Chapter Fifty-Eight
When Isla arrived at the main house, she was led to one of the sitting rooms beneath a glittering crystal chandelier. She acknowledged everyone as they filtered in. Myles sent her a questioning look to ask if she knew what was going on. She shook her head that she didn’t.
Victor was in an uncharacteristically good mood, even looking forward to the upcoming reception.
Isla tried shaking off her growing unease at the unknown and her irritation at being summoned.
Bennett acted as if she didn’t exist but looked lackluster.
Jackson was already there, forgoing his stick of gum for the scotch Dixon offered him.
He and Isla made eye contact, and Isla thought she saw something in his gaze. Anticipation.
Brooke entered, unusually cheerful and more done up than usual. Her smile stretched widely, her laugh boisterous and loud over nothing funny. Jackson checked his watch.
“What’s this all about?” Victor asked, accepting his drink and choosing one of the armchairs. He crossed one leg over the other. “You’ve gathered us together like in a whodunit.”
Brooke’s laughter carried throughout the room.
To Isla, it sounded threatening. Inside her pocket, Isla’s phone buzzed.
She ignored it, making casual conversation with the others and observing the way Jackson kept checking his watch as he sipped his scotch while Brooke glanced expectantly at the door as if waiting for someone.
Mae stepped into the room a few minutes later, her expression unreadable.
“Mrs. Corrigan, the guest you were expecting has arrived,” she said stiffly. “Should I show her in?”
Brooke nodded. Her eyes sparkled as she headed toward Mae, eager to receive whoever was there. Isla’s heart leaped when she heard she, and for a brief moment she had a glimmer of hope. Eden.
Except it wasn’t Eden, Isla realized when Charli Galveston sidestepped Mae, not waiting to be announced.
She went straight for Brooke, and the two women hugged like they were long-lost friends.
Isla was too busy contending with her surge of confusion and disappointment that the person wasn’t Eden returned that she couldn’t feel what she should have, dread and fear.
Dressed in a body-hugging dress that accentuated all her curves, Charli looked every bit the wild showgirl she had been when Isla had first met her in Atlanta.
Her shrewd eyes bounced from person to person.
She took a deep inhale of the room, the people, and the wealth surrounding her. Her smile grew. She had hit pay dirt.
“My God! That thing in the floor in your foyer,” Charli gushed, referring to the same mosaic that Isla had been in awe of.
“I’ve never seen something like that before.
How much did it cost? Wait, is that rude of me to ask?
” Her smile grew and her body language said more as she took in every man in the room.
Even bland-looking Dixon wasn’t spared a hungry look. All Charli saw was dollar signs.
All Isla saw was the axe swinging at her neck.
It was all over for her.
Charli wasted no time sliding into the empty chair beside Isla, her presence overpowering the room, her perfume even more powerful.
“Well, isn’t this cozy?” she purred, her eyes darting around the room, finally settling on Isla.
“Brooke, can you get one of your maids to make me a vodka tonic? Maybe the one who showed me in?”
Mae glared at her before pointedly walking out.
Charli said, “Can she do that? Isn’t the help supposed to do whatever they’re asked to do?”
“Don’t worry about her,” Brooke said sweetly, happily making Charli’s drink herself and handing it to her. Isla concentrated on the patterns on the Persian rug in front of her.
“My God, Isla, you’ve certainly done well for yourself.
” Charli leaned in close. Her whisper was more a bullhorn, and her breath smelled like peppermint and vodka.
“What a great setup. You could have at least changed your name. Haven’t you learned anything?
Same initials, different name. Running the Con 101. ”
Isla gave her nothing. She’d let this play out, since her gig was up. It was only a matter of time, and her time had run out.
She thought about Myles, who gawked at Charli, questions surrounding his head like a crown. Victor was confounded, expecting his wife to explain the audacious newcomer. The statuesque Pam Grier look-alike was not the typical guest to grace their home.
“Brooke,” Victor said, “what kind of joke is this?”
The only other person not surprised by Charli’s appearance was Jackson, as he sat coolly and expectantly.
“Cat got your tongue, sweetheart?” Charli teased, knowing she had Isla’s number.
She was a fox in the henhouse. “Why didn’t you tell me where you were going, huh?
” Charli continued, even though Isla wasn’t replying to her.
She wasn’t even looking Charli’s way, fixated on the rug.
Isla knew the rest of what Charli wanted to say.
That Isla should have told her where she was going so Charli could get a cut. “Your hostess, Mrs. Corrigan—”
“Oh please, call me Brooke. We’re like that now.”
“Brooke was nice enough to invite me all the way from LA. She thought I might like to see the lovely young woman she’s been hosting so graciously, especially after some of the accidents you’ve had.
Sweetheart, you didn’t tell me this when you said you were going on a job and dropped off the face of the earth. ”
That was where Isla had made her mistake.
In her eagerness to get here, she had only given Charli vague information, when in the past she’d told her when and how long she’d be gone, fueling Charli’s curiosity and determination even more.
Brooke approached them, and Isla tore her eyes from the rug to face her.
The smile on Brooke’s face was the first genuine smile Brooke had shown since Isla’s arrival.
She was happy, relishing Isla’s takedown immensely.
She would stretch this torture out as long as she could.
And Isla would let her, because Brooke had her now.
And after tonight, Isla wouldn’t have access to Victor again if Brooke had her way, but Isla hadn’t planned for this.
The take was not with her. The setup was not on her terms. She had to remain silent.
Brooke tutted, “I just didn’t feel right, a young lady like yourself here all alone with people you barely know. You never talk about your family. You’ve been totally entrenched in our lives instead.”
Isla understood Brooke’s purposeful wording encased in fake concern.
“I know it’s been for the article on Victor, but, Isla, you have a whole life in LA that you gave up for this. And quite a colorful past too. Isn’t it fascinating how small the world is, Victor?” Brooke said, like a viper about to strike.
Victor said, “What’s this about, Brooke? Who is this and why is she here?” He set his drink down.
Brooke’s smile slipped, embarrassment reddening her face. But she only had to look down at Isla and Charli and was rejuvenated. “Just wait, dear.”
As she turned back to Isla, Charli said, “Why don’t you tell them all about LA? And about Daytona. Or should I? We can do it together.”
Isla finally said, “Charli, let’s step out to talk.”
“Oh no,” Brooke jumped in. “There are no secrets among family, right? Isn’t that why you’re here? To sniff out everyone’s secrets and blackmail us to keep those secrets?”
“Oh, I think I understand.” Charli’s voice hardened. “You came here only saying you were going on a job. Even your friends wouldn’t spill, no matter how much I tried. So when I get a call, saying a Mrs. Corrigan of Corrigan Enterprises—”
“Group,” Bennett said eagerly, when his initial shock subsided. “The Corrigan Group.”
“If you say so,” Charli said to him. Her eyes traveled the length of him, resting in places it shouldn’t have in front of his parents. He squirmed beneath her examination. “You, by the way, are a gorgeous piece of work. God, the things I could do to you.” She growled, fanning herself.
Bennett crossed his legs and turned away, the first time Isla had ever seen him uncomfortable.
“No wonder you’ve been off the grid. You landed yourself a big catch here. Moved up like the Jeffersons. Before your time, but your parents know what I mean,” Charli said to Myles and Bennett.
“Enough!” Victor finally boomed, silencing the room. “Someone better explain what the hell is going on and who is this—this woman is.”
“Charli.” Charli waggled her fingers at him. “Charli Galveston, like the city. But not where I’m from.”
Brooke said, “Victor, I know this will be a shock. Believe me, I was as shocked as you will be. But after Isla got hurt, I did some digging, because what if something happened to her? Who’d be her next of kin?
But it turned out Isla isn’t who she says she is.
Or not entirely who she says she is. Do I have that about right, Charli? ”
“That you do,” Charli said. “I took her in when she was just a kid, gave her a roof over her head, showed her the ropes, and how does she repay me? By skipping town with no word or thanks. See, I met Isla when she was sixteen in Georgia. We were taking the same train to Los Angeles. I took her in while she went to school and got a job at the retirement home I run. She ended up starting a business with a couple of friends to dig up the dirty secrets of celebrities. Think TMZ but more low key. But Isla is from Daytona. That’s where she said she was coming from when I met her. ”
Isla shook her head. All the time she’d spent, just when she was about to figure it all out—all undone just like that.
The air crackled with electricity, and she felt everyone’s eyes on her.
“Is this true?” Victor demanded, his voice low and dangerous. “You’re from Daytona?”
Words wouldn’t come to Isla. The walls were closing in, and every pair of eyes was on her.
Charli tutted. “Indeed! I might do a little something-something on the side, but I checked her name before getting her the new ID. Isla Thomas, born and raised in Daytona. You can’t get much more than that because Isla was in group homes, so you know, juvenile records are sealed.
This daughter of yours, Edie? Well, Isla, isn’t that your best friend from Daytona that you mentioned?
See, on our way to LA, Isla told me the saddest story of how she was put in the system because her dad died and her mama was in the wind.
Then she met this girl named Eden Galloway.
Apparently, the girl’s mom died, and the two of them decided to skip out to LA together, only they got separated on the way.
Real sad story, huh? Should be on Lifetime or the Hallmark Channel or something.
I felt for this poor girl and took her under my wing.
Treated her like my own. So imagine my surprise when I learn that her Eden Galloway is your Edie Corrigan and that Isla hasn’t told any of you of her connection to your girl, and that Isla is writing some article.
I hate to think she’s running a con,” Charli said regretfully. “That’s not how she was raised.”
“You didn’t raise me,” Isla shot back. She stood abruptly, the chair nearly toppling back from the force.
The room was suffocating, and there were so many thoughts going through her, so many things she wanted to say but couldn’t.
How dare Charli make it look like Isla was here to steal from Eden’s family. Charli was the con, not her.
Everyone’s eyes were on her, all their hostility, confusion, betrayal, and satisfaction directed at her. She didn’t dare look at Myles. Or, worse, at Victor. She didn’t want to see how they looked at her.
“If only you’d kept me in the loop. I’d have covered for you when Brooke called,” Charli said and took another deep sip of her drink. “You make a mean vodka tonic, Brooke.”
“Isla?” Myles said. She still wouldn’t look at him.
“This explains everything,” Bennett said, laughing. “She was a con artist from the start. I said she was. I knew something was up with her.”
“Is this true?” Victor’s voice rumbled, demanding her attention. “Isla?”
She forced herself to meet his eyes. She saw an ocean of emotion coursing through him. He heaved from his restraint. He had been lied to.
“It is true I knew Eden, but I was not here to con you,” she started.
“I trusted you,” Victor said, his voice shaking.
“I welcomed you into my home, and you’ve been lying to us this whole time?
Thank God Holl isn’t here to hear this. This was all an act?
” One of the most shrewd businessmen in the whole country, taken in by a young woman.
When he spoke again, his voice was low and his anger simmering.
Isla heard something else there too. A hurt he tried to mask beneath anger and threat, but he couldn’t hide from her.
“You should get your things and leave. Immediately. Before I call the authorities.”
“But, Victor,” Brooke complained. “We can’t let her go like this. She needs to be arrested!”
Victor said, “What she needs is to get out of my house.”
Isla barely remembered leaving the sitting room, her ears ringing with Charli’s accusations, Brooke’s triumphant smirk, and Bennett’s laugh.
He laughed her right out of the room. She didn’t take the golf cart.
She walked the entire way. For the second time, she had been expelled from the Corrigan home in shame. But this time it was no frame-up.
By the time she made it back to her room, her legs felt like lead.
Her phone buzzed again, and this time she checked it. A series of messages from Nat, saying that Charli was gone.
Isla laughed bitterly. Too late.
She was in the middle of stuffing her belongings into her bags when there was a knock at the door.
It was probably security, sent to escort her out.
Or what if it was Charli, come to stick the knife in more?
Or maybe it was Mae or Lawrence, disappointed and hating her for lying to their face.
When she opened the door, Myles was on the other side, his expression a mixture of anger and hurt, a younger image of his father.
They stood watching each other for what seemed like an eternity. Neither wanted to start first or face their truth, but she owed him that.
“I’m leaving as fast as I can. I’m nearly packed,” Isla informed him, keeping her face blank and voice flat.
“That’s good,” Myles said, his fists balled at his sides. “You need to make it quick. I will escort you out instead of security so the rest of the staff doesn’t see.”
Isla was thankful Myles offered her that courtesy. She wanted to ask him why he was doing this when he didn’t have to. She decided that there were some things better left unsaid.