Masquerade (Masquerade #1) (12 page)

Chapter Nineteen

“My real name is Jason Locke Colton, Jr. We met when I was forced to move to my grandmother’s house one year by my dad.”

“I’ve got that much according to what I found. I want to know why you lied to me, faked your own death, and why you never told me?”

“You found all that huh? You would think if you could find it then maybe my dad might have investigated further.” He lets out a huff before he continues. “We dated in high school. I loved you from the first day I saw you running, and you ran right into me. I had never had this kind of love for anyone.”

He loosens his tie and continues. “My dad made me leave one day out of the blue. Apparently, I wasn’t supposed to have found love while I was living there, especially with someone not approved by him. When we got back to Atlanta, he sent me off with my friends on a trip around the world, mainly boozing it up. He wanted me to forget you. I couldn’t though. My mother had called me one day, saying you showed up at the house wanting to see me because you were pregnant. My dad, being his normal assholey self . . .”

“He called me a slut. Told me I would never see you again and to get rid of the baby.”

He looks at me with surprise. “Do you remember that?”

“It’s slowly coming back. Keep going.”

“After hearing how my father treated you, I decided once and for all to tell him to stay the fuck out of my life because I was coming back for you. I did call him and said some pretty harsh things, but not nearly as bad as what he told me about you. He told me about your wreck. He told me you died. I was so lost then. I couldn’t let him win anymore, so I did what I had to do and faked my own death.”

“So why did you come back?”

“I had heard from my grandmother that you had survived. She was the only one who knew I really wasn’t dead. That is when I decided to seek you out. I enrolled into college, catching up by taking as many classes as I could to graduate with you. Then when I saw you with Alan that night, my heart broke, but I was determined to get you back in my life. So I lied.”

“But why not just tell me the truth from the beginning?”

“That night when you looked at me, I saw in your eyes you had no idea who I was. It about killed me. I asked around later to find out about you, and that is when I learned about your coma and lapse in memory. I didn’t know what else to do.”

“This is all still confusing, Chris or Jason or whatever the hell your name is.”

“I know, and I am sorry for it, but I couldn’t live knowing you were alive, and we had a baby. The first time I saw Lucy and you, said she was your sister. I knew it wasn’t true. She is so much of both of us. I had to get back into your life.”

“I need wine and lots of it,” I say, standing up.

I start pouring myself a glass when he comes in the kitchen and tries to put his arms around me. I shrug him off.

“Is this how it’s going to be now?”

Downing the whole glass I just poured, I begin pouring myself another. “Right now, yes. I still don’t have all my memories of the whole thing, but right now, you feel completely foreign to me.”

I clutch my glass of wine and the bottle and carry it into the bedroom. I walk in and close the door. I need to be alone for a while.

I wind up drinking the whole bottle before I pass out crying in the bed. Of course I just have to dream of all this shit again. This time it’s different though. I wake up panting.

I get out of bed, walk down the hallway, and make my way to the kitchen. I set my glass down and look over to see Chris sitting at the table, staring at me.

“You okay? I went to check on you, and you were asleep, but it seems like you were having a dream again.”

I nod my head. “I did, and this time it was real. I remember everything, Jason.”

“Please sit down.” He pulls a chair out for me to sit.

“My dream was from the first day I met you all the way up to the present. I remember our first night together. I remember the way you always made me feel special. Then I remember the day that you disappeared. I went to find you only to get treated like shit by your father. Then I got into a fight with my parents, which caused me to wreck carrying our child. I always knew there was more to us than just what has happened but never could get it all together. Now that I have, I need to do something that you may not like.”

He rubs the stubble forming on his chin. “What’s that?”

“I need to move in with my aunt for a while. I need space. There is so much to figure out at this point. I still don’t know what to tell Lucy. I mean, she thinks her parents are dead when in fact, they are two fucked up people in her life every day.”

“I understand. Just please know I did this for us. I did this so we could always be together. I don’t want to hurt you anymore. I will do whatever it takes to have you back and Lucy back in my life.”

“Good.”

I get up from the table to go and pack a bag for myself and Lucy. I have all of our stuff by the opened front door. I start grabbing bags when Chris begins helping carry them to the car.

It’s all in the car and ready to go when I open the driver’s side door to get in. Chris grabs me, pulling me into a hug.

“I will be here when you’re ready. I love you.”

I shake my head and climb into the car. He shuts the car door. I buckle up and turn the car on. I take off, only looking back in my rearview mirror to see his deflated face.

I pull up at Aunt Karen’s house and sit in the car. I look next door to remember the good times before all this shit fucked it all up.

I finally get out of the car and don’t realize anybody is standing there until I hear a voice.

“Is there a reason you are staring at my house? Did you miss me?”

“Nope, can’t say that I have, and to answer your question, I was remembering better times.”

I pull my luggage out and close my trunk to walk away from the idiot next door. I don’t have time for stupid shit. Apparently, he gets the memo because he walks back to his house.

I open the front door to be greeted by Aunt Karen. I drop it all out of my hands when she says, “Come here, honey. Chris called me.” She pulls me into a hug.

We break free from one another, and she guides me to the couch.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Well, what did Chris tell you?”

“That you two had a disagreement, and you were coming to stay over here for a while.”

“Hmm. A disagreement huh?”

I then go into the whole drawn out story. She never says anything until the end.

“Honey, I’m glad your memory is back, but I know this is hard. I want you to stay here as long as you need to.”

“Thank you, Aunt Karen. I am so happy you’re here. I feel lost since my parents aren’t here, but I think it would be even worse too. I still don’t understand why they lied to me all those years.”

“I am sure they had a good reason.” She jumps up quickly out of her spot on the couch. “That reminds me, I found a letter in one of the books on the shelf over here. It’s an art book, so there is no doubt that your mother wrote it. It’s made out to you. I haven’t opened it.”

She hands it to me. “I am going to go upstairs, honey. If you need me, you know where I am.”

I smile at her then start looking at the envelope. I’m not too sure if I even want to read it. I trace over where she has written Julia on the outside of the envelope and remember how I always thought her handwriting was so pretty.

I bite the bullet and turn it over to put my finger underneath the top flap of the letter. I pull the letter out and unfold it to begin to read.

Dearest Julia,

You are getting this letter because your dad and I are gone. I hate that we had to               leave you and Lucy. I need to tell you some things and hope you can forgive us for what I am about to tell you. The day you left to go and find Jason is the same day you told us you were pregnant.

              To be honest, to start with I was so angry with you. I couldn’t believe you had let this happen to you. I know you want to know the reason we never told you that Lucy was your daughter. Your father and I had good reasoning of why we didn’t tell you. The day you got into the wreck, we had received a phone call a few minutes earlier from Jason’s dad. He told us we should make you abort the baby and never to tell Jason anything. That is why he was sending him off for a long time. At the time, we didn’t know what he was talking about until Mrs. Colton told us he was making him travel the world to forget about you or the baby.

              I knew there was no way I was going to let you abort this baby. But as soon your father hung up with Mr. Colton, you were screaming and crying. We yelled back and forth until the line went dead. I tried over and over again to get you. Finally the phone rang, and it was a police officer saying that you had been in an accident. We left hurriedly to get to you in Atlanta. In fact, the hospital called, asking if it was okay to do surgery or anything else needed until we got there. That drive was the longest drive of my life. Not only was I in danger of losing my daughter, but my grandbaby too.

              When we arrived at the hospital, you were out of surgery but in a coma. I asked the doctors about the baby, and that is when they said, through the grace of God, it was in perfect condition.

              You had Lucy in Atlanta. The day she was born is when we decided to tell you she was your sister if you had no recollection of the birth, which according the doctors, they didn’t think you would. We knew we couldn’t tell you the truth because we were scared that Jason’s father would come after her. The hospital helped us hide everything luckily since your father was good friends with the CEO of the hospital.

              Once you started getting better, we had you transferred to a local hospital to have you closer to home. I started taking care of Lucy when one day you woke up. I was so happy to see those green eyes again.

              I really do hope you understand why we did this. We were protecting the both of you the best way we knew how. I couldn’t let a monster like that have that sweet baby girl of yours. Please know we didn’t do this to keep you in the dark; we had our reasons. One day when Lucy gets older, there will be times you do stuff because you know the reasoning behind it is better than the alternative.

              We love you so much. Your dad and I are so proud of the woman you have become. Never let go of the memoires you do remember. I hope you gain all of them back one day and you see why this all happened the way it happened. Remember you can’t choose your life, but you can choose how to live it. So live it to the fullest. Forgive and forget.

              Love,

              Mom and Dad

I lay down on the couch, clutching the letter and crying.

Chapter Twenty

I woke up on the couch with a blanket on top of me. I still had the letter clutched to my chest. Things were making sense, but I still felt betrayed.

I had to explain to Lucy later that day why we were staying with our aunt. She was happy about it because, “It was like a big spend-the-night party.” But she missed Chris. I was going to have to tell her about him, but right now was just not the time.

I went back to work early from my vacation because I needed the distraction, and I also needed to finish up on finalizing my trip to Venice.

Chris sends me texts telling me he misses us and that he loves us. He also sends one vowing that he will never lie again. He calls too, to talk to Lucy mainly.

I am thinking after I get home from my trip, I am going to let Lucy in on all the secrets that we have been hiding. I think it’s time because she asks too many questions as it is.

It’s the day before I have to leave, so I have the day off to get packed and make sure all my lose ends are tied up at home. I am so excited to be going. I think going will really help with my head. At least I hope so.

I make sure that evening to spend as much time with Lucy as I can. My aunt has agreed to watch her and so has Chris while I am gone.

The next day, Lucy and Aunt Karen take me to the airport to drop me off.

“You better bring me something home,” Lucy says as she hugs me.

I kiss her head. “I will. I love you more than my big toe.”

“I love you more than my nose.”

I laugh and set her down to get hugs from my aunt when they announce that my flight is boarding. I pick up my bag with all my stuff in there to occupy me as I travel across the ocean. I start walking to the door, and I turn around and wave goodbye.

I get on the plane and find my seat. I am in first class thanks to the museum, so I am not all squished up against somebody that I don’t want to be.

I sit there for a few minutes before I remember to turn my phone off. I unlock it to see a text from Chris.

Chris:
I love you. Please be careful.

I text him back.

Julia:
I will.

I then turn my phone off and get ready for the rest of the people to finish boarding. Whenever everyone is on board, the flight attendants start their normal routine of exits and other stuff. I tune them out. I then buckle my seatbelt and pull out “Fallen Crest High” by Tijan to start reading.

I fall asleep and am awoken by the dinging of the bell and the captain saying that we are making our decent. I sit up to buckle my belt and start feeling the pressure change as we are heading back down the runway.

Getting off the plane, I retrieve my luggage from baggage claim and make my way to hail a cab. To my surprise when I walk outside, I see a man standing in front of a luxury car and holding a sign with my name on it. That’s strange because I don’t remember setting that up, but I will take it.

He takes me to my hotel where I check in. Then the bellboy takes my luggage to my room. As I walk in, I notice how beautiful it is. I tip the bellboy, and he makes his way out, so now it’s my turn to explore.

The room isn’t huge, but the view is the best part. I can see the ocean from my window. I open it to hear waves crashing. It is so peaceful. I turn around to look at the bathroom. I’m in girl heaven.

The tub is huge with jets and a shower to the side. There is your normal toilet but a gorgeous counter that has two sinks and two mirrors above each sink. Oh, and the sink is a bowl. I am in love.

Walking out of the bathroom, I find the phone and call downstairs to order room service. I’m thinking after I eat, I will take a long hot bath. I can’t wait to climb into that tub.

I finally eat and bathe then lie down to fall into a dreamless sleep. I wake up the next morning feeling better than I have in a while.

I get ready for my day at the museum, putting on a white sweater dress that dips in the front, some black leggings, and brown boots. I wear a leopard print scarf to accessorize and also to help keep me warm.

I find my bag and the hotel key and make my descent downstairs. I walk out to see the same car waiting for me. The guy opens the door to let me in then closes it. When I’m in, he walks back to the front of the car and gets in.

“Where to ma’am?” he says with a thick Italian accent.

“To Venice Academy Gallery Museum of Art.”

He nods his head then proceeds to pull out into traffic. I figure this will be a perfect time to ask him who he is.

“Excuse me, I don’t mean to sound ungrateful for all of this, but where did you come from?”

He smiles, looking at me in the review mirror. “A Jason hired me to drive you to make sure you were safe.”

“Damn him,” I mumble. “Thank you for all of this, but you don’t have to drive me around everywhere.”

“Ma’am, I don’t mind, and I agree with this Jason. It would be better for you to have someone drive you then you getting cabs.”

“Okay, I get you, but can you please call me Julia?”

“I will, Julia. My name is Sergio. Here is my card with my number. Call me when you need a ride anywhere anytime.”

“Thank you, Sergio.”

He drops me off at the door to the museum and says to call him when I am ready to be picked up.

I walk into the most breathtaking museum I have ever seen. It is huge with no corner left untouched by a piece of art. A man approaches me with his hand out.

“You are Julia from the US?”

“I am.”

“I am Antonio. I will be helping you today with the paintings. I will also love to show you around.”

“That would be wonderful. Thank you.”

He starts taking me off on a tour of his massive museum. I am in awe of the art pieces and sculptures here. They range from Da Vinci, the tribute to Lorenzo Lotto, to The Gallerie Dell’Accademia. It is all so stunning.

The tour of the museum takes a good two hours, but I can’t stop looking and oohing and aweing. Once we are done, we go to Antonio’s office to discuss what is being taken back with me. He already has them pulled but wants me to look at them before they are shipped.

When we are finished with business, Antonio tries to take me out to dinner, but I blow him off the sweetest way I know how. I just want to go shopping to find a pretty gown to match my green mask, which I have brought with me, and buy some wine to relax. Antonio calls Sergio for me, and he even waits till Sergio arrives to collect me.

Sergio takes me to the most popular places to shop in the area. I find the perfect dress as soon as I walk in the store. It is emerald green with a sweetheart neckline and is off the shoulders. It is an A-line dress and seems to flow for miles.

I pair it with some black heels and a pear-shaped teardrop pendant and earrings to match. I am ready for the big ball tomorrow night, and I walk down a bit to find a local wine store and purchase a bottle of red wine.

It is a quiet ride back to the hotel. I am going to have a repeat of last night: supper, bath, and bed. I hang my dress up in the closet and put my jewelry in the bathroom, getting it ready for tomorrow night.

I then order some fried raviolis with marina sauce. These should be illegal they are that good.

I soak in the tub for an hour before I get out, dressed only in a robe. I open the window to listen to the waves. They keep it really stuffy in these rooms. I fall asleep and dream of art.