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.

floor, lights off. Lizetta wasn’t

his watch again, pushing nine o’clock, growing impatient, when he spotted a familiar graceful figure sauntering by with a

flowers, ready to step out.

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

and laughing as they

Lizetta on the shoulder, and instead of ducking away, she beamed back at him,

movements froze, the emotion

the building. Lizetta waved goodbye cheerfully to the guy before taking the bag

gazing up, watching the lights flick on floor by floor until they

in the car, Remington let out a

off, not by a long shot. She seemed in

that’s all:

tossed the roses into the trash bin and drove awa

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

days back, and Lizetta was the one who found her and called the

קיד.

14-20

Chapter 83

been waiting to give her the good news that

folks fainting could lead to big trouble;

pour herself some water and heard

hand, walked over to the window for