Lost (The Allure Chronicles Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

I wouldn’t have to fear Louie’s advances?”
    “You don’t have to fear anything.” Violet seemed confused. “Or you shouldn’t. You don’t actually feel fear, do you?” She watched me carefully.
    “No. It was a figure of speech.” But I did feel physically uncomfortable about Louie.
    “Did you really want to manipulate?” Roland asked.
    “Yes, unless anyone else has a better idea of what to do.” I needed to get out of that room.
    “I think I can come up with something,” Hugh grinned.
    “Uh oh.” I shook my head. “What did I just suggest?”

4
    Owen
    I woke up with a start . The dream had been so real. I’d felt her and tasted her. It was as though she’d actually been there with me. I closed my eyes again, wanting to return to the feeling in the dream, to a place where Daisy was still mine, and she could feel how much I loved her.
    I remained in the cotton sheets trying to hold on to the remnants of the dream. Her eyes, her lips. I needed to savor each morsel. After a few minutes, I accepted the truth. The dream was gone, and unless we found a miracle, so was Daisy.
    It was the middle of the night, but I couldn’t stay in bed any longer. I couldn’t handle another reminder of what I couldn’t have. I dressed quickly and walked out of the room.
    I’d gone along with Hailey’s idea and returned home to New Orleans for a night before we went to see Mayanne. Literally home. I was staying at my parents’ house because I didn’t have a place of my own in New Orleans anymore. I hadn’t stayed over there in years, and it felt strange to be walking around my childhood home.
    I walked down the stairs, surprised to hear the TV on. No one in my family usually watched TV.
    “Owen?” My dad’s voice carried into the stairwell.
    “Yeah, it’s me.” I walked into the small carpeted den. It was the only room in the house my mom had relented and allowed my father to carpet. She generally won the battles in my family.
    Dad turned from the rerun of an old Sci-Fi show. “Are you ready to tell me why you’re home?”
    “Do you mind?” I hesitated in the doorway, unsure if I really wanted to sit with him and endure the questioning.
    “I don’t mind that you’re home, but I’m worried.”
    “Why are you worried?” I’d tried to hide everything from my parents. It was usually easy with my dad; my mom was the more observant one.
    “Because you and your sister are getting along.” He ran his hand over his five-o’clock shadow. “You never get along.”
    “That’s not true. We do sometimes.” As much as we fought, we always had each other’s backs. Hailey had mine at the moment.
    He nodded. “You do when one of you is in trouble.”
    “Hailey’s fine.” Thankfully. She’d given us all a few scares over the years.
    “I know Hailey’s fine. That means you’re not.” Dad muted the TV.
    “I’ll be ok.” I wasn’t sure if I believed the words. Losing Daisy had destroyed me.
    “Come sit down.” He pointed to the worn armchair cattycorner to where he was seated.
    I momentarily considered refusing, but there was no reason to alienate my family. I took the seat he suggested. “I’m sitting.”
    He stretched out his long legs in front of him. “What’s going on?”
    “It’s a long story.”
    “Then you better start talking.” He rolled his shoulder.
    “It’s nothing you can help me with, so what’s the point?”
    “Do you think that little of me?” He pressed a hand to his temple.
    “That’s not it.” My goal wasn’t to piss off my dad. I already had enough to worry about.
    “You’re a man. You are entitled to do things your own way, but maybe put a little bit of faith in me once and awhile.”
    I blinked a few times and prepared myself. “I lost someone.”
    “A female someone?”
    “Yes.”
    “That’s happened before.” There was no judgment in his words.
    “Not like this. Not like her.” No one was like Daisy. No one could make me feel so complete and so