Black Dahlia (The Dahlia Trilogy of The Gilded Flower Series Book 2) (8 page)

“She still saw you under the water and still saw the same person who looked like you but wasn’t you pull you out,” Kai begins.

“Why don’t you skip ahead and tell me what I haven’t already heard.” Dahlia grabs hold of the door handle as the jeep rocks over the uneven road.

“Fine. She says you look better than before. Your life force has grown.”

“Does she know?”

“About what?”

“About us?”

Kai smiles widely. “Probably. She winked at me when you weren’t looking. She noticed your body changed, the tension and unhappiness has been released.”

“I assume you want to take full credit for that,” Dahlia replies.

Kai reaches over and runs his hand up Dahlia’s thigh. “Not full. Partial for sure.”

Dahlia moves his hand and says, “None of that until you finish telling me.”

Kai sighs and pulls the car over.

“What? Is it that bad?”

He shakes his head. “No, but I want to give you my full attention when I say it.”

“Okay,” Dahlia says nervously.

“There’s no need to be nervous. Just listen.” Kai’s expression turns serious.

“I love you, Dahlia.”

Dahlia’s jaw drops. This isn’t what she was expecting, or even hoping, to hear.

“Don’t worry, Dahlia. It’s not like that. I mean, maybe if you stayed, one day it would become more. It’s just that,” he pauses, “I want you to know that I love you. When I’m with you, when I’m in your presence, I feel at peace. There’s no struggle to impress you, or be someone I’m not. You’ve become a close friend. I will always be here for you.”

Dahlia nods.

“And you’ll always know where to find me,” Kai laughs.

Dahlia leans against the door and takes a deep breath. After a moment she says, “I was beginning to feel the same way. It scared me because I felt that it was too soon, too fast. But I realized on the beach earlier that I love you as well. I’ve never loved anyone this way, so passionately, but so . . .”

“Platonically.” Kai finishes her sentence.

“Yes!” Dahlia laughs. “It’s the best of friendship and sex.” Then she pauses, “Why are you telling me this now?”

Kai sighs. “Because of something the Old Woman said. I want you to know that I’ll be here for you if you ever need a friend.”

“Spit it out, Kai.”

“Fine. She said that the painful part of your journey isn’t over yet. You’ve only just healed one part of your heart, but another part will be torn open and someone you love will betray you.”

“Does this woman ever deliver good news?”

Kai nods. “Of course. The other thing she said was that someone you’ve already met but don’t expect will come into your life and help heal your heart.”

“You realize that sounds like a terrible horoscope reading.”

“Perhaps, but she’s rarely wrong.”

“When has she been wrong?”

“She thought you would’ve died by now.”

The night sky begins to give way to dusk. Kai bends down and kisses Dahlia. “I have to go,” he says.

She gets up on her knees and wraps her arms around his neck, pulling him tightly to her.

“I don’t have to leave for another few hours.”

“Yeah, but I’m terrible with good-byes.”

Dahlia covers his face with kisses and smiles. “You’re not even going to try to convince me to stay?”

Kai smiles back and kisses her deeply, parting her lips with his. Dahlia gently pushes her tongue into his mouth, which he takes and sucks greedily.

“I will miss this incredible mouth,” she says.

“I will miss all of you.” Kai embraces her and kisses the top of her head. “I won’t try to talk you into staying. You deserve to the live the life you want to lead. If you decide you want me to be a part of it, you know how to find me.”

He takes a step back and looks into her eyes. “No matter what ends up happening, I’m your friend, I will be here for you.”

Dahlia nods, knowing full well the truth in Kai’s promise to her. His wide grin breaks the silence that falls between them. Grabbing her ass, he whispers, “I believe we owe each other a special farewell.”

Dahlia pulls him back toward the bed and presses her body into his.

“It’s about time you called, D,” Lily says in a tense voice.

“What the hell is up your ass, Lil?”

“Besides being worried that my sister would take a bunch of sleeping pills while she was alone on an island grieving for her lost husband, oh, nothing.”

“You didn’t really think I would go that far, did you?”

“You should’ve seen yourself. Although on second thought, you probably don’t need that image in your head.”

“You’re sounding way too snippy, Lil. Don’t tell me Alejandro turned into a sociopathic control freak as soon as you moved to Miami.”

Lily chuckles. “Alejandro is great. It’s just . . . Gustavo is proving to be a big pain in the ass.”

Dahlia shrieks, drawing the attention of a few people in the airline lounge. “What has that bastard done now?”

A loud announcement over the speaker drowns out Lily’s response.

All she can make out is, “Where are you, D?”

“Hong Kong. Insanely long layover. I’m bored as fuck.”

“You want to tell me what you did while you were away? Vi mentioned there was some cute guy.”

“I’ll tell you about Kai later. What’s up with Vi? She was a hot mess when she left.”

“I don’t know. I called her the other day to give her some news, but she rushed off the phone after two minutes.”

“What news?”

“Alejandro and I are engaged!” Lily says excitedly.

Dahlia smiles, genuinely happy for her sister. “Oh my God, Lil, that’s great.”

“It is. I can’t talk about it now. I have to go into a meeting. Just tell me where I can find you.”

Dahlia looks out the window of the executive lounge onto the tarmac, wondering the very same thing.

She closes her eyes and says, “California. I have to take care of some things. Then I’ll let you know what I decide.”

“Okay. If you need me, call, no matter what. Promise?”

“Yeah, alright.”

“By the way, the engagement party will be some time next month. I didn’t want one, but Alejandro’s mom insists. It’ll be a small affair. Please say you’ll come.”

“Of course, Lil. You’re my sister. Anything for you.”

“Dahlia, dear, it’s so wonderful to see you again.” Pearl hugs Dahlia as she steps into the foyer. “How are you?”

“I’m doing alright,” Dahlia replies.

Pearl takes Dahlia’s hands into hers and steps back. She looks Dahlia over. “I’d say your vacation did wonders for you. You look healthy.”

Dahlia nods. “It was good. It was nice to spend time with Lily and Vi.”

“I’m sure, honey. Well, come on in.” Pearl leads Dahlia up the stairs into the living area. The house has been cleaned since Dahlia left, but everything was still in its place. No, she could never live here again, she affirms to herself.

“You said you wanted to talk,” Dahlia prompts, preferring not to spend any more time in Shane’s place than she has to. It was his home, and hers only briefly.

“Oh, yes, of course. Thanks so much for coming up from L.A. I was surprised when you mentioned you’re staying in Santa Monica. What took you there?”

Dahlia shrugs.
Perhaps because it’s a city for lost people.
“I’m not ready to go back to New York just yet, so I enrolled in some art classes in the fall at UCLA. I’m thinking about getting back into photography.”

“Oh, my, I love that. Those pictures you took of Shane are remarkable.”

“Thanks, Pearl. It means a lot.” Dahlia looks out the window at the ocean.

Sensing Dahlia’s discomfort, Pearl says, “The lawyers will be here soon. I figured it would be easiest to take care of the paperwork while you’re visiting. That way the transfer of ownership can go to Troy and me as soon as possible. I know you’d rather not deal with this matter any longer than you have to.”

Dahlia nods. “I’m glad it will stay in the family. Troy will make Shane proud.” She swallows back his name. “Sebastian didn’t want to stay on as partner?”

Pearl shakes her head. “No. It was too much responsibility. He asked we maintain his sponsorship and buy him out.”

“Do you need money for the buyout?”

“Of course not. Shane was always very generous with us.” Pearl lays a gentle hand over Dahlia’s.

“Before the lawyers arrive, I wanted to give you this. I found it while I was going through Shane’s desk a couple of weeks back. I was holding onto it until I saw you.”

Pearl lays a plain envelope on the glass table. Dahlia glances at it, seeing her name written on the outside in Shane’s script, the edges yellowed with time.

“What is it?” Dahlia asks, fingering the envelope.

“I didn’t open it. It’s yours.”

Dahlia’s heart begins to beat hard against her chest. All these weeks of making her peace with Shane’s death, and now she has to confront it all over again. Yet another reminder that he isn’t here to say what he wanted to in person.

“I’ll open it later, if you don’t mind,” she says, placing the envelope in her purse.

Pearl shakes her head. “Not at all.” She opens her mouth to say something but is interrupted by the doorbell. “That must the lawyers. We’ll talk more later.”

Dahlia reads the letter over again, the paper wrinkled from the many times she’s folded and unfolded it, the ink smeared from the tears she shed when she read it the first, second, and even third time. After that, the tears had dried up. She couldn’t cry anymore—until now.

She notices the date written in the top right hand corner. A piece of the paper had been folded down, obscuring it before. He wrote it two years ago. Dahlia can hardly remember what she was doing then, but Shane was already clean and becoming a successful entrepreneur.

Shane lied. He didn’t have the courage to tell her before, and he died before she could confront him, giving him the last word, the last apology. She crumples up the letter, her tears turning to rage. How could he have kept the truth from her all this time?

My Dearest Dahlia.
Those words roll around her head. The time they spent together, yet he never told Dahlia about
her
.

She’s still alive
. It’s the line that threw Dahlia into a tailspin. Their daughter is still alive, and he could only try to tell her in a letter that he never sent? And all the worse, Dahlia’s own mother had also lied and told her the baby died at the other hospital.

Dahlia wipes the tears with the back of her hand. The Old Woman was wrong. She was betrayed. Not by one person, but two.

The flight attendant walks quietly up to her to announce their descent into Teterboro airport. “There’s a thunderstorm moving over the New York area, so it will probably get a bit bumpy.”

Dahlia nods and whispers, “Thank you.”

She looks out into the night sky, her rage growing greater by the minute. Now Dahlia knows where she’s supposed to be.

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There are so many things that go into writing a book that have little to do with sitting down and writing. First it’s the inspiration, an idea, or even the inkling of an idea that is sparked by experience, a memory or dream, or a person. I want to thank my husband, first and foremost, for sharing numerous adventures with me that have inspired my stories, as well as his tireless support. I’d also like to thank my children. While more often than not they keep me from writing, they inspire me every day.

Aside from ideas, there are the friends who make you feel as if anything is possible and that how you execute it, however messy and awful, is the most terrific thing you’ve ever done. Sara and Lisa, you two crazy bitches make me feel invincible.

Of course, I seem to find crazy bitches wherever I go. Karen and Lucia, you two troublemakers have made my years in New York City memorable. Promise me to never share those pictures.

Then there is that one friend who not only tells you that what you do is wonderful—even if she thinks otherwise—is willing to go along for the ride. Suzann, I will be eternally grateful to the universe for sending you to me. Thank you for holding my hand and encouraging me every step of the way.

Sonja, we’ll always have Paris . . .and Chicago, and New York. Thank you for all the profound experiences we had together.

And of course, the family who’s had my back since I took my first steps. Of course you weren’t surprised to find out that I write
those
kinds of books—and I wouldn’t presume they’d read them. That my sisters-in-law do read them means the world to me. B and K, thank you for being a part of my family and for reading my books.

Last, but certainly not least, my deepest gratitude to my fans, readers and bloggers who feature my books. This series is for you! I am incredibly humbled and grateful to you all for your support and your kick-ass reviews. There are so many books out there. That you’ve found mine and enjoyed them enough to write a review or buy these books means the world to me. Thank you, thank you, thank you!