The Prize

by Vanessa Fewings

  “Oh, Tobias’s birthday party?” I realized. “Yes, you did an amazing job. It’s preserved perfectly on a digital file.”

  We’d watched it a month ago, and this time Tobias had managed to see the entire footage as he sat beside me scooping vanilla ice cream out of a china bowl and reminiscing about his childhood, sharing cute stories that made me laugh.

  “Have an amazing evening,” he said. “Call me if you guys need any last-minute help with anything.” Coops hurried off.

  “You’re always amazing.” Though right now he seemed unusually nervous.

  Intrigued, I retraced his footsteps and went looking for the painting he’d just dropped off—my feet stuck where they stood—the painting he’d just denied carrying.

  Vaguely, I recalled the kind of work Coops conducted for Tobias. He’d been his right-hand man for years and though young, had a maturity beyond his years and was fondly described by his boss as a tech genius. How had Tobias described him? He’d nicknamed him Q, as in quartermaster, because that was the term used in the military for men who provided the equipment needed for soldiers when they went into battle.

  A chill washed over me that there was a new painting in this house that I knew nothing about. A secret that shouldn’t be. I was sure there’d be a perfectly good explanation and with a mouth dry and thirsting, I strolled into the kitchen, suppressing my old doubts that had no right to linger. I found my sunglasses on the granite island and slid them up to rest on my head and then poured two ice teas and adding a dash of lemon.

  I carried them out into the garden and handed Tobias his drink. “There you go.”

  “What would you say if we delayed our honeymoon by a day?” He looked thoughtful. “I want to spend our wedding night here. Have this place be our first memory of us as husband and wife.”

  “You changed your mind?” I tried to read where this had come from, after all he’d painstakingly planned every detail of our wedding and all he’d talked about was that private island and how he couldn’t wait to get there.

  “Zara?”

  “Sure, I think that’s a lovely idea.” My thoughts flashed back to seeing Coops disappear behind the corner with that tall frame. I hesitated for a beat, wondering when would be a good time to broach the subject.

  A buzz went off on Tobias’s phone. He reached for it and read the text and cringed, then flipped over the phone.

  I’d not caught the sender’s name. “Who was that?”

  “I’m turning it off for the rest of the day.” With a slide of a finger over his screen it was off and he placed it back onto the glass table.

  “I hope it wasn’t bad news.”

  “It’s fine. Come grab some rays.” He patted the sunbed beside his. “We have time.”

  “I love it when the sun is out.”

  He laughed. “It’s always out in Cali.”

  Lying facedown on my towel, I got comfortable and unclipped my bikini top and threw it over to him. “Look what you won. Lucky thing.”

  “Don’t mind me while I lick your top.” He grinned.

  I rolled onto my back and smiled, and it was one of those grins that showed that everything was just as it should be. “We might need to pour that tea over your head to cool you down, buddy.”

  “Buddy?” His admiring gaze swept over me as he reached for the tube of sunblock and squeezed a white blob between my breasts. “Just doing my bit for prevention.” His fingers paid special attention to my nipples, causing them to perk. “You can thank me later for my forethought.”

  His massage was a reminder of how amazing his touch felt, both arousing and comforting, and my body ached with a need that would never be quenched by this incredible man.

  My body stiffened as a thought gate-crashed my mind. What if Tobias had brought me to Malibu to live because lulling me with his affection and keeping me busy at his museum was all an elaborate ruse to ensure his work as Icon continued?

  Don’t do this to yourself. Not today. Not ever.

  Still, if I allowed myself to consider the possibility of it, I had to admit the dark fact that I’d never be any wiser. That trip he’d taken to New York to take care of his grandmother’s home in Manhattan had been without me because he’d wanted to explore her personal items and he’d expressed he didn’t want me to get bored even though I’d offered to help. I’d been kept busy at The Wilder Museum with our new exhibit of artifacts from the Mayan civilization, a passion project for both of us.

  These were irrational thoughts and probably stirred by wedding day nerves. That’s all this was, I reassured myself, the normal kind of jitters you’d expect from the imminent commitment I was about to throw myself into headfirst.

  “Relax,” he cooed. “The house is shielded. I made sure of that when I purchased the property.”

  “Paradise.” I tried to let go and almost purred as he caressed me in rhythmic circles.

  “I want to buy you something. Name it.”

  “I don’t need anything.” I popped an eye open. “Have you seen this place?”

  “Jewelry?”

  “I have your mom’s necklace. I love it and never want to take it off.”

  That made him smile. “Ring?”

  I raised my left hand to show off my blinding diamond. “Hello.”

  “Are you really happy? You have no regrets, right? I know how much you loved your job in London.”

  “I’m in heaven, Tobias. This is nirvana.”

  “You’re my reason to breathe.”

  My heart melted all over again.

  His hands slipped to my stomach and he worked his circular motion there, and I tried not to sulk at my near miss of bliss when a ringtone disturbed the quiet. Raising my head off the lounger, I glanced over at Tobias’s pained expression.

  “I’ll get it.” I pushed myself up. “You relax.”

  “Sure.” He raised his hands in defeat. “Otherwise you’ll be wondering who called you. I want your thoughts to be only on me for the rest of the evening. As selfish as that sounds.”

  I reached for a towel, wrapped it around myself and returned to the house, closing the sliding glass door behind me so as not to disturb Tobias. There, on my laptop screen, was a missed call from Huntly Pierre.

  Maybe they’d heard about our wedding and wanted to wish us all the best for tonight. In the name of public relations, considering Tobias was still a client, I clicked the return-call button.

  Huntly Pierre’s logo filled the screen and then Abby’s face appeared. “Hey, Zara,” she said brightly. “Thank you for taking my call.”

  “Of course,” I said. “Anything for you. How are you?”

  “Not bad.” Her gaze slid behind me. “You alone?”

  “Yes.”

  “Where’s the man?”

  “Outside.”

  She drew in a sharp breath. “How’s the weather?”

  I peeled off my sunglasses. “Sunny. How’s London?”

  “Rainy.” Her wary gaze jumped to someone behind the screen.

  She wasn’t alone but was pretending this friendly chat was merely between us. The hairs prickled on my forearms. “Everything okay?”

  “You look sickeningly healthy.” Abby laughed. “Lots of downtime?”

  “I’m working hard. You know me.”

  “How’s Wilder?”

  I needed to know the reason for her call on a Saturday. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

  “We have a situation.” Her playfulness dissolved. “There’s been a major art theft at Buckingham Palace.”

  My throat tightened as my brain went into overdrive. “Oh?”

  “I don’t want to say too much.” Abby glanced behind her. “Look, we’ve been commissioned by the Palace to find this one. This is big. Like a major masterpiece has just vanished off the face of the earth. It’s the queen
’s all-time favorite. We’ve hit nothing but dead ends. The queen’s personal secretary hasn’t told her yet as he doesn’t want to alarm her.”

  “How can I help?”

  Abby leaned in closer. “I can’t believe I’m even saying this—”

  “Seriously?” I managed before she’d finished her statement.

  She seemed unfazed. “We believe it’s the work of Icon.”

  With a trembling hand, I tilted the screen to ward off the sun’s reflection bursting through the window.

  “Don’t hate me for asking, Zara.”

  “You want to know where I was?”

  “Tobias, was he with you last week?”

  Lying felt wrong but not protecting Tobias felt even worse. “What day?”

  “The staff are pretty vague. As you can imagine the palace is huge and they have a ton of art over there, but the painting went missing between last Wednesday and today.”

  A chill washed over me. “What was stolen?”

  “I know this is difficult for you.”

  “I’m okay, what was the painting?”

  “A West.”

  “Which one?” Though my brain was asking what size this masterpiece was before it disappeared.

  “It was taken from the State room. Queen Charlotte by Benjamin West—”

  “That’s a nice painting.”

  The size would match the very one Coops had just dropped off.

  I feigned not to be shaken to my core. “And the provenance?” Though she knew I was really asking if there’d been a suspicious break in ownership. A history that might make it a target for Icon.

  “It was painted for King George III and Queen Charlotte.” She sounded solemn.

  “No break in provenance? Doesn’t sound like Icon.”

  “There’s always a first.”

  My throat tightened and my gut wrenched at her insinuation. “Not sure how I can help?” I pined for that glass of ice tea waiting for me by my lounger.

  “This one was against the queen.” She widened her eyes suggestively. “This one hits at the center of everything we hold dear.”

  “I get that.” I gave my best apologetic smile.

  “Do what you can at that end.”

  What she was asking of me cut to my core.

  “Are you up for it, Zara? Are you willing to do what is right?”

  “Always.” Though my heart ripped into pieces at the thought of it.

  Doing what was right was searching this house for that painting and then calling off my wedding. Then setting the authorities on the man I loved. The only person who got me. The only one who’d broken down my walls and shown me how to live.

  “I’ll be in touch.” I snapped closed the laptop.

  Pushing to my feet, I stared out the glass door at Tobias. He looked like he could be asleep behind those shades, seemingly guilt free because he believed what he did to be right.

  “You promised me,” I whispered into the ether.

  Looking around, I soaked in the glamor and the coziness. I’d let my guard down here, finally trusted and allowed myself to believe I deserved to be happy.

  I jolted—

  Tobias stood before the glass window staring at me and he looked like he was trying to read me from there, and even though he still wore sunglasses I could see he was concerned.

  He stepped forward and slid the glass door open. “Everything okay?”

  “Yes.”

  He pulled off his glasses and set them on the kitchen island. “Sure?”

  “Absolutely.”

  His gaze drifted to my laptop. “Who was it?”

  “Abby.”

  He pulled me into a hug. “What did she want?”

  Tobias felt so good crushed against me, his natural scent mixed with his sexy perspiration from having sat out in the midday sun wafted over me and sparked all the wrong responses, the same ones that rendered me boneless in his hold.

  “I need to take a shower.” He stepped back. “So do you.”

  “Last week,” I managed, “you were in New York the entire time?”

  “Yes, why?”

  “You didn’t need to pop over to England?”

  “Without you?” He strolled over to the fridge and opened it, peering in and seemingly looking for something. “I would have told you.”

  “Right.”

  “Will you forgive me?”

  “Why would I need to forgive you?”

  He laughed and brought out an oyster shell. “Come here.” When I didn’t move, he neared me. “Open.” He lifted the dark shell to my mouth and tipped in the oyster and a blast of the ocean melted on my tongue.

  “Forgive you?” I repeated, wiping away a trickle of juice, though my hand stayed pressed to my lips to hide my terror. I’d been wrong, I’d been used as a pawn in Tobias’s carefully orchestrated plan.

  He took an oyster for himself and tipped it into his mouth. “I meant, forgive me for diving into the seafood early. God, I love oysters.”

  “Love that farmers market.”

  “You can always be assured the produce is fresh.”

  “Yes.”

  “It’s true what they say. These suckers are an aphrodisiac.” He planted a kiss to my neck and then pulled away. “I know what this is.”

  I gasped and stepped back.

  “And I know the cure.” He reached for my hand and led me out of the kitchen.

  “Tobias.” My voice sounded shaky.

  “This is what’s expected.”

  As we climbed the steps, my hand trembled in his. “How do you mean?”

  We made it to the top of the stairs and he brushed a hair out of my face. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught the steep drop down those stone steps and instinctively stepped back from the edge.

  “This is prewedding nerves, sweetheart.” He tugged my hand and we entered the master bedroom, walking through it and entering the bathroom en suite.

  He led me all the way into the shower, and I stood before him naked now with my arms covering my breasts, huddled in the chill until he got the water running.

  He reached out and pulled me against him. “Body warmth.” He planted a kiss to my forehead and then turned to work the dial.

  Hot water showered over us and though it heated my chilled bones I couldn’t seem to think straight. I should have made an excuse, should have gone off to find that West and gotten this over with. Right here, now, I was beneath the same roof as one of the queen’s most treasured possessions. I was betraying everything I held dear.

  Tobias pressed me against the glass. “Where are you?”

  “Here,” I lied, but my thoughts were anything but in this shower with him.

  “You’re not scared about marrying me, are you?”

  “It’s all so fast.”

  “We’ve lived together for six months. I know you’re The One, Zara. There’s no one else for me. God, I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you.”

  My gaze rose to his. “I love you so much. I’d do anything for you.”

  His lips crushed mine and he owned my mouth as he swept his tongue against mine, finding every crevice, every stroke one of possession, and his hands pressed against my cheeks to hold me in his grip. I surrendered in his arms and went with this rush, having been captured by this man the first time I saw him.

  He pulled back. “You saw it, didn’t you?”

  My lips trembled as I tried to deny it.

  “Oh, baby.” He yanked me against his chest and hugged me tight. “You weren’t meant to see it.”

  “I don’t know what you mean.”

  His frown deepened. “Coops?”

  “He chatted awhile but couldn’t stay.”

  Tobias’s eyes were assessing mine. “What’s going on?”
/>   “Nothing.” Though I was the one with the right to ask him that.

  “What did Abby say exactly?”

  Her words flooded back and scorched my heart.

  “Zara, you must tell me what’s going on.”

  “I did see it,” I blurted. “The Benjamin West. How could you? Tobias, you promised me.” I shoved open the glass door and leaped out and ran for a towel.

  “What West?” He was behind me, dripping water and not caring about reaching for a towel himself.

  I turned to face him. “The one you stole from Buckingham Palace.”

  He pulled away and closed his eyes as he realized he’d gotten caught. “I made a promise to you. I kept it. Whatever was spoken on that call is not true. I’m sure there’s a perfectly good explanation.”

  “Tell me the truth.”

  “On our wedding day!” He sucked in a sharp breath. “Of all the days you choose to do this it’s today? You’re infuriating.”

  “I’m infuriating?”

  He caressed his brow. “This must be the last time, Zara.”

  “The last time for what?”

  “We ever mention that name.”

  “Icon?”

  He stomped over to the landline, picked up the phone and punched a number set to speed dial.

  “Who are you calling?”

  He calmed. “Adley.”

  “Why?”

  “Because today is our wedding day and no one is going to ruin it.” He listened to the person on the other line. “Adley, it’s me...Yes, fine, thank you. The Palace, that missing painting. Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m guessing it went for cleaning or there’s a perfectly good explanation. Has anyone asked Her Majesty?...Sounds like a plan. Call me back...Great, thank you, and you too.” He slammed the phone down and turned to face me. “Happy now?”

  “You think that’s going to be enough?”

  “All this sun’s gone to your British brain.” He grinned and came toward me. “I thought you’d changed your mind about me.”

  Trying to suppress a frown. “Let me go.”

  He stepped back and grabbed a towel, then wrapped it around himself.

  “What am I going to do?” I whispered.