The tears she’d tried to keep at bay while telling the story poured out of her eyes.
Marco gathered her close and she cried out her grief and anger. It was quite surreal to be naked and sobbing in Marco’s arms in her guest room.
When her crying finally calmed down, she continued on. “When I finally tracked down the great Roger White, her oldest son, I asked him if she’d made any provision in her will for me. He just laughed and said of course not, I wasn’t that important to his mother. She put up with me for years and I was more like a hindrance than a pleasure to have around. I walked away and wondered what the hell was wrong with me. Why did everyone I ever loved always betray me?”
“Sweetheart, I’m sorry. No one should have to go through what you did.”
“It’s life, isn’t it?” she said bitterly. “I mean you were scammed by the woman who professed to love you. Why would anyone ever bother to love someone?”
“I don’t know. But if you look at Alex and Sophie, it’s easy to see true love does exist.”
Phoebe knew he was right and she also knew that she loved him. But she was too scared to tell him so. What if he laughed at her? As stupid as it was she did want to have Marco in her life. She wanted to share things with him. Plan a future—even talk children—something they hadn’t done previously. She knew he cared about her. He wouldn’t have come and chased her down if he didn’t. He’d turned to her when the memories of his best friend’s car accident threatened to overwhelm him. Maybe he did love her in his own way. He just didn’t realize it.
“We’re a right pair, aren’t we?” she said.
He chuckled and pulled her a little closer. His body was still aroused and the longer she lay cuddled up to him the more she wanted him. Regardless of everything that she’d told him in the last half hour about how she got hurt loving someone, she still wanted to try and move forward with him.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He pressed a kiss to her hair.
She lifted her head and turned to look at him. It was the moment of truth. It was time to tell him that she wanted their relationship to work just like he did.
“There’s something else I need to say to you.”
Phoebe felt him stiffen beneath her. It would be best if she said this looking directly at him. She pulled herself out of his embrace and moved so that she was sitting on her knees looking at him.
Everything about him seemed to tighten up. His fingers clenched around the sheet and she wanted to reassure it was all okay. “I’m listening,” he said.
She reached out and grabbed his hand, wanting to have a physical connection with him as she told him what she wanted. “I’ve been thinking about our relationship and I’ve come to a decision.”
“I see.”
She leaned in and kissed him briefly. “I want you and I want us to work.”
His eyes lit up, his body relaxing once again and he pulled her a little closer. “Are you saying you still want to get married? On the day we had originally planned to?”
Phoebe thought about it for a moment. It would be impossible to reorganize everything. It was highly possible that all the vendors they had engaged for their wedding had waiting lists and had replaced their cancelled bookings fairly quickly. “I don’t think that can happen. We cancelled everything, remember? But yes, yes I do want to get married to you. I want us to build a future together.”
His face broke out into a wide smile and her heart skipped a couple of beats. “You’ve made my day. As you know, my mind hasn’t changed—I want to marry you too. It shouldn’t be too difficult to organize everything—I’m sure Sonya can work miracles.”
“You sound confident that everything can be reinstated with a click of her fingers. I think we should talk about deciding on a different date for the wedding.”
“There’s something I need to tell you, sweetheart.”
Marco sounded so serious—too serious—and she didn’t want to do serious.
“No, I don’t want to talk,” she said. “We’ve talked so much and I know we have more to talk about. But I just want to celebrate being back in your arms.”
He tugged her hand and she lay back down, resting her head on his chest. There was something reassuring about lying there and hearing the steady beat of his heart. She closed her eyes, emotionally spent but energized at the same time.
Phoebe knew she didn’t want to move. She didn’t want this moment to end. She had never felt closer to him than she did right now.
She raised her head. “Make love to me, Marco.”
He leaned down and met her as she moved closer to him, wanting to taste his lips again. “My pleasure.”
* * *
Phoebe walked into the kitchen and noticed that Marco was dressed in a suit. She hadn’t realized he even had a suit with him. Disappointment filled her. After all they’d shared in the last twelve hours, she had hoped the two of them could’ve spent a little time together. Maybe look at making some new wedding plans. She needed to call the bridal salon to organize another fitting. She knew this time she wouldn’t want to tear the dress off.
“Are you going into work?” She tried to keep the disappointment out of her voice but as he placed his glass of juice down on the bench, she knew she’d failed.
“Only for a couple of hours,” he said as he came up and took her in his arms. “I’ve got a client who’s being difficult. He’s demanding ridiculous changes to his house plans, which we can’t do due to planning and permit restrictions. He thinks we can do it without the authorities knowing.”
She grimaced. That didn’t sound like a meeting she’d like to attend. “Glad it’s you, not me. I guess I’ll call Sophie and see if she’s up for a visitor.”
Marco pulled out of her embrace and moved to pick up some files he’d put on the bench. “Why don’t you do as I suggested earlier and call Sonya and go over all the plans with her?”
“Wouldn’t that be a bit of a waste of time? There’s no possible way we can rebook the venues we cancelled on our original wedding date. In all likelihood they’ve all got replacement bookings. I think we should discuss this more and work out a definite new date before I contact Sonya.”
Marco didn’t answer—if anything, he seemed nervous, as if the conversation was making him uncomfortable. He never looked uncomfortable. Immediately alarm bells started ringing and she recalled his earlier assertion he wanted to tell her something.
“What was it you wanted to tell me earlier when I told you I didn’t want to talk?” she asked.
Her alarm abated a little when she saw what looked like a blush stain his cheeks. “I may have told Sonya you didn’t mean it when you sent her the text to cancel the wedding.”
“What exactly did you tell her?”
“Well . . . ” He drew out the word. “I said that we’d had a little fight and you sent the text to her out of anger and didn’t mean it.”
Slowly anger replaced the alarm. “So basically you told her I had a hissy fit and that she should ignore me? That was very presumptuous of you. Not to mention condescending and arrogant.”
“Yes, you’re right. It was very presumptuous of me. I don’t deny it. But I was determined not take no for answer. We’re meant to be together.”
* * *
Marco had some serious back pedaling and explaining to do, Phoebe’s lips had thinned in anger. It was lousy timing, he had to be in the office in half an hour.
If he was late, he was late.
As he walked towards her he could feel her annoyance vibrating out to him. “Look, sweetheart, I’m sorry and I know that’s lame, but can we talk about this when I get back?”
“I can’t believe this. You drop this bomb on me and then you brush it off as if it’s an annoying bug. This is serious, Marco. You undermined me.”
He sighed. Why the hell did he tell her to contact Sonya? He should’ve just let her call Sophie and then discussed it with her when he got back. He wanted to call into his house anyway and ge
t her engagement ring. He should’ve waited until he had it back on her finger before dropping the bomb about the wedding plans.
He knew something for sure, though—he wasn’t going to let this affect their new relationship they were starting. He couldn’t contemplate not having her in his life. The very thought of it made his stomach drop to his toes. He wouldn’t be able to recover from losing Phoebe. He’d thought what Veronika had done to him had crippled him emotionally. If he lost Phoebe, he’d be an empty soul.
He reached out and touched a hand to her cheek. Her skin so soft and with one simple touch his body flared to life, demanding he forget his work and career and take the woman in front of him back to bed.
“Don’t think touching me is going to make me forget about all of this, Marco. It’s not going to work.”
He chuckled. He loved her feistiness and determination. “Sweetheart, I know you’re not going to forget. All I can say is I’m really sorry and I wish I’d pushed you to discuss it when I wanted to earlier, when we had more time to talk about it. It was wrong of me to undermine you. If you want me to, I’ll call Sonya right now and tell her to cancel all the plans. We can start fresh with everything. If that’s what you want.” He went to remove his phone from his jacket pocket.
Her eyes flared with shock at his words, as if she’d never expected him to be so accommodating. As the tension left her body he knew he’d dodged a bullet. A bullet that could’ve proved to be fatal. He left the phone where it was.
She shook her head. “No, don’t call her. Let’s talk about it tonight.”
He pulled her in and dropped a kiss on her lips. She softened and moaned and he tightened his hold as he deepened the kiss. He couldn’t get enough of her. He didn’t deserve the second chance she was giving him.
It took all his strength to break the kiss. “I don’t deserve your easy forgiveness, but thank you. I’ll call you as soon as I’m finished. Hopefully I can deal with this painful client and we can do something this afternoon.”
“Okay.”
He kissed her briefly on the lips. “Bye, sweetheart.”
As he walked away from her, he was leaving a little piece of him behind with her. He knew that piece would be safe, but it was disconcerting to feel that way. What if she thought about what he’d done and when he got home, she wanted to end their relationship?
* * *
Marco tapped his pen impatiently on his notepad. His client was asking the most infuriating questions.
“How can we get the council to get on board and make these allowances for me?” The other man’s voice almost sounded whiny.
“Look, Roger, I don’t think we can expect the council to allow these chan—” Marco broke off and looked down at the file again. The name Roger White glared up at him from the paper. Surely it couldn’t be the same Roger White that Phoebe had been talking about that morning? It seemed too much of a coincidence to be true, White was a common last name.
“You were saying something?” Roger asked.
Marco gave himself a mental shake. He needed to get this issue finalized and then he would ask the question that was now burning brightly in his mind.
“Right, as I was saying, the council won’t allow these changes and I’m not even going to try and get them to make allowances. They’ve set these restrictions to keep the integrity of the house.”
“Well that’s not acceptable to me. I’ll take my business elsewhere. I’m sure I’ll get a better firm of architects anyway.”
For once the thought of losing a client didn’t bother Marco. He had a reputation to uphold and he wasn’t going to compromise it for a client who didn’t listen.
“I’m sorry to hear that, Roger, but I wish you luck. I’ve seen situations like this a lot, and the council never makes allowances.”
“We shall see. Everyone has a price.”
As the other man stood to leave, Marco spoke. “Before you leave, Roger, I have a question.”
“What is it?”
“Do you happen to know a Phoebe Fitzgerald?” Marco had no hesitation in asking— Phoebe’s name wasn’t common. It was highly unlikely there were two Phoebe Fitzgeralds and two Roger Whites who knew each other.
“Yes, I do. Why?”
Marco was surprised to hear the suspicion in the other man’s voice. There was no way he was going to give too much away about his relationship with Phoebe. “I was with her recently and she was talking about a dear friend of hers, who I believe was your mother, when she mentioned your name. At the time I didn’t know it was you and I only just made the connection.”
“Right, well I don’t know how well you know her, but I wouldn’t waste my time with her. She tried to scam my mother out of her money. I’ve heard she’s a nurse but she’s probably lying about that too.” He was so smarmy it took everything Marco had not to punch him out. He also tried to not let the comment about Phoebe trying scam Mrs. White out of her money get to him.
“Actually, she’s a damn good nurse. I’ve seen her in action, so she’s not lying about that.”
“Well, whatever, it’s probably just a cover until she can snag herself a rich man and then she’ll quit and bleed the poor sucker dry. She’s a user. Always telling a sob story so someone will want to help her out. She’s a good con artist, if you ask me.”
Marco wouldn’t let Roger’s words bother him. He knew Phoebe. He believed her side of the story more than this man’s. He wanted the loser out of his office, but there was one thing Marco wanted to ask. One thing he needed to find out before he told the jerk to get out and never come back.
“Phoebe mentioned a necklace your mother used to have—it seemed special to her.” “Of course it was special.” Roger sniffed as if he’d gotten a whiff of garbage. “It was
worth a fortune. She’d have sold it off to the highest bidder the moment she could have. I made sure she didn’t get the chance.”
Roger’s smugness grated on Marco. He seemed almost pleased that he had the chance to discredit Phoebe. Marco didn’t believe Phoebe could be so callous. Not the woman he knew and loved.
He stood a little straighter as he let the thought float through his mind.
I love Phoebe.
The depth of his feelings for her was a lot stronger than anything he’d ever felt for Veronika.
I love Phoebe.
Yes, it was totally true. That was the reason why he’d been so determined to find her and convince her they were meant to be together after she broke their engagement. Not
hurt pride. He couldn’t imagine his life without her in it. Her smile. The way she cared for people. She was an amazing woman, and he was glad that she was his and no one else’s.
Suddenly he wanted the other man as far away from him as possible. Marco opened his door. “Well, thanks for the opportunity of doing business with you, Roger. I’m sorry we couldn’t come up with an agreeable solution to your requirements.”
“Whatever,” the other man brushed off Marco’s words. “But a friendly word of warning—don’t trust Phoebe. My mother could’ve been seriously hurt by her actions if I hadn’t have stepped in.”
As Marco closed the door, he thought back over the conversation. One thing stuck out to him—Roger’s use of past tense when talking about the necklace was interesting. Did that mean Roger had ended up giving the necklace away? Or perhaps he’d sold it himself. Marco definitely wasn’t going to let the comments about Phoebe being a scam or con artist bother him. There was no way he could be fooled twice. Especially not by the woman he loved.
14
Phoebe sat at the outside table of her and Sophie’s favorite café, waiting for Sophie to join her. The day was warm but not overly so. The seasons were changing and summer would be upon them soon.
As she reached for her cup of coffee her phone rang. She picked it up and saw it was Sophie.
“You’re running late?” Phoebe said as she answered the phone. “I’m really sorry, but I’m going to have to cancel, Phoebs.”
“Oh okay, is everything alright?”
Sophie’s sigh reached down the phone to her. “Yeah, I was about to walk out the door when Louisa threw up. She’s got a bit of a temperature now too. She had her immunization shots yesterday so I think it might just be a reaction from that, but I don’t want to leave home.”
“Oh, Soph, I totally understand. I hope she’ll be okay.”
“I’m sure she will, but I’m disappointed to let you down. Why don’t you come over instead? I really want to see how you’re doing.”
Phoebe wanted to take Sophie up on her offer. She really needed her best friend at that moment. But if Louisa was unwell she didn’t want to put any burden on Sophie.
“I want to see you too, but if Louisa’s unwell I won’t bother you. Plus if it’s some dreadful plague I don’t want to catch it.” She finished with a laugh. Fortunately Sophie joined in her laughter.
“This is your goddaughter you’re talking about.”
“I know, I love her, just not enough to share her germs. I’ll leave that for you and Alex.” She paused and licked her dry lips. “But seriously, it’s fine—we can catch up tomorrow or the next day, you let me know.”
“Okay, but answer me this. Are you and Marco back together or are you finished? I can’t tell from your voice and I’m surprised that you’re back from my dad’s house. I thought you were going to stay there for a couple of weeks at least.”
Seducing Phoebe: Lovers Unmasked: Book 3 Page 16