Shattered Illusions: Love, Lies, and Redemption

Chapter 83

Remington had headed back to Oakridge Heights early, pulling up to a stop.

Leaning back in his seat, he was eyeing the villa with a gaze as heavy as the air pressure around him.

The place was pitch–dark, a dead giveaway that Lizetta hadn’t come home again.

He lingered in the car, not getting out, until Cedric piped up. “Mr. Remington? You freaked out Lizetta’s friend at the hospital, she might be steamed. Maybe you should sweet–talk her a bit?”

Remington glanced over. “And how do you suggest I do that?”

“Grab a bouquet? Throw in some sweets, girls dig that stuff. Flowers and treats always cheer them up.”

Cedric felt partly to blame for today’s fiasco and was eager to make amends, throwing out suggestions left and right.

Remington’s lips curled into a mocking smile. “Girls also dig jewelry, don’t they?”

He hadn’t forgotten the morning’s episode, where he pushed a jewelry box towards the girl, only to have it chucked squarely at him.

Remington was starting to think his assistant was becoming useless; his skills were going downhill.

Forty minutes later, in the shadows beneath Yolanda’s apartment building.

There he was, in the driver’s seat, with a bunch of gaudy red roses, courtesy of the florist’s hard sell, sitting on the passenger seat.

lights off. Lizetta wasn’t back yet.

at his watch again, pushing nine o’clock, growing impatient, when he spotted a familiar graceful figure sauntering by with a shopping bag in tow.

reached for the flowers,

lanky guy caught up with Lizetta, taking the shopping bag off her hands with a bend of the waist.

and laughing as

guy even patted Lizetta on the shoulder, and instead of

movements froze, the emotion draining

chatted for a bit outside the building. Lizetta waved goodbye cheerfully to the guy

on floor by floor until they hit

in the car, Remington let out a snort.

shot. She seemed in high spirits, simply not in the mood to come

that’s all:

tossed the roses into the trash

made a run to the corner store for some necessities and bumped into Granny Susan’s grandson from the

back, and Lizetta was the one who found her and

קיד.

14-20

Chapter 83

good news

folks fainting could lead to big trouble; she could

pour herself some water and heard a

hand, walked over to