By Private Invitation

by Stephanie Julian

  It was now…8:09. Ugh.

  “Fine. Give me a minute.”

  She heard a pause, then Tyler said, “She’s in your room, the redhead from last night. Jesus, Jed, did you take her to the Salon?”

  “She signed the waiver. What the hell are you pissed off about?”

  “Christ, Jed, she’s not one of your reprobate friends. Why the hell did you drag her into your sick games?”

  “She’s not a child. She’s a grown woman who had a hell of a good time last night. What the fuck is your problem?”

  “My problem is Kate and Belle aren’t the kind of women who get into your sort of fun.”

  Tyler was absolutely right about Kate but he didn’t know Belle at all. Heat flooded her cheeks as images from last night crowded her brain. What she’d seen. What she’d done. What had been done to her.

  She’d enjoyed every damn minute it of. Maybe a little too much if the ache between her legs was any indication. She refused to regret any of it.

  But Tyler made her sound like a child. Or, worse, a rube.

  She was no innocent. And last night…

  Last night had been amazing.

  “Okay, that’s it,” she heard Jared whisper. “What the hell is going on with you? Christ—”

  “Damn it. God damn it. I don’t know what the hell’s wrong with me.” Tyler sighed so loud, she actually heard the sound through the slim crack of the open door. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have jumped you. This situation downstairs has me pissed off. You need to deal with the guy before I say something I shouldn’t.”

  “Hey, no problem, Tyler. I’ll handle it. Did something happen last night, bro? You okay?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “You know, it used to be your sort of fun, too. What’s going on?”

  “Nothing. Nothing’s going on. Get dressed and meet me downstairs. We gotta take care of this other thing.”

  “Wait. I…need some advice.”

  “About what?”

  Jared paused and Annabelle stilled, not wanting to miss what he had to say. “What if I told you my interest in Belle wasn’t entirely sexual?”

  Her breath caught in her throat. Was he saying he had feelings for her?

  “Jed, what—”

  “Did you notice the pin on her costume last night?”

  Annabelle felt her face screw up in a frown. Her pin? Her gaze automatically fell to her fairy costume, lying on the floor by the bed. She’d been too busy to care what had happened to it after Jared had taken if off her last night.

  “No, I didn’t notice any pin. What does that have to do—”

  “I think it’s Nana’s pin, Ty. I think it’s one of Aphrodite’s Tears.”

  “What? The set was stolen decades ago.”

  Annabelle swallowed a gasp at the last second. Her pin had been stolen? From Jared’s grandmother?

  “I know it sounds crazy,” Jared said, “but I’m pretty damn sure that’s what it is.”

  “Did you ask her where she got it?”

  “She said her grandfather found it years ago at a flea market in a box of costume jewelry.”

  “So…what? You wanted her so you figured you’d have her and tell her in the morning, ‘Oh, by the way, your jewelry’s hot?’ You don’t even know if her pin’s real. Christ, Jed, you’re an idiot.”

  “Of course I’m not gonna say that. I’m not stupid. But the pin fits Nana’s description perfectly and you know how much she wants it back. I’ll pay Belle for it, of course. Anyway, last night was a one-off. It was fun but you said it yourself. She’s not part of our crowd. I doubt I’ll ever see her again. She doesn’t exactly run in the same circles.”

  Indignation, hot as lava, flooded through her. Did Jared think she was some hick who just fell off the hay wagon? A laughable diversion?

  Bastard.

  She heard the brothers continue to talk but she shut out their voices. As quickly and quietly as she could, she jumped out of bed and pulled on her dress. With a pen and pad from the bedside table, she jotted down the address of the post office box she used for her lawyer.

  Then she removed the pin from her dress.

  Did he want the pin so badly, he felt he had to sleep with her to get it?

  Just another asshole. She took a deep breath and pulled open the door.

  Jared didn’t notice her right away, standing with his back to the door. “That’s not—”

  “Jed.” Tyler nodded toward her, his expression solemn, and Jared turned to face her.

  Even with too little sleep, his hair mussed, and his eight o’clock shadow, the man was beautiful. Even if he had been exposed as a prick.

  Jesus, did guys like this have some kind of radar that pointed her out to them?

  “Belle—”

  “All you had to do was tell me about the pin, Jared.” She held the piece out in front of her, ignoring Tyler. “If I’d known it was stolen, I would’ve returned it to its rightful owner years ago. I do have scruples. If the pin actually isn’t your grandmother’s, I’ve included the address to my lawyer. You can return it to him.”

  Jared didn’t take the pin, his eyes staring straight into hers. “I don’t know what you think you heard, but—”

  “Basically I heard everything.” She forced ice into her tone, feeling it run through her veins as well. “The night’s over, Jared. It was fun. Thanks so much for inviting me to your party.” She made sure he understood exactly what she now thought of that party. “And please don’t worry. I have no desire to be sued. Your secrets are safe with me. As I hope mine will be with you.”

  Then, instead of throwing it at him like she wanted to do, she flipped the pin to him like she was flipping a quarter. As if it didn’t matter. As if she wasn’t losing a piece of her grandfather. But she couldn’t keep it. Every time she looked at it, she’d be reminded of tonight. And her gullibility.

  Jared caught the pin, his mouth opening as if to speak, but she walked by the brothers, stepped through the door into the hallway, and headed for the elevator. Luckily, she saw no one in the halls. At this point, she didn’t think she’d even care. Forcing herself not to think, she went straight to Kate’s room and knocked. After a half minute or so, Kate cracked open the door. Her sleepy eyes widened, probably at the sight of the tears forming in Annabelle’s eyes. Kate waved her through and Annabelle let the tears flow.

  Six

  “Jared, oh my goodness. The pin! What…How did you find it?”

  A few hours later, Jared smiled at his grandmother’s stunned delight when he placed Belle’s pin in her hands.

  “So it is yours?”

  Her eyes wide, she flipped the pin in her hand, staring at the back before flipping it over again. “It’s been so many years since I’ve seen it but yes, it is. Where did you get it?”

  Fuck. He’d almost been hoping the damn thing wasn’t the right pin after all.

  “One of the women at the party last night was wearing it. When I recognized it and told her its history, she insisted I return it to you.”

  Beatrice’s pale blue gaze lifted and pinned his. “She just gave it to? Did you offer to pay her for it?”

  “I don’t think she would have taken any money.” Belle would’ve rather had his head. He could still see the betrayal in her eyes before she’d closed the door in his face. She thought he was a snake.

  God damn it, he wasn’t. He’d planned to tell her about the pin that morning. He hadn’t invited her to the party with the intention of seducing the pin away from her, though it was pretty obvious that’s what she thought.

  “Well, who is this woman?” Beatrice demanded. “I want to meet her.”

  Jared couldn’t sit still any longer so he moved to the kitchenette in his grandmother’s suite for a Coke. His grandmother didn’t drink coffee and Jared would kill for a whole pot right now.

  “I’m not quite sure how to contact her.” He hated lying to his grandmother. He popped the top on the can and chugged half of it. “But she
gave me the pin, and I’m returning it to you. I thought you’d be thrilled.”

  Beatrice’s eyes narrowed. “Do you know where she found it?”

  “She told me her grandfather found it at a flea market.”

  “Really? A flea market? Did you ask her if there were any other pieces?”

  He shook his head and turned to set his soda can on the table to avoid meeting her gaze. “I honestly didn’t think about that, Nana.”

  “So,” Beatrice said slowly, “you’re telling me you told her that this pin had been stolen almost forty years ago, was rightfully mine, and she simply gave it to you?”

  With nothing to do but grin and bear it, Jared looked her straight in the eyes. “Yeah. Amazing, huh?”

  His grandmother paused, staring back at him. “Yes, a little too amazing.” Beatrice shook her head as she held the pin out to him, her mouth a straight, flat line. “This pin is no longer mine, Jared. You have to give it back to the woman you took it from. Then you have to beg her to forgive you for being a complete jackass. I know you. You’re hiding something, something that wouldn’t reflect kindly on you. How exactly did you tell her the pin was stolen?”

  Yes, his grandmother knew him too well.

  He sighed but didn’t reach for the pin. “I didn’t actually tell her. She overheard a conversation I had with Tyler that she…misinterpreted. And”—he pushed forward before his grandmother could say whatever she’d opened her mouth to say—“I am planning to apologize. But I’m sure she’d want you to have the pin. Of course I’ll compensate her—”

  Beatrice cut him off with a sharp hand motion. “You will do no such thing. You will take this pin back to her. You will apologize for whatever you did and you will find a way to make it up to her.” Shaking her head, Beatrice sighed and her shoulders sagged. “Didn’t you listen to anything I’ve said about the legend in all these years? Jared, you may have thrown away your one chance at true love.”

  Silence filled the room as that four-letter word floated in the air.

  Love.

  She didn’t really believe that. Did she? Jared stared at his grandmother, trying to figure out when she was going to laugh, to tell him she was joking.

  But hadn’t there been something there, some spark with Annabelle that you’ve never felt with another woman?

  Chemistry, yes. Amazing chemistry. But love?

  No.

  They’d had a good time last night. Yes, he’d fucked up by not closing the door tightly enough to talk to Tyler. He certainly hadn’t meant for her to overhear his conversation.

  You hurt her feelings and didn’t even bother to try to make it right.

  Yes, he’d been an asshole not to apologize right away. He’d walked away with her pin, thinking…What? What the hell had he been thinking?

  He hadn’t been thinking. He’d simply decided to avoid the whole mess. He didn’t do drama. Life was too short and he had enough in his life already.

  He started shaking his head and couldn’t stop. “Nana, if you want me to, I’ll gladly return the pin. She’s a very nice woman, but please don’t read any more into this than there is.”

  “Oh, there’s already more here than meets the eye.” She nodded primly. “Tell me something. Was the pin the first thing you noticed about her?”

  Jared could see where this was going. “No, Nana, it wasn’t. But…”

  “But what?”

  With a sigh, he walked to the window and placed one hand on the cold glass. It was freezing outside at almost two in the afternoon. So different from last night’s mild temperatures in the garden. And the warmth of the Salon. With Belle.

  Which wasn’t her real name. In fact, he wasn’t sure who Belle really was. Her credit card was listed in the name of a business. He’d checked before coming here, knowing Nana would want to know who had found the pin.

  Bullshit. You wanted to know who she was.

  He wanted to tell his little inner voice, his conscience, to take a flying leap.

  But he had to admit, there’d been something about Belle, something that drew him…

  Silence surrounded him like a wet blanket, his grandmother’s displeasure nearly tangible as he felt the heat of her glare on his back.

  “Alright, alright.” He spun from the window. “I admit I found her attractive before I noticed the pin. But, Nana, that doesn’t mean I’m going to marry the woman.”

  Beatrice smiled as she lifted her hand, holding out the pin again. “Tell Belle I’d like to meet her. Have a nice day, dear.”

  “Are you sure you’re going to be okay? I could stay, if you want. We could do some damage to a bottle of wine and a box of Double Stuf Oreos.”

  Idling in her car outside Kate’s home in Adamstown on Sunday evening, Annabelle forced a smile and shook her head. “I’m fine, Kate. Really. I’m just tired. I’m going to take a hot bath, watch a little TV in bed, and probably fall asleep in ten minutes. Shopping all day wore me out.”

  Yeah, right. Shopping. Sure.

  Kate’s eyes narrowed and Annabelle began to silently beg her best friend not to push. They hadn’t spoken about what had happened, not since this morning when Annabelle had woken Kate and spilled the whole story.

  How the only reason Jared had seduced her had been to get the pin.

  Kate had been shocked, then furious. She’d wanted to tear Jared a new one. She wanted Annabelle to demand he give back the pin.

  But Annabelle had only wanted to get the hell out. Humiliation burned like acid. She’d dealt with it before, and she knew the only cure was to shore up her defenses and she could only do that alone. Where no one could see her pain.

  Pain was not for public consumption. The public twisted pain, consumed it like candy and left only ashes behind.

  Finally, Kate sighed as she grabbed her overnight bag and shopping bags from their trip to the King of Prussia Mall. “Alright. I’m going. But I’ll be by to check on you tomorrow. And you will let me in.”

  Kate’s fierce expression actually made Annabelle’s lips curve in a tiny, true smile. “I’ll be fine tomorrow. Just make sure you bring doughnuts.”

  After a kiss and a hug, Kate reluctantly left the car, her expression worried. Annabelle drove home in silence and parked her car in front of the sturdy brick building that housed Elder Antiques.

  Through the large front window of the first floor, she traced the controlled chaos of the store. The faint glow of the security lights outlined the larger furniture and display cases. She knew exactly what each case held and where to find every piece of inventory.

  Her gaze then lifted to the second floor where she lived.

  Home, sweet home.

  For years after her parents’ deaths, she’d felt adrift, anchorless. She’d lived all over Europe during those first three years with her grandfather, never staying in one place more than four or five months. Then she’d moved to Gettysburg and a series of dorms and apartments at college. She’d felt safe there. Insulated.

  Now, finally, she had a place to call home.

  But no family to make it one.

  Pushing out of the car and gathering her stuff, she made her way up the stairs at the side of the building to the private entrance to the second floor.

  Once inside, she did a quick check to make sure nothing had been disturbed and that the security system had registered nothing out of the ordinary. Dumping her bags by the door, she headed straight for the kitchen and the bottle of red wine on the counter.

  Glass in hand, she made her way to her bathroom and turned the taps to fill the old-fashioned claw-foot tub her grandfather had had restored for her. As it filled, she wandered back into her bedroom to gather underwear but found herself stopping to pick up the photo on her nightstand.

  It was candid, not a studio shot. Three adults gathered around a child who could’ve played the lead in Annie without the curly red wig. The girl was blowing out eleven birthday candles on a homemade cake that leaned to one side.

  Everyone was
smiling. Happy.

  She remembered later that night, she’d crept out of her bed in the loft to go to the bathroom and caught a glimpse of the adults continuing the party.

  Which had reminded her very much of last night’s party.

  Liquor flowing, couples, threesomes. Mom and Poppa on a bench by the wall, bodies entwined.

  Daddy with his ever-present pad seated beside them, sketching, watching.

  She remembered being transfixed by the sight, like a deer in the headlights. Not by her parents having sex. No, she’d been a fairly normal preteen and that was just too icky for her.

  But her dad, the intensity in his eyes, the way his hands moved over the paper, the picture that slowly emerged from a series of lines and curves…That was amazing to her.

  Her gaze lifted to the painting hanging on the wall. The one her dad had done from that sketch.

  Only, instead of two people in the painting, there were three. He’d added himself.

  It wasn’t nearly as explicit as most of his other work. And it was one of his only watercolors, so it was hazy, almost indistinct. Lovely.

  Annabelle thought it was one of his best pieces. It was certainly her favorite.

  Peter O’Malley had had an incredible talent. And an incredible capacity for love, which had included her mom and their lover, Poppa Danton.

  Until a crazy woman had murdered the three of them in a jealous rage.

  Leaving one Graceanna Belle O’Malley an orphan.

  “So far, I got nothing. She’s either a ghost, Jed, or she’s got a lot to fucking hide.”

  Dane tossed a manila folder on Jared’s desk the Tuesday after the party, then stood there looking pissed.

  “I’ll be damned.” Jared picked up the folder and flipped it open to see exactly why Dane looked so furious. “Something you can’t do.”

  Dane shot him the finger and started to pace. “It’s no skin off my ass if I can’t find her. And I’ve spent too much time on this already. I have paying customers.”

  “No, actually, you don’t.” Jared’s gaze narrowed on the slim amount of information in the folder. “You don’t charge anyone therefore you have no paying customers. What the hell does this mean? How can there be no actual people listed as owning this corporation?”