by Dani Wade
A woman could only handle so many things at once. She took a big bite.
There was a rap on her door, so she ditched the doughnut in the box and tossed the box back into her cupboard, wiping the powdered sugar from her lips.
For a split second she wondered if it might be Zach. Then, just as quickly, she promised herself she wouldn’t open the door if it was.
She wouldn’t.
She had absolutely nothing left to say to the man.
But when she checked through the peephole, it was Lindsay standing in the hallway. Kaitlin opened the door to find her friend balancing a large Agapitos pizza box on one hand and holding a bottle of tequila in the other.
“Pepperoni and sausage,” Lindsay said without preamble, walking forward as Kaitlin opened the door up wide and shifted out of the way. “I hope you have limes.”
It was only three-thirty. Somewhat early to start in on margaritas, but the day was already a nutritional bust, so what the hell?
“How are you holding up?” asked Lindsay as she crossed to the small kitchen table while Kaitlin shut and latched the apartment door.
“I am absolutely fine,” said Kaitlin, her determination putting a spring in her step as she squared her shoulders.
“You are a terrible liar,” Lindsay countered.
That was true enough. But Kaitlin also knew that if she said something loud enough and often enough, sometimes it started to feel true.
Kaitlin headed for the fridge, reciting the words she’d rehearsed in her mind. “So it turned out to be a con. It wasn’t like we didn’t expect it to be one. Zach was fighting to save money. I was fighting for my career. Our positions were incompatible from the get-go.” She paused, taking a moment to regroup her emotions. “Though I have to admit, I didn’t expect him to be quite so good.”
She tugged open the fridge door, fighting to keep her voice even, but not doing a particularly good job. “Still, I was colossally stupid to have fallen for his act. I mean, didn’t you and I call it almost to the detail before we left?”
“I never thought he’d take it as far as he did,” Lindsay ventured from behind her.
“I did,” said Kaitlin with a decisive nod as she bent to scoop a couple of limes from the crisper drawer. “He was trying to use sex as an advantage all along.”
She’d known that. And she had no idea why she’d let herself sink so far into a ridiculous fantasy. She’d figured it out, yet in four short days he had her convinced to do exactly what he’d wanted with the renovations, and she was romping wantonly in his bed every night to boot.
Stupid move.
She snagged the limes.
Yesterday she’d been angry.
This morning she’d been heartbroken.
Right now, she was more embarrassed than anything.
“What about you?” she asked Lindsay, making up her mind to quit talking about it as she closed the fridge.
“What about me?” Lindsay had perched herself on one of the stools at the small breakfast bar with the pizza box in front of her.
Kaitlin set the limes down on the countertop and pulled a long, sharp knife out of the wooden block. “What about you and Dylan?”
“There is no me and Dylan.”
“There was yesterday.”
Lindsay gave her blond hair a quick toss. “He’s dead to me.”
“I like that,” Kaitlin said defiantly, slicing into a lime. It sounded so unemotional and final.
“Have you heard anything from Zach?” Lindsay asked.
Kaitlin squeezed half a lime into the blender as she shook her head. “If I see his number, I’ll hang up. And if he drops by, I won’t answer the door.”
“What about the renovation?”
Kaitlin emphasized her words by pointing the knife tip to her computer on the dining table. “I am doing my full-blown design. I’m adding a helipad and a waterfall. It’ll be fabulous. I’ll probably win an award.”
Lindsay flipped open the cardboard box, folding it back to reveal the gooey, fragrant pizza. “I can’t believe they turned out to be such rats.”
“Dead-to-us rats,” Kaitlin stated, fighting to keep her emotions in check over the thought of never seeing Zach again.
Why had she let herself trust him? Did she think he’d love her, really marry her, have babies with her and turn her life into some fantasy?
She was Kaitlin Saville, penniless orphan. Things like that didn’t happen to her.
Lindsay tore a bite from one of the pizza slices and popped it into her mouth. “You thought he was the one?” she ventured softly.
Suddenly exhausted, Kaitlin set down the knife. “Stupid of me, I know.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“It’s all my fault.”
“He played you.”
“And I let him. I encouraged him. I helped him. And now all I have left is revenge.”
“Revenge can be satisfying,” said Lindsay. “Especially when it’s going to save your career.”
“I don’t want revenge,” Kaitlin responded with blunt honesty, turning to squeeze the other half of the lime into the blender. “I hate revenge. I feel like I’m getting revenge against Sadie instead of Zach.” She dropped the lime peel and braced herself against the countertop.
She knew she couldn’t do it.
She couldn’t spend Harper money on a design she knew Sadie would hate. Her laugh sounded more like a cry.
“Katie?” Lindsay was up and rounding the breakfast bar.
“I’m fine,” Kaitlin sniffed. But she wasn’t fine. She was about to give up her career and her future for a family that wasn’t even hers.
“Don’t you love it when you know you’ve been a jerk?” Dylan asked, cupping his hands behind his head and stretching back in the padded chair next to Zach’s office window.
Zach was standing, too restless to sit down while his mind struggled to settle on a course of action.
“I mean,” Dylan continued, “sometimes you’re not sure. But other times, like this, you’re positive you’ve been a complete ass.”
Zach folded his arms across his chest, watching the clouds streak across the sky far away over the Jersey shore. “Are you talking about me or you?”
“I’m talking about both of us.”
Zach turned. He didn’t know about Dylan’s behavior, but he maintained that he’d been put in an untenable position. He never set out to hurt anyone. He was only trying to do right by his company and his family.
“And what should I have done differently?” he demanded.
Dylan grinned at Zach’s upset. “I don’t know. Maybe you shouldn’t have pretended you were married.”
“I am married.”
“I’m guessing not for long.”
Zach shook his head. “She’s not going to divorce me. It’s her leverage.”
At least he hoped Kaitlin wasn’t going to divorce him yet. He wasn’t ready for that.
Dylan crossed an ankle over one knee. “Conning her into scaling back the renovation was one thing. But you’re not a heartless bastard, Zach. Why’d you mess with her emotions like that?”
Zach felt his anger rise. What he’d done with Kaitlin was none of Dylan’s business. It was between him and Kaitlin. It was… They were…
“And what about you?” he queried, deflecting the question. “You slept with Lindsay.”
“That was a simple fling.”
“And what do you think I had?”
Dylan sat up straight. “I don’t know, Zach. You tell me.” His gaze moved meaningfully to the package of papers on the table between them.
“That’s nothing,” Zach denied. That was simply him being a decent human being, something which Dylan didn’t seem to believe was possible.
“You put nine private investigators on the case.”
“So?” Zach had wanted something fast. More men, better speed.
“So how did that benefit you?”
“It wasn’t supposed to benefit me.” I
t was meant to benefit Kaitlin, to put a smile on her face, to banish the haunted look that came into her eyes every time the subject of his family came up, which was nearly every second they were on Serenity Island.
But the effort had pretty much been a failure. Despite the high-end manpower, all he’d found of Kaitlin’s heritage was a grainy old newspaper photo showing her grandparents and her mother as a young girl. The family home had burned down, killing the grandparents and destroying all of the family possessions when Kaitlin’s mother was sixteen, two years before Kaitlin was born.
The picture, two names and a gravesite were all Zach had turned up.
“You still going to give them to her?” asked Dylan.
“Sure,” said Zach, with a shrug, pretending it was no big deal. “Maybe I’ll mail them over.”
“Mail them?”
“Mail them.”
“You don’t want to see her in person?”
Zach bristled. “To do what? To say what? To let her yell at me again?” Truth was, he’d give anything to see Kaitlin again, even if it was only to hear her yell. But what was the point? He’d chewed up her trust and spit it out, over and over again.
“You could tell her you sold the ship.”
“Big deal.” So Zach had come up with seventy-five million dollars. It wasn’t as if he had a choice. Kaitlin would be full steam ahead on the renovation again, and the only way he was going to get his company back was to give her the carte blanche she’d demanded. The only way to do that was to sell an asset. So he’d sold an asset. She wouldn’t give him brownie points for doing that. “You think an old newspaper photo and money I had to give her all along are going to make a difference?”
“You gotta try, Zach.”
“No, I don’t.”
“You’re in love with her.”
“No, I’m not.”
Dylan coughed out a cold laugh and came to his feet. “You sorry son-of-a—”
“I am not in love with Kaitlin.”
He liked Kaitlin. Sure, he liked Kaitlin. What was not to like?
And, yeah, he’d have stayed with her for the foreseeable future. He’d have woken up next to her for as long as she’d let him. And maybe for a few days there he’d entertained fantasies about what could happen between them long term.
But those were just fantasies. They had nothing to do with the real world.
In the real world, he and Kaitlin were adversaries. She’d wanted to save her career, and he’d wanted to keep his company intact. She’d won. He’d lost. Nothing to be done about it now but mop up after the fallout.
“I saw your face when she walked out,” Dylan offered. “I’ve known you your whole life, Zach.”
Zach turned on him. “You know nothing.”
“You’re going to lie to me? That’s your next big plan?”
“I don’t have a next big plan.”
“Well, you’d better come up with one. Or you’re going to lose Kaitlin forever.”
The words felt like a stake in Zach’s heart.
He didn’t love Kaitlin. He couldn’t love Kaitlin. It would be a disaster to love Kaitlin.
He swallowed.
“What about you?” he asked Dylan.
“I already have a plan,” Dylan stated with smug satisfaction. “And I don’t even love Lindsay. I’m just not ready to let her go yet.”
“That’s how it starts,” said Zach.
Dylan’s brows shot up. “And you know this because…?”
“What’s your plan?” Zach countered.
Okay, maybe he did love Kaitlin just a little bit. But he’d get over it.
“I’m kidnapping Lindsay. She wanted a pirate, she’s getting a pirate. Can I borrow your yacht?”
“You can’t kidnap her.”
“Watch me.”
Zach took in the determination in Dylan’s eyes. And for a second there, he wished he could simply kidnap Kaitlin. If he could get her on board his yacht, he could probably keep her there for a few days, maybe even a few weeks. By the end of it, like Lyndall, he might be able to win her over.
On the other hand, she might have him arrested. Or she might throw him overboard. Or she might decide the Harper building needed to be a hundred stories high and truly bankrupt him.
Kidnapping was not a real option.
Instead, he’d give her the money. He’d give her the news clipping and the photo. Then, like the gentleman he’d once been, he’d step out of her life forever.
Three margaritas later, Kaitlin splashed cold water on her face in the small bathroom of her apartment. She and Lindsay had started to giggle about half an hour back, but now she found herself fighting tears.
It didn’t seem to matter that Zach had played her for a fool. She’d fallen in love with him, and no matter how many times she told herself it was all a lie, she couldn’t stop wanting the man she’d known on Serenity Island.
She dried her face and ran a comb through her hair, gathering her frayed emotions. Much as she wished she could drink herself into oblivion today, it was time to stop wallowing in self-pity and get her equilibrium back.
Her career in New York was over. Truthfully, she might as well walk away from the Harper project altogether. What Sadie and Zach would want wouldn’t do a thing to save Kaitlin’s career.
At least most of her boxes were still packed.
Another tear leaked out, and she impatiently swiped it away. She told herself she was tough, and she was strong, and she was independent. And she would salvage her life or die trying.
She left the bathroom at a determined pace, rounding the bedroom door into the living room. There, her steps staggered to a stop.
Zach stood in the middle of her apartment, large as life and twice as sexy.
She was too stunned to shriek, too stunned to cry, too stunned to do anything, but let her jaw drop open.
“Hello, Kaitlin.”
She still didn’t have her bearings. “Huh?”
“I came to apologize.”
She glanced swiftly around the apartment. “Where’s Lindsay? How did you—?”
“Lindsay left with Dylan.”
Kaitlin gave her head a little shake, but she wasn’t delusional. That really was Zach standing there. “Why would she do that?”
“He kidnapped her,” said Zach. “I wouldn’t expect to see her for a few days.”
“He can’t do that.”
“That’s what I said,” Zach agreed. “But I don’t think those two have ever cared much about the rules.”
“Lindsay’s a lawyer.” Of course she cared about the rules. She was passionate about the rules.
Zach seemed to ponder that fact for a few moments. “Yeah,” he conceded. “Dylan may have a bit of a problem with that when he brings her back.”
“Is that a joke?” Was Lindsay about to jump out of the closet?
Instead of answering, Zach took a few steps forward. Her heart rate increased. Her chest went tight. And a low buzz started in the base of her belly.
She knew she should fight the reaction, but she had no idea how to turn it off.
“He took my yacht,” said Zach, moving closer still, his gaze locked with hers every step of the way.
“So you’re an accessory to kidnapping?” Her shock at the sight of him was starting to wear off, replaced by amazement that he was actually standing here in front of her. She could feel herself sink reluctantly back into the fantasy.
“Dylan told me she wanted a pirate, so she was getting a pirate.”
“Is that why you’re here?” she asked. “To help Dylan?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“Because I have something for you.”
She forced herself to go cold and demanding. “I hope it’s a big check.” She knew she’d given up, abandoned the renovation, but Zach didn’t need to know that yet.
“As a matter of fact, it is.”
“Good.” She gave a decisive nod, marveling at her own ability to hold
her composure. The urge to throw herself into Zach’s arms grew more powerful by the second.
“Seventy-five million dollars,” he told her.
It took a few seconds for his words to sink in.
“What?” She took a reflexive step back.
“I sold a ship.”
“What?”
“I’m giving you seventy-five million dollars for the renovation.”
Kaitlin blinked at him.
“But that’s not the real reason I’m here.”
For a split second, hope flared within her. But she squelched it. Zach couldn’t be trusted. She’d learned that the hard way half a dozen times over.
He handed her an envelope. “I’m here to give you this. It’s not much.”
Watching him warily, Kaitlin lifted the flap. She slid out a laminated picture. It showed a twentysomething couple with a young, blonde girl at the beach. The caption was Holiday Travelers Enjoy Fourth of July Celebrations.
She didn’t understand.
“Phillipe and Aimee Saville,” Zach said softly, and it felt as if Kaitlin’s heart stopped.
“It was the best I could do,” he continued. “There was a house fire in 1983. None of their possessions were saved. But the private investigators found this in the archives of a New Jersey newspaper. The little girl is your mother.”
Kaitlin was completely speechless.
Her grandparents?
Zach had found grandparents?
Zach had looked for her grandparents?
Her fingers reflexively tightened on the photograph, and she felt herself sway to one side.
Zach’s hand closed around her shoulder, steadying her.
“I’ve had three margaritas,” she told him, embarrassed. She ought to be completely sober for a moment like this.
“That explains why Lindsay went so quietly.”
Kaitlin fought against the sensation of his touch, even as she struggled to make sense of his gesture. “How? Where?” Why had he done this?
“I had some people start looking last week. After you told me.” His hand tightened on her shoulder. “And I couldn’t stand to see the pain in your eyes.”
Her throat closed tighter, and her chest burned with emotion. She had to blink back tears at his thoughtfulness. Her voice dropped to a pained whisper. “How am I supposed to hate you?”