Past Lies

by Kim Rees

  Tangled hair, swollen lips and a knowing in her eyes that had never been there before.

  Anna shook her head and pulled the frosted cubicle doors shut.

  No time to delay. She had to escape.

  And damn it, her clothes were everywhere.

  She threw on the dress. Her feet were silent in the thick carpet but her gut still curled tight with fear. She had to get away. The over-loud click of the twisting doorknob made her hiss…and then she was outside the room in the relative safety of the hall.

  Her tight breathing eased.

  Find her bag, find her shoes and run.

  But she had to pass the study. Its door was shut and she could hear Zach’s heated voice. Someone else was having their ear chewed off. Anna scratched a trembling hand through her tangled hair and quickly retraced the path to his bedroom.

  The scent of them still pervaded that room too.

  Not looking at the crumpled sheets, Anna snatched up her sandals. Her face burned as she picked up her discarded underwear and headed for the drawing room. Her bag. Get her bag and escape. She held back a curse. Her bag was in the study.

  Everything had gone to hell…but if she could just get home and explain to Sofia. Maybe her sister would see sense.

  The front door clicked softly shut behind her.

  Anna sprinted for the lift.

  When the doors had closed with a gentle whoosh, she collapsed back against the cold rail. Sofia had to see sense. And she would.

  She slid her feet into the uncomfortable sandals. She had no cash for a taxi. Her mobile. Anna remembered exactly where her phone was and her face flushed.

  She ran her fingers through her tangled hair and her mind raced.

  Standing out in the road in the hope of a black cab passing by at such an ungodly hour wasn’t an option. Wandering the streets for a phone box was equally unappealing. She let out a slow sigh. The doorman would be able to call a taxi for her. She could scrounge money when she got back to Ashford.

  The lift doors pinged and Anna stopped herself from cursing.

  Luck never ran with her.

  “Can I help you?”

  Her gut tightened at his note of professional concern. She had to look a mess. But she stitched on her social smile and met the man’s light gaze. “Can I use your phone, please?”

  He blinked. “Of course, miss.”

  Her fingers hovered over the buttons. Not a taxi. Freddie. He was the safest option. Freddie would get her home. He would let her slump, let her stare out of the window and not offer constant and annoying chat.

  “Freddie?” She winced at the sleepy tones at the other end of the line. “I need a lift.”

  “Are you okay?” His tiredness fell away and worry replaced it.

  “Fine. Just…” She turned away from the sharp gaze of the concierge and watched the closed doors of the lift. “…hurry.”

  ˜™

  Tyres screeched away and Anna’s head fell back against the headrest.

  She was doing the right thing. She was.

  Sofia had no interest in Zach’s company. She would help to overturn Gregory’s crazy will. Anna held tight to that belief. It was the only way she was getting away from Zach.

  The other time she had run from him burned through her memory.

  Soft, slow kisses brushed her skin as the rush of her orgasm ebbed away. She had been right to come to him; right to push for more when he had withdrawn from her…

  “Zach?”

  “Hmmm?”

  The slide of his mouth over her skin coursed little shivers. “What happens now?”

  “What do you mean?”

  Those absent words had her heart tightening. Had she just been an easy screw up against his drawing room wall? Anna crushed her eyes against that thought. “Is that it?”

  His mouth stopped. Hands slid from her body and she dropped to the floor on clumsy feet. Zach’s expression was wary as he tucked his shirt back into his trousers. “What else were you expecting, Anna?”

  Oh God, she had been a complete and utter idiot. To save herself she said, “Nothing. Obviously.”

  “Then we must reach a financial agreement.”

  “You want to buy me?” Anna straightened her dress with quick hands. She glared at Zach and strode to the door. She tossed words at him. “You could never afford me!”

  And she ran.

  “What happened?”

  Freddie’s voice pulled her out of unwanted thoughts.

  “Not now, Freddie, please,” she murmured. The glass reflected her pale face and her eyes lost to the darkness. “I’m tired.” That wasn’t a lie. A flare of pink burned over her cheeks. Her body ached in places she never suspected she could ache. “Just tired.”

  “What did he do?”

  A weary laugh escaped her. “Big brother strikes again.”

  “Did he hurt you?”

  That was a loaded question. “No, Freddie. I’m fine.” She turned her head. “I am. It’s just that he’s not going to be…very happy with me.”

  “He never seemed very happy with you.” Her friend’s voice was just above a rough whisper and his knuckles whitened around the steering wheel. “Obsessed. But not happy.”

  Freddie’s words chilled her. “Obsessed?”

  “He always looks at you the same way…as if he could eat you alive.” The car pulled sharp away from the lights, tearing across the empty junction. “But then you look at him that way too.”

  “I do not.”

  Freddie gave a soft chuckle. “Anna, how long have I known you?”

  “Forever?”

  “Forever,” he agreed. “You look at him that way too.”

  “I’m not talking about this.” She turned her head back to the dark, empty streets. Of course she knew that she craved Zach. Wanting him was as necessary as breathing. And now that she’d tasted more of him… No. She definitely didn’t want to talk about it.

  Familiar landmarks jumped out at her. All too soon, she would be able to curl up in her own bed and just sleep. She felt weary down to the bone.

  The car slowed and Freddie turned it into the drive, the tyres thankfully silent over the even cobbles. Her house keys? No bag…so there was a side door key under the sprawling hebe bush. That problem solved, her mind slid thankfully to thoughts of the quiet sanctuary of her bed.

  Until she saw him.

  Adrenalin surged and blood flared in her face.

  She was an idiot.

  Of course her home would be the first place he would look for her. But all her thoughts had been on running. “I’m a complete idiot,” she muttered under her breath.

  “Anna?”

  She shook her head. “Go home, Freddie. I shouldn’t have gotten you involved in this mess.” She gave him a forced smile. “Not again.” She willed her hand to open the passenger door. The chill, early morning air made her shiver. “Go. I’m fine.”

  “No.”

  “I have to sort this.”

  “Call me,” Freddie said, his face harsh. “As soon as he’s gone. Call me.”

  Anna stepped away from the small car and watched him reverse out of the drive. Then she had to turn her attention back to the man waiting for her.

  He lounged against his car door like some big cat. Relaxed but dangerously alert. Her heart thumped. Hard. She willed her legs to move forward and her heels clicked over stone.

  Zach didn’t move.

  His arms stayed folded across his chest and his gaze remained fixed on her. The light over the door cast a bright, white shine over his features, throwing his face into harsh relief. He didn’t look angry. Anna suspected he had passed anger and then probably fury when he found her trick with the shower. His stony expression screamed cold hatred at her.

  He pulled her mobile phone out of his trouser pocket. “Want to phone Petersen?”

  Excuses burned on the tip of her tongue. She decided against them. “I wasn’t thinking.”

  “You were so overwhelmed you just ha
d to get away?” His voice dripped with sarcasm. “Yes. I often have to chase women halfway across town after I’ve had sex with them.”

  Anna’s face flushed. “Can we go inside?”

  Zach uncoiled his body from his sleek car and Anna had to stop herself from flinching. She fixed her feet to the ground. He was close, so close that the warmth of his breath brushed her. “I also had to answer your phone and find that another man was waiting for you.”

  “Freddie called my phone.”

  “Yes. Freddie called your phone.” His fingertip followed a path along her jaw. “Déjà vu, Anna.”

  Her skin prickled at his touch, sending a new shiver through her cold skin.

  “You’re cold.” He shrugged out of his leather jacket and draped it over her shoulders. Instant warmth flooded her. His unique scent mixed with soft leather had her senses reeling, as did his unexpected gesture of concern. She knew she was really tired then, because tears burned.

  “Thank you,” she murmured, slipping her arms into the still warm leather and pushing down the tight pain of imagining that Zach would hold her so close. “We…we should go inside.”

  “No.”

  “I’m not going back to your apartment, Zach.”

  His jaw shifted, in the cold silence she was sure she could hear his teeth grind together. His voice was unnaturally soft. “So you’re breaking the agreement.”

  “Sofia will see reason. If I ask her. This will end right here.”

  Zach’s bark of hard laughter cut through the night air. “Sofia can’t wait to get her hands on my company. You both can’t.”

  “That is not true.”

  “Please, stop the games, Anna. You’re doing all of this for a miserly plot of land and a half-derelict house? I don’t think so.”

  “My mother restored—”

  “I know the history.” Zach sliced into her words. “And no one would go as far as you have for that.”

  Pain burned. “Go as far as I have?” she repeated, almost choking on the words.

  A tight smile slashed his mouth. “Did you panic at that part of the plan?” His gaze slid down her body, delayed on her abdomen. “There’s no way I’d pay you off. Or allow an abortion.”

  Panic shot to her toes. In her race to get away, she hadn’t given it a thought. They hadn’t used a condom and she didn’t take any form of contraception. There was no need. Frantic dates ran through her mind. She was safe. She was sure.

  What he implied hit her dazed brain. “I would never do that.”

  “Of course.” His smug expression had her hand itching to fly at him. “And we’re back to you being overwhelmed. But…” his gaze fixed on her abdomen again,“…if there is a baby—”

  “There isn’t.”

  “So you’re protected?”

  The promise to herself of no longer lying chaffed. She closed her eyes. “No. But I didn’t plan this.”

  He gripped her arm. “If you’re pregnant you’ll find yourself stuck with me a lot longer than a week.”

  For a moment, a stupid rush of joy coursed through her, but the spike of disgust in his tone killed it. She tugged her arm free. “I’m not going back.”

  “Even if I have to throw you over my shoulder and carry you back on foot, we will meet the conditions of this insane will.” His voice was no more than a growl. “Now get in the car.”

  “No.”

  “Anna…”

  “Can you two not stay away?”

  Anna groaned. Not her. Not now. “Sofia.”

  “Anna thought she’d forgotten something. Turns out she hadn’t,” Zach said. He waved the car keys at her. “Bye.”

  Sofia smirked. She pulled the belt of her silk dressing gown tighter around her waist. “What was so important at”—she glanced at her watch—“three-thirty in the morning? You always have a pack of twelve tucked in your bag.”

  “That’s a lie, Sofia, and you know it,” Anna muttered.

  “Have you had to increase?” Her smirk widened. “But then you are popular.”

  “You’re disgusting.”

  “You’re the one who jumps any man who asks.”

  “Enough, Sofia,” Zach grated. His hand took hers and Anna fought the need to squeeze it tight, to find comfort and strength in his touch. In that instant, she was more than happy to get into the car. “We’re leaving.”

  “And another crashes before your charms.” Her laughter was brittle. “Men are so easy to dupe, aren’t they, Anna? They so rarely think with their brains. You can now add the great Zachary Quinn to your long list.”

  “Don’t you get tired of lying?” Anna asked.

  “Am I lying?” She straightened and smoothed over the rumpled silk of her dressing gown. “This was planned from the very beginning.” Her smile was arch. “And when you grow bored…” her gaze raked over Zach, “…we must swap again.”

  Zach stopped. “What?”

  “Didn’t you know about my sister and Gregory?”

  And with that, Sofia slammed the front door.

  Chapter Ten

  Anna snatched the keys from Zach’s lax grip and scrambled into the car. The key found the ignition and she gunned the engine.

  Zach slammed the passenger door. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

  “Getting out of here.”

  He only had time to grab at the seat belt before she roared the car out of the drive. Her face was pale, tight, and the grip she had on the steering wheel screamed that she wanted to throttle someone. Sofia first. Then him.

  He expelled a slow breath but there was still that fist in his gut. “So you and Gregory…?”

  He was certain she was cursing, muttered words he couldn’t catch. “I’ll never forgive her for that.”

  The fist crushed. Nausea rose. “Then it’s true?”

  Her gaze shot to him, filled with acid. “You could believe that of me? God, I knew you thought I’d sleep with anything in trousers… But Gregory, too?”

  “Why should he be exempt?”

  “Because he’s the only father I’ve ever known!”

  Zach winced. His anger had lashed those words at her and she hadn’t deserved them. “Anna, I’m sorry.”

  A bitter laugh, sharp, short burst from her. “Too late, Zach. You believed it. And you probably needed to.”

  Needed to have the image of her and Gregory fixed in his mind? He shuddered. “That’s the last thing I want.”

  He already had the years’ old image of her and Freddie seared into his brain. Discovering them on a broad couch in the garden room at Gregory’s house, the boy already undressing her.

  The murmur of Freddie’s voice as Anna giggled…it had burst a fierce rage through him. Another betrayal. Another one.

  “Anna.”

  The laughter, the murmurs stopped.

  She swung a long leg down, shifting over the boy’s lap in a way that made Zach grit his teeth. She stood. Her eyebrow lifted. “Hello, Zachary.”

  Something within him withered at the use of that name. It was the name Isabelle used. The one he had come to loathe. Now Anna followed her. “Don’t ever call me that.”

  She shrugged. “No need to be so touchy. Zachary.”

  Anna smiled and Zach could have sworn she was taking lessons from his ex-wife. It chilled him. He had misjudged Anna. She wasn’t the woman he thought she was. Pain hitched in his chest, forcing a sour anger through his blood. “Get dressed.”

  “Why?” She stared down at her bare shoulder, her half-exposed breast. “It’s nothing you haven’t seen before.”

  The boy was grinning.

  Zach took a controlling breath. He would not lose his temper. Not over her. “And you, out. Now.”

  “This isn’t your house, Zach. And Gregory told me I can invite anyone I want. And I want Freddie.”

  Rage boiled through him. His hands balled into fists and still the boy grinned at him. Couldn’t the idiot see that this woman was poison? Zach was only thankful that he had fo
und out now. That he hadn’t made a fool of himself. Again.

  “Another itch you have to scratch?”

  Anna turned away. “Freddie, I won’t be a minute.”

  The boy’s grin dimmed and something cold and hard entered his expression. He stood, moving close, and his hand briefly touched Anna’s jaw. “Are you sure?”

  Her fingertips brushed over the back of Freddie’s hand. The intimate gesture hollowed Zach’s chest and he had to look away.

  “I’ll be fine.” She waited until he left before she turned back to him. Fire burned through her gaze. “Get out, Zach.”

  “No.” He closed the distance between them. Anna continued to glare at him, her spine straight. “What the hell are you doing, Anna?”

  “You don’t own me.”

  His finger skimmed the edge of her jaw, tracing over Freddie’s touch. The muscles tightened. Had she just flinched? Zach’s fingers dropped away and his arm fell to his side. “Cover yourself up.”

  “You have no say over what I do.”

  “Is this who you want to be? Just like—” He stopped before he compared her to his ex-wife. “All right, Anna.” This was yet another business deal with a woman. Nothing more. Zach made himself believe it. “We can make a deal. We continue, with the agreement from you it’s on an exclusive basis. I will fund—” The flicker of horror across her face dried his words, dried his mouth. So that was a no. He pulled out his wallet and extracted one of his business cards. He held it out to Anna who just stared at it.

  “Contact my office. As I said before, we can come to a financial arrangement. On the understanding that you are never to speak of what happened between us. Agreed?”

  Anna’s face flushed. She walked towards the open doors leading out to the broad lawn. Slow fingers shifted over her loose top, covering her shoulders. “Your privacy must be protected at all costs.”

  He didn’t miss the edge of sarcasm to her voice. “Yes. You know that.”

  And then she muttered the words that had punched a hole through him. Turning, her face set hard, she said, “No. You know what? I’d rather give it away for free, to anyone who asks, than be paid for anything by you.”

  Zach had no memory of how he had gotten out of Gregory’s house after that.