Dangerous Treasure

by Olivia West

  Their passion took on a renewed vigor as it grew, their need for one another driving them. Pete thrust wildly into her center as her moans and cries filled the room around them, escalating as he brought her to yet another series of orgasms before succumbing to his own passion and exploding inside of her walls. They collapsed against one another and lay there, still entangled, for quite a while before getting up to shower to go out for dinner.

  “Where do you want to go, my love?” Pete asked.

  “Anywhere but Palzato!” she laughed.

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  Chapter 1

  Her every dream was coming true. Her perfect plans were falling into place the way she’d always pictured that they would, and she couldn’t imagine that there was a luckier girl in the entire world. Life was unfolding just the way she had always wanted. She had it all. The fabulous career and the wonderful fiancé. From the depths of her soul to the tips of her toes, she was completely thrilled. Her life felt like a modern-day fairy tale complete with all of the lovely and ultra-chic trimmings. However, Lindsey Thomas was not a frivolous fool. Not by any stretch of the imagination. She’d worked hard to get to where she was—attending a great school, interning for several designers, working her way up the corporate ladder, all the while managing to find and date the most amazing guy in her valuable free time. She’d known all along that her dreams wouldn’t simply materialize without the proper foresight and planning. Therefore, the moment Patrick Crawford had slid the hefty three-carat engagement ring on her finger a little less than two months ago, she had immediately shifted some of her laser-sharp focus onto starting work on every wedding detail imaginable. She ate, drank and slept wedding details. Even between hectic meetings at work, she perused through invitation samples and font options.

  Just in the last week, Lindsey and Patrick had toured several potential wedding venues, and had spent plenty of time at each of them, trying to picture how the space would work for an early spring wedding. It wasn’t all that easy to envision when they were experiencing the record-breaking, hot, humid July weather that was currently descending upon New York in earnest. Lindsey already yearned for the crisp, cool weather they could expect for their April ceremony. She was so over the incessant heat and the number it was working on her normally perfect and bouncy reddish-brown curls.

  Thankfully, tonight the weather wasn’t quite as miserable as it had been as of late, Lindsey mused from her stance on the stone terrace. She took in the elegant party taking place all around her at the immaculate Greenwich mansion of her wealthy, soon-to-be in-laws. After taking a sip of cold, crisp champagne from the crystal flute in her hand, she tossed her hair over her shoulder, ready to make another round through the large crowd that had gathered in her and Patrick’s honor. Although the Crawfords’ mansion was an hour away from the city, where she and most of her friends and family lived, the posh atmosphere was well worth the scenic drive to Connecticut.

  When Patrick’s parents had offered to host their engagement party, Lindsey had happily accepted. She loved Patrick’s parents, they loved her, and this was the perfect opportunity for the two families to mingle. It had been a true pleasure helping Patrick’s mother plan the elegant soiree, as they shared similar tastes and a penchant for party planning.

  “Having fun, sweetheart?” Patrick asked, coming up behind her and placing his arm leisurely around her waist.

  “Yes! It’s such a wonderful party,” she replied turning and smiling brightly up at him, “and I think everyone is really having a great time. It’s getting me excited about our wedding.”

  Patrick didn’t say anything, just tugged nervously at his pale pink necktie that perfectly matched the shade of Lindsey’s strapless, designer dress. She’d insisted that they match.

  “Everything okay?” Lindsey asked, noting Patrick’s worried expression.

  “Yeah, yeah. Everything’s fine. Just ... wow, you know? It finally feels real—we’re going to get married,” Patrick said, his eyes wide, his skin clammy.

  “Yep, and there isn’t a happier girl in the whole wide world than this one right here,” Lindsey said, leaning in close and putting her head on Patrick’s shoulder reassuringly.

  “You’re such a sweetheart, Lindsey,” Patrick replied nonchalantly, preoccupied as he scanned the room and sipped from his tumbler full of the finest whiskey.

  She couldn’t put her finger on it, but something was wrong with Patrick. However, as friends and family buzzed around them with excited energy, Lindsey put the notion aside, but not before making a mental note to ask him if everything was okay later. She certainly wasn’t going to press him for information with so much going on around them right now. Too many people needed their attention right now.

  “Lindseyyyy!”

  Hearing her name disrupted the potentially worrisome turn of her thoughts. Kate Welling, Lindsey’s best friend since they’d roomed together their freshman year at NYU, had arrived and was making her way across the huge room toward her. Lindsey hurried over in her six-inch heels to greet her bubbly friend.

  “Kate, you’re late,” Lindsey teased, giving her petite friend a warm hug.

  “Did you expect me to actually make it on time? In the past seven years of friendship, have I ever managed to be on time anywhere?” Kate asked her, only half kidding. She had a point, Lindsey thought. Punctuality had never been, and probably would never be, her best friend’s strong suit.

  “Okay, okay. It’s just the engagement party. But as the maid of honor, you have to arrive to everything else on time,” Lindsey reminded her.

  “Just lie to me about the start time—build me in a thirty-minute cushion,” Kate suggested, taking a glass of champagne garnished with strawberries from a passing waiter’s tray. Lindsey rolled her eyes at her ridiculous but wonderful friend. She and Kate were the exact opposite in so many ways. As a clothing buyer and trend spotter working for Lord & Taylor, Lindsey thrived on details, plans, and organization, while Kate, an up-and-coming fashion designer, focused strictly on her passion, never paying attention to schedules, plans or anything else that remotely resembled organization or tidy order. Lindsey truly felt sorry for Kate’s assistant, Olivia, knowing her hands stayed full keeping Kate in line and where she needed to be.

  Hooking her arm through Kate’s, Lindsey noted the wildly patterned gown she wore, something only Kate could pull off, especially at a subdued engagement party. Lindsey led them over to where Patrick stood chatting with some of his colleagues from his firm. She smiled with pride as she watched her fiancé in his element. Patrick was always so confident in his work as a brilliant attorney. A partnership at his firm would certainly be in his future.

  “Hello there, Patrick. Nice to see you, again,” Kate said. She gave Patrick a quick, somewhat awkward hug and a pasted-on smile.

  “Likewise, Kate. I was speaking with your parents just a few minutes ago,” Patrick said, making stiff, but polite conversation. For being the two most important people in Lindsey’s life, they surprisingly had very little in common and could barely tolerate one another for longer than five minutes, much to her chagrin.

  “Oh, I haven’t seen them yet. I think I’ll go find them,” she said, swiftly excusing herself to go hunt down Mr. and Mrs. Welling among the crowd. Lindsey linked her arm back through Patrick’s and pretended to be interested as he talked shop with his work friends, but she couldn’t help feeling slightly envious as she watched the flounce of Kate’s floral fuchsia gown disappear through the crowded room. Kate was such a free spirit.

  As the party began winding down a couple of hours later, Lindsey let out a breath she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding. Her cheeks ached from constantly
smiling, and as Patrick stood by her side, bidding goodbye to a group of family members heading toward the door, Lindsey stretched her back as inconspicuously as possible. The decision to wear sky-high heels didn’t seem all that smart in retrospect, no matter how killer her legs may have looked in them.

  “Darlings, I think the party was a success, and Jim and I literally could not be any happier for the two of you,” Patrick’s mother said sweetly after the last few party stragglers were politely escorted to the door.

  “Thanks, Mrs. Crawford. It means so much to us that you and Mr. Crawford hosted such a beautiful party in our honor. My parents are thrilled to be having you and Mr. Crawford over for dinner next week, also,” Lindsey said to her elegant future mother-in-law, leaning in to give her a light kiss on the cheek. Mrs. Crawford gave off the gentle scent of soft powder and peonies—a scent that managed to be understated, feminine and distinctly wealthy.

  “We are delighted to visit with your parents anytime, Lindsey. They are such lovely people,” Mrs. Crawford replied, “Now, if you two can handle the last few details with the staff, Jim and I are going to retire for the night. I’m quite exhausted after so much fun!”

  Lindsey assured them that she and Patrick could handle seeing the caterer and his staff on their way and oversee the locking up of the house. Besides, Jensen, the Crawfords’ butler, would go behind them and make sure no detail was left unchecked. Mr. and Mrs. Crawford certainly had no reason to worry.

  “Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?” Patrick asked after his parents had headed upstairs to their private wing.

  “Sure, honey. Of course,” she replied. He took Lindsey by the hand as she was still nodding her agreement and led her out onto the terrace. For a moment, Lindsey thought he possibly wanted to wax poetical and maybe dance with her in the moonlight—something he had done on occasion when they were in college—but the look in his eyes told her something much heavier than dancing was currently on his mind.

  “What’s wrong, Patrick?” she asked, a strange, foreboding weight settling deep within the pit of her stomach.

  “Lindsey, you know that I love you. I really do. More than anything. You’re an amazing, beautiful, smart woman and I know that I’m damn lucky to have you,” he took a deep breath before continuing, nervously pacing across the terrace, unable to meet Lindsey’s eyes, “but despite knowing how lucky I am and how amazing you are, I can’t do this, Lindsey. I just can’t.”

  “You can’t do what?” Lindsey asked quietly after a beat, her voice still and calm despite the crazed turmoil roiling within her as his words registered.

  “This,” he gestured between the two of them. “I thought I was ready for the ring, the commitment, and the whole nine yards, but tonight, everything grew far too real for me. I’m not ready to get married, Lindsey.”

  “Is there someone else?” Lindsey asked the dreaded question, afraid of the answer.

  “No! I just said that I love you—I wouldn’t ever do that to you,” Patrick said, his eyes downcast.

  “So … you love me, you just don’t love me enough to marry me?” Lindsey said, too shocked to cry or make any other type of scene as she stared at the man who was shattering her dreams.

  “That’s not what I meant. I mean, come on, doesn’t it feel like we’re just doing this because it seems to be time to take the next step? It scares me, Lindsey. Especially the way you have everything detailed out on a timeline up until the very day of our wedding.”

  “It’s good to be organized,” she defended, her voice cracking with emotion.

  “But where’s the spark? The excitement of spontaneity? Having everything planned out is just seriously freaking me out right now, and I have to take a step back and reevaluate what I want from life.”

  “I’m so sorry, Patrick. Sorry that I have a brain and a plan, but mostly that I loved you enough to include you in that plan,” Lindsey spat out. “We’re through!” she shouted behind her, her initial shock turning to anger as she turned on her heels and marched back inside. She grabbed her purse and left the mansion without even taking one glance back at Patrick.

  ***

  “Okay, Lindsey. Enough is enough. I know this whole situation totally sucks, but you have to leave this apartment. You’ve been cooped up in here since the party!” Kate said, standing at the foot of Lindsey’s bed with her hands on her hips.

  “God, Kate. It’s only been three days, and my fiancé, who happened to be my boyfriend for five years before he became my fiancé, just ended our engagement out of the blue. At our engagement party no less. It’s kind of big damn deal and excuse me if I’m just a little upset,” Lindsey said, eyeing the diamond that still sparkled on her finger. She hadn’t mustered the nerve to take it off just yet. It made the whole breakup too real if she took off the ring. The anger she’d initially felt when she’d left Patrick on the terrace had turned the tide to a deep sadness the moment that she’d pulled out of the Crawfords’ private drive and headed back to her apartment in New York. It didn’t help that Patrick hadn’t even called to check on her in the past three days either.

  “Lindsey, have you eaten anything?” Kate said, peering warily at Lindsey, propped against a mountain of colorful pillows with her hair in a messy bun, still wearing her rattiest old pajamas with streaks of mascara and makeup smudges beneath her puffy eyes. “Or showered?”

  “No and no. But I sure have found the time to drink,” Lindsey muttered sarcastically, waving an empty wine bottle she’d pulled from beneath the covers at Kate.

  “That’s it. I’m taking matters into my own hands,” Kate said, flipping the gray coverlet off Lindsey. Lindsey recoiled, curling up her knees in protest.

  “What the hell, Kate? Let me grieve,” Lindsey moaned, flopping back onto the mattress and covering her face with a throw pillow to block the light as Kate whipped the striped curtains back, letting in the midmorning sunshine and revealing the pretty New York City sights outlined by the most vibrant of blue skies.

  “No more of this, Lindsey, I gave you three days, but you are starting to creep into self-destruction mode, which you must know as your best friend, I simply can’t let that happen. You’ve got to get up, get going, take a shower, eat something and get back to work.”

  “I took the whole week off,” Lindsey said, turning onto her stomach when Kate took her pillow shield away.

  “He’s not worth this, Lindsey! I never thought he deserved you anyway, but I kept my mouth shut because you seemed happy. Or at least happy enough. But seriously, Lindsey, you deserve a man, not a dweeby little trust fund douchebag.”

  “You have your own trust fund if I’m not mistaken,” Lindsey’s muffled voice pointed out.

  “Yeah, but I don’t touch it and I don’t brag about it, that’s for sure. I swear, Patrick’s trust fund was his favorite thing to talk about with anyone,” Kate said, sticking her finger down her throat and making a gagging sound.

  “Well, for whatever flaws he may have had, he was intelligent, kind and thoughtful, not to mention handsome,” Lindsey said, tearing up as she glanced at the picture of the two of them on her mirrored nightstand.

  “If you like that way-too-skinny, hipster-looking kind of guy.” Kate rolled her eyes. “So are you guys broken up, or taking a step back or what?”

  “In my mind, it’s over. How can we go back? He clearly doesn’t want to marry me, so what? Am I supposed to be just a permanent girlfriend for the rest of forever? It was time to take the next step in our relationship. If he doesn’t want to take the next step, then we aren’t moving forward,” Lindsey said, starting to sob now. Kate sighed, and flopped onto the bed with her, taking Lindsey into her arms and smoothing her hair away from her face.

  “I know this sucks, Lindsey. There’s no other word to describe it. I’m so sorry you’re having to go through this,” Kate comforted. “Maybe he just needs some time?”

  “I can’t risk my heart with him anymore,” she cried. “He took it out and stomped all over it!”


  “Have you told anyone else the news yet?”

  “No, it’s just too awful. Not only is my heart completely broken, but having to face everybody and tell them what happened and relive the terrible scene over and over again in my mind? I can’t even imagine! This sucks!” Lindsey cried, a fresh spate of tears rolling down her reddened cheeks.

  “What can I do to help you? Please, tell me something that I can do to make this better.”

  “There’s nothing you can do, unless you have a hole I can go crawl in and hide inside. I don’t want to face the world just yet.”

  A lightbulb clicked on for Kate. “I may not have a hole, but I have something even better—my family’s beach house in the Hamptons.”