by Faye Avalon
‘What were you hoping to gain from your lies?’ he demanded, ignoring the way she flinched.
‘At first I hoped to get you to agree to sell it on to me when my trust fund becomes available in six months’ time.’
She threw a look at Damian, who had paced over towards the window, before bringing her gaze back to Connor’s. Connor’s mind was still trying to process everything. He was battling the sense of betrayal. The lies. The deception.
The need for answers to so many questions.
‘That first night, at my club, you knew who I was?’
‘Yes.’ Her voice sounded thready, as if she couldn’t quite catch her breath.
‘And what? You thought you’d get me nice and mellow? Is that what the dance was for? Work me up, then present me with the dotted line on which to sign?’
His gut burned. He couldn’t believe he’d been so gullible. Couldn’t believe he’d been so easily duped again. Hadn’t he been careful? Hadn’t he shut himself off enough not to let a woman close again? History, it seemed, really did repeat itself.
‘No. I didn’t even know you were in the club when I did that dance. It was a bet, remember? It wasn’t until after I’d stabbed you with my heel and saw the award photo in your office that I knew who you were.’
Damian had now moved across to the entrance door, obviously sensing there was more going on than a property war.
A red haze misted across Connor’s vision, his anger renewing with each confirmation of Lola’s continued subterfuge. ‘Wait,’ he called, striding across the space to snatch up the papers Damian had left on the old bar before continuing towards the door. ‘You’ll want these.’
Connor was more determined than ever to own the Cabacal. Damian was right. He was fucking owed. The place had been at the heart of not just one, but two of the most destructive and deceit-filled periods of his life.
‘You’re sure?’ Damian glanced at his sister, then back at Connor.
‘Never more so. I want immediate completion on this. No delays.’
Damian nodded, then with a concerned look at his sister took the documents and walked out of the door.
Connor shook his head, hoping to shake some clarity into the chaotic mess that was his thoughts. ‘Shit, I virtually played into your hands. Offering to rent you the place. Bet you were close to congratulating yourself on pulling that one off.’
‘That’s not true at all. Before Damian arrived I was planning to tell you the truth. I never meant to keep it from you this long. I swear I’m being honest.’
His laugh was as hollow as his stomach. ‘I don’t remember you being too worried about telling the truth that first night at the club when you went all out with the seduction routine. How can I be sure that wiggling your butt at me and shoving your breasts in my face wasn’t all part of the act?’
‘I told you. When I did that dance, I didn’t know who you were. And if we’re talking seduction, from what I remember you pressed pretty hard.’
Connor narrowed his eyes. ‘And from what I remember, you refused me. Then you changed your mind.’
‘I was attracted to you but, considering what I planned, there was no way I was going to sleep with you. Then I decided that if I could make Damian change his mind and sell direct to me, there was no reason not to act on the attraction. It wasn’t until the next morning, after we’d slept together, that I realised you had both already agreed on a deal and that you were on the verge of signing, or even that you’d already signed. That’s when I knew that I had to keep you at arm’s length, that I couldn’t sleep with you again. Not when I had to go back to my original plan and try and persuade you to sell the property to me.’
With each word, her voice grew stronger. She didn’t falter, didn’t hesitate. Connor wanted to believe what she was telling him, but he couldn’t quite make that leap.
‘Yet we ended up having sex again anyway, and I don’t remember having to push too hard. What? Did you think it would give you the edge? Sex and business? Quite an explosive combination if you could make it work.’
‘I didn’t plan it, it just happened. You were pretty hard to say no to. And I certainly didn’t intend having sex to give me any kind of edge. I was attracted to you, and I really enjoyed spending time with you. There was no way I ever intended for you to get hurt.’
Connor shoved his hands in his pockets and curled his fingers into his palms. ‘Do you know what the really crazy part of all this is? I’d convinced myself that you were a straight-shooter, that you didn’t do pretence. I’d been made a fool of before by a woman who I thought was different. Now I realise it must run in the family, that easy slide into deception, the ability to work on a man until he doesn’t know which fucking way is up.’
She had the grace to look perplexed. ‘I’m not sure I know what you mean.’
‘Is that right? You expect me to believe you didn’t know about my history with your cousin?’
Her brow furrowed. He wanted to believe she really didn’t understand. Once, he might have done. But now he knew differently, and he wasn’t buying the act.
‘Maybe you swapped stories, is that it? How do I know that she didn’t even give you pointers? Tell you my weak spots.’
‘Connor, I really—’
‘She’d damn well know them better than anybody. Caroline prided herself on reading people.’
The look of shock that passed over her face, that set her back a step, was worthy of an award-winning actress. ‘Caroline?’ Her hand went to her throat, her face turning pale again. ‘What’s she got to do with anything?’
Connor knew he shouldn’t fall for it, but there was a stupid part of him that wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. ‘She played me,’ he said. ‘Primed me good and hard, so that when she was ready I walked straight into the trap.’
Her eyes flicked sideways, back and forth, and Connor knew those cogs and wheels were turning. He hated that he knew that about her, detested that he’d allowed her to get under his skin so far that he knew her ways, her expressions, her mannerisms.
Her hand stayed at her throat, her fingers sliding across her collar bone. ‘Are you saying it was Caroline who set you up? Who got you arrested? I thought it was my uncle.’
‘They came as a pair. She was cunning, manipulative, but it was Daddy who pulled the strings. She was his willing little puppet.’
She looked him square in the eye and, although he fought it, his gut twisted. ‘You were lovers?’
Connor kept his face passive. ‘Yes.’
She took in a breath, then bit down on her lower lip. ‘I always assumed it was my uncle who was responsible for implicating you. I didn’t for a moment consider Caroline had a part in it.’
‘They carted her off to jail soon after my release, for God’s sake. You didn’t think she might have had a role in incriminating me?’
‘I wasn’t in touch with that side of my family, so I didn’t know all the details.’
She shook her head, sending more strands loose to float around her face. He had to curl his fingers into his palms to stop from reaching out and brushing them away. Stop himself wanting to tilt up her chin, look into her troubled eyes and tell her everything was going to be okay. Because it wasn’t going to be okay. It never could be. Not for them.
Her gaze settled at his throat. ‘I’m so sorry, Connor. You must really hate my family. You must really hate me.’
Damn it, but he wanted to. He wanted to tell her to get the hell out of his life. He didn’t need reminding that he’d allowed himself to be taken in by yet another scheming woman intent on using him to further her own desires.
Yet she seemed surprised by the knowledge her cousin had been complicit in his downfall. Genuinely concerned about what had happened to him.
Shit. It was making his head explode.
‘Let’s just put it this way,’ h
e said, deciding he was done with it all. ‘It doesn’t make a difference to me that you weren’t in touch with that side of your family, and I don’t give a damn that you say you didn’t mean to deceive me, manipulate me. The fact is, you didn’t have the guts to come clean and tell me who you were and what you wanted.
‘How do you know I might not have been sympathetic? That I might not actually have agreed to what you wanted, had you given me the courtesy of being honest? As it stands, I want nothing left standing of this damn building and nothing more to do with your family, or with you.’
* * *
Lola felt the punch of Connor’s words deep in her solar plexus. Her insides were being scraped by some kind of vicious knife that wouldn’t let up. She couldn’t defend herself against his diatribe, because every word he said was right. Except in her heart she hadn’t meant to manipulate him. She might have deceived him, but she’d never imagined that it would open so many old wounds for him.
She couldn’t believe it was her cousin who had betrayed him so badly. Not that Lola didn’t deem Caroline capable of such treachery, but she hadn’t even considered the possibility that Connor had been attracted to someone like her mean-spirited cousin.
Lola wondered if she would have been able to keep from confronting Caroline and telling her just how evil she was if Caroline had been easily accessible, and not off hiding overseas after her release from prison.
Although right then Lola had more urgent and important things that she had to try and salvage. The most vital of which was trying to make Connor understand that she had never meant to upset him so badly.
Oh, he was angry, and rightfully so. He had every reason to be. But beneath that anger she knew she had wounded him. He hid it well, but the bleakness in his stormy grey eyes was evident to her. It cut her to the very depths of her being.
‘I’m sorry for what I did, Connor. When we met I was really attracted to you and I never for a moment meant to lead you on. I certainly never wanted to cause so much hurt. All I intended was to persuade you to sell the property to me. I didn’t realise what it represented to you. I can understand why you want it demolished, but please will you at least take some time to consider if that’s really the best thing to do?’
Lola took a breath, trying to find the right words of appeal. She didn’t want to fight for the Cabacal so soon after he’d told her about Caroline and how badly her cousin had treated him, but she couldn’t afford to remain quiet. She at least had to try to save the property that had meant so much to her mother.
‘My uncle cheated my mother out of this property,’ she said quickly, unsure how long Connor would let her speak before he marched her out of the building. He was at least going to know what had prompted her to act in the way she had. ‘My great-grandfather built it and it’s been passed down through the women of the family. My mother planned to run it as a health studio until she was tricked out of her inheritance. I wanted to get it back. Make her dream come true. I know it doesn’t change anything, but I just wanted you to know how important it is to me and why I did what I did. You don’t owe me a thing, Connor, but please don’t destroy this wonderful place without really taking some time to consider.’
When he didn’t respond, Lola knew that, while he’d listened to her, he hadn’t really taken what she’d said to heart. Maybe she’d hurt him too badly to expect any kind of compassion.
She sucked in a thready breath. ‘I don’t want you to hate me.’
He raised his eyebrows, piercing her with a look. ‘We don’t always get what we want.’
His words were like a physical blow aimed straight at her heart, smashing it to pieces. Her blood flowed like ice in her veins; her legs were hollow.
She closed her eyes against the torrent of hurt, before opening them to look straight into Connor’s merciless gaze. ‘Is there any way I can make this right?’
He shrugged. ‘No. I was lied to once by your family. Cheated, deceived, fucking sliced in two. Thankfully, this time I found out before any real harm was done.’
His eyes bored into hers, the steel in their grey depths cold and unforgiving. It broke the final fragile shards of her heart.
In that moment, she knew she had lost him. That there was no making it right, no coming back from the dark place she feared she’d driven him to.
Lola turned and gathered up her bags, then suffered the cold, hard look in his eyes as he glared down at her. ‘I really am so very sorry, Connor. Please believe that.’
His nostrils flared as he drew in a breath. ‘Bye, Lola.’
She hurried across the space, barely seeing anything as her eyes blurred dangerously. She didn’t give much thought to the fact this was the last time she would be inside the Cabacal building, the last time she would get to glance around it as she left it for ever.
All she cared about, all she thought about, was that she had ruined every chance she might have had with Connor. She had destroyed whatever they might have built together.
Just as she knew he would now destroy the Cabacal. She’d seen it in his eyes, heard it in the words he’d spoken.
And she couldn’t find it in her shattered heart to blame him.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
THE VERY LAST THING Lola wanted to do was have lunch with Damian. Her brother had called numerous times since that day at the Cabacal, but she’d refused to answer or return his calls. She felt a little bad about it, but she’d needed time to herself. She’d needed the break. Time to lick her wounds. Three weeks since her confrontation with Connor, and they were still as raw. Still as painful.
It was impossible to count how many times she’d gone over everything in her head, driving herself insane with thoughts of ‘what if she’d done this?’, ‘what if she’d told him that?’. But it always came down to one thing.
She’d screwed up.
How was it possible to miss someone so much? How could the pain of losing them hurt quite so deeply? She couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment that she’d fallen for him. Couldn’t isolate the precise instant that she’d slipped from liking him to falling so deeply in love. Because she did love him. With every ounce of her being.
What they’d shared wasn’t supposed to be meaningful. Yet it had so quickly morphed into the most extraordinary relationship of her life. And she’d thrown it all away because she hadn’t had the courage to tell him the truth.
Now here she was, with her heart broken, and there wasn’t a bloody thing she could do about it.
Ruthlessly, she pushed thoughts of Connor aside as she rode the lift to Damian’s office. She’d spent far too many hours pining and crying and missing Connor. What good would it do to continue down that route? He didn’t want her. He hadn’t contacted her.
It was over. She had to move on.
Somehow. Some way.
Yet she knew her brother would want to know the ins and outs of her relationship with Connor, and she braced herself for the barrage of questions no doubt coming her way. Not that she needed to explain anything to him. It was her business. He had no right delving into her personal life any more than she had his. She’d make sure he respected that.
What she did intend to tell him was that she had found a suitable property for her studio. After a second viewing yesterday, she was putting in an offer. He had to realise that she wasn’t seeking his permission, but that she was forging ahead with her plans, in her own way, on her own terms.
Oh, she understood that Damian cared for her, that he wanted to look out for her, but there were limits. She’d half-expected to find him waiting outside the Cabacal three weeks ago, ready to confront her, but there had been no sign of him. He’d called that same evening, though, and had found Emily in fierce guardian mode, telling Damian to sod off and mind his own business.
Lola could only imagine her big brother seething through the phone. Damian and Emily had never hit it off, and Lola suspected th
at her friend had taken great delight in giving the arrogant and entitled dickhead—her words—a piece of her mind.
She exited the lift and headed through the classy reception of her brother’s investment company and towards his office. Having been waved straight through by his EA, she found Damian looking out of the window, his back to the door as he spoke on the phone.
He turned, finished the call, then came around to draw Lola into his arms. His brotherly embrace threatened to undo her resolve to move on with her life and her breath hitched dangerously. He held on for several moments, then drew back and placed his hands on her shoulders. ‘Are you okay?’
As her throat had tightened from the unexpected warmth and support in his gesture and tone, all she could do was nod.
‘I thought we could have lunch here,’ he said, glancing to the meeting table laid out with coffee and sandwiches. ‘There’s something I need to talk to you about.’
‘That’s fine. There’s something I need to talk to you about too.’ Lola took the property details from her bag before walking over to place them on the table. She thought it best to tell him her plans before she let him say whatever was on his mind. That way he’d know her mind was made up. ‘Do you mind if I go first?’
‘Louise.’ Damian placed his hand over hers. ‘I understand you’re still pissed at me, and maybe I can’t altogether blame you for that.’
‘None of it matters now. I’m just interested in moving on. Which is why I’m putting in an offer for this property.’ She nodded towards the details. ‘I’ve spoken with the bank and they’re prepared to advance me the deposit in lieu of my trust fund being released.’
She considered moving her hand out from under his but didn’t. He was her brother and, despite everything that had happened, she needed him. She loved him.
‘You still believe that I was being vindictive by not letting you have the Cabacal.’
‘I know you were acting on Dad’s wishes, although I suspect you agreed with his reasoning. You don’t think I have the intellect to make my own business choices.’