Consequences of Deception (30 page)

Glaring at him I snap, “Your idea of loving someone and mine are two different things. You blackmailed me for absolutely no reason, and even though you’ve had plenty of time to come clean since, you never saw fit to tell me that you lied!”

Before he can answer me the sound of sirens heralds the arrival of the police. I spend the next god knows how long being poked and prodded as Killian barks at the EMTs to make absolutely certain that there’s nothing wrong with me.

When I’m cleared, the police come in to talk to us. Chord shot and killed Celine, but it’s very clear that he had reason to do so. I give my statement to the police about everything that happened, and every time I look at Killian as I explain the details, he looks sick. I do notice that when I tell the police that Stephen knew that I was married, Killian seems to be taken aback by that.

When I’m finished speaking, Killian gives his statement as well. The entire time he’s telling his story to the police he stares at me, his eyes imploring me to hear him.

I listen with my jaw hanging open as he details the fact that he has been hiding me from Celine for two months because he had a suspicion that she was going to kill me but didn’t have enough to evidence to back that up if he went to the police. When he tells them about the life insurance policy that she took out on me, I feel sick.

“For almost two months I kept her off the grid, but then I got word that Celine had hired a detective to find us. I’m not exactly inconspicuous so I decided to take action and marry Sloane. We’ve been in love for a long time and I had already been planning to ask her to marry me after this was all over—but then I realized that if I married her now, Celine’s little insurance policy wouldn’t be worth the paper it’s written on.”

It seems like our police interviews go on forever. When it’s over, they let us go after instructing us not to go anywhere until the investigation is closed. The case is pretty cut and dry, really. Celine’s hands have gunpowder residue on them, I saw her kill Stephen and there are two bullet holes in the hallway that back up my account of what happened. It doesn’t hurt that Killian is a legend in this area, that he’s a billionaire—or that the truth is on our side.

There is so much to say, but Killian is anxious to get the hell out of Stephen and Celine’s and so am I. I’m out of it, in a state of shock, I think. I say nothing for the entire drive back to the Four Seasons hotel, and when we get there, Killian lifts me out of the car and carries me until we get to our hotel room.

Bypassing our bedroom, he takes me right into the bathroom and turns the shower on. He undresses us both quickly and efficiently before lifting me again and walking into the shower. It’s only when the heat of the water hits my skin that I realize that I’m frozen to the core and shivering so hard that my whole body is shaking.

He washes me from head to toe, soothing me with his hands and his words as he cares for me. I’m overwhelmed, but I need his strength now more than ever. After I stop shivering, he washes himself before turning off the water and getting towels for both of us. He rubs me dry and then puts me into a robe before carrying me back to the bedroom. Pulling the comforter back, he lays me on the bed before sliding in next to me, covering us both and pulling me into his arms.

“Please, don’t ever leave me again, princess. When I realized that you were gone—I almost lost my mind. When we figured out that you were at Stephen and Celine’s, I thought that I was going to get there too late… and then when you fell down those fucking stairs…. You have no idea how much I love you, how much I need you in my life. You’re not just my wife, princess. You’re my entire life.”

I want to believe that, I am in fact desperate to believe it, but I’m scared. “I heard what you said to the police, but since you didn’t explain how you blackmailed me into going with you, I’m still in the dark. If you want me to trust you ever again, you need to tell me everything.”

I listen in horror as he recounts every wretched detail of how he got involved and why he did what he did. I had already forgiven him for blackmailing me into going with him weeks ago, but now I don’t just forgive him, I thank him. After what happened today, I know for sure that Celine was definitely planning to kill me.

I’m stunned that the Tates knew, shocked that Amanda was brave enough to go to Killian and enlist his help. He was such a giant prick to all of us for years that if I had been in her shoes I would’ve been terrified.

“Do you believe me now, princess? Do you understand how much I love you?”

I do. I really do. Covering my lips with his, he lays a kiss on me that makes me weak in the knees. We’re just starting to get really passionate when there’s a knock at the hotel door. I’m freaking out wondering who it is, but when Killian yells out that it’s the Tates, I jump off the bed and run into the other room to see them.

I’m so happy to see the Tates that I fall into their arms like I haven’t seen them in years. I can’t stop thanking them both, Amanda in particular, for saving me. Gesturing to the couch, Amanda tells Killian and I to sit down so that she can tell us the rest of the story. Not sure how much more I can take, I sit down and am immediately sandwiched between Killian and Demi.

Richard and Amanda each take a seat in the club chairs across from the couch, and after Richard nods at her, Amanda begins speaking.

“It’s important that you know all of the details of what happened. I know that this is a lot to take in, but I think you need to know everything. When I went to Killian’s office and told him that I intercepted a fax about the life insurance policy, I was lying.”

When Killian, Demi and I all let out gasps of surprise, Amanda holds up her hand in a ‘wait’ gesture.

“Everything else that I told you that day was true, Killian. I only lied about how I got the information. I didn’t find out about the life insurance policy from a fax—Stephen told me. It was Stephen’s idea for me to enlist your help. He believed that Sloane was in danger but, for reasons that he wouldn’t share with me, he was unable to do anything about it. Whatever his faults, and there were many, in the end he did try to save your life, Sloane.”

It’s a lot to take in, and it makes me feel even worse about Stephen’s death. I knew that he sacrificed himself for me today, but I had no idea that he’d been trying to save me even before he took action this afternoon.

Richard speaks up and puts his two cents in. “Your uncle was a complicated man, and not necessarily a good one. What he started out as and how he wound up are two different things, really. I’m glad that when push came to shove, he loved you enough to put you first. Your father would be proud of him for that.”

I know that he would be. I’m certainly proud of Stephen for doing something so selfless. I can’t stop seeing the look on his face in the moments before he died, and I don’t think that I’ll ever get that image out of my head. Leaning against Killian, I burst into tears.

After the Tates leave, Killian orders room service and forces me to eat a bowl of tomato soup and drink a glass of coke. As soon as he feels that I’ve eaten a sufficient amount, he carries me back to our bedroom and holds me close. Just before I fall asleep, I remember that my car is still in Stephen’s driveway.

“My car!”

Shushing me, he rubs my back softly. “Baby, the security team brought the car back already. Everything is fine.”

This morning we went to the funeral home to make arrangements for Stephen. We both refuse to claim Celine’s body, and I can’t be bothered to care what happens to her. I know what Stephen’s wishes were because he said many times after my father died that he wanted to be cremated, so that makes the planning easier.

It’s early afternoon as we are leaving the funeral home, and as soon as we get into the car to go to lunch, Killian’s cell phone rings.

With a sigh of frustration he answers it. “Hello?”

I can only hear one side of the conversation, but I quickly ascertain that it’s Stephen’s attorney, Jack Meier, calling, and that he’d like the two of us to stop by his office to pick something up that Stephen left with him a few weeks ago with instructions to get it to us immediately if anything were to happen to him.

By the time we get to the law offices of Schmidt, Meir and Reed, I’m a nervous wreck. It’s all very cut and dried—after checking and recording our IDs, Mr. Meier hands over a sealed envelope.

“Of course, when a client gives you an ‘in case of’ document, your antenna goes up. I’ve been a friend of your uncle for years, and he wasn’t prone to dramatics. I asked Stephen a dozen different ways if he was in some sort of trouble, but he had a cover story. He told me that he hadn’t been feeling well and was undergoing testing to find out what was wrong. When he put it that way, I figured that he was just covering his bases. When I heard what happened on the news last night, I realized that he’d been lying to me. I’m sorry for your loss.”

We choose not to read the letter in the office, and after discussing it in the car, we decide to go right back to the hotel to read it instead of going out to lunch.

When we get back to the hotel, Killian opens the envelope, pulls out the letter and begins reading.

Sloane & Killian

If you’re reading this, I didn’t survive whatever Celine’s plan is. Don’t feel too badly about that—the truth is that I’ve had this coming for a while. It’s time for you both to know the truth about everything.

Five years ago, I began an affair with a young girl that I had fallen head over heels in love with. That girl was Shannon. We hid our affair and made plans for a future, and I began putting a plan into place to get away from Celine. When Shannon told me that she was pregnant, I decided not to wait any longer and I went to Celine and asked for a divorce. She agreed and was actually very pleasant about it—something that I see now should have been a red flag.

She asked to keep her job at Evans and I agreed. We continued working together the following week and Celine couldn’t have been on better behavior. She knew that I planned to go up to the Lake House that weekend to tell my brother that Shannon and I were in love, and on Friday afternoon she took me out for a good luck lunch. I got horribly sick after lunch and was too ill to make the trip. That night, Shannon and my brother died in the lake house fire.

I’ve never been sure if Celine started it or not. She’s never admitted to doing it, but she won’t say that she didn’t, either. As you know, the official cause of the fire was a candle that was left burning. Sloane couldn’t say whether my brother had a candle burning in his room or not, so there was never any way to know for sure. I’ve always had my doubts.

My only excuse for my actions after that are that I’d lost the girl that I loved along with our baby, and I wasn’t thinking straight. When Celine pointed out that if Killian found out about Shannon and I, he would ruin my business and my life, I followed her plan and told him lies about you, Sloane, so that he would go away. After I was stupid enough to follow through with that plan, Celine started blackmailing me. I went along with everything that she said like an idiot because I didn’t want either of you to know about Shannon and I.

For the last four and a half years, I’ve been in hell. When she says jump, I say how high. Three years ago, I started to let the business go in the hopes that my losing money would make her leave, but instead she came up with a plan to replenish the money that I’ve lost. When I got the call from my insurance agent reminding me that the premium was due, I knew that Sloane was in horrible danger.

Whatever happened to me that has resulted in you reading this letter, I know that it was a reaction to the chain of events I set into motion with my lies.

In the timeless words of Sir Walter Scott,
"
Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive."

If nothing else I hope that in the end, I was able to save Sloane and that the two of you find a way to make a future together. Don’t let the deceptions and bad choices of others take away the future that you can have together.