Betrayed: Keeping her in the Dark Vol. 3 (13 page)

I was still in denial about needing to talk to him anyway. I was having fun not talking to him. 

Liam

“The opera? Are you kidding? The opera? After the week we have had together you expect me to sit in a theater with you and listen to opera?” I was practically begging her not to make me go to the opera, but it wasn’t working. 

“Come on, let’s blow this off and go to Florida. Don’t you want to see your sisters?” I tried to ‘ol family card. But it didn’t work. 

“My sisters are in Mexico for spring break. I’m sorry. I bought these tickets before I knew you hated your birthday.” She walked closer to me and wrapped her arms my neck.

“Now put on your tux, splash some of your aftershave on, and put a smile on your face.” She put her finger over my lips to stop me from talking. “I promise if you do these things for me now, I will make you happy later. Deal?” I sucked her finger in my mouth. 

“Deal,” I mumbled with her finger in my mouth. She pulled her finger out and kissed me. 

“Thank you,” she said.

I did as I was told and got dressed. When I walked out of the bathroom Norah was standing in the bedroom and gestured for me to help her zip up her dress.

 Of course I couldn’t help but run my fingers up and down her back first. 

She turned around and I sucked all the air out of the room. Her gown was a deep red, strapless, made of taffeta, and fit her like a glove. The top was a tight corset with an ivory lace overlay that stopped right at her hips. The skirt of the dress was a big ball gown with rouching and lace every five inches or so on the dress. 

“Do I look okay?” she asked. I covered my mouth. 

“Norah….you look stunning. You’re beautiful.” I pulled her close to me. 

“You always say that,” she whispered. I kissed her softly not wanting to mess up her makeup. 

“That’s because it’s true.”

 “Well sir, you really have the James Bond thing going on right now, especially with the accent. Should I get you a cigarette, Mr. Bond?” 

We started down the stairs and I was still pouting about our evening listening to people sing in Italian. 

“If you behave yourself, I may give you a hand job during the second act,” she winked at me. I stopped pouting. 

It was hard to keep my eyes off Norah in the limo, she was so beautiful. She was beautiful in anything, but she looked exquisite tonight.

Her mood had been so out of the ordinary for her, I didn’t really know what to expect tonight. I thought she would be excited about a weekend away, but she seemed very excited about the opera. So I did what any sane man would do. I did what wife wanted to do. 

“Why are we stopping here?” We had pulled into the roundabout driveway for the one of the hotels I owned. 

“I have to pick up something,” she didn’t look at me when she said it. 

“What?” I asked out of curiosity. 

“What? What?” she was taking a play from my book and trying to be cute. Unfortunately for me, she was very cute. 

“What are you picking up?” I asked with a cocky smile knowing full well she knew what I meant. 

“Something for an event tomorrow,” she looked away again. 

“Norah? What are you picking up?” I wasn’t in the mood for her games but I knew I had to play them. “Who’s the one acting like James Bond now?” 

“Well, if you help me this will go a lot faster,” she slid across the seat as Trig opened the door. 

She took his hand and got out and then turned back and held her hand out to me.

I took it and got out of the car straightening my jacket and tie. 

“Norah? What are you up to?” She just smiled and kept walking. She pulled me through the lobby passed the front desks and passed the elevators to the long hallway. “Norah? Where are we going?” I asked. She turned to me and walked backwards a few steps. 

“Would you let me have this moment, please? Stop trying to rule the world, Mr. Hastings.” 

“But I want to rule the world, Mrs. Hastings, or more importantly I want to rule you.” She turned back and kept walking forward. 

We stopped in front of the large white doors to the main ballroom and I had a feeling when she opened the door I wasn’t going to be happy, but I was going to have to pretend I was. 

“Are you ready?” she asked with her hand on her hip. I nodded knowing what was coming. 

She opened the door and I heard random voices shout, “Surprise!” Black, white and red balloons fell from the ceiling, lights flashed, people clapped and confetti was everywhere. 

I smiled and laughed. Then I pulled Norah to my side and kissed her cheek and made her look at me. 

“You are in so much trouble, you know that?” She smiled and kissed my lips. 

“I haven’t even begun to get in trouble with you, sir. You haven’t seen your birthday present yet.” 

“Do I still have to go to the Opera?” I smiled at her.

“No. I think this party will be enough torture for one night, don’t you?”

“I love you more than you will ever know,” I kissed her again. 

We mingled as music from the back of the room started up. The ballroom was glorious. Red linen covered tables, black and white satin covered the walls, balloons everywhere and a large dance floor. 

People were dancing, drinking the drinks the wait staff and the two bars were serving, and eating appetizers from about ten tables randomly placed. 

I talked with Steve Andrews, my CFO and his wife, with a few clients as well, shook hands and listened to a short lecture on marriage from Mr. Stackhouse, who was now in the middle of a multi-million dollar divorce. 

I danced with Rebecca Tyler, formally Rebecca Stackhouse and few young ladies from my office.

 My secretaries circled me forced me to line dance with them. But the best dance partner of the evening had to go too little Josefina, my housekeeper’s daughter.

 She was almost two now, so she stood on my feet and we moved around the floor. Our dance only last a few minutes because she saw a balloon fall and I lost her attention. 

I looked up and saw Norah walking to me. “I just lost my dance partner to a balloon,” I pointed over my shoulder to her running after a large red balloon. 

“Yes well, a balloon is a tough thing to beat.” I pulled her in my arms and we started dancing. “I was afraid I wasn’t going to be able to dance with my husband tonight.” 

“I always have time to dance with you, little one.” She raised her hand and made gesture to the orchestra. 

“Well I thought I had lost you to Josefina. She is very cute and she seems to captivate your attention.” Our song started up. Well one of our songs. The first song we ever danced to at a wedding and one of the songs we danced to at our wedding. ‘A thousand years’. 

“Did you create a secret sign for the maestro to play our song?” I whispered in her ear. 

“Yes I did. I have been known to make men do things for me,” she started kissing my neck. “You looked so attractive dancing with that little girl.” She ran her lips over my neck.

“Well maybe one day you can give me a little girl on my own to dance with. What do you think about that?” I asked.

“You want kids?” she asked. “Liam Hastings wants kids? Really?” I gave her a smile. “Well my goodness sir, that is something I never expected to hear from you.”

“You don’t want to have children with me?” I asked her.

“I didn’t say that. I have always wanted to be a mother. But I just assumed that when I married a man who wants all of my attention that kids were off the table.” I couldn’t believe we were having this serious conversation in the middle of my birthday party.

“Well I am not saying I want them tomorrow or even next year, little one. I like having all of your attention. And your right, having children is something I never thought I would want. But you make me want things I have never wanted before. I want to share everything with you, Norah. I want us to have our little family when we are both ready.” She smiled and I saw a tear fall down her cheek. I hoped it was happy tear

 “Have you seen what Josie is wearing?” she laughed.  I figured she was trying to change the subject.

“She looks more like a hooker than someone attending a formal party.” I leaned away from her and my pulse started to race. 

“Josie is here? You invited her?” I knew my voice sounded a little panicked. 

“Of course I invited her, she is Will’s girlfriend now. Why would I not invite her?” I tried to calm my voice a little bit. 

“You’re right. I’m sorry. You’re right.” I took a deep breath. 

Josie was there. She was with us at the club. She saw me with the waitress. She saw what the waitress and I did together. More importantly she was probably as stupid and as big mouthed as Jane. And now she was friends with my wife. This wasn’t good. 

I needed to find Will and make it clear that he had to control his women. Under no circumstances were his women allowed to mention that night ever again around my wife. I had to make that clear. 

“You’ve never told me why you don’t like your birthday?” she said. I leaned back and looked at her. 

“My mother died on my birthday.” I knew she would say something after so I waited. 

“Liam! I had no idea. I am so sorry,” she gasped.

 “It’s ok. You didn’t know,” I paused.

“My mother lived alone after my father died. I tried to spend time with her, not as much as she wanted, but I made as much time for her as I could. She had a stroke on my 20
^th
birthday and died.” 

“I’m sorry.”

“I blamed myself for not being there. So I have never liked celebrating.”

“Liam, I would have never,” I stopped her. 

“It’s fine. You didn’t know and this is fine. It’s all worth it to be able to dance with the most beautiful girl in world.” The song ended and Norah was pulled away. 

I tried to find Will in the crowd but kept stopping to greet people. As I walked through the ballroom I saw a big table with wrapped boxes on it. Was I six years old? I hoped she didn’t expect me to open presents in front of everyone, like a child. 

I heard a little feedback on a microphone and saw Norah standing in front of the orchestra. 

“Good Evening!” she shouted and the microphone screeched again. A young man approached her and adjusted something on the microphone.  “Check, 1, 2, 3.” No feedback. 

“I wanted to thank everyone for coming out tonight. This started as a small party of about fifty people to celebrate my husband’s birthday, and look what happened,” she motioned around the room. “I think there are a hundred people here,” she chuckled.

“You know I’m going to get in trouble, right?” The crowd laughed and so did I.

“Liam would you please come up here.” I made my way to her and everyone started clapping. I stood beside her and she took my hand in hers and a waiter brought is both a glass a champagne. 

“I would like to make a toast to this wonderful man standing next to me.” I could feel my face turning red but I kept my eyes on her. “Because I love you, and you truly love me too. You have given me everything and I wanted to give you something back. Your life deserves celebration.” She turned and faced the crowd again. “So I ask you to raise your glass to Liam Hastings. I love you for the person you think you are, the person you want to be, and more importantly the person you have become.” She raised her glass. “Happy Birthday, my love!” People clapped and shouted and clanged glasses together. I took a sip of my champagne and stepped closer to her and gave her a kiss that should have been in private. 

“And now,” she said in the microphone after she pulled away, “please join me outside so I can show my handsome husband his birthday present.”

She took my hand, handed her glass to a waiter passing by and grabbed her gown so she could walk. 

We walked through the crowd and I kept getting birthday wishes from everyone we passed. “Norah, what did you do?” she turned back and faced me again. 

“That is a question you keep asking tonight.” She stopped us in front before we went outside. 

“Yes and you don’t seem to be answering me. I have never been in the dark on so many things involving my life….and my money.” I smiled to make sure she knew I wasn’t angry. 

“Well hold on to your hat sir, because when you see what I have spent your money on next, you might pass out.” She took my hand again and we walked outside. Lights flashed and trumpets played as a crowd of people moved so I could see what was behind them. 

She bought me a Ferrari. She bought me a dark blue, Enzo Ferrari. She bought me a $700,000.00 car. 

I looked over at her and she had a huge smile on her face.

“Happy Birthday, Liam!” She held out her hands in the ‘ta,da’ motion. 

I walked around it and took it in. It was beautiful. It was sexy. It was an incredible car.

She clicked the doors and I opened the driver’s side door and got inside. She jumped in the passenger side and I leaned over kissed her deeply. 

“You are too much, you know that?” She just laughed and smiled at me. 

“Did you say I spent too much or I am too much?” Her smile was so intoxicating. Money didn’t matter to me. My birthday didn’t matter to me. She was amazing. She was kind hearted and the most generous person I had ever met in my life. 

“Don’t worry about the money, Liam. I will work it off in the bedroom for the next twenty years.” We got out and I chatted with a few more guests. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She talked to everyone, she was laughing, wiping her eyes with a tissue, and having fun.  I loved to watch my wife do anything, but when she was happy the world made sense to me. Never in my wildest dream did I imagine that two years ago when I dropped 1.5 million on a girl I thought would be at my beck and call, that what I was really doing was setting myself up with my soul mate. 

“Ok, everyone back inside! We have cake!” She raised her arms and waved everyone inside. As the crowd thinned out, I took her hand in mine. 

“You’re amazing, you know that?” I kissed her hand. “I’m not upset about the money, please don’t worry about it. Your gift is incredibly thoughtful, and I will never be able to thank you.” We started to walk inside and I gripped her tightly and leaned into her ear.