By Private Invitation

by Stephanie Julian

  “I’m so sorry.”

  “Me too, for letting it go on so long when I knew it wasn’t right.”

  “Then it was right thing to do. And maybe that’s what I need to do. Break it off now. Before it goes too far.”

  “Do you really want to?”

  Kate’s quiet question had Annabelle shaking her head, though not in denial.

  “This day is totally fucked up,” Annabelle finally said. “This calls for several bottles of Arbor Mist, Double Stuf Oreos, Cherry Garcia ice cream, and that first season of True Blood we’ve been meaning to watch. I think we deserve to forget about the world for a little.”

  “Are you going to tell her? It was difficult to find but I did find it, Jed. If someone else decides to look…”

  Jared spared Dane a glance as he read over the report Dane had prepared. How Dane had found a copy of the court order changing Graceanna Belle O’Malley’s name to Annabelle Elder, Jared wasn’t sure he wanted to know. He had no doubt the paper was legit, though Dane’s means of retrieval were probably slightly less than legal.

  It was the smoking gun. And it screwed Jared five ways to Sunday.

  From outside, he heard the muted chaos of Philadelphia traffic. So different from the occasional buzz of traffic he could hear at Annabelle’s place.

  He’d called her last night to tell her he could come up today. She’d sounded…drunk.

  Not sloppy, falling-down drunk. Just buzzed enough to slightly slur her words. And she’d sounded sad. Upset.

  He’d asked what was wrong. She’d told him about Kate breaking off her engagement.

  He knew how she felt about Kate’s engagement. She wouldn’t have been so sad over just that. Did she suspect something? Or was that his own guilty mind talking?

  Shit. He tossed the paper on the desk. “If I tell her I know, she’ll be upset that I had her investigated. But if I don’t, her identity’s not safe and someone could use this to hurt her. And then I’ll have to kill them. Christ, this is a fucking mess.”

  Dane laced his fingers over his stomach and stared at him. “So what are you going to do?”

  Good question. After the horror she’d lived through, he understood why she’d wanted to be someone else, someone no one knew. It explained her reluctance to be seen in public with him. His family and his bank account made him a public figure. He’d never had a problem with it before. Now…

  They may cost him the woman he…What? What did he want from Annabelle?

  Jared raised a hand to rub at his temple. “Damn, my head hurts.”

  “You need to tell her what’s going on,” Dane said.

  Hot anger that anyone might dare hurt her boiled in his stomach like acid. He’d do whatever it took to spare her that.

  Including telling her he’d had her investigated. “And when she tells me to go to hell…”

  Dane gave an amused snort. “The mighty Jared Golden thwarted by a beautiful redhead. I’m more impressed with her now than I was last weekend.”

  When Dane had been the second man in her bed. The remembrance of her passion that night made Jared hot as hell. He wanted to haul ass back to Adamstown, get her back into bed, naked and panting his name.

  “See what you can do to hide the information. I need to clean off my desk so I can get the hell out of here.”

  “Belle, we need to talk.”

  Because it was exactly what she’d meant to say to Jared when he walked through the door of the shop later that afternoon, it threw her for a second.

  The smile that’d curved her lips when she’d first seen him froze before fading.

  Some emotion passed through his eyes. Regret, remorse. She couldn’t tell.

  And her lungs seized into a tight ball of anxiety. He knew.

  He took a deep breath. “Is anyone here?”

  She shook her head, feeling a deadly cold chill encase her body. “The store’s empty for now. What’s wrong, Jared? Did something happen?”

  He paused and took a deep breath. “I know who you are, Belle. I know who your parents were.”

  She actually felt like he’d kicked her in the gut. Even though she’d suspected it was coming, it still hurt like hell. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  But she did. She knew exactly what he meant.

  “You’re Graceanna O’Malley, the daughter of Peter and Catrina O’Malley.”

  She hadn’t heard anyone speak her real name to her face in years, and now it felt like tiny daggers in her heart to hear it coming out of his mouth. She wanted to feel a sense of relief that he knew her secret, wanted to be relieved that he knew. That she didn’t have to tell him.

  The relief never came. Only that ice-cold chill in her blood.

  She didn’t bother to deny it. Why should she, when she’d thought about telling him herself?

  “How did you find out?”

  His eyebrows lifted for a brief second, as if he hadn’t expected her to admit it. As if he thought she’d at least put up a fight. Then he took another deep breath before saying, “Dane.”

  She understood what he wasn’t saying. He’d had her investigated.

  Okay, she’d known this was a very real possibility. She’d known Jared was smart enough to figure or at least wonder why she had so many O’Malleys in her collection. He’d seen the portrait of her mother.

  So why did she feel so betrayed?

  Her chin lifted. “How long have you known?”

  “Since this morning. I left soon after he told me. Belle—”

  “How long has he been investigating me?”

  Jared paused now and she knew again what he was going to say.

  “Since I saw the O’Malleys upstairs.”

  Her lips curved but it couldn’t be considered a smile. “They’re not for sale.”

  He straightened as if she’d offended him but he shook his head, his expression carefully neutral. “I’m not asking. I would never ask you to sell them. Listen, Belle, I know what you must think about me right now, and I probably deserve it but there’s something else.”

  He moved closer and she took one step back. If he touched her, she might shatter. That ice was moving out of her blood and into the rest of her body.

  Jared’s mouth tightened then, the only outward sign that he’d noted her response. “Dane said he had trouble accessing the information but it wasn’t impossible. Whoever hid you…You’re no longer safe.”

  She wanted to laugh but could barely breathe. “I’ll pass on that information. Thank you for letting me know. Is there anything else you need to tell me?”

  He moved close enough to touch and she couldn’t move fast enough to get away. He froze for a brief second before his expression hardened with determination. “Don’t. Don’t pull away. I know you’re pissed at me and you have every right to be. But it doesn’t change how I feel about you. God damn it, Belle, I care about you.”

  Her breath caught in her throat as she waited for him to say those three little words. The three little words that might make this all better.

  But he didn’t.

  “We work well together. And I’m not ready to give this up yet. Let me make sure the information about your parents gets buried right this time. I’ll make it all go away. No one will ever know who you are.”

  And his reputation would safe. No one would ever known he’d dated the daughter of one of America’s most scandalous affairs.

  Goose bumps covered her skin, the chill turning to a gut-churning, teeth-aching cold that encased her from head to toe. “I want you to leave.”

  “No way. We’re going to figure this out, Belle. We’re going to get past this.”

  Get past this to where? For what purpose? Did he want more than a sexual relationship with her? Or was his reputation more important? So far he hadn’t said anything that led her to believe otherwise.

  “There’s nothing to figure out. Thank you for the information. I’ll be sure to tell my lawyer. Please close the door behind you.”

  “A
nnabelle, we can—”

  “There’s no we, Jared. You made that perfectly clear at the beginning of this affair. No ties, no…” No love. “I look forward to continuing our business relationship but I’m sure you can understand if I’d like to work with Tyler from here on out. That might be better for both of us.”

  At least it would be for her. She’d already done the absolute worst thing she could have done by falling for Jared. To have to work with him now, after this…

  She snapped her mouth shut to stop any other words that might escape. Or at least to hide the hurt she heard in her voice.

  “Belle—”

  She walked toward the door, her steps careful, but he caught her upper arm before she could get there. The heat of his hand began to seep through the cold but not enough. Her first reaction was to rip her arm out of his grasp but she refused to give him the satisfaction.

  And he leaned closer to speak into her ear. “Go ahead. Get pissed off at me. I deserve it. Hell, I understand what you’re feeling. The betrayal. It burns like hell. But I’m not going to burn you. Never, Annabelle. I would rather cut off my right arm than see you hurt again. I know this is my fault. Just give me the opportunity to fix it.”

  He couldn’t. She could think of nothing he could do to erase the betrayal she felt over his investigation. Not unless he took that final step and told her he loved her.

  He didn’t.

  She forced herself to look him in the eyes. “I want you to leave, Jared. I don’t think we should see each other again. If I find out my personal information has been revealed, I’ll call my law—”

  He covered her mouth with his and kissed her. Hard.

  She tasted his regret. And the heat of his passion.

  She wanted to respond. But she felt only cold.

  She pushed at his chest until he released her, withdrew her arm from his hand, and forced herself to walk, not run, to the door. Opening it, she turned to stare back at him.

  For a second, she thought he wouldn’t go, that he’d force her to break that icy shell surrounding her and scream at him to leave.

  His stony expression made the beautiful lines of his face stand out in stark relief. Such a beautiful face. But she saw no love.

  Only determination to keep her by his side.

  And she wanted more.

  “This isn’t finished, Belle. This breach in your security needs to be taken care of. Let me have Dane fix it.”

  “I think Dane’s fixed enough, thank you. And so have you.”

  “You’re not safe.”

  She wanted to laugh in his face. “I know that. Now.”

  A tiny muscle in his jaw began to tic. “Belle—”

  “You need to leave. Just go, Jared. I can’t—You have to go.”

  He paused again but he must have seen something in her eyes that convinced him to give up the fight.

  “I’ll go. For now. I’ll check back in a few days.”

  She didn’t tell him not to bother. She didn’t know what to think, how to feel. Everything was such a mess right.

  “Don’t hide, Belle. You’ll solve nothing by hiding.”

  Her fingers itched to reach for him but she couldn’t seem to get beyond the fact that he’d had her investigated behind her back. Her hands curled into fists at her sides. “I’m not hiding. I just need you to go.”

  He didn’t move and the tension in her body drew her muscles into tight, painful bunches.

  His hand lifted from his side and she flinched away from him. She couldn’t help herself. She didn’t know what she’d do if he touched her.

  Probably break apart. And she’d done that once in her life. She didn’t know if she could live through another.

  He must have seen something in her eyes because he didn’t touch her.

  “Make sure the security system’s set at night, Belle.”

  Her heart twisted at the concern in his voice but she didn’t have anything to say.

  When he finally shook his head and stalked out the door, she wasn’t sure her legs would hold her weight. Flipping the open sign to closed, she forced herself up the stairs to her bedroom, closed the door, and let herself fall apart.

  “I’m not giving her up.”

  “Yeah, well, I don’t think that’s your choice, Jed. You screwed this one up good.”

  Jared considered flipping his brother the finger but knew it was an exercise in futility. And he didn’t know if he’d get the right finger anyway.

  His companion of the last several hours, Jack Daniels, had finally called it quits.

  The empty bottle lay on its side, like a fallen soldier, on the floor of the Salon. Jared slumped on a chaise, figuring he’d be joining the bottle soon enough. The chaise seemed to have developed a definite angle that threatened to land him on the floor.

  Of course, that could just be the Jack. Everything was off kilter. Or maybe that was just him.

  Tyler sat at the piano, playing something slow and quiet that didn’t grate on Jared’s nerves. Tyler had found him holed up here about an hour ago. He’d poured himself a drink and hadn’t said more than a few words.

  “She won’t let me take care of this for her. Why won’t she let me take care of her?”

  “Maybe because you went behind her back and had Dane investigate her?”

  Jared grimaced. Yeah, maybe that had been a bad idea. But…“Why didn’t she tell me?”

  Tyler sighed. “For the fifth time, my answer to that is, ‘Why should she?’”

  Because she’s mine.

  Tyler’s fingers came down hard on the keys, sending a bolt of pain through Jared’s head at the discordant sound. “She’s not one of your paintings, Jed. You don’t own her.”

  Shit, had he said that out loud?

  “I don’t want to own her. I want her to…”

  “Want her to what?”

  To love me.

  He wanted her to love him. He wanted her to be his.

  “Shit, Tyler. I love her.”

  His brother snorted. “Ya think? Christ, I could’ve told you that two weeks ago.”

  His heart contracted in his chest, and he could barely breathe. “And she hates me. What the fuck am I supposed to do about that?”

  With a sigh, Tyler closed the lid on the piano keys. “Well, first, you sleep off the Jack. Tomorrow, you fix it. You’ll grovel, you’ll beg, you’ll throw yourself at her feet and tell her what an ass you’ve been and that you will do anything to make it up to her.”

  He’d groveled before. At least, he’d tried to. Maybe he wouldn’t have to this time.

  Maybe he’d just show her he could take care of her. He’d fix her information leak. He was good at fixing things.

  And he never lost. When he wanted something, he got it.

  He wanted Annabelle.

  He’d do whatever it took to get her back.

  “Men are so totally not worth the aggravation,” Kate declared as they made the rounds of the dealer tables at Renninger’s Market way too early Sunday morning.

  Annabelle ran her fingers over a rare piece of blue willow china and then spotted a box of costume jewelry on the jumbled table.

  “Men are dogs,” she agreed as she picked through the collection of ’50s and ’60s paste.

  Jewelry had never been her area of expertise but she’d promised Beatrice she’d search for the missing pieces of her collection.

  Just because Beatrice’s grandson was an overbearing, no-good playboy didn’t mean she would renege on a promise.

  She’d shed enough tears over the guy for the past four nights. Cheap wine, sugar, and hot fictional guys. Perfectly…mindless.

  Sighing, she moved on to the next table.

  She hoped she found the damn ring soon. She wanted to put all of the Goldens behind her and out of her mind.

  Especially one blue-eyed, blond, backstabbing—

  “They’re worse than dogs,” Kate added as she paused to pick up a battered china doll from the table in front of her.
“But…I still can’t believe Jared left without a fight.”

  Annabelle rolled her eyes as she sifted through the jewelry, careful not to prick her finger on an unclasped pin back. “Oh, please, Kate, let’s not go there. Obviously, the man was only interested in what he could get out of our relationship. When he realized he’d been caught and screwed his chance to get his hands on my paintings, he split.”

  Kate cocked one eyebrow at her. “And you’re sure he only wanted the paintings?”

  No but… “Positive.”

  “Did you even give him the chance to apologize?”

  Grimacing, Annabelle returned to the jewelry box. “I won’t be made a fool of again, Kate. He slept with me to get the pin. That should’ve warned me to stay far away from him. But I was stupid and let him get close to me again. And he played me.”

  “Don’t you think he might really care for you?”

  “No.”

  Annabelle moved on to another vendor’s stall, not wanting to continue the conversation. It made her eyes burn with tears she refused to cry. She made a show of staring at the jewelry in the glass case but in reality, couldn’t see a thing.

  Kate moved up beside her and sighed. “I’m sorry. I just…I think Jared felt something more than just lust for you. I think he really…Hey, isn’t this pretty?”

  Kate reached for something in one of the cases and slipped a ring on her right ring finger. “What color did you say the stone was that you’re looking for?”

  She turned to see what Kate was holding out. “Oh, my God.”

  She almost grabbed Kate’s hand to bring the piece into better light but stopped before she made a scene.

  “Annabelle?” Kate frowned at her. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

  Annabelle leaned in and lowered her voice to a whisper, so she didn’t attract too much attention from the seller. “I think you found Beatrice’s ring.”

  Kate looked up, eyes wide. “No way. You’re freaking kidding me.”

  “No, I’m not. Let me see it.”

  Kate slid the ring off her finger and dropped it into Annabelle’s open palm.

  The blue sapphire had the right shape and appeared to be the proper carat weight. Tarnish covered the plain silver band, and the teardrop stone looked dull from a coating of what she thought might be soot. Otherwise, it looked exactly like the picture Beatrice had sent her.