Only You (A Sweet Torment Novel) (16 page)

Chapter Fifteen

Y
ou have the restaurant reservations confirmed?” Leo asked, tugging on his jacket.

“Yes, all set for you and your sister.” Regan had called yesterday, wanting to meet Leo for lunch. The conversation had been quick, but she wasn’t rude. She just made me all the more anxious for tomorrow. I’d show up with arguably the highest-rated food in New York and hopefully get a few minutes to smooth things over with Regan.

“I won’t be coming back for a while,” Leo said. “Probably just to pop in and change before—”

His eyes met mine and I gave a stiff smile and finished what he wouldn’t. “Your date, Leo.” He looked uncomfortable and before he could say more, I clicked on my tablet and reminded him, “I’m in charge of your schedule, remember?”

“Right.” He took a few steps toward me. “But why do I feel like this is wrong?”

“Wrong?”

“Dating. And you—”

“We don’t have to go over this again. It’s really okay. I get it.”

“I don’t think I get it though, Paige. Last weekend I recall having a
nice
time with you.”

The thought of last weekend and that nice time made my heart race and my cheeks flush. And for a split moment, I got caught up in it.

“Nice, huh?” I smiled.

He nodded and took another step toward me. “Very nice. So nice, in fact, I want to do it again.” Another step. “Say the word and I’ll have my assistant clear my entire schedule . . .” He leaned in to nip my earlobe before whispering, “We can be in bed in five minutes . . . naked in three . . .”

I took a deep breath, wanting nothing more than what he was offering. “I am your assistant.” I smiled when he trailed those lips down my neck.

“Mmm, you don’t say? Well then, what’s the word, Red?”

I opened my mouth to say yes, when Leo’s office door opened instead, and I shot myself away from him before we were caught.

“Hey you!” A cheery voice came from behind me. I turned to see Regan walk into Leo’s office. She paused for a moment, looking between Leo and me. My cheeks were flushing like a mother, and Leo looked a little flustered himself. I felt like I had just gotten caught sneaking out with my high school boyfriend or something.

“Regan, what are you doing here?” Leo smiled, obviously not concerned his sister had shown up instead of meeting him at lunch. He hugged her quickly and she smiled. “We were going to meet in an hour.”

Though Regan was not as relaxed as Leo, there was a kindness about her. Sure, I probably wasn’t her favorite person in the world, but I could tell she wasn’t cruel or mean. She seemed to really care about her family and that was admirable.

“Nice to see you again, Paige,” Regan said, and shook my hand.

“You too.”

“I told Paige that Lyssa is still talking about her,” Leo added with a smile as if trying to score me brownie points.

“Yes, she is,” Regan agreed. “I understand you’re bringing the food tomorrow?”

I nodded. “Yes.” Yikes, that came out a little eager. Truth be told, I was excited to have secured a top chef to make the hors d’oeuvres and finger foods.

“Well, we really appreciate that,” Reagan said.

“I’m happy to help.”

Regan seemed like a genuine person. She was a Savas and obviously wealthy, but she’d decided not to work for the family business, becoming a hospital administrator instead, and she didn’t give off the unease of power and money. In cream slacks and a red blouse, she looked very much a wealthy soccer mom but nothing over the top.

“Knock, knock,” another voice chirped from the doorway.

“Vanessa?” Leo said in shock.

“Hi.” She gave a shy little wave and stepped in, crossing the room to Leo to hug him. I noticed there was something more to the hug. Something like history.

“I hope you don’t mind, I invited Vanessa to our lunch date. She just moved back to New York. Can you believe it?” Regan said with a wide smile and slight nod of her head.

Leo mimicked her action, nodding right back. “How exciting.”

Regan glanced at me with a certain questionable gaze. “Where are my manners? Vanessa, this is Paige, Leo’s assistant.” Regan put a lot of emphasis on the word
assistant
and I knew why. To make clear to everyone in the room, including me, what I was.

I smiled the best I could, but when Vanessa looked me over, her quiet, sweet demeanor apparent in her floral sundress and sunny hair, I knew right then what this was. A setup. Except I didn’t recognize Vanessa’s name. Kyros had said Leo’s sister and family wanted him to move on. And it looked like Regan had come up with a candidate off-list style.

“Vanessa and I were best friends in school and she’s been a family friend for years,” Regan said to me.

I shook the woman’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“You too.” Her gaze instantly snapped back to Leo and there was definite interest there. “I hope you don’t mind my dropping in on lunch. All of my preschoolers are done for the day, and when Regan mentioned lunch, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see you.” Vanessa rubbed Leo’s arm. “It’s been a long time.”

Leo glanced at me and started to babble something, but between his looking uncomfortable and my realizing I was in the middle of a bad episode of
Blind Date
, while feeling like my heart was about to explode from a throbbing ache, I cleared my throat and said the only thing I could.

“It’s no trouble at all,” I answered for Leo. “I’ll call the restaurant now and let them know to expect three for lunch.”

“Thank you, Paige.” Regan smiled.

I nodded, beyond ready to get out of this room and this situation. I had just been on the cusp of falling into bed with Leo and likely not leaving at all for the rest of the day. But life interrupted that idea. Real life. A life I needed to keep in mind, because whatever dreams I had involving Leo’s smile on my skin weren’t realistic.

“Well, it was nice meeting you, Vanessa. And Regan?” She turned and looked at me. “Always a pleasure. I hope you all have a wonderful time.”

Vanessa gave another little wave in my direction and I wanted to bat the thing away with a sledgehammer. Everything about her was cute and sweet and . . . perfect. Perfect for Leo. Perfect for his world. I swear to God if she mentioned that she saved puppies on the weekends when she wasn’t teaching preschool, I’d throw myself off a cliff.

I made the mistake of looking over my shoulder before I exited, and met Leo’s blue gaze. It was on me, and I hoped to hell he didn’t see the pain on my face.

“Oh yeah, this feels amazing,” Hazel said, sinking onto my couch, clad in sweatpants and fuzzy socks, hot cocoa in hand. “We needed a night like this.”

“Couldn’t agree more,” I said, raising my cocoa to hers and clinking it. It had been a hell of a couple weeks at work, not to mention a hell of a day. After meeting the woman who would never be me, then feeling like an idiot slinking away from the guy I liked, I was ready for something stronger than spiked cocoa.

Leo was due to go out on another date within the hour, but Hazel was spending the night and helping to keep my mind off the fact that the man I was falling for was out with another woman.

Another gorgeous woman with breeding and a background his family approved of. Oh, and since she was on the list, she was obviously open to a serious relationship, so there was that. That is, if Vanessa didn’t already leave a blistering perfect impression behind.

Jealousy sucked. But I had made a choice to think of Leo and what he wanted. And I wasn’t it. So I’d need to buck up, and get over it. Or just drink more.

I eyed the whipped-cream vodka on the counter and had a sneaking suspicion option two was going to win out tonight.

Thank God Hazel was known for spiking hot chocolate, so when I took a sip, the vodka sting was welcome.

“You look like you needed a break,” Hazel said, looking at me as I sat on the couch next to her.

“Just a busy week.”

“Yeah, but lots to look forward to!” Hazel said, nearly bubbling over. “Now that the date is set, we’re going to have to—”

“Wait, what are you talking about?”

Hazel’s face paled as if she just realized she’d let something slip.

“The date?” I asked again. The only date of importance I could think of socially was . . . “Do you mean Amy and Roman? They set a date for the wedding?”

Hazel nodded, then looked at the floor. Right then I realized that Amy and Hazel had been speaking, maybe even hanging out, more than I realized without me. Not that they couldn’t hang out just the two of them, but setting a date was big news and Amy didn’t even call.

“Oh, I see,” I whispered. That stung. Badly. Not from jealousy or envy. But from fear. Fear I was losing my best friend and that I was nothing more than a plague to be ignored.

“This whole scandal is getting crazy and Amy isn’t really talking to anyone associated to the governor’s office outside of Roman obviously. The press has been calling her a lot and she said if she is seen with you, they’d just pester you more, and she doesn’t want you to have to deal with that—”

“I know,” I whispered. “I get it. Best to lay low. Stay away from everything until it’s over.” I smiled but the ache in it hurt. “I avoid phone calls too.”

“About that . . .” Hazel set the cocoa down on the coffee table and faced me fully. “Your mom has called me a couple times.”

“What? Why?”

“She asked me about what’s going on with you. About what she’s hearing on the news. I guess some guy has been pestering her for information about you.”

“Fucking reporters,” I mumbled, and took another hefty swig of my drink. “I’m sorry, she shouldn’t be calling you.”

“It’s fine. I just didn’t know what to say to her. She started telling me about something that happened when you were younger.”

My eyes shot to Hazel. “What did she say?”

“She said that you and your stepdad have issues, that you used to exaggerate, and she’s worried about you.”

I scoffed. Worse, I felt violated. One of my best friends was thinking in the direction my mother wanted her to. Looking at me like I was some freak who couldn’t be trusted. The exact thing I’d been trying to avoid this whole time.

Or maybe my insecurities were getting the better of me and I was panicking for no reason. Either way, I didn’t want Hazel thinking the worst.

“Hazel, I didn’t exaggerate.”

The moment the words came out, a chill rushed over me. I’d never admitted this to anyone before. Never talked about it. But my mother apparently was talking to Hazel and I couldn’t handle Haz thinking the worst of me. Honestly, a part of me didn’t want to talk about it, because nothing good ever came from it. It just left me feeling emptier than before.

“I’m here for you, Paige. Whatever is going on or went on, you know I’m here, right?”

I nodded. Appreciating her support. But that could only go so far when one didn’t know the whole truth. And Hazel didn’t. Because I kept it from her. Just like I kept it from everyone else. I didn’t want her to hear the truth, then lose her.

It wasn’t just the past or the scandal. It was all of it. Spinning around me, and frankly, I didn’t want to explain. Didn’t want to defend. I knew what it felt like to challenge the beast and lose. I lost once against my stepdad and it still haunted me. I lost against Roman when he looked at me with question. And I was losing Amy because my presence was a detriment.

I couldn’t go against Bill Vorse or the goddamned governor’s cabinet. It wouldn’t matter. No one would believe me anyway. Stay silent, ride this out, then start fresh.

It was the plan.

My control over my world might be slipping, but I could still do everything within reach to secure my future and keep close the one friend I still got to see. And that meant keeping the truth far away.

“Will you tell me what’s going on with you? Things just don’t seem right.” Hazel’s big eyes looked at me. She was so kind. Innocent. I knew she wanted to help, but there was nothing she could do. And I wouldn’t pull her into the dark pit of my life.

I opened my mouth to say something, anything to change the subject when a knock came at the door.

I got up and opened it.