by J. S. Cooper
“You knew this?” I looked at Jakob with hurt eyes, but he didn’t respond. “So there is no Mattias?” I looked at David. “So all this time, all those days you said you were asking him to join us for dinner, you were lying.”
“What do you think?” David sneered. “Didn’t you ever think it was weird that there were no photos of Mattias and no one had ever met him and that he didn’t even go to his own company’s shareholder meeting?”
“I just don’t understand. It says he’s the CEO on the company website. Your father’s bio says he has two sons, Mattias and David Bradley.”
“I did have a brother.” David shrugged. “He died when he was a baby, but his name wasn’t Mattias. Mattias was a name that Larry came up with, actually.” David laughed.
“Larry?” I frowned. “Larry knew there was no Mattias?”
“I should think so. He’s the one who did all the legal paperwork for the corporation. He’s the one who took care of everything.”
“Why?”
“My father thought it would be easier on me if people thought there was someone else in charge of the corporation.” David looked cynical. “And it’s true. People don’t bother me as much. I don’t have gold diggers and other leeches chasing me down so much. People think I’m the playboy son, nothing important—and that’s how I like it.”
“You knew?” I turned to Jakob. “You knew there was no Mattias and you didn’t tell me?”
“What could I say?” He pursed his lips, his blue eyes unreadable as he stared at me.
“I don’t even know what to say.” I shook my head, my entire body shaking from the shock. “You deliberately let me believe you were Mattias.”
“You’re the one who assumed I was Mattias. I never said I was.” He shook his head and walked toward me. “You asked me if I was David’s brother and I said yes. I never said my name was Mattias. I never lied to you, Bianca. I tried to tell you that there were things you didn’t know.”
“Don’t be mad at him,” David cut Jakob off. “You can’t believe that a stupid little girl like you can manipulate us? We’re Bradleys, Bianca. You can’t just show up and act like Nancy Drew and not set off our warning signals.”
“Is that why you both threatened Larry?” I looked back and forth at them. “Is that why he’s in hiding? Did he set off your warning bells as well? Were you scared he was going to come clean about everything? And what did you do to Steve? Was that all part of the act as well? Where is he now? Laughing in some hotel room and counting all of the money you paid him?”
“What?” David frowned, his expression changing, and he looked at Jakob. “What’s she talking about? What threats did you send to Larry?”
“I didn’t send anything to Larry.” Jakob blinked and scratched his forehead, his expression changing.
“Larry was on our side.” David frowned. “Larry’s the one behind all of the paperwork. If there’s anyone who wouldn’t want any information to be revealed, it’s Larry. I’d have no reason to threaten him.”
“What about Steve?” Jakob stepped toward his brother. “Why did you tell Steve to go rogue?”
“What are you talking about?” David frowned. “I didn’t even know Steve was going until after you both left. I didn’t tell him to go rogue.”
“It was your idea for me to kidnap Bianca and take her to the island. You’re the one who told me that she was a gold digger like her mother and that she was trying to use you to get her hands on the Bradley money!”
“I just wanted you to warn her away. Give her a little scare.” David pursed his lips. “I didn’t tell Steve to do anything.”
“Who were you speaking to?” I looked at David and poked him in the chest hard. “The last time I saw you before I caught you fucking that whore, who were you on the phone with?”
“What?” He frowned.
“When you were talking about me on the phone with someone, you said that something was too dangerous, but they could go ahead. Who were you talking to? I always thought it was Mattias. Was it Jakob, then? Or was it Larry? Is that why Larry’s disappeared? Is he scared of you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Bianca.” David shook his head. “I don’t remember that conversation. There were many times I pretended to be talking to Mattias because I wanted you to believe that he existed. And I’m telling you once again, I don’t know what’s happened to Larry.”
I looked into David’s eyes and could see he was just as confused as I was. He wasn’t the one who had been threatening Larry. But if not him and not Jakob, then who?
“Why did you send me those letters?” I asked softly. “And why did you leave us letters on the island as well? What did they mean?”
“What letters?” David frowned, and I could tell he didn’t know about them either.
“Jakob?” I turned to him. “Are you the one who left the letters?”
“No.” He clenched his fists. “It wasn’t you and Steve?” He grabbed David’s shirt tight.
“No,” David squeaked out. “I didn’t send any letters and I didn’t send Steve to the island and tell him to listen to me, instead of whatever he had planned with you. I just wanted to scare you, Bianca. I just wanted you to back off. Jakob was taking care of that for me. I don’t know anything else.”
“What do you know about my mother’s death? What do you know about my father’s share in the company? Why did you want me to back off?”
“I didn’t know anything. Larry contacted me and said we might have a problem. He told me he gave you some boxes from your father and then you asked him to get you shares so you could attend the shareholders’ meeting. He warned me that we needed to be careful. Larry is the one that had the most to lose. He’s the one that set everything up.”
“So what the fuck has happened to Larry?” Jakob said in an annoyed tone, and we all just looked at each other, our faces a mix of anger, hatred, suspicion, and worry. I felt as if I’d uncovered a huge secret, but it wasn’t satisfying. All it had done was expose a deeper and scarier void of unknown. We’d all thought that we were the main players in this game, but we were all just puppets. Someone else was pulling the strings, and none of us knew who or why.
ten
Jakob and I left David’s house in silence. I sat in the passenger seat and stared out the window as he drove me home, the tension thick in the air. I could hear my own heart beating as I sat there tensely listening to Jakob’s fingers tapping against the steering wheel.
“You’re not going to say anything?” he said finally, and I could feel his eyes on me.
“What am I supposed to say?”
“Maybe you could tell me why you let David put his—”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I turned to Jakob angrily. “Did it look like I let David do anything?”
“Did you tell him no?”
“Not at first,” I acknowledged. “I thought it was you.”
“How could you—”
“I was blindfolded, Jakob, and the letter was from Mattias. I thought it was just some kinky shit you were into.”
“Did you like it?” he growled.
“Did I like what?” My voice rose.
“When he touched you.”
“I’m not talking about this.” I shook my head. “You’re a fucking asshole to even be asking me this shit. What do you think? I was taken advantage of, Jakob.”
“But it’s not the first time that he—”
“Enough, I’m not talking about this. I’m not going to let you make me feel bad for something where I was the victim.”
“I’m sorry.” He banged his fists against the steering wheel. “I should have gotten there quicker.”
“It’s not your fault.” I sighed. “How did you know I was even there?”
“The driver called me.”
“What?”
“He thought I should know. He had a bad feeling about what was going on. He had a feeling David had fooled you.”
“I see.�
� I looked away, my face feeling warm and angry. “But he didn’t tell me.”
“His loyalty isn’t to you.”
“Obviously not.”
“I’m sorry he did that to you. It kills me to know what he did to you.”
“It kills you for yourself or it kills you for me?”
“I’m just a man, Bianca. I don’t purport to be perfect. I don’t purport to be unselfish. I’ll admit that I’m jealous. I’ll admit that I don’t want another man touching you. And I don’t want you to be in that position again.”
“What are you doing?” I frowned as Jakob drove past my apartment building. “You just passed my building.”
“I know that.”
“I know you know that, stalker.” I glared at him. “Tell me why you drove past it. I want to go home.”
“I’m looking for a parking space.”
“Parking space?” My jaw dropped. “Why? You don’t think I’m going to invite you in, do you?”
“Bianca, we’re not done talking.”
“I’m done talking to you.”
“Bianca, we need to talk. Stop being so obstinate.”
“I’m not being obstinate just because I’m saying you’re not coming into my apartment. There is no way I’m going to let you come in and tell me more lies.”
“I was trying to keep you safe!”
“Safe with lies. Ha.” I laughed bitterly. “Sure you were, and you did a great job. A really great job.”
“I’m sorry I was a jerk.” He pulled over and turned toward me. “I’m sorry.”
“You can’t park here.” I shook my head and looked out the window. “If a cop sees you, you’re going to get a ticket.”
“I don’t care about getting a ticket.” He sighed. “I can’t get you out of my fucking mind.”
“And that’s my fault?”
“I’m not saying it’s your fault. I’m just saying this is confusing.” Jumping out of the car, he hurried over to my side and opened the door.
“What are you doing?” I glared at him. “I told you that you can’t park here.”
“I don’t give a shit. Get out.” He leaned forward and unbuckled my seat belt. “Get out!”
“You’re so bossy.”
“I think that’s what you like.” He smirked as his hand brushed my stomach. He stopped for a second and stared into my eyes. “You need a man to boss you around.”
“Like hell I do.”
“You didn’t seem to mind when we were on the island.”
“That’s because you were providing water and food.”
“And shelter.”
“I wouldn’t consider your body a shelter,” I said smartly, and smiled sweetly.
“Oh, you wouldn’t?” He licked his lips and leaned toward mine. “I definitely found your body to be a shelter. You kept my cock very warm every night.”
I gasped, my face turning red with embarrassment and excitement. “You’re a pig!”
“A pig that wants you to get out of the car.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the car. “Let’s go.”
“I don’t want you in my apartment.”
“I know you’re mad at me, but there is more going on here than we both think.” He sighed and slammed the car door shut. “We need to talk. We need to figure this shit out. I think there is more to this than my stupid brother.”
I tried not to roll my eyes. Had he really just figured that out?
“Look, Steve has disappeared.” He pursed his lips as we walked. “So that’s two people now.”
“Two?”
“You said Larry disappeared as well.”
“Yeah, but I thought you or David had something to do with that.”
“We didn’t.” He shook his head. “It was Larry who told David there might be a troublemaker trying to stir things up.”
“I played right into his hands, didn’t I?” I sighed, embarrassed. I thought I’d been so clever. I’d thought David had had no idea of my charade. Turns out he’d known from the beginning. At the end of the day, it had been David playing me.
“You definitely weren’t Sherlock Holmes.” Jakob sighed. “I’m sorry.”
“So you knew all along?” Embarrassment filled me as I remembered how clever I thought I’d been. Apparently I had fooled no one but myself.
“I knew that you were the daughter of the people that had ruined my parents’ life. That’s what I’d been told from the moment I was old enough to understand that my mother was depressed and sad every day.”
“I’m sorry.” I bit my lower lip. “I don’t even know what to say.”
“You have to understand that my whole life has been about getting justice for my mother. For making her life, her pain, not be in vain. I’ve always wanted the people to pay for making her life a misery.”
“But it wasn’t really a misery, was it?” I said softly.
He stopped and frowned at me. “What do you mean?”
“She had you, right?” I gazed at his handsome and inscrutable face. His eyes were dark and heavy, and for a moment I could see the little boy in him. I could imagine him staring at his mother in confusion and sorrow, wondering why she was always sad. I could imagine the heartache of living with that every day and not being able to do anything about it.
“What do you mean, she had me?”
“She had a wonderful, handsome son. And she loved you, right?”
“She loved me because I was my father’s son.” He shrugged.
“No.” I shook my head. “She loved you in spite of that. She did everything for you. I remember you told me that. She did everything to make sure you succeeded. She loved you more than life itself. You were her reason for living.”
“I wasn’t enough to keep her living, though.”
“What do you mean?”
“It doesn’t matter.” He shook his head. “We have more pressing things to worry about.”
“I wish you would let me in a bit more.” I was sad that he wouldn’t discuss his feelings with me. Yes, I hated him for lying to me and I hated him for being a part of this whole craziness, but a part of me was happy. I was happy that he wasn’t this fictional evil character, Mattias. I was happy that our time on the island was real, at least in part. The feelings he had for me were genuine. I knew now that wasn’t part of his act. It wasn’t enough to make me forget everything that had happened, but he liked me. I shivered just thinking about how I felt when he touched me. I was so screwed.
“I’ve let you in more than anyone else in my life.” His voice was soft. “I’ve trusted you with information and thoughts and feelings that I’ve never trusted anyone with. Even when I thought your parents were part of the problem. Even when I was fighting that urge.”
“You really think my mother slept with your father?”
“I do.” He nodded.
“And why would that make my father bad?”
“Your father was the one who convinced my father not to be with my mother, and then your mother slept with my dad. So, yeah, it hurt your father as well, but he got what was coming to him.”
“It wasn’t my mother in the photo you sent me, you know.” I touched his shoulder softly. “My phone died so I couldn’t text you back, but that wasn’t her.”
“Are you sure?” He frowned, his eyes narrowed. “I was told that it was your mother.”
“Who told you that?”
“Larry.” Jakob clenched his fists. “Then he lied.”
“Why would he lie about that?” I rubbed my forehead. “He was good friends with my father. Why would he lie? It doesn’t make sense.”
“Oh, Bianca, how did we get to this place? The only thing I’m sure of right now is the burning passion I have for you. I crave you like a drug, Bianca. A drug I know is bad for me, but one I can’t stop myself from wanting and needing.” He gripped my shoulders and pulled me to him.
“We’re a mess, aren’t we?” I sighed and stared up into his eyes, feeling close to tears. “I feel numb, Ja
kob. A part of me feels so numb inside. I don’t even know what to think or feel anymore.”
“Let me be your warmth and strength, Bianca. Let me help to make you whole.” He gripped my shoulders. “This is bigger than both of us. There are things we—”
“Jakob,” I hissed at him, cutting him off. “Don’t turn around yet, but I want you to look at the beggar lady across the street.” I stared at her with her big Gucci sunglasses and old, shabby clothes. She was sitting almost directly across from us and she appeared to be staring in our direction. I studied her face as she smiled and thanked someone for giving her some money. My heart started racing as I saw the big, deep dimple in her right cheek. “Look at her face carefully,” I hissed at him, my words coming out fast.
“What am I looking for?” He frowned and I shook my head and stepped back. He turned around slowly and looked at the lady. She was looking away from us now, but I knew what I’d seen.
“Let’s go up to my apartment.” I grabbed his hand. “Hurry.” I ran toward the front door and got my keys out. “Come on.”
“What was I supposed to have seen?” He sounded confused, but I ignored him as we entered the building.
“Hold on.” I opened the door to my apartment and raced into the living room, then ran to grab my cell phone. I opened my text messages and scrambled to show him the photo he’d sent me. I stared at it for a few seconds and my heart started racing even faster. “Look at this.”
“What is it?” He grabbed my phone and looked down. “The photo of my dad and your mom?”
“That’s not my mom.” I was getting annoyed. “Are you slow? I just told you that. That isn’t my mom in the photograph, Jakob.” I took a deep breath to calm my irritation. “Look at the photo carefully.”
“What am I looking at, Bianca?” He sounded exasperated.
“Look.” I leaned forward and ran my fingers over the screen so I could enlarge the photo. “Look.” I pointed to the dimple in the woman’s right cheek.
