Addicted (The Addicted Series, #1)(82)

Was this what life with Krystal was going to be like? Just a week ago, I was basically broken down when I realized what a worthless son of a bitch I'd been most of my life. Now, I'd just learned I'd been treating my father like shit my entire life for no reason at all. Jesus, I wasn't even sure I was Julian Castelbon any longer, not that being Julian Castelbon was all that special.

Finally, I gathered myself and looked at Kimberly. "Thank you, Kim," I said, "give me a few minutes? Go check your computer."

She looked into my eyes and then rose without a word, going over to her computer and fired up the other three monitors. I couldn't see much other than her profile as she clicked and typed for about ten minutes, then a single ding as whatever she was doing was completed. Finished, she turned back to me. "You want to talk about it?"

Every other time someone had ever asked me that question in my life, I'd told them to f*ck off. I'm an Alpha, and I don't need to talk about my feelings like some * on Dr. Phil. Instead, what came out of my mouth was, "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did John . . . why did my father let me hate him for so long? He must have known what I was so angry about. It makes no sense."

Kimberly nodded. “I’m sure he did. But, and this is just what I think based on what I learned, that your father didn't say anything because he wanted you to have a good image of at least one of your parents. After he saw that Alicia's lies had already taken hold in your head, and at the age you were, he didn't want you to hate her too. So, he let you think he was the bad guy."

"And the mistresses? Were those lies too?" I asked numbly. "The court records mention them, but nothing about proof."

"There were never any mistresses," Kimberly said. "Each and every one of them, there was proof that supposed adulterous meetings either never happened, or were innocent. Two of them were business partners, again with surveillance footage, one was a doctor he went to because he was having some trouble with his stomach, and the final one had never even met him."

I just shook my head, feeling like someone had taken a hand mixer and stuck it in my brain before turning the whole thing on high. I sat there like that, with my forearms resting on my knees and my head drooping for a while, then I looked up again. "So what now?"

Kimberly looked at me and smiled. "Now, you know the truth. You're Julian Castelbon, you're richer than most of Chicago, and you're young."

"Which doesn't mean shit," I said honestly. "I'd trade it all away in three seconds if I could have Krystal."

Kim shook her head and looked at me like I was insane. "Hey dumbass," she said, before I interrupted her.

"You keep calling me that."

"You keep deserving to be called that. Julian, Krystal is my best friend, I've known her for years. And she is head over heels for you too. When you came to Chicago, she said you could stay with her for a few days. How long has she let you stay in that apartment?"

"A few weeks."

"A few weeks," Kimberly replied. "A few weeks to a man that she'd only known for a grand total of seventy-two hours beforehand. Hell, you've practically moved in, and she hasn't complained one peep about it, other than when you gave her some grief at work. You two have spent more time together in those two weeks than she and I have, which is very rare, by the way. When we do spend time together, she almost never shuts up about you. Since you moved in, the only two topics of conversation she seems to be interested in is the damn cooking show, and you."

In my heart, I could feel a warm ball of hope blooming. Was there really a chance for me? Could I be more than just the * I'd always been? "You really think there's a chance for us?"

"I do. Now, I know what I should say at this point. You two are family, even if it is stepsiblings, it's wrong, yada yada yada. You know what? I don't really care about any of that. What I care about is Krystal being happy, and Julian, you're the closest any man has ever come to making her happy since Danyal Aksoy died. And yes, she's causing you to become a better man too, so that's kind of a nice side benefit. But the ball's in your court now, dude. What are you going to do?"





Chapter 13


Krystal




"And the winner is . . . Chef Shannon!"

Although the producers had me and the rest of the Alinea team off to the side, we were celebrating just as hard as Shannon was as she was congratulated by the Iron Chef. Turning, we were allowed to come back onto the stage and shake hands and embrace her too. We celebrated like we'd just won the Super Bowl, which in a lot of ways, we did. After leaving the stadium, I stopped to watch as the production crew quickly cleared away all the mess, setting up the next battle. They filmed three or four episodes a day, and had to work hard to get Kitchen Stadium spotless in between.

"Shannon?" I said, turning around. Shannon, who was shaking hands with a producer, came over.

"Great job out there, Krystal," she started, giving me another hug. "What's up?"

"Uh, I wanted to hang around a bit longer, just watch and see if I could get an autograph from Iron Chef Morimoto. You mind if I catch up with you guys at the hotel later?"

"Of course not. How about you do what you want, and we'll all catch up in the lobby at six or so. Drinks are on me, and then if you want, we can light up the town a bit."