His Betrayal Her Lies (3 page)

Taylor understood their concerns but she
didn’t scare easily and she truly still loved Ari. He was her first
real love. Taylor met Ari when she was eighteen and a freshman at
Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She was pulling her
trunk up the dorm steps when someone with a Jamaican accent spoke
to her from behind. “Hello, Ms. Lady. Do you need help?”

She had turned around and looked into the
most gorgeous pair of hazel eyes she had ever seen on a man. His
chocolate creamy skin was baby smooth. Teeth couldn’t get any
whiter than his; his smile captivated her. “Hmm … yes, please.
Thank you,” she had responded, trying to sound calm.

Ari picked up the trunk with ease and carried
it up the steps as his muscles rippled under his tight-fitting tee.
“What room will this be going to?”

Taylor had been admiring his firm butt and
hadn’t realized he had spoken to her.

“Ms. Lady, what room?” he asked again, louder
this time.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Room 217. And the name is
Taylor Briggs.” She squeezed around him and the heavy trunk,
rushing up the last few steps and down the hall to open her
door.

He caught up to her in no time, stepped
across the threshold, turned and dropped the trunk against the
wall, then extended his hand and introduced himself as he slowly
backed out the room. “Okay, Ms. La—I mean, Ms. Taylor Briggs. I’m
Ari Gallagher.”

Taylor, who had never believed in love at
first sight, was totally smitten; from that day they were
inseparable.

Taylor looked at the girls she called family
and walked across the wooden patio to lean against the railing.
“No,” she said, “I’m not going to tell Ari that I know about this
woman and his child. I expect you all to do the same. I’m going to
marry him like I planned.”

Their expressions made it clear that they
were very concerned.

“Don’t worry about me,” she added. “I can
take care of myself. I know exactly what I’m doing.”

Libby leaned over to Pam and whispered
loudly, “Is she really okay or is she putting on a show for
us?”

“Hel-lo. I’m standing right here. I can hear
you,” Taylor said in a sing-song voice. “You’ve got to trust me on
this. Like I said, I know exactly what I’m doing. Now will you all
go home?” she pleaded. “Besides,” she added, trying to lighten the
mood, “I
know
I look good, but this jumpsuit is not a
stand-out-on-the-patio-in-the-middle-of-fall kind of outfit, okay?
Get on out of here so I can go inside and think.”

Toni grabbed her purse and keys and prepared
to leave.

“You’re just going to leave your sister like
this?” Pam asked, hands on her hips. “You know she is lying and not
okay. She is hurting.”

“You know our family,” Toni answered. “And
Taylor is a Briggs. She will overcome this hurdle just like she has
done so many times before. She asked to be alone so I’m respecting
her wishes and I advise you both to do the same.” With that, she
turned and left.

Pam and Libby both took one last uncertain
look at Taylor. Pam blew out a deep breath, mouthed “I love you” to
Taylor, then gently shoved Libby toward the door. “Come on, let’s
go.”

Chapter 2

“I now pronounce you Mr. and Mrs. Ari
Gallagher,” Pastor Payfer said. “You may now kiss your bride.”

Five hundred and eighty-nine guests seated
inside Naperville Country Club watched as Ari lifted Taylor’s veil
and parted her lips with his tongue. He deepened the kiss, letting
their tongues find a rhythm. Taylor could hear the applause and
whistling from the onlookers. She drew back from the kiss and
smiled at her new husband.

“Is this everything you dreamed about?” he
asked her as they made their way down the aisle, people reaching
out here and there to congratulate them.

“It’s more than I dreamed about, and I’m so
happy. You gave me my fairytale wedding.”

Guests enjoyed appetizers while the bridal
party went outside for a photo session then moved back inside the
chapel with the photographer. Afterward, Taylor’s father’s
bodyguards ushered Ari and Taylor to the reception hall area across
the eighteen-hole golf course and seated them at the head table
next to Toni, her maid of honor, and Ari’s brother, Jay, his best
man.

One person at the back of the room began
clinking a spoon against a glass. Others followed suit, and group
began chanting, “Kiss, kiss, kiss.”

The bride and groom grinned at each other.
“Can’t disappoint our loyal fans,” Ari joked as they shared a kiss.
The spectators cheered and clapped.

At a nearby table, Mayor John Briggs softly
kissed his wife and said, “Excuse me, sweetheart.” He walked to the
head table and beamed at his eldest daughter. “May I have this
dance?”

Taylor stood and he led her to the dance
floor for their father-daughter dance. He pulled her close and
kissed her forehead. They swayed to the music. Taylor always felt
comfort in her father’s arms. She laid her head on his chest and
just listened to the steady beat of his heart. Then she heard his
deep voice in her ear. “I’m so proud of you, sweetie. You found a
good man.” The mayor kissed his daughter on the temple when tears
glistened in her eyes.

Taylor loved her father with all her heart
and she knew he perceived these to be tears of joy. She wondered
how he would feel if he knew the sacrifice she had just made to
keep the family name intact.

Her mother, Tammy, was the daughter of the
late Governor Ian Wheaton from Louisiana.

Born into the world of politics, Tammy was
well-groomed on keeping the family scandals in the closet. Tammy
would certainly be pleased that Taylor didn’t destroy the family
status. Caring so much about what her country club friends would
think, Taylor couldn’t help wonder how her mother would have saved
face if she had called off the wedding. Taylor’s father was more of
a humble, kind man. He would be furious if he ever found out the
choice she had made to save his career.

The music was smooth and mellow but there was
a whirlwind brewing inside Taylor. She still hadn’t dealt with
Ari’s betrayal. He took away the only thing she ever wanted in this
world—to have his first child, to be the mother of every child he
would ever create. She almost let out a loud wail as she stood next
to him at the altar and heard him swear before God and all those
people that he would be true and honest.

“May I cut in?” Taylor lifted her head from
her father’s chest and stared at her husband. Looking into his
deceitful face made her stomach knot but she had kept up the
appearance as the loving fiancée and would now put on the adoring
wife façade. She knew some day she would have to deal with his
unfaithfulness.

Mayor Briggs gave his new son-in-law a hearty
pat on the back. “Sure, son. Take care of my daughter. And let me
take this old woman off your hands, young man,” he added with a
chuckle as he swapped partners with Ari and began to dance with his
wife.

Taylor breathed in her husband’s cologne as
they slowly rocked to the love songs played by Emmaculate Fusion.
Ari started singing the songs in her ear. Aside from the accent, he
sounded just like Luther Vandross when “Here and Now” came over the
speakers. Ari sang along with the band: “Here and now, I promise to
love faithfully. You’re all I need. Here and now, I vow to be one
with thee. Your love is all I need.”

Tears flowed down Taylor’s face. Ari sounded
so sincere. She wished she could believe him like she had when he
told her that his heart melted every time he saw those two dimples
in her cheeks. Or when he said that he knew the first day he met
her that she was going to be his wife. He always said he felt he
didn’t deserve her love but he couldn’t let go of the best thing
that had ever happened to him.

When his parents had died in a car crash in
his junior year of college, Taylor was his backbone. She had been
there for him through the good times and bad. He loved her with
every part of his being. Well, that’s what he had said. And Taylor
had put all her eggs in that basket. She hoped that she could one
day find the true love she once had for her husband.

Taylor felt an uneasiness beginning to build.
Not just because of the lies Ari was trying to hide. Something else
was putting her senses on high alert. From the time she had entered
the banquet hall, there was a vague awareness that someone was
watching her. Of course, everyone
would
be looking at the
bride and groom but Taylor felt a bad energy coming from somewhere
in the room. Something wasn’t right.

Still in Ari’s embrace, Taylor glanced
around, catching glimpses of a few people. Just when she was about
to chalk it up to insecurities, she noticed a lady she didn’t
recognize standing in the doorway. The stranger seemed to go out of
her way to ensure that they made eye contact.

She was wearing a black strapless dress over
her curvy figure and a black veil over her face. Taylor couldn’t
make out the woman’s face, nor could she tear her eyes away from
the mystery lady who lifted her veil, winked at Taylor, and gave
her a look of pure evil. Then she turned and quietly left.

Taylor stared at the doorway. Ari continued
to sing to her, oblivious to what had transpired just ten feet
away.

“Hey, Ari man. Can I dance with my sis?”

Ari stopped his mini concert and grinned at
Taylor’s brother, Tyler.

Taylor was grateful for the distraction; it
took her mind off the woman in black for the moment.

“Dang, man, I’m never going to have my wife
to myself. You have five minutes,” Ari playfully pointed to his
watch, “then I’m coming back for her. You got that?”

“A ‘right man, I got it.” Tyler grabbed his
sister’s hand and spun her around the floor as the tempo of the
music sped up.

He was her baby brother. She couldn’t count
how many times her family had teased her for being so
overprotective of him. “Almost like a second mother,” they would
say. He would bring his secrets to her instead of confiding in
their mom. Her relationship with her brother grew stronger with the
years. She was proud of him. In his twenty-two years, Tyler had
graduated from college and had become their father’s personal
assistant. He was very interested in politics—and women.

“So, sis, when are you going to hook me up
with Libby?”

Emmaculate Fusion switched to an old school
song and everyone on the floor starting doing dances from years
back. Taylor stopped doing the robot long enough to give her
brother “the eye” and laugh as he stuck his tongue out at her. “Are
you seriously trying to get hooked up on my wedding day with my
best friend who is five years older than you? I’ve told you a
thousand times Libby is not interested in you.”

That wasn’t exactly true. Every since her
brother was a little boy running around getting on her nerves, her
friends had thought he was cute and adorable. Libby had once shown
interest in him but out of respect for Taylor she decided not to
pursue a relationship. Taylor had made up her mind long ago that
she would never tell Ty that her friend actually liked him. To even
think about it sounded gross.

“Well have you asked her if she likes me?” He
did the moonwalk, backing a couple feet away from Taylor, then
snapped his fingers and came back toward her. “I can tell that she
does because I catch her staring at me all the time.”

Taylor smacked Tyler’s arm. “Boy, that’s your
imagination.” She tried to keep up with Ty’s wild dance moves.

“I’m going to make a play for her and I don’t
want you standing in the way.” He did a Michael Jackson move,
grabbing his crotch and stomping his foot.

Taylor couldn’t stop herself from cracking
up. She didn’t kid herself though; one day he would try to pursue
Libby. Her wedding day just wasn’t going to be that day. “If you
care anything about me, can you not shoot the cupid arrow today?”
she asked.

Tyler held his sister close. “I do love you,
and for tonight I will respect your wishes. But you best believe
that tomorrow it will be game on for Libby and me.” He inspected
his watch. “Oh snap! I’d better get your husband back over here
before he has my head.”

Taylor reached out to poke his chest but her
brother hit the floor in a James Brown split, then got up and ran
off.

The band changed songs and everyone gathered
on the dance floor to do the electric slide.

Taylor went into a nearby dressing room to
ditch her train and shoes. She was soon on the floor sliding back
and forth with Libby and Pam.

Pam put her arms around her best friend and
yelled in her ear over the loud music. “I’m so happy for you, girl.
Don’t do nothing I wouldn’t do tonight.”

Taylor yelled back to her friend. “I
know
you so that must mean that nothing is off limits.”

“Exactly.”

The open bar was stocked and restocked
throughout the evening. As the reception came to an end, Ari stood
behind his wife, pressing his body against hers, and softly asked,
“Are you ready to go, Mrs. Gallagher?”

“I’m ready, hun. Let’s roll out.”

He picked his wife up and carried her through
the crowd. Inside the limo, Taylor sunk into the leather seat, glad
this day had finally come and gone. All the planning and stress
were over.

“Come sit in my lap,” Ari said as he loosened
his tie. Taylor eased into her husband’s lap and laid her head on
his chest. “You know I love you?” Ari asked.

Taylor raised her head to look into his
handsome face. “Yes, and I love you too.”

Ari placed both of his hands on her face and
gave her a gentle kiss on the lips. “You taste so good, baby. I
don’t think I’ll ever get tired of kissing these full, plump lips,”
he said brushing his lips against hers.

Taylor was with the only man she had ever
wanted to marry but the price she paid to have her happily ever
after might cost her a lifetime of pain. Ari lay down across the
seat and slid Taylor on top of him. “I’m going to let you rest,
because you are going to need your strength when we get to our
destination.”