Reborn Yesterday - Tessa Bailey Page 0,69

when Jonas appeared between her and the door with a determined set to his jaw. “Will my mate not kiss me goodbye?”

Flowers bloomed in the soil of her nerve endings, sprouting like spring daisies. “Are you sure that’s a good—”

Jonas mouth was already on hers, depleting her lungs of breath. He took it into himself and gave it back to her in a greedy exchange. The fingers of his right hand molded to the back of her neck, sliding up into her hair and fisting it, his tongue traveling into her mouth to touch their tongues together. Just a hint. And another. Such gentle friction compared to his hold which might as well have been made of steel bars. Ginny’s thighs itched to perch on his hips, but he made her too dizzy to follow through, once again pulling the air from her body and breathing it into her once again.

“I carry you in my veins, you carry me in your lungs.”

Dazed, she nodded.

With a satisfied smirk, he turned her to face the door where Roksana was still waiting with her eyes averted. “Tonight, Ginny.”

She left in such a daze, she didn’t realize until they were standing outside on the sidewalk that Jonas didn’t blindfold her. Turning to face the building, she realized she’d been sleeping in the basement of the abandoned Shore Theater all along. The men’s apartment was a series of dressing rooms, wasn’t it? That’s where those big-bulbed frames came from.

“Nothing surprises me anymore,” she murmured, staring up at the boarded up arches and vintage stonework.

“No?” Roksana said, tossing her a wink. “In this world, when things stop surprising you, wait five minutes.”

In that moment, Ginny didn’t know enough to acknowledge the truth of her friend’s words. She would soon enough.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Ginny stepped aside to avoid being run over by Larissa and her suitcase.

“What do you mean you’re outta here?”

“I’ll explain it one more time,” her stepmother called over her shoulder. “An investor called and asked if the business was for sale. I told him, yes, of course. That he should get in touch with you to make an offer. But he was only interested in my share.”

Larissa ran back up the stairs, emerging a moment later with another suitcase, this one bursting at the seams with undergarments.

“I don’t know why I never thought of that angle before, but your father’s will states that the company would be split fifty-fifty in the event of his demise. There’s no language precluding me from transferring my portion to someone else. And it’s done.” She held up her arms in a touchdown signal. “Hallelujah. I’m out.”

“But…” Ginny pressed the back of her wrist to her forehead. “You just sold half of the business without speaking to me?”

“I spoke to my lawyer.”

Ginny sat down on the stairs out of necessity. Her legs would no longer support her. “But I don’t even know this person.”

“I’m sorry, sweetie, but that’s no longer my problem.” Larissa slowed on her third trip up the stairs, sighing as she passed Ginny. “Look, you’re a good girl. Kind of weird, but nobody’s perfect. I gave it the old college try, honey.” She lifted a hand and let it drop. “This place just gives me the fucking creeps.”

“Did you really love my father?” Ginny blurted the question, unaware that it had been sitting on her tongue for years without being voiced. More than that, it had been eating at her, wondering if this woman who’d soaked up so much of Peter Lynn’s legacy had ever known how quietly extraordinary a human being he was. “Did you, Larissa? Because this place you detest so much…is him. It’s so him.”

“Yes,” her stepmother whispered shakily, her eyes turning to two perfect pools of glass. “I did love him. Why do you think I’ve stayed this long? Why do you think I’ve been trying so hard to—” She cut herself off with a headshake. “Yes, I loved Peter Lynn, right down to his uneven beard and mismatched socks.”

Ginny closed her eyes. “Thank you.”

Genuine grief flashed in her stepmother’s eyes. “One last chance to come with me.” Larissa playfully punched Ginny in the shoulder. “Make a clean start somewhere.”

“I have to stay.”

Larissa nodded. “That’s that, then, I guess.” She looked like she wanted to say more, but she hopped to her feet once more, as if the poignant moment never happened. “The investor offered me double my asking price for fifty percent of P. Lynn. The only condition was I get out today.”

“What?