A Literary Vacation : Excerpt of The Lucky Ones by Tiffany Reisz

Pub. Date: February 13th, 2018
Publisher: MIRA
Pages: 368

They called themselves “the lucky ones”

They were seven children either orphaned or abandoned by their parents and chosen by legendary philanthropist and brain surgeon Dr. Vincent Capello to live in The Dragon, his almost magical beach house on the Oregon Coast. Allison was the youngest of the lucky ones living an idyllic life with her newfound family…until the night she almost died, and was then whisked away from the house and her adopted family forever.

Now, thirteen years later, Allison receives a letter from Roland, Dr. Capello’s oldest son, warning her that their father is ill and in his final days. Allison determines she must go home again and confront the ghosts of her past. She’s determined to find out what really happened that fateful night — was it an accident or, as she’s always suspected, did one of her beloved family members try to kill her?

But digging into the past can reveal horrific truths, and when Allison pieces together the story of her life, she’ll learns the terrible secret at the heart of the family she once loved but never really knew.

Excerpt of The Lucky Ones

She glared at him, tight-lipped, not amused.

“Five hundred Ben Franklins don’t take up a lot of space,” he said. “Don’t believe everything you see in movies. Even one million won’t fill a briefcase, unless it’s all in ones.”

“And you’re giving it to me out of the goodness of your heart?” she asked.

“I am. You should know, my lawyer tried to tell me I should get you to sign an NDA before I gave you the money. I told him to shove it.”

“An NDA? He wanted me to sign a nondisclosure agreement for sleeping with you?”

“I pay the man to protect me,” McQueen said. “My daughter’s ex-babysitter talking to the press about how I slept with her at the tender age of nineteen might hurt me a little. You know I want to run for governor one of these days. But I’m not making you sign anything. I trust you. I have always trusted you. The money is yours free and clear. I want you to take it. You’re only hurting yourself if you don’t.”

“I shouldn’t accept it,” she said. “It’ll let you off the hook too easily.”

He smiled at that. He knew his own faults, which was one of his few virtues.

“But I’m going to take it,” she said.

“You earned it.”

“I did,” she said. “But not because I put up with you the past six years. I earned this much just for putting up with this conversation.”

He lowered his head and exhaled loudly.

“You don’t make it easy on a man,” he said. “You could say thank you. Most girlfriends don’t get severance pay after a breakup.”

“I’m not your girlfriend, remember?” She put the money into the box. She saw her earrings. She saw the rent receipt. She saw the letter. She saw two thick envelopes.

“What are those?”

“One’s your mail. The other’s…they’re the pictures.”

“Our pictures?” she asked.

He slowly nodded. “You have any idea how much it hurt giving those pictures up?”

“How much?”

“A lot. I came this close to keeping them.” He held up his fingers a hairbreadth apart.

“They’re pornographic,” she said, glaring at him.

“They’re beautiful. And you’re beautiful in them. And I don’t look too bad myself.”

“What about running for governor someday?” she asked.

“That’s the only reason I gave them back to you,” he said.

“You seem sadder about losing them than losing me.”

“Cricket, please…”

“Don’t call me that anymore,” she said, closing her eyes. “I did everything you asked me to do—in bed and out. Everything. I never asked for anything from you. I never complained. I never…” She never made a scene. She never cried in front of him. She did all his favorite tricks.

“We had six good years,” he said.

“Good for you. I was nineteen. Do you feel bad about that at all?”

“Let me ask you this,” he said. “Do you?”

“You want me to absolve you.”

“I want you to be honest with me,” he said. “Did I take advantage of you? If I did, then tell me. Or did you want it as much as I did?”

“I was nineteen,” she said again.

“You weren’t drafted into the army. You had sex with an older man who paid your rent and your bills and gave you diamonds for Christmas. You knew what the deal was when I offered it to you. I’ve told my fair share of lies to my fair share of women,” he said. “But I never lied to you about us. Did I?”

Allison would have argued except it was true. Of course he never lied to her. Lovers lied to protect the loved one. No love to protect meant no need for lies.

“No, you never lied to me.”

McQueen met her eyes for a split second before glancing away, a guilty look on his face.

“So this is it?” she asked. “The end?”

“I’d like to have sex with you before I leave,” he said.

Allison stared at him, incredulous.

“Yes, and I’d like to marry a knight-errant and raise rare-breed cats with him in our castle by the sea,” she said.

“I’m taking that as a ‘no’ to breakup sex,” he said.

“Safe to say that’s a ‘no.’

About the Author

Tiffany Reisz lives in Lexington, Kentucky with her husband, author Andrew Shaffer. Learn more about Tiffany on her website and connect with her on Facebook and Instagram.