Lip Service

by Susan Mallery

  “Oh, please. Don’t pretend you don’t know everything about us.” She winked. “But I’ll go along with it for now. I work on an oil rig. I’m an underwater welder. I work long hours with no time off for weeks at a time. When we’re finally cut loose, we get all our days off in a row. I’ve been enjoying myself. Kind of like you.”

  Skye watched the exchange, not sure where Izzy was going.

  She leaned against Garth. “So tell us,” she murmured. “What’s your end game? Total annihilation of all Titans?”

  Garth’s expression didn’t change. “No. Just the gradual disintegration of wealth and privilege that has made all of the Titans entitled sons of bitches.”

  Skye’s breath got caught in her chest but Izzy didn’t blink. “Sort of the opposite of those bombs that kill people but not buildings? You want to leave the people standing.”

  “As long as they have nothing.”

  That was clear, Skye thought, losing her fear in her anger. “Why?” she demanded. “What did my sisters and I ever do to you?”

  “You’ll have to take that up with your father.”

  “So this is about Jed?”

  “It’s about all of you.”

  “How much of it is about your mother?”

  Garth’s dark eyes hardened. “Please excuse me. I see someone I need to talk to.”

  He walked away before they could stop him.

  Izzy fanned herself with her fingers. “If looks could kill, we’d both be stains on the carpet right now. So it is about Kathy. What do you think Jed did to her?”

  “I don’t know, but we’re going to have to find out.” Even though there was a part of Skye that didn’t want to know.

  “I need a drink,” Izzy said. “Want one?”

  “Go ahead. I need to circulate.”

  Skye walked into the crowd, careful to keep track of Garth as she went. She greeted guests, made sure everyone was eating the food, and tried to ignore the sense of dread inside. Fifteen minutes later she saw Mitch and felt her knees go weak with relief.

  “You’re here,” she said as she rushed over. “I’m so glad.”

  He smiled at her. “Do you welcome all your guests that way? Because if you do, I can see why you get such a crowd.”

  “I probably should, but I don’t. Tonight has been stressful.”

  He looked at his watch. “It’s only seven-thirty.”

  “I know. We peaked early. It’s been a mess. Jed and I had our usual fight about the foundation.”

  “What fight?”

  “He thinks it’s a waste of time and money.”

  “What do you think?”

  She looked at him. He’d always had the power to take her breath away and that hadn’t changed. She wanted to touch the new scar on his jaw, trace the line of his mouth, kiss him until they both forgot everything but each other. Maybe not the best plan in the middle of a party at her father’s house.

  “I think I can make a difference,” she said.

  “Then screw Jed Titan.”

  That made her laugh. “I think there’s a club by that name. Garth would be the president.”

  Mitch glanced around. “He’s here?”

  Skye found him and pointed him out. “Izzy decided on direct confrontation. He basically said he was going to destroy everything we had and leave us with nothing. It was a tense few minutes that pretty much confirmed everything we’d been thinking.” She touched her stomach. “Too much stress. Let’s talk about something else. You pick the topic.”

  “I have my leg back.”

  She glanced down. “You’re right. You’re not on crutches. Sorry, I should have noticed.”

  He looked at her curiously.

  “What?” she asked.

  “I’m missing a leg.”

  “I know that.”

  He gave her a slow, heart-stopping smile. “Maybe I’m the only one defining myself in those terms.”

  “Maybe you are.” She grabbed a glass of champagne from a passing server. “Okay, second subject change. We have the weather, a perennial favorite, and politics, which can be dangerous. Are you enjoying being back home.” She tilted her head. “I know. Where did you live while you were gone? Were you stationed somewhere?”

  “San Diego.”

  “It’s supposed to be lovely there.”

  “It is. Great weather.”

  “Beautiful women,” Skye teased. “So was there someone special?”

  Mitch hesitated just long enough for her to realize she didn’t want him to answer the question.

  “I shouldn’t have asked,” she said quickly, wishing she’d stuck to politics as a conversational topic. “Of course you got involved. You were gone nearly nine years. So, what was she like? Did you…” Her brain froze. “Were you married?”

  He could have married someone and then gotten a divorce. Or maybe she’d died horribly, leaving him with perfect memories of a young woman who would never screw up and abandon him.

  “You’re taking things a little far,” Mitch told her. “I dated. There was someone I was seeing for a while. She wanted to take things to the next level and I didn’t.”

  Meaning she loved him and he didn’t love her back? Or he didn’t love her enough? So many questions and Skye wasn’t sure she could handle the answers.

  Lexi and Cruz walked up, providing a welcome diversion.

  “Hi,” she said. “Lexi, you remember Mitch.”

  “Of course.” Lexi smiled at him, then turned to Cruz. “A guy I knew in high school. You should be worried.”

  “I am,” Cruz teased, their love an obvious and welcome third party.

  “Hey, Lexi,” Mitch said as he leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. “You look beautiful.”

  Lexi was perfect, as always, her long blond hair flowing down her back. She wore navy, which brought out her blue eyes and she glowed, as every woman with her first baby should.

  Cruz reached for Skye’s hand. “May I have this dance?”

  The invitation surprised her, but then she realized Lexi had probably seen her distress and, without knowing the cause, had arranged a rescue.

  “Of course,” she said, and allowed Cruz to lead her away.

  Mitch watched Skye go.

  “Looks like you’re stuck with me,” Lexi said. She nudged him to the dance floor.

  “I can’t,” he said, still focused on Skye.

  “How do you know?”

  That he couldn’t dance? “I don’t,” he admitted. He’d just assumed. But the music was slow. “Keep your expectations low,” he said as he took Lexi’s hand and they joined the crowd.

  Once they were in position, Mitch concentrated on keeping his weight centered. He’d been off the prosthesis most of the day so he wouldn’t overtire himself being on it tonight. Now he moved self-consciously, holding Lexi lightly, keeping them in time with the music.

  “Not bad,” she said. “Can you dance and have a conversation?”

  “We can try it.”

  “Where the hell do you get off hurting my sister?”

  She smiled as she spoke and her tone was pleasant, so it took him a second to hear what she’d said. Not that it mattered. Lexi kept talking.

  “I understand you’re in a world of pain so you get a partial pass for that. But you have been nothing but a total shit since you got back home. Apparently that trend is continuing, based on the look I saw on her face five minutes ago.”

  He stiffened. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “I don’t know all of it,” she admitted. “I’m sure Skye has kept the really bad stuff from me. Because despite everything, she still defends you. Amazing, isn’t it? Not that you deserve it.”

  He glared at Lexi. “What about what she did to me?”

  “You mean nine years ago when she wouldn’t marry you?”

  “She chose her father over me.”

  “Oh, I get it,” Lexi told him, her blue eyes flashing with annoyance. “She should have picked
you because you’re her one true love. Well, this isn’t the movies. This is real life and things don’t always work out the way we want. Yes, Skye chose Jed. She chose her father because he was all she had.”

  “She had me.”

  “Did she? You got mad and left.”

  The unfairness of that statement made him come to a stop. “She married someone else.”

  “Did you bother to find out why?”

  He already knew. “She was pregnant with his kid.”

  “Before that,” Lexi said, pulling him to the side of the room. “Before she went out with Ray.”

  “Screwed him, you mean.”

  “So you’re still having the pity party,” Lexi said. “I should have known. Does it occur to you that this is about more than who she married? That it might be about why Jed’s opinion matters so damn much? Jed is the only parent Skye has left.”

  “You’re preaching to the choir. I lost my parents, too. It was the year Skye and I fell in love. So when I lost her, I had nothing left.”

  “Right. Nothing except Fidela and Arturo, who were as much like parents to you as your own. Skye, on the other hand, found her mother’s body. Did you know that? Pru couldn’t handle the fact that Jed didn’t love her so she killed herself. She got in the bathtub and cut her wrists, but not before leaving a note.”

  Mitch hadn’t known the details. Skye didn’t talk about them.

  Lexi continued. “She addressed the note to Skye because Skye always came to her room after school. Pru knew her ten-year-old daughter would find her body and she didn’t have a problem with that. The note told Skye that Pru had to kill herself because Jed didn’t love her. What do you think Skye took from all that? Just picture it, Mitch. A kid two years older than Erin finding her mother’s dead body and reading that note. Is it possible she believes, somewhere deep inside, that if her father doesn’t love her, she’ll die, too? Is there even a remote chance that at all of eighteen and in love for the first time in her life, she couldn’t think straight? That she could only panic? Or is this all about you?”

  Lexi walked away.

  Mitch stood in the corner, feeling small and wrong and wondering how it was possible for a mother to act that way. He’d heard rumors that Pru was a little crazy and self-absorbed, but now he knew those were more than rumors.

  He looked around the room, searching for Skye. When he caught sight of her, he didn’t know what to do. Telling her he knew about her mother wasn’t going to help anyone. What it came down to was whether or not knowing this changed anything at all.

  SKYE KNEW something was wrong. She couldn’t figure out what it was, exactly. The guests were still talking, but the overall noise level wasn’t right. There was a slight hush she couldn’t explain.

  There was plenty of food. She saw the servers circulating and the guests eating. They hadn’t run out of liquor. From what she could hear, Jed hadn’t said anything that had offended twenty or thirty people. So what was it?

  She was about to tell herself she was imagining things, when one of the servers hurried up to her.

  “There’s a problem,” the woman said. “A couple of people are sick. It came on really fast. I hate to think it’s the food, but maybe it is.”

  Skye’s body tensed. “Where are the guests who aren’t feeling well?”

  “In both downstairs’ bathrooms.”

  She hurried in that direction, only to have a local banker go rushing past, his hand covering his mouth. She heard a gagging sound and saw a well-dressed woman suddenly vomit.

  Horror rushed through her. What was going on? Had the caterer brought something tainted? Was it food poisoning? Didn’t that usually take—

  She turned toward the kitchen and saw Garth standing by the bar. He raised his glass toward her. All around her people started rushing for the door.

  She walked to Garth. “What the hell did you do?”

  He smiled. “Something seems to be wrong with your party. It can’t be the food, can it?”

  “You poisoned my guests?”

  “Poison is a strong word. It’s more of a prank. But you might want to call nine-one-one just in case.”

  “Bastard.”

  He took another sip of his drink. “Yes, but you already knew that.”

  Two hours later everyone had left. Whatever had caused the sickness faded as quickly as it started. The paramedics took a few older people to the hospital to be checked out.

  “This is going to ruin me,” Mary, the caterer, said. “I don’t know what happened. I’ve never heard of anything like this before.”

  Skye didn’t know what to say to reassure her. The truth was Mary hadn’t done anything wrong.

  “If you need a reference,” Skye began.

  Mary wiped away tears. “Like that will help,” she whispered, then walked away.

  A few minutes later Dana arrived.

  “I got your message,” her friend said. “What happened?”

  Skye told her about people getting sick and what Garth had said. “One of the paramedics said there were only a few things that could cause instant vomiting.”

  Dana shook her head. “Are you sure it’s Garth?”

  “I know it’s Garth. He practically told me he did it. But when I explained that to the police, they wouldn’t listen. Why would a guy like that do something like this?” Skye was beyond frustrated. “At least that’s their reasoning. Oh, they’ll do an investigation, but they’re assuming it’s somebody’s kid playing a stupid game. Maybe a fraternity initiation. Garth is too smart to get caught. I’m sure he’s covered up his involvement. Jed’s no help. He disappeared at the first sign of trouble.”

  “Can I make you feel better by saying you’ve never loved throwing Jed’s parties. Maybe now you won’t have to.”

  “Small comfort,” Skye said, knowing Jed would blame her for this and equally aware that right now she didn’t care.

  “I’ll ask around. See if I can find out anything. Garth is one busy guy. Eventually he’ll make a mistake and we’ll be there to catch him.”

  “I hope so. I don’t want to think about what he might do next or who might get hurt.”

  MITCH HATED to waste the time on his prosthesis, but he couldn’t stop pacing. He was angry, which wasn’t news, but for once it wasn’t at the world in general. This time his temper had a specific focus—Garth Duncan.

  Last night had been a disaster for Skye. Nearly everyone at the party had gotten violently sick. While the illness had passed as quickly as it had come on, it had been bad for anyone who’d experienced it. People would be talking for months about what had happened.

  Mitch hadn’t realized Garth was behind the illnesses until Skye had called him that morning. Now he was going to confront Garth and put a stop to what was going on.

  He heard a car pull up and walked out of his office. Garth got out of his Mercedes.

  “Do we have a problem?” the other man asked.

  Without thinking, Mitch hauled off and punched him. Garth staggered a step, then steadied himself.

  “I take it you got sick last night,” Garth said, rubbing his jaw. “Sorry. I should have warned you.”

  “I didn’t eat anything, you bastard.”

  “People are calling me that a lot these days. Word must be getting out.”

  “What the hell is wrong with you? Why would you do something like that?” Mitch demanded.

  “I told you I was going to take down Jed and his daughters. Last I heard, you liked the idea. You wanted to help.” He touched his jaw. “I take it this means you’re not working for me anymore?” He shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got my bases covered.”

  Mitch clenched his fists. “I never worked for you.”

  “I didn’t pay you,” Garth corrected. “That doesn’t mean you weren’t spying for me.”

  “Whatever,” Mitch muttered, not sure why Garth was being so pointed. “You’re wrong about all of it. Take down Jed if you want, but his daughters aren’t a part
of it.”

  “They are for me. Besides, you only care about Skye. Unfortunately, it’s a little too late for that.”

  Mitch didn’t know what he meant, at first. Then he heard a sound and knew.

  Dammit all to hell, he thought as he turned and saw Skye standing behind him. She looked horrified and beyond hurt.

  “You were working for him?” she asked, her eyes wide, her skin pale.

  Mitch would have given his other leg to have the past five minutes to play over.

  “Skye, no.”

  She ignored him and ran. Ran hard and fast, probably knowing there was no way he could go after her.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  “I’M FINE,” Skye insisted as Dana foamed milk at the espresso machine on the counter and Lexi and Izzy both hovered close by. “You don’t need to worry about me.”

  She didn’t have to look up to know her sisters and Dana were exchanging looks of disbelief. It was her own fault, she thought grimly. All of this. Getting involved with Mitch. Believing him, trusting him. He’d shown her his true self the first day he’d come home. He’d made everything clear and she hadn’t listened. She’d wanted him to be more and he’d been willing to play along, but he hadn’t changed. He still resented her and wanted her punished. Now he was not only angry about the past, but about Erin. She’d brought this on herself and only she was to blame.

  Dana poured the steamed milk into a mug and handed it to her. “Want some whiskey for that?” she asked.

  Skye looked at the clock. It was barely noon. “No. I’ll be okay. I just need a minute.”

  “What you need is Mitch’s head on a platter,” Izzy said, sounding furious.

  They were in the big kitchen at Glory’s Gate. It was a beautiful sunny Saturday. Sunlight pooled on the floor. A warm breeze whispered. Normally that was enough to brighten Skye’s mood, but not today.

  “I can’t believe it.” Lexi took the second mug Dana offered. “He seemed like he was really happy to be back. He was so…nice.”

  “When did you talk to him?” Dana asked.

  “Last night, at the party. I thought he still cared about you.” She looked at Skye. “I’m sorry.”

  “He played us all,” Skye told her, trying to keep the bitterness from her voice. “We all fell for it. Me more than most. I was so worried about him, about how he was healing and fitting in. I felt awful when he thought Erin was his. I ached for him when he found out the truth. Now I think it was just more of Garth’s games. Mitch probably never thought anything about Erin. It was just one more way to suck me in.”