Chapter 28 #2
“I’m not. I don’t know what to do next. Should I call my sister, maybe my father?
I should call Guy back and have him contact our lawyer.
It’s okay. It’s gonna be okay. It’s just a setback.
We’ll survive. I survived my mother’s psychological warfare, dammit!
Oh, but Guy ... I feel so bad for him, William. ”
Coming to her, he stopped her, smoothed her hair, and tucked one side behind her ear. “What can I do to help?”
“There isn’t anything. I feel like such a failure.”
“This is only a wrinkle, certainly not a failure on your part, and it will backfire epically on Gleason, not you. In the meantime, trust in you. I do, and so does Guy. You’re intelligent, talented, and a woman of ingenuity and resourcefulness. You are a survivor, Lizzy, and will rebound from this.”
She sighed. “Do you mind if I borrow some of your optimistic confidence? Mine is running low right now,” she softly said.
“You don’t need to ask. I will continue to remind you of how special you are until your confidence comes back.”
“I don’t deserve you, and I hate that once again, someone has ruined our plans for happiness.”
“Nonsense, Paris isn’t going anywhere. We’ll have other trips, but we should return to New York today and address this situation head-on.”
“I think I know who’s behind the slander,” she dolefully said.
“Wickham.”
Her head snapped up. “Why do you say that?”
“You’d better sit down,” he said.
“Oh, no. Is this why he hates you so much?”
“Yes, and it’s why I hate him more.”
They sat on the bed, and he took her hand in his.
“This is gonna be hard to hear, but you need to. I’ve known Wickham since prep school.
” He swallowed. “Back then, he was a resentful, self-absorbed, vindictive teenager. Later, as a charismatic twenty-five-year-old grifter, he devolved into pure evil, showing his true colors. He got my fifteen-year-old sister high, then attempted rape.”
She gasped. “No!”
“I’m sorry to tell you who you almost married.
” He shook his head. “It happened the month after you left. I caught him just in time ... but my father wouldn’t press charges because he was afraid of the scandal and the press, which already hated him.
For sure, they would have vilified his teenage daughter. ”
“Oh my God! Was Georgiana hurt?”
He paused, his lips forming a tight line. “Not physically, but now, I sometimes wonder. It could be her quest for ballerina stardom or ... an eating disorder born from trauma or grief over my parents—I don’t know. She says she’s fine. My cousin Anne keeps a close watch on her when I can’t.”
“This is ... so terrible. Your poor sister! Did he get away with it?”
“Yeah, he did. Wickham always lands on his feet. After I beat him to a pulp, my father paid him off to disappear forever. The syphilitic dick probably waited until the old man died before coming back to Manhattan.”
“Hm, that was around the time he moved to Queens.”
“He’s one of the reasons I keep the security team. Thank God, I had the foresight to put a detail on Gigi last week.”
“I almost married a monster!” she cried, placing her hand over her mouth.
“Now you know why I punched him at the wedding. It killed me seeing the two of you together.”
William flexed his hand, then stood, walking to the window. Silently, he gazed out, shifting his weight. “There’s more,” he finally said, turning to her, eyes locked with hers.
“You’re scaring me, now, William.”
Coming to her, he sat beside her, putting his arm around her shoulders.
“He, um, had a thing for much younger girls then, and now ... and, also, unbeknownst to me, he recently reacquainted with Gigi. She’s been in a sexual relationship with him for the last three months.”
She gasped again. “I ... oh, my God.”
“I’m so sorry to tell you like this, but I think you’re right, he may be your culprit.
Gigi broke it off with him because I told her you two were getting married, and then you broke it off with him.
I’m thinking maybe he believes you broke it off .
.. for me? He wanted her money, and from what I remember at Louisa’s wedding, he seemed intent on acquiring your gallery. ”
“It’s true. I learned he was only marrying me for La Tempera and had a string of women on the side.
Even my ring was fake, like his interest in me.
My parting words were that he could never be the man you are and that you’d always be better, no matter how he tried.
He was so envious of you. That explains maybe why he sought out Gigi. ”
That took him aback.
Lifting her chin, he gazed into her sad eyes. “He doesn’t know the true treasure he lost. It appears I stumbled back into your life in the nick of time. It’s odd how fate works.”
She softly smiled. “I never wanted you to be my hero, yet you always have been, and showed up when I needed you most, even after everything.”
“That’s what pure, true love is. I only want the best for you, Lizzy, and I will always protect you, whether it’s from cretins like Wickham or your sister. My devotion will never waver.”
“The same here. What should I do about the gallery, William?”
“Leave Wickham to me. He’s my responsibility, and I owe you and Gigi proper vengeance.”
Sighing, she confessed. “I think ... my gut tells me that Jane may be his accomplice.”
“Was she one of his conquests?”
“I don’t know, but ... she’s always been overly fascinated and protective of him. Eww. She goes through men like an assembly line.”
“Then, I advise you to call your father. It’s time for him to get involved.
If she tried to ruin you like this, then you need to get away from her, just as you did with your mother, and you’ll need support from someone in your family.
In the interim, you should stay at my apartment. We got this, together, Lizzy.”
“Jeez, I should have listened to you years ago about her.”
“You should have married me years ago.” He grinned.
“You’re right, but unfortunately, you never had the chance to ask.”
“Oh, I had the chance. I just never had the nerve.”
He deposited a kiss on her lips. “Get dressed, and I’ll arrange the flight home. We’ll be back in New York by midnight,” he said.
“Thank you.”
“No need to thank me. I always told you that I wanted to share everything with you, not just your dreams.” He brushed his thumb against her cheek. “I promise you I will make this right for the gallery. I’ll make it better than right and better than you expected.”
She softly smiled. “You’re still an overachiever.”
“That’s probably the only good thing I inherited from my father.”