Beauty and the Bachelor(35)

     



 

She stepped into the room, flipped the light switch, and inhaled his  scent. Another silly ritual. But since he'd never caught her at it, one  she considered harmless. She strode across the room and rounded his  desk. A moment later, she dropped the mail on the usually immaculate top  next to a letter-sized manila envelope. She stepped back, but then the  name typed across the front snagged her attention.

Blake Corporation contract.

She frowned. What contract? Was this about her father? After a moment's  hesitation and a flash of guilt, she picked up the envelope and flipped  open the unsealed flap. She withdrew a thick sheaf of papers, and  letting the manila envelope float back to the desk, perused the cover  page.

Her heart pounded as her stomach bottomed out.

Jason Blake. Demand for resignation as CEO and chairman of the board of  directors of Blake Corporation. Requested by majority shareholder Lucas  Oliver.

What was this?

Nausea roiled in her belly, acidic bile racing toward the back of her  throat. What did it mean? She flipped through the first few pages, and  horror and the pain of betrayal yawned wide inside her like a dark,  voracious chasm.

The doorbell chimed above her. She remained frozen behind the desk,  staring at the stack of legal papers. Only when the second insistent  buzz echoed through the house did she move toward the study door, the  contract still clutched in her fist. Numb, she returned to the main  level and opened the front door.

"Tyler." She stared at her ex-fiancé, not grasping why he stood on the doorstep of her home. "What are you doing here?"

"To see you." He nodded toward the door. "Is it okay if I come in? It will only be for a few minutes."

Bemused, she opened the door wider and shifted to the side, allowing him to enter.

"Thank you," he said. "I tried calling, but I guess you didn't receive  my messages. Or"-a deprecating smile curved his mouth-"maybe you were  avoiding them. Not that I could blame you."

Rabbit hole. At what point had she jumped feetfirst into it? She pinched  and massaged her forehead as if the motion could clear away the wool  wrapping that had enclosed her since finding the documents on Lucas's  desk. Turning to face Tyler, she closed the door behind her.

"I'm sorry, Tyler. You have me at a loss."

"I can imagine." He dragged a hand over his close-cropped dark curls.  "Look, I won't keep you long. I wanted to speak with you about this  weekend."

Tipping her head back, she loosed a broken crack of laughter. The pain  from her discovery still thrummed inside her like another heartbeat.  Jesus, she didn't need this right now. Couldn't deal with what her  mother had set in motion with her machinations. Lifting her head, she  spread her hands wide.

"I'm sorry you were misled, but I had no intention of attending the  party. Mom, without my knowledge, accepted the invitation on my behalf. I  hate that I hurt you and your parents' relationship with mine, but I'm  married-I married another man, and I would not have disrespected him by  going to your party without him."

"I know," he said. "Which is why I came to apologize to you."

If he'd sprouted wings and clucked around the room crying, "The sky is falling!" she couldn't have been more surprised.

"Wh-what?" she stammered.

Another of those mocking half smiles. But the mockery seemed to be aimed  at himself, not her. "Sydney, before the dating and engagement, we were  friends first. It's one of the things I truly enjoyed about our  relationship. You rarely find the true companionship we shared, which is  why I could see myself marrying you. Even though we didn't love each  other."

"Tyler," she said.

"No, I knew you didn't and had agreed to the marriage for your own  reasons. Namely, pressure from your family. I get it. More than you  know," he murmured, almost to himself. "Yes, I was shocked when you  broke off the engagement, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't hurt  and embarrassed. But in a way I was … relieved." His lashes lowered, and  his low exhale shuddered from between his lips. "And envious. You were  strong enough to stand up and go after what you wanted. A fulfilled life  with someone you love instead of an empty one without passion or true  happiness. I"-he cleared his throat-"I had that. And because of family  obligations, I lost her and my shot."

She gasped, rocking back on her heels. "Are you saying … ?"

"Yes. I had a woman I loved, but because she didn't have the  connections, wealth, and name recognition that you and your family had,  my father ‘persuaded' me not to marry her. Sydney, my father's company  is … suffering." He huffed out a rough chuckle. "That's an understatement.  It's in serious trouble. But the Blake name would've been sufficient to  obtain unsecured loans from several banks with ties to your father and  Blake Corporation. My dad was counting on our marriage, and for me to go  through with it. And threats of disowning me, leaving me penniless, and  withdrawing his support from me worked. I caved. And lost the best  thing that's ever happened to me in the process."         

     



 

"Tyler," she breathed. "I'm so sorry." Especially considering her  father's company was in the same straits as Mr. Reinhold's. Maybe  worse-Wes Reinhold hadn't been embezzling funds for years.

He shrugged a shoulder. "I have no one to blame but myself. When you  broke off our engagement, I kind of saw it as karma with no one to blame  but myself. I could fall back on the excuse of allowing myself to be  used, but that would be lying. I was too much of a coward to lose my  lifestyle. Anyway." He heaved a sigh. "You won't have to worry about any  more situations like the ambush at lunch or the reception. Old habits  die hard, so I agreed to go along with it at first. But when you didn't  show up, I was glad. You deserve your happiness, Sydney, and I or my  parents will no longer interfere with it."

"Thank you," she whispered. Tears stung her eyes for his loss, his  pain … hers. She hadn't ended their engagement for love, as he believed,  but she did love now. With a strength that transformed her knees to  wobbly columns of water. She grappled for the end of the banister,  leaning against it, truth slamming into her with the force and subtlety  of a sledgehammer.

She loved Lucas.

And knowing the fullness of it, the ache of it, the consuming power of  it, she would have ultimately resented Tyler and grown bitter. Ironic  how she'd been set on marrying him to avoid ending up like her mother,  and that would have been the likely outcome anyway.

"Sydney." He darted over to her, cupping her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Mute, she nodded, while inside she raged, hell, no! She wasn't okay. Far  from it. She was angry, scared, hurt, disillusioned … and in love.

Oh, shit.

"You don't look well," he said, concern drawing his brows down in a  frown. "Here, have a seat." Lowering her to a step, he hunkered down in  front of her, his hands clasping hers. "Is there anything I can get  you?"

"The fuck out of my house," a dark voice rumbled from the doorway.

She jerked her head up. Met a menacing, glittering gaze.

Lucas was home.





Chapter Twenty


Rage poured through Lucas. It pounded against his senses in relentless  waves, growing stronger and wilder with every second Tyler Reinhold  remained crouched before his wife, holding her hands.

Sydney snatched free of her ex's grip, guilt flashing across her face.

"I'll go," Tyler said, his wary gaze never leaving Lucas. Smart man. "Sydney, are you going to be okay?"

"Yes," she murmured. She, too, studied him with those lovely hazel  eyes-lovely, deceitful eyes. He clenched his fist until he swore the  skin would split over his knuckles. "Please go. And thank you for coming  by."

"Of course." Tyler skirted past Lucas and ducked out the door. Though  every cell in his being roared he beat the shit out of the other man,  Lucas didn't move, didn't take his scrutiny off the woman who'd made him  promise fidelity only to betray that promise herself.

He should've known.

"Lucas." Sydney rose from the step, holding a trembling hand out toward  him. Tired. She appeared tired, worn down … and hurt. He bit back a bark  of laughter. What a hell of an actress he was married to. "It's not-"

"No, no, wait. Let me finish. I've heard it many times, after all." In  the beginning, his mother had tried to offer up excuses. After a while,  she'd stopped pretending she wasn't cheating, and the explanations  stopped coming. "It's not what I think. I should believe you, not my  lying eyes. Or how about, ‘we weren't doing anything'?"

She dropped her arm, shaking her head. "Lucas, he came by to apologize.  That's all. I would never betray you. Certainly not after … " She inhaled.  "I wouldn't."