The Truth Be Told (The Truth in Lies Saga #3) (12 page)

Drew, straight as a line, yet as cool as a cucumber, strolled down the stairs as if he had no better place to be.  He looked deliciously handsome in his tailored black suit with a lavender vest and tie.  Jared was right, I did want to strip a man out of a suit at the end of the evening.  He was simply referring to the wrong guy, was all. I forced back a moan as my mind flashed to me peeling Drew out of his clothes.  My whole body tensed at the mere thought of taking my time on him.  Kissing each exposed section of skin until he stood completely naked before me.  Damn him for looking so good.

Drew reached the final stair and stepped off, coming face to face with me.  We were so close I could feel his heartbeat and the warmth of his breath as it washed over me.  I touched my hand to my neck, toying with my diamond necklace.  His eyes moved down me, following my movements.

“Natasha?” Olivia pressed, glancing at the woman next to her, “Sorry, no offense, but I thought McKenzie came here as your date, Jared?”

“Is it impossible for a man and woman to be friends?” Drew prompted.

“Look, Olivia,” Jared started, “I’d spell it out for you, but I left my English-to-Idiot dictionary in my other suit.  So, I’ll do my best to speak slowly.  McKenzie and I are friends.  Friends go places together. Do-you-understand?”

“See.  They’re just friends, Olivia,” Natasha mused, batting her eyelashes at Jared.  He moved a little closer to me, but smiled.  Natasha was a cute girl, but Jared didn’t appear interested.  It made me wonder if there ever would be someone who would capture his attention.

Drew let out a little snicker.  Gavin snorted behind his hand.  Morgan fought back a tiny laugh, Natasha looked as if she might jump Jared where he stood, and me, well all I could do was keep from melting at the feel of Drew’s fingers brushing along the inside of my wrists.  Olivia, however, didn’t find Jared’s comment quite so funny.  “Screw you, Jared.  It’s not like you haven’t pined for McKenzie since the day you met her.  I’m only calling it like it is.”

I flinched at that comment.  Jared had confessed his love for me not too long ago, but bowed out when he realized I could never love him as more than friend.  He had a heart of gold, and for Olivia to throw that in his face rubbed me the wrong way.

“At least I didn’t have to get myself knocked up…” Jared mumbled under his breath, not finishing the thought aloud.  I jabbed him in the ribs, thankful that Olivia hadn’t heard him.  It was bad enough that she looked about ready to explode.

“Stop it, you two.  We’re all here to celebrate Morgan and Gavin tonight,” I reprimanded.

Olivia shrugged and rolled her eyes.  “Whatever.  I don’t get the two of you.”  She pushed herself between Drew and me, taking him by the arm.  “Let’s go find our table.”

Tension rolled off of Drew when Olivia touched him.  His jaw clenched and the vein in his forehead bulged, but he didn’t try to get away.  Gavin and I cut eyes to one another.  It was no secret he was doing this for us, and maybe the baby, but it was apparent by the rise of color in Drew’s face that he wouldn’t be able to keep up the charade for much longer.

I took Jared’s arm and we followed close behind them as Olivia directed us through the hordes of people to our seats.

“So, do you really know all of these people?” Jared asked as we approached our table near the front of the room, the center of attention for all the guests to see.  I couldn’t tell you how it happened, but Drew managed to work things to where he and I were sitting beside one another with Jared and Olivia on either side of us while sitting across from Morgan and Gavin.  Natasha excused herself, mentioning something about powdering her nose, leaving an empty seat between Gavin and Jared.

“Not really.  Most of them are our father’s connections,” Gavin replied.

“Not to mention my father’s,” Morgan added.  Gavin reached for her hand, linking their fingers together.  “You could say this is the battle of the who-knows-who.”

“Oh, stop it, you two.  Your parents only want the best for you,” Olivia scolded them, lightly tapping Drew on the arm.  Out of instinct, he pulled away.  A flash of disappointed flitted across Olivia’s face but it was gone as quickly as it appeared.

“And I’m sure you
loved
being the one to send out all those invitations, Olivia,” Jared goaded.

Olivia began telling us the story of how she received a personal call from someone famous wanting to know about Gavin and Morgan’s registry.  For all I knew, she could’ve been talking about the Queen of England, because my mind was not focused on her or her ramblings.  While she spoke, Drew took the opportunity and moved in closer to me.  His body was almost as close to me as he’d been at the restaurant the night before.  He slipped his hand under the table, resting it on my thigh.  “You look absolutely stunning, Mickie,” he whispered in my ear.

“Thank you,” I breathed, the sound of my heartbeat filling my ears.

“So, are you planning on taking Jared up on his offer?”

I cocked my head to the side, lifting my brows, an evil smirk pulling at my lips.  “Do I have any better offers?”

He pushed his hand under my dress, gliding his thumb along my inner thigh.  The heat of his skin against mine sent tremors up my spine.  “I’m sure we could come up with some sort of an counteroffer that you might find suitable to your needs.”

Ah, my lawyer boy was out to play.  I placed my hand on his leg, inching it closer to his crotch, slowly stroking his inner thigh.  “I’m most certain we can.”  

He tried not to show any signs of our interaction, but I could read him like a book.  He would give just about anything to drop everything we were doing and rush upstairs for a little one on one time.

“NOVA!” a high pitch squeal echoed over the music.  Drew jerked away from me and turned around in his chair.  A gorgeous woman sauntered toward our table.  Her light brown hair was pulled up in a half twist as the remainder fell down around her neck.  She wore a sleek red mini dress.  Her smooth, toned legs and perfect figure were enough to make any woman feel inferior in comparison.   She pursed her bright red lips in amusement, but it was her blue eyes that gave her away.  This was Andie, Drew’s twin sister, and if she was anything like Drew, we were all about to be in a world of trouble.

Andrew

I knew that voice anywhere.  Andie had finally arrived, and not a moment too soon.  One more touch from Olivia and I was certain I’d end up saying something I’d regret.  Had it not been for McKenzie toying with me in her seductive little games, I might’ve already lost control.  It was bad enough to find Jared flirting with McKenzie—I swallowed down my jealousy and allowed her to handle the situation—but there was only so much I could take from Olivia trying to pretend we were something more than we were.

“Sorry, I’m so late.  I’m sure I haven’t missed anything, though.  The real party doesn’t start until after all the stuffed shirts are gone, anyway.”

“You only missed the wedding rehearsal, you goof,” Gavin scolded our sister.

Andie shrugged one shoulder, her head bobbing from side to side.  “So like I said, I didn’t miss anything.”

She cut her eyes to me, her perfectly sculpted brows pulled together.  “Damn, Nova.  What the hell did you do to your hair?”

McKenzie muffled a laugh behind her hand, her eyes fluttering.  “What’s so funny?” I demanded.

“Nothing.  Nothing,” McKenzie snickered, shaking her head.

Andie’s calculating gaze darted between McKenzie and me.  The expression she wore meant only one thing―trouble.  “Well, aren’t you two just the cutest things.  All matchy-matchy in purple,” Andie cooed.

I covered my mouth with my hand, tugging at my bottom lip.  It hadn’t even dawned on me that McKenzie and I were color coordinated.  All I’d noticed when I saw her at the bottom of the stairs was how sexy she looked, and how I wished I could find some way to get her alone and out of said dress.

With a roll of my eyes, I waved Andie toward the vacant seat between Jared and Gavin.  “Go sit down, Little Sis,” I sneered.

Andie propped a defiant hand on her hip, ready to make a smartass remark until Jared commented, “You drove in from New York City, right?”  

Andie dropped her hand and turned to Jared.  She swallowed hard and her twisted smirk morphed into one I’d seen before.  I glanced over at Jared, who appeared mystified.   

He’s so screwed.  
A little chuckle bubbled in my chest at the thought.

“That’s right,” Andie replied, sashaying to the empty seat.  She floated down, breaking her gaze from Jared long enough to grace Gavin with a quick hug.  “Good to see you, Gav,” she greeted.  She reached over and patted Morgan’s hand.  “You look stunning.”

Jared sat there, unmoved, and from what I could tell, barely breathing.  His eyes never left Andie.  I leaned into McKenzie, prepared to tell her to snap Jared out of it, when I recalled her little snicker about my hair.  Placing my hand on her knee, I whispered in her ear, “What’s so funny about my hair?”

Pink tinged her cheeks.  She turned her body to where her legs touched mine, leaning back into me.  Her lips mere inches from my jaw, she replied so only I could hear her, “I prefer your hair longer.”

“Why’s that?”

“It gives me something to tug on when you’re going down on me.”

I swallowed hard, slipping my finger under my collar.

“You’re all flushed, Nova,” Andie observed.

“It’s a little hot in here,” I responded, fanning my face with my hand.

“Why do you call him Nova?” McKenzie chimed, a hint of pride in her tone for winning this round of our little seductive game.

“I wish she wouldn’t,” I grumbled.

“But if I stopped, I’d miss out on all the fun of watching you squirm.”  Andie bit her bottom lip, her eyes flashing back to Jared, then to McKenzie.  “Since apparently my brothers were raised in a barn, I’ll have to introduce myself.  I’m Andrea Wise, the better half of the Wise twins.”  

Reaching for my glass of water on the table, I mumbled against the rim, “Debatable.”

Andie ignored my comment.  She snapped her fingers and pointed to McKenzie.  “Let me guess.  You’re McKenzie Evans.”

McKenzie looked to me then back to Andie.  “You guess right.”

“You’re much prettier than I imagined.  Nova’s never been very good with descriptions.”  Andie leaned forward, propping her chin in her hand.  “That must make you da baby mama.”

“I beg your pardon?” Olivia gasped in offense.

“You claim my brother knocked you up, right?”

Jared snickered, drawing Andie’s attention back to him.  “You find that funny?”

Jared smirked, his head cocked, dropping the napkin he’d been twisting between his fingers.  He leaned forward, his sight on Olivia.  “I absolutely find it funny, because any man who’d screw the Ice Queen over there, would come back with a missing appendage.  And from what I can tell of Drew, he’s fully intact.”

“Are you insinuating…?” Olivia sneered.

“How would you know?” Andie overshot Olivia’s whines.

Jared tilted his head, matching Andie’s posture.  “A little birdy told me.”

“Oh my God, you two,” I nearly choked.  “The conversation of my crotch is off the table.  Yes, I’m fully intact, before anyone asks.  Geez!”

“No one really cares,” Andie snarked back.  She held out her hand to Jared.  “You must be the infamous Jared Christopher.  You reputation precedes you, but they didn’t tell me how hot you are.”

His eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed, Jared opened his mouth but nothing came out.

“Cat got your tongue? Because I can think of better things that can be done with that tongue.” Andie flirted.

“I…ah…well…um…”  I leaned forward, enjoying this new side of Jared.  He was always quick witted, a trait I admired about him, and in a few short minutes, my sister had managed to make him tongue-tied.  An accomplishment I was a little jealous of, I must admit.

Bright red heat flushed his face and neck.  Jared tilted his head, looking from Gavin to me in search of guidance.  We both waved him off.  There was no way in hell either of us would get involved with this one.  It was too much fun to watch him make a fool of himself.

Morgan leaned across Gavin, pushing a glass toward Jared.  “Poor Natasha,” she chuckled.  “She has no chance now, does she?”

“What?” Jared squeaked, taking a deep drink from the cup.

“Are you already spoken for?  Damn, I did miss something after all.  I guess I’ll have to find another guy for some slutty wedding sex,” Andie pouted.

“Andrea!” I shouted.

“Don’t be such a prude.  We’re all adults here.  Besides, we all know you’ve fucked around.  So, you have no room to talk,” she bolstered.

McKenzie tensed beside me, her nails digging into my thigh.  I, on the other hand, sat there dumbfounded.

“Speechless, are we?” Jared smarted off.

I rubbed my hand over the back of my neck, then adjusted my tie for the second time of the evening.  Gavin burst into laughter.  “You should see your face,” he bellowed.

Andie gave me a quick wink, then leaned into Jared and whispered something into his ear.  And still I sat there, stunned.  Air rushed around me, buzzing in my ears.  There was no quick rebuttal; nothing I could say.  My mind was blank.

“I hope you weren’t referring to me,” Olivia pressed.

“It was a joke,” Andie clarified.  “You really need to lighten up over there, Preggers.”

Before he even said a word, I knew my father was behind me.  Gavin and Andie straightened up.  Morgan stopped smiling, grabbing Gavin by the hand.  Olivia perked up, grinning ear to ear.  Her reaction made me wonder if she didn’t have some sort of crush on my father.  That very thought made me nauseated, so I pushed it aside.

“Everyone having a good time?” came father’s voice.  His hand landed on my shoulder and I felt a cold chill slither down my spine.  McKenzie released my knee but I grabbed her hand before she could move.  With Father hovering over me, there was no way I was allowing any distance between us if I could prevent it.  I needed her.  “I’d say Olivia did an amazing job setting everything up.  Wouldn’t you agree, Andrew?”

I was well aware of who set everything up for the evening, and it wasn’t Olivia.  She’d piled as much work on McKenzie as she could as punishment for her lack of visibility the day before.

“Thank you, Jonathan.  I only want the best for Morgan and Gavin,” Olivia cooed, her eyelashes fluttering as she reached over to pat Morgan on the arm.  “This has truly been an honor for me.  You’ve made me feel like such a part of the family.”

My father tightened his grip on my shoulder.  He could play the dutiful father role well, but I knew it bothered him not to know for certain if the child Olivia carried was indeed mine.  “You will be soon enough.  You’re carrying my grandson, after all.”

I looked up over my shoulder to find my father as smug as ever.  He glared down at McKenzie with that same look he used to give Rebecca, as though she were vermin and needed to be squashed.  Shrugging out from under my father’s grip, I planted my fist on the table, ready to let that man have a piece of my mind.  Enough was enough.  I’d made a promise to love McKenzie as she deserved, and dammit, I was going to keep it.

“Just because…” I started.

“Wait, we know the baby’s sex already?” Andie interrupted me.  I cut her a glance and realized she was trying to rescue me from myself.

“Not yet.  It’s Jonathan’s wishful thinking,” my mother stated, appearing behind my sister with Natasha by her side.  “Andie, darling, you made it.”

Andie stood up, wrapping her arms around my mother’s neck.  My mother kissed her on both cheeks, beaming at the sight of her only daughter.  No matter how proud Mother was of us boys, she doted on her daughter, the dancer.  Deep down, I think my mother always harbored a little jealousy because Andie was free from this life.  I know I did.  Gavin and I would never be free as long as our father had any say about it.

Natasha hovered beside my mother, staring at the chair Andie’d vacated.  She glanced between the chair and Jared, pursing her lips and narrowing her eyes.  Throwing her light brown hair back over her shoulder, she shrugged, sort of nonchalant, and moved to squat beside Morgan, resting her hands on the table.  They giggled and whispered to each other about something, as only women do, but it appeared all thoughts of Jared were forgotten.

“I have an ultrasound scheduled for next week with Morgan’s replacement.” Olivia brought the attention back to her and the baby.  “We should find out the baby’s sex then.”

“I told you we could’ve done it last week,” Morgan chastised.

I turned my head to Olivia, confused.  Olivia waved me off as if this information were nothing.  “I wanted Drew to be there and he was away last week.  Besides, it’s no big deal.  As long as the baby’s healthy, I’ll be happy, boy or girl.”

Waiters began to mingle through the crowd, carrying trays of champagne.  My mother waved them over to us.  She placed her empty glass on the tray and took a full one.  She appeared sober enough, but the night was still young.  “Let’s make a toast,” she announced, directing the waiters to serve the rest of us.

Andie slipped back into the seat next to Jared, taking two glasses and handing one to him.  Natasha stood up straight, resting her hand on the back of Morgan’s chair, holding her glass in the other.  When the waiter approached me, I motioned him to move on.  I had my water glass, which was all I needed.  Of course, my father thought I was being rude by not taking a drink.  I rested mine and McKenzie’s hands on her knee, thankful for her calming touch.

The young waiter turned to Olivia, holding the tray down for her.  “I would, but I can’t.”  She rubbed her stomach for everyone to see.

My mother raised her glass, a bright, happy smile on her face.  The orchestra stopped playing and the crowd around us went silent.  The pianist tickled the ivories in order to get everyone’s attention.  All eyes turned to Kathleen Wise.  She really was a beauty.  Her smile reminded me of how she looked when I was younger.  A twinge of sadness darkened my heart to think my mother hadn’t known true happiness in such a long time.  It made me that much more bitter toward my father because it was his job to take care of her.

“To Gavin and Morgan.  May their lives together be filled with much joy and happiness,” she crooned.

Everyone cheered around us.  The sound of glass clinked together filled the room.  I lifted my glass, turning to meet McKenzie’s, when my father pushed his glass between our faces, making contact with mine.  “And to Andrew and Olivia,” he orated, “for the promise of a bright future together in continuing the Wise legacy.”

All of the smiles and laughter at our table diminished save Olivia’s, who beamed up at my father, eyes full of admiration.  My stomach churned and my body began to shake.  Anger filled me to a boiling rage.  McKenzie put down her glass, stunned and hurt. Her hand slipped out from under mine and she moved her legs where I was no longer touching her.  The room around us broke out into cheers, yet no one at the table moved until my mother yelled out, “Cheers!”

So many things filled my mind as to what I wanted and needed to say to my father, but I was more concerned with how closed off McKenzie suddenly felt to me.  She’d leaned forward, wrapping her hands around her glass, and stared into the bubbling crystal liquid.

“That was a lovely gesture,” Olivia marveled.