FORTY
OKAY, SHE CALLED. Of course she called. More than once. More than ten times, maybe more than a hundred. She texted too. To her credit, some of those were deleted without being sent. It was just logic. If the man’s phone was off, he’d only be bombarded with the same text over and over and over again whenever he did turn it on. Waiting for them to come through might delay him getting back to her.
Where was he?
Had she ever thought she could go without him? Walk away and live a life without knowing where he was every minute? Maybe this was a test. If it was, she’d kill him. Oh, chances were she’d do that anyway. When they got through this and came out the other side together, she’d have his cousin chip him with a tracker and she’d never have to wonder again.
She’d helped her mother with chores. Her sisters visited, with a bunch of friends looking for gossip… and Roxie’s autograph.
She couldn’t handle the mundane. How could he be doing this to her?
It got dark again, and still he hadn’t reached out.
Coming downstairs, she hadn’t been refreshed by her soak in the tub. Or what was supposed to be a soak in the tub. Sitting in the water was unproductive. She couldn’t relax.
“Something’s happened,” she said, trudging down one step then another. “They wouldn’t be out of contact this long unless something had happened.”
Magnus, Roxie, her mother, Stone and his people, congregated in the living room. Just like her, they wanted to know what was happening. That was her understanding, until her friend spoke up.
“They went north,” Roxie said. Bambi paused on the threshold of the room. “Not to Vancouver, they went to the Dyce complex.”
“Zane Dyce?” she asked. “His cousin?” There may have been a flash of surprise in Roxie’s eyes, but she gave a single nod. “Are they there now? How do you know?”
Roxie pointed to Stone. “Him and his people. Dyce is living with his girlfriend, they’re not in California right now.”
“Are we going?” she asked, hurrying toward Magnus. “We have to go get them.”
“They’re not there anymore. They’re back in LA.”
“How do you know?”
Magnus lifted a remote control to turn on the television. “He texted me.”
“Who texted you?”
And just at that, the Lowe uncle switched to a channel showing the gate to Roman’s mansion. A car pulled up and the gates opened, but the vehicle stopped halfway through.
The car’s back door opened and Roman got out, slamming it behind him. No sign of Struan.
“Bet you didn’t expect this,” he said, smiling at the encroaching cluster of paps. “I have a confession, something me and my brother have been kicking around between us. We figure when all else fails, the truth is the best way to go.” Who was this guy? That wasn’t Struan, absolutely one hundred percent it wasn’t, yet there was familiar sincerity in his words and demeanor that harked of her love. “The night of the storm when the power went out at the Lighting Darkness event, everything was a mess. People were running around trying to get things figured out. There was a lot of confusion.”
“The night of the tape?”
“Yeah,” he said with a head bob. They could’ve gone without that reminder. “My brother and me went to the event together. We’ve been close to the Breckenridges for years. This is a cause that means a lot to them and to us. We will always do anything we can to support it. At the event, in the confusion, my brother and me got separated. And Bambi Bennett was doing her job, helping people, taking care of people. It’s something she’s good at.”
“What are you saying?” someone called out. “Where is Bambi?”
“Still at home. Your colleagues are keeping vigil there with her. She went home because she found out the truth.”
“What truth?”
Yeah, that’s something that she would like to know too.
“The man on that tape wasn’t me, it was my brother.” Cameras went crazy, and people shouted, desperately trying to get their questions answered before others. She sat there bewildered. “Bambi thought it was me, and then the world thought it was me.”
“We thought you were engaged,” someone called above the others.
“We made that up after the fact, so I didn’t look too slutty, given my history, but it was never me. She was never mine. She always belonged to my brother.”
This was like a parallel universe. She glanced around. Where were the cameras or aliens or other outlandish explanation for this sideswipe?
“My God!” Magnus leaped to his feet. “What’s he doing? Boy, what are you doing?”
Roxie laughed. “You know, I’ve been in situations like this before, but I think this is my favorite.”
“You said she found out the truth,” a reporter on the TV shouted. “How could she think it was you instead of your brother?”
The collective press actually let out a groan. “He’s a twin,” maybe twenty different people chorused.
“Yeah, she found out. The man she thought all along was me, was actually my brother.”
“You deceived her.”
“We didn’t want to embarrass her for making the assumption and didn’t really want to confess. We’ve used the twin thing before as most twins do—”
“Does your brother do this a lot? Pretend to be you to get laid?”
“For what it’s worth, I don’t think that was what was going on. He cared about her, and one thing led to another. It’s one of these things, we’ve all been there.”
“Sleeping with the wrong man?”
“We—” He shook his head. “They didn’t sleep together that night. Yeah, things maybe got hot and heavy, but they didn’t satisfy the circle, if you get me.” People kept shouting for his attention. “Look, I know you’ll make of this what you will, I’m not sure what to make of it myself. I’m going inside to get a good night’s sleep, then getting on a plane to Vancouver tomorrow to continue my work on Undercover Ops . Just another day at the office.”
A single voice rose above the others. “Where’s your brother? Will he face up to what he did?”
“That’s exactly what he plans to do,” Roman said. “Excuse me.”
He got back in the car, ignoring the baying mob, and continued on up the driveway, disappearing when the gates closed.
“I can’t—this won’t—we can’t.”
Magnus’s phone rang, Roxie’s too. Even Stone’s phone buzzed. Hers, in her hand, remained silent. How could he do this? Take the rap himself? Yes, he deceived her, but it hadn’t gone beyond that night. Now the world would think he was some cad, a player, out there breaking women’s hearts. All of that was awful enough, but it wasn’t, surprisingly enough, the biggest mystery. The biggest mystery was…
“How did Struan get him to do that?” Roxie’s voice behind her asked the question that flummoxed her too.
And then it happened.
A knock on the door.
The picture on the TV changed and there was her house, people outside, all probably expecting her to come out and say something in response to Roman’s statement.
Another knock.
Examining the screen more closely, she caught sight of a figure on the porch, their Wishbone porch.
“Oh my God.” She threw her phone onto the couch and ran to the door to rip it open. “Oh! Oh, my God, what—”
When she reached for his face, intending to kiss him, he caught her waist and walked her backwards into the house.
The door closed behind them, probably the work of one of Stone’s men.
“What did you do? Where have you been?” she asked, running her hands up and across his body, his face, feeling anywhere she could reach. “Are you hurt? What happened?”
“We worked it out.”
“I saw. Did you see? How could you see?”
“I knew what he was going to say.”
“Why did you do that?” She socked his stomach. “Why take the rap? Why tell them you’ve been lying to me this whole time? You haven’t been lying to me.”
“It doesn’t matter. That doesn’t matter.”
“It does matter! You’re not a love rat! I don’t want the world to think you’re some sleazy creep out there using Roman’s—”
“It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter what the world thinks. Zairn said it to me and he was right. All that matters is what we know, you and me. I want to be with you, Bambi, I love you, and I just couldn’t do it. I sat in that apartment surrounded by so much of you, and you… More faithfully than I’ve ever known anything in my life, I know you’re the only reason I have for existing. This was supposed to be from before we ever even met. Maybe it will be bumpy, but whatever we decide, I want it to be our decision. What’s best for us, not Roman or anyone’s career, us.”
“They’ll vilify you. They’ll cast you as the villain—”
“Who cares? I am the villain. I lied to you. I coerced you into being with Roman, to go along with that lie. You’re blameless. And, for once, so is Roman. So, yeah, he gets a little heat for playing along when his brother asked him for a favor, then he gets to keep doing what he loves. And, with your permission, so will I.” His wink made her laugh. “What do you say?”
“I don’t think we should do it on my mother’s porch.”
“Not with all those people outside,” he said, “one sex tape is more than enough.”
“Actually, your brother clarified no sex took place that night.”
“There goes my street cred.”
Another laugh. “I can’t believe you did this. What happens next?”
“That’s up to you,” he said. “Do you want to build a future with me?”
“You know damn well I do,” she said. “Now get down here.”
On her next yank, he descended, joining his mouth with hers. Had she been involved in constructing the plan? No. Would she give him shit for cutting himself off and scaring her like he did? Yes, she would, a lot of it, so much so that he would never do it ever again.
She pulled back. “Are you going to Vancouver?”
“We’re going to Vancouver,” he said. “Don’t worry, our life is not going to revolve around him. We’ll go up there, just like you said, work with him until I can get someone else put in place.”
“Then what?”
“Maybe, if you’re willing, I can finally take you out on a date.”
Maybe not being part of making the plan wasn’t so bad.
On his next kiss, she coiled both arms around his neck and pulled herself up. He straightened, lifting her clear off the floor as she tilted her head and deepened their kiss. Struan Lowe was finally hers, and she wouldn’t ever let go.
TO BE CONTINUED…