5. The Prince of Paradise
CHAPTER 5
The Prince of Paradise
Nikki
Hipolita Morrow.
Now there was a name I hadn’t heard since college. It sounded so alien. This was usually the point in a conversation with a stranger where I had to explain I was half Brazilian, that I was named after my maternal grandmother. But not with Henry. This gorgeous man was really Henry Cavalier, my Henry. But dammit, whether he recognized me or not didn’t matter. Our story was over. I came back for Lisa. Her life was on the line.
“Hipolita.” His voice was strained.
A knock on the front lobby door made me jump. Dom Moretti walked across the threshold, and my world stopped spinning. I blinked to clear my vision, and I ran into his arms. He didn’t question it, just held me. When I glanced up at him, his eyes were dark pools shooting daggers at Henry.
“Darling, you came. It’s so good to see you.” I placed my hand on his cheek .
“I’m so glad I did.” His gaze fell to my hand gripping his sleeve. “Who’s your friend?”
“Oh, him? He’s not a friend. Just a construction worker.” I didn’t bother to look at Henry, just waved my hand in dismissal.
“I’m not a construction worker,” Henry deadpanned.
“Let’s go upstairs. We’ll be more comfortable there.” I winked at Dom and led him to the grand staircase.
Behind us, the sofa lumbered across the floor with a screeching sound. Two seconds later Henry slammed the front door.
“What was that all about?” Dom asked. “That asshole try something?”
“No.” I made my way to my bedroom window to push it open.
Hot air blew against my face and did nothing to ease the ache in my heart. Below the balcony, Henry stomped around the big hole in the ground, barking orders at his men. Russ raised both eyebrows at him, mouth slightly open, but didn’t question Henry’s instructions.
“That guy’s pissed.” Dom joined me on the small balcony. There was barely enough standing room for the two of us. “Who is he really, doll?”
Henry picked up debris off the roof of my Mercedes and threw it onto the backhoe loader. His workers slanted glances at him but didn’t say anything. The scowl on his face told them to let him be. This wasn’t the happy, carefree Henry I knew. The one who owned everything around us, who’d thought anything was possible. I rubbed a hand across my chest. The old wound was bleeding again, the way it did every time I thought of Henry.
“He’s the Prince of Paradise.” I swallowed the lump in my throat .
“The prince of what?” Chuckling, Dom set his briefcase on the bed.
“The prince of a fairy tale I once thought could be mine,” I muttered.
Henry looked up just as Dom came back to the window, snaked his hand around my waist, and kissed my temple. “This asshole broke your heart?”
Tears stung my eyes as I met his gaze. “His family founded Paradise Creek. They were rich and bigger than life. Everyone in town treated them like royalty. They still do.” I shook my head. I was one of those people, maybe even worse. Like all the girls in town, I had the biggest crush on the Cavalier boy. “When our parents died?—”
“I didn’t know that. I’m so sorry.” Dom sighed.
“It’s fine.” I wiped my nose.
“How did it happen?”
“Car accident on the 101. I was ten. Lisa was eighteen. We were happy, and just like that, our lives were over.”
“I didn’t know that, Nikki.” Dom shook his head, pursing his lips.
“I never told you.” I smiled at him and shrugged.
Henry was the only other person who knew my story. He knew because he’d been there when Lisa had the brilliant idea of getting us a job at Cavalier Manor. She’d just turned eighteen and asked for custody of me. Getting a job as a live-in maid was the only way to keep our family together. I’d been embarrassed to go work for the Cavalier family, for Henry. What I hadn’t expected then was for him to welcome us with open arms.
In the summer we spent there, Henry and I became friends. He taught me that my life wasn’t over, that we could still be happy. For a little while, I let myself dream that Henry and I could be more than just friends .
“Come on,” he’d said when he found me in his mother’s garden under a mesquite tree. “I know exactly what you need to feel better.” He held out his hand, a strand of blond hair touching his forehead. My heart did a backward somersault when his fingers wrapped around my elbow. I stood, a few inches taller than he was, mesmerized by his brilliant smile.
“Where are we going?” I’d asked. I would’ve followed him to the end of the world.
He held my hand and led me to the far side of Cavalier Manor. Hidden behind the bushes that lined the wall was a small door, barely big enough for us to get through.
“It’s a secret tunnel. It leads to the kitchen. Only Mom and I know about it,” he’d said. “You like hot chocolate?”
After that night, he would sneak into my bedroom almost every night, and we’d hide in the tunnels to drink our hot chocolates. With Henry holding my hand, the pain of losing my parents had been bearable.
“Is that how you ended up at Cavalier Manor?” Dom asked, bringing me back to the present.
“How do you know that?”
“I went through Lisa’s files.” He pulled me toward the bed and gestured for me to sit.
“How is she?” I sat, blinking away tears.
“No idea. She wouldn’t see me. I think her exact words were: Nikki’s fancy lawyer is not my lawyer. Don’t ever let him in.”
“She wants to prove she’s innocent and thinks you’ll just find a technicality to get her out.”
Dom scratched the stubble on his cheek. “I have a friend helping. We went through her files, and I’m sorry, but finding reasonable doubt is the only way to get her out. It was a gruesome crime, Nikki.”
“She didn’t do it.” I shot to my feet .
“I believe you.” He put up his hand. “I thought we could go through her file together and see if anything jumps out at you. You were there. Maybe there’s something you missed or forgot to mention.”
“I was ten when it happened. None of it makes sense. I don’t know if I can help.” I pressed a hand to my forehead. Truth was, I didn’t want to remember. The blood had been everywhere. When Henry found me, I was on my knees dry heaving.
“I know this is hard, but if you want to help your sister, you need to push yourself to remember.” Dom squeezed my fingers.
I nodded. My pulse slowed down to a painful beat when he opened the manila folder. Pictures of Henry’s dad lying in a pool of his own blood slid onto the bed. Henry . I brushed my fingers over the pictures, moving them out of the way to see the next one. My stomach rolled, and my hands turned cold and clammy—like they did every time I tried to remember. But this was for Lisa. I swallowed and sat up straighter.
“This one right here caught…my attention.” Dom tapped on the picture.
On instinct, I looked upward. I counted to ten and forced myself to focus on Mr. Cavalier, his slack mouth, and lifeless eyes.
Dom placed his index finger on an eight-by-ten picture and slipped it in my direction. “This scratch on his arm. It doesn’t seem like much, but there’s no mention of it in the autopsy. So I had a friend take a look. It’s postmortem. A halfway decent lawyer would’ve picked up on that.”
“What do you mean?”
“A postmortem, nonviolent scrape?” He raised an eyebrow. “The body was moved.”
“Like he was dragged across a sharp edge?” I stared at the picture and the small scrape .
“Maybe. I’ll keep digging. This may be the technicality we need to get your sister out.” I opened my mouth to speak, but he put up his hand. “I know that’s not what she wants. How about you focus on remembering more details, and I focus on my fancy lawyering? Deal?”
“Darling, thank you for this.”
“No need to thank me. You did Derek a solid. We owe you.” He gathered all the pictures and stuffed them back in the folder.
“Yeah, after I sold him out.” I scoffed.
“You fixed it, though. That’s all that matters to him. Because of you, he’s happy.” With a sigh, he handed me the folder. “I’ll leave this with you. If you think of anything, call me.”
“I will.” I trudged to the door, trying to erase James Cavalier’s face from my mind. I didn’t want these memories in my head. I wasn’t ready.
When I turned, Dom’s face had returned to his usual devil-may-care look, a big wolfy grin across his face. “You know he thinks we’re having sex up here. Right?” He pointed toward the window.
“I know.”
“Well, I can honestly say I’ve never had fake sex before. Not what it’s cracked up to be.” He winked.
“Come on. I’ll see you out.” I laughed and opened the door.
He followed me down the hallway toward the grand staircase. From up here we had a view of the entire lobby, with the sheets dividing it in half.
“What’s with the wall?” He tugged at the flowing fabric.
I giggled, mostly for Henry’s benefit. He sat at the bar, gripping his beer so tight I was surprised the glass hadn’t crumbled in his hands. I pointed at the sheets. “I call it the Great Wall. That side belongs to the construction guy, and the other side is mine.”
Dom chuckled. “There’s never a dull moment with you, Nikki Swift. Which reminds me, here’s your check. Cashier’s, as requested.” He handed me a white envelope as we descended the steps.
At the bar, Henry choked on his beer, coughing a couple of times to clear his throat.
When we reached the lobby door, I threw my arms around Dom’s neck. “Darling, it was so good to see you.”
“Always a pleasure.” He winked and took off.
“I’m glad the condition of the hotel hasn’t deterred your clients,” Henry said from the bar.
That was a low blow. But if that was how he wanted to play it, fine. “He was here for me, darling. I was all he could see.” I took out the check and showed it to him. “Oh, Dom. Always so generous.”
Henry’s mouth dropped open as his eyes went wide. “That’s a lot of cash for less than an hour.”
“I’m very good at what I do.” I stepped toward him.
I studied his features, looking for the Henry Cavalier I knew so long ago. His boyish smile had been replaced by a half smirk, though his mouth hadn’t changed much. He had the same full lips, soft and sexy. Like his mood, his hair had gone from dark blond to dark brown to match his eyes. Even though he was a foot taller than me now and built like a quarterback, there was something familiar and comforting about him.
His face gave nothing away, but the vein throbbing in his temple told me what I needed to know. For some reason, he was affected by all the fake sex I’d just had. Did he care about me? I met his gaze.
His eyes were full of regret and anger—those beautiful eyes that so long ago looked at me with such tenderness and helped me get through the worst months in my life. The same eyes that had promised we’d be together forever. Why was he mad at me? He wasn’t the one who left Paradise Creek with a heart broken into a million pieces. He lied to me. He hurt me , not the other way around.
“Cut the crap.” He closed the space between us. “We both know you didn’t have sex with that guy.”
“Oh yeah? Why is that?” I placed my hands on my waist, fighting the urge to throw my arms around his neck and kiss him.
“Because you’re here. If I had that kind of cash, it’d be days before I let you out of my bed.” His gaze dropped to my lips for a beat.
The chaste kiss he gave me the last time we saw each other, after being apart for almost five years, still burned on my lips. As if he understood I was trying to erase whatever feelings I had left for him, he shook his head once and caught my wrist. I jerked away from him, but he pulled me closer in response. My breasts pressed against him. With every strained breath, his chest felt like it was about to crack open from the effort of keeping his emotions in check.
“Say my name.” He touched his forehead to mine and slid his thumb across my cheek.
“You’re Henry Cavalier,” I sighed.
“You can’t stay here.” He slow-blinked before he let me go.
“Excuse me.” I stepped back. “Who do you think you are to tell me what to do?”
“You said it yourself. I’m Henry Cavalier.” He smirked. “I own this fucking town.”
I dug my nails into my palms and stomped my foot. Crap. I hadn’t meant to do that, but Henry just had a way to make my blood boil. This wasn’t the sweet Cavalier boy from Cavalier Manor .
“Darling, from what I can see, you don’t own shit. Look around you. You don’t even own this hotel.”
“I have until tomorrow to come up with the money. Or are you backing out of that promise too? Huh?” He glared at me.
I tapped a fist to my forehead, counting to ten to keep my composure. What was he talking about? “I never back out from my promises. Unlike you, when I say I’m going to do something, I do it. Always.”
He winced. Finally, his face showed what he felt. Tears swelled in his eyes, and his cheeks turned red. “ Always , Hipolita?”
“Don’t call me that. That girl is dead. And so are you. You hear? You’re dead to me.” I ran up the stairs, taking two steps at a time.
I slammed the bedroom door behind me and threw myself on the bed. I hit the pillow twice before I buried my face in it and screamed. How did I get here? Crying my eyes out over Henry Cavalier again, like a stupid little girl who still believed in fairy tales.