Lovers Unmasked: The Complete Series

by Nicole Flockton

  Taking a deep breath she walked into the room. She didn’t want a drink. This was what she wanted. Even after everything they’d been through over the last week — had it really only been a week? — she could acknowledge that her feelings for him wouldn’t change. She could finally admit to herself that she loved him and she wanted him and, as stupid as it was, she did want to marry him.

  She did want to wear that gorgeous dress and have the lavish wedding that had been planned. Was it too late to ring the planner in the morning and get her to undo all the cancellations? Would Marco even want to still go through with it? He said he did, but what if he’d changed his mind?

  “Are you planning to stand there all night?”

  Phoebe yelped in surprise. She had no idea that he was awake.

  “Did I wake you?” she asked as she walked towards him, slipping the straps of her nightgown over her shoulders.

  “Honey, you’ve been keeping me awake a lot lately.”

  She’d reached the side of the bed and shimmied, letting the gossamer soft fabric slide down her body. She was naked and exposed to his gaze. “Maybe I can fix that problem tonight.”

  “I was hoping you’d say that.”

  Marco lifted the sheet and she climbed into his waiting arms. Her body immediately curled in and softened as he tightened his hold on her. She shivered in delight.

  “I need you tonight, Marco.” It was her turn to need the reassurance that his embrace could give.

  “I’ll always be here for you.” He then took possession of her lips, leaving her with no question about how much he needed this as well. He was all but ravaging her, and she was giving it back. She wrapped her arms more tightly around him, giving him a little shove so that she was on top of him.

  She pulled her lips away from his and started to kiss his jaw. Little kisses, nipping every now and then. His fingers tightened on her waist, letting her know he was more than happy with her taking charge of their lovemaking. She trailed her lips down his neck, kissing along his collarbone. His taste was intoxicating.

  With her hand she inched down his chest until she reached his hard male length. The skin was soft to touch. She stroked it a couple of times, eliciting moans from Marco.

  In a flash she found herself flipped onto her back and Marco was looming over her.

  “I was having fun.” She pouted, but welcomed his heavy weight onto her.

  “Next time.” He gave her no chance to reply as he kissed her deeply. His hands cupped her breasts, massaging them and she moaned into his mouth. His lips left hers and she took some deep breaths in. As his lips closed around her nipple she cried out.

  With his free hand, Marco found her moist heat between her legs. He slipped first one finger, then another in. She clenched her inner muscles around them and lifted her hips, telling him what she really wanted.

  He answered her call and entered her in one swift thrust. He paused and lifted his head to look into her eyes. The fire burning in their depths warmed her soul.

  “I need you so much, Phoebe. So much.”

  There was no more conversation between them. As he thrust into her all rational thought left her mind and she only felt the strength of him as he fulfilled their journey to utter completion.

  • • •

  Phoebe floated to the surface from the depths of a deep sleep. Her body felt relaxed and she was surrounded by a warm male body. She stretched and her bottom came in contact with a part of Marco’s anatomy that was most definitely awake.

  His lips pressed at the back of her neck. “Morning, beautiful.”

  She snuggled a little closer. “Morning. Did you sleep well?”

  His chuckle reverberated down her spine. “I slept wonderfully. And I have you to thank.”

  “I think we helped each other.”

  She expected a reply but when he didn’t answer she looked over her shoulder and found that Marco’s gaze was focused on something to the left of her.

  “Who’s the picture of?”

  Phoebe stilled. She didn’t need to look at what Marco was gazing at. She knew. It was a photo of Adele White.

  “Phoebe?”

  She closed her eyes. It still shouldn’t hurt to talk about her. She rolled over so that she was facing Marco’s chest, not the photo.

  “That’s Mrs. White.”

  “She’s the lady who took you in after your parents died, right?”

  Phoebe couldn’t get an answer past the lump of hurt that unfurled itself in her throat so she nodded.

  Marco shifted beneath her and sat up. He lifted her so that she rested against his chest. He started to stroke her hair. “I think there’s more to the story than you mentioned the other night, isn’t there?”

  “Yes.”

  Phoebe was hoping that he would leave it at that, but it wasn’t exactly fair of her to think like that. Not when she’d pressured Marco to tell her about Veronika.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” he said quietly.

  “What’s that?”

  “You’re thinking that because you encouraged me to tell you my sordid secret you should automatically tell me yours?”

  She laughed, even though it was the last thing she really felt like doing. “When you put it like that it sounds a little silly, but it is only fair.”

  “Maybe, but if it makes you uncomfortable to talk about it, then I can wait.”

  He was giving her an out and she fell for him just a little bit more. For them to move forward, they needed to be open and honest. She needed to tell him about her time with Mrs. White and how, in the end, even her proclamations of love were hollow words.

  Lying in his arms, feeling safe and secure, it was the perfect time to talk. “As I told you, Mrs. White was our neighbor as I was growing up. She would look out for me when my parents went off on their adventures. She was fun and had older children who, I guess for lack of a better word, tolerated me when I was lumped into their worlds.”

  She took a breath trying to bury the hurt that was building up inside of her. Her two sons had resented her a little bit. “You see, Mrs. White always wanted a daughter and so she would indulge me whenever I was there. Don’t get me wrong, she never, ever ignored her sons, she wasn’t like that, but she would always get me some pretty clothes.”

  “She sounds like she was a wonderful person. Someone to give you the love you deserved.”

  Phoebe sighed. “Yes, at one time I thought I was important to her.”

  She stopped and let the memories wash over her of the times they went to the park or even to the mall to window shop.

  “So how much older were the boys?”

  “They were eleven and nine years older than me. When I went to stay for good with Mrs. White they were getting reading to leave home. I thought they’d have been glad that she wasn’t alone while they chased off on their own lives.”

  “Families can be strange creatures.”

  “Don’t I know it.” She laughed drily. “Anyway, as time went on, the boys got married and when they did, Mrs. White let her future daughters-in-law wear her most treasured possession — a beautiful diamond heart necklace. It was given to Mrs. White on the death of her favorite aunt. It was stunning and even though it was old, it still looked modern.”

  Phoebe tamped down the lump that was starting to develop in her throat. “Whenever I was feeling really sad or angry at the world for what I thought it was doing to me, Mrs. White would bring it out and let me wear it. She even told me that when she died she would put in her will that she wanted me to have it. You see, her sons’ marriages hadn’t worked out, and she knew that I loved that necklace more than her boys did. She knew I wouldn’t pawn it off, which she feared her sons would do.”

  “So you were planning to wear it on our wedding day?”

 
She looked away and plucked at the sheet. That had been one of her greatest dreams. To have Mrs. White walk her down the aisle when she got married while she was wearing the necklace. But as it turned out her dream was once again shattered. She’d found out the hard way that she’d been lied to.

  “Well that was the plan, but as it turned out, Mrs. White had never planned to give it to me at all.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean when she died, not one of her family took it upon themselves to let me know. I only found out by going to visit her to tell her about us that she had even died. I’d been so busy and hadn’t seen her for a while. Her house was empty and up for sale. It was like her sons had cleaned it out the moment she’d died. I found after that she’d been buried for two weeks when I went to see her. Two weeks!”

  The tears she’d tried to keep at bay while telling the story poured out of her eyes. Marco gathered her close and she cried out her grief and anger. It was quite surreal to be naked and sobbing in Marco’s arms in her guest room.

  When her crying finally calmed down, she continued on. “When I finally tracked down the great Roger White, her oldest son, I asked him if she’d made any provision in her will for me. He just laughed and said of course not, I wasn’t that important to his mother. She put up with me for years and I was more like a hindrance than a pleasure to have around. I walked away and wondered what the hell was wrong with me. Why everyone I’d ever loved always betrayed me.”

  “Sweetheart, I’m sorry. No one should have to go through what you did.”

  “It’s life, isn’t it?” she said bitterly. “I mean you were scammed by the woman who professed to love you. Why would anyone ever bother to love someone?”

  “I don’t know. But if you look at Alex and Sophie, it’s easy to see true love does exist.”

  Phoebe knew he was right and she also knew that she loved him. But she was too scared to tell him that. What if he laughed at her? As stupid as it was she did want to have Marco in her life. She wanted to share things with him. Plan a future — even talk children — something they hadn’t done previously. She knew he cared about her. He wouldn’t have come and chased her down if he didn’t. He’d turned to her when the memories of his best friend’s car accident threatened to overwhelm him. Maybe he did love her in his own way. He just didn’t realize it.

  “We’re a right pair, aren’t we?” she said.

  He chuckled and pulled her a little tighter. His body was still aroused and the longer she lay cuddled up to him the more she wanted him. Regardless of everything that she’d told him in the last half hour about how she got hurt loving someone, she still wanted to try and move forward with him.

  “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He pressed a kiss to her hair.

  She lifted her head and turned to look at him. It was the moment of truth. It was time to tell him that she wanted their relationship to work just like he did.

  “There’s something else I need to say to you.”

  Phoebe felt him stiffen beneath her. It would be best if she said this looking directly at him. She pulled herself out of his embrace and moved so that she was sitting on her knees looking at him.

  “I’m listening.”

  She reached out and grabbed his hand, wanting to have a physical connection with him as she told him what she wanted. “I’ve been thinking about our relationship and I’ve come to a decision.”

  “I see.”

  She leaned in and kissed him briefly. “I want you and I want us to work.”

  His eyes lit up and he pulled her a little closer. “Are you saying you still want to get married? On the day we had originally planned to?”

  Phoebe thought about it for a moment. It would be impossible to reorganize everything. It was highly possible that all the vendors that they had engaged for their wedding had waiting lists and had replaced their cancelled bookings fairly quickly. “I don’t think it will happen. We cancelled everything, remember? But yes, yes I do want to get married to you. I want us to build a future together.”

  His face broke out into a wide smile and her heart skipped a couple of beats. “You’ve made my day. As you know, my mind hasn’t changed — I want to marry you too. It shouldn’t be too difficult to organize everything — I’m sure Sonya can work miracles.”

  “You sound confident that everything can be reinstated with a click of her fingers. I think we should talk about deciding on a different date for the wedding.”

  “There’s something I need to tell you, sweetheart.”

  Marco sounded so serious — too serious — and she didn’t want to do serious.

  “No, I don’t want to talk,” she said. “We’ve talked so much and I know we have more to talk about. But I just want to celebrate being back in your arms.”

  He tugged her hand and she lay back down, resting her head on his chest. There was something reassuring about lying there and hearing the steady beat of his heart. She closed her eyes, emotionally spent but energized at the same time.

  Phoebe knew she didn’t want to move. She didn’t want this moment to end. She had never felt closer to him than she did right now.

  She raised her head. “Make love to me, Marco.”

  He leaned down and met her as she moved closer to him, wanting to taste his lips again. “My pleasure.”

  • • •

  Phoebe walked into the kitchen and noticed that Marco was dressed in a suit. She hadn’t realized he even had a suit with him. Disappointment filled her. After all they’d shared in the last twelve hours, she had hoped that the two of them could’ve spent a little time together. Maybe look at making some new wedding plans. She needed to call the bridal salon to organize another fitting. She knew this time she wouldn’t want to tear the dress off.

  “Are you going into work?” She tried to keep the disappointment out of her voice but as he placed his glass of juice down on the bench, she knew she’d failed.

  “Only for a couple of hours,” he said as he came up and took her in his arms. “I’ve got a client who is being difficult. He’s demanding ridiculous changes to his house plans, which we can’t do due to planning and permit restrictions. He thinks we can do it without the authorities knowing.”

  She grimaced. That didn’t sound like a meeting she’d like to attend. “Glad it’s you, not me. I guess I’ll call Sophie and see if she’s up for a visitor.”

  Marco pulled out of her embrace and moved to pick up some files he’d put on the bench. “Why don’t you do as I suggested earlier and call Sonya and go over all the plans with her?”

  “Wouldn’t that be a bit of a waste of time? There’s no possible way we can rebook the venues we cancelled on our original wedding date. In all likelihood they’ve all got replacement bookings. I think we should discuss this more and work out a definite new date before I contact Sonya.”

  Marco didn’t answer her — if anything, he seemed nervous, as if the conversation was making him feel uncomfortable. He never looked uncomfortable. Immediately alarm bells started ringing and she recalled his earlier assertion that he wanted to tell her something.

  “What was it you wanted to tell me earlier when I told you I didn’t want to talk?” she asked.

  Her alarm abated a little when she saw what looked like a blush stain his cheeks. “I may have told Sonya that you didn’t mean it when you sent her the text to cancel the wedding.”

  “What exactly did you tell her?”

  “Well … ” He drew out the word. “I said that we’d had a little fight and that you sent the text to her out of anger and didn’t mean it.”

  Slowly anger replaced the alarm. “So basically you told her I had a hissy fit and that she should ignore me? That was very presumptuous of you. Not to mention condescending and arrogant.”

  “Yes, you’re right. It was very presumpt
uous of me. I don’t deny it. But I was determined not take no for answer. I knew we were meant to be together.”

  • • •

  Marco could tell by the look on Phoebe’s face that he had some serious backpedalling and explaining to do. It was lousy timing that he had to be in the office in half an hour. As it was it looked like he was going to be late.

  As he walked towards her he could feel the annoyance vibrating out to him. “Look, sweetheart, I’m sorry and I know that’s lame, but can we talk about this when I get back?”

  “I can’t believe this. You drop this bomb on me and then you brush it off as if it’s an annoying bug. This is serious, Marco. You undermined me.”

  He sighed. Why the hell did he tell her to contact Sonya? He should’ve just let her call Sophie and then discussed it with her when he got back. He wanted to call into his house anyway and get her engagement ring. He should’ve waited until he had it back on her finger before dropping the bomb about the wedding plans.

  He knew something for sure, though — he wasn’t going to let this affect their new relationship they were starting. He couldn’t contemplate not having her in his life. The very thought of it made his stomach drop to his toes. He knew he wouldn’t be able to recover from losing Phoebe. He’d thought what Veronika had done to him had crippled him emotionally. If he lost Phoebe, he’d be an empty soul.

  He reached out and touched a hand to her cheek. Her skin was so soft and with one simple touch his body flared to life, demanding he forget his work and career and take the woman in front of him to bed.

  “Don’t think touching me is going to make me forget about all of this, Marco. It’s not going to work.”

  He chuckled. He loved her feistiness and determination. “Sweetheart, I know you’re not going to forget. All I can say is I’m really sorry and I wish I’d pushed you to discuss it when I wanted to earlier, when we had more time to talk about it. It was wrong of me to undermine you. If you want me to, I will call Sonya right now and tell her to cancel everything. We can start fresh with everything. If that is what you want.” He went to remove his phone from his jacket pocket.