I swiped my tears away and shook my head. "No. Why does he deserve a second chance and Dayton doesn't? Have the police actually charged Dayton with the theft?"
My mother sighed and leaned away to pour us both a glass of wine. "There's no money trail yet, but they've connected him to Lawrence Anton."
Dayton knew my father's competition? My heart stumbled in my chest. What if my mother was right about him?
I knew life could look off-center from the opulent comforts of my parents' mansion, but this was impossible. I couldn't reconcile the Dayton I knew from our intimate moments with the Dayton my mother was describing. It seemed possible, though, and that little bit of doubt gnawed hard on my heart.
"You think Lawrence Anton forced Dayton to do it?" I asked. "Maybe he offered him an obscene amount of money."
"I don't think your Mr. Miller is motivated by money," my mother said.
I nodded. At least that sounded right, but how did my mother draw that conclusion?
"Mrs. Estrella? Your husband is on the line," our butler announced softly from the doorway.
"Is he staying on his yacht tonight?" my mother asked. The butler nodded, and she waved him away.
"You don't want to talk to Father?" I asked.
My mother handed me my glass of wine. "This is more important. You are more important. Don't you see, darling? With your father's life coming apart at the seams, you need to start thinking about yourself. Robert can offer you stability, security, the knowledge that you will always remain in the life you are accustomed to."
"Is Father really in that much trouble?" I asked.
The board meetings had been bleak, but my mother seemed to speak about a wildfire consuming his whole life. She wanted me safe and out of the way.
"I wouldn't know, dear. Your father has refused to let me advise him on his business for years. And since he has decided to stay elsewhere more and more, I really don't think I can help him."
I wanted to ask, I could feel the chill when she spoke about my father, but the thought of Dayton loomed too large in my mind. Had he really used me to cover his tracks while he stole my father's crowning achievement?
"Remember that summer when you and Robert were twelve?" My mother changed the subject with a brisk sip of her wine. Then she smiled. "He spent every day for a week being your squire because you wouldn't even let him be a knight."
I had to laugh. Robert and I had grown up together, seeing each other at every lawn party and country weekend. He was the very first boy that I knew had a crush on me one hundred percent.
"He told me that weekend that I should marry him," I remembered. "He said he'd make me a queen someday."
My mother beamed. "See? Don't you think it's possible that you let this Dayton cloud your thinking? It's easy to see the worst in someone when you're trying to see the best in someone else."
"But what if I don't want to be Robert's queen?" I asked. "What if I'm not ready to be anyone's?"
"Honey, I'd hate to see you hold out hope for Dayton. His family is not known for their reliability," my mother said.
I stopped and very carefully had to put down my wine before I stained the linen sofa. "What do you mean? You know Dayton's family?"
She stopped then took another slow sip. "Oh, Jessa. You really didn't know? He didn't say anything?"
"Say what?" I asked.
"His name is Dayton Miller, but he's not just any regular Miller. Miller as in the name of your father's corporate headquarters. The name on hundreds of prime pieces of real estate." My mother put down her wine and reached for my hand. "He's every bit as wealthy as you are and more. The only difference is I refuse to let you make a mess out of your life like his mother is allowing him to do."
I couldn't swallow. I couldn't blink. My eyes burned, but no tears would come. "He's, he's rich?"
My mother sniffed. "Wealthy. Old money. And he's the sole heir though I hear he tried to denounce his inheritance. His mother took off for Europe and left him with everything, despite his stubbornness."
"And you knew this?" I shot off the sofa again and looked down at my mother. "You didn't tell me?"
She stood up and placed her delicate hands on my shoulders. "I didn't think of it. Robert is the one that put it together. Robert's the one that's been looking out for you this whole time."
I waved away the mention of my jilted fiancé. All I could think about was the lie after lie that Dayton had told me. He'd betrayed me from the very first moment, and, worse than that, I had fallen for it.
I'd almost fallen for him.
Chapter 14
Dayton
I rushed to stop Mrs. Upton from answering the front door. I knew I wasn't going to be getting any friendly visitors and I wanted to make sure to keep my housekeeper from getting tangled up in my damn problems.
"Why don't we just leave that closed," I told Mrs. Upton.
"But, sir, it's--"
I held up my hand and stepped cautiously to the door. I was thinking fast about what to tell Mrs. Upton about why the police were there when I noticed a pair of dark mirrored sunglasses.
I swore and grabbed for the door handle. "It's Jessa."
"I tried to - I'll just leave you alone, sir."
My housekeeper saw my glare and retreated to the kitchen. I knew she was most likely eavesdropping, but at least she was out of sight. The unmarked squad car in the wide circle of my private driveway was carefully documenting everyone I came into contact with.
I had told the police I would cooperate, but that didn't mean I was going to serve them up innocent bystanders like my housekeeper.
And Jessa.
I opened the door but blocked her entry. "So you heard," I said.
Jessa's lips tightened as she realized I wasn't going to let her in. "Are the owner’s home?" she asked.
"The owners? Yeah. They just got here," I said.
She ripped her sunglasses off and glared at me. "And you haven't been arrested yet, I see."
I laughed. "They don't have a shred of evidence and their made-up motive isn't very strong. So, no, they haven't found a way to charge me yet."
"Are you laughing?" Jessa paced a few steps away. She realized the squad car was watching her, and marched back. "You're that certain you're going to get away with it?"
"Wait. What's this? You honestly think I had something to do with the software theft?" I asked. I leaned on the heavy wood doorframe for support.
She glared down the length of my casual pose, stamped one stiletto heel, and pierced me with a look. "So you can look me in the eye and tell me you were honest with me the entire time?"
"I have no interest in your father's software or his business in general. I may have had access but the only times I've been to the penthouse was when I introduced myself and when I followed you there," I said.
Somehow that did not soften Jessa's outrage.
"And you have nothing else to tell me?"
I glanced over her shoulder and waved at the parked squad car. The two officers did not wave back. The one nearest to us raised a camera and clicked a few pictures.
"I know you're upset, but I don't think this is a very good time to be doing this," I said.
Jessa's delicate hands bunched into fists. "Doing what? Talking about the truth?"
I winced and hoped the detectives did not have listening devices as well. "Have you been sleeping? I know I haven't been sleeping. This whole thing is very stressful."
Jessa raised a knotted fist then forced a deep, slow breath. "You're right. It has been very stressful. I'm sure you're worried. Have you secured counsel yet?"
"Yeah, I'm all lawyered up. Why?"
My family had an entire stable of attorneys on hand. I hadn't contacted any of them yet, but I didn't know where Jessa might be taking her train of thought.
She smoothed her hair, now swept up tight in a severe bun. "Good counsel can be expensive. In pursuit of the truth, I'd be happy to help you pay for the best."
I took a st
ep back and had to catch my breath. "You really think I did it, don't you?"
"I don't know what to think except you haven't been completely honest with me," Jessa spat.
My whole body buzzed. I wanted to grab Jessa and kiss her; anything to prove to myself the connection I thought we had was still there. She'd turned on me so quickly!
Now she had the gall to stand on my front steps and be hurt that I committed a crime I had never even dreamed of doing. And she was righteously angry; her high cheek bones blazed with color and her pearly pink lips drawn tight.
"What exactly do you think I did?" I asked cocking an eyebrow.
Jessa was taken aback by my loud tone. "You're right. This isn't the right time for us to talk. I shouldn't have come here."
I stepped forward, not quite daring to catch her before she turned around and left. Jessa saw my move and froze. We looked at each other in reflective misery for a few seconds.
"Why did you come here?" I asked.
Jessa shook her head. "I don't know. I thought if I saw you then I'd know the truth."
I caught her hand. "Please, tell me none of that really matters. Below all the drama, just you and me, that's all I care about. Just you and me, Jessa. That's where I was completely honest."
She wavered and slipped into my arms for a gentle hug. "I want to believe you."
"I never meant to hurt you."
Jessa stepped back and swiped away hot tears. "So you did seduce me on purpose."
"What do you mean 'on purpose'? I was attracted to you the first moment I saw you; that's for sure, but I never set out to seduce you." I put my fingers under her chin to lift her gaze. "And I wasn't alone in that. You were there, weren't you?"
She nodded, a whisper-slight weight against my fingertips. "You're right. And you want to know the worst of it?"
I let my hand drop. "There's a 'worst of it’?"
Jessa nodded more emphatically this time. "The worst is that I think I could forgive you. For all of it."
"Even if I didn't do it? How generous of you," I snapped. I moved to step back and close the door.
Jessa reached forward. "I don't think we're going to be able to see each other again," she mumbled.
I stopped, frustration coursing through my veins. "Is that why you came here? To break up with me?"
"No. I don't want to. It's just--"
"It's just you know that I'm a convicted felon so now you assume I committed a crime. You weren't really looking for the truth. You're just looking for an easy way to distance yourself from me." I was so fucking angry my breath heaved, and I had to stop myself from yelling.
I knew from the second I saw Jessa Lauren that she would pull some spoiled shit on me and this was it. Jessa was going to extricate herself from me just when the going got tough. But that wasn't enough of an insult: she was here to make sure the fault was mine and not her's. It wasn't the truth she was after, just a clean getaway.
"And you haven't done anything wrong. Nothing at all?" Jessa asked, her tone sharpening.
"Let me ask you this, Ms. High and Mighty. If I was in your little social group, way up where the air is so much purer, would you at least give me the benefit of the doubt?" I asked.
Jessa's eyes flew wide. "Seriously?! That's what you think? You think this is a money thing?"
"I bet one thousand dollars that you'd be more likely to forgive and forget with that rich sleaze Robert than me. Based completely on--"
"The fact that we grew up together. The fact that he's never lied to me?" Jessa crossed her arms hard over her chest, but her look was pained.
"You're defending him?" The air went out of me, and I leaned against the door frame again. "You're right, Jessa. If that's the way you think, then we won't see each other again."
Jessa swore; a short staccato burst that surprised us both. Then she took a deep breath. "Are you serious, Dayton?." She flashed me a look that could of sent me ten feet under. “Dayton Miller, one of the wealthiest heir’s to be in San Francisco.”
I stopped. In all of the accusations and stress, I had forgotten we were standing in the doorway of my family estate. The very place I had told Jessa I was housesitting for a friend.
She slipped her mirrored sunglasses on but not before I caught a glimpse of tears.
"You lied to me about who you are. You mocked me for my privilege, challenged me with your lower status, when all along we were peers," Jessa spat with venom. “You’re a God damn hypocrite!”
"That's what you meant." All of her righteous anger had very little to do with the accusations of theft and everything to do with my lies about my wealth.
She tried to leave again, and this time I dodged out the door and caught her in my arms. Jessa struggled, and I released her, but I wouldn't let her leave without looking at me.
"I didn't want to lie to you. I just didn't know if I could trust you," I pleaded.
Jessa nodded. "Just like I'm not sure I can trust you now."
"But you trust Robert?"
I let the question hang awkwardly in the air. The way she had defended him and cited their shared lives had put me on edge. It was one thing for Jessa to break up with me, but it was quite another for her to go back to Robert.
Jessa put a hand on my chest and pushed me back a step. "As you said, I haven't been sleeping very much. I need to clear my head before I make any decisions."
"He's no good for you," I insisted. "What if he hurts you again?"
Jessa's chin went up in the air. "What makes you think I can't take care of myself? I existed in this world; I had a very nice life before you showed up, Dayton Miller."
She had me there. All I had given her in the short period we knew each other was drama and strife. Even our happiest and most intimate moments had been tinged with outside problems.
I stepped aside.
"I’m so sorry, Jessa. I didn’t mean to hurt you." I whispered.
Jessa's reflective sunglasses flashed over my face one more time. "For what it's worth, I don't believe you stole the software."
My head swam and my eyes blurred. The accusations didn't matter anymore; I'd screwed up our relationship on my own. The truth would eventually come out about who stole the software, but by then it would be too late. Jessa would be far out of my reach or, worse, re-engaged to Robert.
Jessa held up her hand to shield her face as she walked down the front steps. The police detectives watched until her long limousine pulled up and blocked their view.
She stopped there and looked back up at me.
I wanted to run down the steps and join her. Or, better, pull her back up into my house and beg her forgiveness. There was just too much in the way.
For the first time in a long time, I felt the weight of my family crushing me again. If only I had truly been the man I pretended to be, Jessa would still be with me. I raged against my inheritance while she disappeared into her limousine.
If only my parents had just let me go.
The feeling dried up as her limousine pulled away. Who was I kidding?
I watched her drive away and stood there facing the police detectives for a long while. I felt like I deserved their study and their suspicions.
Jessa was right. There was no one else to blame but myself. If I hadn't lied to her, I wouldn't have messed up the best thing that had ever happened to me.
Chapter 15
Jessa
I squinted back up the long marina dock and didn't recognize the shiny sports car at the top of the stairs.
"Well, ask them to move, Jeffers. I'm sorry, but I'm coming back right now." I glanced over my shoulder at my father's yacht one more time. "He's not here."
My driver announced he would turn around and move the insistent sports car owner out of the way so he could pick me up. I wanted to say more, but Jeffers hung up the phone to drive.
I stood, aimless, at the end of the marina dock next to my father's monstrous yacht. The board of directors had been calling for almost a week about my father's
retreat. He'd told everybody he'd be on his yacht, but now no one had seen him on it or dockside. I had to find him.
He still conducted business via teleconference but the board was getting edgy, and they'd assigned me to bring my father back into meetings.
But, more than that, I needed my father. With the heartache of Dayton's betrayal and my confusion over Robert, I needed my father's sharp opinion to set me straight. There was no one else for me to turn to.
After my father declared his retreat, my mother had turned into a hurricane of action. She had been meeting with lawyers and family accountants and distant relatives for days. In all the chaos, I hardly had time to ask her what she was planning, much less why she felt the need to gather her resources.
I had to resort to listening in at the door to discover that my mother was liquidating her family assets at lightning speed.
When I had confronted her about it, things got even more confusing.
"Well, I was doing it to help bail out your father's business again," my mother had confessed.
Her words had hit me funny, and I had asked: "if that's what you were doing. What are you doing now?"
My mother had crumpled in a Chanel heap and shook her head. She had her lips pinched tight as if she wanted to scream something but wouldn't allow herself.
She was doing it for me.
Whatever she was burying down deep, whatever problem or hurt, she was only doing it to spare me. So I didn't dare pry. And I didn't want to burden her anymore. I had vowed to take my own heartache elsewhere.
But now I had nowhere to go.
I started to walk back down the marina dock, calling Karina as I clipped past huge floating trophies and sea-worthy palaces.
"What are you doing right now?" I asked when Karina picked up her phone.
"Meeting you at JoJo's for the wine special?" Karina asked.
I let out a strained laugh. "Yes. Thank you. That's the best idea I've heard in a week. See you there very soon!"
"Hey," Karina called before I could hang up. "I think it's only fair to tell you that Robert's been asking around about you."
I slowed down and looked out over the bay. "What do you mean? What's he up to?"
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