Another storm was building in those intense gray eyes.
Sydney took a step back, putting more space between them. “None of those stories. He has a younger sister who lives on the East Coast, and his parents passed away a couple of years ago. I think you have the wrong Rian, sir.”
Jake gazed at her for a moment, and it looked like he might smile. Instead he said, “Come in. I’ll find some proof. That is, if my being here at his place isn’t enough proof.”
“I’m fine out here,” Sydney said.
“All right,” Jake said. “Give me a minute to get dressed.”
So Sydney waited on the landing while Jake disappeared inside. She sent another text to Rian. Knocked on your door, and some guy named Jake answered. Claims he’s your half-brother. Even as she pressed send, she was coming up with all kinds of scenarios as to why Rian hadn’t mentioned Jake... that is, if Jake really was a brother. Maybe Rian didn’t consider him family. Maybe there had been a falling out between them. And what was going on with Jake claiming that Rian had multiple “stories” he told people?
“Haven’t been able to get ahold of him, have you?” a voice said.
Sydney looked up. Yeah, Jake was a great-looking guy. Now dressed in faded jeans and a fitted t-shirt, Jake looked much more presentable. His hair was more dry, although he was still barefoot. He joined Sydney on the landing.
“Here,” he said, holding out his phone after scrolling through it. “You can read our recent text messages. You should start at the beginning.”
The first text message was dated about a week before, and the communication looked like several interchanges per day over the week.
Rian: I’m out of money, can you do a transfer?
Jake: What about that real estate job you told Mom about?
Rian: I was fired, but I’m still supposed to get a commission coming. Might be a few weeks though.
Jake: I’m assuming you already asked Dad and he said no.
Rian: Correct. It’s pretty important, or I wouldn’t ask.
Jake: You know I’d never let you starve, but you’re in tons of debt already.
Rian: Yeah, but that will change soon. I’m getting married.
Jake: What?!?
Rian: She’s got a great job, makes good money, and I really like this one.
Jake: Don’t do this again, Rian.
Rian: Don’t worry. She’s my age. LOL.
Jake: Not funny.
Rian: Well, I need money for our honeymoon. After that, I won’t ask for another dime. We’ll be joint account owners, and I can pay the family back soon.
Jake: Don’t do this, Rian. Just come home. Work at the ranch, and pay down your debt. Start over with a clean slate.
Sydney looked up at Jake. She couldn’t read anymore, not yet. “Tell me what’s going on,” she said, feeling sick to her stomach now. “Is our engagement a sham?”
Jake ran his hand along his jaw. “Rian’s been married five times. He marries wealthy women, then dumps them after he gets ahold of their bank accounts. After the last one, he faced legal charges, and my parents bailed him out. The courts couldn’t prove malicious intent, so Rian got off. Moved here, finally got a regular job, and we were all hoping he’d learned his lesson.” Jake waved a hand toward Sydney. She could only stare at him, dumfounded.
“I’m sorry to be the one to bring you bad news,” he continued. “But when you read the rest of the texts, you’ll see that you aren’t like the other women. In fact, I think he really does like you and wanted to make things work like a real marriage, except...”
Sydney waited for him to continue, but he’d shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans and was looking down at the ground. “Except?” she prompted. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good. Her hammering pulse told her that.
“Except,” he began, his gray eyes finally meeting hers. “He left a message late last night on my phone. I started driving here as soon as I heard it. But when I got here, he was already gone.”
“What do you mean, gone?” Sydney whispered.
He reached out and took his phone, then pulled up the voicemail. “It’s probably better if you listen to what he said.”
Sydney felt lightheaded as she began to listen to Rian’s message. Hearing his voice sent both a shiver and a shot of heat through her, anger mixing with cold dread.
“Jake, I’m leaving the country. The real estate firm is trying to charge me with fraud, and to make a really long story short, I’m innocent. But there’s no way I’ll be able to fight against their allegations, because they have everything rigged. If I was already married, this wouldn’t be such a big deal, because Sydney would have to stand by me. But there’s no way she’ll go through with the wedding now. The firm’s digging up my past. I’m leaving my condo unlocked so you can move all of my stuff out. You’ll also have to sell my lease. Sorry to leave all of this in a message. Tell Mom and Dad sorry too. Someday I’ll make this up to them, promise.”
Sydney lowered the phone, feeling lightheaded. Jake grasped her arm, as if to steady her. “What time did he send this?”
“About 11:30 last night,” Jake said. “I had my phone on silent for the night, so I didn’t see the message for a couple of hours.”
“Where is he now?” Sydney asked.
“I’ve called him over and over,” Jake said. “No answer yet.”
Sydney blinked against the burning in her eyes. Rian was gone. Fleeing the country. Without a word to her. Her mind whirled with their defunct wedding plans, all of the people who were coming, what she would tell her best friends, what her parents would say, that Rian had dumped her without even telling her...
“I’m really sorry,” Jake said, slipping an arm about her shoulders.
She leaned against him; he was literally keeping her on her feet. After taking a few deep breaths, keeping her eyes closed, she finally drew away from Jake.
“Do you want to come in and sit down for a minute?” Jake said. “We can call my parents if you want any more information... at least about his past.”
Tears fell onto her cheeks, and Sydney swiped them away. “I don’t know what I want. I can’t even think.”
“Come on,” Jake said, steering her into the condo and leading her to a couch that Sydney had sat on hundreds of times. Now it seemed like a foreign piece of furniture. The whole condo seemed different now.
Sydney pulled her phone out of her pocket and fumbled with it for a moment as she pulled up Maria’s phone number. “I need to call someone,” she said, without looking at Jake. She felt like curling into a ball and crying, or ripping down everything from Rian’s wall and throwing it while screaming.
Instead she dialed Maria’s number.
“Sydney!” Maria said. “What’s happening?”
“Can you conference in with June?” Sydney said in a trembling voice.
“Of course, honey, what’s wrong?” Maria said.
“Just do it,” Sydney whispered, closing her eyes and leaning back on the couch.
Jake had gone into the kitchen, and somehow her mind registered that he was making coffee.
When June answered, Sydney started crying. “Sorry, girls, I’m... Rian’s gone... I mean, he’s left me, and he’s left the country too. It’s a crazy story, and I don’t even know the half of it.”
“Whoa,” Maria said.
“Oh no,” June added.
Sydney continued to tell them about Jake and what he’d revealed about Rian, the text messages and the final voicemail she’d listened to. While her friends offered their shocked condolences, both of them agreed they were on their way to Santa Rosa.
“We’ll get to the bottom of it all,” June said in a firm voice.
“And we’re suing him too,” Maria said. “Right after we catch him and break his kneecaps.”
For some reason, Sydney found herself laughing through her tears. Talking to them had taken away some of the numbness, but with the fading numbness, her emotions sharpened, and anger
was at the forefront.
She hung up with her friends. They’d all be together tonight, and that thought brought her comfort. But first, she had a long day ahead of her as she determined to get every bit of information out of Jake about his brother.
When Sydney hung up with her friends, she decided to wait to talk to her parents. At least after she caught her breath, found out more information about Rian’s deceptions, and got out of his condo.
“Coffee?” Jake asked, coming into the front room.
Sydney had no doubt he’d heard every bit of her conversation.
“Thanks,” she said, taking the steaming mug from him. That it was a mug she recognized as Rian’s gave her another little jolt. She took a sip and relished the hot, strong liquid moving down her throat. Surprisingly, it was good coffee, and she was more surprised she could even taste or appreciate such a thing. Already she felt emotionally exhausted.
“It sounds like you have really good friends,” Jake said, sitting on the other end of the couch.
Sydney didn’t mind. In fact, she was grateful for his company right now. If he’d left her alone, she’d probably just start crying again. As of now, she felt more steady. June and Maria were on their way, and she’d see them tonight.
“Yeah,” she managed. “They’re coming to Santa Rosa, to help me, to be with me.”
“Well, I’m happy to answer any questions you might have,” Jake said, his eyes scanning her face. “Again, I’m really sorry. I thought... I mean, I hoped Rian had started to change.”
Sydney shook her head. “I don’t understand how he couldn’t have told me in person. I mean, I can understand why he thought I’d be upset—of course I would be. I mean, I am upset. But don’t I deserve to be told in person? We were engaged, in love...”
Jake was still gazing at her, and when she spoke of being in love with Rian, Sydney wondered if it had been love after all. Not on Rian’s part, at least. But what about her part? She’d always prided herself in dumping guys who weren’t good for her, who saw her as a trophy, but Rian had seemed different. He fit into her master plan—a plan that her friends had teased her about. In high school, she’d even written down a list of what her future husband should be like: good looking, athletic, good job, likes the same movies, likes horses, could spend a lot of time with her... It was juvenile, she knew, but over the years, no man had possessed all of those qualities, until she met Rian. She should have added things like: not a fraud, not a womanizer....
Jake said nothing, just kept watching her as if waiting for her to crumble again.
“I—I don’t even know how to process this.”
“Did you guys combine finances yet?” Jake asked.
“No,” Sydney said. At least that was good news. “We were both paying for different parts of the wedding costs. I... I even tried on my wedding dress this morning.” The tears started again, hot and fast.
Jake rose from the couch, grabbed a tissue box from across the room and handed it to her.
Then his phone rang, and Jake said, “It’s Rian. I’ll put it on speaker, but don’t let him know you’re here yet.”
“All right,” Sydney said, wiping her eyes with a tissue and taking a steadying breath.
Jake answered the phone, and Rian’s voice came through loud and clear.
“Are you at my condo?” Rian asked.
“Yeah,” Jake said. “Got here a few hours ago. What are you doing, Rian? You can’t keep running like this. You’ve got to face those charges.”
“I can’t, man,” Rian said. “They’re going to lynch me. The charges are all bogus, and what’s worse is that they’ve contacted Lila because they somehow got access to my records.”
Sydney assumed Lila was one of his former wives, the one who’d pressed charges that he’d apparently dodged.
“Where are you?” Jake pressed. “Let’s meet and talk about this.”
“Just landed in Mexico,” Rian said, triumph in his voice. “Before I disappear, there are some things you’ll need to be aware of. I’ve got a lock box under my bed that has some jewelry in it. You can pawn it if you want, but do it in another state.”
“Rian—”
“And shred anything that has my name on it in the condo,” Rian continued, cutting off his brother. “My file cabinet is in the guest bedroom closet.”
“I don’t think—”
“And the mountain bike is yours,” Rian continued. “Sell it, keep it, whatever. It’s free and clear. Paid off completely.”
“I can come to Mexico,” Jake cut in. “We really need to talk in person.”
“No can do,” Rian said. “I crossed the border for the last time. I’ll find a real estate job here and a nice Mexican chick to translate for me.” He started to laugh.
“What about Sydney, your fiancée?” Jake asked when Rian’s laughter died down.
“What about her?”
Sydney couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move. What would Rian do if he knew she was listening to every word?
“Doesn’t she deserve an explanation?” Jake said. “I mean, you were engaged. I thought this one was different.”
There was a long pause, and Rian said, “She was different, like twenty years younger different. I thought maybe I could be a better man for her, but you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Anyway, once you see her, you’ll know that she’ll have no problem nursing her broken heart with some new guy. She’s a little hottie.” He laughed, and the sound made Sydney’s skin crawl. “I’ll definitely miss her, if you know what I mean, but she’s nothing that can’t be replaced.”
Sydney covered her mouth to stop herself from yelling at Rian. Horror washed through her at Rian’s callousness. How could she have ever agreed to marry such a man? She didn’t know if she was more angry at herself or at Rian.
One glance at Jake told her he was angry too.
Jake picked up the phone, switched it off speaker, and growled into it, “You’re a bastard, Rian!” He stood and started pacing the room. “And believe me, I’m not touching any of the paperwork you’re hiding in your files. If your place is searched, that’s your problem, and I hope the Feds track you down. You deserve to be in prison.”
Sydney watched Jake in shock as he hung up on his brother. Then he tossed the phone onto the couch and slammed his fist into the doorframe of the front door, causing the walls to rattle. He didn’t speak or move for a moment, and then he turned to Sydney. “Where did Rian work?”
It took Sydney a moment to process the calm-Jake from the angry-Jake she’d seen. “Across town at Smiths Realty.”
“I’m going down there to find out what the charges were, and if I need to, I’ll be a witness on the case for the prosecution.”
Sydney rose to her feet. “Are you sure about that?” She had no idea why she was playing the devil’s advocate. She’d just listened to her ex-fiancé completely diss on her. She should be crying her eyes out, but all she could focus on was the pain of the man in front of her. “He’s your brother. Maybe you should let them sift their own evidence.”
Jake looked away from her for a moment, his jaw clenched. When his gaze met hers again, there was a steely determination in them. “Look, I never met any of the women Rian swindled. But seeing you, here in the flesh, a real breathing person, makes me realize that I’ve screwed up for a long time. I should have turned my brother in after his first divorce. If I had, I could have prevented a lot of heartache, including yours.”
Sydney was stunned that he was taking Rian’s despicable acts upon himself. “You did nothing to me, or to those women. In fact, it sounds like you’ve only been trying to help him, stop him from making more mistakes.”
He scrubbed a hand through his hair that was now dry in a messy contortion. If Sydney wasn’t in the middle of a crisis, she might find the way Jake looked kind of adorable.
“I appreciate what you’re saying,” Jake said. “But I’ve been an enabler. I see that clearly now, and I can’t put this off any longer.”
He stepped around her and grabbed his phone from the couch. “Are you coming with me?”
It was a question, but it was also more of a request.
Sydney was sure her makeup was trashed and her nose red from crying. But she said, “I’m coming.”
Jake went to finish dressing, and moments later he came out of the back bedroom wearing a ball cap and shoes. Being away from him for a few minutes only re-emphasized his physical presence when he returned, making Sydney curious as to why Rian was shorter and thinner than Jake.
“We’ll take my truck,” he said. “I need to be doing something with my hands, or I’ll punch another door.”
Sydney looked down at his scraped knuckles. They weren’t quite bleeding, but they had to be painful. “Do you want some ointment on your knuckles?”
“No, I’m good.”
She followed him down the stairs to the parking lot, and he opened the passenger door and waited for her to climb in. Sydney felt an odd sense of self-consciousness. Not that men didn’t open doors for her, but that Jake would think to do so when he was under so much duress.
“Thanks,” she told him as she settled into the seat. While Jake drove and she gave him directions, she texted an update to June and Maria. She told them she and Jake were driving to the realty office to talk to Rian’s boss.
After she sent the group text, her cell rang. “Oh, no,” she said, looking at the screen. “It’s my mom.”
Jake looked over at her, and for a second, they shared the silent communication of Sydney needing to tell her parents but being reluctant to do so.
“I’d better answer,” she said.
“I’ll pull over and give you some privacy,” he said, slowing the truck. While Sydney answered, Jake parked beneath a row of trees next to a local park. He climbed out of the truck and shut the door.
“Hi, Mom,” Sydney said, the trembling in her voice already starting on the first two words.
Her mother must be distracted, because she jumped right in with, “So, how did the alterations on your dress go?”
The Falling Series Box Set Page 19