First to Lie: An Enemies to Lovers Romance (Unraveled Book 1)

by Marie Johnston

  Not a good idea to step into his intimate domain. “Your Batcave is aboveground.”

  He chuckled. Holding an arm to the left where the epic screen took up the whole wall, he indicated the plush leather furniture. My ballet flats clicked softly on the tiled floor.

  “Oh, wait, your coat.” Wes looked around at a loss. “I don’t keep the staff around on the weekend.”

  He has people. For his house. He probably has no idea where to put a coat, plus his gift was in the pocket. “I can just hang onto it.”

  I shrugged it off and hugged it to me. The depth of the couch prevented me from getting comfortable.

  He chose the oversize recliner adjacent to me. “I’m glad you came.”

  “You might not be after we talk.” Just say it. No, I had to lay the groundwork. “When Sam and I first started discussing more than our love of superheroes and sci-fi, naturally we talked about family.”

  Wes’s face turned to stone.

  “First, I don’t care if you believe me, there was nothing sexual between us. Second, he loved you. So much.”

  “Then why…”

  “Yeah, I’m getting to that. But third,” I smiled sheepishly, “I want to make it clear, he never said it in plain words, just beat around the bush—”

  “Like you’re doing?”

  I released a nervous laugh, but Wes didn’t crack a smile. “I think what caused the distance between you two is that he found out—”

  “Wesley!” a woman’s voice called from the direction of the kitchen. “Why did I have to hear from Claudine, who read her husband’s emails, that some greedy whore was suing Sam’s company?”

  Oh. God. My mouth dropped open. Wes briefly closed his eyes as if he couldn’t believe the bad timing.

  A petite woman I would guess was in her early fifties strode in, her heels click-clacking on the floor. The striking brunette subtly resembled Wes, her identity unmistakable.

  “Oh, hello.” She stopped and within two seconds, she’d evaluated me.

  I touched my forehead, certain a sticker that read “greedy whore” was stuck there.

  “It’s been taken care of,” Wes said in an even voice.

  “Good. And what was the mess with the city? You didn’t tell me that, either. I swear, Wesley, you leave out all the good stuff.”

  “The city business has been taken care of as well.”

  This was the Wes I’d dealt with on the plane. I’d thought he was the real Wes, but it wasn’t true. This Wes dealt with the unhappy parts of his life.

  “Aren’t you going to introduce us?” Jennifer Robson eyed me like a snake ready to dislocate its jaw and devour prey.

  Overprotective of her son or overprotective of his assets?

  “Mara, this is my mother, Jennifer.” Flat tone and he stayed sitting.

  I smiled and stood. I crossed over to the woman who was a couple inches shorter and stuck out my hand. “Nice to meet you.”

  Jennifer gave a limp shake, but her gaze could cut steel. “Mara? As in Mara Baranski? Are you the one who caused the trouble?”

  Wes shot up. “Mother!”

  “In fact, I am.” My coat became my shield against Sam’s angry ex-wife. “But as Wes said, it’s been taken care of.”

  Jennifer wasn’t going to let it go. “Why the hell would you think that being in Sam’s bed gives you the right to his fortune?”

  Hypocritical much?

  Jennifer squared off with her and poked her finger in my face. “Are you after Wesley now because Sam didn’t work out?”

  The day officially sucked.

  “Back off, Mom. She came to talk to me about Sam.”

  “That’s how women like that work,” Jennifer hissed.

  Wes threw his hands up. “She can be designing a custom prenup for all I care. I want some answers about why Sam cut me off after the divorce.”

  Jennifer drew back, her expression shuttered. “I thought we talked about how it’s Sam’s issue, not yours.”

  “I think you should tell him, Ms. Robson.” My voice shook.

  If I was wrong, I’d hurt someone who’d become very important to me. If I was right, Wes’s world was going to get turned upside down.

  Wes swung to his mom. “Tell me what?”

  His mom brushed invisible dust off her couture jacket. “She’s after your money.”

  “Mara.” He towered over both of us, his expression hard.

  Even on the plane, he hadn’t been as close to combusting as he was now.

  “Remember, I said he didn’t come out and say—”

  “Just tell me.”

  Jennifer stepped closer to her son. “She lies—”

  “Quiet, Mother.”

  I clutched the coat tighter. “He said once he wished he hadn’t walked away from you for so many reasons. Mainly because he’d ruined his only chance to be a dad. I don’t—I got the impression he couldn’t have kids.”

  I sucked in a breath and waited for Wes to figure it out. Sam had mentioned other things that had led me to the same conclusion, but with Wes’s cunning and his mom’s choked expression, he’d put the pieces together.

  Jennifer’s chest heaved and she watched Wes with wide eyes.

  “Mom?” His strangled word cut me deep, but I stayed planted in my spot, instinctively knowing he would shun my comfort.

  “She’s lying.” Spoken with much less conviction.

  “I never felt it was my place to say anything and I haven’t told anyone my suspicions,” I said. “I’m sorry, Wes.”

  “Why’d you come today?” he snarled.

  His rage was understandable.

  “Because you wanted to know why Sam and I got along so well. He felt like he’d lost you and I never had a dad.”

  “So you were the kid he never had?” Wes roared. “You were good enough, but he’d raised me and I wasn’t?”

  “I’m sorry, Wes,” I whispered.

  “Wes—” his mom cut in.

  “Get out.”

  His mom put her hand over her heart. “Wesley.”

  “Not you, Mother.” He glared at me, pouring all his anger into his next words. “I think it would’ve been better if you’d been fucking him instead. Getting to him by pretending to be the kid he’d always wanted is fucking low.”

  I recoiled. His words were as good as slapping me.

  “Did it feel good to have the power this time, Mara? You broke up a marriage, why not break up a family?”

  My arms holding the coat hung down as all the tension drained out of me. He was hurting and he had a right to. But I didn’t deserve his insults or his derision. Didn’t need to be showed that no matter what, he’d always see me as the greedy whore.

  Wes

  Every muscle strained to go after Mara. The hurt in her eyes.

  “Talk.”

  “I never…you weren’t supposed to find out.” I’d never seen my mother so subdued.

  My dark hair came from her. Her eyes were more hazel than blue, but they looked enough alike that I’d never questioned how different I was from Sam.

  “Were you protecting me, or yourself?”

  “Wesley…” She blinked back tears. Real ones.

  It struck me that this was the most real moment between the two of us we’d ever had.

  “He was gone so much.” With a hand at her temple, she walked to the couch Mara had just been sitting on.

  Out the window, Mara’s car sped up my driveway.

  “He moved me here.” She gave a bitter laugh. “Took me away from my family, away from nice weather, and plopped me here and then was never home. I loved him. I really did. But I was lonely.” She shrugged, her small smile was so sad but shockingly genuine.

  “Who was he?”

  “I’ll give you his name, but he’s married now, with other children.”

  Another father who wanted nothing to do with me. “Who was he?”

  “Landscaper. Cliché, right? Rich wife and the gardener.”

  “W
as he married, too?”

  “No. At least I did that right. Honestly, I didn’t know Sam wasn’t your biological father until you got older and you looked like…him.”

  I collapsed in the chair, gazing up at the ceiling. “Did you bring it up in the divorce to hurt Sam?”

  Her laughter was void of humor. “I’m not that shallow. Despite what you might think. He insisted on a paternity test. I asked him why it mattered, but he had to know.” She examined her fingernails, true regret etched into the fine lines on her face. “I took you in, told you it was a throat swab for strep. They were collecting the sample. I’d already told Sam I’d been cheating on him for most of our marriage, it was just confirmation. Years later, I guess he’d discovered he was infertile.”

  “You can leave now.” I had no compunction to move. I could stare at the ceiling all day, pondering the chess pieces of my life.

  “Wesley.”

  “Go, Mother.”

  She rose to her feet and her heels snapped a slow rhythm as she left the way she came.

  Minutes—hell, hours had ticked by when I sat forward with a huff. I pressed my palms to my eyes, then looked around at the house. I didn’t like this house, had searched for one like I’d grown up in, had thought maybe Sam would come for visits.

  A glint caught my attention. Something lay on the floor between the couch and the glass end table.

  I hated the furniture, too.

  Retrieving the object, the emptiness within me filled with remorse. Guilt. Sadness. Loss.

  The small package I held was a Wesley Crusher action figure.

  Chapter 22

  Mara

  “Cards are more fun with more than two people.”

  I laid my hand down. Mom had a point and I should tell her.

  After the debacle at Wes’s house, I’d been too numb to cry. I’d spent the rest of the day sorting through the leftover stock and uploading it online to sell. The funds would help me buy a new business wardrobe. If I was hired.

  “I’m not seeing Sam anymore. Actually, Mom, can I tell you a story?”

  Everything poured out. I started as far back as Dr. Johannsen, editing out the part where anxiety for Mom’s health had distracted me. Then came Sam, the mall, Wes as Sam, Wes as Wes, and Sam as not Wes’s biological dad.

  Not one tear shed.

  Mom’s face tinted several shades throughout the tale. “Wow. Mara. I wish I could’ve helped.”

  “I didn’t want to worry you.”

  The deep sigh of disappointment tore me apart. Not burdening Mom only gave her the impression that she couldn’t even carry out the basic motherly duty of listening.

  “I understand, but Mara…”

  My phone buzzed. Absentmindedly, I glanced at my screen.

  Wha—

  I didn’t cover my incredulous expression in time.

  “What’s wrong?” Mom asked.

  “It’s Wes.”

  “And it was Wes, who went by Sam, that treated you so horribly yesterday?” Mom’s tone was carefully neutral.

  “Yes.”

  My phone kept ringing.

  “You’re going to ignore him?”

  We waited until my phone quit. Then it started again. With shaky hands, I shut my phone completely off.

  “Are you going to be okay, Mara?” Mom’s soft voice broke down the last barrier I had built.

  “No, Mom.” Tears welled and rolled down my cheeks. “I let him break my heart.”

  Wes

  I strolled past giant brick buildings. A clash of old-style and modern gave the campus a rich appearance that spoke of its history and the promise of its future. Men and women meandered by, not a care in the world, talking excitedly about weekend plans. When had they started looking so young? My university years felt like ages ago.

  Women, girls really, smiled at me. I paid them no attention. Only one reason brought me to Mara’s almost alma mater.

  I’d done my research, met with both Franklin, who knew my father’s history with the school, and Helen, who’d taken what Mara had gone through personally. Between the three of them, they’d come up with a plan. Franklin had arranged the meeting and I had gone in search of the special guest. We’d waited until Friday afternoon after Helen had checked that Dr. Johannsen’s last class of the day ended at three forty-five. I worried it’d be a freak call-in-sick occurrence but Dr. Johannsen was dedicated to his students, in so many ways.

  I found the correct building and couldn’t help but smile at the name etched into the plaque at the door. I located the classroom with no trouble as all the students filed out. I gave it a couple of minutes while stragglers exited and was about to turn inside when I heard a giggle. A couple strode out.

  It was him. Average height, not bad looking, with sandy blond hair, ol’ Jake would turn heads. Probably not enough for his taste, which was perhaps why he’d chosen a profession that gave him access to and power over vulnerable young women.

  The girl, obviously a student, had a look of awe as she walked with Dr. Johannsen down the wide hallway. Most of the classrooms were empty. I tracked them to a pod of offices that occupied the end of the hallway.

  Dr. Johannsen had his hand on the door handle when I flagged him down.

  “Excuse me, Jake. We need to talk.”

  Jake narrowed his eyes in irritation. The girl viewed me with open interest, her doe eyes guileless and her clothes and hair overdone.

  “I’m sorry,” even Jake’s voice was average, “I have a meeting with a student.”

  I smiled, my boardroom grin that told everyone I wasn’t fucking around. “What a coincidence. It’s your meeting with students I want to talk about. I’m a friend of Mara’s.”

  Jake’s eyes flared and he dropped his hand off the doorknob. He touched the girl on the elbow. “I’m sorry. We’ll have to meet next week instead.”

  “No. You won’t.” My gaze stayed on Jake. “A word of advice. This guy is a sexual predator and he doesn’t care about your education as much as what’s between your legs.”

  She gasped and backed away, giving me a wide berth, then scurried off.

  A flush of red crept up Jake’s pasty white face. “You need to leave or I’ll call campus security.”

  “No problem. We can talk out here while waiting for them.”

  Jake swore and shoved the door open. He slammed it behind me.

  “What’s Mara after now? She ruined my marriage and almost cost me my job.”

  I got comfy on a beat-up couch and tried not to think about the bodily fluids that stained it. “That’s what I’d like to discuss. Why did it cost her the degree but you’re still here working?”

  “I was young and stupid and they understood that. I lost my wife.”

  “I’ll let you in on a little secret. Wives don’t like it when you fuck other women. It wasn’t Mara’s fault.”

  Jake sputtered.

  “I have a task for you.” I continued like I was telling Franklin what I wanted to get done for the week. “What you’re going to do is approach the administration. You’re going to tell them that you sabotaged Mara’s grade because you knew how desperate she was. Then you’ll tell them how you abused your position to take advantage of her. And here’s what I expect. A diploma awarding her the business degree she rightfully earned.”

  “It’s not going to happen.”

  I sat forward so abruptly, Jake jumped back. “It is and here’s why. Otherwise, I will arrange for a personal audit to comb through your career, every student you’ve been responsible for, and I can guarantee they’ll find patterns. Girls whose grades were too low to pass suddenly pulling through. Then we’re going to find those girls and we’re going to offer them the chance to press charges. I’ll pay for their representation.”

  Jake clenched his teeth and balled his fists. “You’re bluffing.”

  “I don’t know if you’ve heard of me, but my name is Wesley Robson.” I paused and watched the color drain from Jake’s already pale face.
Jake might not have heard of me, but he knew the last name. “Since we’re sitting in Robson Hall, the building funded by my dad’s generous contributions to furthering the business education of students, I’m going to guess you know that I’m not bluffing. I want this done today.”

  Jake almost looked relieved. “Not possible.”

  “Because it’s Friday afternoon? It’s very much possible. I’ve arranged it and they’re waiting for you. I’ll walk you there.” I grinned.

  Chapter 23

  Mara

  It’d been two weeks since Wes had tried to call me.

  I didn’t get out of my car. My head rested on the steering wheel. I killed the engine but stayed in the car.

  No job offers. The damn cream-colored suit I wore was on its third dry-cleaning. Maybe it was my unlucky charm.

  I was only three weeks out of work with several interviews, but maybe I was rushing the process. Maybe the process didn’t like a girl with nothing beyond a high school diploma. Hindsight, donkey’s ass. I should’ve transferred to an online college and finished my degree.

  Or maybe it was what I needed to email Chris. His proposal was solid and I’d need to come up with some capital, but not nearly as much as going into the venture on my own.

  I could partner with Chris. I wasn’t going to let men like Jake and Wes tarnish my view for the rest of my life. Wasn’t going to lose myself in this stupid job search, where I was trading everything I was passionate about for dry-clean only and rush hour.

  I’d constructed my reply. Digging out my phone, I pulled up the draft in my email app and sent it.

  Boom. Done. Time to get out of the car and face my new world.

  Freezing rain pelted the window. Snow was forecasted. Good thing I’d gotten groceries. No interviews the next day and I had Netflix. I was ready to get snowed in while everyone forgot how to drive on slick streets for a few days.

  Someone tapped on my window. I yelped and flung back in the seat.

  I registered my door opening and my mind reeled through how to react. Start the engine and drive away. Yank the door shut and punch the locks. Lash out.