“I haven’t liked any part of this conversation, so that’s fitting,” he retorted, but he rocked back into his seat and groused, “Hit me with it.”
How appropriate those words were, did he but know it.
Although, maybe he had.
Josh and Jamie had been friends since school. Both from over-privileged backgrounds, both accustomed to being at the top of the tree peering down at those beneath them.
Had he known Jamie’s true inclinations?
Could Jamie have hidden his nature from his best friend for so many years? What was more likely?
Jamie’s true nature being a secret from the man he considered a brother? Or that brother’s ignorance about the man beneath the mask?
“As far as I can tell, Janice was complaining about some bruises on her arms. Erin told her to ask me for the magic stick that covered them up.” She eyed him, wondering if he understood the meaning behind that. But as she looked on, his expression had barely changed. “Then, Erin said that maybe I didn’t have any more as I hadn’t used it since his daddy had died.”
Samantha blew out a shaky breath. She’d never intended that side of her marriage to come out; certainly not to her in-laws, and certainly not by her son – she’d always thought she’d hidden it well from him.
Not well enough it would seem.
That, more than anything in this fucked up situation, upset her deeply. She hadn’t protected Erin as well as she’d hoped she had. And what kind of mother did that make her?
A questionable one, but she'd be damned before anyone took her child from her.
But she wasn’t the only one dealing with the aftermath of her revelation. While she was dealing with her own guilt, Josh had frozen in place. He’d yet to move.
The more she watched him, the more she realized he was aware of the meaning behind Erin’s words, but that he’d been in the dark about Jamie’s character. The notion filled her with relief. If he had known, could she still have sought help from him? When he’d allowed his friend to treat her like that? Throwing her to the wolf that was his best friend…
No, instinct told her Jamie’s mask had held true where Josh was concerned.
The trouble was, she knew too few people in New York City. This wasn’t her place, wasn’t her home. She had to stay here for Erin, when really, she wished she could be back in upstate New York. In her tiny hometown a stone’s throw away from the Hamptons where this miserable adventure had begun all those years ago.
She had no friends here. No friends that weren’t connected to Jamie, at any rate. Or if not him, his parents.
The only reason she’d come to Josh today was because he was richer than Frank, more powerful too. She’d been uncertain as to whether he’d help her or her in-laws in the end, but she’d had to try.
In all the years she’d known him, she’d never known Josh to be so silent. He was renowned for his cutting and acerbic weight, something she’d fallen prey to many times over the years. She wasn’t used to him being quiet, wasn’t sure which she preferred.
She squeezed her hands around the ends of the armrests of her chair. She knew her knuckles bled white from the ache, but she stayed there, remained silent, letting Josh absorb her words. Uncertain if he’d choose to believe her, or if he’d have her thrown out of his office for lying.
Truth was, she expected the latter more than the former.
Eventually, when the silence grew too much, she whispered, “Say something, Josh.” She gulped. Anything would do.
He blinked. “For how long?” he asked, his voice gravelly and so hoarse it was almost a rasp.
“Pretty much from the beginning,” she whispered softly. Memories she’d long since tried to bury stirred from the depths where she placed them after Jamie’s heart attack. Despite herself, and despite the fact the last thing she wanted was to revisit that time, she whispered, “You were there when we met, weren’t you?”
She’d wished Josh had been the one to ask her to dance at the country club ball. Even though he was mean to her, she could deal with that. At one point, she’d have taken verbal abuse over the physical she’d had to endure at Jamie’s strung out hands.
He nodded. “We went together. I saw him ask you to dance.”
“Don’t misunderstand me, Josh. Erin is the best thing that ever happened to me. No matter what happened between me and his father, I have no regrets where he’s concerned.” She blew out a breath. “But I really wish I hadn’t gone to that ball that night.”
His mouth worked. “But he wasn’t like that.”
His words weren’t strident, weren’t uttered in that patented arrogant tone of his. If anything, there was a plea buried within them.
She knew she was hurting him with these revelations, but what could she do? The truth hurt. And it hurt a damn sight less than the myriad injuries she’d had to suffer at his friend’s hands.
“He was,” she said softly, sadly. “I wish he hadn’t been. That night we met, I felt sure I’d met my Prince Charming.”
Her lips curled with remembered pleasure. Jamie had been so handsome. A true golden boy. White blonde hair at the roots that darkened into gold at the tips. His skin had been bronzed from the sun, his body long and lean from all the tennis he played and all the laps he swum. He looked so dapper in his tuxedo, so perfect, so all-American that she’d felt like the Belle of the ball when he’d asked her to dance.
“But he wasn’t. He was anything but. He’d been a walking nightmare. Especially by the end.”
Her mama was a seamstress, and Samantha’s dress had been made by her. She’d felt so pretty at the beginning of the night, but when she and her friends had sneaked into the dance at the country club where all the rich folk from the Hamptons met and gathered for special occasions, she’d felt so dowdy. So unfashionable.
Then, Jamie had swept out of nowhere. He’d asked her to dance, and she’d shyly accepted his hand. He’d taken her away. Danced her, seemingly, to the moon and back. The night ended with them fooling around in his car, and like so many stupid girls, she’d let him go too far and ended up pregnant.
Of course, nobody had thought she was stupid. Not when Jamie had married her after finding out she was carrying his child. No, then, everyone had thought she was a gold digger. And she wasn’t. She’d been enchanted by the golden man who would eventually become the star of her deepest, darkest nightmares.
“When? Why?”
She stiffened at his questions. “I did nothing to deserve it,” she spat.
His eyes flared wide. “I didn’t mean it that way, I-I never thought you did.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry, I had no right to ask that, Samantha. I-I don’t know how to get my head around this.”
“You don’t have to understand this. You can’t make sense of it. You weren’t the first one he conned. Only Erin and I truly know what he was like, and I’m not telling you this for you to feel pity. I, we, don’t need your pity. What we need is your help. I can’t lose Erin, Josh. You have to see that.”
He licked his lips as he processed her words. The man was smart. Had taken a fortune he’d inherited from his grandparents and had quadrupled it by the time he’d hit thirty. Jamie had often spoken with envy over how quick Josh was, how he could turn his hands to most tasks and make it work for him.
But at the moment, she knew she truly had bewildered him.
“Let me speak to Frank and Janice,” he half whispered. “Let me see what I can do.”
“No, I don’t think that will work. And if you get involved now, they’ll know, and they’ll guard against it. Against you.”
“Against me?” He sounded even more confused, which came as a surprise. Probably to both of them. “I’m like a son to them.”
She closed her eyes and wished things weren’t so complicated. Bowing her head, she rubbed her forehead where an ache had started to gather.
“You had to know Jamie was addicted to coke by the end.” Hell, he’d been addicted at the beginning, but she didn
’t dare bewilder Josh any more than she already had.
He frowned. “Addicted seems a little strong. I know he used it when he partied. But Jamie always said he had things under control.”
The laugh that escaped her lips was more of a bark than anything else.
“Jamie had nothing under control. Nothing. Not himself, not our marriage, not our finances. We were running on the knife's edge of debt, just keeping ahead each month. If he hadn’t passed away when he did, what assets were left might not have been able to pay off all his debts. Frank and Janice blamed me for them of course, but they shut up when I showed them how Jamie had spent his money.”
Gosh, she was so sick of having to find evidence to justify her words. Weariness filled her at the thought, because she was having to do that now. She was under no illusion. Just because she’d stunned Josh, didn’t mean he wouldn’t look into what she was saying. Didn’t mean he’d take her words at face value.
In this crappy world she lived in, this ‘1%’ society, the poor relation could never be trusted. Her word could never hold the most sway over Jamie’s. It was why she’d never tried to leave him. Why she’d never even tried to plan an escape.
She’d known he’d always come after her. Had known from the first time he’d hit her that there was no escape. He had the means and the jealous zeal to never let her leave. And that was before their son had come into the picture. A child he didn’t particularly want, but who was his, his belonging, his possession, and therefore had to remain close.
Josh’s frown deepened into an outright scowl. “How was he in debt? Jamie always said…”
She shot him a bitter smile. “Let me guess. That I had expensive tastes in clothes, that I needed jewelry, and that I wasn’t happy unless we had a Ferrari.” It wasn’t the first time she’d heard that bullshit.
Her in-laws had been the first to spout it at her when they’d seen the state of Jamie’s bank records.
He cleared his throat. “Well, yeah.”
Samantha shook her head. “By the end, it was hard putting food on the table with the bare amount Jamie gave me. That was how crazy it had gotten. Jamie was taking more coke than ever. I’m certain that’s what brought on the heart attack. He barely came down before he had to get high again, and he very rarely slept. It was like walking on a minefield living with him. I was relieved when he went out to party, it was the only time I felt safe. Not just for me, but for Erin too.”
Josh jolted forward. “He abused Erin as well?”
She hesitated. “He was very jealous of Erin. Said he took up too much of my time. Time that should have been spent on him.” Sucking in a shaky breath, she whispered, “I was scared every damn day that that would be when he’d start on him. But it never came to that. Thank God.”
Josh stared at her blankly, and then came the question she’d been dreading, “Why do you think Frank and Janice won’t listen to me?”
Dread filled her at having to make this confession. “Because, by the end, Jamie was certain we were having an affair, and he complained to them about it.”
Chapter 3
Samantha
“Hey baby,” Samantha said, her voice like a singsong.
Erin scampered over towards her, arms outstretched. She quickly picked him up and hugged him tightly. Already at four, he was getting more independent. She dreaded the day when hugging and kissing mommy were no longer at the top of his agenda when he saw her.
Praying that that day was way in the future, she buried her face in his silky hair that smelled like baby shampoo and grass. The latter had her lips twitching.
“Have you been playing outside with Mayor?”
He bobbed his head quickly from side to side. Then, when she frowned, he quickly mumbled, “Bella said I could.”
Her frown deepened—he’d started to lie to her. Why was that?
Because he told the truth in the end, she didn’t remark on it. Instead, murmured, “Good!”
Samantha had been trying to encourage him into playing in the yard. Wanting him to have a childhood more like her own, but on the odd times Janice watched over him, she’d always made it plain how she disapproved. That it wasn’t safe outside.
For anyone.
But especially with the wealth the family had at their fingertips.
Though she came from a different background, she could empathize. As per the terms of the prenuptial agreement and Jamie’s will, Samantha had been left nothing, not that there was much after his debts had been settled, but she didn't even get a cent of the gigantic life insurance sum either. It had all been held in trust for her son. Until he reached his majority, she managed the estate. So, she knew exactly what kind of pull all those noughts in the bank balance could have.
Erin was in danger of being kidnapped, but they had the best security, and she refused to let her son feel like a prisoner growing up. Especially in the safety of his own backyard.
To that end, she’d bought him a dog. A German Shepherd pup he’d named Mayor. She wanted the pair to bond, and was hoping that after enough training, Mayor would attack if anyone was to threaten her son. Guard dog and friend… She hoped such an end was achievable.
He peeked up at her through his bangs. They were overlong, reminding her he needed a cut. Something else Janice had prompted her about before.
Truth was, Samantha was more interested in her little boy being a child than a shining example of the Garrett name.
She grinned at his anxious expression when really she wanted to tear Janice a new one – he only started acting this oddly since his last visit with his grandparents. Wondering what her mother-in-law had said to make him seem so nervous, and wishing she could erase it from his memory banks, she murmured, “Did you have fun?”
Finally, his grin appeared. All toothy gaps and pearly white teeth. “I did! Mayor barks when I tell him to sit. Then dances around me until I’m dizzy.” He chortled.
She shook her head. “He’ll learn.” She hoped.
“Of course he will,” Josh inserted smoothly. She blinked, having forgotten he was there, her focus on her child absolute. “He’s only a puppy, right? Give him time.”
Erin squealed in delight. “Uncle Josh! Uncle Josh!” He bounded from her arms straight into Josh’s. Unlike her, her son held no reticence where the other man was concerned. Testament, she supposed, to how often Jamie and Josh had hung out. Although, that could have done some damage in itself. Erin, by the time his father died, had been uneasy around him. Was it telling that her son didn’t feel the same uneasiness around Josh?
Deciding not to question her good fortune considering the charade they’d both have to pull for the foreseeable future, a charade she prayed wouldn’t hurt her son, she smiled at them both. “Dinner time!”
Erin turned big blue eyes on his uncle. Not by blood, but Josh was actually his godfather, so the title fit.
“Is Uncle Josh staying for hamburgers?”
She grinned at his wide-eyed look of delight, and knew the question was more of a prompt than anything else. “I haven’t forgotten,” she teased.
Erin shot her a coy smile, and at that moment he was so like his father, she had to fight not to shudder. Jamie had been so charming, and it was only natural her son would follow in his footsteps in some ways. Normally, that smile amused her, but after speaking of the past with Josh this morning, her stomach roiled at the sight.
Jamie had died just after Erin’s birthday. She had time to undo any damage his father might have done. Nature, on the other hand, she couldn’t change. But she’d do her damnedest to make sure her son wasn’t the sociopath his father had been.
“Just wanted to make sure,” Erin murmured, looking positively angelic with his white blonde hair.
“I promised, didn’t I?” She made a point to bring that up. Erin had a thing about promises. Mostly because Jamie had broken every single one he’d made their son. “We never break a promise, do we?” she parroted, trying to make the mantra stick.
; Erin’s head bobbed again. “We never break a promise,” he sang. Then, looking up at his uncle, he murmured, “Are you, Uncle Josh? Are you staying for hamburgers?”
Josh shot her a look and she gave him a tiny nod. “Sure am, short stuff.” He balanced Erin on one arm, and reached up with the other to scrub his hand through Erin’s mop.
Squealing, Erin patted his shoulders in delight. Wryly, she murmured, “That’s code for ‘put me down’.”
Josh laughed and lowered Erin to the ground. He immediately took off, heading to the pile of toys in the family room.
She watched him a second, saw him pull out some toy cars from a box, and nodding in satisfaction, turned to Josh. Though she saw he was looking at her in surprise, she ignored it. “You can stay in here, or, through to the kitchen. Your choice.”
“I can help,” he told her, stunning the hell out of her.
“You cook?” she questioned, coming to an abrupt halt on her way from the family room to the kitchen.
He rolled his eyes. “A man has to eat, doesn’t he?”
“I thought you’d have fancy pants cooks and housekeepers.”
“Oh, I do. But it doesn’t mean I can’t cook.”
When she looked at him, her suspicion obviously bleeding through, he grumbled, “My nanny insisted on it.”
Ah, that made sense.
She didn’t know his mother well, had only seen Elizabeth when Josh’s and Jamie’s families had gotten together. She’d quickly seen that Janice and Elizabeth were of the same ilk; distant mothers who preferred dumping their children in the care of nannies and paid staff to actually having a relationship with them.
The thought fired her up.
She refused to let Erin have that kind of upbringing.
When they made it into the kitchen, Josh whistled. “How did I not know you’d moved?”
She pulled a face. “Why would you care?”
He scowled. “Of course I care. Erin is Jamie’s kid. I’ll always keep an eye out on him. How do you think I know about the puppy?”
Deciding not to question that considering the man had agreed to her proposition, and was willing to go to extreme lengths to keep Erin with her, she murmured, “We moved in three weeks ago.” Though, how he did know about the puppy was weird.
Believing Her: An Enemies to Lovers Fake Fiancé Romance Page 2