Chapter 12

She’d lied to him the entire time.

The agony of it tore through Hunter all night. Over and over, he heard the conversation in his mind.

You know me. I’ll do anything for a paycheck.

He’d thought she was different. He’d dared to hope that someone as vibrant as Gretchen would care for him. No—he hadn’t even hoped for that. He’d simply wanted to be around her, to bask in her presence like an adulating teen boy. It was her who had made the first move, her who had seduced him and made him hope for more.

And that made it worse, so much worse.

Because now he knew what he was missing out on. He craved her body and wanted her curled up against him. Wanted to sink deep inside her and forget the outside world. Wanted to hear those soft cries she made when he pleased her. He wanted to talk to her, hear her laughter, see her eyes shining with joy.

He didn’t want her to go. Even after all that had been said and done, a heartless woman at his side that pretended to love him was torture, but it was better than being alone.

He simply needed to swallow his pride and offer her a new kind of deal—no pretenses to their relationship. No lies. No pretending. Gretchen clearly had a price tag and he could pay it.

And over time, perhaps the ache of it would go away. Perhaps he’d learn to not care that when she cried out under him, she was repulsed by his face and the scars that lined his body. Perhaps he wouldn’t mind that when she smiled, she was simply biding her time.

He’d simply have to become better at hiding his own emotions.

***

After a fitful night of sleep, Hunter awoke and dressed in one of his more somber suits. He’d confront Gretchen and offer her a new business deal this morning. But when he arrived at her suite, he found the room straightened and her heading for the door with her suitcase under one arm, cat carrier in the other.

“Where are you going?”

She looked surprised to see him, but then the hurt look returned to her face. She wasn’t good at masking her emotions. Maybe she never had to, not like him. Because right now she looked miserable and wounded. “I’m leaving. I just need to call a cab.”

He pretended to straighten his sleeves, adjusting his jacket. “You haven’t finished the project you were hired for.”

“It was delayed,” she said in a cutting voice. “Though I’m guessing the delay was just as manufactured as the project, wasn’t it?”

He didn’t deny it.

She sighed, as if defeated. “Good-bye, Hunter.”

“Wait.” He stopped her when she tried to move past him. “You need to hear what I’m going to say.”

A wary hope shone in her eyes and she paused, setting down her suitcase. “What is it?”

Hunter studied her upturned face, which was so lovely. So hopeful. So deceitful. “I’ve decided that I don’t care that you only want me for my money. I have more than enough of it. If you stay with me, I’ll continue to pay your bills as long as you continue to provide companionship . . . at all levels.”

The hope in her eyes withered and died. Now she simply looked angry. “You said you loved me just a few days ago.”

“What I feel for you has no bearing on a business arrangement. I want your body. I want what we had before. Name your price.”

Gretchen shook her head at him, incredulous. “You’re killing me, Hunter.”

“One million.”

Her breath caught. “Fuck you. You can’t buy me like that.”

“No?” His mouth twisted into a bitter smile. “You don’t approve of the direct route? Very well, then. I’ll speak with Preston Stewart and see about contracting another on-site project for you. I’m sure we can arrange something.”

Her eyes brimmed with tears. “I ache for you, Hunter,” she said in a quiet voice. “That you think such awful things of me, and that you’re so lonely that you’re still willing to have someone at your side despite thinking they loathe you. That they’re turned off by your face. You deserve to have someone who loves you.” A tear slipped down Gretchen’s cheek. “I wish you nothing but the best. I really do.”

She moved to go past him and he stepped in front again.

“Two million.”

She shook her head. “Someday you’re going to learn that money can’t buy everything, Hunter. You can’t manipulate people just because you have a bigger wallet. It’s going to make you very, very lonely.”

“Three million,” he said quietly.

“Good-bye, Hunter.”

She left the room, leaving him a little surprised and feeling a bit more alone than ever. He’d thought she’d wanted his money. But he’d offered three million dollars for her to give him exactly what they’d already had. Did she want more money? Was this another game just to fleece him out of his wealth?

Or could it be that she truly didn’t want his money? Just him?

He touched the scars on his face.

Scarface. Quasimodo.

Impossible.

***

The office phone rang.

Without letting it go to a second ring—the assistant in her couldn’t stand to leave someone waiting—Audrey picked up the phone and gave her cheeriest, most efficient greeting. “Logan Hawkings’s office, Audrey speaking.”

“Hey, it’s me.” The soft, sweet voice of Brontë Dawson, Logan’s fiancée, was impossible to mistake. “I need to talk to Logan, but I’m glad I got you first.”

“Oh?”

“I wanted to see how things were going with your sister,” Brontë asked. “How is she doing?”

Her sister. Audrey’s mind immediately filled with mental flashes of sickly, wasted Daphne, sprawled facedown on her floor. Daphne, who was on the cover of the latest tabloid, staggering out of a club at four a.m. with coke-ringed nostrils. Daphne, who kept promising her twin over and over again that she was going to change. That this time, she meant it.

“She’s a mess,” Audrey said in a flat voice. “Nothing new about that.”

“Oh, no. Poor Gretchen. She must be taking this breakup so hard.”

For a moment, Audrey didn’t follow Brontë’s comment. “Gretchen?”

“Yes. Your sister?”

“Oh.” A hot flush crept up her face. That was right. She had two sisters. It was just that she normally didn’t have to worry about Gretchen nearly as much as she did Daphne. Gretchen was impulsive and headstrong, but she knew how to take care of herself. Daphne was a mess. “Gretchen’s having a tough time,” Audrey said. “She lost her apartment so she’s staying with me.”

“Does she need money?”

“Money’s not a problem. Daph has money. Gretchen could ask me for money. She wouldn’t take it, though. And money seems to be the least of her problems.” Audrey sighed, trying to hide her annoyance. “She just sits on my couch and cries all day long.”

“Cries? Gretchen? Really? She seems so . . . strong.”

“Well, not when she’s dumped,” Audrey said briskly, pulling out the stack of mail on her desk and beginning to quickly sort it. “She hasn’t moved from my sofa in two days. She just keeps watching bad movies and reading my books and weeping. I came home yesterday to find her sobbing her brains out at Phantom of the Opera. She kept going on and on about how Christine was a bitch because the Phantom needed her love and support.”

“Oh, jeez. That’s awkward.”

“You’re telling me.”

“You know, I never thought Hunter would hook up with Gretchen. He just seems so . . . remote.” Brontë sounded distressed. “I wish I could help her.”

“I can send her to your place for a few days.”

Brontë laughed. “Somehow I don’t think Logan wants to watch Phantom.”

Yeah, well, neither did Audrey. She had enough trouble on her hands with Daphne. Gretchen’s misery just compounded things and made her feel even more helpless. If there was one thing Audrey didn’t like, it was feeling helpless. Give her a problem she could tackle any day of the week. Emotional stuff? She was not good with that. “I’m not quite sure what to do with her.”

“Well, it’s obvious! We have to get the two of them back together. Hunter’s so lonely and Gretchen’s so bold and clever. I think she’s good for him. Logan said that he’d never seen Hunter happier than when they were together.”

Audrey tried to picture the grim-faced billionaire as happy. She couldn’t. Still, it was obvious that their breakup had devastated her normally easy-going sister. “I’m not good with match-making, Brontë. Fair warning.”

“Me either. But we’ll ask Logan to intercede. Hunter will listen to him.”

“What’s this ‘we’ stuff?” Audrey said drily. “You’re his fiancée. I’m merely the hired help.”

Brontë laughed again. “Okay then, I’ll handle it. Put me through to him.”

“Just get her off my couch,” Audrey said with a smile, and then patched the call through.

Having one troubled sister was plenty for Audrey. The last thing she needed were two miserable sisters living with her. If Brontë and Logan could fix the situation with Gretchen, so much the better. Audrey loved her sister, but she was helpless when it came to relationships.

Her twin was proof of that.

Date: 2015-02-03; view: 489