by Mari Carr
Finally, Stefan looked up. He’d been silent, his head slightly bowed, one dark lock of hair falling forward over his brow in a way that made her want to both cradle his face in her hands and kiss him, but also slap the shit out of him again. She needed to stay mad. It was the only way she’d get out of this with her dignity intact.
“Levi is who and what he says he is,” Stefan assured her. “He’s here to offer you something. The people who are offering, they thought my being here would make you more receptive to the offer.”
“What?” Beatrix shook her head. She didn’t know what game Stefan was playing, but she had no intention of joining in. “Stefan, whatever you’re doing, whatever this is. The answer is no. A word you’re very familiar with.”
Stefan flinched, then shook his head. “I’m just here to make sure you believe what Levi says.”
“Levi, who is clearly your bodyguard, who was supposed to be a research meet and greet for a part. Right. I know you think I’m stupid—”
“I don’t. The meet and greet was a ruse because the people Levi represents thought this would be the best way.”
“The people…” Beatrix shook her head. “Did you start doing drugs? That would actually explain a few things. And here I thought you were too much of a control freak to ever do anything fun.”
“Have a seat,” Levi said. This time it was definitely a command.
“Why don’t you fuck off?” Beatrix snapped at him. It was full-on rude, but she didn’t care. She’d been lured here under false pretenses, Stefan—oh god, he was right there, and as angry and hurt as she was, she still missed him so damned much—was talking about mysterious “people.” She wanted nothing to do with any of it.
“Just sit down and listen. Not to me. I’ll...I’ll leave. Listen to him.” Stefan glanced at her and, for a moment, their gazes collided.
Something inside her, a wound that barely scabbed over, let alone healed, started to bleed. She missed him so much. Six months ago she’d been sure he was her soul mate. She knew every line of his face. Knew that when he was truly and unexpectedly amused, he made a sound that was more like a giggle than a manly laugh. Knew...knew him.
Or thought she had.
Stefan raised his hand, reaching for her face. He would stroke her cheek with his thumb, then slide his fingers back into her hair. He never went straight for the kiss. He’d wait a moment, his fingertips massaging her scalp before finally bringing their lips together.
Beatrix let out a hard sob and stumbled away from Stefan. Levi caught her, his hands warm on her shoulders.
Stefan jerked his hand back and cursed. His expression was stark. He looked...heartbroken. No, that was just her wishful thinking.
He whirled and jerked open the door.
With the next breath, he was gone. Light from the hall spilled in, highlighting Stefan’s absence and breaking the mysterious ambiance of the candlelit room.
“Are you okay?” Levi’s voice rumbled through her as he spoke, and her attention shifted from the man who’d just left to the man who was pressed up against her back.
“Not really,” Beatrix said with a hard laugh. That was far too honest. She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry, I’m still not clear what’s going on here, or who you are, but I’m leaving.” She put action to words and straightened away from his big, warm body.
“Maybe we could talk, just the two of us.”
Beatrix turned to face him. She was smiling. She knew she was, she could feel the expression, but there was no corresponding happy emotion.
“I’m not in the right frame of mind to talk about…” Her words trailed off, the fixed smile melting into a more genuine frown. Levi hadn’t followed Stefan out, which he should have if he were a bodyguard. “If I ask you why Stefan, and apparently you, tricked me into being here, would you give me a straight answer?”
“Define straight.”
Beatrix bared her teeth in a smile. “Goodbye.”
She was halfway out the door when Levi said something that made her stop.
“Secrets. You’re here because of secrets.”
Dammit. That would have been a great line in a movie. She could practically hear the tense instrumental music that should be playing.
Beatrix pivoted, looking back into the darkly lit room that reeked of magic and, yes, secrets.
“Whose secrets?” she asked. “If you think you know something about me and are planning to blackmail me…”
“No. I was sent here to tell you a secret.” Levi stared at her with the resolute patience that was fitting for a giant. “A secret your great-grandfather knew.”
“I’m sorry, what? My great-grandfather?” This night simply couldn’t get any stranger.
“Yes. I’m not sure if this will mean anything to you, but…” Levi raised his right arm, his hand curled into a loose fist, showing her his knuckles. He wore a gold ring on his middle finger. The wide band had been embossed with a Celtic-style triangle.
She’d seen that ring before, in a small shadow box of heirlooms her mother kept on a shelf in the den. The box contained things that had belonged to Beatrix’s grandparents and great-grandparents.
“Where did you get that ring?” she asked softly.
“Let’s sit down and I’ll tell you.”
She wanted to, she really did. This was a hook as good as any she’d ever read in a movie script. But this wasn’t a script, wasn’t just a story. It was her life. She’d been brought here under false pretenses and Stefan was somehow involved. For once in her life, she was going to make a smart decision.
“No. I’m sorry, but just...no.” Beatrix turned on her heel, left the room, and started for the stairs.
She heard Levi’s steps behind her, but she kept moving. She opened the tiny clutch that hung from a thin gold strap on her shoulder and pulled out her phone. Parker hadn’t been in the hall, so she sent a quick message letting her assistant know she was leaving. Parker had ridden here with Beatrix, but they’d planned to leave separately, as there was no reason Parker needed to go back to Trixie’s house tonight.
“Trixie, I mean, Beatrix, I’d appreciate it if—”
Levi was now beside her, his long legs having closed the distance her head start had given her.
She reached the bottom of the stairs first, and he leapt down the last four, landing beside her with knees bent. Beatrix glanced over and arched a brow but didn’t stop moving. She was walking a bit too fast, and it was attracting attention. Since her speed walking didn’t seem to matter—Levi’s much longer legs meant he took one step for every two of her own—she slowed to a more casual pace.
“I’m sorry about having Stefan with me,” Levi said quietly. “He told me…”
Beatrix stopped near the exit door that would lead her back into the lobby. “Told you what?”
Levi gestured back the way they’d come. “Why don’t we find somewhere to talk—”
Nope.
Beatrix pushed through the door, fixing her face into a benign smile. She walked out of the building, ignoring the way a little murmur worked through the small gathering of people milling around outside, most likely waiting for other members of their party to arrive before going in. She posed, though subtly, as someone to her left pretended to take a selfie while actually taking a picture of her.
Levi stepped up beside her, grasping his left wrist with his right hand. “Do you want me to have the valet get your car?”
“I’m sure they already went to get it.”
“Movie star privilege?”
Beatrix hummed in agreement.
Another ripple of whispers went through the small crowd and Beatrix briefly closed her eyes, realizing far too late what that noise meant. She’d left the private room only five minutes after Stefan walked away. If he’d stopped to talk to anyone, or been more casual about his exit, he’d be walking out of the Magic Castle right about now.
Stefan’s hand settled on the small of her back, and Beatrix turned to him, smiling a
s if she were delighted, as if she’d been waiting for him to join her. Stefan dipped to kiss her, stopping just short of making actual contact.
What a gentleman. He was pretending to be in a relationship with her, at least until their publicists picked a time to announce their breakup. For the sake of all the cell phone cameras around them, he was pretending to kiss her.
She hated herself for wanting to close the narrow gap and kiss the man she loved. The man who’d broken her heart.
Stefan straightened, and Beatrix turned her face away from him, needing a minute before she could force a smile to return to her lips. She’d forgotten about Levi standing on her other side. Their gazes met, held, and Levi’s black expression shifted into a frown. Then the line between his brows smoothed out into a look of...understanding, and maybe a little pity.
Dammit.
“Trixie. Uh, I mean, Ms. Stokes. Your, um, car.”
Saved by the valet. Her smile firmly in place, she went to her open car door. Stefan held the door as she slid into the driver’s seat. He bent down. “Bea, if you would just listen—”
“Leave me alone, Stefan,” she whispered.
His jaw clenched and he stood, closing her door and backing away.
The car was already on, the keys resting on the center console. She reached to put the car in gear when the passenger door opened.
“What—”
Levi folded himself into the car, his knees up against the dash. He grunted and reached to adjust the seat, the quiet sound of the motor and the whirr of the electric seat controls somehow comical.
Even all the way back, the front passenger seat barely accommodated him. Levi reached for the door and pulled it closed.
“I… You…”
“Oh, did you want me to drive?” Levi buckled his seat belt, then glanced at her and grinned.
It was a real smile, totally charming and somehow boyish. Beatrix shook her head and put the car in drive. “I suppose I should have seen it coming. This night has been strange from the start.”
“It’s going to get stranger,” Levi assured her.
“That’s not reassuring. Who are you, really?”
“Levi Hart, sergeant, 75th Regiment Ranger.”
“Military. So you are a bodyguard?”
“Former military. Now a grad student.”
She stopped at the light at the bottom of the hill, waiting to turn left. Though it was only a few miles from here to the 101, it would take her the better part of twenty minutes to get there. Though that raised a rather interesting question. She’d been planning to go home, but should she do that with this very large stranger in tow?
“And if I ask you why you’re in my car?” The light turned green and she went left.
“Secrets.”
“That is annoyingly cryptic.”
“And this isn’t a car conversation.”
“It’s a candlelit room in a mysterious old mansion secret?”
“Actually, it’s a hidden underground chambers and robes kind of secret.”
“Oh, of course. Silly me.” At the next light, she looked over at him. “And this secret is something my great-grandfather apparently knew?”
“Yes.”
“And you’re here to let me in on this little mystery?”
He turned as best he could in the cramped confines. “Yes. And to ask if you’ll join us.”
Beatrix wanted to laugh, but Levi looked deadly serious. The car behind her honked when the light turned green. The rest of the drive was made in silence, and the whole way home, Beatrix couldn’t shake the feeling that everything was about to change.
Chapter Four
Night was in full force when Beatrix led Levi to the back patio of her house, grabbing a bottle of wine and two glasses from the wine cellar along the way. A full moon shone brightly. Between that and the underwater lights in her pool, the backyard was cast in a royal blue hue that quite nearly matched the sky.
She smiled at Levi’s soft whistle when they stepped outside and took in the breathtaking view. Being a famous box office draw movie star was not without its perks. The main one being she’d made enough money to buy her dream home.
Of course, the downside to stardom was work kept her so busy, she didn’t have nearly enough time to enjoy said dream home.
The patio was her favorite part of the house and the primary reason she’d bought it. There was an infinity pool that seemed to drop off the side of the hill and beyond that the city stretched, a seemingly endless sea of lights.
The two of them claimed cushioned seats around a small patio table. Levi uncorked the bottle of red, pouring each of them a glass.
She thanked him as he handed it to her, wondering—not for the first time—what the hell was wrong with her. She’d let a stranger not only climb into her car, but she’d driven him back to her house. Too many years pursued by paparazzi and crazed fans had damaged her faith in people.
And yet she’d let him in, not just to her car, but her home.
The problem was Levi Hart, ex-military Ranger, now Classics grad student at Harvard, who knew secrets, was compelling. He was unlike anyone she’d ever met before.
Trust had become a rarity in her life, a trait that had been chiseled away over the years until she’d honestly believed she no longer possessed the ability to feel it.
But she trusted Levi, trusted this stranger based on nothing more than…
Than what?
The fact that he had the same ring as her great-grandfather? That he claimed to know a secret about her?
That he knew Stefan?
That last thought stung.
Stefan was the last person she’d trusted implicitly and look what that had gotten her.
“So, Mr. Hart. I believe you were going to tell me a secret.”
Levi nodded. “I am. But before I begin, I’d like to ask that you hear me out, that you allow me to tell you everything before you…” He gave her a lopsided grin and that was when she realized whatever Levi had to say, it was going to be as unbelievable as this entire night had been so far.
“I won’t interrupt, won’t walk away until you’ve said it all,” she reassured him.
“Thank you. I also need your reassurance that you never—and I can’t stress the never enough—tell another living soul what I’m about to relate to you.”
“Oookay,” she drawled.
“If you do tell it,” Levi swallowed heavily, “well, let’s just say the punishment for sharing this secret would be swift and painful. Your career would be over and your life utterly ruined.”
“Maybe I don’t want to know the secret,” she said.
“Do you want me to leave?”
There was a twinkle in Levi’s eyes—partnered with the pure dare in his tone—that told her he knew she’d never let him leave now without telling her everything.
She narrowed her eyes briefly, then said, “I promise.”
And then, Levi told her a long tale of intrigue, deception, and adventure that would have made an amazing movie. It started with the formation of a secret society back when the ink was still drying on the Declaration of Independence. The Trinity Masters was a shadow society that had worked behind the scenes, driving and influencing much of America’s history.
Levi was a born storyteller and it occurred to her that, while she couldn’t imagine anything more boring than the Classics, the soon-to-be Professor Hart would definitely find a way to make it enthralling. She was almost jealous of his future students.
Once he’d covered the history of the society—including a fascinating story about a Fascist regime within the Trinity Members called the Purists—he moved on to the perks and benefits of membership. Beatrix, who’d spent her life clawing her way to the top in Hollywood, her fingertips bloody from the climb, was deeply drawn to the idea that there was help out there. Powerful, intelligent people working together on meaningful causes.
She considered how many times she’d gotten arrested, using her name and
star power to raise environmental awareness. As Levi listed all the incredible things the Trinity Masters had been instrumental in achieving, the strides they’d made in nearly every facet of American society—from education, to technology, to medical advances. Well, it was pretty heady stuff.
“The Trinity Masters sounds incredible. Where do I sign up?” she asked, breaking her promise to hear him out without interruption.
Levi smiled briefly, but his delight at her praise was short-lived. “This isn’t the type of society you can merely ask to join. An invitation needs to be extended.”
Beatrix considered that. “Why are you telling me all of this?”
Levi lifted his hand. “This ring bears the insignia of the Trinity Masters, the triquetra. Every member is given a piece of jewelry bearing it.”
“My great-grandfather was a member,” Beatrix whispered, putting the pieces together.
“Yes. Which makes you a legacy.” Levi briefly explained what it meant to be a legacy to the secret society. Then he paused for a moment. Beatrix had the feeling the other shoe was about to drop. “Your family’s presence in the society was...lost.”
“Lost? Because of internment?” Her mother’s father and grandfather had been interned at Manzanar.
“Not exactly. The Trinity Masters is, and has been, progressive by most standards. But not everyone was on the same page, especially during the war and post World War II.”
“What are you saying, Levi?”
“Your ancestors were members of the Trinity Masters for three generations prior to World War II. After that, the Purists saw to it that your family was—”
“Lost,” she whispered.
“The Trinity Masters is your birthright, just as it should have been for your grandparents and parents.” Levi had taken off his suit jacket before they sat down, hanging it on the back of his chair. Now, he reached into the pocket and withdrew a cream-colored envelope. He started to hand it to her, but pulled his hand back at the last second.
“There’s something else I need to tell you before—”
Beatrix’s heart was racing, thudding so loudly, she could barely hear Levi’s suddenly softer voice. She wanted what was in that envelope. Some part of her was sure this was all some elaborate prank or weird cult, but it was interesting, and Levi was a compelling storyteller.