by M. E. Gordon
I nodded silently and squeezed his hand. I was grateful he had figured it all out. Who knew what would have happened if Spencer had given up on his mission to figure out Simon, or if he had given up on us?
Kissing the tops of my hands, he rose and walked over to grab the phone. Punching in a few numbers, he held the receiver to his ear.
“Yes, it’s Salvatore, can you find Teddy and Chuck and send them up to my office?...Yes...I don’t care. Tell them that their sister is up here and she needs them, now!”
Chapter 33
It only took a few minutes before Teddy came crashing through the door. Still sitting, Spencer and I turned simultaneously as he barged in. Although I wasn’t a blubbering mess, I was sure my face bore the evidence that I had been crying.
Teddy stood in the doorway, glancing between Spencer--who had moved the other chair closer to me--and me. Spencer sat on the edge, his hands folded and holding up his chin. I was sure I looked like a weeping child huddled in the large high-backed chair.
“What the hell is going on, Salvatore?” Teddy asked, briskly coming across the room,
Spencer stood, straightening his tie.
“I swear to God if you touched her--”
Teddy wasn’t waiting for an answer from him. He was going to punch Spencer first. I stood quickly, placing my hand on his chest to impede his very clear intentions.
“Teddy, stop, he didn’t do anything,” I said, trying to shake his jacket and bring him back from the edge of manslaughter.
Finally noticing me, Teddy took my hands from his chest and leaned down to look in my puffy and red face, wiping his thumb over my cheek. “What’s going on?”
As I fought to find the right way to tell him everything, Charles came striding into the room. “This better be good, because I just left a Victoria Secret model for this.” Assessing the situation, he saw Teddy holding me. “Baby girl, what’s with the tears?” he asked, coming over to us.
It was obvious the wheels in his head started turning as he watched Spencer back away.
“You son of a bitch, what did you do to her?” Charles growled, rushing over, grabbing Spencer’s suit jacket, and pushing him forcefully into his desk.
“Chuck!” I screamed from Teddy’s arms.
Breaking free, I tried to pull him off of Spencer. Although Spencer was taller than Charles, my brother could have easily done some serious damage if he wanted to.
“Chuck, let him go,” I pleaded, still trying to tug at his arm.
Releasing him, I quickly stood in front of Spencer. My back was flush against him. His hands hovered over my hips, but he didn’t say anything to defend himself.
“Start talking, Beth,” Charles demanded, fixing his suit jacket.
“It’s not Spencer. It’s Simon. He’s not who he says he is at all.”
“What are you talking about?” Teddy asked. “I checked him out. I didn’t find anything.”
“Well, you didn’t look hard enough,” Spencer said from behind me, the weight of his hands pressed protectively against my hips.
Turning around, I looked up at him. I didn’t need him being spiteful or arrogant right now, so I shot him a warning glare to back off. Shaking his head at me in obvious frustration, he held his hands up before folding his arms across his chest.
Why do I get so turned on when we fight? I don’t get it, but the thought of arguing with him then making up is a nice distraction from all that had just happened. Stay focused, Beth.
“Spencer figured out that it was Simon who had been taking the pictures for Fame and leaking information about all of us,” I said, turning back to my brothers.
“How the hell did you figure that out?” Charles asked skeptically.
Honestly, I wanted to hear that as much as they did.
We all turned to Spencer, waiting to hear how he did it. “I was skeptical from the first night when I met you at Mood. I brushed it off, but I couldn’t keep ignoring that every time we were together, he’d know about it and call you. When I got the picture removed from Fame, the IT guys traced it back to the hotel he was staying at. The day you hurt your ankle, I could have sworn I saw him in the crowd, and now I know that I did. The weekend you were in New York, I thought I saw him in my lobby, after you left.”
“All right, we get it you had your suspicions,” Teddy challenged. “How do you know for sure?”
“Wednesday night, I was out and saw Gia and Charles, so I called in an anonymous tip, to see if my suspicions were right. You were a hot topic in the media and I took advantage. I didn’t tell them where I saw them just that I had. Twenty minutes later, he showed up at the exact spot where Gia and Charles were. I watched him hide in the bushes and wait. When Charles leaned in to kiss Gia, he took the picture. Simple as that.
“Oh, and he didn’t deny any of it when I confronted him twenty minutes ago. That was the clincher,” he said, leaning back on his desk, clearly pleased with himself.
“You set me up?” Charles was seeing red again.
“I didn’t set you up. I didn’t make you kiss her. That was all you.”
“Shut the hell up, Salvatore.” Charles said, turning away from him, clearly not wanting to hear the truth he was saying. “Where is he? Where is the little bastard?”
The door opened again and Gia walked in. “Umm, private party and no one invited me?” she said, clearly tipsy.
“Gia, I...umm...”Shit she is going to be pissed once I tell her this.
“Spit it out, Beth. What’s going on? I thought you were coming up here to dump his ass, not rub up all over him,” she said, gesturing at Spencer.
“I was, but--” I caught Spencer’s wolfish grin and lost my train of thought.
“But--oh God, you had sex with him again, didn’t you? Why are you’re brothers here? That’s a little twisted,” she said, swaying slightly.
“Gia.” Walking over to her, I held her shoulder so she stopped swaying. “Simon’s been lying to me, to all of us,” I said, looking around the room.
“What do you mean lying to all of us?” she said, finally sobering up a little.
“Gia...” I went on to fill her in on all that had taken place. But as I wrapped up, her focus was solely on Spencer.
“You? You were the one that told them about me and Chuck?” Walking away from me, she stood before Spencer. He nodded at her, saying nothing. The room was silent until the sound of skin being slapped filled it. “You ruined everything for me,” she seethed
“Gia!” I shouted as she pondered slapping him again.
“Beth, don’t you dare make excesses for him. He put you through hell, remember that? As far as I’m concerned, he’s just as bad as Simon is. You deserve better.” Eyeing him with disgust, she turned to me. “Let’s go.” Taking my arm, she tried to make me leave. I stopped immediately, taking my arm out of her hand. “Don’t be stupid, Beth, he’s not worth it.”
Why is she doing this? It wasn’t his fault. She let Charles kiss her. She had a choice, she made the wrong one, and she has to deal with her own consequences. Spencer didn’t deserve to be treated like the criminal here.
“I’m not leaving, this isn’t his fault,” I said, defending him
“You’re acting like a crazy person.” I simply shook my head. “Beth, he ruined me and Teddy!” she shouted out in frustration.
“I’m sorry that you got caught up in all of this,” Spencer’s said, walking to stand next to me. “But I wouldn’t take it back if I could. He kept us a part for long enough and I’m not letting anyone come between us again.”
Reaching for his hand, I held on tightly. We had fought what felt right, given in to our own pride, and let others come between us, but not anymore.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” she said shaking her head as we stared at one another amorously. “Ya know what? Do whatever you want Beth, but when he leaves you again and hurts you, I don’t want to be around to watch it, because we all know he’s going to do it again, mark my words.”
“Gia, hold up. I’ll go with you,” Charles called to her just before she was gone.
The three of us were left standing silently, before Teddy spoke up. “Spencer, I think I owe you an apology. I should have listened to what you were saying. I’ve always been against you being with my sister, but maybe I made a hasty decision about you. Don’t get me wrong. If you hurt her, I won’t have a choice but to ruin you,” he said, holding his hand out.
Spencer’s took it in a firm hand shake. “I’m not going to let anything happen to her. You have my word.”
Teddy kissed my forehead and I held on tightly to my brother, my stand-in father. “Thank you, Teddy,” I said into his chest.
“I love you, baby girl. All right, I have a club full of people to entertain,” he said, sighing. “Best not keep them wondering where I am. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
He left, closing the door behind him. Spencer and I were alone.
Sitting back down in the chair, I took my heels off. “These Goddamn things are going to kill me,” I said, dropping them to the floor.
Hearing a chuckle come from Spencer, I watched as he sat in the opposite chair. Leaning over, he grabbed my foot and placed it on his lap. “Give me the other one, too,” he said, tapping his leg.
So here we are, coming full circle. Placing my other foot on his lap, he began rubbing my feet. As I watched the man that I thought would never show a girl like me the time of day, I almost didn’t believe it.
How was it possible that this man--who challenged me at every turn, who had secrets, who could make me weak in the knees with just the sound of his voice, a man who could have any woman in the world--chose me? Could we make something real out of all of this? Were we fooling ourselves in thinking that we could? Just because Simon was out of the picture, that didn’t mean there weren’t a million other things that could keep us apart. Was a gut feeling, fate, an undeniable attraction enough? I had no idea, but I sure as hell wasn’t going down without a fight.
Epilogue
Simon
“What do you mean you quit?” Natasha yelled at me from across her desk.
Her short fashionable hair was swept off her face. For someone who was old enough to be my mother, she was stunning and didn’t look a day over thirty-five. She kept her figure healthy and lean. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t had a Mrs. Robinson moment when she first hired me on.
She was the face behind Fame. She could make or break the rich and famous and sometimes the unknown and average. I was her protégé, her shining star pupil. At first, I took the job simply because I needed the money. My parents had cut me off and I had nothing until she swooped in and took me under her wing.
I had never had the problem of keeping my personal life separate from my work. I was there strictly to get dirt on Spencer plain and simple. I saw an opportunity to use Elizabeth as a means of getting to Spencer. I had it all figured out, but the one thing that I hadn’t counted on was falling for the one person I had to hurt to get the job done.
“I can’t do it anymore, I won’t.”
The image of Beth’s face, when she realized it was me, was still fresh in my mind and it stung like a bitch.
“You know what will happen if you walk out now?” she said, threatening me for the millionth time.
“It’s too late, Natasha. She knows. Your threats mean nothing now.”
Sitting back in her chair, she wiggled a pen through her fingers, unfazed. “So she left you?” she asked, moving to the edge of her seat.
“What do you think, Natasha? Of course, she left me.”
“Well, you know how I feel about you. I think you’re making a big mistake. However, if you’re interested I do have a proposition for you.”
Ever the business woman. “I’m done Natasha, I’m out for good.” Reaching for my bag, I stood from her desk.
“You know, it really is a shame. I know you care for this girl. You’ve done this how many countless times and you fall for this one girl. She must be ‘the one,’ if you’re willing to give this all up,” she said, gesturing to the lush office.
Mine was across the hall and just as extravagant as hers.
I watched as she shifted the papers on her desk haphazardly. “What’s your point, Natasha?”
“You wouldn’t want the love of your life in the arms of a murderer, would you?”
My body froze while her lips curved into a wicked grin.
“That’s what I thought. Have a seat, Nickolas.”
The End
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
M.E. Gordon, was born and raised in Maryland, where she still resides with her husband. She is a stay-at-home mom to four children, three boys and one very, spoiled, little girl, all under the age of five. Growing up Gordon was an avid journal writer. She wrote her first romance novel at the age of 14, and it was pretty bad, but over the years and through all the kids she honed her craft. When Gordon doesn’t have her mom hat on, you can find her reading, working on her next story, or watching guilty pleasure television.
GENRE: CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE/WOMEN’S FICTION
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, businesses, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental. All trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks, and registered service marks are the property of their respective owners and are used herein for identification purposes only. The publisher does not have any control over or assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their contents.
TORN HEARTS
Copyright © 2015 by M. E. Gordon
Cover Design by NAME
All cover art copyright © The Illustrated Author
All Rights Reserved
EBOOK ISBN: 978-1-626943-10-0
FIRST PUBLICATION: August 29, 2015
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