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by Michelle Congdon

  “You want us to be exclusive?” he questioned, watching me with those beautiful but intimidating eyes.

  “No!” I retorted. “I mean I don’t know what I want…” It’s just hard to keep doing what we’re doing without having feelings for you!

  “I can’t do relationships, Evangeline,” he replied, his eyes dropping to the mattress. My eyes followed his gaze. You mean you can’t be a one-woman guy.

  The thought of Ryan being with other women sickened me, but why? I got myself into this; there was no one else to blame but myself. I was well aware of the type of man he was from the start. I shouldn’t have let it get this far if I never wanted my feelings to get involved. But the guy was so hard to resist, he knew that and played it to his advantage. Still, I should’ve known better than to get caught up. On top of that, the press were having a field day trying to figure out whether we were actually a couple or not, taking photos of us whenever they could. If only they knew the real situation at hand, but would they listen to the truth? From past experiences I doubted that very much.

  I found myself wondering how many other girls Ryan had been with since we met and whether I actually wanted to know the answer to that question when Ryan interrupted. “I haven’t been with anyone else since you, Evangeline, if that makes you feel better.”

  I glanced up to find him staring at me again. “It shouldn’t matter whether you have or not,” I managed to reply. It hurt hearing the words come out of my own mouth, but it was the truth and I had to face it.

  “But it matters to you, therefore it matters to me.” He lifted a hand and placed it on my cheek. “I know I have a reputation, and the media harass you because of it, but that’s only one side of me, Evie.” His use of my nickname should have troubled me but it didn’t, I didn’t even tense this time. “If things were different, if they were easier and I wasn’t afraid of possibly losing you forever, I’d share the rest of me. I’d give you everything and do anything you want of me…”

  Huh?

  “Ryan, what are you trying to say? I’m fine with the person next to me. He’s more than I could ever want.”

  “To hear you say that once you knew the truth,” he whispered caressing my cheek with his thumb.

  I searched his face for a long time, trying to figure out what he meant by that.

  CHAPTER 20

  “Bella?” A soft whisper in my ear woke me up. Huh?

  I opened my eyes and found myself nestled underneath a blanket, my head on the pillow and Ryan’s head resting against the crook of my neck with his firm, strong arm wrapped around me. How’d I end up like this?

  “What happened?” I asked, trying to recall the last event in my head.

  Ryan chuckled. “I mustn’t be very interesting company because you fell asleep on me.”

  “I did?”

  I felt him nod against me, his stumble tickling my neck.

  That was odd. I wasn’t even tired.

  “I wanted to let you sleep but Sera insisted that I wake you for dinner. She thought you’d be hungry,” he said, lightly running the tips of his fingers against my side.

  Dinner? Oh my God. That meant I’d been asleep for at least a few hours. How rude of me! But Serafina was right about the hungry part; I was starving. “I’m so sorry, Ryan. Is she mad? I can’t believe I was so rude. We have to get down there now.”

  “Calm down, Evie. She’s not mad. She’s worried but not mad.”

  “Wait… she’s worried? Of what?” I shifted so that we were facing each other.

  “I’m not sure.” He shrugged. “She hounded me with questions on whether I was looking after you properly, whatever that means.”

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered softly.

  A tiny crease appeared in the middle of his brows. “Stop saying sorry. It’s fine. It’s just Sera being Sera,” he replied, lightly kissing the tip of my nose.

  I closed my eyes and before I knew it my mouth had found his. First, they were gentle and soft, which quickly escalated into strong and hungry kisses that left me wanting more. Ryan pulled me closer so that we were firmly pressed up against each other. His fingers trailed down my spine, leaving a hot blaze in their wake, then firmly squeezed my ass.

  I’d just managed to reach around and wrap my arm around his neck when he suddenly pulled away. “Baby, I want inside of you so bad but everyone’s waiting for us downstairs,” he said with a devious smirk.

  Dinner! Shoot, I’d almost forgotten. I immediately let him go and sat up straight. “Oh my God, your family is going to hate me,” I complained, reaching up to try and fix my tangled hair.

  Ryan sat up beside me and grabbed both my hands with his before threading his fingers through mine. “No they’re not. You’re impossible to hate.”

  Yeah right, I wanted to say but he lifted my hand to his mouth and pressed his lips on the top of my palm before I had the chance to get the words out. “Let’s go down…” he started, looking up at me from under his thick, long lashes. “Before I change my mind and have you spread out and tied up to each bed post.”

  “Ryan!” I scowled. I managed to pull a hand away and attempted to give him a light slap on the shoulder but with a laugh, he swiftly dodged the move.

  ****

  Dinner went surprisingly better than I’d expected. I was seated beside Annabelle and Ryan, who kept resting his hand on my thigh. I continuously flicked it away, despite earning myself a gentle squeeze each time his hand returned. It was hard to keep myself from turning and telling him off.

  Serafina had cooked an amazing, mouth-watering Italian dish, which tasted so good I asked for seconds, receiving stunned reactions from all but Serafina, who just had a strange, proud smile on her face the entire night.

  Annabelle did most of the talking, rambling on about cute boys, college and everything else teenage girls liked to talk about. And when she finally got the chance to speak, Chiara shared stories about life in Australia with her husband and children.

  The two girls then went on to talk about their other sister, Liliana, who wasn’t able to make it over.

  Gabriella barely spoke the entire time. She laughed a few times at some of the stories Chiara shared about her kids and added a few comments here and there throughout the dinner, but not once did she bother to acknowledge me. If I spoke she ignored me, if somebody directly asked me a question she would pretend she was busy doing something else like, moving food around on her plate or helping herself to another glass of wine. It wasn’t until after dinner and I was alone in the kitchen with her that she decided to speak to me.

  “What’s your deal?”

  “Excuse me?” I stopped drying the plate I had in my hands and turned to face her.

  Gabriella still had her hands in the sink water but her narrowed eyes were securely locked on me.

  Everyone was surprised when Gabriella volunteered to help me clean up, including me. Ryan immediately jumped up to insist, but I managed to talk him out of it and encouraged him to spend the time with his sisters instead as Serafina had grown tired and gone straight to bed after dinner.

  I broke away from Gabriella’s hostile glare and looked over my shoulder at the doorway. The others were just in the next room but the volume coming from the TV was loud, they’d have no way of hearing what was going on in here. Gabriella had planned this out well. This was her chance to say exactly how she felt without anyone around to stop her. Too bad I wasn’t afraid of her.

  “What do you want from my brother?” I turned back to face Gabriella. “His money? Fame? What is it?”

  I blinked at her. Was that why she hated me? Because she thought I was after his money? “I don’t need money and I definitely don’t want fame,” I replied firmly.

  “Then what is it? Do you work for the media? Are you a reporter?”

  I frowned. “No.” She was out of her mind.

  “You’re a pretty enough girl, you could have any guy you want, why him?”

  And what is with all the ludicrous question
s? “Gabriella, I admire the way you’re protecting Ryan but it’s not really any of your business why I want to be with your brother. You have no right to ask me questions like that.”

  “When I believe you’re a gold-digging whore using my brother to uncover his secrets, I have every right to ask questions.”

  Okay, she was completely insane. Was she not aware that her brother was the one that slept around? Or was that part irrelevant to her? The image of my father’s young girlfriend he left behind came to mind when I heard the words ‘gold-digger’. I was nothing like that woman. Unlike her, I was born into wealth, but I’d never flaunted it and I’d give away every cent I had to bring back my mom and brother. “I’m far from being a ‘gold-digging whore’,” I scoffed, rolling my eyes. I immediately regretted doing that.

  Gabriella’s eyes widened slightly before she snapped. “Listen, bitch!”

  I flinched and immediately took a step back as she pointed a long, threatening finger, still dripping with dishwater, directly in my face. “When my brother’s happiness is concerned, it becomes my business whether you like it or not! Somehow you’ve lasted longer than a one-night stand and for some reason, unbeknownst to me, Ryan is fond of you. He’s different with you, but I will not let him make the biggest mistake of his life.”

  My chest tightened hearing her last words. I opened my mouth to ask her what she meant but she quickly cut me off, “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re trying to do either.”

  “What’s that?” I managed to choke out weakly. Don’t cry. Don’t cry. What was wrong with me? Listening to Gabriella going on about this nonsense made me furious but for some reason, I was fighting an internal battle with myself not to cry.

  “I know you’re aware of Ryan’s secrets,” she continued. “I won’t let a nosey little slut like you destroy him, or this family, because you’re after your next scoop. You aren’t anyone special, Evangeline. You’ll just be another conquest to him. The sooner you learn that, the sooner you can leave him the hell alone.”

  Before I could stop myself, my vision blurred and hot tears began falling down my face. What a bitch! Nothing she had said about me was true but it was what she said about Ryan that upset me the most. Was she right? Was I just another conquest? One that happened to last longer than a one-night stand? I went to cover my face with my hands, forgetting that I was still holding the dinner plate and it fell to the floor and smashed.

  Almost instantly, I heard Ryan’s loud angry voice shout, “What the fuck is going on, Gabby?” before I felt big, strong arms engulf me and pull me into a warm, hard body. I buried my face in Ryan’s chest. Closing my eyes, I let the tears fall.

  The loud shouting going on around me was hard to ignore. Whether I liked it or not, I heard every single word of the heated argument. I could also hear Duke barking somewhere close. He must have followed Ryan in.

  “What the hell is your problem, Gabby?” Ryan roared at his sister.

  “What makes her special, Ryan? How do you know she’s different from the other girls you’ve been with?” Gabriella shouted back.

  Ryan squeezed me tight before letting go and turning away to face his sister. “Because she is, damn it!” he declared.

  I could see the muscles in his arms tense as he worked his hands into fists. “And you need to back off before you do something you’ll regret tomorrow,” he continued in a warning voice.

  “She’s just after your money! Can’t you see that? I won’t let her ruin this family, Ryan! And you know she will! You’ll tell her the truth and she’ll run and tell the world! You can’t trust her! She’ll hurt you!”

  “God damn it, Gabby! Evangeline is Rupert Montgomery’s daughter! She doesn’t need my money, and if I choose to tell her the truth about Dad then that’s my decision! You got that? I have to live with the consequences, not you!” he shouted.

  “What?” I heard the surprise in Gabriella’s voice. Wiping my face, I peered over Ryan’s shoulder so I could see the stunned look on her face for myself.

  “I didn’t know that…”Gabriella replied. I caught her gaze flick over to me for a spilt second before returning to her brother.

  “Of course you didn’t! Because you didn’t bother to ask or give us a chance to explain, did you? I warned you! I’ve given you enough chances and you’ve continued to act disrespectful towards Evangeline―”

  “Stop fighting!” came a high-pitched cry. The room fell silent as everyone turned to see Annabelle standing in the kitchen doorway. Even Duke had stopped barking. He eyeballed both Gabriella and Ryan then with a low growl he turned and trotted over to Annabelle and sat by her feet, taking a protective stance. “What really happened to Dad, Ryan?”

  “Annie…” Ryan’s shoulders slumped as soon as his gaze met his baby sister’s panic-stricken one.

  “Annabelle, I think we should let them sort this out first,” Chiara said, stepping up and placing a reassuring hand on the teenager’s shoulder. Everyone else remained still.

  “No, Chiara,” she replied removing her sister’s hand and taking a step forward. “You all think of me as your naïve, child sister. Well, I’m not and I’m not stupid either. Do you think I haven’t noticed the way Mom avoids talking about him, and that she took down all the family pictures of him as soon as I moved out?” Annabelle turned to Gabriella. “Gabby, you’ve never had a nice thing to say about him.”

  “That’s not―”

  “Shut up! It is and you know it,” Annabelle replied firmly, cutting Gabriella off mid-sentence. She then turned to Ryan. “And Ryan, remember those times growing up when I’d beg you to tell me stories of Dad? I saw the pain it caused you but you still told them anyway. And later, I’d hear you crying in your room. At first I thought it was because you missed him, but one night I overheard you and Gabby whispering. I heard her say, ‘he deserved what he got’ and that ‘we were better off without him’.”

  The room fell silent again.

  I knew there was more to his father’s death than Ryan was willing to admit. I was itching to know but this wasn’t the way to find out. I wanted Ryan be the one to tell me, but only when he was ready.

  My eyes travelled around the room, looking at everyone before landing on Ryan. All I could see was the back of his head but his shoulders were hunched and he was staring down at the ground.

  “Annie… Dad died from an accident.” It was Gabriella that spoke first but Ryan quickly cut in.

  “Annabelle’s right. It’s time we tell her the truth. She has a right to know,” he said in a low, unrecognizable voice.

  “Ry… this isn’t the right way to do it. Wait until―”

  “Chiara, there is no other way,” Ryan added, slowly lifting his head to look up at his oldest sister, who’d taken a few steps towards him.

  I couldn’t listen to this. Their family issues had nothing to do with me. I needed to get out of here before I heard something I wasn’t supposed to.

  I took a few steps back, carefully not to make any sudden movements that would bring any attention to me. I ignored the small, sharp fragments of china pressing into the bottom of my bare feet from the plate I’d dropped earlier. There was always later to worry about that.

  Everyone was so focused on the matter at hand that nobody saw me slip away. Or if they did, nobody stopped me. But I didn’t get away fast enough and managed to catch the beginning of Ryan’s confession. The part Ryan admitted to killing his father…

  CHAPTER 21

  My heart was beating so fast by the time I got into the room; I thought it was going to burst out of my chest. Had I heard him right? Had I heard him say that he’d killed his father? Poor Annabelle, what must she be going through? What would it be like to hear that everything told to you, as a child, was nothing but a lie? And what about Ryan? How could a ten year old possibly think to kill their father? You killed your family, the voice inside my head hissed. No. My situation was different, wasn’t it? I didn’t kill my family on purpose… Killer. Killer. Killer.
NO!

  I kicked the mattress to try and get the whispers out of my head before collapsing on top of it. Staring at the ceiling, a single, warm tear trickled down the side of my face as more questions raced around in my mind. Was Ryan a murderer? Was he capable of killing again? I’d witnessed him lose his temper a few times now, was that the beginning? Would he eventually hurt me?

  I felt guilty thinking whether I could see myself being with someone like him, knowing what I’d found out. I had my own issues and Ryan was able to see past them, how could I be selfish enough to not at least give him the chance to explain himself?

  With everything whirling around in my head, I hadn’t realized I’d fallen asleep until the sound of the bedroom door closing woke me.

  My eyes snapped open just in time to see a dark shadow hovering above me.

  I gasped and quickly sat up. “Ryan? What time is it?”

  “Late,” he replied, his voice strained. He’d been crying, that much was obvious.

  I hesitated, not sure what to do. Did he want to me ask if he was okay? Or did he just want to simply go to sleep and put everything that happened tonight in the back of his mind.

  “Come here,” I said eventually, lying back down and shuffling over so that there was room for him on the bed.

  Without a word, Ryan took off his clothes and slipped underneath the sheets. “Can I hold you?” he asked quietly.

  Swallowing the lump that suddenly appeared in my throat, I nodded and inched closer to him. He wrapped an arm around me and just held me there, wordlessly. Deep down inside I knew I wasn’t going to get any sleep if I stayed in here tonight.

  Lying there in the dark with my eyes wide open, afraid to move, I waited until his breathing evened out and I knew he was asleep before I carefully lifted his arm and slipped out of bed. I felt terrible leaving him alone like that, especially when he needed someone the most, but I wasn’t sure whether I was that person. I wasn’t sure I was strong enough to be that person…

  I crept down the hall and made my way down the wooden staircase, careful not to make a single sound.