As I took a step forward, walking over to get a better look, it started to play automatically. Open Your Eyes by Snow Patrol brought me to a standstill as the song filled the room.
What was going on? I spun around again to see if anything was out of place. Nothing. Just the sound of the music taking over my ears, so all I could do was listen. When it ended, my apartment seemed eerily quiet.
Was the song some sort of message?
I studied the rest of the rooms for any signs of a clue. When I finally reached my bedroom, I groaned. My safe was sitting on my bed wide open. Fuck me! The song was probably a distraction so whoever was in here, could make off with the contents of my safe. Damn I was stupid.
I ran to the open safe, terrified that everything was gone, but upon close examination, it didn’t look like anything was gone. In fact, the safe didn’t look like it had even been tampered with. Someone who must have known the combination had opened it.
Who would know that the combination was my mother’s birthday?
I looked to see if everything was accounted for. My Glock was still there, a large satchel of money I kept as an emergency stash, important identification documents, financial statements, my passport. Everything was still there except…
I heard my front door slam. I jumped in alarm and ran back to the kitchen, hoping to see who it was. A song I loved started to play, Miss You Love by Silverchair. I love that Aussie band; they were such a weakness of mine. I stilled for a minute as I listened to the beautiful vocal style of Daniel Johns. I adored his singing and songwriting. It felt like there was always an edge of darkness to his words. They dripped emotional pain and I was completely drawn to them.
Then I saw it. The box. The one thing that was removed from my safe and now here it was, next to my iPod, on the top of what looked like a note. I picked up the box and closed my eyes, trying to piece together exactly what was happening. The music; knowing the combination to my safe; this box laid out for me to see, to remind me.
The memories of Samuel started to flood into my heart all over again.
Why won’t he just let this go?
I opened my eyes and looked at the box in my hands. I had held it many times before. It was the one reminder I kept of him and I cherished it. I clicked open the box yet again, for the millionth time, and stared. The diamond glared back at me brilliantly. My engagement ring. It was so very beautiful. I held it to my heart. Oh Samuel. First my showing, then the flowers, the ball and now this. Samuel was fighting for me. He really thought he had found a way for us to be together in the confines of the Lappell. I stared at the diamond, remembering his love; his intense, genuine, unwavering kind of love. We had demons that we could only truly understand because we both had the same kind of upbringing. The way he knew me, was fighting for me, perhaps I should really think about this for a moment.
NO!
I slammed the box shut. I was moving away with Clint. This was no time for doubt. I love Clint; I want to be with Clint.
I picked up the note, read it and gasped, holding my hand over my mouth, dropping the box to the floor as I read the words.
‘Len, you are sleeping with the enemy.
There is more you need to know.
Open your eyes. Don’t trust him.
I will see you again very soon.
Miss you my love.’
EPILOGUE
Samuel
“Sammy, we can’t just sit here until she comes home. You know they’ll be following her. They follow her everywhere. And what if that Clint guy comes back with her, huh. What then?”
I stared at the entrance to her apartment building, listening to Mikey, who was trying to reason with me. We were both sitting in my ’64 Ford Mustang in the dead of night.
“Shut up Mike. I need to tell her what her boyfriend just did. That shit just doesn't fly.”
Mikey huffed in frustration, “Can’t you just call her?”
“No, I need to tell her face to face. She knows I don’t lie to her face. She will believe me.”
Mikey started to tap the dashboard with his fingers. “If you are seen by Rossi’s guys, you know what will happen. That’s heat we don’t need right now. We are not prepared here.”
I leaned back in my seat, stretching. “I know, I know. I still can’t believe she took him back after she found out he was lying to begin with.”
“Perhaps she really likes him Sammy.” Mikey said, stating the obvious.
My ears felt like they were burning being hit with that kind of realization, so I chose to ignore it and push it away rather than confront it.
“Don’t be a fucking idiot. She hates the rich and she hates liars even more. It will all be over after I tell her this, believe me. I would love to see the look on that guy’s face when she punches it.” I chuckled.
“You reckon she’ll hurt him?”
I smiled because I knew it was a huge deal breaker for Len. You just don’t do this, especially to the people she cares about, and I knew that she still cared about me. There was no doubt in my head from the look she gave me at the ball. What we had was still shining in her eyes; I just had to get her mind and body to follow. I wanted nothing more than to come back at Clint for this, but it will be more than enough to know that Len would do it for me.
“Oh Mikey, I’d be surprised if she doesn’t try to kill him. He’s just lucky I don’t do it first. But the result is better if I don’t do anything about it except tell her. I don’t want her thinking I’m the bad guy and that’s what she’ll think if I act on it. Once she knows, they’ll be done. For good.”
Mikey croaked, “Ah Sammy, you forget we still have to deal with that situation he has created. Make it go away. That might be hard, given the money he’s fronted and his connections. You know his family is in deep and can do anything they want. There is a reason they wanted him to step up. This one knows how to pull a trigger.”
Pffft! The Westons. I don't care how connected they are out here, once he is in New York he'll be in my territory, and then he'll know who calls the shots.
“Yeah well, so do I Mikey. So do I.”
If Clint wanted to play hard ball, then I was more than ready to step up to the plate, and if I play this right, I might even be able to win over her dad in the process. Although I had to admit, Clint had some massive balls to set this in motion. He must really think he can lose her, which told me that I was still very much in the game.
“We will still need a sit-down meeting with the heads to clear this mess up. We will probably have to call in a favor. This is going to be a shitstorm.” Mikey was rambling on.
I shrugged, “So we call in a favor. That doesn’t scare me.”
“You are oddly relaxed about all this Sam.” Mikey seemed surprised I was being so cool.
I rubbed my hands together like I was an evil genius. “That’s because I’m one huge step closer to getting her back my friend.”
Mikey grunted. “All this, over a broad. I don’t get it.”
“Yeah well, when you finally meet the one who is your game changer, you’ll understand. Not these sluts you screw from Mario’s bar.”
Mikey's arm elbowed me hard on the side of my stomach. He was obviously pissed that I had called his favorite bar chicks, sluts. “Do you want me to remind you how you met her in the first place Sammy?”
I shot Mikey a look that said, ‘be careful’. One day I would tell Len that our first encounter was not by accident; that running into her outside NYU was not fate. My friends had dared me to screw Big Joe’s daughter to ruffle some feathers, especially since we knew he guarded her so intently, and we had all heard she was a fine looking piece of ass. However, nothing prepared me for what happened when I saw her.
That moment I helped her to her feet. Her face. Those eyes. My heart. It was a huge kick to the balls that I even considered fucking her for fun. Sex became the furthest thing from my mind. I wanted to have her, to hear her say the words, ‘I love you’. Forever. The way I met her was reall
y just details. So what if it was from the worst of intentions. I treated her like the angel that she is and that is all that matters, especially to Len. Although I’m relieved Hollows stuffed up the way he did. I always thought Len was in love with that guy, even though she never admitted to it. The way she used to talk about him, god! Thank fuck he did what he did. That could have been a real problem for me. Not like Weston. Getting rid of him will be easy.
“If you ever say anything about how I met her…”
Mikey cut me off, “Whatever Sammy, you’re calling the shots here.”
“That’s right, I am. Now, what time is it?”
Mikey raised his right arm and squinted at his watch. “It’s getting really late. If you are going to do something, do it now, before she gets home. We need to get back to business in New York. It’s like a four-hour drive and I’m dog tired.”
I continued to stare out at the dark road, hoping to see her BMW come round the corner. Mikey’s head perked up as a car drove past. It wasn’t Lenorah. I sat and waited, hoping and waiting to see her car. I needed to tell her what a scum bag her boyfriend is and what he is capable of.
“You know, it’d be a lot easier if this chick lived in New York Sam.” Mikey lifted up his watch to show me the time, reminding me we had to get going. We waited a few more minutes before I heard Mikey grunt again in impatience.
“Alright, alright. I’ll go up to her apartment and leave her something to think about. No harm planting those seeds of doubt right now."
Just then, a new plan began to formulate in my head. No, I wasn't going to tell Lenorah what Clint was doing, I was going to help her to find out on her own, and I was going to get her fall in love with me all over again, driving Clint crazy in the process.
Oh the fun I was going to have.
I began to open my car door. “OK, I know what I’m going to do. I wonder if the combination to her safe is still the same. Hmmm. I shouldn’t be too long, alright. Be back in five.”
The sequel to Pieces of Lies will be out in 2013.
THANK YOU
to my editor Susan Cutsforth,
as well as my wonderfully supportive friends, family
and my loving husband, Anthony.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Norah
Chapter 1: Rude Awakening
Chapter 2: Raw
Chapter 3: First Date
Chapter 4: Code Words
Chapter 5: Speed
Chapter 6: Best Friends?
Chapter 7: Bring Me to Life
Chapter 8: Choices
Chapter 9: Art Show
Chapter 10: Old Flames
Chapter 11: The Literary Ball
Chapter 12: Exposed
Chapter 13: Desperation
Chapter 14: Closed Eyes
Chapter 15: For Consideration
Chapter 16: Girls’ Night
Chapter 17: Bad Choices?
Chapter 18 Cabin
Chapter 19: Wickburn
Chapter 20: Daddy
Chapter 21: Support
Chapter 22: Freedom
Chapter 23: Next Move
Epilogue
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Norah
Chapter 1: Rude Awakening
Chapter 2: Raw
Chapter 3: First Date
Chapter 4: Code Words
Chapter 5: Speed
Chapter 6: Best Friends?
Chapter 7: Bring Me to Life
Chapter 8: Choices
Chapter 9: Art Show
Chapter 10: Old Flames
Chapter 11: The Literary Ball
Chapter 12: Exposed
Chapter 13: Desperation
Chapter 14: Closed Eyes
Chapter 15: For Consideration
Chapter 16: Girls’ Night
Chapter 17: Bad Choices?
Chapter 18 Cabin
Chapter 19: Wickburn
Chapter 20: Daddy
Chapter 21: Support
Chapter 22: Freedom
Chapter 23: Next Move
Epilogue
Pieces of Lies Page 24