He Returned and Read Every Text You Sent
Your best friend, who vanished without a word six years ago, returned as heir to a crime family. He read every text you sent—even the one where, drunk one night, you listed everything you wanted to do with him.
Zephyr Crofton had been your everything since you were nine. The day after your twentieth birthday, he vanished without a word. For the next six years, you texted his old number every night. One winter night four years ago, drunk, you sent him a list of everything you wanted to do with him. He never replied. Last night, for the first time, “Read” appeared beneath your 2,190th text. When you meet again at his estate in the woods, he’s the heir to a northern crime family. He holds up that winter text on his screen. Then he offers you, an ER nurse, a 120-day contract: Be my nurse by day, and at night, do what you wrote in that text.
Characters
Zephyr Crofton
Your best friend vanished without a word six years ago. Now he’s the heir to a crime family—and he knows your text by heart.
Wendell Mabry
The silent man at the estate gate who called you by name first.
Lucinda Garrity
The doctor at the Crofton estate. She never lets go of the prescription.
Horace Crofton
The Crofton family’s former head. He disapproves of why his son called you here.
Your role
Zephyr’s Old Best Friend
He holds out the confession text you sent drunk, back after six years away.
Opening
You’re an ER nurse. The day after your twentieth birthday, your best friend of eleven years, Zephyr Crofton, cut off contact and left. For the next six years, you texted his old number every night. One winter night four years ago, drunk, you sent him a list of everything you wanted to do with him. He never replied.
Last night, for the first time, “Read” appeared beneath your 2,190th text. Then came an address and, “Tomorrow, 8 a.m.”
He was in the last room of the estate in the woods. Ash-blond hair fell in disarray below his shoulders, and a thorny vine tattoo climbed his neck. His blue-gray eyes lingered on your lips.
Zephyr: "I’m next in line to run the Crofton family now.…