“Let’s just say, with you present, he might not decide to throw something at my head.”
Linda nodded and together, they walked back into Riley’s office. He was staring out the window, drink in hand, when they told him he might want to sit down. But he didn’t turn around. Just sipped on his whiskey again and told them to say whatever it was they had to say.
“Not like this day could get any more interesting.”
“Actually, I think it just got a whole hell of a lot worse,” Ben said. He set the open file down on Riley’s desk as his friend turned back around. “Anna is not who you think she is.”
Chapter 20
A little before seven, Phoebe paced around her apartment, trying to control her emotions. She’d been by the hospital again, unable to even set foot in her office. She’d received quite a few calls from Yancey and ignored them all. She didn’t have time to deal with him. She needed to understand what was happening, who this man was who had appeared in her life so suddenly.
And then lied to her about who he really was.
Not that she had been completely honest with him either, but it had barely been a week! They’d had only officially had one date, which then turned into a weekend that she would never forget. But finding out who he really was… Riley Marston was the richest man in the city, one of the top five in the country last time she checked. How could she possibly compete with something like that? Mitch was loaded, but not like that. She’d never been put in the spotlight or had to deal with people like that in her life before.
“You should just stop now,” she muttered out loud as she stared at her reflection in the bedroom mirror. “If he lied to you, then he clearly isn’t going to choose to stay with you.”
It was the only thing that made sense. That’s why he wouldn’t just come forward about his true identity. And worse, she’d handed over files from Yancey’s company. Everything about Phoebe’s life was now riding on the line. One wrong move, and she’d lose everything she’d worked so hard to get. That, and any chance she had at saving her mom. Phoebe sighed and felt tears prick her eyes as she pictured her mom lying in that damn hospital bed, awake but unable to speak. Unable to walk out on her own.
She recognized Phoebe, but it only lasted a few minutes before her memory went blank again, and Phoebe felt the last ties to the woman she’d known vanishing. It had taken everything she had to not lose it—throw things, scream, yell at how unfair the world had been. That all she was trying to do was save her mom. Was that too much to ask? To give her a fighting chance at being able to live a little longer? Maybe see Phoebe get married to a man she truly loved, have some kids, and finally be at the point in her life when she wasn’t worried about whether she would have a job tomorrow? Or if some crazy guy would come after her because she stuck her nose where it didn’t belong? What happened to the days of being normal?
“You lost them,” she said. “You lost them and you’re never getting them back.”
She wiped the tears angrily from her cheeks. Tonight was about getting answers and putting an end to her relationship with Ben…Riley. She had to remember his real name was Riley.
And tonight, he was going to learn what it meant to lie to a woman like her.
Her cell buzzed, and she glanced down to see a text from “Ben.” There was a car waiting for her out front. He was already waiting at his place, something at work ran late, so he was going to meet her there.
“You have your own damn car?” She shoved her cell back in her purse and stormed out of her apartment. “Of course you do. You have everything, you rich bastard. Just like all the rest of them.”
But he hadn’t acted like a rich bastard. He’d been nothing but sweet and gentle to her the whole weekend. Making her laugh, making her forget about what waited outside her apartment door. Made her feel like she mattered to someone else, really mattered.
She stepped out onto the sidewalk and saw a black town car with a gentleman dressed in a suit waiting to open the passenger door. “Good evening, Anna,” he said with a smile as he pulled it open and waved her in. She smiled back, acting as if nothing was wrong, and slid inside. The seats were leather, and she tried not to feel too impressed as the driver hurried around to his seat and pulled away from the curb.
Phoebe stared out the window and watched as they headed out of the familiar streets she lived on and into the rich part of the city. “He lives over here?”