To Love and to Cherish (3 page)

And right now, he was full of bad thoughts. But I kept that to myself.

Mom looked around the penthouse like she was looking for evidence of a theft. "Where
is
our wonderful son-in-law?" She sounded a little too suspicious.

She'd heard the gossip. She had to have.

Wonderful, indeed!
He's just abandoned your daughter!
I wanted to scream.
And your grandbaby.
Was it possible to be too snarky and cynical in your thought life? At that moment there wasn't enough snark in the world for me to command.

My smile started to slip. It was taking conscious thought to keep it in place. What I wanted and what I had to do were two very different things. I
wanted
to crawl into my mother's arms, tell her how horribly Jus had treated me. And listen to her comforting
there-theres
while she patted my back and I cried my eyes out over that bastard Jus. I wanted to hear her complete sympathy. I wanted her motherly indignation on my behalf. I wanted her to treat me like she had after all my high school breakups.

Crying over Jus! It was almost unfathomable. The college me would have laughed in my face at the thought.

But of course, I was locked in this fake happy marriage. It was nothing more than a job, after all, though, right? And I needed a high score on my job performance review to get that ten-million-dollar payout. Especially now. Damn Jus! I was so mad at him.

I managed to hold my smile in place and look as absolutely placid as if I was sailing through a happy day. "The birthday guy was called out of town this afternoon."

My mom's eyes narrowed with suspicion. Motherly instinct sucked sometimes with its pinpoint accuracy. "But…how can you have a birthday party without the birthday person?"

I shrugged. "Billionaires! They're so eccentric." I winked at Mom. "Seriously. Jus was devastated he couldn't be here. But he wanted the party to go on. At this point, we were going to be paying for everything anyway. Our guests may as well enjoy it!"

So much fake enthusiasm. So little heart behind it.

My mom grabbed my arm and pulled me close to whisper in my ear. "Is everything
okay
between you and Justin? The news is full of your…unhappiness."

She must have been upset. She couldn't even bring herself to name the gossip.

I stiffened. I didn't want to disappoint her. At the same time, at that moment, I almost wanted to come completely clean. And save my pride.
How could he break my heart, Mom? He never had it. This is just a business relationship.

"Dad and I are on your side, no matter what. You know that," she whispered to me. "You rushed into marriage…maybe a little too quickly. To a young man you hadn't seen in years. If he isn't the guy you thought he was…well, you're our daughter. We're behind you."

There was that stupid lump in my throat again. I had to swallow it before it got the best of me and gave me away. There were no true confessions on the agenda. Tonight I had to hold my tongue, keep my head high, and fool everyone. Most especially our parents.

"Thanks, Mom!" Which I genuinely meant. "But you can't believe everything you hear on the news. Especially on those gossip segments. I've heard the latest. I've learned to ignore it. They make up such outrageous stuff! Next they'll have me having an alien's baby!"

Wasn't I? Jus was certainly alien to me right now. And we were alienated.

I laughed to make my point. "Jus and I are
fine
.
Perfectly
happy together."

J
ustin

As soon as we were airborne, I poured myself a drink. With the full intention of getting bombed. How do you take the edge off a broken heart?

Dex watched me, his eyes bright and searching. He grabbed my arm. "In the conference room. Let's go."

I grabbed my glass and the bottle as he pulled me into the private room and shut the door.

"All right. So talk. What happened between you and Lala?" He crossed his arms and studied me with an intense, piercing expression.

I fell into a leather desk chair next to the conference table, downed my drink, and poured myself another while I waited for a buzz to kick in. "She cheated on me. With Lazer Grayson."

Dex cocked an eyebrow. "Lala cheated?"

I nodded, miserable with an ache so deep even the booze didn't numb it. I swallowed the lump in my throat.

"That doesn't sound like her. She's a one-man girl. A serial monogamist. The Lala I know would have dumped you first before moving on."

"I'm her husband," I said, irritated that he was taking her side. Though what did I expect? They were family. Taking Dex along might have been a mistake. "Short of divorce, how was she going to dump me?"

"Oh, I don't know, dickhead," Dex said with absolutely no sympathy at all. "Your 'marriage' is just a business arrangement. All she had to do was say she's done having sex with you, let's keep it platonic, and move on."

Dex had never pulled his punches.

"She got pregnant," I said. "Just so she could get a bigger piece of my assets."

Dex shook his head. "Dude! I don't see what you're so upset about. Didn't I tell
you
to knock
her
up if you want to keep her?" he argued in his typically logical fashion.

"This just saves you the trouble of subterfuge. If this is true, you have leverage, man. She won't want to let go of that baby. She'll agree to almost anything to keep you from trying to take it away. This is epically good news." He patted me on the back. "Congrats, Papa! And happy birthday to you. This is the best gift she could have given you."

I stared at him.

"Out of curiosity, how do you
know
she planned it? Lala had several pregnancy scares in college. None of those were planned."

I frowned, confused. Dex, with his inexplicable logic, was actually making me feel somewhat better. I spilled the whole story while he listened in silence, without interrupting.

When I was finished, he shook his head. "No. I don't buy it. For one thing, Lala's friends may not be geniuses like us. But they aren't stupid, either. Especially Britt.

"Little Miss Emotional Intelligence? Sending a dumbass email like that? That's an amateur mistake she'd never make."

He paused. "Would I put it past her to give Lala the advice to get preggo with your baby? Absolutely not. It's damn good advice, if I do say so myself.

"Cheer up, buddy! You and Lala have more in common than you thought." He looked genuinely pleased at the thought, and proud of his cousin. "You've been working toward the same goal. But to write the plan out and email it to Lala, taking a chance you'd see it and foil the plan? No way. Not Britt." He shook his head.

"I know what I saw. It was right there on her phone. I can hack into her email and show you. She uses the world's simplest passwords." I grabbed my phone. Within seconds I was into her account. I showed it to Dex and watched him read it.

He shrugged. "Still not buying it. There has to be another explanation. Something that makes sense."

I brushed his comment aside. "Not everything makes sense. And her cheating? I caught her in the act."

"You caught her being hugged." His voice was stern.

He grabbed the bottle away from me while I tried to pour another drink. The liquor spilled in a stream over the desk and filled the room with a boozy smell. I reached for a napkin to wipe it up.

He caught my hand. "Listen to me. Your 'marriage' was nothing more than an arrangement. Lala never had to sleep with you. There was nothing forcing her to be exclusive with you. If she'd wanted to be with Lazer, she would have told you and gone back to the original agreement."

I wrenched my hand free and took the bottle back. "She doesn't love me." My voice cracked like I was still in junior high. Or maybe that was college for me.

"I forced her hand." I tried, but couldn't swallow my guilt. "I forced her into this marriage." I was on the edge. "Shit, Dex. I forced her."

Dex squatted next to me. "What did you do?"

K
ayla

And so the party was going swimmingly. Sickeningly well, actually. The caterer was a hit. The waiters efficient. The band I'd hired so we could have a live rendition of "Happy Birthday" and Jus could show off and sing with them held to just the right volume to make conversation comfortable.

After a tense moment when they were introduced and eyed each other like competitors in
Family Feud
, Justin's parents and mine were conversing pleasantly. Watching them, I didn't have any illusions they'd ever be close friends. The way things were going, it didn't matter in the long run. Or even the near short term, for that matter. As long as they made it through the evening.

Britt was late, fortunately. By the time she arrived I was so busy playing hostess I didn't have time for her. Which was great, because if I was around her too much I was bound to go off on her. And that would not be a good party scene.

Everyone asked where Jus was. I had to fake it and make excuses. Fortunately my acting skills had been honed by real-life method acting around the clock for these past months. I played dutiful wife with a passion and sweetness that was sickening even to me.

Lazer arrived with a former Miss Washington on his arm. A flashy auburn beauty in a dress that showed off just why she'd taken the title and won the swimsuit part of the competition. I found that I was surprisingly not jealous of her at all. Only in the fact that they were coupled up. And I was shockingly solo at my husband's party.

"I see you picked up a date," I whispered to Lazer when I got a chance.

"Short notice is never a problem for me," he said with a wicked, teasing glint in his eye. "How are you doing?"

"Acting the part," I said. "You two make a cute couple."

My stomach was unsettled. Morning sickness threatened to erupt, egged on by nerves. When it seemed like everyone had had enough hors d'oeuvres and was ready for cake, I had the caterers roll the cakes in on a serving cart.

Justin's birthday cake was a three-layer cake staggered on three separate tiered risers. It was decorated in gold fondant with a fourteen-karat gold number twenty-two on top and twenty-two long, tapered golden candles ready to be lit. It was so over the top, he would have loved it. I was mad at him for missing it. And this lovely, golden party I was throwing him. Cynically, I thought maybe I should snap a shot of it for him. So he could see what he was missing.

I had my waiters bring around trays of champagne in glasses with gold rims. Each glass had a small gold coin sitting at the bottom beneath the champagne bubbles. Yes, excess. That's what being a billionaire was about, wasn't it?

I had to do everything golden and extreme during this year. Maybe I didn't even have a year. At this rate, Jus and I would be lucky to make it to our regularly scheduled divorce. We sure weren't going to make it to our golden wedding anniversary. And my golden birthday had been when I was too young to remember it.

I stood next to the cake trolley and called the crowd to order by ringing a golden bell. When the crowd quieted down, I began my prepared speech.

"As Justin's new wife, I'm totally crazy about him. All of you here know that!" I grinned devilishly. "And maybe I'm just plain crazy." That much was true. "I wanted Justin's first married birthday to be his best birthday yet." I cleared my throat. A lump was threatening.

A few guests nodded their agreement.

"Well, I did my best, and have done my best, but work called Jus away at the last minute." I put on what I hoped was a pretty pout. Though it felt more like a scowl. "Everyone dreams of wealth and success, but to get it takes a lot of work. As Jus will agree."

People laughed politely.

"A lot of you here tonight brought Jus gifts, even though I specifically said not to." I frowned and pointed a few fingers around the room, teasingly chastising them. "Guilty. Guilty. Guilty."

More laughter.

"It's not that Jus doesn't deserve them." I had to force myself not to break up. And not to lash out, either. I balanced on a precarious emotional ledge. But if things were going to appear normal and happy between Jus and me, I had to deliver the speech I'd been planning to make before things blew up.

"We're all friends and family here. We all love Jus. It's just—what do you give a billionaire?

"Because this is our first birthday together, and it's Justin's golden birthday—twenty-two on the twenty-second—I wanted to give him something that no one else has. Something unique. One of a kind."

I grabbed a lighter the caterers had put next to his cake and began lighting his twenty-two candles. "But before I reveal my gift to him." I nodded to Riggins. "Let's sing Jus 'Happy Birthday.' I can't carry a tune. So Riggins is going to do the honors and lead us." I motioned to the band. "Is someone recording this?"

I got a thumbs-up.

"Good!" I looked around the room. "Will someone film this for Jus, too? We can all text him birthday wishes from our unique perspective so he'll feel like he was really here! He'd
love
that!"

Take that, Jus.

The band struck up "Happy Birthday." Riggins sang the lead. The rest of us sang in whatever key suited us. And somehow we made it through. Most people were enjoying themselves. Some of the oddness of having a birthday party for a guy who wasn't there was wearing off. When the song ended, people erupted in applause.

I rang the golden bell again and grabbed the golden lid of the cake plate on the small cake next to Justin's, ready for my reveal. "Bear with me. I'm not as narcissistic as this looks. Before we have cake, I have to share with you all what I got him. And, yes, Jus already knows and is thrilled." I laughed. "And maybe a little overwhelmed."

I pulled the lid off to reveal a baby-themed cake decorated with tiny feet in pink and blue. "I'm giving Jus the gift of fatherhood!

"To Jus! Happy birthday, baby! Don't work too hard! Wish you were here!" I raised my glass and took a sip.

I was rushed by our moms, who were suddenly in competition for hugs with questions flying. As the caterers cut the cake, I was swallowed by the well-wishing crowd. The moment would have been perfect. If Jus had been there.

Suddenly, I felt hot and nauseated. Suffocated. I broke free from the group and dashed for the bathroom. "Sorry, everyone!"

The women smiled knowingly. I heard someone say something about "must be a healthy pregnancy if she's sick already."

I made it just in time. This pregnancy was going to kill me. But the moms were excited. There was that, at least. And already making over me. Diana would personally whip her boy if he dumped the mother of her first grandchild. So the building-loyalty play was working.

When I came out of the bathroom, Britt was lying in wait. She pounced, grabbing my arm before I could escape. "You've been avoiding me! What's going on? And don't blame it on pregnancy hormones. I know that game."

I glared at her. "You!" I pointed my finger at her and tried not to sputter in my anger. "How could you be so stupid?"

"Stupid how?" She was glaring back. Britt wasn't some mellow puppy to be pushed around.

I grabbed her arm, pulled her into my bedroom, and closed the door so we could talk in private.

"What's really going on with you and Jus?" she said. "Why isn't he here? He came back to work this afternoon, called Ophie into his office, and flew out of there after ten minutes. He looked pissed. And hurt. Like someone had whipped him or stomped on his aorta or something. And since you're the only one with that power over him…"

That was the thing about Britt—her emotional IQ never failed her. And she was observant. So there was no use trying to fool her on this one.

"We're on the point of breakup. Because of you!" I pointed at her again and grabbed my phone from the nightstand where I'd left it. "And your damning email."

"What are you talking about?" she said. "
What
email?"

I brought it up and turned the phone around so she could read it.

"'Hook him for life. His money is yours. Did you flush the pills like I said? Ha ha! Whatever you do from now on doesn't matter. You're set for life! Money, money, money!'" she read aloud. "Who wrote this crap? It sounds like a melodrama."

"You did!" I pointed to the email header, thinking my life was a melodrama right at the moment. "It's from
your
email account."

"If I wrote that, it would be much better. More elegant." Understanding dawned on her. "He saw it?"

I nodded, too upset to speak.

She whistled softly. "So not good. But at least we're getting to the meat of the issue." She took the phone and shook her head. "It's from my account, but I didn't send it." She handed the phone back to me.

I made thin, angry eyes at her and bit back the tart, yet somehow salty, words on the tip of my tongue. I shook the phone at her. "Come on! No lies. Just admit to your screwup so we can make up and you can help me through this! This is like that time in junior high when you texted Corey and told him I was in love with him and then you denied doing it."

She took a deep, huffy type of breath and sighed heavily. "This is
nothing
like that. That was true. And I was just trying to help. This email is vindictive."

I shook the phone at her. "This message, this was the advice you gave me when we were first married!"

"Yeah! Exactly. So why would I text it to you now, out of the blue? That's ridiculous. Almost a total non sequitur. There's no conversational flow to it." She shook her head. "I've been working with you on Justin's birthday surprise for weeks. I've known you were pregnant all that time. So why would I just
now
text you this bullshit?"

I had no good answer, really. Because, actually, she made a good, logical point.

She grabbed the phone from my hand, disarming me before I tossed it across the room again. Or at her.

"Plus I'm not dumb enough to email something as damning and damaging to you when Justin could get hold of your phone and read it. Or hack into your email account and see it. The guy's a computer genius. I wouldn't trust anything as damning as this to any digital space in the world." She looked at the email again while I tried to grab the phone back.

She held it out of my reach. "Hold on! Hold on a minute. Not only does this not sound like me, it's from my work email account." She held the phone out for me to take. "See for yourself."

"What?" Blinded by rage again. She was right.

"You know me well enough. I never send personal crap from my work email.
Never
. It's a recipe for getting fired. Especially if you're talking about the boss."

I took a deep breath. The more she talked, the more out of character this whole event seemed for her.

"Hmmm." She put a hand to her chin, thinking. "I didn't turn my work computer on until after lunch. Remember? I was meeting with you for part of the morning. And then I wasn't even at my desk all afternoon. I was in meetings." She looked at me significantly, like Sherlock Holmes putting the pieces of a mystery together, trying to identify the culprit.

"Anyone could have stopped by my desk and sent this email," Britt said. "My computer isn't password protected once I log in."

I was feeling sick again. "But who knows—"

"Ophie!" we said at the same time.

"Oh, crap!" I said. "The sneaky, eavesdropping bitch! She
did
hear us that day at lunch. We have to get this email off the server."

Britt's eyes narrowed. She looked relieved that I finally believed her. And about ready to kill Ophie for attempting to murder our friendship and sabotage her career. "That dastardly marriage saboteur!"

I went cold. "Jus brought my phone home to me today. At first I thought I must have accidentally left it at your desk this morning when I stopped by. But now I wonder…"

"She probably pinched it! And sent that email when she knew Justin was on his way home to you, hoping he'd take it the wrong way." Britt clenched her hands. "He walked right into her trap. That's positively diabolical."

"And right in on me when I was in an apparently compromising hug with Lazer." I explained the situation Jus had seen to Britt.

"So he walked out on you," she said when I was finished. "Small wonder." She nodded. "And came back to the office upset. And you don't know where he is?"

"No, I know. He's with Dex on his way to Reno." I almost blew it then and told her the rest of the story about them going after the ID thief. I stopped just in time.

"Why Reno?" She looked puzzled.

"It's a good cover story for a drinking binge. You know, Flash has a distribution center there. They can gamble and carouse and get drunk while saving face by claiming they're on business."

Britt pursed her lips. "Okay, then. Let the boys play for a while. We have to stop Ophie from doing more damage." She paused. "And by the way—I think she has your dog. I saw her walking out of the office with her."