“Point taken,” I said. “Glad you told me.”
“What are friends for?” she asked.
I sighed heavily as I picked through my standbys. I could go conservative and opt for the pencil skirt with the silver cashmere sweater. No, that was a total school teacher look, and black lace or not, that was not what I was going for. I had the sweater dress from Party Girls. The high hem suggested that I was down for some fun, but the high neck and the long sleeves would tell him that I wasn’t going to give away the whole show on the first glance. But I liked the way his fingers felt against the back of my neck, and I…
“Caroline, I can hear you overthinking this,” Sabrina started. “Wear the white Missoni and just be done with it.”
Right on cue, the dress was in my hands. The straight skirt hugged my hips before flowing down my legs. And the peekaboo cleavage showed just enough of my breasts before my arms were concealed in sheer swaths of far more virginal lace.
“Good call, Bree,” I said. “How can I ever thank you?”
“Just be smart and stay safe. And call me in the morning with the details,” she said with a little chuckle.
I ended the call and dressed quickly. The Missoni was everything and more, and I twisted my hair over my head in a tight bun. I pushed a few strands free and curled them into soft ringlets, and I pushed a pair of pearl earrings into my lobes. I applied my makeup to give a soft look, my lashes light and my lips barely glossed, and I smiled at my reflection in the mirror as I turned on my heel. I liked how I looked. He would like it, too.
And I would give Sabrina the specifics at the first chance tomorrow morning.
Skipping down the steps, I turned on the landing when I heard the sound of a key turning in the door. It couldn’t be Peter. He had the address but he didn’t have a key.
“Daddy!” I gasped.
I was stunned by the sight of my father entering the apartment. He had been in Madrid; he was supposed to be there for another three days, and even as the jet lag wafted off of him in great waves, he smiled when he saw me and extended his arms.
“There’s my sweet girl,” he said. “Looking pretty as a picture.”
I stepped slowly into his arms, and he folded me into his embrace as he spun me off the ground. When I was earthbound again, I gripped his lapel and managed to smile as I kissed his cheek.
“You’re home early,” I said. “I missed you.”
“Same here, princess” he said. “Let’s get a look at you.”
I twirled in my Missoni and patted my hair to my head, expecting his grin to grow wider when he saw me all dolled up, but his mouth shifted into a frown as he stroked his chin.
“Going somewhere special?” he asked.
I felt my cheeks flush as I hung my head to speak.
“Kind of,” I said.
My eyes met my father’s, and I smiled into his blank eyes.
“In fact,” I said, my voice stronger as I spoke again. “I have a date, Daddy.”
“With Adam?” he asked angrily. “I thought I told you that you should stay away from him?”
“No, not with Adam,” I assured him. “But I did… I did see him last night.”
“Caroline,” he whined as he rolled his eyes and clenched his fists. “I told you to stay away from that one. He’s bad news.”
“It wasn’t like it,” I said. “He showed up at Danny’s opening but I told him to get lost. He didn’t exactly want to hear that, though.”
My father’s face morphed into concerned rage, and he charged forward to grab my arms.
“Did that little bastard do something to you?” he demanded.
“No, no, I…”
“Because I’ve only let it go on your say so,” he continued. “But if he hurt you then...”
“Daddy, I’m fine. I swear. He’s history.”
I took his cheeks in my hands and kissed his brow. He was worried, of course he was worried. It was the curse of being an only child, and his anxiety had only intensified when my mom made the fatal mistake of trying to cross the highway when she had right of way.
“Because I’ll keep you here for the rest of your life if I need to,” he said.
“You’re not going to lose me,” I promised. “Don’t worry so much.”
My father folded me into his arms, and his soft kiss dotted my ear. Something in his kiss always made me nervous, but I brushed it off.
“There are no guarantees, Caroline,” he said. “You and I both know that.”
All too well.
My mother was struck down by a drunk in a Chevy. And the bastard kept driving. Just left her there bleeding on the street, her face mashed to a pulp with her skull exposed. I didn’t see her until she was out of surgery, and when she laid pale and unmoving under thin sheets and a thinner blanket, I watched her barely moving chest as a man in a lab coat told my father that she wasn’t coming back. He said that the only decent thing to do was honor her written wishes and let her go peacefully.
I am not killing my wife.
I remembered nodding up at my father as he spoke those words. I was on his side. My mom wasn’t going anywhere without a fight, and even at the age of twelve, I told my father that he should hold his ground.
You’re right, Daddy.
But then I sat by her bedside. For hours on end. And when I felt her hand in mine, when I tried to make her understand that it was me and that she just had to give me a sign that she was coming back, there was nothing in return.
And I finally knew. And I told my father just that.
She wouldn’t want to live like this, Daddy.
He gave me the silent treatment for a good month while she continued to wither away. But finally, even he couldn’t deny what was right in front of him, and I remembered him leading me away from her bedside and taking my face in my hands.
You know what I have to do, Caroline?
I’ve known all along, Daddy.
She went quietly, and even though he fumed silently, I stuck close to home and his side for several years after the loss. He had been reluctant to let me date at first but when I brought Adam around, some part of him liked the idea of an untitled man who swore that he would work hard just to make me happy. But Adam had interests that extended beyond me, and when I told my father what he had done, he said that no man would ever be good enough for his little girl.
But just as sure as there were no guarantees, I also believed that things could still change for the better.
“It’s not Adam I’m seeing,” I repeated. “This one is nice. He bought one of Danny’s paintings on account of me, and he wants to take me out for a drink.”
It was kind of the truth, and I watched the worry lines melt from my father’s face as he pushed away from me.
“Do I stand even the slightest chance of locking you up and throwing away the key?” he teased.
“Now you know you’re not going to do that, Daddy,” I said as I pinched his cheek.
“I don’t know,” he said. “It’s tempting.”
His words made me feel a little uneasy, but he quickly shifted gears.
“I suppose your mom would want me to trust you,” he said. “Guess I should try to honor her wishes.”
He kissed my brow, and I tried to relax in his arms. He didn’t mean anything by it I told myself. Things would have been different if my mom was still around.
But still, sometimes I liked it better when he was far from home.
“Thanks, Daddy.”
My phone buzzed, and I pulled it from my purse and turned away from my father. The number was foreign, but I still pressed the phone to my ear.
“Yes?” I asked.
Peter’s soft laugh poured through the line.
“You answered after just one ring,” he said still laughing softly. “You must be as excited as I am.”
My body started to tingle under the weight of his words, but I stood tall under my father’s glare and spoke fast.
“Are you here?” I asked
. “Because I’m… I’m ready.”
“Very glad to hear that,” he said. “My car’s waiting for you outside. It’ll take you where you need to go.”
A lump caught in the back of my throat, and as I watched my father step across the room to mix a scotch and soda, I wondered if his sudden return was another sign that I should heed. He said his car was waiting for me. But where was Peter? And how did I know with any certainty that I was going to be taken to meet him and not to some dark corner of the globe from which I might never return?
“I… I thought…” I stammered.
My father took a swift drink, and he arched his eyebrow as I held my phone close, fighting to suppress the shivers crawling under my white dress.
“Another urgent business matter,” he said. “Please forgive me. It just couldn’t be helped.”
I wondered what kind of restaurants he ran that required his attention at all hours of the day and night, but I pushed back the thought and told myself that I was being silly. I knew that restaurants carried on into the late hours and beyond. But surely he had underlings that could tend to trivial matters?
“Caroline?”
I felt my body tense at the sound of his voice, and I held my breath as I waited for him to speak again.
“It’s okay,” Peter promised. “Nothing would have pleased me more than to meet you at your door. But you’re in good hands with Brett.”
“Who’s Brett?”
“My driver,” Peter said. “He’s my right hand. Just… please tell me that you’re still coming.”
I watched my father drain his glass and pour another. If I gave him any inkling as to what was waiting for me downstairs, he would snatch the phone from my hands and bark at Peter that he should ply his trade elsewhere.
But Peter’s voice carried me out of the room, and I believed him. Maybe I was being foolish, but my mother always said that she took a chance on my dad. And it had brought her more happiness than she ever thought possible up until that one tragic moment.
But before that, everything in her life, in our life, had been beyond perfect. I remembered my father sweeping through the door right before dinner with bouquets of flowers and velvet boxes. And whenever my mother told me stories and whispered the words happily ever after, I saw that in her eyes, and I vowed that I’d know what it felt like one day.
And that might be right now.
“I am,” I said. “I have to.”
“When you say it like that, it sounds like a sentence you have to serve,” Peter said. “That’s not what I want.”
“I know,” I said. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
My father peered at me intently. I could feel my hands shaking as I gripped the phone, and I feared that he would rip the phone from my hands and demand my new suitor’s identity. I had to protect Peter until I knew him better, and I let loose a shrill laugh as I heard the sound of his breath pouring through the phone.
“I’ll be right down,” I promised. “I can’t wait.”
I ended the call and switched the phone to vibrate as I headed towards the door.
“What? No kiss goodbye?” my father’s voice stopped me in my tracks.
Hurrying back to my father, I pecked his cheeks and took hold of his hands.
“Sorry, Daddy,” I said. “You’re still my best guy.”
“And yet you’re going,” he said slyly.
His grip tightened around my wrist, and I pressed my free palm to his chest as I smiled.
“You want me to be happy, right?” I asked. “Isn’t that what you’ve always said?”
He appeared to consider the question carefully, and when he set his glass aside, I expected him to send me off with a kiss and a wave. But instead, he took my arm.
“So let’s get a look at this guy who’s not Adam,” he said as he marched me towards the elevator.
Shit!
Chapter Seven
We were nearly out on the street when I turned and tried to hold my father back.
“Daddy,” I pleaded. “Please, don’t embarrass me.”
I batted my eyelashes and prayed that he would take the cue. But he felt like stone as I pushed my hands into his arms, and he kept moving as I trailed after him.
“I would never do that, Caroline,” he said. “But I’d like to get a look at your new beau.”
But Peter wasn’t here. I had no idea where he was at the present moment. My father could not know that. I was ready to step into a strange car and I longed for the moment when I was back at Peter’s side even as so many questions still flooded my mind.
“This the car?” my father asked as he kept me close to my side.
I couldn’t even be sure of that, but then I saw a lean-limbed driver with dark brown hair as he stepped out from behind the driver’s seat and lowered his cap.
Okay, so this had to be Brett. He looked harmless enough.
I just had to hope that he was game.
“Baby!” I cried as I pulled away from my father and flung my body into his shocked arms. Brett knew enough to clasp me close to keep me from falling flat on my face, and our eyes met for all of a second when I nuzzled his neck for show and pressed my lips to his ear.
“Tell him that you’re here for me,” I whispered quickly. “Make like you’re Peter, or I have no hope of seeing him again.”
Brett’s eyes were confused, but as I pushed my nails into his sleeves, he seemed to catch my drift, and I was able to sigh when he curled his arm around my shoulders and smiled into my father’s anxious face.
“Couldn’t just trust any one of my guys with this… with this precious cargo,” he said. “So I… I thought I’d take the old girl out for a spin all by myself. I couldn’t help but wear the cap just for a laugh.”
It didn’t sound half as sure as I wanted it to, and I was nearly resigned to the feel of my father dragging me back to my room and locking the door when he took one step closer and narrowed his gaze on the stranger by my side.
“And you are?” my father asked.
“Dad, this is…?”
“Let the man speak for himself, Caroline,” my father interrupted.
Brett seemed unsure of what he should say and I shared his confusion. Could be pull off being Peter Barton? Should he just use his real name and leave us to hope for the best? My mind turned over both possibilities in what felt like a never-ending round when Brett grabbed the moment. And my hand.
“Cut a guy a break… sir,” he said. “I just wanted to pick her up in style.”
Brett’s hand tightened around mine, and I held my breath as my father scanned our impromptu coupling before turning his gaze back to the car.
“And this is yours?” he asked,
“Well, it’s leased but yes.” Brett said. “Gassed and ready to go.”
“And where exactly is it that you’re headed?” my father asked.
Let him know, I thought. Or at least let him lie and make my father believe it. Peter was waiting, and I couldn’t bear the thought that he would stay like that if I couldn’t spin this and work my way back to his side.
“I… come on, Mr. Winters. I want it to be a surprise.”
Brett shook his head, and I saw that he was going for secrecy and stealth. But my father wasn’t having any of it, and he pulled Brett from my side.
“Daddy!” I cried. “Don’t…”
“I want to know what this shamus has planned for you.”
My own curiosity was beyond piqued, but Brett seemed confused as his tongue struggled for the right answer.
“I’m just saying that I want it to stay a surprise for her,” Brett said. “I…”
“You’re going to tell me right now, or she goes nowhere.”
It was over. Brett would never be able to make him buy it, and Peter would be left waiting. What would he think? Would his mind turn to the dark side and think that Adam had crossed the path that was to be our reunion? Or would he think that I simply had a change of heart and went in search of somethin
g better?
I was resigned to heading back inside when Brett suddenly shifted into manic mode.
“Okay, okay,” he said. “Cards on the table.”
Brett pulled away from my father, and I tensed as he took me in his arms.
“You… bet you’d like… Per Se on Columbus?” Brett said.
Over three hundred dollars just to taste? Was that what Peter had up his sleeve? The possibilities spun across my tongue, and I kept playing as I took Brett’s hand back in mine.
“You think of everything,” I said as I squeezed his hand.
No doubt Peter would be mad that he’d given the show away, but one look at my father told me that he believed the scene, and I suddenly felt sure that I would make my way back to Peter.
“You can afford that?” my father asked. “… Whoever you are?”
“Only the best for this one,” Brett beamed as he held me closer to his side.
My father seemed to ponder the possibility, and when he sighed, my entire body relaxed.
“Swanky,” my dad said with a grin. “And you’ll have her back before it gets too late?”
Brett hesitated, but when I gripped his hand tighter, he sprung forward and nodded his head.
“Sure, Sir,” he said. “Of course.”
My father peeled me away from Brett’s side, and as his arms curled around my back, I looked up into his face and smiled into his eyes.
“I won’t have another Adam,” he said. “Tell me you won’t either, Caroline.”
Of that much I was sure.
“It’s okay, Daddy,” I promised. “I’ve learned my lesson. Can you… can you please just trust me on this one?”
I could see his mind turning over all that had been my ex, but he finally smiled and kissed my hair.
“Guess I can’t keep you a little girl forever,” he said. “No matter how much I would like to. But know this.” He pushed his fingers under my chin, and I was forced into the space of his stare. “I’m home now. And I want you back here before it gets late.”
I promised him that I would do just that, and I stretched to the tips of my toes to kiss him again. As my lips met his skin, I had no idea where the night would take me and if I would be able to honor my promise. But my father let me fall back into Brett’s arm, and I smiled up at him as he pushed me into the leather interior and closed the door.
The Corrupt Billionaire COMPLETE Box Set Page 5