Deceiving The Groom (12 page)

She knew the truth.

Pain flared behind her eyes. The kind of pain she felt when she’d experienced a massive cry, but this was without the tears. She touched a finger to his smile. How would he feel if he knew the truth. Not about the con, but just about the wedding. Would part of him be as happy as he looked in the picture? Or would he be horrified to be shackled to her? 

She dropped the photo back in the file and set it back in the safe. Then opened the next, and paused. This had more photos, but this time of the B&B. Photos of the front, the back, the windows. Photos of Claire leaving, coming home, of Mrs. Rose, all with times printed at the bottom.

The lying bastard…

She knew it. He’d been planning this since they got back from Vegas. Claire threw the file back inside the safe with the first. She almost didn’t dare to open the next file or the one underneath it, but at this point she had to. Her hand hesitated. She already felt sick.

She opened the next folder slowly and nearly dropped her flashlight . Her heart crashed down to rest in the bile churning pit of her guts. He couldn’t be so cruel. Print outs of an eighteen year old Claire sat at the top. Newspaper articles. She could hardly recognize herself in the five years that had past. The girl in the photo was a slightly rounder, softer, and much more naive version of herself.

The man next to her she couldn’t bear to look at. He was the man that taught her how the best manipulators used kindness to lure their prey. She’d given all of herself to him, only to find herself tricked and used in the worst way. Then the whole world found out about it too. And it was her they’d demonized. It’d taken five years to move beyond it, yet this photo took her right back to that place.

Her chest collapsed inwards. Tears pricked her ducts but she bit them back with ground teeth. She flicked through the remainder of the contents. Emails of their conversations, and other things Geoff had insisted she destroy in all their forms. At the back was a unlabeled computer disc. Claire picked it up and brushed her eye with the back of her hand. She knew what this was. It was his insurance policy, what he was going to use to
make
her do what he wanted.

Claire swallowed over a throat of razors and tucked the disc into the pocket of her jacket and rose. She went to the cupboard below the bookshelf and took a blank disc and placed it in the back of the folder with trembling fingers.

She returned the file and picked up the last one. Lights flickered in the sides of the curtains. Claire put the folders back and rearranged everything exactly as she remembered, then pushed the filing cabinet into place. Her heart jumped. She limped out the office as fast as her ankle would allow and pulled Geoff’s office door shut and locked it swiftly. A knock sounded on the entrance and Claire rushed to turn off the remaining light in the store and answer it.

Liam stood in the doorway, one hand joined with Lexi and a pizza box in his other. The little girl grinned at Claire. “We got pizza to take home!”

Lexi’s enthusiasm reached her, loosening the fist clutching her heart.

“Are you ready?” Liam asked.

Claire nodded and Lexi held out her hand. Claire took the little girls fingers in hers and the tension in her centre ebbed.

“I am.”

              Chapter Fifteen             

Hot pizza, iced coke, followed by a giant glass of Sav Blanc and pleasant company did more than she could have imagined to keep the rage inside her from exploding. She glanced at Liam sitting opposite her at the dining table and an ache built in her chest. Liam smiled over the rim of his glass and swallowed his remaining wine.

Lexi wiped her hands on a napkin, and bobbed on her seat looking at Liam pleadingly.

“Claire, Lexi would like to give you something.”

She gazed at Lexi. “Really?”

Lexi nodded vigorously then jumped off her seat running to the other room. Liam rose and followed behind her, returning with two large plastic bags. Lexi dragged her bag to Claire.

“I’m sorry you can’t get your things,” Lexi said.

Claire took the bag from Lexi’s hands.

“What’s all this?” Claire said with a catch in her voice.

Liam moved the plates and glasses off the table, avoiding Claire’s gaze.

“When I explained to Lexi what happened, she was upset for you. She wanted to get a few things to help.”

Claire put her hand on her chest and looked at Lexi. The little girl’s eyes stretched wide and sparkling. Beautiful, mesmerizing brown eyes that looked at her with such trust. What would happen if she found out what she’d been involved in? Would she ever be able to trust again?

Claire brushed the curls on the side of Lexi’s face and leaned close. “Thank you.”

She opened the bag and began extracting the contents. Toothbrush, hair comb, deodorant, shampoo and conditioner. All the practical essentials. Claire gave Lexi a compliment for every item, so by the time the second bag came along Lexi looked like she was about to burst. She couldn’t sit still, couldn’t stop talking.

“Er, Lexi picked those out.”

She glanced at Liam and opened the next bag, pulling out a packet of underwear. Her lips twitched. Full brief, brightly colored, princess underpants the kind she’d never even know could come in adult size. She cleared her throat as laughter bubbled.

Liam rubbed the back of his hair.

Claire turned to Lexi. “These are very pretty, thank you.”

Lexi helped her pull out the rest of the things including full flannelette pajamas not unlike the ones she had seen Lexi wear.

“These are my favorite.” Lexi tugged out two dresses. Two flowing, pretty summer dresses. “Will you try them on?”

Claire paused holding one of the dress. They were nice, they really were. She just couldn’t make herself put them on.

After everything she’d done, after what she knew Geoff was doing, how could she accept these things?

Claire held the dress to her chest, and planted her face in her hand. Her eyes shut. Her throat locked.

“Don’t you like it, Claire?”

Lexi patted Claire’s back. The soft innocent touch was too much. She came apart. Her tears ravaged her from top to bottom, not an inch of her left unshaken. The room went black.

Too much, too much.

Lexi—Penny—Liam— Geoff —the accident—
accidents
. Everything that had happened that day, everything that had led up to it, everything she’d discovered. She really was drowning now. Nothing was ever going to be able to fix this.

“Go upstairs.” Liam whispered to Lexi.

“Is she okay?”

“She’ll be alright, she’s had a rough day.”

A large hand touched her back, drawing her against Liam’s solid presence. The touch reached inside her cocoon, and she spun towards it. Her fingers fisted in his shirt. His hands were like brands on her back, reminding her she was alive.

“Liam,” she whispered and looked at him, swiping away tears.

Her chest hurt. Her heart hurt. Not half as much as it’d hurt if everything came out. She brushed the lines on his forehead, traced his cheeks. She blinked slowly, her insides moving in slow motion.

His hand slid to the back of her neck and stroked the groove just below her hairline. Her breath blew hot from her lips as he bent towards her. Liam cradled her skull like she might break, and kissed her like
he
might.

He deepened the kiss then drew back shakily. His jaw pulsed and he drew her face into his neck. “Everything is going to be alright.”

His spoke his words like they were irrefutable. And just for that one tiny moment, Claire let herself believe that they just might be true.

Liam woke to the warmth of a body curled against him. Claire slept in his arms. Her hand tucked under her chin and her dusky blonde lashes kissing her cheeks. He could get used to this.

She looked so young.

She was young.

But sadness clung to her, a vulnerability she tried to cover up with sexiness. She wore her sensuality like it was her one and only currency.

There was so much more to her, if she’d just let him find it out. Claire breathed in deeply through her nose and her arm stretched out from under her chin.

“Good morning.”

A slow, lazy smile lit up her face and her eyes snapped open. “Morning.”

He pressed a kiss to her lips. The loud repetitive squawk of the alarm clock filled the room and he groaned.

He leaned over and swatted at the offending alarm clock .

“No Mrs. Ruiz today, got to get Lexi ready for school.”

Claire slid off the covers. “I’ll make breakfast. Omelet?”

“Perfect.”

Liam climbed out of bed and walked into the bathroom. He didn’t miss the way her gaze tracked his backside. She joined him in the bathroom, and squeezed toothpaste on her new toothbrush. Her eyes caught his in the mirror and she paused. “I’m sorry about last night. I’m not usually so emotional.”

“There’s nothing wrong with feeling overwhelmed.” He squeezed toothpaste onto his own toothbrush. “Thanks for telling me about your sister.”

Claire shoved the toothbrush into her mouth and dropped her gaze.

He sighed and brushed his own teeth. She wasn’t ready to share everything with him yet; hell, he hadn’t shared everything with her yet either. But it was coming, he could feel it.

They finished getting ready. Claire made breakfast, then helped Lexi while Liam was bombarded with phone calls.

“I told you it can’t happen this week. The nanny is on leave, I just can’t.”

Claire ran a comb through Lexi’s hair, watching Liam take his fourth phone call of the morning.

“Well, we will just have to find some other way because I can’t get there.”

Liam hung up the phone and turned to Claire. “Sorry, about that.”

She sectioned Lexi’s hair, winding it into a tight braid.

“It’s fine—” Her chest rose to finish the sentence then hesitated. After everything she’d done she owed them more than small favors. She glanced down at Lexi. “You know, since I’m staying here anyway, you could always leave her with me.”

Liam paused, his coffee half way to his lips. He glanced at Lexi. “I couldn’t ask you to do that.”

“You’re not asking—I’m offering. It’s just one night. We’ll be fine, wont we, Lexi?”

Lexi tilted her head back and looked Claire. “We can have girl time.” Lexi glanced back to Liam. “Can we, Uncle Liam?”

“Are you sure?”

Claire finished the braid with a hair tie. “Positive.” She bent down to Lexi’s ear “You’re all done.”

“Thank you.” Lexi planted a peck on Claire’s cheek, then leaped up to collect her school bag.

Claire straightened and propped her hand on her waist. “So what do you say, do us ladies get the house to ourselves?”

Liam’s attention flicked between Lexi and Claire. “Well if you put it that way, why not?”

Lexi squealed and ran to Liam, diving onto him for a squeeze. Liam squished her then glanced up at Claire. “I’ll call the school and let them know you’ll be in charge for the next two days.”

Liam disappeared down the hallway to his room.

Lexi adjusted the straps of her school bag. “I’m so glad you’re here, Claire.”

Claire smiled at her. “Me too.”

Claire wrapped the tape measure around the waist of Emily Brett, her newest bride, then wrote the measurements neatly onto the form. She’d had to do it twice. All she could think of was last night. She needed to see exactly what was on that CD and then confront Geoff. This whole thing was going to end.

“We should be ready for your next fitting next week. We’ll only need to adjust the bodice a little at the waist.”

Emily beamed at her. “Thank you so much for doing this on such short notice. I thought I’d never have time to find something so beautiful.”

“You’re welcome. I’m just glad you fell in love with the gown in the window. It’s like it was made for you.”

The store phone rang.

“Excuse me a moment.” Claire draped the tape measure over her shoulders and went into the front room to answer it.

“Good morning, Hopetown Bridal. How may I help you?”

“Is this Claire Jones?”

“Yes?”

“This is Marcy, assistant to the headmistress at Hopetown Grammar. You are the emergency contact for Miss Alexia Channing?”

Claire set down the pen in her hand, her blood stilling for a moment. “What’s happened? Is Lexi hurt?”

“She’s not hurt, but we need you to come to the principal’s office and collect her.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Please come to the office and the headmistress will discuss everything with you.”

She breathed out and glanced at the door to the fitting room. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.” She hung up the phone and pulled her handbag out from underneath the counter and slid it onto her shoulder, then went back to the fitting room to see Emily out as politely as possible.

Claire held her breath and knocked on the principal’s door with a familiar though unfounded skip of her pulse. The last time she’d knocked on a principal’s door
she
had been the one in trouble.

“Enter.”

She scrunched her nose. Enter, how appropriately headmistress. She plastered on her responsible-grown-up expression and opened the door. Lexi sat in a chair, head down and the skirt of her school uniform squeezed in her fists, where she wrung it like she was trying to take the skin of her palms. Claire’s glanced at the headmistress who held her hand out to the free seat beside Lexi. Claire shut the door and took her seat.

The head mistress bent her graying head over a paper in her hand, then peered at Claire over the rim of her spectacles. “Claire, is it?”

She nodded, glancing at Lexi who remained unmoving beside the twisting of her hands in her lap. Wild curls had tugged loose from her braid.

“I see here you are temporarily responsible for this child while her uncle it seems has more important things to do than monitor his wayward niece.”

Her chin snapped up, and she met the headmistresses gaze levelly, biting back the words that jumped to her tongue. “Yes, I’m responsible for Lexi while Liam is on urgent
business
.”

The headmistress leaned back her brow raising. “Lexi has been fighting. She pulled another child’s hair and shouted in class.”

Claire glanced at Lexi who’d  hunched tighter, the hands squeezing on fabric had lost all color. She reached across and placed her hand over Lexi’s. The fingers ceased their wringing and gripped hers.

“Why was she fighting?”

The headmistress slid her spectacles from the hooked point of her nose. “Frankly, I am not interested in
why.
” She snapped the handles closed. “
Why
is not the issue here.”

Claire’s brow drew together, and she frowned.

“This is not the first time Lexi has been a disruption in class.” The headmistress directed her assaulting gaze at Lexi. “She has been involved in several clashes with her classmates and this is the last outburst we are prepared to tolerate.” Her glasses tapped down on the high gloss varnish of her timber desk. “I can only hope, Claire, that your presence here indicates this errant child is now receiving more appropriate supervision.”

The implication seethed through Claire in a fiery wave. She gritted her teeth prepared to show the cow what an outburst really looked like. Instead she squeezed the small hand in hers. “Lexi, would you wait outside for me please.”

Lexi rose immediately and rushed to the door.

“That is hardly necessary.”

She shot the headmistress a look that silenced her protest. “I believe it is.”

The door clicked shut.

“I’m curious, if this is really an ongoing issue, how you have attempted to address it?”

The headmistress eyes narrowed. “I am attempting to do so now. But Lexi has received detention, yard duty, lines, and restriction of privileges…”

She leaned forward. “I mean what have you done to address the underlying issue. Why has Lexi been behaving this way, and what are you doing to help?”