Page 41 of One Shade of Gray
“You didn’t openit?”
He snorted. “I know you better than that. I want to keep my balls in place, thankyou.”
18
Dorian
Isaton the countertop in my kitchen for an hour, maybe two, I couldn’t tell, between the kidnapping and the return trip home. My clothes smelled like a locker room, and the two red dots on my abs burned with every breath I took. A few more hours and they’d fade tonothing.
Jake may be a very nice man, but I hoped to never see him again. There would be words and likely fists involved. I couldn’t imagine what his sister would say when she learned of his actions. It was almost—almost enough to make me feel sorry forhim.
Izzy’s fingerprints were smudged beside the handle on the refrigerator. When she cooked me dinner, she must have touched it. What I couldn’t stop studying was the shape and length of the hazy ovals. She was taller than I thought Sibyl was. Her hands were larger, but still smaller than my own, larger than Sibyl’stoo.
I’d considered my mental deterioration over the years, and more as of late. This new scare had me on edge. Torn between going to the States to visit the doctors and walking to Izzy’s house, I opted for neither. So I sat on the counter, in the same spot she’d occupied, and I waited until my mind came up with a plan that wouldn’t hurt her, or me,irrevocably.
My phone rang, the shrillbrrringshattered the silence of my home and pushed me further towardhysteria.
I swiped my finger across the face and answered. “Hello?”
“Dorian,” Michael said my name on an exhale. “Thank goodness, I wasn’t sure where you were, and then Ms. Vale told me you left. I wasworried.”
“My apologies for your concern, but I’mfine.”
“You don’t sound fine; in fact, you sound a little out of it. Whathappened?”
“It’s too much to explain over the phone, and I’m not really in the mood. Can I contact you later, and we canchat?”
“Sure, yeah, ofcourse.”
I hung up without saying goodbye. He’d have heard how much effort it took to say that as well. For now, I needed to be alone. If everyone stayed away, they would be safe. If Izzy stayed away, she would besafe.
How did one test for insanity? I could go to the local mental hospital, but that would likely yield the same results as heading to Dr. Robertson’s office in America. Incarceration until death didn’t appeal tome.
Was it all true? Had I imagined that Izzy looked like Sibyl? Was our entire attraction a figment of my decayingmind?
It couldn’t all be, not with Izzy giving herself to me in the ways she did. In two of the three interactions we’d had, she had turned over control to me. That spoke of something deeper thandelusion.
Tired of the sweat-stained clothes smell emanating from me, I hopped off the counter and headed for the shower. Once I got Jake’s Navy workout gear off, I tossed it in the trash and walked back to the already steaming water. As it cascaded from the rainfall shower head, I let my mind drift back to her. Even in the short time we’d been apart, I missed her like I’d lost a vital organ. What did that say about our relationship? Was it a true feeling or something I associated with her because ofSibyl?
I had to still my thoughts and shower one item at a time to avoid going down a rabbit hole I couldn’t climb out of. Once I wore my own clothes again, I felt like I could think on my own again too. It did wonders for improving my mood. Coffee and food next. I sent Michael a text instead of calling him, and he agreed to send food up via the doorman. I ordered an omelet, bacon, and fresh-pressedcoffee.
Money made things move fast, and I paid more than the meal was worth to get it delivered in under a half hour. Alone again with my food, I spent the next twenty minutes only focusing on the task of eating. As soon as I allowed my thoughts to stray, everything wenthaywire.
Though it was more like the second Izzy came to mind, nothing else could get in. Damn that woman and her doe eyes and…I slapped my utensils on the counter, grabbed my cup of coffee, and went to sit on thecouch.
My flat in disarray would usually throw more fire on the kerosene of my volatile mood, but it would seem I’d ignited a bonfire, and anything added to it wasinconsequential.
Coffee in hand, I swiveled and shifted until I sank into the soft leather of my couch. I allowed it to cocoon me and let me float on a caffeine cloud as I came up with a plan. There were priorities toconsider.
Don’t hurt Izzy was the first. The note I’d written was gone, and she likely saw it. So the first priority probably didn’t matter. Unless Jake confessed to his part in my disappearance. He loved his sister, but I wasn’t sure he would actually tell her. I’d spent a brief time with him and read absolutely nothing from his face besides the similarities toIzzy’s.
Why hadn’t she told me he was her twin brother? If he went out of his way to kidnap his sister’s lover, what else could he be capableof?
Seeing her, even if she hated me, still felt like the right thing to do. I couldn’t visit her in my current state. Right now, I appeared more bum than billionaire. If it was the last time we saw each other, I didn’t want that to be the memory she heldonto.
No, I decided I’d see her opening night ofRomeo and Juliet. It could be a test of sorts. That was the last play I saw Sibyl in. The words, the atmosphere, having Izzy there, would all be the perfect test of my mentalfaculties.
What if it wentPhantom of the Operawrong though? Her safety was the most important part of itall.
