by Linda Verji
Oh! So that’s how she’d gotten into his apartment? Worth watched her in awe as she slowly but determinedly made her way down their building. Why was he even surprised? This woman seemed like just the type of friend Sin might have.
Sin! The conversation with the petite intruder had been so scattered that he’d barely understood any of it. Maybe the flash-drive would explain everything. He swiftly strode away from the balcony, through his room and straight to the living room. The flash-drive was on the couch where he’d dropped it. He grabbed his laptop, turned it on and plugged in the device.
Minutes later, Worth was staring at his screen in absolute shock. What the hell was all this? Joel had been right about Claire one day pulling a stunt that just couldn’t be ignored. Blackmailing Sin was bad enough, but the stuff she was up to at the gallery was the kind of crap that could bring down not just her and her family, but Baron too.
Why hadn’t Sin told him all this before she left? Technically, he and his family were more powerful than Claire’s. With all this information about her misdeeds, they could’ve stopped her without Sin getting hurt. Why hadn’t she told him?
She was scared! Of course she was. She probably didn’t think that he’d protect her. And why would she? He’d never given her reason to think that she could just come to him. He’d never even tried to make her believe that he was different from Claire. All those things he’d said to her in the bathroom must have reinforced her opinion that trusting him would be a mistake.
Damn! What had he done? So this is what real regret felt like? He leaned back into the seat and covered his face. Sin’s friend was right? He owed Sin an apology. But would she even listen to him? After everything he’d done, after everything he’d said?
Damn! He’d messed up. He’d messed up bad.
* * *
WORTH’S FIRST LINE of attack was obvious; confirming that everything Sin’s friend had told him was true. And it was. Painfully true! Masterson had uncovered even more than what Sin and her friend had found out. The scale of Claire and her father’s crimes was eye-popping. Once it was revealed, it would rock the city’s financial and government foundation. Given the fact that Claire was married to a Ransom and Worth’s father often had business dealings with her father, it was obvious that the Ransoms would get affected too.
As soon as Worth had all his information, he went to see his brother.
“This is a surprise!” Baron welcomed him into his office with a wide grin. He led the way to the set of sofas at one end of the room and took a seat. “I thought you said you’d never step into RGC even if Dad sent a firing squad after you.”
“These are special circumstances.” Worth took the seat adjacent to his brother’s.
“Something to drink?” Baron offered when his assistant swept into the room with a tray of beverages and set them on the coffee-table.
“No, I’m good.” Worth gestured towards the tray. “But you help yourself. I know you don’t take breakfast at home.”
“Still remember that, huh?” Baron laughed as he picked up the pot of tea and poured some into a cup.
The ringing sound of Baron’s laugh sent guilt lancing through Worth. As much as he knew that this was necessary, he hated having to be the one to bring his brother pain. And Baron would be in pain. How could he not? Hearing how far off the rails the wife he loved so much was would surely hurt him.
“What’s with the serious look?” Baron cut into Worth’s thoughts. “You look like you’ve come to give me bad news.”
“I have.” Worth drew in a deep breath. “It’s about Claire…”
By the time he was done with his story, Baron looked like he was about to faint. All the blood had gone from his face and it was now a worrying gray. His hands shook as he set his cup back on the coffee-table.
“Are-“ Baron swallowed hard. “Are you sure about all this?”
“I wouldn’t come to you if I wasn’t.”
Baron wiped his palm over his face. “Shit!”
That alone was enough to let Worth know how shocked his brother was. Baron never cussed.
“I’m sorry.” Worth watched his brother in concern.
“It’s not your fault.” Baron dragged in a deep breath as if to compose himself. When he sat up straighter, his expression was unreadable. However, his face was just as pale. “What are we going to do about this?”
“You know what we have to do,” Worth said softly.
His brother sighed. “I know.”
If Senior was in their place, he would’ve tried to cover it all up. But Worth and Baron were different. Even if their consciences weren’t still intact, they were both smart enough to realize that this was a ticking time-bomb. It was too big to stay under water for much longer. One day it would surely blow up, and when it did it would cause damage. The only reasonable path now was to control that damage.
“I’ll have to talk to Gabriel Salazar,” Baron said, mentioning the current District Attorney. “Do you still have his number?”
“I can do it,” Worth offered quickly. “You don’t have to get involved.”
“You know I do.” Baron smiled tiredly. “She’s my wife. And this way, it will be obvious that neither I nor our family was involved.”
Though Baron’s tone was even, Worth was sure that he wasn’t thrilled at the thought of betraying his own wife. So he suggested, “Why don’t you talk to her first? Maybe you can get her to give herself up to the cops before this whole thing gets out of hand.”
“She’ll never do it. And if I tell her what we know, she’ll just do worse things to bury it deeper.” Baron closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I know my wife.”
“You two won’t survive if you do this,” Worth warned.
“I know.” His brother met his eyes. “But I always knew we wouldn’t last.”
“What?” Worth frowned. “I thought you loved her.”
“I did. I still do. But she doesn’t love me.” Baron smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I’ve always known that.”
Even though he knew it wasn’t his fault that Claire had settled on Baron only because he refused to give her the time of day, Worth still couldn’t help the instant remorse that swept through him.
“I’m sure she loved you in her own way,” Worth soothed.
Baron’s loud guffaw was answer enough. He didn’t believe that.
The two brothers spent the next hour planning how to deal with the ramifications of this fiasco on their respective companies and families. Unfortunately, there were no words that Worth could say that would make his brother feel better about what he was about to do. Still, it had to be done.
Now that that problem was on its way to getting fixed, Worth still had another problem. Sin.
What was he going to do about her? The more he thought about everything she’d done to protect him from Claire, the more certain he was that her feelings for him were genuine. And it only made him want her back. The only problem was; would she even accept him? Sure, she might’ve had feelings for him, but their last meeting could’ve erased all that. She probably hated him right now, and he couldn’t blame her. He deserved all the hate. He was tempted to head straight to New York, get on his knees, beg for her forgiveness and ask her to come back with him. But he knew he couldn’t. Not yet.
Things were about to get hot around here. If she came back to Portland, she’d get caught in the crossfire. Claire would probably try to drag her into this whole mess. No, he couldn’t let that happen. Though he ached to have her close to him, he knew that she was safer in New York. But once things calmed down….
CHAPTER 22
~ Three Months Later ~
“I still can’t get used to it,” Kelly, who was seated at the table behind the one Sin was currently wiping, whispered.
“I know, right?” A.J, who was with Kelly, agreed. “Can you believe that she’s actually working?”
Sin turned to glare at her friends. “I can hear you two, you know.”
“Sorry.” Kelly offered her a sheepish grin.
“I’m sorry-” A.J stroked her now very-pronounced baby bump. “- but I just can’t get used to the sight of you doing manual labor. I thought you said being beautiful was your job.”
Sin shrugged. “I changed my mind.”
After coming back from Portland, Sin knew that she needed to find something to do otherwise she’d end up locking herself up in her apartment in depression. Luckily, Teddy, the owner of Lani’s Café, had agreed to take her on as a waitress. It had turned out to be one of the best jobs she could’ve taken since most days she was too busy to get lost in her thoughts. Which left the nights… but that was another story.
“You changed your mind? Just like that?” A.J’s eyes narrowed. “What happened out there in Portland? You haven’t been the same since you came back.”
What had changed? Everything! For one, dealing with Claire had convinced Sin that it was time to go straight – for real. As much as she’d enjoyed her Captain Save-A-Scorned-Woman phase, it’d proved to be too risky an occupation. Worse, it’d led to her losing the man she loved. Fresh pain shuttled through her at the thought of him.
Yes! Even now, four months later, she still hadn’t gotten over Worth. The memory of him and the painful way they’d parted was still as fresh as ever. It didn’t help that she actively searched the interweb everyday just to make sure that Claire wasn’t messing with him.
It was a good thing she’d kept up with news about Worth otherwise she’d never have known that Claire had been busted. How the lady’s illicit operation had been exposed was anyone’s guess since it sure as hell wasn’t Sin’s doing. While the trial was ongoing, Sin had had daily nightmares that the cops would show up on her doorstep to arrest her and Ten. But it hadn’t happened. Even better, Worth seemed to have emerged from the whole scandal without any wounds. Last Sin had read, W Sport was as fine as ever.
Still, that hadn’t stopped her from thinking about him, wondering how he was doing and what he was doing. Had he forgotten her yet? Probably! And if she had any common sense, she’d forget him too. Unfortunately common sense wasn’t her forte.
“Sin!” Kelly dragged her back into present time. “Are you listening to me?”
“Hmm?” Sin turned her attention back to her friend. “What were you saying?”
“I was asking if something happened out there that you’re not telling us.”
“No, nothing happened!” Sin lied.
Frankly, she was too embarrassed to tell her friends the truth. Telling the truth would mean confessing that she wasn’t quite as free of her criminal past as she’d led them to believe, and that she’d lied about the whole ‘friend has cancer’ thing. It would mean revealing that Claire had taken her for a ride, and that she’d fallen for a guy who would never love her. It was just too embarrassing.
“Something must’ve happened,” Kelly insisted. Her brow furrowed in concern, she added, “Otherwise you wouldn’t have come back so early.”
“Did something happen to your friend…. What was her name again?” A.J rubbed her forehead as if to beckon the memory. “Ah! I remember… Claire. Did something happen to Claire?”
Yeah! She’s in jail right now.
Fortunately Sin didn’t have to come up with a lie because Ten walked in right then. Sin excitedly called out, “Hey, look who just walked in?”
“Hah! So she finally shows up?” Kelly’s lips tightened into an angry line as her gaze swept towards Ten. When Ten was close enough, she confronted her. “Hey, are you ignoring my calls?”
“Yes,” Ten retorted unrepentantly as she strode towards the three women.
“Yes? Did you just say yes?” Kelly gave Ten an offended look. “Why?”
“Because I know what you want and I’m not doing it.” Ten took the seat beside A.J.
“Come on, it’s just one date,” Kelly wheedled.
“One date with a detective.” Ten snorted. “Yeah! That’s not happening.”
“Are you trying to set my sister up with a detective?” A.J’s eyes twinkled with merriment. “Seriously?”
Sin couldn’t believe it either. “Does he know what she does in her spare time?”
“No, but he’s interested in her and he keeps begging Spencer to set them up on a date.” Kelly coaxed, “One date with him wouldn’t be so bad. It’s just a meal after all-”
“… which could end with me in handcuffs.” Ten stared at her like she’d lost her mind. “Girl, you crazy!”
“No, think about it…” Kelly said just as the wind-chimes atop the front door jingled indicating the arrival of a new customer.
Sin shuffled off to cater to the customer while her friends sat at their table chatting and generally just being the noisy group that they were. Even though Ten was the only one who knew what had happened in Portland, being around Kelly and A.J was still a comfort for Sin. There’s was just something about being with her friends that made her realize that her situation wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. Yeah! Worth was gone. But at least she still had friends.
Even though the months after Sin and Worth’s separation had been painful, they’d brought much needed perspective. Their parting was for the best. In the long run, things between them would’ve never worked out. They were just too different. He was Wentworth Ransom III, and she was Tamsin Jacob. They came for two different worlds separated by a line that no one could cross without getting seriously burnt. And she had the scars to prove it.
“Another cappuccino here,” a customer called out to her.
Sin rushed to serve him. Given that it was a Saturday, people kept walking in; from hipsters to seniors, couples to friends, families to singles. Sin spent the next two hours on her feet either serving customers or stopping by her friends’ table to catch up on their gossip.
Her legs were aching so much that when the wind-chimes at the front door rang again, she actually sighed. “Not another one.”
“Another what?” A.J asked.
Sin turned to towards the door. “Another cust-”
The moment she saw who’d just walked in, the blood drained from her face and she took a step back. Was she seeing things? She’d missed him so much that she was hallucinating him, right?
“What’s he doing here?” Ten’s voice cut into Sin’s stupor.
In that moment Sin realized that she wasn’t seeing things. She wasn’t mistaken. Wentworth Ransom The Third had just walked into Lani’s Café.
“Who? The guy who just walked in?” A.J asked. “Do you know him?”
But before Ten could answer, Kelly let out a little scream. “Sin! You’re spilling coffee on the floor.”
“Wha- what?” Sin lowered her gaze only to find out that her hand had gone lax and the pot she was holding was almost upside down. “Sorry… sorry.”
Her heart thudding wildly out of control, she set the pot on the table. But even then she couldn’t keep her gaze from wandering back to him. What the hell was he doing here, big as life and looking better than ever? He’d grown his hair a little longer so that it brushed his nape. The hairstyle still suited him, and it matched perfectly with the lumberjack look he was spotting; plaid shirt, denim pants and brown boots.
He looked around the café as if searching for something… someone. Soon, he found her. His eyes lit up and his lips spread into a grin as he started towards her.
Sin wanted to move. She wanted to run far, far away where he couldn’t catch her, but her feet refused to move. It was almost as if they were glued to the floor. Her friends were saying something, asking her questions about who the man was, but their voices were like the buzzing of bees in her ears. Everything in her was focused on Worth.
His grin widened when he finally got to her. “Hi, Sin.”
Seeing that grin sent anger shooting through her. How could he smile after everything that happened? How could he smile after breaking her heart? How could he smile after ignoring her for four months?
Four m
onths!
Without conscious thought, she grabbed the coffee pot. Worth barely had time to duck as the heavy pot sailed toward his head. The shattering sound of glass crashing into the wood floor brought the whole café to a standstill. Sin could feel everyone’s eyes on her and Worth but she didn’t care. All that mattered was that he was here, and that her whole body was battling over how to react to it.
Part of her wanted to jump into his arms and tell him that she’d missed him. The other part of her wanted to punch him and tell him to get the hell out of here. But she could do neither. Instead, she jerkily removed her apron and tossed it on the floor, revealing the denim shorts and tank-top she wore beneath. Ignoring the tempting feel of his heat as she skirted past him, she stomped out of the restaurant.
Once outside, she took the stairs on the right side of the café and headed straight to her apartment. Her fingers were trembling so badly that it was hard to fit her key into the lock, but somehow she managed it. Once she was in there, she sat on the bed, breathing heavily and trying to steady her pounding heart.
What was he doing here? Why was he here? How had he found her?
She didn’t even realize that she hadn’t locked the door until she heard the doorknob turn. Her shocked gaze flew to the door and her pulse sped up. It slowly opened, and he appeared. Instantly, she shot to her feet.
“What are you doing here?” Her voice was high-pitched and filled with all her anxiety and fear.
“I came to see you.” He closed the door behind him. The grin was gone now and replacing it was caution and concern.
She swallowed. “Why?”
“You know why,” he said. By the huskiness in his voice she knew he was relieving the memories of their time together. His voice surrounded her, as if he were physically touching her, reminding her of how it’d felt to be touched by him.
She immediately shook her head. “No, I don’t know why you’re here.”