by Elle Keating
Peyton swiped his phone. “Why would you do that?” she asked. The worry in his eyes made her heart skip. “I’m fine, Luke. Really, I am. I would tell you if I wasn’t.” Peyton leaned in and kissed the worry off his face. “This was the closure I needed, as morbid as that sounds.”
Luke nodded and sighed before folding Peyton into his arms once more. “I want you to have a good time with Lainey today, but I also want you to call me if you need me. Okay?”
Peyton peered up at him and smiled. “I love you,” she said.
The love she saw reflecting back at her brought tears to her eyes. He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and said, “Why me, Peyton?”
“Because you know. You know everything, yet you still look at me like I’m the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen.” She sniffled and blinked back the tears. “And because I trust that you will never hurt me.”
His hands cupped her face and she thought he was going to kiss her. But all he did was stare at her mouth and then zero in on her eyes. “You are beautiful. But your beauty, what the cameras and the media see, that’s not what made me hop on a plane to Italy…or what made me take your hand in the shower…allowed your fingers to touch the scars on my back. It was you, Peyton. It was the woman beneath. The strong, selfless woman I love. The one woman I would never be able to live without.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Luke
The last thing he had wanted to do was leave Peyton this afternoon and go to work. Especially after learning that her mother had been found dead. But Peyton had insisted on keeping the wedding photographer appointment she and Lainey had made and that he should go to the winery. Which meant he was in a crappy mood. All he wanted was to be with her right now. Lying in their bed, holding and making love to her.
But he again had to be the proper host. Around five o’clock the party guests from the law firm that had rented out the main banquet hall for their company Christmas party were starting to file in. He didn’t need to stay long, just enough to consult with the kitchen and wait staff and ensure that they had everything they needed. His dad had left less than an hour ago to pick up his mom and head to Philadelphia. Although his parents had recently returned from their weeklong stay with Jake and Morgan, they felt the need to visit their son and his fiancée and Luke couldn’t blame them. His parents already loved Morgan like a daughter and now that she was carrying Jake’s child, well, Luke wouldn’t be surprised if they asked the poor couple if they could move in so they could dote on their new grandbaby as much as possible. And that got Luke thinking. There was no doubt that his dad would want to see his new grandchild every chance he got when he or she arrived. He didn’t think his dad would want to retire from the business completely, but everything told him that his dad would want to scale back and make time for Jake and his young family.
Which meant that Luke would need help running the winery. And there was no one he wanted at his side, overseeing his dream, and making it flourish more than Peyton. But would she want to fulfill that role? Although he wouldn’t be ripping her away from a job or career as she had recently retired from modeling, he wasn’t sure if she would even want to help him, let alone be his partner and run a business that he loved. Maybe she already had her sights on something else, some career that she may have always wanted. They hadn’t really talked about what she wanted to do, career-wise at least, with the rest of her life, but then her modeling days had just ended and because she was so financially stable there was no urgent need to get a job.
Thoughts of how to bring up the subject with Peyton were swirling around his head when he heard a female voice ask from behind, “Excuse me, you wouldn’t happen to know where the ladies’ room would be?”
“Certainly. Straight down that hallway, first door to the left,” he said as he turned and faced an attractive blonde. For a second he thought he was going to have to repeat himself, because she just stood there, her eyes wide and looking dazed as hell. He took a closer look, only to determine if she was intoxicated or impaired in some way, but her eyes appeared clear and focused.
Too focused.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as waves of nausea threatened to knock him off his feet. Something was wrong. This woman…was wrong. And then she spoke and everything made such sickening sense.
“Your voice…I know it…I know you,” she said, her mouth agape. She raised her trembling hand to her lips and said, “From Eden.”
Those waves of nausea caused what was left of his lunch to rise to the back of his throat. He swallowed hard, forcing himself to get a grip and not heave at the foot of a woman he had apparently blindfolded and fucked at some point in his life. What were the odds that a woman he had been with at Eden would show up as a party guest at his winery, identify him by voice alone, when he had just found Peyton and the life he had always thought was unobtainable?
As much as he hated to lie and take the coward’s way out, he did just that and told the woman that she was mistaken. To solidify the charade, he played dumb and even went as far as asking her what and where Eden was. By the end of the short conversation, he had her apologizing and blushing profusely for her mistake and she practically ran to the bathroom, embarrassed as hell.
But there was no time to sigh in relief. He may have dodged a bullet, but he knew in his gut that they would just keep on coming. First the contract, now this? They were signs, clear-cut, glaringly obvious ones that he needed to heed or else he would lose Peyton. Without another thought, he withdrew his phone from his suitcoat pocket and dialed Ashton and asked her to meet him at Eden. As always, she didn’t ask too many questions, which was good because he didn’t want to have the conversation he planned to have over the phone. This needed to be done face to face. It was what Ashton deserved. It was what was owed. After Ashton agreed to see him within the hour, he ended the call and started for the front door, where more party guests were arriving. He forced a smile and greeted them as warmly as he could and made his way out of the winery and to his truck.
He was halfway to Atlantic City when he dialed Peyton and told her that he was running late because he had an impromptu meeting with his business partner. He was met with a few seconds of silence and then she told him to be careful. It was a typical response, one that he believed many couples said to each other, but something didn’t sit right. There was disappointment in her voice and something he could only describe as suspicion. It was his nerves, his paranoia messing with his head. Peyton didn’t know. She couldn’t. With the exception of the contract mishap, he had been careful and had successfully concealed his connection to Eden. And after tonight, there would be nothing linking him to his sordid past.
Again his thoughts circled back to Ashton. Ashton would be disappointed, as they had grown to be friends as well as business partners, but deep down he had a feeling she would understand. He had never told Ashton what had happened to him when he was a kid, but somehow she knew, or at least sensed enough to realize that he had been severely traumatized. He also got the sense that she had been abused in more ways than one, but he had never asked. Because then things would have gotten personal and that couldn’t happen. And that was exactly why their unusual relationship had worked. And why they had connected from the very first time they met all those years ago…
He hadn’t had the nerve or the money to do what he had envisioned for over a decade. But things had changed. His winery was thriving and the money he had invested, thanks to Jim, was paying off big. Standing in front of the dilapidated and vacant apartment building, a sense of calm came over him as he realized that he was finally in the position to bury, burn, or demolish his past for good. But his fantasy to destroy the hell he had called home for the first eight years of his life was interrupted by a man and woman’s voices to his right.
“So are you real competition or just window shopping?” the attractive blonde asked. She eyed him from head to toe before giving him a sexy smile. “Because I’m prepared to close on this place
as soon as possible.” The man she was with wore a suit and tie and stared at Luke like he was a nuisance he wasn’t in the mood to deal with.
This property was going to belong to him, to do with what he so chose and nobody, not this pretty woman or the stuffy suit she was with were going to derail his plans. “I don’t window shop,” he said, putting his focus back on the building.
“Philip, can you give me a minute?” the woman asked from behind. Luke heard stuffy suit let out an agitated huff and return to his car. “Realtors,” she said with a chuckle. The woman stepped closer until she was at his side. “So what are your plans?”
“With what?” he asked, his eyes darting to his right. She seemed perfectly at ease talking to a strange man on the Atlantic City sidewalk, especially in this rundown section of town.
“With the building.”
“To level it…until there’s nothing left.” He didn’t mean for his answer to come out so harshly but standing there in front of the very place that still haunted him made his blood boil and his temper flare.
The woman turned and positioned herself in front of him. “And then what?” Her eyes searched his as she smiled. But then her smile faded, and he noticed her slight intake of breath. In that brief exchange, as they stared at each other in silence, somehow they conveyed everything and nothing. It should have freaked him the hell out, but it didn’t. The stranger in front of him somehow knew the particular brand of pain he suffered from.
“I haven’t thought that far ahead…only that I want it destroyed.” He didn’t know what possessed him to open up to her, but it was as if he couldn’t help it, as if it was meant for him to be there at the exact moment she and her realtor had come to scope out this lousy piece of property.
The woman stepped back until she was once again at his side and looked up at the building. “Although it’s hard to envision, this part of town is up and coming. Mark my words, this section of Atlantic City will be teeming with people…the kind of people who like to spend money and forget about life for a while.”
“Sounds like you already know what you want to do with the building.”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. This would be a perfect site for one of my clubs.”
Luke let out a little snort and asked, “Doesn’t Atlantic City already have plenty of bars and clubs?”
The woman giggled, not in a condescending way, but one that said she was amused and enjoying herself. “I don’t think we’re talking about the same type of club.” He turned and faced her. Her hand was extended as she said, “My name is Ashton Coe.” He shook her hand and smiled at her. “Would you like to grab a cup of coffee? I have a business proposition I would like to discuss, one that could benefit us both.”
Ten minutes later, they were sitting in some coffee house a few streets over. By the end of the week, the papers were drawn up and signed and he officially became co-owner of Eden, a club that was at his disposal at any given moment. No longer would he have to resort to prostitutes to satisfy his need for emotionless sex. Eden would be his haven, a place where he could be with women without hurting them or letting them down, a place where needs could be met and desires fulfilled.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Peyton
Peyton had just dropped Lainey off at her house when Luke had called to tell her that he had a meeting with his business partner. Although she had no right, she was jealous of a woman she had never met, one who had been in Luke’s life long before Peyton had come along. But she couldn’t help herself and as if it had a mind of its own, her car found its way to the side of the road. With the car still running but safely out of the flow of traffic, she whipped out her phone and Googled Ashton Coe. She had been tempted to do this the moment she found that contract, but Luke had distracted her and kept her distracted most of the night. And then she had learned that her mother was found dead.
Focus.
Photos of a beautiful blue-eyed blonde flooded her phone and she decided in that split second that she hated this woman. If the photos were recent, Ashton Coe most likely hovered somewhere in her mid-thirties, though she wouldn’t have been surprised to learn she was completely off base. Peyton continued to scroll through the countless articles that identified her as a business owner who grossed millions. Nothing screamed at her to press on a particular link until the last swipe of her thumb. And then she saw it. The four-letter word that made her want to lean out the driver’s side window and puke all over the highway.
Ashton Coe was the owner and founder of the Eden club chain. According to the article, she opened her first sex club in Miami ten years ago and from there it took off, with her clubs now sprinkled throughout the nation, though she considered her home base to be at Atlantic City’s Eden.
This time Peyton didn’t just imagine sticking her head out the window to regurgitate everything she had eaten for lunch; she threw open the driver’s side door and vomited as the cars raced by her. This wasn’t happening. Luke, the man she was in love with, lived with, and imagined spending the rest of her life with, could not be linked to Eden. Maybe Ashton Coe had other businesses not related to Eden…like renovating old buildings. What did Luke say when Peyton had stumbled across the contract and asked if he and Ashton flipped properties?
Something like that.
That had been his response. And then shortly thereafter he was making love to her on his couch, ridding her head of Ashton Coe and that damn contract, a contract for a New York City property.
Another Eden? One that would be co-owned by Luke?
After her stomach was emptied and she fought through a few dry heaves, Peyton wiped her mouth with some tissues from her purse, put the car in drive and headed to the only place she could think of. If she was wrong, then she would adjust and confront him some other way. But the way her gut twisted and contracted, the way the bile continued to rise in her throat, told her that her trip to Atlantic City would not be in vain.
***
Luke
Just as he suspected, Ashton had been disappointed, but she had understood why their partnership had to end and why he asked her to buy him out. But what he didn’t see coming was how happy she seemed to be when he told her about Peyton and how in love he was with her. Ashton Coe, the savvy and tough-as-nails businesswoman, had actually teared up and wished him well. On her way out the door, she had told him that she would have the paperwork drawn up to legally dissolve the partnership. Luke had grabbed her hand and pulled her into a hug, which was something he had never done before. She had buried her face in his chest and sniffled. They both knew that their partnership wasn’t the only thing that was coming to an end. This was most likely the last time they would see each other because that was what had to be done. He needed to sever himself completely from Eden if he was ever going to have the life he wanted with Peyton. After a few seconds Ashton had stepped out of his embrace, wiped her eyes with her fingertips and had given him a quick but tender kiss, one that said, you’re welcome, thank you, and goodbye, and left.
Now alone, Luke looked around at what he had once considered his room, a room in which he had brought many women pleasure. Luke then peered out the window and saw the old Catholic church across the street. It had been a comforting sight when he was a child and so were the bells that chimed on the hour. His gaze shifted above the buildings until he found the other landmark that he had fixated on while he and his brothers were basically held prisoner. The water tower on top of a building several blocks away looked exactly the same all these years later. With a red peak and a white barrel, the tower always reminded him of Santa Claus for some reason, though he had had no reason back then to believe in the jolly old elf who supposedly brought good little boys and girls presents on Christmas Eve. Because no matter how good he and his brothers had been, no matter how hard they had tried to listen and not make their mom mad, that chubby man had never visited 264 Chauffer Street, Apartment 41. Not once.
No, he would not miss this room, this life. Actually, with eac
h passing second he grew more agitated, more disgusted for occupying the space. He needed to get back to Peyton, to the one woman who brought him peace. He took one last look at the world below, at the view he’d had growing up, and turned…and nearly fell to his knees.
He hadn’t heard the door open, the one he hadn’t bothered locking, because the club hadn’t opened yet. And he hadn’t heard footsteps or felt the presence of another because his mind had been occupied and focused on a past that was best left forgotten. But now as the woman he loved stood before him shaking with tears in her eyes, he knew that his past had caught up with him and there was nowhere left to run.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Peyton
The door at the end of the hallway suddenly opened, prompting Peyton to duck back into the stairwell. Luckily, the person who exited the room walked in the opposite direction of Peyton, but she had seen enough to know that the woman was Ashton Coe. Peyton’s claws came out and fresh tears formed. She hated where her mind had taken her. Maybe there was a perfectly good explanation for why Luke was meeting with his business partner at Eden in one of its playrooms, just three doors down from the room in which she had witnessed a roleplay that had hit too close to home.
Ask first. Freak out later.
Peyton wiped away the tears, though she knew it was pointless. New ones took their place as she pressed on and entered the unlocked room. Luke was standing at the window, his back to her, appearing lost in the world below. He suddenly turned and she froze. Shock mixed with fear as his eyes met hers. The way the color drained from his face, how his fists clenched at his sides, told her that he had never seen this coming. Standing face to face in a room at Eden, he looked like she felt: confused, scared and on the verge of being sick.