Beautiful Illusions Duet Bundle: Eighty-One Nights and Beautiful Ever After

by Georgia Cates

  “You have five minutes. My next appointment arrived early and he’s out there waiting.”

  “Who was that woman?”

  I can’t tell her Ina Morata. Blair is an intelligent woman. She could put together the pieces of Lou’s clever alias. “Ana Morton.”

  “She looks very familiar.”

  No surprise there. She should.

  “Perhaps she’s in some of the same social circles as you?”

  “No. I would remember her.”

  “True. She’s quite an unforgettable woman.”

  “That’s a rude thing to say to me.”

  “Is it?”

  “We’re engaged to be married. You aren’t supposed to desire other women.”

  Fuck this shite. “Why are you here?”

  “I came to tell you that I filed for divorce and Doug has moved out.”

  “We’ve already had this conversation. Filing means nothing. Your divorce could drag on for a long time.”

  “I know, but I wanted you to know that things are moving, and Dad is going to see what he can do to expedite the process.”

  Thomas may have money and power but he can’t change the law or the way its system works. Divorce takes as long as it takes. And thank fuck for that.

  “All right. You’ve told me. Now I have a client to see.”

  Blair looks around my office and focuses on my couch. “The cushions on your sofa are out of place.”

  “So?”

  “Has something happened in here?”

  Fuck, it smells like sex in here?

  “Do you mean something such as sitting on the furniture? Aye. I do that from time to time.”

  Blair goes to the sofa and straightens the cushions. “This kind of disarray doesn’t appear professional to the clients of Lochridge. It looks like you just shagged on the sofa.”

  She runs her hand over the cushion and stills. “There’s a wet spot on this one.”

  Fuck.

  “I spilled my coffee earlier.”

  She lowers her face to the spot and sniffs like a fucking drug dog. “This doesn’t smell like coffee.”

  “Maybe because I cleaned it up?”

  “Did you fuck that woman? The blonde who was just in here?”

  I’m so tempted to say yes. “I don’t fuck clients. But if I did, it wouldn’t be any of your business.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong, Max. You’re engaged to marry me. That means you don’t get to fuck anyone but me.”

  She’s delusional.

  “I’m not going to stand here and debate this with you while I have a client waiting to see me.”

  “I’ll go, but I want you to tell me you understand what I’m saying about not fucking around with other people. I won’t have it.”

  “I understand what you’re saying.” But understanding and abiding are two different things.

  “Good. Because I will bury you so deep that you’ll never see the light of day again if I find out you’re unfaithful to me.”

  There it is. More talk of burying me.

  I fear that Blair may be a bigger threat than I originally gave her credit for. And that’s going to be a larger problem with Ava Rose’s custody than I originally anticipated. I don’t think I’m going to be able to deal with the Lochridges legally through the justice system.

  I wanted to do this the right way. The honest way. For Ava Rose. And for Lou. I wanted to be the honorable man they deserve. But honorable intention will lose this fight. It’s not an option.

  I have only one choice. To fight dirtier than them.

  It’s time for a consultation with my Fellowship friends.

  65

  Caitriona Hutcheson

  Damn, I’m looking forward to this.

  This spider has trapped her prey. Blair is caught in my web and doesn’t even realize it yet. She’s sitting in the back of our car right now believing that Hutch sent Calvin for her. But the icing on the cake? She also believes that Hutch is the one who will be waiting for her.

  Wrong.

  She’s about to get the shock of her life.

  Am I nervous? Maybe I was when I first arrived at the restaurant, but I’d say eager is a better word to describe how I feel after having two glasses of whisky. Can’t lie. The amber liquid deposited a healthy dose of courage in my veins.

  A little liquid courage never hurt anyone.

  I spot Blair’s ginger bob at the hostess stand, and I study her. Tight winter-white dress. Tall pumps. Not a hair out of place. She definitely came here with the intention of looking sexy for Hutch.

  She’s a beautiful woman. I can’t deny that even though I’d like to.

  I get up and move to the opposite seat so my back is to her when the hostess seats her at the table. I don’t want her to see me and be tipped off about my presence, giving her the opportunity to make a run for it. Not that it would matter. A man named Sangster is waiting outside to grab her if she decides to not stick around to hear what I have to say.

  There is a plan B in place and it isn’t nearly as pleasant as plan A. She’ll sit her skinny ass down at this table and hear me out if she knows what’s good for her.

  I turn and make eye contact with Blair when I hear the hostess say, “Your server will be with you in just a moment. Enjoy your dinner.”

  “Oh good. You made it.” I gesture to the seat across from me. “Well, don’t just stand there, silly. Sit down.”

  The hostess walks away, and my eyes bore into hers. “Sit, Blair. Now!”

  Her jaw clenches and her nostrils flare. It looks like a different version of resting-bitch face from her usual one. And she looks as though she might be thinking of fleeing.

  Better not, bitch. You won’t like what awaits you outside.

  She sits down and glares at me as though she believes a stare-down will intimidate me. It’s incredibly satisfying to see how much she has underestimated me.

  “You must be so disappointed to find yourself having dinner with Mrs. Hutcheson instead of Mr. Hutcheson.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  I hold up my left hand. “I’m talking about this.”

  “You think a fake diamond on your left ring finger is going to convince me that Max married you?”

  “I don’t think my ring will convince you of anything. That’s why I brought this.”

  I open up what I’m calling the Blair’s-bad-behavior binder—the folder containing all of the filth I have on her—and I remove a photograph that was taken of Hutch and me while we said our vows.

  “Our wedding was beautiful. Very quaint. Very… private.”

  My nemesis stares at the picture, saying nothing. She clears her throat, forcing a faux cough.

  “Don’t you think my wedding gown was stunning? Hutch told me I looked like a regal queen. And that’s what he treated me like on our wedding night. The consummation was wow—just wow. I’ve never experienced anything like that.”

  “I warned you. And I warned Max about what would happen if you came back into his life.” Blair holds up our wedding photo and rips it down the middle into two halves. “This is only a small demonstration of how I’ll tear the two of you apart. Your marriage won’t last long enough for him to bring you roses on your one-month anniversary.”

  “Too late. He brought me a dozen. They were pink, in case you’re wondering.” I giggle. “Pink roses have a special meaning for us. But you probably already know what they mean, considering how much you know about my time at Inamorata.”

  She looks away, shaking her head, and I enjoy the confusion I see etched on her face in the lines on her forehead and around her eyes. I try to imagine what this moment must feel like for her. How she must be trying to sort out in her head how she could have been so stupid. So fooled by both of us.

  “Caitriona Hutcheson. It’s a strong Scottish name, don’t you think?”

  “You should gloat while you can, but let’s be clear about it. It’ll be short-lived.”

  “Go
ahead. Tell me how Hutch will no longer have a job at Lochridge. Tell me how no one in Edinburgh is going to hire a man who married a prostitute. Tell me how humiliated I’ll be when everyone finds out about my former profession. And tell me how I should consider Ava Rose a soon-to-be-distant memory because your family will never let me be in her life.”

  “I don’t have to say it when you just said everything for me.”

  “Nothing you’d like to add to the list?”

  “I think you covered it all. To add anything else on top of that would just be cruel.”

  I chuckle and she looks at me as though I’ve lost my mind. And it’s in that moment that I realize she’s serious. She really doesn’t see what a cruel individual she is.

  I pick up one of the binders and place it on the table in front of her. “We should get on with this because I have a husband waiting for me at home.”

  “What is this supposed to be?”

  “Open to page one and I’ll introduce you to Blair’s-bad-behavior binder.”

  “You are such a waste of my time.”

  “Well, you’re a waste of oxygen. Trust me when I say that I’m happy to skip the courtesy of going over the file with you. Nothing would please me more than to pass along copies to your parents, your sisters, and Doug if that’s how you’d like to play this game. His divorce attorney would have a field day with the shit in this binder.”

  She sighs and opens the folder. “Numbers and dashes. I don’t know what the hell this is supposed to be.”

  “I have friends. Friends you don’t know about. Friends who want to help me and this is how they did it.”

  “This is how they did what?”

  “Hacked your computer. Hacked your email. Hacked your phone and the messages you’ve received and sent.”

  Her eyes widen. “Whaaat? You can’t do that.”

  “No, I certainly can’t but my friends can.” I reach over and place my finger on page one of her folder. “This number is your IP address. Yours. No one else’s. And you were too dumb to change it to a hidden IP address so everything in this folder came from you. Thank you for being stupid and making this so easy for us.”

  She pushes my hand away and glares at page one, softly muttering one profanity and then another.

  “If you’ll turn to page two….”

  She does as I say and I’d almost swear that I can see the color draining from her face.

  “Those are the text messages between you and Mina where you are encouraging her to sign up for a profile on a singles website. You even sent her a link to the one where she’d be able to meet affluential men. And that’s what she eventually did, which was only the beginning of your plan.”

  I reach over and turn the page for her. “Page six is where things really begin to get interesting—and disturbing—because these are pages and pages and pages of messages that were exchanged between Mina and her lover, Roman Kirk. But it wasn’t he who was sending these romantic and often kinky messages to her. It was you.”

  Blair flips through the binder, scanning each page.

  “You were catphishing your own sister with a phony profile. What kind of person does something like that?”

  Although I’ve seen the proof and know it to be the truth, I almost want her to deny it. I don’t know why but I want her to try to convince me she’s a better person than this. Because there’s something so damn discouraging about knowing that there are people like her in the world, people who care so little about hurting others.

  “You established an online romance between Mina and an imaginary lover and then paid a complete stranger, the man you used for creating the fake profile, to go out with her and form a fake relationship. You paid him to have sex with your sister. You paid him to make her believe he loved her. And you didn’t do it because you thought it would make her happy. You did it because you wanted her husband for yourself.”

  She’s silent, staring at the binder.

  “You don’t have anything to say about what you did to your sister?”

  “What do you want me to say? You already know everything that happened.”

  “Your sister made a baby with this man. She loved him and everything between them was a lie you created. Don’t you feel any kind of remorse for that?”

  Nothing. No response.

  “Mina told him she was pregnant and he confessed everything to her. She knew what you did.”

  “Who told you that?”

  “Roman Kirk.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “I recorded my meeting with him. I can send you a copy if you’d like to watch it. Or I can email it to Thomas, Lundy, Beth, Elsie, and Doug and you can have family movie night. I’m sure they’d love to discuss it with you.”

  “I paid him to stay quiet,” she whispers, I think maybe telling herself.

  “You think your chump change was enough to keep him quiet when I waved big money in front of him? Honey, you should have worked out some kind of contingency plan if you wanted him to keep his mouth shut.”

  “What did he tell Mina?”

  “Everything. She knew what you’d done to her.”

  For the first time, I think I see some kind of remorse on her face. “Oh my God.”

  “She was devastated when she left Roman’s flat that night. That was the same night that she got into the accident that killed her. Her last thoughts before she died were of the way you betrayed her.”

  Blair places her hands over her ears. “Stop.”

  “She was devastated and distracted as she drove.”

  She shakes her head violently. “Don’t say it.”

  “Some people might make the claim that ultimately you are the reason she was distracted that night. The reason she had the accident. The reason she died. And they wouldn’t be wrong.”

  “Stop, please. I can’t take this.”

  “What you’ve done is vile and unforgivable. I wonder what your mum and dad would say if they knew what you did to their daughter. What would your sisters say?”

  “You can’t tell them. They would hate me. My dad would disown me.”

  And there it is—the desperation I needed and wanted to see in Blair. She’s tangled in my web.

  “You stand to lose everything if I show this binder to your family and husband. I’m going to need you to convince me why I should keep all of these vile secrets to myself.”

  “I will give you a hundred thousand pounds.”

  She thinks she can buy my silence with money? “Don’t insult me.”

  “What do you want?”

  “You’ll stop using Ava Rose’s paternity as leverage against Hutch and me. No more threats. No more blackmail.”

  “I won’t tell anyone about Ava Rose’s paternity if you keep my secret.”

  “Damn right you won’t tell anyone, but that isn’t all I want from you. You’re going to convince your family that Hutch and I belong together. You’re going to do whatever it takes to make your father allow him to leave the firm on good terms. And you’re going to convince them that I am a wonderful stepmother for Ava Rose. So wonderful that my adopting her as my daughter would be a wonderful and healthy thing for her.”

  “Do you have any idea what you’re asking of me?”

  “I certainly do and I don’t give a damn how you make it happen as long as it happens.”

  She stares at me blankly, saying nothing.

  My head moves up and down. “Nod and tell me you understand and will fulfill my demands or this binder of bad behavior will land on your father’s desk first thing in the morning.”

  “I understand and I’ll make it happen,” she says through clenched teeth.

  “Agree to all of my terms.”

  “I agree to all of your terms.”

  “Tell anyone about Ava Rose’s paternity or show up at our house unannounced again and I will bury you in a mountain of shit so deep you’ll never see the light of day again.” I lean closer and lower my voice. “You think you know me and
what I’m about, but you don’t. You have no idea what I’m capable of, princess. Fuck with me again and you’ll find yourself in a very small rectangular dirt room. Do we have an understanding?”

  “Yes.”

  “Never contact Roman Kirk again. He has no idea that Ava Rose exists. If that changes, I’ll know it was you who told him. To drag that man into her life would be a terrible disservice to her.”

  “We agree on that much.”

  “We better agree on more than that.”

  “This must be very satisfying for you.”

  “Honey, the real satisfaction is waiting at home for me.” I get up and toss the other binder in front of her. “Please know that if anything should happen to me, I have multiple copies of these and the video. Both are in place to be sent to your family and the authorities.”

  I pick up my whisky and toss back the last of it. “Calvin is my driver so find your own fucking way home.”

  66

  Maxwell Hutcheson

  Brady leans close to me and lowers his voice. “Your wife just walked in.”

  What? Did he just say that my wife is here? “Come again, mate?”

  “Cait. She just walked into this bar.”

  It’s late. Why is she here instead of home?

  I’m at this bar tonight to watch the Super Bowl with my Lochridge colleagues. She knows this, so something must have happened. I can’t think of another reason that she’d come here.

  I twist on my barstool and look at the entrance, my eyes meeting Lou’s. When she smiles, I see that all is well and my fears instantly melt away.

  “Dammmn. Would you look at what just walked in here?” one of my colleagues says as Lou walks past us, his eyes glued to her bum. “That is one fit lass.”

  She walks past me to the hallway where the toilets are, and I interpret that as my cue to follow.

  “She didn’t randomly show up here. I need to see what’s going on.”

  Brady reaches over and grabs my beer, claiming it as his own. “You’ll probably be a while. I’ll take care of this for you.”

  “Fine but you’re buying the next round.”