by AK Leigh
She scoffed, ‘Oh, so you’re blaming me for this? That’s just …’ She shook her head, disgust showing on her face.
‘I’m not blaming you, I’m trying to show you why I didn’t have the chance to explain my real motives before now.’
‘None of what you’ve told me is a good excuse, Gabe.’
‘You haven’t let me explain yet.’
Somewhat childishly, she barked, ‘Why should I?’
Nope, she wasn’t caving yet.
‘Because I love you and I know you love me too.’
She could deny it and refuse to say it as much as she wanted, but he’d seen the way she’d been looking at him today: like he was the only water in a barren desert.
‘Stop with that nonsense already. You’re not in love with me. It’s only been a week. It’s impossible.’
‘I fell in love with you the moment I saw you.’
She puffed out an exasperated breath, ‘What, from a photo in a paper? Give me a break. That’s not reality, that’s fantasy.’
‘That’s what I used to think too, but now I feel … maybe it was …’
His expression did something odd, like a half-wrinkle, and all of a sudden she filled in the blank of what he’d left unsaid.
She yanked from his grasp, ‘Don’t you dare tell me it was meant to be.’
‘Why not? You believe in all that stuff as much as I do.’
***
Was he for real? First he’d lied to her, second he’d kept secrets from her, and now he was trying to use her romantic nature against her? What a jerk.
‘Don’t presume to tell me what I believe. You don’t even know me. How can you after a week?’
If she kept emphasising it, maybe he would realise how ridiculous it sounded. Perhaps she would too?
He lowered his gaze. ‘You’re right. I’m sorry.’
She grunted, ‘Of course you are.’
They always were. The liars and cheats.
He glanced up, ‘What does that mean?’
‘Nothing.’
He wasn’t worth the effort it would take to elaborate. She’d heard the caught-in-the-act apologies before. The One wouldn’t do this to her. She’d been letting her hormones control her heart and brain for too long. It was time to end it. This time, at least she had no guilt over the decision. Heartache, on the other hand …
‘You think I’m being insincere, don’t you?’
‘I don’t know what you’re being, Gabe. That’s the problem. You’ve lied to me from the start. How can you expect me to start believing you now?’
There was a pregnant pause. Then he muttered, ‘I guess I can’t.’
***
She said nothing. He wasn’t sure whether that was a blessing or a curse. Like she’d pointed out, he didn’t know her well enough to have a definitive answer. Either way, his chest felt like it had been cut in half, like he was the volunteer in a magician’s saw-and-box trick.
She threw him a hurt glare. ‘No. I guess not.’
He opened his mouth to say something, he wasn’t sure what, but the impulse was there anyway. She spun around, making it clear the time for talking was over. In chilly silence, he watched her collect her things.
Should he stop her?
He took a step toward her then paused. She didn’t trust him and he didn’t blame her. He’d betrayed her trust. Suddenly all the excuses he’d come up with a week earlier seemed hollow and pointless. And though it was true he didn’t know her as well as he would have liked, he knew her well enough to know that she would not give him another chance. She would take this as proof that he wasn’t The One. That much he did know about her.
He had to let her go. So he did. He let her stalk from his apartment without a backward glance. He didn’t stop her. Still, even though his body stayed behind, he felt his heart leave with her. He sighed. He was a damn idiot. He’d lost Elizabeth and there was nothing he could do about it. Worse than that, it was all his fault.
Chapter 30
‘How could I have been so dumb?’
‘Oh, Lizzie. I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.’
‘How is this your fault, Neens?’
She knew her sister felt bad when she didn’t correct her use of the nickname she hated in her reply. ‘I’m the one who encouraged you to give this guy a shot.’
‘And I’m the one who told you to sleep with him.’
She glanced at Carrie, who had a deep frown etched across her face.
She gave each of them a reassuring rub on the arm, ‘This is neither of your fault. It’s mine. What was I thinking? And why didn’t I do a profile on him? It was such a rookie mistake. I knew something wasn’t right; I knew he was hiding something. But I let my stupid heart and emotions and lust take control.’
Nina rubbed her back, ‘Emotions aren’t stupid. You fell in love, that’s all. Not the first woman to do that.’
Lizzie scoffed, ‘No. I need to get these silly ideas of love and romance out of my head and come back to reality, exactly like I’ve been told my whole life. There’s no such thing as true love. The One doesn’t exist.’
It felt like her entire soul deflated with the words.
A few moments of silence passed before Nina spoke up, ‘No. Stuff that Lizzie. Believing in love and romance is what makes you you. Don’t change your point of view to fit in with the world, make the world fit in to your point of view.’
She flashed her sister a forced smile. It was a cute sentiment, but she wasn’t convinced it was realistic.
‘I agree.’
Lizzie threw Carrie a look down her nose.
Her younger sister lifted her palms, ‘I know, I’m as shocked as you are, and if you tell anyone what I am about to say, I will deny it, then kill you.’ Lizzie and Nina chuckled as Carrie continued, ‘I believe in The One too, and you deserve him if he exists.’
Lizzie raised an eyebrow, ‘You believe in The One.’
‘Of course I do. So does Nina.’
Lizzie looked at her big sister, ‘Really?’
Nina nodded, ‘We’re just not as romantic about it as you are. That’s not to say that you should be like us. You are a compassionate, intelligent, loving woman. You deserve the greatest happiness. Why should you settle for less?’
Carried added, ‘You shouldn’t.’
‘We were wrong to interfere at all. This is your life and we want you to be happy. If waiting for the perfect man makes you happy, we will support you.’
‘Yeah, no more interference from us.’
Lizzie snorted, ‘Yeah, right,’ then pulled her sisters into a hug. ‘I love you.’
‘We love you, too.’
‘God, I miss Mum and Dad.’
Carrie and Nine replied together, ‘Me too.’
‘What would I do without you?’
Nina answered, ‘Hopefully we won’t need to answer that question for a long, long time.’
Her sisters squeezed her tighter. Never had she been more grateful to have them.
The embrace came to an abrupt end when Nina pulled away and muttered, ‘What the hell?’
She was staring in the direction of the muted television.
Lizzie turned her head and immediately saw the cause of the reaction from her big sister. Across the bottom of the screen, was the headline Rumours confirmed: former Russian Winter Olympian, Andrei Strasinski, to compete for Australia next year.
Uh-oh.
Andrei was the man who’d broken Nina’s heart eight years earlier. The reason she didn’t like being called Neens.
When she turned back around, Nina was upright, with her back to the television and the fingers of one hand picking in a nervous gesture at her bottom lip.
Though it was soft, Lizzie heard Nina say, ‘At least I won’t be competing. I won’t have to see him. That’s something.’
Lizzie peeked over at Carrie, who threw her a ‘we have to do something’ look.
Together, they stood, made their way to Nina, and continue
d the comforting embrace from earlier.
After a few moments in silence, Carrie quipped, ‘Bloody hell, all we need is Rake to show up at my door and we have a frickin’ trifecta.’ She glanced at the door, as if she’d spoken a prophecy. When no knock ensued, she returned her attention to them. ‘I think we all need a decent dose of ice-cream.’
‘Or a shot of tequila.’
Carrie gave her a smirk, ‘I have some of that too, if you’re serious.’
‘I’m in.’
Nina nodded, ‘Me too.’
Carrie grinned, ‘Follow me.’
They followed Carrie to her fridge in silence. Their little sister pulled out a tub covered in frost crystals, set it down on the countertop, and pulled out three spoons from a drawer underneath. Next came the tequila—worm-free for vegetarians—and three shot glasses.
As the three of them began eating straight from the container, Lizzie was glad to have someone else’s love problems to focus on. Distraction was exactly the way to get Gabriel Montcoeur out of her mind. She frowned. How was she going to get him out of her heart?
As if reading her thoughts, Carrie slid a shot glass into her line of sight. ‘Drink up.’
Chapter 31
Don Silkstone
Don ended the call he’d been on and placed his phone on the bedside table. It had only taken five hours to get what he’d wanted. Not bad. Though he knew having money, a pristine reputation, and the high status that a senator was often afforded, as well as a discreet personal assistant, had helped to move things along.
Now he only had to wait for a report back on Clay Baronie from the private detective he’d hired, then the plan could go ahead. He checked his watch. Ten pm. He would need to get enough rest tonight so he could be up early tomorrow to snap together all the parts of his plan.
There was a knock at his door.
He turned toward it and grinned. It was her. He’d forgotten she was coming back tonight. Good girl for remembering. He’d have to reward her. Or not.
He stood, ‘Coming,’ then made his way to the door.
As expected, the woman the concierge had set him up with was standing outside his hotel room.
She beamed and greeted, ‘Hello, Master.’
He yanked her inside and slammed the door shut behind them. So much for getting enough rest tonight.
Chapter 32
Lizzie exhaled and tossed her blankets aside. If she couldn’t sleep, she was at least going to be productive. She ignored the part of her brain that told her the inability to sleep had actually been caused by a certain man she couldn’t get out of her thoughts. Not even tequila shots and ice-cream had helped.
She found her notepad and flicked it to a fresh page. Between press conferences and Gabe, she hadn’t had another chance to work on the profile. She scribbled down: Crime assessment: Suspect was punched in the face (why?) then hit on the head with a blunt object (what?). She was wrapped haphazardly in a sheet —was she already clothed or did the killer dress her?—moved to the Pontomic River (most common method is by car), and dumped there. Due to no other marks or trauma on her body, the killer must have assumed she was dead after the hit to the head, driven her to the river, probably to hide the body, then threw her in, causing her to die by drowning. The ropes suggest a need to control the victim.
That made her pause for a moment.
Then she continued making notes: why did the offender need to control the victim? Did the suspect hit her on the head because she tried to escape? How could she have tried to escape if she was tied up? Unless she was tied up after she tried to escape?
She shook her head. That didn’t make sense. Maryann was unconscious after the hit to the head, making the killer think she was dead, so why would the killer have tied her up?
‘This makes no sense. Ugh!’
Frustration made her toss the pad to the floor. She would do this case no good if she couldn’t give it the attention it deserved. She would need to find some other way to keep her mind off Gabriel Montcoeur.
Chapter 33
The words wouldn’t leave his brain. You’ve lied to me from the start. How can you expect me to start believing you now?
He lifted a hand to his face and dragged it downward. No matter how hard he’d tried to get his mind to focus on something else, it wouldn’t. He exhaled and leaned back in his chair. Maybe a walk around the campus could clear his head?
Five seconds into the walk, he realised what a mistake that plan had been. Everywhere he turned, it reminded him of the day Elizabeth had shown him around. When she’d shared her most personal story with him. Why hadn’t he told her his own story after she’d told him about her parents’ murder? He’d been too worried about wording it right so it wouldn’t sound like he was a stalker. The problem was, now that it was out, that’s exactly what it sounded like.
If he hadn’t been such a coward, things would be different now.
He shook his head. Cowardice wasn’t the problem. Selfishness had been. He’d been so desperate and focused on getting closure for his family members’ murders that he hadn’t really considered the impact of his motives on Elizabeth. Or her sisters.
From the outside, it did seem like he’d used her for a story, or was a crazy stalker. Heck, he’d thought the same thing himself, hadn’t he? She was justified in that accusation. She also had every right to be upset with him about keeping secrets and lying to her. The basis of every relationship should be trust. He’d been lied to by lovers in the past. He knew the sting it in caused in your heart. And he’d done that to Elizabeth.
Shame filled his stomach, making him feel full and blocked.
If he really loved her, he would have told her the truth right away. It’s what he’d expected from his own lovers.
More of her words the day before came: that’s not reality, that’s fantasy.
Perhaps she was right? Had it all been fantasy on his end? He thought about the newspaper clipping that had started this whole thing. His heart still stirred, the way it had the first time he’d seen it. This had to be love. If not, what else could explain how he felt about her? Was he going crazy? Was he some kind of psychopath? A stalker, like she’d accused?
Was love-at-first-sight purely based on lust?
He sighed.
This wasn’t real. It was a fantasy, just like Elizabeth had said. The moment he got back to his apartment, he was going to throw away that article and forget about finding answers from his past. It was time to move on with his life.
Chapter 34
Don Silkstone
‘You will trail him to make sure and let me know if anything changes?’
‘Of course.’
Don let a wide smile creep over his lips, ‘Excellent. Thank you.’
He ended the call and made another one.
The person on the other end answered. ‘Yeah, this is Dax.’
‘Hi, it’s Stephen.’
He was smart enough not to use his real name. If the cops or anyone else overheard the conversation, he had plausible deniability that it was he who had been speaking.
‘Hello, sir.’
‘You’re prepared?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘You know what you are supposed to say?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Excellent. Wait until I give you the final go ahead in a few hours. Other than that, it should still be as we discussed.’
‘I’ll be ready, sir.’
They said their goodbyes and he hung up. He sat back on the bed. Everything was set. Now all he had to do was wait. By this time tomorrow, Clay Baronie would be behind bars where he belonged. As for the Farris triplets—well, minus one. Did that make them the Farris twins?—they would close this case once and for all.
He chuckled with triumph, then reached over for his glass of wine on the bedside table.
Chapter 35
That evening, Lizzie peered over at her sisters and grinned. ‘Thanks for doing this with me on a school night.’
> Both she and Nina needed it, Carrie too—the past couple of days, which should have been her honeymoon period, had been hard for their little sister—though Lizzie was the only one who’d admitted it out loud.
Carrie chuckled and lumped an arm around her shoulders, ‘Just like old times. Brings back memories, doesn’t it?’
‘We were the worst. How did Mum and Dad put up with us?’
Nina chimed in, a smirk on her face, ‘Because they didn’t know a lot of what we got up to.’
Lizzie grinned, ‘That always helps.’
Carried changed the subject, ‘We are going to have so much fun. You’ll soon forget that man ever existed.’
‘I hope so.’
‘Trust me on this.’
Lizzie laughed and entered the popular local nightclub with her sisters.
Three hours later, despite being plied with enough drinks to make her lose her inhibitions—but not her self-control—and despite dancing with a handsome, muscular, leather-jacket-clad biker type, Lizzie realised her plan was not working. The only thing she could see, hear, and think about was Gabriel Montcoeur. And all she really wanted was to curl up in bed and self-medicate her sorrows with some Belgian Chocolate Häagen-Dazs.
She leaned in toward the biker, ‘I’m leaving.’
‘I’ll come with you.’
She stepped back and flashed her sweetest smile, ‘Not tonight. I want to be alone.’
She didn’t wait for him to respond before turning and walking away. As she neared the entrance, she inspected the club for her sisters. They’d both gone off to dance with a man. It was too dark and crowded to see anyone. She would need to call them when she got outside. She pushed the doors open. Even for a Monday night, people were lining up waiting to be let in.
The crowd pushed her toward the alley at the side of the club. She frowned, found a quiet spot against the wall, and pulled out her mobile.
Before she could get her contact list up, a voice called behind her, ‘There you are.’