“And what do you have to say to my daughter, Derek McCarthy?” June demanded.
“Where’s June?” someone shouted from the kitchen.
“Oh, shit,” June said.
“Go back there, Mum. I’ll be fine here,” Bernadette said calmly.
June hesitated, but nodded and hurried back to her tasks.
“What a mess,” Holly murmured, looking down at the floor.
“So you’re back together,” Bernadette stated bravely.
Derek gulped audibly. “I’m sorry.”
Bernadette shut her eyes, sharp claws scratching at her heart. She couldn’t stand this. She had to leave.
She looked around to see if there was another exit from this room, but she couldn’t spot any. So she started to make her way back to the kitchen.
“Bern,” Derek said, grasping her arm.
She stopped, even though she couldn’t bear to look at him.
Seconds ticked by without Derek saying anything. Finally, he let go of her arm. “I’m sorry.”
She hurried out, but tried to walk naturally for the sake of her mother. When June intercepted her, she smiled brightly. The last thing she wanted was for her mother to have to explain to her coworkers. The less drama they saw, the better.
“I’ll come back for you when you’re done,” she said in a cheery tone.
“Don’t worry. I’ll call a taxi,” June said softly.
Her mother’s unexpected gentleness threatened to break down her self-control. “Thanks, Mum.”
She navigated her way to the front door with a small smile despite her blurry eyes. Fortunately, no one else paid her any attention, and she was able to make it to her car without shedding a tear. But once she’d locked her door, the dam burst.
“Damn you, Derek McCarthy,” she sobbed out in the stillness of the night. “That’s the last time you hurt me—knowingly or unknowingly.”
Chapter 15
Derek stared at the door of Ross’s sunroom, choked up like he’d never been before, yet unable to give in to his distress. All he wanted to do was run after Bernadette and tell her the truth, but he couldn’t dare. He simply couldn’t take the risk when lives were at stake.
He still couldn’t believe that June was Ross’s new housekeeper. Bernadette or June had never mentioned his uncle’s name to him. In fact, they’d always been vague about June’s employment, and he hadn’t pried out of politeness.
He could see why they’d been secretive about it, though. June would have signed an NDA as a requirement of her employment, and Bernadette would have respected it. They couldn’t have known Ross was his uncle. Even now, they probably still had no clue they were related.
Ross, on the other hand, knew that Bernadette was the woman Derek had pretended to go out with to fool a paparazzo. Did Ross also know that June was Bernadette’s mother? Had he hired June because of that?
He placed his arms atop his head as fear mixed in with his anguish.
Holly laid a hand on his shoulder. “I’m so sorry.”
“Fuck this, Holly,” he muttered. “Fuck Ross.”
“I know. But there’s no going back for us even if our hearts break. Too much is at stake. If Ross finds out you’re not in love with me, this whole thing could unravel and all our lives will be on the line.”
He took a deep breath. “Yes. We have to be extremely careful.”
“Do you think he might be on to us?”
“I don’t know. I hope not. But if he is, then he probably doesn’t think we know where the painting is, or he would have hidden it somewhere else.”
Holly nodded. “I just hope June doesn’t tell Ross about my secret visit now that we’ve hurt her daughter.”
“Shit. We better come up with something to ensure she doesn’t.”
“Let me talk to her. I’ll apologise and say we never intended this to happen. Then I’ll remind her not to tell Ross about the day I was here. I might have to scare her with the possibility of being sacked if Ross ever finds out she let me go into his locked office without his permission. Hopefully, that would be enough.”
“Okay. I’ll talk to Ross and explain to him that I dated Bernie while you and I were on a break, and that I had no idea he’d hired Bernie’s mother. Then tomorrow, Xavier and I will go to the police with everything we have on Ross. That’s the best we can do right now, apart from keeping up our act to the best of our ability.”
“Oh my God, I hope this all works.”
“Me, too,” he whispered.
And he’d give everything he had to get Bernadette back after all this. But with any police operation guaranteed to take some time, he feared he’d already lost her forever.
“Hi, everyone,” Derek said, greeting his buddies congregated at Brad and Erin’s backyard for Aimee’s first birthday party.
Everyone came up to hug him, but he acutely felt the awkwardness that was never there in past. He couldn’t blame them. They would have heard by now what had happened at Ross’s place six weeks ago. In fact, he wouldn’t have been surprised if they were cold to him. Even that would be more than he deserved.
He went to Aimee and gave the birthday girl a hug and a kiss before handing her her present. The other kids came to greet him, and Julian and Nate even started jumping on his back, eager for him to play with them.
“Later, okay?” he told them.
“We can have a dancing contipi… competi…tion again!” Julian said, pointing to Aimee’s jumping castle.
“Sure. Later,” he said, smiling at the kids.
“How’re you doing?” Tristan asked from behind him.
He suppressed a sigh. It was times like this that he needed his friends, especially Tristan, the most. He missed Bernadette so fucking much it hurt like hell. But all he could do was smile and pretend. “I’m okay.”
“I believe Holly’s not coming.”
“No. We both didn’t think it was appropriate.”
Tristan exhaled loudly. “We’re all feeling torn, as you know. Not that we want to take sides. All of us already said we’ll support the both of you. But we all feel for Bernie. That was a hell of a way for her to find out that you were planning to break up with her.”
Derek blinked back tears that readily rushed to his eyes at the memory of how he’d hurt the one woman he’d grown to love with all his heart. “I don’t deserve you guys being nice to me. Actually, I shouldn’t have been invited here at all. I’m leaving soon, so Bernie can be comfortable when she gets here.”
“Don’t be stupid. We’re your friends, Derek. We’ve known you for ages. We know that it was uncharacteristic of you to have broken up with a girl like that. We also know how crazy life is with someone like Holly Stirling that you’d do things you won’t normally do—like get back with her before breaking up with Bernie. We don’t know what the hell you were thinking when you did that, but we know that was an aberration. You’re not the kind of guy to be so heartless. So don’t think we’re no longer here for you. We are. We’re just disappointed you hurt Bernie like that.”
Derek turned his back to Tristan, walking to the far end of the garden. He couldn’t stop his eyes from filling up with tears and he didn’t want anyone to see.
But Tristan followed him, clapping his shoulder. “We’ve all done stupid things in our lives.”
He surreptitiously dabbed the corner of his eye. “I wish I could turn back time. Bernie didn’t deserve it.”
“No. She didn’t. But she appears to be coping. The girls had taken her out a few times, and Paige had been spending time with her alone, too.”
“That’s good.” He was glad Bernadette was getting the support she needed from their friends.
“And you don’t have to leave early. She’s already been here earlier, according to Erin. She didn’t want you to be the one to make the sacrifice because she said we were your best friends for years before she even came into the picture.”
Derek shook his head, his heart twisting some more. Bernadette wa
s being understanding despite what he’d done. And the more he wanted to hug her and kiss her and tell her she was the most beautiful, loveable, incredible woman in the world, both inside and out.
But. He. Just. Fucking. Couldn’t.
The police were still accumulating evidence against Ross, and it was proving to be difficult, with some leads amounting to nothing. They were encouraging him and Holly to keep up with the act, though. They agreed that it was their best bet to stop Ross from covering more tracks.
“What else is going on?” Tristan asked.
“Nothing,” he answered hurriedly. “I’m just still as guilty as hell. Bernie’s a beautiful person who didn’t deserve to be treated that way.”
“Yeah,” Tristan agreed. “But she seems to be moving on from it better than you are. Stop punishing yourself. And for the record, we’ve all said that Holly is more than welcome to our get-togethers. Even Bernie said that to the girls.”
“She has?” he asked with a frown.
“Yes. She just wants time to get over you. Then she said that sometime in the future, she’s sure that she’d be able to be in the same room as you and Holly—that none of us should make any adjustments to our friendship with you on her account.”
Derek shook his head. “She’s always like that. Wanting to make things right for everyone even if it means putting herself last.”
“I think she’s approaching this the right way. She’s accepted that it’s Holly you really love, so she’s willing to move on. She just doesn’t want to see you yet, but just give it time. Maybe in a few months—maybe even around Christmas—we’ll all be celebrating together, including you and Holly, and Bernie and her new boyfriend.”
Derek’s ears pricked. “Boyfriend?”
“Well, while the girls are encouraging her to take her time, they’re also keen for her to get back on the saddle, so to speak. So they’ll be finding eligible men for her to date and, apparently, Bernie’s given them the go-ahead.”
“Already?” He couldn’t keep the dismay out of his voice, but hell, they’d only broken up six weeks ago.
“Why the hell not?” Tristan asked with a frown, searching his face. “You’ve moved on. Or should I say, you’ve moved back to Holly.”
Derek fixed his expression. “I just don’t want her making decisions based on wanting to get even with me, that’s all. She might end up getting more hurt down the track.”
“Nah. Paige said Bernie’s really keen to move on, as in kill any feelings she has for you. Apparently, she said something like it’s finally time for her to wake up to the fact that you and her are never gonna end up together.”
Derek felt his heart being ripped to pieces. As far as he was concerned, Bernadette was the love of his life. He didn’t want her finding someone else. He didn’t want her to move on.
But there was not one damned thing he could do to stop her from doing so.
Chapter 16
Bernadette rang the doorbell at Ross Anton’s Dural home, her palms sweaty. She had no idea what Mr. Anton wanted to speak to her about, although if she were to guess, she’d say it would have something to do with that incident that had happened here seven weeks ago.
Hopefully, it wouldn’t be bad news for her mother. As far as Bernadette was aware, the business networking event had gone on without a hitch after she’d left the house in tears. Actually, no one had even known of her distress apart from her mum, Derek and Holly, so it wasn’t as if she’d been disruptive.
Her heart compressed at the thought of Derek and Holly. Damn it. When would this pain in her chest disappear? She’d been trying so hard to get over the whole thing, and all she wanted to do was to not hurt anymore.
Derek wasn’t for her. He never had been, and never would be. She’d accepted that. All she wanted to do now was not to feel.
She turned her back to the front door and walked a few steps away. If Mr. Anton was checking the video to see who’d arrived, she didn’t want him to see her upset. She took a deep breath and composed herself.
“Bernadette,” June said.
She whirled around. “Hey, Mum.”
“Mr. Anton is in the backyard. He said for you to go there.”
“Okay. Do you know what he wants to talk to me about?”
June shrugged. “He doesn’t seem mad or anything, so I’m hoping it’s not bad news. And I’ve been working my butt off, trying to be the best housekeeper I can be. If he mentions anything about me slacking off and watching too much TV, just tell him I only do that to rest up. This house is big, so I need a break every once in a while.”
“Do you think this is about you?”
“I hope so, because I don’t want it to be about you and what happened the last time you were here. I don’t think that’s any of his business.”
Bernadette hugged her mother. The two of them seemed to be hugging a lot lately, which was unusual. And she was grateful. Her mother had been an unexpected source of comfort and support.
She went out the back and spotted Ross lounging on a seat in front of the small man-made lake in the middle of the grounds.
Ross saw her and waved. “Bernadette! Come join me.”
She kept the smile on her face as she walked towards Ross, every step she took increasing her nerves. What did the man want?
“How are you?” Ross asked, smiling at her as she sat on the chair opposite him.
“Good, thank you, Mr. Anton. You?”
“I’m wonderful. Anyway, let’s not beat around the bush. I heard about what happened at my event, and I haven’t had the chance to talk to you about it until now.”
Bernadette took a deep breath. “I hope it didn’t cause any problems for you, Mr. Anton.”
“No. I didn’t even know about it till Derek told me before he went home.” Ross shook his head. “To be honest with you, I don’t think my nephew knows what he’s doing.”
She cocked her head. “Nephew?”
Ross gave her a surprised look before laughing out loud. “Yes. Derek’s my nephew. His mother is my only sibling.”
“I had no idea,” she murmured, shocked. Just how much didn’t she know about Derek?
“We were estranged for many years,” Ross said casually. “His mother can’t stand me, and I can’t stand her. And Derek and I are just putting up with each other. So actually, I’m not surprised you don’t know about it. I doubt that many people know. We’re not exactly dying to tell people we’re related.”
Bernadette stared at Ross, aware her mouth was hanging open. Wow. This was totally unexpected.
“Anyway, as I was saying, I don’t think Derek knows what he’s doing. He says he’s in love with Holly, but really, he’s not.”
Her brows lifted. What was the man trying to say?
“I believe it’s you Derek wants.”
Her jaw dropped to the floor.
“This whole Holly thing… it’s just… shall we say… a lie.”
Bernadette shook her head to clear it. “I’m sorry, Mr. Anton. But I’m afraid I don’t understand.”
Ross let out a heavy breath, suddenly looking serious. “You should test Derek out. Don’t let him hide from you. Don’t let him cover up his feelings. His reason for being with Holly—it’s not important. What’s important is true love. He thinks he’s making the right decisions, but he’s not. Trust me when I say that his love for you will prove to be stronger than anything else, but you need to give him a nudge to make him realise that.”
“How do you know this?” she asked sceptically.
“I saw it in his eyes, Bernadette, when he was explaining to me what happened during my event. His words said one thing, but his eyes told another.”
Bernadette’s heart thundered in her chest. She had no idea how to take this news. But something didn’t seem to make sense. How could Ross know so much about what Derek wanted when Ross himself had just admitted they didn’t have much of a relationship?
“Mr. Anton, I appreciate this. But I’m wondering why
you’re trying to assist Derek with his love life when the two of you don’t really get along.”
Ross leaned back in his seat. “I’m business partners with Holly’s parents and I’ve grown very fond of Holly. She’s been instrumental in helping my networking events grow to the extent they have. I don’t want to see her get used for personal or business gains by other people. I know she’ll just end up getting hurt in the end.”
“Are you saying Derek is just using her?”
“That’s what I think. I wouldn’t have been inviting Derek to my events if it hadn’t been for Holly begging me to.”
Bernadette was quiet for a moment, mulling what Ross had disclosed. She wanted to believe that it was her that Derek wanted and not Holly, but she couldn’t see Derek going to all the trouble of pretending he loved Holly just to grow his business. In fact, hadn’t the two been hiding their relationship for the past four years? Wasn’t that a sign that Derek had never wanted to jump onto Holly’s bandwagon?
“Listen,” Ross said, “I don’t expect you to absorb this news straight away. I know this was the last thing you expected. So why don’t you think about it? I hate to see young people make mistakes and lose the person they’re really meant to be with. That’s what I’ve done repeatedly, hence my eternally single status,” he added with a self-deprecating chuckle.
“Thank you, Mr. Anton.” Apart from that, Bernadette couldn’t think of anything else to say.
“My pleasure. And will you keep me informed of your decision? I don’t mean that you have to call me every day to update me, but just let me know if you’ve made any moves based on what I told you today.”
She smiled. “I will.”
“Okay. That’s all. Feel free to stick around until your mother finishes. You two might as well go home together. In fact, have a snack. Ask your mother to prepare something for the both of you.”
“That’s very kind of you, Mr. Anton. Thanks again.” She got up from her seat.
“Oh, by the way,” Ross said, “you know that painting in my office that you like so much?”
The Unreal Boyfriend Page 14