by Eden Butler
“I think this is ridiculous. You know me, Lil…I would never…” he reached for her, going still when she stepped out of his reach.
“No. I don’t.” Lily let reality crash inside her. It had been there in the distance, slumbering so that she forgot what she should expect. So that she didn’t remember what she’d always believed—fairytales weren’t real. Happy endings didn’t happen. Not for her.
“The truth is I don’t know you, Keilen. I didn’t know you when we were kids. Not really. I only watched and wanted. And I don’t know you now. I know nothing about you and Malini because all you’ve done since I got here was try to get me on my back.” It hurt to admit, it hurt worse seeing Keilen’s face drawn down, the anger tensing his features. “She was your wife and I was…” Lily drew in a breath, forgetting everything but the stinging ache of what seeing Keilen touching Malini, holding her, had done to Lily. “You and me…we aren’t any—“
“Don’t you fucking finish that sentence.” Keilen’s anger shot into his features. He looked lethal, the whites of his eyes brightened and a small patch of pink began to rush up his neck. “I was not with Malini. She came to me crying about being broke. She’s always broke, but I knew her mother‘s been diagnosed with stage four colon cancer and the medical bills have been astronomical.” He kneaded his shoulder, jaw working as though he hated having to explain himself. “She came to me for a loan...she…”
Something old and petty burned Lily’s insides. “I don’t fucking care,” she lied, walking away, pacing to keep from watching his expression. “I should have known. It was so stupid of me to pretend that this,” she waved toward the large bay window, pointing at the dark skies over the beach, “this is not paradise. This is a dream. All this…it’s just not real…”
She felt hurt, mistreated, and her instincts told her to walk away. Disappointment was nothing new to her. There had to have been a reason the fates had kept her from Keilen all these years. Now it was happening again.
She wanted him to hurt as much as she had when she first saw those pictures. Keilen held Malini like it was normal. Like it was his place. Something sharp and coiling moved through her then, something that darkened her spirit and made her lash out. “Neither are we.”
For the longest time Keilen just stared down at her, like he’d never seen her before. There were no sweet sentiments moving his features to give him the friendly, genuine expression that normally colored his face. This look was shock, anger, and disbelief.
When he finally spoke, his cold, cruel tone and simple words lashed something deep and unyielding in Lily’s heart. “I thought you trusted me. You swore you’d trust me.” Keilen paused, fists unclenching as his eyes glistened, sharp with something that could have been wetness. “You’ve never let any of it go, have you? Your…your mom. Your brother—“
“You have no clue what you’re talking about.” She wouldn’t let him do this. He had no right. “You don’t get to psychoanalyze what I do or how I feel…”
“It’s true.” Keilen’s shoulders lowered and his hand went to his shoulder again and he massaged, a nervous habit Lily noticed he did when he was worried or frustrated. At that moment, she didn’t care which he was. The betrayal was still too fresh for her to feel anything but anger.
“The only truth is the one that shows who you are. I saw it. In a text. A stupid text.” Lily shook her head, the anger like a current over her skin every time that grainy picture shot to the front of her mind. “It was idiotic of me to even entertain the idea of some pathetic high school crush being more than what it was. Nothing. Nothing at all.”
“Nothing?” he asked, his voice low. “Everything with me meant nothing?”
“Don’t pretend to be hurt, Keilen. If being with me meant anything to you, you would have avoided your ex-wife today.”
He took three steps and came to stand in front of her, breath sharp as he exhaled. “You’re pulling at straws that aren’t there, Lily. Makes me think you’re looking for an excuse to be off this island.” She didn’t answer, unable to do anything but watch Keilen’s expression as it shifted again until there was hardly any emotion at all. As though he wasn’t sure who she was. “You let me have you, Lil. You told me over and over again how much you’ve always wanted me, and now—“ He stepped back, head shaking as he looked at her. “You don’t know what the hell you want, do you?”
Lily didn’t know what to make of Keilen then. She looked for guilt and found none, though she was sure he’d been with Malini. She looked for compassion and only saw regret. She looked for love and found indifference.
That ache inside her chest became a twisting agony that only sharpened when Keilen walked toward the door.
“Never thought you’d be the one to rip me up from the inside. Never once did I think it would be you.”
He watched her for a second longer, just enough that Lily almost stopped him, but the damaged had been done and just like that, fate intervened, and once again Keilen was out of her life.
Chapter Twenty-One
Visibility was non-existent as Lincoln drove through the wet and windy streets of Kaimuki. Next to him, in the passenger seat, Lily was silent. The radio didn’t help fill the quiet in the cab of his rental; it was consumed by the storm and the small bouts of destruction it had already done to the island.
“You sure you know where we’re going?” he asked, trying to keep her from pouting. He didn’t understand the issue. The big island doctor she was taken with might be something to look at, if Lily’s reaction to him was anything to go by, but good God, he wasn’t all that clever. Lincoln could testify to that fact.
“Just keep driving,” she said, and Lincoln caught the way she brushed her fingers over her damp face.
“Christ, Campbell, are you crying?” He didn’t understand women. What good were tears when anger felt so much better?
“Lincoln, drive the freaking car and mind your own business.” Her voice echoed in the cab, the tone like a shriek that made him wince.
“Fine. Shit, but you’ve got a temper.”
“I do…” she went silent when her cell rang and she got it from the cup holder before Lincoln had a chance to grab it. He had meant to divert calls from Ellis, since the last conversation with their boss hadn’t come out as well as Lincoln had hoped.
Lily sat up straight after she answered and at first, Lincoln believed it must have been the doctor or maybe her niece giving her news she didn’t want to hear. Her demeanor certainly changed as she listened to whomever it was talking on the other line. Lily’s face tensed, then, she shifted her attention away from the window and the torrential downfall along the beach road that went by as they drove.
She gripped her cell, and her left eyebrow shot up, arching to give her a vicious, angry frown that cowed Lincoln just a little.
“Lil?” he asked, wondering what had prompted the scowl and the hateful glare she gave him.
“Yes, of course. I will be,” she said, her voice and that professional tone contrasting the fierce anger wrinkling her features. “Yes. Thank you so much. I’ll see you then. Yes, sir. Yes. Goodbye.”
He shot quick glances her way, oblivious to what had angered her, but half suspicious she’d somehow gotten wind of what he and Clara had pulled off.
“Campbell?” he asked, moving his head toward her as he focused on the road. “What’s going on?”
She pointed to a curve in the road that led to a gravel cut off. “Pull over. Right there. ”
The rain had dimmed the further away from Kaimuki they drove, but the winds were still whipping and the trees along the roadway swayed and shuddered, flicking rain and limbs along the pavement.
Lincoln attempted a cool calm. He would not volunteer a thing, not unless she’d discovered something, or someone, he had not counted on and the possibility of that was remote.
“That was Ellis.” There was a steely edge to her words, something that promised violence and from the subtle rage that colored her skin, Lincoln
guessed she might be capable of that violence.
“Was it?” he said, leaning against the driver’s door. The wipers were on high and the quick rush of their back and forth movement made then entire car move as he waited for Lily to continue.
She looked ahead, eyes squinted as she watched the clouds move above them. “The final investigation has been concluded, and Clara has been fired for breach of contract.”
“Ah. Well that’s…” Lincoln gripped the wheel, his fingers smoothing over the leather.
“He also said Clara spoke at length with the Reynold’s security team.” Lily shook her head, jaw tight as she continued. “She’s responsible for the pictures. Turns out she’s an amateur graphic artist.” Lincoln kept his attention on the windshield, aware that Lily had turned fully to face him. “Turns out she was asked to generate the images of me to distract me and the partners from the mole investigating Reynold’s next move.”
Lincoln took his hand from the wheel, replacing his fingers on his temples as Lily went on. The air in the cab had gone cold, and a chill shot up his arms the longer he sat there.
“How long?” Lincoln didn’t answer. He was already working out whom to call, to see if his bosses at Clairmont Industrial would cover his legal expenses. If he was disbarred for stealing client files, would Clairmont hire him as a consultant? Lily sat up, hands in balled fists, looking ready to lash out at him. “How fucking long?”
“Nearly two years,” he admitted, understanding that he may as well come clean. It would be downhill from here. “They approached me at the charity fundraiser. The one with the Steamers for the heart foundation.”
Curiously, Lily laughed, her face tense, as though she wasn’t remotely amused. “You never wanted the junior partnership. I always thought that was your goal.”
“I did, at first.” Lincoln relaxed against the seat, trying to affect the air of someone in control, someone who wasn’t five seconds from losing it completely. “They know? Ellis and Landry? They all know?”
“Clara sold you out.” She nodded, sitting up. “And Keilen? The garage?”
“My God, Campbell, that’s all you’re worried about? The fucking doctor?”
Lily’s anger was raw, and it came out of her like a wave, like the rain around them, soaking the streets and flooding the land. She pounded the console and screamed, a litany of accusations, curses and assumptions, most true, filling the cab of the rental, piercing the silence with little effort.
“You asshole. He was devastated…” Her voice rose, shook as she continued screaming, blaming Lincoln for everything from the photoshopped pictures to the downward spiral her love life had just taken. “Selfish, vindictive, self-absorbed, backstabbing…”
“You should have known, Lil,” he tried, not willing to let her anger make him feel guilty. “I did what I did because these tactics generally work. It’s business. You know how it is. Don’t tell me you wouldn’t have done the same thing. Not with the amount of cash they promised me. Anyone would.” It wasn’t his responsibility to worry about anyone else. The glare was unavoidable and something weak and pathetic inside Lincoln couldn’t take it. He couldn’t stand the hurt he saw hidden behind all that rage coloring her cheeks. “I hired a P.I. before I even left New Orleans. You think I didn’t do a background check on everyone here before I came? I had to know what I was walking into. I had to know what would distract you.”
He lowered his shoulders, gut twisting when that anger on Lily’s face contorted to surprised disbelief. “I…I needed to keep you focused. The ex hovered. The P.I. told me that. She hovered around the hospital and he approached. Offered her cash to come on a little strong…strong enough that he could get a good picture of them together. Something that would convince you that he wasn’t to be trusted.” Lincoln shifted his attention to the rain pelting on the windshield. He could feel the heat from Lily’s breath as she exhaled. “That woman was greedy. Cost me a grand more than what I offered, but she did it. It wasn’t all that hard.”
Lily seethed, fists balling tighter, so tight that Lincoln was sure she was going to hit him. Instead, she closed her eyes, head shaking, expression furious when she spoke. “And now…no, you unbelievable prick, everything is ruined because of you! You spineless asshole!”
She gave him one last look, another disgusted glare before she jumped out of the car. Lincoln, for his part, was relieved to be rid of her, for all of one minute. He was already in trouble, likely to be fired, possibly arrested and if he let Lily walk out into the storm, God knew what other sins he’d be blamed for. He adjusted, put the car in gear and turn around, shooting out onto the empty street to follow her.
He only had to drive less than half a mile from the cut out before he found her. She marched on the road shoulder at a jog, with her blazer over her head, seeming accustomed to the height of her shoes, running in them like they were sneakers and not three-inch heels.
Lily did not slow when Lincoln approached. She didn’t bother to acknowledge him or do anything resembling following his honking, light flashing cues to stop and get into the car. He sped up. On the slippery road, his tires hydroplaned as he whizzed ahead of her, in the hopes that he’d block her path. But the rain was so thick now, Lincoln could not see well, had to squint through the storm to see the lines and reflective plates on the road. Lightning snaked across the sky and a bright light followed by a crack directly overhead, and Lincoln’s fear moved through his entire body, making his grip on the wheel tighten. It distracted enough that he didn’t see the limb falling until it crashed through his windshield. He jerked and the car swerved. A tree loomed ahead, and then…darkness.
The rain was so hard, the noise of it so vivid that Lily mistook the crash for another roll of thunder. But there was smoke coming from the hood of Lincoln’s dented rental, never a good sign.
Lily ran toward the car, uncaring about the water that froze her body. “Lincoln?” she called, petrified that he was dead. The door was jammed, the side smashed against the tree as Lincoln had clearly tried to adjust his control on the steering wheel.
It took her four long pounds of her fist wrapped in her soaked blazer to penetrate the already fractured, loosened glass, and her hand came back scratched with broken glass imbedded into the knuckles.
He didn’t seem to be breathing, and despite what he’d done, despite lying and cheating her out of cases to make junior partner, despite the doctored photos and the files he’d copied or glimpsed in his effort to give his client the upper hand, Lily knew no one deserved to die this way.
“Lincoln!” she shouted again, suddenly overwhelmed with the desire to heal and help until he was well enough to answer for the epic load of shit he’d visited upon her.
He didn’t move, but Lily felt his pulse, relaxing a little when she discovered him breathing.
There was no way to call anyone; her phone was a sodden disaster now, Lincoln’s smashed in the accident. The passenger side of the car had also been damaged by the wreck so there was nowhere Lily could go to keep out of the rain.
She did the only thing she could—she went to the back of the rental and sat down on the ground, head hidden on her knees.
Lily thought about Keilen and his smile, the way it lit up his entire face when he laughed, how sweet he touched her the night before…how betrayed and devastated he’d looked when she had accused him.
She wanted to take it back. All of it. She wanted to hold him, to beg his forgiveness and pray he’d grant her absolution. Around her, Lily smelled the hot metal of the car as the radiator blew water and steam, which immediately died into the air. She was wet, exhausted by the day, and devastated by her own stupidity. A deep ache formed inside to think of Keilen now, to recall his expression, the shock that cut him deep.
Lily decided this was her punishment—to be left alone, undiscovered, helpless to the world around her. There was no one to call or means by which to find a rescuer. None existed. Not for Lily Campbell.
Ten feet below the ridge,
a black car angled around the curve; Lily saw it from a distance, a glimmer of hope she wouldn’t let herself believe. It wasn’t him. It couldn’t be. Not with all she’d said.
Yet some small part of her dared to hold her breath, to believe he’d come. To believe he could forgive her.
The car approached and Lily stood, unable to keep herself from running toward the tinted windows as they slid down into the doorway.
“Lil?” she heard, holding her fingers over her eyes to look into the cab, both relieved and disappointed as Zee reached for her.
Equus, not a Mercedes, she thought, disappointed.
“What the hell are you…oh, God!” she said, pointing a left hand finger to Lincoln’s busted car smashed into a now broken palm.
“Is he hurt?” Zee asked, nodding toward the wrecked are. Across the cab Ano sat up, hands on the steering while as he angled to see what to make of the crashed car through the torrential downpour.
Lily didn’t answer. Instead, she looked to Lincoln’s rental and back to her niece, letting the tears fall. Zinnia must have noticed the shift in her eyes, and lowering of her shoulder. “Lily? Are you hurt?” her niece asked, opening the back door to keep her aunt out of the weather.
Zee turned in her seat, handing over a towel to Lily and she caught her niece’s hand. “You did it?” she asked, stating the obvious. “You…”
“We got married.” Zinnia tilted her head, frowning as she looked her aunt over. “What the hell happened out there?” she asked.
“I ruined everything.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
The rains did not stop for nearly an hour after Lily returned to the cottage. Zinnia had seen to Lincoln, had checked his pupils and pulse, waiting with him until the ambulance arrived while Lily and Ano kept out of the weather in the Equus. Lincoln would survive to face charges, a disbarment and a hell of a lot of trouble. Lily felt almost bad for him, but not quite.
Lily was dry by the time they returned home and had barely registered the commanding way Zee directed her out of her clothes and into a hot shower, how her niece combed her hair and told her about the impromptu wedding.