extravagance.
With a slight frown, Rhett cast a cold glance around the room but didn’t spot Kristin.
Oddly, he breathed a sigh of relief.
“Who’s Harriet?” York threw out the question.
The bosses were too buzzed to catch York’s words.
York flipped on the lights and killed the music, his voice dropping an octave. “Who is Harriet?”
Being Rhett’s assistant. York carried himself with more swagger than the average flunky with the chops to back it up.
One of the bosses glared at York, irked. “And you are…?”
Someone got a good look at Rhett and shot to their feet in a drunken haze, half–thinking they were hallucinating…. Mr. Fitzgerald?”
Harriet stood up in shock, too. “Mr. Fitzgerald?”
None of those nightclub ladies wouldn’t recognize Rhett. They knew each and every business tycoon.
“Mr. Fitzgerald! What brings you to Crescendo Town without a heads–up? We could’ve rolled out the red carpet,” the manager burst in, all flustered. “Mr. Fitzgerald, what’s this all about?”
Harriet eyed Rhett nervously. The man was just too dashing.
Being loaded and influential, Rhett was extremely attractive to all women.
Harriet put on a sultry smile, her voice dropping to a murmur. “Mr. Fitzgerald… are you looking for me?”
“Where’s Kristin?” Rhett didn’t want to beat around the bush, his frown deepening as her sidestepped the incoming manager. He hated women crowding him.
York quickly stepped in between, blocking any female advances. “Kristin lives with you, right? Where is she?”
Harriet was taken aback before it clicked.
Rhett was from the Fitzgerald family, and he was Vincent’s older brother.
With Rhett storming in like this and Kristin having bolted from Silvergrove City….
1/4
11:40
Chapter 59
“Mr. Fitzgerald… what do you mean? I’ve no clue what you’re on about,” Harriet instinctively. guarded Kristin.
York cut the crap. “Do you think we’d be here if we hadn’t done our investigation?”
“Mr. Fitzgerald, you mean Kristin Collins, correct?” The manager didn’t dare cross Rhett, pretty sure who Rhett was referring to. “She clocked out ages ago.”
“Call her,” Rhett ordered Harriet to reach out to Kristin.
“No phone on her,” Harriet didn’t bother lying. “She might be at my place.”
“I just came from yours, and she’s not there,” Rhett replied, slightly irritated.
Harriet paused. “Then… then I really don’t know. She’s bound to show up for work tomorrow. maybe you can check back then?”
Eager to alert Kristin, she had no idea where the girl could have disappeared to.
At the villa of Marigold Manor.
Kristin came up and sat nervously in the car, refusing to get out.
James leaned on the car door, watching her with a smirk. “Scared I’ll gobble you up?”
Kristin clammed up, her hands almost bruising from the grip.
Taking this step meant no turning back.
But Summer was waiting, his condition couldn’t drag on. They needed to pin down the illness and settle on a treatment plan pronto.
She needed cash and Summer needed to hit the books.
“Just three years… right?” Kristin stepped out of the car, her voice barely above a whisper.
James nodded. “Yeah.”
Kristin clutched her clothes, murmuring, “Tomorrow… I’ll go for the medical check–up.”
Everyone at the club knew James wasn’t one to dabble with the girls there easily. His standards were sky–high. Passing a health check was step one to being his lady.
James blinked, then turned to head into the living room.
Kristin was still a native girl.
Those eyes once shone with innocence and stupidity, but now seemed to harbor just the latter.
“Come on in, I won’t touch you tonight.” Seeing Kristin still hesitating at the door, James spoke up again.
Kristin exhaled in relief and slowly made her way inside.
James‘ place was massive and sparse, clear signs of his solo living. The place was a bit of a
11:40
Chapter
mess and he didn’t seem to have a maid.
While James showered, Kristin, bored and standing around, started tidying up.
By the time James reemerged, the living room had transformed.
Awkwardly, Kristin stood aside. “I just… cleaned up a bit.”
James didn’t respond but led Kristin to the door, registering her lace and fingerprints on the
security lock. I’m not home much. You stay here.”
Kristin blinked, her mouth opening then closing without a word. Was James this generous with. every girt?
“Hit the sack,” James motioned for Kristin to go to bed.
Kristin entered the quest room, but James was far from sleepy.
Five years back, when Kristin got slapped with extortion charges by Vincent and Clarence, it was his idea.
He was the one who nudged Vincent, hoping to corner Kristin into submission.
He thought that when Kristin was pushed to the brink, she’d agree to any terms he laid out. But Kristin refused.
In court, she stunned everyone by pleading guilty.
James was there that day. He wanted to pull Vincent back, but it was too late.
Kristin back then, stubborn and infuriatingly proud…
He despised her iron spine, like a white rose blooming against the storm, uncrushable by the fiercest gales.
T
Never bested by a woman, James perversely longed to see her edges worn down.
In her third year of prison, with good behavior, there was a shot at early release.
Vincent and Clarence were up to some shady dealings behind closed doors.
When James caught wind of it, he made a beeline for the clink. He was itching to see if the prison had managed to file down Kristin’s sharp edges and if she’d be willing to bend her lofty backbone.
But Kristin flat–out refused to see him.
Once again… James decided to just sit back and watch.
Fast forward five years, and Kristin’s stint in the slammer was up.
Lounging on the couch and puffing on a cig, James was in a bit of a mental tangle.
Back in the day, he thought his thing for Kristin was just a flash in the pan, a woman who dazzled him but was the one that got away, no matter how he tried, she wouldn’t just roll over
11:40
Chapter 59
and show him her belly.
But later on, he realized Kristin had become his obsession.
His phone was buzzing non–stop, and James was getting ticked off.
It was Linda. “Mr. Bryce, you haven’t hit me up lately.”
James was really irked. Out and about, Kristin even had the gall to rock up nearby, and now he was just plain sick of all women.
“Hit up Bill tomorrow. He’ll handle the stuff you want.” He sent the message and blocked her just like that.
He was generous with women, but he could cut ties like no other.
Kristin was the exception. It wasn’t that he couldn’t be harsh with her. It was that whenever he was cruel to her, he ended up kicking himself.
And that feeling was just… damn…annoying.
He took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes. There was no way he could let Kristin find out he’d been the one pulling the strings back then.
He v
wouldn’t let Kristin walk away, but he could make amends.
“Bill, get in touch with the blood and genetics experts over at Silvergrove City, and have them consult on Kristin’s son’s condition.”
To his surprise, James didn’t give a damn that Kristin had someone else’s kid, although he was so damn picky with other women.
“Mr. Bryce! The Nightlight Club just called to say that Rhett’s hit town early, he’s at our spot in Silvergrove City, on the hunt for Miss Kristin…”
