Love Me (Trust Series #2) (18 page)

I just sit there, stunned, as I take it all in. There’s something Martin’s hiding. He seems emotionally invested in this too. His eyes look a little panicked. Normally, he gives off the
who-gives-a-fuck
vibe, but his tone is different now.

Who all has been watching my life this closely?
It’s unsettling how easily information about me can be obtained if someone has the determination to find it.
Damn stalkers.

“What do you need from me, Martin?”

He takes a more relaxed stance as he leans against the counter near the door. He acts as if we are simply talking about our day. “Well, you being with Damien is driving this asshole over the edge. The more affection and over-the-top things you can do while you’re both out and about, the better.”

“Okay, what about my next clue?”

He takes my
okay
as if I’m agreeing to do it. It’s best he thinks I’m just willing to go along with whatever he says right now. I need to talk to Damien to see what we want to do next.

Martin’s phone beeps, and he looks at the screen. He types a response. “It appears lover boy is just about at his limit. Good. Damien seems to be giving the good ole doc a lot of shit.” He devilishly smiles at me.

He wanted to drive Damien to the brink.
I keep getting glimpses of a normal human being in him, but when he does stuff like this, I just don’t know.

“I assume that you have listened to me and will keep this between us.”

“If
us
also includes Damien and Bane, the head of security, then yes. No one else has been told.”

He nods at my statement. “It’s imperative that it stays that way.”

“Okay, Martin. I’ll tell Damien.”

He continues, “The
Atlanta Journal
published an article four days after Rebecca had disappeared. They got more right than Damien thinks. Rebecca had sworn me to secrecy when she told me. When you discover what Rebecca was hiding, go to her old bedroom to find a diary. It shouldn’t take too long to figure out. Make sure Damien plans it in a way to make it appear that he’s seeing his parents under duress. He can work through all those logistics. Have him signal me again, like we did as kids.”

Just when I think that nothing else will surprise me with all the craziness, he drops a little bomb that he knows is going to make me ask questions.

“Were you and Rebecca close? What did she swear you to secrecy on?”

He nods. “We were. When Damien was going through rough times, she called me out of concern for him. From there, we became close, and we started talking on a regular basis. And no, we were not close like you are thinking. It was purely a brother-sister friendship. Since Damien was off doing his thing, not giving a fuck about anyone but himself, she needed someone to confide in, and I was there for her. I would have done anything for her. I want this fucker caught as bad as Damien does.” His hands grab the counter in a death grip.

And again, he completely throws off my impression of him. The way he speaks of Rebecca is at odds with how he acts like he only cares about himself.
I am so confused.
I know my time is running out, and I do not have time to mentally process his comments.

“Does Damien know how close you were?”

“No, there was no reason to share. He fucked up. He didn’t keep her safe. I wasn’t going to ease his guilt by sharing what was going on in her life at the time. He should have been there for her. He made it easy for this asshole to take her. She didn’t tell me everything like she would have with him. If Damien and I would have had the whole story, we could have protected her. That night at the party, when all those fuckers were giving her a hard time, I was off in the back, fucking another woman. I’ll never forgive myself. She deserved to be protected by us.”

With the vehemence in his voice, I now understand Martin’s actions with the things he has done since Rebecca’s death. He truly loved her like a sister, and he blames Damien. All his actions up until this point have been revenge. It’s sad on so many levels. He’s basically just a broken, lonely man, who is letting the guilt of the past eat him away.

I don’t know why I believe him, but I do.

“Martin, I know you don’t want to hear this, but Damien is a good man. He blames himself, too. He loved Rebecca. You both need to forgive yourselves.”

He ignores my comment and just looks at me with sad eyes.

Damien and Martin both blame themselves for what happened, and my heart hurts for them.

“You remind me of her.”

I just stare at him. I’m not sure how to respond.

He shakes himself out of whatever memory he was reliving, and vengeful Martin returns. “I need to go.” He adjusts his glasses, and then he reaches for the door. Just before opening the door, he adds, “You’ll be getting close to piecing together who it is after you guys figure this next piece out. I’ll be in touch. Stay safe, Allison. I don’t want you to be the next victim. You can thank me later for the attention you’re about to receive. Damien should be walking through that door in less than thirty seconds.” He walks out the opposite door and closes it behind him.

Right on cue, Damien comes through the door by himself. As he walks over to me, he asks, “Alli, are you okay?” He’s tense and worried.

Standing up, I respond, “Yes, I’m fine. Martin just left. I wasn’t alone for more than ten seconds.”

Immediately, Damien envelops me in a hug. I love the feel of him.

He buries his nose in my neck, squeezing me to him. “I can’t believe I let you do this. I about went crazy out there, thinking about what could be happening.”

“I’m really okay. I had the pen, remember? It wasn’t like last time. He stayed across the room the entire time. I got the next clue. That’s what matters. He’s hurting in all this, too, Damien.”

He’s not taking my word for it. It appears he’s going to ignore my last comment. I wish he could have been in here to see Martin’s warring emotions and façade. Damien’s searching me over from head to toe. His hands roam over me as he looks for any signs of distress. He studies me for a minute. Then, he breathes out a sigh of relief.

“Let’s get you out of here. Bane is in the front. Martin wouldn’t allow him to come back.”

I let out a small snort. “I’m sure, considering how Mr. Badass charged after him the last time. I can’t imagine Martin would want to chance another run-in.”

With the look I receive, I’m guessing my statement wasn’t that funny. As we get to the door, Dr. Jacobs is there to walk us out.

He’s holding a chart, making some notes, as if he truly just had an appointment with me. He leads us to a counter and hands us a bill.

Geez, Martin really leaves no stone unturned.

Damien pays without even looking at the bill, and I turn around.

Holy Hannah.
A lot of people are waiting with cameras outside.
So, this is what Martin meant about the attention. I mentally roll my eyes. Because of some of these unnecessary stunts, Martin and I are going to have a few words after this is all over with. He’s ensured that the media sees me leaving the doctor’s office, so the crazy psychopath has some proof to confirm the pregnancy rumors.

Bane reports the situation, “Sir, they just showed up as if they had been tipped off while you were back there with Mrs. Wales.”

Damien groans.

I reply in a small voice, “It was Martin. I’ll explain later.”

Damien looks down at me, and I can see the fury building behind those blue depths. He does not like that I was in the same room as his ex–best friend. I don’t blame him.

It’s definitely not on my top-ten list either.

Last time though, I think Martin was desperate because of all the heat that was on him. It’s all starting to come together— slowly.

Bane says something in his earpiece that I can’t make out.

Damien starts issuing instructions, “Bane, when we go out there, you make sure no one touches Alli—absolutely no one. She’s the priority.”

Bane nods as we make our way to the door.

I plaster a smile on my face and look up at Damien. “Just look happy as we go out to the car, okay? Don’t look brooding or stressed. Until we figure out how we want to play this after I tell you everything, we don’t want any negative press about what’s going on in our relationship.”

Without hesitation, he plasters on his public façade. I can still see the trouble in his eyes, but to an outsider, we look like the perfect happy couple without a care in the world. I wind my arm around his waist as Bane positions himself on my other side.

Bane takes control of the situation as he says, “Jeremy will be pulling up any second to clear the crowd. Mr. Wales, Mrs. Wales will be between us as we get to the car as fast as we can. Jeremy will remain outside the vehicle until we have her safely inside.”

Damien responds, “Sounds good, Bane.”

Jeremy pulls up, gets out of the car, and clears a path. We walk out the doors, and just like that, we are in the chaos of questions.

“Allison, how is your health?”

“When is the baby due?”

“Mr. Wales, are you shocked at the news?”

And my favorite, “Is this why you got married so fast?”

We keep our smiles in place on our faces. Camera flashes go off as we make it to the car. In record time, we are inside and on our way. People tap the side of the car, shouting their questions through the glass.

When we pull out on the road, I lay my head back, let out a sigh of relief, and close my eyes for a brief moment.
It’s over.

After a few minutes, I look over at Damien, who is still eyeing me worriedly.

Squeezing his hand, I mouth the words,
We need to talk.

He tips his head in understanding. Taking his phone, he dials a number. “Frank, Wales. Ben should have dropped some contracts off for me. Very good. I’ll be at the sports complex momentarily. I have some business to take care of before the game tomorrow. With all this media mayhem surrounding my wife, we’ll be coming in the back entrance.”

Hitting End on his phone, he says to the driver at the front of the car, “Jeremy, to the sports complex. Bring us into the private entrance. You’re to remain there until I finish my work or when Alli is ready to head back to the hotel.”

“Yes, sir.”

Damien gives me a little wink.

Reluctantly, I must admit that Martin is quite clever. He gives Damien very obvious reasons to keep security high.

I hope Martin is telling the truth.

He’d have to be a phenomenal actor, regarding how he felt about Rebecca. I might be naive, but for now, I’m going to believe him. Hopefully what I’m about to tell Damien doesn’t cause him to carry additional guilt for Rebecca.

Like my mom used to tell me,
The past is in the past, and all we can do is learn from it to make our future better.

We’ve been sitting in Damien’s massive office at the sports complex for about three hours now. I’ve rehashed every detail of my meeting with Martin—every single detail.

I’m exhausted. Squeezing Damien’s hand, I try to comfort him as I see the hurt in his eyes. Telling him about Rebecca confiding in Martin was the hardest part. Damien needs to forgive himself.

I know from experience. My mom always said,
You don’t have to forget, Allison. You can forgive, move on, and live your life.

Even if Martin and Damien had known what was going to happen, fate has a way of stepping in and letting what was meant to be come to pass. I remember my mother’s words,
Allison, live your life to the fullest. Don’t dwell on the things you cannot change. Treasure the moments you have.

In his perfectly pressed black suit, Bane is sitting across from us on another couch. “Sir, I’m going to pull the article Martin referenced and start from there. We’ll need a plausible reason to go to your parents’ house. Let me know what you and Mrs. Wales decide regarding the pregnancy rumors and being more affectionate in public. My suggestion would be to play both up in order to drive the perp over the edge faster.”

My stomach drops at the pregnancy comment. I’m about to speak my thoughts when Damien squeezes my hand. A look passes over his features as he gazes at me. I know he’s about to handle it, and we both agree on how it should be handled. I don’t know how I know it, but I do.

Damien speaks to Bane, “My mother has been wanting to have a party. She’ll drop everything she has going on to do it as long as it means maximum exposure. I’m not playing up the pregnancy rumors—period. No negotiation. In regard to the more public display of affection, I don’t mind that as long as Alli is okay with it. But I’m not making my wife a sex object.”

I squeeze his hand back as I respond, “Agreed.”

Being a naturally private person is going to make this a little harder, but I’m relieved Damien didn’t even entertain the other suggestion. It just feels wrong to pretend to be pregnant.

“Very well, sir. Let me know when you’re ready to leave. I’ll start looking into all the details we discussed.” Bane stands and walks out the door at the other end of the room.

Damien grabs some file folders off the table and starts signing some documents. I’m guessing they are probably the contracts Ben dropped off. I lie back on the couch and try to organize all these chaotic thoughts in my mind. We’ve had a busy morning to say the least.