18. Miles
18
MILES
T he work was about to pay off—the hours of research and planning. Tonight, it all came to an end. For Mom. For me.
“You look so handsome.” Aria’s hand brushed mine as she stood on her tiptoes, murmuring in my ear as hundreds of partygoers mingled around us. “I can’t wait to tear that tux off you with my teeth later.”
My treacherous body warmed at the idea before I could help it. “I’m looking forward to it,” I lied, offering a brief smile as she hurried off to join Valentina and Evelyn for a photo beneath a banner proclaiming the foundation’s thirty years of existence.
They made a beautiful trio, but naturally my gaze lingered on Aria in her floor-length, backless dress the same shade of blue as her eyes. I would’ve enjoyed tearing it off her later if there would be a later.
I needed a drink.
Local reporters milled about, conducting short interviews for puff pieces on the eleven o’clock news. Camera flashes went off at every turn while a band dressed in tuxedos and floor-length black dresses played peppy standards. Champagne flowed like water, and I took a flute from a tray as a waiter passed. It would have to do until I found the bar, but navigating the packed ballroom was damn near impossible. I hadn’t imagined there being this many guests crammed in here. So much the better when it came time for Evelyn’s perfect life to come crashing down.
The envelope in my breast pocket felt heavier than it should have as I carried my champagne to the table designated for the family. Evelyn had left her red clutch on her chair after our arrival, and now I dropped to one knee as if tying my shoe before opening the small bag and tucking the envelope inside. It protruded slightly, meaning she’d be more likely to notice it and investigate.
The culmination of everything I’d worked for, the fulfillment of a promise. Across the front, I’d written Evelyn’s name, tucking the folded printouts and slim Android phone inside. Along with that, I’d included a short note explaining my desire to set the record straight. I am only trying to be fair to you and my mother’s memory.
It was finished.
Now, there was nothing to do but wish I could take Aria in my arms on the dance floor. Sienna and Colton were out there, along with Ari and Olivia Goldsmith and Connor and Pepper Diamond. We could have been out there with them if only I could’ve forgotten what this was all about. I couldn’t do that. If I’d fallen for Aria somewhere along the way, that was my weakness. Mom deserved better than that.
Draining what was left in my glass, I reminded myself what this was all about. The sight of Magnus leading his blushing wife onto the floor helped stiffen my spine. He would pay with each accusation she hurled. And with every tear Aria shed.
She had to be around somewhere, though we’d agreed it would be smart to keep our distance to avoid being found out. To her, this was still some sexy game—hiding us from her friends and family. If anything, she owed me for opening her eyes and forcing her to abandon childish illusions.
“Excuse me. Are you Miles Young?” I hardly had time to register the presence of a middle-aged woman at my side before her hand grabbed my arm. She wore too much perfume and a king’s ransom in diamonds. “It must be you. You’re the image of your mother. I heard you were in the country. I’ve been hoping to run into you somewhere.”
As if I didn’t have enough difficulty maintaining a pleasant expression tonight. “Forgive me,” I managed, trying to keep an eye on the table across the room where Evelyn’s surprise waited. “Do we know each other from London?”
She attempted a smile, though her face hardly moved. “Leila and I were friends. We modeled together for a few years.”
My pulse spiked at the thought of meeting someone who had known her. She had never used names, so certain she’d been entirely written off by everyone back here. I had no point of reference, no means of tracking anyone down and demanding to know why they turned their backs on her. Every question I ever had for these nameless, faceless fucks rushed to the surface and threatened to pour out, but there was something more pressing, more immediate. This was someone who could tell me about her.
“Yes, I am Miles Young.” Shaking her hand, I found it difficult to narrow my questions to one or two. “You knew my mother? I’ve never met any of her friends. I admit, I’ve often wondered about what her life was like in the States.”
“Leila was a firecracker,” she said, laughing. “It’s such a shame she wasn’t as successful as I was when it came to finding a rich man, or she might never have left the country.” She touched a bejeweled finger to her red lips. “Shh… don’t tell my husband.”
She was obviously tipsy, but alcohol had a way of uncovering the truth. “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”
“Oh, you know. Magnus ,” she mouthed, rolling her eyes. “Word gets around. He welcomed you with open arms after meeting you at the funeral. He’s a lot more forgiving than he used to be, but then time heals things. Some men are willing to look the other way when their wives play so long as they have something nice on their arm on a night like this. Others don’t have the patience. Thankfully, my husband does.”
Subtext ran beneath her words, elusive, beyond the reach of my fingertips. “What are you trying to say?” I asked in a remarkably measured tone. “Did my mother have an affair?”
“ An affair?” She blurted out a bawdy laugh I imagined was enhanced by the amount of champagne she’d consumed. “Like I said… firecracker. No man could tame her. She picked the wrong guy, I guess, but she got plenty out of it in the end. The idiot didn’t have her sign a prenup, so she was taken care of either way.” Again, she held a finger to her lips, looking back and forth like she was sharing a secret. “Considering the fact that you’re here, I assume there’s no bad blood.”
She laughed again, placing a hand on my arm. I understood that touch. She was hoping her husband would look the other way yet again. “Come to think of it, we’ve met before. You were living with her mother, barely more than a baby. Of course, I swore to keep you a secret.”
I could only stare in blank confusion. “Leila never told you anything , did she?” she asked with a giggle. “She wouldn’t have wanted to tell you about her schemes back when we were young, hot and hustling. She never did find the right time to dump you on him. She figured Magnus wouldn’t want anything to do with a child who wasn’t his, so she kept coming up with reasons to postpone telling him about you. After he divorced her and she had already run through a chunk of the settlement, she considered using you to appeal to him to take her back and give you a stable life. The single mother angle, you know? She wanted to give you the best of everything. I know she did.”
Her nails bit into me through my shirt sleeve and jacket. “But it was too late for that. He had moved on. I only wish Leila had stuck around instead of running away, but I guess she closed and locked the door on this life when he confronted her at that party and called her out. From what I heard, she left the country not long after.”
I was almost grateful for this nameless woman’s claws in my arm. They may have been all that tethered me to the ground. My throat had gone dry, but I croaked, “What you’re telling me is my mother was married to Magnus, and they divorced after she had an affair. All the while, he had no idea I existed. By the time Mom decided to use me in a last-ditch effort to get him back, he was already with Evelyn and she never got the chance.”
“That’s the long and short of it,” she concluded with a sigh. “We all do what we have to do.”
“Excuse me.” I barely got the words out. I hardly heard them, the screaming in my head louder than the music, the chatter, all of it. The room spun when a sick, cold sweat coated the back of my neck.
The envelope.
The note.
Everything I thought I knew was a lie.
To hell with propriety. I damn near knocked a handful of women to the floor as I cut through them, almost running for our table. Please, don’t let her have found it. Please, please. Let it be sitting there. It had to be there.
I launched myself at the chair and pulled it away from the table, only to find it empty. No. No, it couldn’t be. I checked every chair, my head on a swivel once I found them empty. Where was Evelyn? Where was Magnus?
Where was Aria?
If I couldn’t find Evelyn or Magnus, I had to get to her before they did. Had to explain what now seemed inexplicable. That woman—whoever she was—had no reason to lie. My mother, on the other hand, had lied to me all my life. She might even have talked herself into believing her lies over the years.
And Aria’s heart would be crushed under the weight of it all.
I almost missed Noah and Lucian attempting to get my attention but pulled up short before barking, “Have you seen Aria? It’s important.”
Noah’s brow creased in concern. “I just saw her leaving the ballroom as we were coming in.”
Fuck. Had she been crying? There was no time to ask. I jogged toward the double doors leading out of the room, where handfuls of guests chatted and networked in the hall. A series of smaller rooms sat across from the ballroom, all of them dark and empty, with the lobby further down the hall bustled with even more guests.
I spotted a flash of sapphire blue silk and followed it, weaving through the crowd and catching Aria before she could escape to the ladies’ room up ahead. She turned and smiled to find me holding her wrist, telling me she didn’t know yet. A small miracle. “I need to talk to you. Immediately,” I murmured, eyeing one of the empty rooms nearby. “It’s an emergency.”
“Oh, my God.” Her face paled. “Mom? Dad? Is there?—”
“They’re fine.” Not true. By now, nothing was fine. Without another word, I pulled her into the closest room, almost dragging her away from the open door to avoid being overheard.
“What’s wrong?” she asked once we stopped. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“I may have.” What was I supposed to say? Whatever it was, I had to say it fast. The clock was ticking. “One of Mom’s old friends. She told me… Aria, she told me something I didn’t know. I swear, I didn’t know.”
Those eyes. So blue and trusting were gazing up at me. I was about to drain the light from them. No one could blame me for taking one more moment to memorize how she looked a heartbeat before everything fell to pieces.
I took her face in my hands, fighting to breathe as I drew her closer. “I made a mistake.”
Darkness fell over us when someone stepped into the doorway. I turned to find a familiar figure silhouetted against the light from the hall. “That is a serious fucking understatement.”
Aria jumped away from me like I was on fire. “Dad!” she gasped. “What are you?—”
“Get away from her.” Magnus took one menacing step after another into the room, his attention trained squarely on me. “Aria, you should go.”
He knew. Of course, he knew. I was too late. “Let me explain,” I urged to no avail. He merely sneered.
“You fucking snake,” he grunted out. “I welcomed you into my home. Encouraged my family and friends to accept you, knowing you came from a lying, deceitful woman who was never anything but misery to anyone who cared for her. Did you think you had me fooled?”
“Dad? What is happening?” Aria asked. “I’m a grown woman. I can do what I want.”
“And this?” He thrust an arm her way, glaring at me. “Hacking me, I can forgive. Digging into my past? I have nothing to hide. If you had come to me as a man, we could have cleared things up. But you chose to go behind my back.”
His dark eyes were murderous by the time he concluded, “And you dragged my family into it. My daughter. I could break your neck.”
I almost wished he would when Aria’s choked sob cut through the icy silence. “What is he saying?” she asked me, tugging my arm. “What did you do? You hacked him?”
“It was only an attempt. He did much worse than that.” Magnus pulled her away from me, and I let her go without a fight. I had no defense. “It’s a good thing I warned your mother in advance not to trust him.”
When my eyes widened, he barked out a brutal laugh. I had underestimated the man. I’d been wrong about so many things. “I thought spending time with us would be enough to put an end to your bullshit,” he spat. “That was my mistake. Leila’s blood flows through you, and you’re as irredeemable as she was. Now, I want you out of here. Out of this hotel, out of our home, out of our lives. I’ll have your things sent to you.”
“Whatever he did, there must be an explanation.” Aria’s chin quivered when she looked up at him. “There has to be.”
Turning to me, she begged, “Tell him. Tell him it’s a mistake.”
“He created audio files using AI to make it sound like I left explicit messages for his mother.” Magnus growled. “He gave your mom a phone full of them, not to mention printouts of fake text conversations with Leila to make it look like we were having an affair for years. And he left it for her tonight of all nights, out there in the ballroom. All in hopes of destroying her, me, our family.”
Now her entire body shook. She leaned against her father, staring at me in horror as the truth sank in. “Say it isn’t true,” she pleaded in a thin whisper.
I couldn’t. Nor could I tell her how much I regretted what I’d done to her. Not in front of him. He would have laid me out on my ass before I managed three words.
All I could do was lift my chin and face the aftermath of what I’d brought about—the destruction not of Magnus Miller but my own.
And Aria’s.
Though I would rather have squeezed my balls in a vice than watch her crumble, I forced myself to witness her face falling before she covered it with her hands. I deserved it after what I’d done. Magnus shot one final look of complete disgust my way, wrapping her in his arms.
Taking that as my cue, I left the room and soon headed out of the hotel without another word to anyone who’d been kind enough to welcome me into their lives, knowing I’d never forgive myself for being such a fool.
And that I would be lucky if Magnus chose to leave things where they were.