“Why did you need to find me?” Exasperation laced her voice. “I was fine. I knew what I was getting into. It was my idea.”
He and Holly looked at each other again. One of those serious, we-know-each-other-so-well-we-don’t-need-to-speak kinds of looks that drove her mad. “Why did you come after me? And why would you involve that….” She gestured after the man who had left, all English taking a temporary leave of absence thanks to her hung-over, frustrated state.
“Ryan can explain,” Holly said. Then she winced a bit and added, “In Italy.”
* * * *
“What?” Lucia sat upright too quickly and nearly spilled her coffee. She groaned in misery as her body protested the sudden movement. “What are you talking about, we’re not going back. Not yet.”
Jack’s expression was filled with sympathy as he handed her a large glass of water. “You got married to gain access to your trust fund, right?”
Lucia nodded and then wished she hadn’t. Her head was in an extremely fragile state. “Of course.”
Holly stepped in, her face a mirror image of Jack’s pitying look. “Sorry to break it to you, sweetie, but the trust fund stipulates that he has to sign off on it as long as you’re under thirty.”
“Wait….what?” The blood rushed from her head and left her tingling. This could not be happening. She’d gotten married, for God’s sakes. And for what? For nothing? “That doesn’t make sense,” she said. “Grandpa never mentioned that rule.”
Jack and Holly exchanged a look. “In his defense,” Jack started. “He probably thought you’d marry someone he….”
Liked? Admired? Trusted? Lucia’s brain filled in the blanks for him.
“Someone he’d met,” he finished.
“Someone like Marco.” Lucia glanced up at her friends whose silence was answer enough.
She fell back onto couch back with a sigh. “So now what?”
There was another knock on the door and Holly leapt up to answer.
Ryan. Nervous excitement warred with fear. That battle, combined with her nausea, was nearly enough to make her vomit. She swallowed thickly. How the hell was she going to explain this to Ryan? Hi, thanks for marrying me. Turns out it was all for nothing. Just a silly misunderstanding.
No way. She would have to tell him the truth. There was no money in this for him. She’d made a promise she couldn’t keep. Maybe it was a good thing they hadn’t shared a room together after all…the fact that they didn’t consummate the marriage had to be good for an annulment case, right?
She heard the door opening and male voices but couldn’t bring herself to face him. Not yet. This was the most humiliating thing that had happened to her but worse than that….tears pricked the back of her eyes at the thought that with this conversation, it would all be over. There would be no need to see one another ever again except maybe as employer and employee if she had the nerve to return to the hotel bar.
“What are you doing here?” Jack’s voice cut through her emotional fog.
“That’s harsh. He is my husband,” Lucia muttered under her breath.
“Danny?” Holly was looking over Lucia’s shoulder, her nose scrunched up in confusion. “What are you doing here?”
Lucia spun around and saw Daniel heading towards her, his forehead furrowed with concern.
“Daniel?”
Daniel sat across from her on the loveseat and rested his elbows on his knees. “This is all my fault, Lucia. I had to come and make sure you were all right.”
Lucia’s brain refused to comprehend. Was she supposed to understand that comment?
“Danny, what are you talking about?” Lucia hitched herself up so she was fully upright with her feet on the ground so she could face her overprotective—and clearly concerned—family friend.
Daniel sighed. “Ryan was using you to get to me.”
The words were a punch in the gut but they made no sense. Still, adrenaline started coursing through her blood as an ominous sense of foreboding fell over her. What the hell was he talking about?
She was distantly aware of Holly muttering, “Way to be subtle, Danny.”
Daniel shook his head in frustration. “I’m so sorry, Lucia, I should have seen this coming.”
“Seen what coming?” The words came out of her frozen lips.
Daniel leaned forward, his hands clasped between his knees and his lips pressed together. Jack came to sit beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders in a brotherly move. Holly, she noted, was standing near the window behind Daniel, worrying her bottom lip.
This couldn’t be good.
“Ryan’s real last name is Brentworth.” There was a tense silence in the room after Daniel’s pronouncement and Lucia fought a nervous giggle. She’d never been good with tense silences and Daniel’s big news was so…anti-climactic.
“I know,” she said.
Daniel glanced back at Holly over his shoulder and she mouthed. “You’re too late.”
“They got married last night,” Jack added.
Lucia drew in a deep breath. She loved her friends but this kind of over-protectiveness was the very reason she’d left Italy. It was why she hadn’t told anyone about her plans.
“Look, I appreciate your concern. But I know Ryan’s real name and I know why he lied.”
Her friends exchanged glances. “You do?” Holly asked.
Lucia rolled her eyes. “Yes, and it’s not that big of a deal.”
Daniel leaned back in his seat, his eyes narrowed as he studied her. She’d seen Daniel at work often enough to know that look—it meant his mind was whirring, putting the pieces together.
Jack and Holly seemed to be waiting for him to speak. Or maybe they were waiting for her. Either way they were watching her and Daniel with an intensity that was unnerving.
“So,” Daniel started. “He told you that my company bought out his family’s business?”
Lucia blinked at him. Her heart rate picked up speed and her stomach, which was already a roiling mess, threatened to toss its contents all over the rug.
“What?” Lucia’s voice was little more than a whisper but she knew they’d heard her because all three seemed to deflate with disappointment.
She cleared her throat. “What are you talking about?”
Lucia was distantly aware of a light knock on the door. Holly went to answer it as Daniel started to explain. “About ten years ago I learned of the Brentworth’s financial difficulties.” Before he could get any further, they were distracted by Ryan’s voice coming from the doorway.
“Luce, I can explain.”
Daniel and Jack shot up at once but Lucia was frozen on the couch. A thousand weights seemed to be pressing down on her, holding her in place.
“You can explain?” Jack growled.
Daniel’s voice was clipped and cold. “You’ve done enough harm here, Mr. Brentworth. My lawyers are already drawing up a restraining order. I suggest you—”
Holly held up a hand to stop him. “Daniel, enough. I promised Ryan he would be the one to explain.”
Lucia was only vaguely aware of the bickering that broke out between Holly, Jack, and Daniel as they debated whether to let Ryan into the room, let alone give him a chance to speak. Lucia was too distracted by Ryan—her husband. He was still standing in the doorway but he’d met her gaze the moment he’d walked through the door and hadn’t broken eye contact since.
He seemed content to stand there and await the verdict of her friends.
Lucia wished she could read something in those eyes—guilt, or even better, anger at these false accusations. But she couldn’t read anything there other than what she’d always seen when she’d looked into those gorgeous blues—a kindness that warmed her to her core.
“Can you guys give us a minute?”
Her friends turned to her in surprise. Jack and Daniel were both scowling but Holly gave her a small, encouraging smile.
“Are
you sure?” Jack asked.
“We’re not leaving you alone in this room with him,” Daniel said at the same time.
The shock and hurt that had kept her frozen on the couch lifted, thanks to Daniel’s commanding tone. If there was one thing she hated it was being told what to do.
Tossing her hair over her shoulder and lifting her chin, she stood up straight and tried to look as dignified as possible—which was probably not all that dignified given her hung-over state.
“Fine,” she said, moving past her friends to the doorway where Ryan still stood watching her. “Then I guess we’ll go to our room.”
She ignored the protests as she walked out the door, not looking back to see if Ryan was following her.
* * * *
Ryan followed his new bride down the hall to the elevator. Who was this woman and how had he managed to make her his wife? That was all he could think as he stood beside her for the short ride to their floor.
She was still wearing the short, flimsy black dress from the night before and her long black hair was tousled. Her heels dangled from her hand as she padded barefoot down the hallway. She looked like a woman doing the walk of shame….and it was goddamn sexy.
This was not the time to be ogling his wife. She’d been silent since they left the room and now, as they keyed into the room they shared, he found himself at a loss for words. He should be preparing what he was going to say, not staring at her like some sex-starved teen.
Once inside, she dropped her heels, and stopped in front of her overnight bag. She glanced over her shoulder at him, confusion in her eyes.
“I couldn’t sleep last night so I gathered our belongings from the motel and checked us out.”
Lucia just nodded and headed toward the bag.
“Lucia, I need you to know—”
She held up a hand to stop him and started digging through her bag. She pulled out a makeup bag and walked past him. “I can’t talk yet. Give me a minute.”
She went into the bathroom and locked the door, leaving Ryan to sit on the edge of the bed and wait. He heard water running and his anxiety increased exponentially with every minute that ticked by.
This was it. This was his one chance to make things right with this woman or she could disappear from his life. Forever.
That thought was terrifying. Fear gripped him and made his chest feel like it was locked in a vice. He couldn’t let that happen. He couldn’t lose her. Not when he’d just found her.
Holy hell, at what point had he started to care so deeply? Ryan thrust a hand through his hair. This was no crush. It wasn’t even pure lust. This was something more. Something so much deeper. Somehow over the course of the past week, he’d come to need this woman in his life as surely as he needed oxygen.
And he had no idea if she felt the same way. Even if she’d felt a connection too—all that could be gone now that she knew the truth about him.
He heard the water shut off in the bathroom. She’d come out any minute now and he would need to explain himself and his actions.
He would tell her everything. A vague sense of guilt gnawed at his stomach at thought of revealing his family secrets but anger squashed that guilt and filled him with rage. He was furious with his family—with his brother for his ridiculous schemes and his constant jabs at Ryan for not doing enough to vindicate their father. And he was just as angry with his mother for continuing to bait him and fuel Billy’s anger.
Even his father, who he’d adored as a kid—he was even angry with him for losing the family business in the first place and, worse, for leaving them. Everyone said the overdose was accidental but he’d never known if that was the truth. Whether it was accidental or not, his father had given up the battle with booze long before his death. Even as a kid, he’d known that.
The bathroom door clicked open and Lucia stepped out, still wearing that dress but her face was scrubbed of last night’s makeup and her hair was tied back in a ponytail that made her look even younger than her twenty-four years.
Still barefoot, Lucia stood before him in the middle of the room and shifted her weight from one foot to the other as her hands toyed with the makeup bag in her hands. She looked so sweet and innocent. It was all he could do not to sweep her up into his arms and promise to protect her, take care of her, and keep her from harm.
But so far, he was the only one who had harmed her. He’d hurt her.
“I was an idiot.” He hadn’t actually meant to say it out loud. In fact, he’d had a whole speech planned out, but those were the words that came out. Her eyes widened in surprise and he realized it was as good a place as any to start. Because it was the truth.
“I was an idiot,” he said again, “because I honestly thought that I could do this….” He made a broad sweeping gesture. “I thought I could make things right for my family without involving you. Without hurting you.”
Lucia tossed the bag on a nightstand and crossed her arms in front of her. She wasn’t looking at him now and the only indication she’d heard him was the slight wrinkle of her brow.
“So it’s true?” She was so quiet, so serene, so….not like the little Italian spitfire he’d come to know. His heart twisted in his chest.
“Yes.”
She gave a little nod as her eyes continued to focus on everything but him. He heard her mutter something but couldn’t make it out.
“What did you say?”
She looked up, her eyes were wet with unshed tears. Guilt and regret sliced through his gut like a sword.
“I said, I am the idiot.” For believing you. She didn’t say the words, but she didn’t have to. He heard the accusation there.
“I didn’t mean to involve you in this,” he started. But he was well aware how lame that sounded.
Lucia’s lips twitched up in a small, sad smile. “All right then, how about you tell me what you did mean to do.”
Ryan took a deep breath. This was his chance to explain, to make everything right. But where to start? “My family....my mother and my brother, that is…they blame Daniel for our situation.”
“And what situation is that?” Lucia’s foot tapped against the rug and her mouth was set in a firm line.
He cleared his throat. “Uh, you see, we used to be rich. Very, very rich.”
Lucia raised her brows. “And?”
Ryan opened his mouth and then shut it again. What was the point of rehashing his family’s past? None of that mattered anymore. Some of the weight on his chest lifted at that thought. For the first time in years he realized that he didn’t need to be anchored down by his family’s past. His mother and brother’s battles didn’t have to be his. He could say goodbye to the past and move on.
A rush of energy jolted through him and for the first time since God knows when, he could see a future that wasn’t bleak and depressing. He could see a future with Lucia.
Moving forward he took her hands in his and ignored her gasp of surprise. “I need you to listen to me, Lucia. I didn’t want to drag you into the middle of my family’s feud with Daniel.”
Her eyes widened but she didn’t respond.
“Yes, I wanted to use the money we got to appease my family. And yes, I was hoping to anger Daniel Gladwell in the process.” He shook his head at his own stupidity. “I don’t even know what I was planning to do…make some baseless threats, maybe, or blackmail him….”
Her expression turned from surprise to horror and he stopped himself. “It doesn’t matter. I didn’t think it through because part of me already knew that I wouldn’t go through with it. It was never about you, Lucia, it was about getting even with Daniel. And getting revenge isn’t worth it if it means hurting you.”
He stopped to catch his breath and marveled at the lightness he felt as the words coming out of his mouth rang true. He didn’t know when it had happened or how, but the joy that Lucia brought into his life now outweighed the bitter need for payback. This woman—his wife—had somehow mana
ged to shed light on that dark part of his life. The bleakness of the past was nothing in comparison to the brightness of his future. But that bright future depended on her forgiving him.
Lucia tugged her hands from his. She turned and walked to the window and stood there with her back to him. She was silent for a couple of minutes but it seemed like hours. His brain was coming up with more excuses, more rationalizations…more ways to make her see that he was sorry. Then, like the idiot he was, he realized that for the second time in their brief relationship, he had failed to do the obvious.
“I’m sorry.” His words sounded loud in the quiet room.
She was still looking out the window but he heard a noise. He couldn’t tell if it was a soft laugh, a sad sigh, or the telltale sniffle of tears. He willed her to turn around—to let him know that she was all right and she could forgive him.
Finally she spoke, while still facing the window. “Do you know why I hate being called princess?”
He shook his head and then realized she couldn’t see him. “Why?”
“Because it’s what my grandfather used to call me when I was little. At that point, I hadn’t learned the truth about my absent father and I actually believed that he was royalty. I was little and stupid and didn’t realize that it was just an endearment.”
She laughed, but the sound was so sad and tired, it made his fists clench at his side. He would do anything to take away that pain.
Turning from the window, she moved to the chair across from him and sank into it with a sigh. “You see, my mother was just like me. She was naïve and stupid and, by all accounts, a bit of a wild child.” Lucia’s eyes were unfocused. Ryan stayed still on the bed across from her, unwilling to interrupt. He was getting a glimpse of the real Lucia—it was the kind of honesty and openness he didn’t expect from her. And he certainly didn’t deserve it.
“Grandpa openly admits that he spoiled her. He gave her everything she wanted, even the cross-country trip in America when she graduated high school, despite the fact that she’d hardly ever left our small town and was sheltered and innocent.”
Lucia met his gaze then and gave her head a little shake as if to bring herself back to the moment. “Anyway, long story short. She thought she’d found love, and I was conceived.”
The Accidental Elopement Page 13