Chapter Seventeen #2
"It really is dumb," I said, laughing again as the main character tripped over a mop handle and tumbled down a flight of stairs, rolling to a stop at the feet of the female lead.
The lovable buffoon looked at her with an expression of such potent adoration that the laugh hitched in my chest, and before I knew what was coming, it turned into a sob.
Beside me, Charlie said under her breath, “Fuck." Her arm wrapped around me and she pulled me into her shoulder. Stroking my hair, she murmured, “It's going to be okay, Lise. I know it doesn't seem like it now, but I promise, it's going to be okay."
"All those years, Charlie. All those years I felt so guilty for leaving him. For that letter. And all that time he knew. He knew why I left. He had to know I lied and he never came after me. I felt so guilty. It ate at me. I loved him so much, and it was all a lie."
My breath strangled in my lungs, my throat tight with tears. I cried harder, sobs shaking my chest, making it impossible to talk. Charlie held me tighter saying only, "I know, Lise. I know."
I couldn't fight the despair pulling me under. Everything I thought I understood was backward. People I thought I could trust betrayed me.
I held onto Charlie and wept. It felt like hours until I wound down and when I finally stopped crying, I was exhausted. Charlie slipped from the bed and disappeared into the bathroom.
Belatedly I noticed the TV was off and the penthouse was quiet. She came back with a wet washcloth and wiped it across my cheek. My face was hot, my eyes swollen, and the cool, wet cloth felt like heaven.
Suddenly, I was embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Charlie, I don't want to get between you and Aiden and I didn't mean to—"
“Did you know Lucas and I broke up?"
At my look of shock, she shook her head. "No, a while ago. Before we moved in together. We were just supposed to be hooking up, and then I fell for him, and he walked away."
"What an asshole," I said with a watery laugh. Lucas couldn't have been more in love with Charlie. He adored her. I couldn't imagine him dumping her and moving on.
"Exactly," she said with a gentle smile. "He was a complete asshole, and he broke my heart. It's not the same; I'm not trying to say that. But don't apologize for crying all over me. I've been there. I know."
"Thanks, Charlie," I said taking the washcloth from her and holding it over my face. My eyes were so swollen it hurt to blink. I didn't think I had any tears left in me.
I let my lids slide shut, lulled by Charlie stroking my braid, and slipped into sleep.
I woke later to raised voices down the hall. Jacob and Aiden. Jacob saying, “She needs time, and you need to back off. She’ll deal with you when she’s ready. Not before. Just go home.”
Only Jacob, and maybe Gage, would face Aiden down like that. I knew people said that Jacob was a shark, but to me, he was just Jacob, my older cousin and sometime partner in crime.
I didn’t want to come between him and Aiden, but I was grateful he was running interference. I was hollowed out, run dry, and I didn’t have the reserves to deal with Aiden.
Aiden was the one who looked after us. Our defense against the world. I wasn’t sure which betrayal was worse, Aiden’s hiring Riley and not telling me, or Riley’s for his lies.
I waited until I heard the door close, then got out of bed and used the bathroom. Washing my face and re-braiding my hair left me feeling marginally better. Less of a mess, at least.
I wanted to go out. I wanted to be alone. Walking down the hall, I tried to make a decision. Any decision. Jacob stood in the kitchen, his silver eyes going dark with concern as he saw me.
“I know I look like hell,” I said. I’d washed my face and straightened my hair, but that didn’t do a thing for my puffy eyes and splotchy face. Abigail, coming up the hall from behind me, said, “I have just the thing.”
She passed me and went for the freezer, pulling out something that looked like Zorro’s mask, except pale green. “Put this over your eyes for a while. It’ll bring the swelling down.”
I took the mask from her, holding it by the strap. Abigail gave me another of her gentle smiles. On the surface, she was a perfect match for Jacob—elegant and refined, a master at navigating Jacob’s social circles. Underneath she had a core of steel and a warm heart.
“Do you want to be alone, or do you want company?” she asked.
“Alone. But—”
“But you’re tired of being cooped up,” she said. “Go up to the roof and get some sun. It’ll make you feel better. I’m making chicken and dumplings for dinner. It’ll keep until you’re ready to eat.”
I didn’t protest as she herded me to the front hall and pointed me in the direction of the stairs to the private rooftop garden. Jacob watched her with an indulgent smile, saying only, “No one will bother you up there. It’s a good place to think.”
He was right. Potted plants surrounded the space, along with a dining table, grill, and a seating area complete with a fire pit.
I sat in one of the teak recliners, laying back and turning my face up to the spring sunshine.
The ice mask was covered in a velvety fabric that molded to my eyes, cooling my swollen skin.
I still wanted to curl up in a ball and cry, but I’d been there, done that. I had to decide what to do next. Normally, I’d be packing my bags. For the first time in years, running had no appeal, even with the mess my life at home had become.
I was done with running.
This fake engagement had turned into a disaster of the worst proportions, but I couldn’t deny it had provoked my stalker just as we’d planned. If I ran, we’d lose all the ground we’d gained.
Letting out a sigh, I accepted that cancelling the fake engagement would be as useless as running. I could fire the Sinclairs and get rid of Riley. Spread the word that I was on the market again. That would solve the problem of Riley, but it would be giving the stalker exactly what he wanted.
If I ended the engagement, I’d have to wait before I tried it again—more time lost—and I’d have to find another fake fiancé.
I never wanted to see Riley again.
I wanted this to be over. All of it. Riley, the stalker, everything.
I sat there, letting the late afternoon sun bake into my skin, the mask over my eyes gradually warming, and turned the problem over in my mind. There was no ideal solution. No way to get everything I wanted.
I couldn’t put the pieces of my heart back together. I couldn’t roll back the clock. But maybe, if I was strong, if I had courage, I could finish this and set myself free.
A shoe scuffed the slate beside me. I reached up to tug the mask from my eyes and saw Jacob, holding two beers. Without a word, I reached out to take one, dropping the mask on the edge of the recliner. Jacob sat beside me and took a pull from his beer.
“Thanks,” I said.
“Anytime. Your eyes look better. Abigail knows all the tricks.”
“I like her with you.”
“Me too,” he said, his lips curving as he thought of his fiancée. “She’s better than I deserve.”
“Probably,” I agreed, smiling a little myself and sipping the beer. It was crisply cold and bitter with hops, just the way I liked it.
I drank more and waited. Jacob took his time. We were halfway through our beers when he said, “Do you know what you’re going to do?”
“I do,” I said.
“Am I going to try to talk you out of it?”
“I don’t think so. I think you’ll approve.”
“Tell me.”