“You might have said that,” she replied as she straightened herself up. “I did. Now shhh. The movie’s starting.”
She giggled at his bossy ways, finding this playful side of Marco quite endearing.
Another aspect of him she was just starting to see.
She couldn’t help herself—she snuggled in a little closer and as his arm wrapped around her shoulders feeling content and safe, one she hadn’t felt in a very long time.
* * *
Marco was glad he didn’t have to think too hard while watching the movie. All his thoughts were concentrated on the woman in his arms. He loved holding her again. His body was still on fire from their shared bath; the cold shower he’d taken had done nothing to take the edge off his desire. It had been the hardest thing to do to walk away from her. He’d had a feeling she was about to do something that would’ve made it impossible for him to say no. So he’d summoned up some strength he hadn’t known he had, and walked away. He couldn’t afford to lose the bet. He needed to be with her, sharing day-to-day things with her. He needed to show her what their future could be like. He needed for her to come to him willingly.
As the movie progressed he tried to maintain his relaxed stance but he couldn’t. The movie was too close to what he’d experienced with Veronika. The main female character was pretending to be something she wasn’t and her male counterpart had no idea he was being duped.
“You’re not enjoying this, are you?”
He couldn’t lie and say he was—with Phoebe lying in his arms, no doubt she could feel his body tensing. Even though it had been a long time ago, it was still raw to share how naïve he’d been. How embarrassing it had been at the time. He shifted his body in discomfort now just thinking about it.
“Well, I’m an action movie kind of guy, but I promised I would watch this with you.” He was surprised when Phoebe reached for the remote and stopped the movie. “Why did you do that?”
She went to move out of his arms the temptation to keep her there was strong, but he let her go. She was only a short distance away, but he felt like a yawning chasm between them.
“I know you’re keeping something from me, Marco. It’s more than just not enjoying the movie. What’s wrong?”
12
Phoebe waited and watched. She didn’t know what it was, but there was something about the movie that was making Marco uncomfortable and she had an inkling that it was something important to him.
The question would be whether he would answer her or not. Would he take that plunge and share something so private with her? Or would he avoid the subject altogether?
“It’s nothing really, more the premise of pretending to be someone you’re not. Like this movie—she’s a hotel maid but she’s impersonating a woman of society.”
Disappointment pooled in her stomach like a rock dropping to the bottom of a pond.
He was never going to be open with her. She should just kick him out right now.
“It’s a movie, Marco, nothing like that happens in real life. And I know it’s more than just the premise of the movie. But still, you clearly don’t trust me enough to want to share it with me.”
She stood and turned away before he could see the tears that where threatening to drip down her face. “I’m going to bed,” she mumbled.
“Phoebe, wait. I’m sorry. Yes, there is something, I just can’t talk about it.”
“Why? Why is it so hard for you to trust me? Why is it so hard for you to share things with me?”
She heard his sigh of frustration, and for a moment, she felt bad for pushing, but only for a moment. If he wanted them to have a future together he needed to not keep things from her.
“Sweetheart, it’s not a matter of not trusting you. It’s a part of my life I’d much rather forget.” He paused and looked into her. She felt his gaze to the soles of her feet. “It’s embarrassing.”
She didn’t care if it was embarrassing or not, she’d shared plenty of embarrassing moments with him. “I’m sure it’s no different than being ceremoniously dumped the second a better opportunity turns up. But it doesn’t really matter, does it? The problem is, if you really cared about me, you wouldn’t be ashamed to share it with me.”
Phoebe walked up to him and poked him in the chest. “Couples share everything with each other. The good, the bad, the ugly, and the embarrassing. Guess you only expect me to share everything with you? Well that’s not how I want things to work.”
She moved away and headed towards her room, turning again to say one last thing. “If you want us to work, Marco, then you need to let go of your uptightness and share your past with me. If you can’t do it, then I’m really glad I broke off our engagement.”
She walked out then, letting him chew on what she’d said. It was probably the most truly honest thing she’d ever said to him in the whole length of their relationship. She took responsibility for not communicating properly with Marco. If she had, maybe things would’ve been different. Maybe she would’ve brushed off John’s calls and not let them get to her. She couldn’t blame Marco totally for the problems in their relationship. She had played a huge part in causing some of them, too.
Phoebe reached her room and closed the door, leaning against it. She didn’t think she’d sleep tonight and even though she knew a warm drink would help her, she wasn’t planning on leaving her room until she was certain Marco had retreated to his own.
She wandered over to the bed and lay down on top of the covers. What to do next?
What was going to happen tomorrow morning? Maybe she should call the hospital up and see if there was an available shift. She glanced over at the clock and saw that it wasn’t too late, she could send Dawn a text message. She was sure Dawn wouldn’t mind giving her a shift. As the new Nursing Unit Manager, Dawn was responsible for the rosters. It was strange how many lives had changed in just under two years. Sophie had gotten married and had a baby and then resigned from a job that she loved so she could be a full-time mother, a move Phoebe had never expected her best friend to do. And Dawn . . . well, Dawn had gone from being a shadow of a person to grasping life with both hands. Both women had the love of a good man to give them the strength to change the paths their lives had been travelling. Now they were both travelling the road they were meant to.
Phoebe wanted to know what her path was. Where was she headed? And was Marco going to be on with her or was their path broken beyond repair?
* * *
The moment Phoebe had walked out, Marco knew he’d fucked up. Why couldn’t he tell her about Veronika? Why was he holding back? Phoebe was right, though—if he couldn’t share his past with her, the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, who could he share it with? If he wanted Phoebe, and he did, he would have to swallow his manly pride and tell her his most shameful secret.
With his decision made he headed towards Phoebe’s bedroom, turning off the television and lights as he went. As he got to her door he noticed the sliver of light shining beneath it.
Taking a deep breath he raised his lightly clenched fist, ready to knock on the wood. He halted, wondering if tomorrow would be a better time to have this discussion. Both of them would’ve had some sleep and would be able to have a rational, unemotional conversation.
It only took a moment for him to realize how silly that was. There was no way he would be able to sleep tonight. He suspected that Phoebe would be the same. He may as well do them both a favor and just get this conversation over with.
He knocked and without waiting for her permission to enter, he twisted the door handle and entered her room.
“I don’t believe I said you could come in.”
She wasn’t on the bed, and after allowing his eyes to adjust to the dim light from the lamp he noticed that she was sitting on a window seat. She looked so beautiful and fragile in the soft lighting. He wanted to stride over there and just kiss her. Kiss away the sadness he could feel reaching out to him. Kiss away her worries. Kiss away the bad mem
ories and replace them with good ones.
As much as he would enjoy it, kissing wouldn’t solve the issue standing between them.
“Would you have let me in if I’d waited?” he asked as he made his way into the room and sat on the corner of her bed.
“I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe not.”
He chuckled; at least she was being honest. He thought back to what she’d said to him—the words she’d spoken to him before she walked out were the first brutally honest ones she’d ever spoken to him. There was something about the way she wanted his trust that called out to his soul.
They really did need to work on their communication skills with each other. And by walking into her room tonight, he was taking the first steps to being more open with her.
“I owe you an apology, Phoebe.”
She remained still and her gaze hadn’t wavered from whatever she was looking at out of her window. “Really? Another apology? How many are we up to now? Five? What’s this apology for?”
“You’re right I’m always saying sorry and that’s because it’s hard for me to open up. I know ask that of you and I should do the same. This apology is for keeping things from you.” He didn’t want the conversation to happen with her so far away from him. He wanted to hold her hand, take strength from her presence so he could bare his most embarrassing moment to her. “But then again I think maybe you have some things you haven’t told me either.”
Her swift intake of breath had him convinced he’d hit the nail on the head. Her secrets, though, weren’t the reason he was in the room.
“It’s a bit late to try and make amends. The only reason you’re doing it is because I confronted you about it. If I hadn’t pushed you, would you have told me?”
He couldn’t lie to her. She was right. He probably wouldn’t have said anything to her about it. But now that he was here, in her room and knowing the choices he had, it wasn’t that hard a decision to make.
“I’m not sure. Half an hour ago, probably not. Now, yes I need to tell you. I want to tell you.”
Her snort of derision didn’t give him any confidence the conversation was going to go his way. “Don’t bother, I don’t want to hear it. In fact, I think you should leave.”
She hadn’t moved from her perch by the window, but he could feel her anger.
He deserved it, and he had to make up some big ground to get their relationship back to where he wanted it to be. Sharing his most shameful experience of his life with her was only going to be the start. He had to prove to her she was the most important thing in his life.
“I’m not going anywhere, and you’re going to hear me out, Phoebe.” “Why should I?”
“Because you mean a lot to me. I want to share the rest of my life with you. I need you, sweetheart. I need you.”
The moment he said the words he knew they were true. He wasn’t totally convinced he loved her, he could never give that total control to anyone. He didn’t think he could let himself be that vulnerable again.
What he did know was that he wanted her with every fiber of his being. He’d made the decision when she’d broken their engagement that he wasn’t going to let her go, and nothing had changed since then. If anything, his feelings of caring for her had deepened.
“I want to believe you, Marco, I really do. But how can I when you’ve done nothing to show me. The only time you’ve been honest and shared a part of yourself with me was after we came across that car accident.”
She paused and he knew she was remembering what had happened after they’d gotten back to the house. He’d lost himself in her and had told her about Tomasso. “Is that what it’s going to take every time for you to share things with me, Marco? A tragedy or like tonight, a demand from me? Will you ever willingly share yourself of your own volition? It’s got to be more than just need.”
Marco was feeling ashamed of himself. He could understand why she was feeling the way she was. She had been open with him about her past relationship with John. Of course, he’d known about the other man, had met him on occasions.
He’d also known the moment he’d met Phoebe that he wanted her, and had waited until the right moment. He’d instinctively known that John Allen was going to hurt her and he would be there to pick up the pieces.
Did that make him ruthless? Probably, but he’d always gone after what he wanted. “I’m not one to share my burdens with anyone. I’ve always kept things pretty much to
myself. I can see now that doing that type of thing is wrong.”
He took a moment to gather his thoughts and courage and then started.
* * *
“I’m going to tell you about my relationship with Veronika,” Marco said. “Only one other person knows the real truth about what happened and that person is Alex. Alex was there to help me deal with the shame I felt.”
From her perch by her window Phoebe was wavering. She could hear the pain in his voice, the struggle he was having to share his story with her. He hadn’t even started and she wanted to tell him to stop, that it was fine. But then she would never know and she’d be back to square one.
What she could do was give him support. She stood and walked over to her bed and sat next to him.
“I’m here, Marco. I’m not going to judge. God knows I’ve made plenty of mistakes I’m ashamed of.”
“Nothing as big as this, I’m sure. I was such a fool and I can’t believe I didn’t see Veronika for who she really was. Hell, I don’t even know her real name. It sure as hell isn’t Veronika.”
“What do you mean? How could that not be her real name?”
“Because for the whole time we were seeing each other she was pretending to be someone she wasn’t.”
That didn’t make sense. How could someone pretend to be someone they’re not? Sure, in the movie they watched, the female character pretended to be a society woman when she was in fact a hotel maid. The difference was that situation came about by a mistaken assumption by the lead male character. By the sounds of what Marco was telling her, from the very beginning of his relationship, this girl had not been truthful with him.
“I don’t follow what you’re trying to say.”
His sigh rippled through his body. “Veronika created a whole persona which she presented to me. She created a life story that was false. She told me she freelanced at a high-profile architectural firm in the Eastern States. That was false. She told me she was an orphan and had no relatives. That was false. She was living a lie, feeding it to me on a daily basis, and I believed every word she said. I didn’t question it. We were in the same industry, and I thought it was fate that we were meant to be together. She even worked with me on some designs I did. I just accepted every word that came out of her mouth. I was a complete and utter fool. Blinded by a pretty face.”
Phoebe didn’t know what to say. Why on earth would anyone go to the trouble of pretending to be someone they weren’t? She could also understand why Marco was so ashamed. He was a very successful architect and businessman. No man wanted to admit he’d let a woman use her beauty to get the better of him—especially as she was posing as an architect and Marco probably felt he should’ve seen the signs that she wasn’t what or who she claimed to be.
“How long ago was your relationship with her?”
“It was about eight years ago, but she’d kept up the pretense of loving me for nearly two years. It still burns after all this time that I didn’t see it. I didn’t see her for what she was. It shames me that I had been played so professionally.”
“It does sound like she was a professional at it. No one would be able to do what she did for so long if she hadn’t done it before. Did you tell the police? Did she take any of your designs? How did you find out?”
She reached out and placed her hand on his thigh, letting him know she didn’t think he was a fool. Letting him know she supported him.
“When she skipped out without leaving a note, I knew something was up. No one leaves without a trace unless they’re hidi
ng something. I tried every number I had for her. Each time I got a disconnected message. It was like she disappeared without a trace.” He laughed hoarsely as if what he was about to say next was even worse than what he’d already told her. “She only got about five grand from me. And then it was only by pure luck that it wasn’t more.”
Phoebe almost felt bereft when Marco got up and started pacing around her bedroom, agitation pouring out of him with every step he took.
“Why was it lucky? Five thousand is still a lot of cash.”
“Because after nearly two years of dating—and I mean seriously dating—we’d decided that we would look at combining all our finances and getting a place together. I’d even started to look at engagement rings.” He came and sat back down on the bed next to her. “She cleared the account the day it opened. I only had a five thousand dollar transfer limit on my account, which is why she only got that much.”
“I’m surprised she didn’t wait for you to make more transfers. To leave after the first one seems a little surprising to me. Especially after investing nearly two years into the relationship with you.”
“I don’t know why she didn’t wait for more. I’d just got my first really large commission, so she knew more was coming in. Geez, she’d sat beside me as I drew up the plans. We’d gone out to celebrate a couple of nights before I did the transfer.” He paused again and as Phoebe watched the play of emotions cross his face she saw the moment something seemed to stand out in his mind. A realization of something.
“What is it, Marco? What have you remembered?”
“It was as we were leaving the nightclub. I was saying goodbye to Alex when someone called out to Veronika. It was another girl, but she didn’t call her Veronika, she called her another name. Veronika laughed it off and told the girl she was mistaken. The girl was insistent but Veronika shook her off. All the way home she was quiet, different, as if she was processing so many thoughts.”
Seducing Phoebe: Lovers Unmasked: Book 3 Page 14