“I’m sorry,” Lillian said, her voice soft. “If I hadn’t left, you never would have met him. That’s my fault, too.”
“You were doing what you thought was right. I don’t blame you for this.”
“Well, I do. And he will, too, if he ever finds out.”
“No,” she whispered. “He’d hate me, not you, if he ever learned the truth.”
Lillian took her hand. “You might have lied about your name, but you can’t hide the person you are, and that’s who he fell for.”
“But he didn’t,” she whispered. “He didn’t fall for me. If I hadn’t had the right last name, he never would have looked at me twice. The time we spent together, the things we shared, was because he thought I was you.”
“I can’t believe that’s true.”
“But it is,” she said. “Look at the way he is with you. He doesn’t recognize me. If what we had was real, don’t you think he would have noticed we’re different people?”
“We are identical, and you were pretending to be me.”
“No,” she denied, knowing in her heart the excuse was flimsy. “If he loved me, he’d know me.”
She’d always believed that one truth.
Someday, somehow, I’ll meet a man who can love me for me.
That was it. There was no other argument. And the fact that he gave her bland smiles when they passed in the hall only further underscored that reality.
“You know the worst part?” she said. “I never got to say goodbye. I can’t even remember our last kiss because I didn’t realize we were heading for the end. I never got any closure.”
Lillian reached out to grip her hands. “That might be something we can fix.”
“What?”
“Listen. I have a plan to get you the goodbye you deserve.”
…
Holly walked the length of the porch and back. She was once again dressed in Lillian’s clothes with her hair perfectly curled. The contacts were in place, the sparkly ring back on her finger, and once more she’d transformed into a perfect copy of her sister.
She paced nervously. Lillian, ironically playing Holly for the evening, was inside. In a few minutes, she’d send Julian out for a chat with his betrothed. And this time, it would be their last real conversation.
Make it count. Enjoy this last chance with him.
Because when it was over, they’d never switch places again. She’d never be able to speak to Julian about the past they shared. Never have the right to touch him the way she’d always taken for granted.
This will break my heart.
But just this once, the pain would be worth it.
Julian might be happy sailing off into the sunset with anyone, but she needed a real ending.
The moon was bright overhead, making the dark water glitter as the waves rolled toward shore. She’d always loved this house. There was a peace here that was impossible to find in the city.
In a few minutes, that will all be over.
All this house would hold then were painful memories of the life that might have been hers if only she’d been born four minutes earlier.
The door squeaked behind her as it opened, sending a shiver down her spine.
“Lillian,” Julian said as he stepped out into the night with her.
Taking a deep breath, she turned.
“Hi,” she said.
He stood in the shadow of the porch for a long moment. So long she wondered if he’d turn and walk away. But then he moved, sliding closer to her as his long strides ate up the porch.
“What are you doing out here?” His words were soft.
“I needed a moment to think,” she replied, leaning back against the post.
“About what?”
He stopped close enough to touch if she dared. Quelling the urge, she played with her necklace to give her fingers something to do. “Life. The tiniest detail can completely change your fate.”
“I’ve never believed in fate.”
She smiled. “That’s because you make your own. Not all of us are so lucky.”
He was silent before saying, “You sound sad.”
To my soul.
Part of her wanted to rail at him. To demand he see who she really was.
How dare you experience what we had and not even notice who you shared it with.
But a lifetime of being tossed to the side stopped those words. They wouldn’t do any good. Nothing was going to change. She knew that better than anyone.
So why waste these last moments giving voice to anger he wouldn’t understand? She’d rather get closure if she could.
Turning to face him, she lifted one hand to touch his face in the lightest of touches. “What woman could be sad when she’s marrying you?” she whispered.
He caught her hand when she moved to take it back.
“Do you?” he asked. “Do you want to marry me?”
She swallowed, her heart shattering. “Yes,” she said, finally having a real answer for him. He deserved that much, at least, even if the rest of their broken relationship was littered with lies.
His face was shadowed but even so, those eyes that practically burned as they watched her.
He sees me.
But only when she was dressed as someone else.
“You’ve been different lately,” he said.
Her breath caught at the words. Had he really noticed something had changed? Did he recognize her in some small way? Her battered heart clung to that tiny piece of hope that maybe, just maybe, she’d made a mark on him the way he had on her.
“Wedding jitters,” she said. “Our lives are about to change.”
“And after the wedding? Will things be back to normal?”
She stepped away from him, turning around. “Of course,” she promised. “You’ll go back to running your business, and I’ll settle into our new life. We’ll move away from my father and have a happy life together.”
As much as it broke her heart, she wished that future would come true. Lillian deserved to be happy, and she knew firsthand how good Julian would be at that.
There was a pause before he said, “Won’t you miss being near your sister?”
Her face twisted in a grimace she was glad he couldn’t see. “No. She’s leaving,” she said.
“What?” The word was sharp.
“After the wedding. Holly will go far, far away. I doubt we’ll see her often.” It was the best outcome for all of them.
A porch board squeaked as he moved up behind her. “Why would she do that?” he whispered into her ear.
She closed her eyes, leaning back against him. “I think she’s tired of always living on the sidelines. It’s time she got away from our father and had a life of her own.” She turned her head to look up at him. “We can help her do that, can’t we?”
His face was expressionless as he studied her. “Why would she need our help? She’s an adult, after all.”
She laughed, gazing back to the beach. “I’m the lucky one, not her. Our grandmother set up her will to give me my freedom from our father but she never considered our mother might have twins. Holly has nothing. No inheritance. No freedom. Our father controls every aspect of her life, and I want to help save her.”
His arms wrapped around her. “I didn’t know that.”
She smiled. “Why would you care? It doesn’t matter.”
“It must matter to her.”
Always.
Second born. Second place.
Especially to Julian.
She swallowed past the lump in her throat. “That’s why we’ll help her. All she needs is a plane ticket somewhere John can’t find her, and she’ll take care of the rest. She’ll start a new life where no one knows her.”
“Do you think she’ll be happy?” he whispered in her ear. “The way we are?”
Her throat closed. “No,” she breathed. “I don’t think she will ever find what we have.”
His arms tightened on her. “Okay,” he said. “If she wa
nts to leave, we’ll help her go. But I think it’s a mistake to run from your problems.”
A wry chuckle escaped her. “You have no idea.”
He shifted behind her, releasing her from the light hold she’d been enjoying. “Come with me,” he said, moving to the steps.
“Where?”
“Down to the water. I want to soak in this time with you.”
So do I.
Even if he didn’t love her. Tonight, wasn’t about regrets. It was about goodbyes. She had to memorize every moment to get her through the cold, lonely future that awaited her.
“Yes,” she said, slipping her hand into his.
If all they had was one more evening, then she’d better make enough memories to last a lifetime.
…
Julian led his fiancée toward the moonlit beach. If he’d had any doubt about who he was talking to, it had evaporated the second she’d started playing with that damned necklace of hers.
They switched again.
But why? Why was Holly dressed as Lillian? And why was she talking about leaving?
Something inside him rebelled against the idea of never seeing her again. Whatever was going on, something was very wrong in this family. And his Holly was caught in the middle of it.
No inheritance.
Was that why she’d pretended to be someone else? The inheritance didn’t matter to him. It wasn’t like he ever needed it. Lillian’s appeal had always been her bloodline, not her bank account. No, the absence of a few million didn’t bother him as much as what the reality of that must have done to her life.
The shyness, the hesitations, the way she seemed a step out of time with her world, it all made sense now.
She was trapped.
The way he used to be in his life.
The anger still pulsed within him, but the notion of confronting her was becoming less appealing. If he did, everything would end. And now that he had her again, he didn’t want that to happen.
Leave it for tomorrow. There’s time to have that fight later.
He glanced back at her and was rewarded with the bright, open smile he’d been missing. The sisters might be identical but how could anyone think Lillian was the stunning one? Couldn’t they see Holly was superior in every way? She was gorgeous inside and out. Caring in a way her sister wasn’t. Thoughtful and kind to all. The curious moments of their relationship he’d always found incongruous about Lillian made perfect sense now. She’d been trying to be someone she wasn’t.
She’d had no way to know her natural self was far more attractive to him than her Lillian pretense.
They kicked off their shoes and stepped off the wooden path that led from the house to the beach. Holly sighed happily as her toes sank into the sand.
“I loved to come here as a kid,” she said as they strolled toward the water’s edge. “My sister and I would play down here for hours. It was like our own little world.”
“You love your sister a lot, don’t you?”
She glanced at him. “All we ever had was each other. She spent her whole life trying to protect me.”
“Really?” he asked. “Isn’t Holly the shy one?”
The woman by his side stiffened before her gaze slid away from his. “You’re right, of course,” she said, her voice flattening as she lied. “Holly always seemed to attract our father’s anger.”
“Which you escaped?”
She shrugged. “No one wants to mess with the Abbott heir.”
He frowned. “Was that so important?”
Holly snorted. “Of course. Who would want the younger, penniless twin when they could have—” She stopped talking, no doubt realizing what she’d been about to say.
“When they could have you,” he supplied because she couldn’t.
“Exactly.” But she wouldn’t look at him.
“Sounds like Holly got the short end of the stick.”
She looked at him then, but there was no joy in her eyes. Still, she forced a smile as she gazed up at him. “Maybe life will balance out. Perhaps her happy ending is still out there somewhere.”
“Do you believe that?”
She cupped his face with a hand, her eyes gentling in a way that made his breath hitch.
“I think,” she said, “that Holly’s life isn’t as sad as you believe. She once had someone who was very special to her. Surely a life that includes an adventure like that isn’t a lost cause.”
He froze, his heart galloping in his chest.
Does she mean me?
There was a faraway look in her eyes, as if she was remembering a better time.
Or making a memory of this one?
“She’ll be fine,” she whispered. “And so will you. There is no doubt in my mind that you’ll achieve everything you’ve ever wanted. With the right wife, and the right company, the world will be yours.”
Except she doesn’t think she’s the right wife.
How wrong she was.
“I can’t wait to see what you build,” she said. “I’ll always cheer you on.”
From the other side of the world or wherever it is she runs to?
Unacceptable.
He’d waited a lifetime to find someone he could care about. That he could be himself with. He hadn’t even been looking for her, but now that they’d found each other, there was no way he could lose her.
His hands lifted to her waist as he pulled her closer. His anger reduced to a slow simmer. It didn’t matter why she’d tricked him. All the mattered was that he’d found her. If the twins had never switched places, he never would have met Holly. He’d have married her sister before he’d known what a mistake that would be.
But now, despite the lies, he’d gotten to meet the right woman. The one he wanted to be with for the rest of his life.
This isn’t about the company anymore.
He wasn’t pursuing her for business reasons or to increase his net worth. He just simply…needed her. Holly. The quiet sister who’d stolen his heart when he wasn’t looking.
Her hands slid up his chest to rest lightly on his shoulders.
“I think you’ll make a wonderful husband,” she whispered to him.
“Few others would agree with that.”
“Doesn’t matter,” she said. “I’m right.”
He chuckled. “I think I’ll be a difficult husband. But for you, I’ll try to be everything you deserve.”
Her smile slipped away. “Any woman would be happy with that.”
His hands tightened on her. “Only you,” he said. “You’re the only one I want. I need you in my life.”
She glanced down. “I’m not so special.”
“You are to me.”
Her eyes rose back to his at the words, and the pain in them nearly brought him to his knees.
She cupped his face, pressing a kiss to his cheek.
“For what it’s worth,” she whispered, the words so soft he almost missed them, “for the rest of my life, I’ll count myself lucky to have met you.”
The words sent a tremor through him.
Who thinks this woman is small and powerless?
She routinely turned his world upside down with a handful of words.
“The engagement wasn’t a mistake?” he asked.
A bitter smile twisted her lips. “You weren’t a mistake,” she amended for him.
The distinction lightened something in his chest. Their lives were too complicated, but with all the schemes and lies, the only thing he could be sure of was his feelings for Holly. And now, it seemed, she was right there with him.
He wanted to tell her that no matter what came next, he didn’t view what they had as a mistake, either. Maybe things had happened exactly as they were meant to. He’d chased after the wrong woman, and fate had steered him to the right one.
Was he really going to throw such a gift away when he knew firsthand how hard it was to find people worth caring about?
Running his fingers through his hair, he made a decision. He
might not be able to articulate his feelings, but he could sure as hell demonstrate them.
His lips crashed down on hers, holding her tight in case she slipped away from him yet again.
He could almost taste her hesitation before she melted into his arms. A soft sigh escaped her.
Yes.
This was what he’d missed. The perfect way she fit against him.
Waves crashed around him as he kissed her. Finding one woman he wanted above all others had always seemed like a useless dream. One person who could complete him in a way he hadn’t even realized he needed. But just being near Holly did all of that. When she touched him, the invisible force that always pushed him to want more, one more deal, one more million, fell away. The need to prove himself disappeared. Because when she was in his arms, there was nothing else he needed.
For a man who hadn’t stopped fighting since he was a child, the peace Holly brought was worth every dollar in his bank account.
“Don’t leave me,” he whispered into her hair, holding her close.
“If it were up to me,” she said back, her voice equally soft, “I’d go anywhere with you.”
It is up to you. I’ll figure out what’s happening here, and I’ll make it right. I promise.
He gritted his teeth, wishing he could say the words aloud. But more was at stake here than just Holly using the wrong name. Something nefarious was happening, and his business was caught in the middle of it. He owed it to his shareholders, to his employees, to put their well-being ahead of his own. If the twins needed this deception to continue, then he needed to figure out why without tipping anyone off.
His friends were already on it. He’d gone over all the research from their due diligence on this merger and flagged everything that seemed even remotely out of place. Hopefully, that would give his team a place to start. John clearly wanted this marriage, and he wanted it to be with Lillian. Why? What was he missing about this company?
This family?
“We shouldn’t do this,” Holly said, her arms still wound around him.
“We absolutely should,” he replied. “Tonight, just think about me.”
That won a laugh from her. “That won’t be difficult.”
“Why, thank you, sweetheart.”
The smile slipped from her face as she stared up at him with luminous eyes.
Betraying the Billionaire (Abbott Sisters) Page 15
