Addicted (The Addicted Series, #1)(94)

"I . . . I will," she said in my ear. "I promise."

"Good. Well, goodbye Chicha. It was good to talk to you. Take care of yourself."

I hung up the phone and passed it back to Curt the lifeguard, who shook his head in disbelief. "You're the last person in the world I expected to say something like that," he said. He held out his hand and I shook it, his grip strong and respectful. "You must have had a recent change of heart."

"You could say that," I replied. "You could say I found my angel, and she's shown me the error of my ways."





Chapter 17


Krystal




It was my turn to wait at the baggage claim at O'Hare, while outside a late summer storm was blowing through town, soaking everything in sight. Thankfully there was no lightning or heavy winds, and from the last I'd been able to see, Julian's flight was going to land on time. I'd come in my car, I actually did have one, I just rarely used it. However, I knew Julian was going to have clothes and baggage, and I didn't want to struggle with that in a cab or on public transportation.

When the board changed and Julian's US Air flight went from on time to landing, I almost shrieked in excitement. The weekend at Alinea had been good, but I didn't care. I wanted to see my Julian, and the longer I went without him, the worse it got. The night before, at jiu-jitsu, Kimberly had ragdolled me I was so distracted, and I pretty much got my ass handed to me by everyone I rolled with. I didn't care, although the bruise in my left calf muscle was giving me at least a small hitch to my step.

The traffic going into Chicago on a Tuesday morning is pretty light compared to the weekends, so I could see Julian as soon as he came out of the secure area of the airport. I ran and threw my arms around his neck, kissing him even as other passengers flowed around us like water. I'm sure some of them bumped into Julian, but he was so strong I didn't feel them at all. "I missed that," he said softly once our lips parted. "I've been dreaming about that for four days."

"Me too," I replied. I looked around, and then cocked my head. "Where's your bags? I thought you'd be coming back with a few suitcases at least."

"Oh, they're coming, but I'm having them shipped here," Julian said. "When I got there, I realized that I just had so much crap in that apartment that I could have filled our place three times over and still had more. So, I picked out what I wanted for Chicago, packed it up and arranged for it to be shipped. The rest I donated to Goodwill, except for a few things I left there just in case we go back to Los Angeles for a vacation or something. The penthouse is my dad's, after all. It's not like it's going to be rented out or anything."

"Donated to Goodwill? Julian, did you really donate a lot of your clothes there? I've seen pictures of how you dressed in LA, you walked down the street in Gucci. Just how much of that did you donate?" The image of a homeless person or somebody who needed Goodwill rocking Dolce Gabana or Ralph Lauren gear from Julian made me want to laugh out loud.

"Oh, all of that crap," he said with a smile. "I don't need hundred dollar t-shirts or five hundred dollar sneakers. I have something far more valuable right here, and she doesn't care if I wear Jean Paul Gautier or Costco."

"That's true," I said. "Come on then, let's get home. I did some furniture rearranging; I hope you like it."

"Oh, like what?" he asked me as we left the terminal, and he followed me to the parking garage. "I didn't know you brought your car."

"Like I said, I thought you'd have suitcases," I replied. We got in, and I fired up the engine on my Nissan. I'd had it for a few years, but the compact SUV got good mileage, and I didn't drive it often. "I'll know better next time."

"I will," Julian said. We left the parking lot and got back on the freeway towards downtown. "By the way, while I was in Los Angeles, I thought of something we really need to do."

"What's that?" I asked, changing lanes to go around a slow driver. "And don't tell me take a shower, that's already on my agenda."

Julian reached over and patted my thigh, shaking his head. "No, but I like that idea too. What I thought of was, going up to Castelbon Manor. Krystal, we really should tell our parents about us, and it's not the sort of thing you tell over the phone or over Skype."

I nodded, and looked over at him. "You sure about this?"

"Dead sure. In fact, there is nothing in my life I'm more sure of than that I want to be with you for as long as I can, and that I want my father and Sandra to know that I am in love with you."

I nodded, and turned my attention back to the freeway. "Alright then. I'll talk with Horst at Alinea tomorrow, and as soon as I can get the time off, we go up to Castelbon Manor."

"Now, in the meantime," Julian nonchalantly commented now that the matter was settled, "what's this about new furniture, and what's this about a shower as soon as we get home?"

I raised an eyebrow, but kept my eyes on the freeway. "I may have gotten a king sized mattress delivered for our bedroom while you were gone," I said, "and as for the shower, well, that's something we'll just have to find out when we get home now, isn't it?"