Lie, page 11
“That’s sweet.” I’d been around Hades a lot for the last ten years, and it was interesting to watch him evolve from a heartless man into a loving husband and devoted father. “You and Damien talk about having kids?”
Her demeanor completely changed at the question. She had been happy a few seconds ago, but now a heavy rain cloud cast a shadow over her face. “Yes. But I’m not sure how easy it will be for us to conceive since I had a miscarriage with Liam.”
“I’m sorry, Anna.” There was nothing I could say to heal that kind of wound.
The waitress set the bill at the edge of the table and walked away.
Anna grabbed the paper and signed the receipt. “You’d think I would get over it because it’s been so many years now, but I never have. I don’t think I ever will.”
“You’re not the only woman to feel that way. And I wouldn’t be afraid to have children in the future. Miscarriages are common, a lot more common than people realize. So, don’t assume the worst.”
She nodded.
“Does that mean you’ll get married soon?” This was the question I’d been waiting to ask. I had been waiting for the perfect time to strike.
She released a slight chuckle. “Well, that’s up to him.”
“Bullshit, it’s up to him.” I shook my head dramatically. “If you want to get married, tell him that. Or ask him yourself.”
She released a chuckle. “No…Damien would not like that.”
“So, then are you ready?” This was the answer I needed.
She shrugged. “I wanted to wait awhile before I got remarried, mainly out of principle, but I’ve been living with Damien for months now and it just feels right. My previous life with Liam…it’s like it never happened. It’s strange. I feel like Damien is the person I was supposed to be with all along.”
That was the most romantic thing I’d ever heard. “That’s heavy stuff.”
“I wish I could take it slower, but I don’t think I can control what we have. There’s no hurry, but I’m in a rush to be with this man forever, like we’re going to run out of time or something.”
“It took you so long to really be together, so maybe you’re scared something’s gonna happen…but it’s not.”
“Yeah.” She gave a slight smile and returned her card to her purse. “Whether he asked me now or later, it doesn’t matter. I’ll say yes. For now, at least we’re together.”
My father was an excellent chess player, and he taught me everything I knew. But I had youth and a strategic mind, so it was easy to kick his ass every single time. But since I was a good daughter, I threw the game half the time so he wouldn’t feel defeated.
He stared at the board as he tried to decide his next move. I already knew what he was going to do because he only had two good options. But I had a rebuttal against each one, and the result was the same.
I’d win.
That was why I was such a good chess player.
I knew all the moves of my opponent before he made them, so I was always ready to demolish them. It was like being a warlord, anticipating your opponent’s moves and destroying them the second they took a step. He continued to stare at the board without blinking.
I glanced at my watch on my wrist to see the time. “Daddy, come on.”
He held up his hand to silence me.
I rolled my eyes and looked out the window.
“I’m an old man, sweetheart. Takes me a lot longer to think things through than it does for you.” His once-handsome face was covered with wrinkles, and his dark hair had turned gray once he hit seventy. He was still a good-looking man, but his youth had vanished completely. It was hard to see him like that because I knew he didn’t have much time left on this earth, at least not with his full faculties. He was much older than my mother and had us late in life. It was one of the reasons I wanted to have my first kid at thirty, to be young enough to enjoy them as adults.
It was also the reason I would never marry an older man. I wanted a husband who would be around for as long as possible. Unfortunately, I did find older men much more attractive than men my age, but I would keep looking until I found someone decent. “You aren’t an old man, Daddy.”
“Stop interrupting me.”
“You’re taking ten minutes to make a move when you know you’re gonna lose anyway.”
He finally made his move, the better choice of the two.
And then I demolished him. “Checkmate.”
He was visibly disappointed. “I never should’ve taught you. I’ve created a monster.”
“No. You’ve created another you. When I have my children, I’ll teach them this game, and they’ll kick my ass when I’m your age.”
He smiled slightly, pleased by that legacy.
Damien walked inside. “Who won?”
“Your sister,” he answered. “But I’ll get her next time.” He slowly rose out of his chair and came to my side of the table to kiss me on the head. “Good game, sweetheart.” Then he moved away to the dining table, where Patricia had placed coffee and muffins.
Damien took the vacated chair. “You didn’t let him win?”
“Not this time.” My hair was in a messy bun, and I played with the earring that hung from my lobe. My father and brother had never noticed anything unusual about my face, and since my brother was so attentive to detail, the only reason he didn’t comment on it now was because my face had truly returned to normal. He would have been able to tell if I were trying to cover up something with pounds of makeup.
“How was lunch?”
“Good. So, Sofia is going to pop soon?”
He shook his head slightly at the description. “She’s supposed to go into labor in a few days. If not, they’ll induce her.”
“Hades must be excited.”
“I guess Sofia is really uncomfortable right now, so I think he’s more excited for that to be over, to be honest.” He smiled slightly, like he was remembering a story Hades had told him.
“Anna and I talked about marriage and babies and stuff…”
His eyes narrowed. “What? Are you gonna keep me in suspense?”
“Yep.” I continued to play with my earring and let the silence stretch out, loving the fact that I had something to hang over his head.
He crossed his arms over his chest, shaking his head slightly with irritation.
“Okay, I’ve let you suffer enough… She’s ready.”
He leaned forward, his eyes a little wider with excitement. “She said that?”
“She said she was trying to take it slow, but it’s too hard. She believes you’re meant to be and it seems stupid to wait out of principle.”
He leaned back into the chair and didn’t give any obvious reaction, just the subtle cues in his eyes and lips. He looked away for a second, thinking about something that made his eyes light up a bit. “Well, that’s good news since I already have a ring.”
“You do?” I threw my hands down onto the table, making my palms smack against the surface. “Oh my god, show me. Princess cut? Solitaire? How many carats is it? It’s got to be at least three.”
He rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone. “Here’s a picture.” He slid the phone toward me.
“Why do you have a picture of it on your phone?” I asked him incredulously. “If she sees this, it’s going to be obvious what it is. You don’t even need to be smart to figure that out.” I waved the phone in front of his face. “Are you stupid?”
“We don’t have that kind of relationship,” he said, speaking confidently. “She would never go through my phone like that, and I would never do that to her either.”
“Damien, accidents happen.”
When he grew frustrated, he pushed the conversation forward. “Just shut up and look at the picture.” I grabbed the phone and brought it closer to my face. I tapped my fingers against the screen and spread them apart to pull the image closer, to inspect the diamond with a trained eye. I examined it like a jeweler. “White gold…solitaire…two carats. It’s nice…”
“It’s nice?” he said in offense. “That’s a beautiful ring. What’s wrong with it?”
“It’s a little small.” I put the phone down because I’d gathered all the data I needed. “I thought you were rich?”
“I am rich. But she’s not the kind of girl to walk around with a ten-carat diamond ring.” He raised his voice in protest, knowing my father was practically deaf at this point and wouldn’t have any idea what we were talking about.
“How do you know? Have you asked her? Has business been bad? Please don’t tell me you guys are gonna have to move in with me…”
He pressed his lips tightly together, annoyed with me. “There’s nothing wrong with my business. And I’d rather be homeless than move in with you.”
“Good. I’d rather you be homeless too.”
He released a deep sigh, his nostrils flaring.
“Sofia has a huge ring. That diamond is bonkers. This looks like fake jewelry that came out of a gumball machine. Do you shop at H&M?”
He snatched the phone from the table. “It does not. And since when did you become so materialistic?”
“I’m not. But you’re like, what, a billionaire? Can’t you buy her a big-ass ring? Open your wallet a little bit…”
“Annabella isn’t the type of woman that cares about the size of the diamond. She cares about the man giving it to her. She’ll love it.”
“Fine.” I leaned back in the chair and crossed my arms over my chest.
Damien opened the photo on his phone again and stared at it before his eyes were back to mine, like he wasn’t as confident anymore. Then he released a deep sigh. “Fine, what do you think I should get?”
“How about we just go shopping? Anna is going to be my sister-in-law, so I don’t want her walking around without a big-ass rock.”
He put his phone back into his pocket. “Alright. But when you fall in love and the guy asks you to marry him, you aren’t going to care what the ring looks like. If it’s not a huge diamond, you’re still going to be just as happy.”
I shrugged. “Maybe. But if he was rich and knew me at all, he’d probably know what to get me.”
“Why does it matter to you?” he asked, turning serious.
I considered the question and the best option for a response. “It’s hot,” I said with a shrug. “If I’m walking around with a huge rock, every guy who looks at me is gonna steer clear because they’ll know I belong to one hell of a man. And every woman who looks at my hand is gonna be jealous, especially if she sees us together, because she’ll know that fine man is really devoted to me, ain’t gonna cheat on me, ain’t gonna even look the other way.”
Damien was quiet for a while as he considered everything I’d just said. His face was a blank canvas, as if he was replaying my words in his head. But it must’ve hit close to home, because he rose out of his chair. “Let’s go now.”
I grinned and followed him out the door.
Now that six weeks had come and gone, my life had returned to normal. I would never forget what happened because the memory still came back to me in my nightmares, but I definitely started to move on. Staying at home and moping around didn’t help at all. When I got back to work, hung out with my friends, spent time with my family, those things seemed to help me the most. I hadn’t been with anyone else since before the incident, but I thought it was time to get back on the horse.
I pushed Heath from my thoughts even though he’d never really left. As time went on, his presence in my mind began to fade, and there were days when I didn’t think about him at all. But he always popped up again…eventually. Sometimes I thought about him when I was in the shower because I remembered that painful conversation in the bathroom. If I ever ate a hamburger, I remembered how he’d brought one to me when I was starving. Whenever I opened that white envelope stuffed with cash, I remembered him.
But in time, I would forget.
After a performance, the girls and I went out. It was my first time going to a bar since that night of the confrontation in the bathroom. I was in a short purple dress with my hair in curls, and it took me an hour to settle down after we arrived. I was aware of my surroundings more than usual, checking to see if there were any creeps similar to the one who cornered me in the bathroom. As if danger lurked everywhere, I kept my eyes peeled, and I guarded my drink like someone might spike it.
Tracy noticed my behavior. “Are you okay?”
“Absolutely.” I knew my answer was a little too enthusiastic, as if I was trying to compensate for my unease. “Why?”
“Because there’re so many hot guys staring at you, and you haven’t noticed.”
I only noticed the men who looked like a potential danger to me, and they didn’t seem interested in me at all. It made me forget the whole reason why I was there in the first place. “I guess I’ve been out of the game. I was sick for so long, and I just needed some time to get my feet back in the water.”
She patted my back. “Well, jump in. The water’s warm.”
After a few drinks were in my system, I wound up at a table with a nice guy. He was tall, blond, with fair skin and blue eyes—not my usual type, but nice enough. He had a position in a hotel, accounting or something, and he was absolutely nonthreatening.
I drank from my glass and tried to focus on the conversation, because he seemed to be really into me, finding my ballet career interesting rather than quizzical. We shared a few laughs, got along pretty well, and I thought my reintroduction to the dating world wasn’t bad. But I couldn’t imagine telling this guy what had happened to me six weeks ago. I couldn’t imagine telling anyone that, even if I were in a serious relationship. I wasn’t sure why.
A dark energy filled the room, like something dangerous was about to happen. I could feel the heavy stare on my face, just couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. The guy kept talking, but I pulled away from the conversation to locate the source of my unease.
That was when I saw him.
He stood at the edge of the bar with his body facing me. He didn’t have a drink, so he seemed to be waiting for the bartender to finish making his cocktail, probably something with vodka. He was in a gray shirt, the sleeves tight on his biceps and triceps, and he wore black jeans. He stared at me without blinking, his blue eyes beautiful and terrifying.
That was when I withdrew from the conversation entirely. This man was no longer interesting to me at all. It didn’t matter how nice he was. It didn’t matter that he seemed completely harmless. Seeing Heath stirred a million emotions inside my chest, making me feel unbridled lust, overwhelming longing. Memories of our previous kisses came back to me, the feeling of his hard shaft between my legs. He was a flavor of man I had never tasted before, and now that I had the best, it was hard to settle for anyone else.
When the bartender handed him his drink, he held it around the top of the glass and headed my way, right for my table with clear intentions.
My date kept talking. “We’re right next door to the Tuscan Rose, so we always have to compete with this chain that’s been around for decades…”
“I’m sorry, but could you excuse me?” I thought it would be better if I got rid of him before Heath arrived and scared the shit out of him.
He stared at me quizzically, like he had no idea what he did wrong. “Did I say something…?”
Heath reached the table and set his glass down, marking his territory in silence.
The guy looked up at him, and that was all it took for him to vacate the seat. “Nice talking to you.” He grabbed his drink and left, and once he was out of my line of sight, I didn’t think about him again.
Heath took a seat and stared at me. He didn’t apologize for interfering with my date, probably because he knew I wasn’t enjoying it anyway. Resting his thick arms on the table, he watched me with an intense expression, his diamond skull ring on his right hand. It was so flawless that it illuminated the area, refracting tiny particles of light.
Now that my eyes were on him, I couldn’t look at anything else, think about anything else. My pulse quickened in my neck, and I discreetly crossed my legs because the overwhelming need to change my position came over me. I was suddenly both uncomfortable and so comfortable at the same time. It was refreshing to be with a man without having to talk. He could handle silence, feel my emotions rather than question me about them.
After what felt like minutes, he spoke in his sexy, deep voice. “I took care of it.”
Without needing to question him, I knew exactly what he referred to. “Thank you.” The second I saw him, my eyes had latched on his. Even now, I didn’t look away. Now that this man was in the room, I didn’t care about anyone else. Without thinking twice about it, my hand moved to his, and I locked our fingers together.
He didn’t react or look down at our joined hands. He kept his eyes on me, staring at me like there was no other woman in the room who deserved his attention…except me. He gave me a gentle squeeze in return.
I knew I didn’t want to go home with anyone else in that bar—or in the whole world, actually. When I wasn’t around him, I could forget about him, but the second we breathed the same air, I was lost. My emotions took over, my blinding need consumed me. My relationship with him was so complicated, because a part of me still resented him for what he did to me, but I wanted him still…wanted him so much.
I brought his hand to my lips and kissed his knuckles. His hands were so big that a single one could cover both of mine at the same time. I kissed each knuckle, physically thanking him for what he had done for me.
He watched me, his eyes still focused on mine.
I knew every woman in the room wanted to be me, was disappointed they didn’t even get the opportunity to buy him a drink. He came right over to me, and this time, I didn’t let him slip from my grasp. I touched him because I wanted everyone to know he was off-limits, at least for tonight.
He pulled his hand away then reached under the table to grab my chair. Effortlessly, he dragged it across the floor toward him, maneuvering it around the corner of the table so I would be right by his side. He was so heavy in his chair that it didn’t move, only mine. Once I was in place, his arm slipped around my shoulders and his fingertips lightly touched my hair.
