Say You Will Page 5

  When she got back to her desk, the message light was blinking on her phone.

  Eli’s voice grumbled over the line. “Mara. I have the report for you. I’m sorry it took a little longer. But then, I warned you.”

  She put the phone down and turned to her computer screen. Ethan stood watching from the door to his office. She wasn’t sure what to make of his strange confessions or even of Eli’s cryptic message. All she knew was there was a mound of work waiting in her inbox and that it wasn’t going to complete itself. That, at least, she knew she could handle.

  “Bad news?” Ethan asked.

  Her fingers paused over her keyboard. It was useless to pretend she was fine when they both knew otherwise. But pretending was preferable to breaking down and crying like a toddler. Which was what she really wanted to do.

  “I’ll ask about those contract changes you requested. You’ll have it before the end of the day. I’ll make sure of it.”

  He nodded once, then he was gone.

  * * * * *

  THE REST OF the afternoon was better. Mara diverted her calls to Ada, who’d assured her that she didn’t mind, so that she could get a handle on things. Nothing made her feel better than a clear inbox so for the rest of the day she blocked out everything and focused on completing her work. Ethan didn’t come out of the office except to greet his appointments. She breathed a sigh of relief when one of the attorneys from another floor entered his office and closed the door. As long as he was occupied, she didn’t have to think about their strange conversation or how he’d looked at her.

  As if her life wasn’t screwed up enough lately.

  What was she going to do? It was the major question that she’d been trying to avoid all day. Her entire life was set to go in one direction. Marry Trent and live happily ever after. For once in her life, she’d actually done something to make her mother happy. She’d found a man who was steady and dependable and loved her. Or so she’d thought.

  Just thinking about the prior night made her alternately angry and sad. She hadn’t felt like this in a long time. Hopeless and despondent and shattered. The last time she’d had her entire world crushed had been at her quinceañera party when she’d learned that her mother had only married her father because of his money. When she’d been told that her mother was proud of her because her beauty was sure to take her far in life. Which by her mother’s definition meant a rich husband with a big house.

  She glanced at the time in the top corner of her computer screen. It was almost time to leave and she doubted that she’d accomplish anything of use at this point. After gathering her things, she stopped at Ada’s desk to thank her for her help and then rode the elevator down to the lobby. To her surprise, when the doors opened, the first thing she saw was her brother.

  “Matt? What are you doing here?” He stood and dropped the magazine he’d been reading back on the waiting room table. She glanced around, noticing that several of the women in the lobby were eyeing him. It always amused her to see the way women responded to her brother. Of course she thought he was about as perfect as a guy could be so she didn’t blame them but it was still funny to imagine her brother as some kind of heartthrob.

  Typical Matt, he seemed oblivious to the looks and stares directed at him anyway. When one of the women placed herself directly in front of him, he moved around her with a barely polite nod and headed straight for Mara. He didn’t look happy. Her mind immediately went to Trent. Had something happened to him? Her heart sped up.

  “What’s happened? Is Trent okay?”

  Matt’s scowl only deepened which did nothing to reassure her. He was typically serious which Mara had long gotten used to. It had been worse since his time overseas but he’d been getting better in the past year. Or at least, she’d thought he had been getting better. He’d seemed to have lightened up a lot and found his sense of humor since dating Penny.

  “Trent is fine as far as I know. But there’s something you should know.” He glanced behind him. No one stood close enough to overhear but that didn’t seem to make him feel any better. He put an arm around her shoulders and led her outside. “Come on. I’ll drive you to my place.”

  Mara clutched her things closer to her chest when he tried to take her bag. “But I need to go home. Trent left last night and never came back. We had a fight,” she admitted. She hated to put her brother in between her and Trent. It wasn’t fair. They’d been friends far longer than she and Trent had been a couple and he didn’t deserve to be pulled between them. But surprisingly Matt didn’t seem shocked at her words at all. If anything his features only grew more grim.

  Mara had the sudden feeling that she wouldn’t be going home for while.

  “We need to talk, sis.”

  Chapter Five

  TRENT WOKE TO complete and utter darkness. He blinked, disoriented, trying to figure out what had woken him up. He’d come home a little after six o'clock, surprised to find that Mara wasn’t home from work yet. He'd sent her a message telling her that he'd meet her here after work. She hadn't responded but he'd assumed it was because she was still pissed.

  As the hours passed, he’d started to get worried so he’d called her cell phone and several of their friends. Finally she’d responded and told him that she was spending the night at her brother’s house. She’d sent her message loud and clear. She didn’t want to talk to him. But they needed to talk and there was no getting around it. He’d gone to sleep in their bed, figuring that she couldn’t avoid her own house forever.

  He turned his head at a slight movement to his left. When he caught sight of the dark, man-sized shape in the corner, his heart skipped a beat. He shot up in the bed, the sheets tangling around his legs. Once his eyes adjusted and he recognized Matt’s face, his heart slowed down.

  Slightly.

  “What the hell, man? You scared the shit out of me.”

  Matt didn’t respond and Trent leaned over and turned on the light. “What’s going on?”

  In the light, he could see what was hidden in the dark. Matt was furious.

  He knows, Trent thought dimly. For once in his life, his father hadn’t been bluffing.

  A pair of jeans hit him in the face.

  “Get dressed and meet me in the kitchen. You have two minutes.”

  By the time he snatched the fabric off his face, Matt was gone.

  Fuck.

  His brain still wasn’t firing on all cylinders but he knew enough to get dressed. Quickly. Knowing his best friend, he wasn’t going to give him more than sixty seconds or he’d be back. And it was doubtful that he’d come out here to confront him alone. Trent sighed. That meant he’d probably have an angry Jackson or Nick to deal with as well. He’d face a boardroom of angry shareholders any day before taking on his friends. Mainly because he actually cared what they thought of him.

  But you knew when you chose to get involved with his sister that there was a very real chance that this would end badly.

  When he emerged into the kitchen, he bit back another curse. Matt stood against the counter with Elliott Alexander. Any hopes of convincing his friend of his sincerity went out the window.

  “You know why we’re here?” Eli asked.

  Trent nodded. He’d always known that things would come out. But when you were in the midst of living a lie, you convinced yourself that you were invincible. That no one would ever figure out your game.

  Until the terrifying moment when it ceased to be a game and became the thing you wanted most in the world.

  “When did my father call you?”

  Matt glanced over at Eli who looked similarly confused. “What the hell are you talking about? Why would your father call us?”

  Now that gave him a moment of doubt. During this entire thing, the one wild card was his father. He’d assumed that he would eventually tire of waiting for Trent to come to his senses and would eventually out him. Eli noticed the look on his face and seemed to understand instantly.

  “You think your father told
us? No. I investigated you at Mara’s request. She thought that you were cheating on her.”

  He dropped down into one of the kitchen chairs. Despite everything, he’d never meant to hurt Mara. He’d never meant to hurt anyone. But he supposed it had been foolish to think that he could have his cake and eat it too. Such a silly expression, he thought to himself. After all, what were you supposed to do with cake if not eat it?

  “I never meant to hurt her.”

  Matt let out a disgusted sound. “Right. Just like you never meant to lie to her about your entire life. Was any of that shit you told us true? Your parents live in the Midwest? You grew up on a farm? Did you just make up the most generic all-American thing you could think of and decide to go with that?”

  “Yes. That’s exactly what I did.”

  Stunned into silence, Matt sat in one of the chairs across from him.

  Trent leaned forward. “There’s no way to spin this so I come off looking good. Despite all evidence to the contrary, I really don’t like lying and rarely do it. But when I was eighteen, I had a chance to start over. To live on my own and experience life like everyone else.”

  “You mean, everyone else not in the one percent?” Eli commented.

  “Exactly. I’m not going to bore you with any poor-little-rich-kid stories. At this point, it doesn’t even matter. I lied to you about my background and I’ve been lying by omission ever since.”

  “Why?” Mara appeared in the doorway to the kitchen.

  At the sight of her face, his stomach dropped out. There was no other word to describe how she looked other than ravaged. Her eyes were so red and puffy she looked like she’d been punched in the face. Blotches of pink across her cheeks showed where she’d rubbed at her cheeks over and over again. At his stare, she rubbed the top of her hair, trying to tame the strands sticking out of the top of her ponytail.

  “I know I look awful”

  He stood to go to her only to have Matt block his path. "Stay where you are."

  "Look, Matt. I know you're angry but I'm still the same person. I'm still me."

  "Are you? Because the guy I've known for years doesn't look anything like the guy we've been investigating this past week. The Trent that I know has family on a farm out in the Midwest somewhere. His favorite thing to do on the weekends is go surfing or hang out and throw some steaks on the grill." He picked up the folder from the counter. "I don't know this guy. This guy with a penthouse in Manhattan who regularly gives away more money than any of us will see in a lifetime."

  "It's still me. Yes, my family has a lot of money but I'm still the same guy you've known for years."

  In light of everything else they’d found out so far, Trent was relieved that they hadn’t found Avery. That was something he needed to tell Mara about directly. Lots of women didn't like it when their man had a close female friend but he knew Mara wasn't like that. Once she understood that he'd grown up with Avery and that, more importantly, she was his brother's girl, she would understand.

  Mara moved closer, pushing past when Matt tried to stop her. "No, I want to hear what he has to say. Don't I deserve that much?"

  Matt didn't look happy about it but he let her pass.

  “I know I lied to you and there’s nothing I can do to take that back. But I love your sister and if she still wants me, I’m not walking away.”

  “If you love me, then you’ll tell me the truth. Where did you get this?" Mara pulled out her cell phone and held it up. He recognized the picture Travis had given him a few weeks ago. His heart dropped at the shattered look on her face.

  "My nephew drew that for me."

  A visible shudder went through her. She clasped her arms around her middle. "Your nephew? So, you've been going home to see your sister, then?"

  Matt moved forward. "Hold up, sis. Before you get your hopes up again, that may be his nephew but this is definitely not his sister."

  He held up a picture of Avery.

  * * * * *

  MARA CLUTCHED HER arms tighter, wondering if it was possible for your heart to literally just fall to pieces. After Matt had taken her back to his house, he'd shown her all the information they'd dug up on Trent. She'd spent hours looking through his real estate holdings, old pictures and even a listing of his family's charitable contributions.

  It had been like reading a book about a different person. Part of her had even held out an irrational hope that it was all a mistake. There was another Townsend family with a handsome blue-eyed son named Trent who lived a charmed life on the Upper East side of Manhattan. Because that life, the life she'd gotten only a glimpse of through written reports didn't belong to her Trent. The boy she'd bumped into on her first day of college and fallen into crazy stupid love with. The boy who'd both annoyed her and captivated her, fueling plenty of her late night dirty dreams alone in her small dorm room.

  The boy she'd watched grow into an exceptional man.

  And now her brother had brought out the one piece of the puzzle that she'd been trying to avoid thinking about. Matt still held up the picture of the pretty brunette who was currently living in Trent's New York apartment.

  Matt hadn't even wanted her to come along for this confrontation. He was trying to protect her, even now, but she hadn't had the heart to tell him that the damage was already done. Viewing the pictures of his other life, his "real" life with his other girlfriend had shattered whatever composure she'd had left. Her heart was already broken. All she was trying to do at this point was salvage some of the pieces.

  "You know about Avery?" Trent closed his eyes briefly and Mara had to resist the urge to scream. After all they'd accused him of, the only thing he was worried about was that they'd identified his mistress?

  "Hell yeah we found out," Matt growled. “Sorry to blow your cover." She could tell her brother was on the verge of violence. She put a hand on his arm, hoping to calm him down. He glanced at her and nodded once.

  "It isn't like that," Trent countered. "I'm not cheating on Mara." His gaze shifted to hers. "I would never do that. And I was going to tell you everything before we got married. It just never seemed like the right time."

  Matt laughed. "I'm sure it didn't. You were right at home. Why bother with a little thing like the truth."

  Trent dropped his head forward into his hands. "I know it looks bad but Avery is just a friend. One of my oldest friends. I grew up with the Maxwells. My older brother, James, my little sister, Sophia and I used to play with the two Maxwell kids, Avery and Preston, all the time. Our parents weren't exactly friends but we ran in the same social circles and went to the same private school so it was inevitable that we would see each other at times."

  “If you're estranged from your family, then why have you been sneaking home to see them so much?" Mara truly wanted to understand. Because it was becoming more and more clear that Trent wasn't estranged from his family. He apparently just didn't want her to meet them.

  "My nephew has been ill. He's the main reason I went back. He's just a kid and he doesn't understand why his father isn't around. My brother should have been there with his son while he was sick. Instead he ditched his responsibilities to go play in Miami."

  "So that makes it okay for you to ditch my sister and go play house with this chick behind our backs?" Matt made a disgusted sound.

  Trent squeezed his head between his hands. "I know this sounds bad but I swear it's not like that. Avery and Travis are family. She'd be my sister-in-law if my brother wasn't such a screw-up. I couldn't just leave her to deal with his medical issues on her own."

  "I don't believe you," Matt stated.

  Trent's lips quirked up into a half-smile. "See, that's one of the things I've always liked the best about you. You say what you think and you don't give a shit whether anyone else likes it. Most of the people that I meet who know about my family's wealth, they don't say stuff like that to me. They say what they think I want to hear. They flatter me, they say whatever they think will make me like them. Then the requests sta
rt. Can I borrow this? Or I'm a little short until payday, can you help me out?"

  Mara came a little closer. "You didn't think we would do that, did you?"

  He grabbed her hand, holding tight when she tried to tug it back. "I didn't think so but I really didn't want to take a chance and be wrong. Which has happened before. I've never been happier than I am in my life with you."

  Matt shoved in between them. "Stay away from her. You've done enough damage as it is. I just brought her here so she could see that it was true. So she'd know for sure that you're a liar. Now it's time for you to go."

  Trent's jaw tightened but he stood, holding up his hands in surrender. "I'll go. I know I screwed up and it'll take time but I just want you to know that I'm sorry. And that even if you don't understand my reasons, I don't regret anything. Knowing all of you for these past years has been the best part of my life."

  Matt stood unmoved between, but Mara couldn't tear her eyes away from Trent. Even though his words were directed to all of them, she could feel that he was talking directly to her. Asking her to understand. Asking her to forgive.

  Just before he reached the doorway to the kitchen, he turned back to her.

  "I know I don't deserve your trust. Or you. But I love you and I am going to prove to you that I'm for real."

  * * * * *

  BUTTING OUT WASN'T an easy thing to do and Matt Simmons was discovering that it was even harder when a situation involved people you knew and loved.

  Or people you thought you knew, anyway. He wasn't entirely sure he knew Trent at all. The thought made him feel both strangely hurt and murderously angry at the same time so he was trying not to think about it. His fingers tightened around the steering wheel as he drove away from his sister's townhouse. In the rearview mirror, he watched as the lights on the lower level went dark.

  He turned to the man in the passenger seat of his truck, who sat looking out the window into the night. Eli Alexander was more than just his boss. He was a mentor and a friend. He was also a master at weeding through bullshit.