.jpg)
An Aeon by birth, Diane Butler knew when she walked away from fellow descendants of Atlantis that she wanted certain things: wealth, power, acceptance. But she’d come to realize she didn’t belong with Dark Sides, despite its benefits, and had a change of heart, joining the Aeons to save the City of Auralia from darkness. Now that the lengthy battle is over, she’s adopted her middle name, Cassie, and has put the past behind her. But when her past comes after her, she understands that she can’t escape it or her loneliness with a simple name change.
Sitting back with his feet up on the coffee table, Emmett relaxed into the chair, appreciating the surroundings at his sister’s house. It was easy to sit in her home, with its farm-house décor and family ambiance. A Monday, and her young children were in school, so he savored the quiet.
His sisters, Luna and Savone, were go getters, while he liked to watch, rather than get involved. But today, he sought advice, and Luna was a good candidate for input.
“You want your coffee black, right?” Luna called from the kitchen.
“Yup, still do.”
“Here you go,” she said, setting a steaming mug on the table beside him. “Get your feet off my table,” she added, brushing his feet to the floor with a smile.
“I know you don’t have much time to talk, so I’ll get to the point.”
“I have a few hours before I have to get to the hospital for my shift, but go ahead.” Luna sipped her coffee.
He weighed his words. His relationship with both his sisters had always been close, but opening up about his private life had not been his way. He swirled the coffee in his cup, working up to his question. “It’s complicated.” He slanted his head, gathering his thoughts. “Do you remember I did a job last year at a CEO’s house, a really well-known wealthy guy in Auralia?”
Luna nodded. “Yes, I remember that. He had a mansion near the Wherryrite River. He wanted a custom-made banister for his stairway. You said it was a kind of spiral staircase in his foyer.”
“Well, turns out that guy had some connections to a criminal organization. I wasn’t involved in any of that, but he was and I knew that.”
“What kind of criminal organization? Do you mean organized crime, like selling drugs and fraud, things like that?”
He nodded, his chest tightening with self-loathing.
“Emmett, what did you do?”
“Nothing. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Luna tilted her head. “So you didn’t get involved in this guy’s criminal activity, no drug smuggling, no roughing people up, no murders, no attempts to over-throw the Auralia government?”
“Right. Definitely no murders and none of the other things, either.” He rubbed his hands against his pants.
“Then what’s the problem?”
“I didn’t do anything.” He stared at his hands, repeatedly running over the fabric of his pants. Twisting in his seat, he looked directly into her eyes. “I didn’t do a damn thing.”
Luna stared at him. “You didn’t do something, and now that’s a problem.”
After cutting her writing teeth as a feature writer for commercial and trade magazines, a reporter for newspapers and radio, and an executive editor for a communications company, award-winning author Lynn Crandall tuned her voracious appetite for stories to writing contemporary and paranormal romance, women’s fiction, and romantic suspense. In her books, she enjoys taking readers on emotional journeys with relatable characters who refuse to back down, and face challenges and tribulations with heart and soul. She believes every love has a story, and hers is with one handsome husband and a large, beautiful circle of family, including her cat Winter.
We appreciate you featuring MOVE ME today.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely blog! Thank you for hosting my book Move Me and for supporting my writing. I enjoy interacting with readers and look forward to doing do with your followers.
ReplyDelete