by Leanne Banks
He moved closer to her and took her hand, lowering his voice. “Your father didn’t die of a heart attack. He committed suicide.”
Leo decided to leave the office early. Despite their trip to Japan, he realized he and Calista hadn’t had a real honeymoon. Although he couldn’t leave his business at the moment, he thought it would be a nice surprise to let her choose the place. Having a wife wasn’t such a bad deal after all. Remembering how she’d melted in his arms the night before, he felt a new urgency to be with her again.
Meg greeted him as he walked into the house. “Welcome home, Mr. Grant.”
“Thank you, Meg. Do you know where Calista is?”
His housekeeper paused. “She has a visitor. She’s talking with him on the back porch.”
Him? Leo frowned. He didn’t like the sound of that. He walked through the house toward the back porch, stopping suddenly when he spotted Calista in another man’s arms. His stomach gave a vicious, sickening twist. The man caressed her back as she clung to him.
Who the hell was this? What was he doing with her? What was she doing with him? This was his house, damn it.
Taking a sharp breath, he strode to the porch and threw open the door. “Anyone want to tell me what’s going on?”
Calista pushed herself from his arms, clearly startled, a guilty expression crossing her face. “Leo?”
“Yes, it’s me. Your husband. Introduce me to your—” He paused. “Guest,” he said in distaste.
She licked her lips nervously. “This is Rob. He was just leaving.”
“It didn’t look that way,” Leo said, staring the other man down.
The man lifted his hands. “Excuse me. I’ll talk to you later,” he said to Calista.
She cringed as the man left.
“You want to explain what I just saw?” Leo asked, clenching his jaw.
She walked toward him. “It’s not how it seemed.”
“Then how was it?”
“It’s hard to explain,” she said.
“I’ll bet. How long have you been involved with him?”
“It’s not like that,” she said. “I swear.”
“Then why were you in each other’s arms?”
She closed her eyes for a second then took a deep breath. “He’s a private investigator. He just told me that my father didn’t die of a heart attack. He committed suicide. I never knew,” she said in a broken voice.
“If he’s a P.I., then why the hell was he holding you in his arms?”
“I’ve known him for a while. He’s a friend.”
“Just a friend?” Leo asked, full of doubt.
“Yes,” she insisted. “You have to believe me.”
“No. I don’t,” he said, suspicion trickling through him like acid.
Fear and dread darkened her gaze. “Leo, you have to believe I would never sacrifice our marriage for a stupid affair.”
“Why not?” he asked, challenging her. How foolish he’d been, he thought. He’d actually been on the verge of trusting her.
She bit her lip. “I wouldn’t. I couldn’t.” She closed her eyes. “My marriage to you is too important.”
“Because I can give you money,” he said, goading her.
She opened her eyes and stared at him in shock. She took a deep breath. “Not for me, but for my sisters,” she finally said. “Yes, I need the money for their education and for Tami’s health problems.”
“Is that why you married me?” he demanded. “To take care of your sisters?”
Her eyes turned cold. “What room do you have to judge? I know you and your father pulled a grifting scheme over on my father. I thought his shame had killed him. It turns out he took his life because of what you and your father did.”
Her words hit him like a block of ice. He stared at her in disbelief. “You knew about my father and me?” He shook his head. “Why didn’t you just threaten to blackmail me?”
She gave him a blank stare. “Blackmail didn’t occur to me. I wanted my sisters to get a good education and I couldn’t pay for it. I’ve been too busy paying off other family debts,” she said bitterly.
He laughed, but the sound was hollow to his own ears. “You used me.”
She lifted her chin and met his gaze. “The same way you used me so you could get the Japanese account.”
“Sweet little Calista,” he said in disbelief. “I never would have thought it.”
Pain shadowed her eyes. “I never would have done it if I didn’t believe it was necessary.”
He shook his head. “How long did you plan to keep going with this charade?” he asked.
“Long enough to secure my sisters’ future.”
“Six months,” he said, remembering the prenup.
She crossed her arms over her chest. “So now you see why I wouldn’t possibly risk an affair.”
“Your sisters,” he said.
She nodded. “That and the fact that I’m not the kind of woman to go to bed with one man while I’m married to another.”
He gave another humorless chuckle. “I’ll never know that for certain. Will I?”
Another shot of pain flashed through her beautiful green eyes. He could almost believe she felt some sense of remorse. Almost. He could pay her and send her away. He could send her away and give her nothing. He knew, however, that he’d had a part in bringing down her father. The bitter reality backed up in his throat. At this second, he detested the very sight of her. But it was as much because she held a mirror to him of his past sins.
“Take my room tonight. I’m going into town.”
She blinked in surprise as if she’d expected him to send her away. He wanted to. He wished he could, but something inside stopped him. “You can pick up Pooh in the morning.” He turned and walked away.
“Leo,” she called after him.
He paused. “What?”
“I—” She broke off. “I didn’t expect things to turn out this way.”
He walked out the door.
He’d fallen for the biggest con of his lifetime. He’d been so willing to believe her, so determined to protect her. He’d thought she could make him clean, and she had to the outside world. With Calista as his wife, it was easier for people to forget the fact that his past was murky at best. Her presence had greased the wheels for some of his business deals, too.
Leo had a choice to make. He could either cut Calista loose or hold on. He could make her pay for using him. He could make her life miserable, but he wondered if he would be making himself miserable at the same time.
This wasn’t a decision to be made in the heat of anger. He needed time and distance.
Calista didn’t know what to do. She sure hadn’t expected to blurt out her reasons for marrying him. She wasn’t sure if she should leave or stay. The thought of her sisters and unexpected feelings for Leo made her stay. He was more than she’d thought he would be. She did everything she could to fall asleep. Exercise, take a bath, drink warm milk.
She went to bed, turned out the lights and her eyelids would not close. Sighing, she turned to her side and forced her eyes closed. Immediately, images of Leo raced through her mind. Leo laughing, Leo concerned about Pooh, Leo making love to her.
A tiny wail squeezed through her throat. What was she supposed to do?
Leo was a successful man, a hard man. Surely, he wasn’t capable of being hurt. Surely she couldn’t hurt him.
Inhaling deeply, she couldn’t tear her thoughts away from him. She felt a connection to him that went deeper than the volatile lovemaking they’d shared. A part of her hated that she’d destroyed the possibility of sharing a future with him. She’d never intended that, she reminded herself. Never.
She closed her eyes again and mentally rocked herself to sleep.
The next morning, Calista picked Pooh up from the veterinary hospital. The dog was groggy, but wagged his tail in welcome. Despite her distraction with Leo, Calista’s heart lifted.
“Hello, you naughty, sweetie pie. You scared
the daylights out of me. You better not do it again,” she scolded the dog.
Pooh just gave a doggy smile and licked her. Calista presented her card for the bill, but the receptionist told her it had already been paid. Leo, she realized. She still didn’t understand why he hadn’t just thrown her out. After all, he had all the cards since she’d told him the real reason she’d married him.
Her stomach twisted with a strange combination of guilt and loss as she drove to Leo’s country home. She spent the day administering medication and TLC to Pooh and wondering what Leo would decide about their marriage. By nightfall, she felt more alone than ever. She took solace in Pooh’s presence then went to bed for another mostly sleepless night.
With no word from Leo, she was stuck in limbo. Did he want to end their marriage? She couldn’t imagine him wanting to stay with her. In that case, she needed to start searching the job market. Late the following afternoon, Calista’s cell phone rang. The caller ID indicated it was her cousin. “Hi Sharon.”
“Calista, I have bad news.”
“What is it?” Calista asked, turning away from her laptop.
“Tami’s been in an accident,” she said, her voice quivering.
“Oh, no,” Calista said, her heart jumping into her throat. “Is she okay? Is she in the hospital?”
“We’re at the hospital right now. She has a few scrapes and bruises.” Sharon paused and lowered her voice. “She was driving drunk.”
Calista closed her eyes and shook her head. Guilt rushed through her. Sharon had warned her that Tami had been having trouble, but Calista had buried her head in the sand, hoping that her sister had made a turnaround. “Oh my God.”
“I thought she was doing better, but I was obviously wrong. If we could only get her away from that crowd she’s been hanging around. And I hate to bring this up, but the ticket and visit to the hospital aren’t going to be free.”
“No. Of course not. I’ll come right away.”
“Call me when you get close,” Sharon said.
“Will do,” she said and turned off her laptop. She grabbed a change of clothes and was torn about telling Leo. Would he even care?
She didn’t have time to agonize over it. She typed a text message that would go directly to his BlackBerry then headed downstairs to seek out Meg. “I’ve had a family emergency, so I need to leave. I’ll probably be gone overnight.”
Meg’s forehead wrinkled in concern. “I’m so sorry.”
“Thank you. Could you please watch Pooh while I’m gone?”
“Of course,” she said. “I like having the little troublemaker around.”
Calista got into her car and pulled out of the driveway. Two minutes later, her phone rang. She picked up. “Hello?”
“It’s Leo,” he said.
Her heart hammered in her chest at the sound of his voice. “Hi,” she said.
“I got your message. What happened? Is Tami hurt?”
A knot formed in her throat. “Not very much physically hurt, but she’s done some damage. She was driving my cousin’s car and ran into a traffic sign. Unfortunately she was also drunk.”
Leo swore.
“Yes,” she said in agreement. “Sharon had said she was hanging around a bad crowd, and she’d thought the problem was solved by giving Tami an earlier curfew. I guess now we know that didn’t work.” She squeezed the steering wheel. “I’m worried about her.”
Silence followed. “Maybe you should bring her to the house,” he said.
Surprised, Calista blinked. “Uh,” she said and cleared her throat. “I wasn’t sure I should expect to stay at your house.”
“I never told you to leave,” he said.
“No, but you left,” she said. “And I can’t blame you after I told you—”
“We’ll talk about that later. For now, you need to concentrate on Tami. If you bring her here to stay for a while, she’ll have a chance to leave her mistakes in the past and refocus.”
“Why would you offer your house to my sister?”
“There may have been a time when I shirked responsibility, but not now,” he said in a rock-hard tone.
“You’re sure?” she asked, fighting a combination of shock and relief.
“I wouldn’t have said it if I weren’t. Keep me updated,” he said.
“Okay,” she said. “Leo, thank—”
“Don’t,” he cut in. “Drive safely.”
The following evening after Calista helped Tami get settled into a bedroom, Leo sipped a glass of whiskey in his suite as he waited for her. His pride had been stung when he’d learned she’d tricked him for money. After he’d taken time to cool down, however, he could only blame Calista so much. So far, she’d been reluctant to spend a dime of his money. He’d noticed she still paid her own bills from her own checking account. Another woman would have gone hog wild, buying everything in sight.
He also felt somewhat responsible for Calista and her sisters’ predicament. He felt more than a twinge of guilt despite the fact that Calista’s father had been weak. Like many fools, he’d believed what he wanted to believe. A man like that, with a devoted wife and children, didn’t understand what he had.
The bedroom door opened and Calista appeared. She met his gaze solemnly. “Hi.”
“Hi,’ he said and waved to the chair beside him. “Have a seat.”
She walked to the chair and sank into it. A glass of white wine sat on the table waiting for her. She took a sip then set it down. She looked tired, he noted.
“How is Tami?” he asked.
“She’s trying to be tough, but she took a stuffed animal to bed with her,” she said.
His lips twitched in humor. “Has she said anything?”
“Not much, and that’s unusual. She did say she was sorry,” she said.
“That’s a good start. Realizing you did something wrong is the beginning of being different,” he said and took another sip of whiskey. “I should know.”
She met his gaze again. “Is that how it happened for you?”
“My so-called adoptive father beat me. He also threatened to beat my adoptive mother. He was manipulative. He trained me to lie, play games and exploit.”
She bit her lip. “But you’re not like that anymore, are you?”
He shrugged. “Everyone can be manipulative,” he said and shot her a pointed look.
She glanced downward. “I can’t say I’m innocent in that regard.”
“You had good reasons,” he said. “I accept that. In a way, I did, too. I was trying to survive. I don’t like to be lied to.”
“Most of us don’t,” she said, looking up at him. “Why haven’t you kicked me out?”
“Aside from the fact that I still want you,” he said and damned if he totally understood why. “It’s the right thing to do. Even though my father set up the scheme to trick your father, I benefited from it. You suffered. Your father believed what he wanted to believe instead of the truth.”
“He was a good man,” she said.
“He may have been a good man, but he was flawed.”
“That’s a cruel thing to say,” she said, her voice choking up.
“It’s true.”
She glanced away and a faint smile lifted her lips. “He knew how to make us laugh.”
“Keep that memory,” he told her, wishing he had some of the same kinds of memories.
“What do we do now?” she asked.
“What do you want to do?” he countered.
She fiddled with the stem of her wineglass. “I thought for sure you’d hate me once I told you I married you to get support for my sisters.”
“Do you really think I’m surprised that a woman would marry me for my money?” he asked.
“It’s not totally like that,” she said, shooting him a look of chagrin.
“Then explain to me how it is,” he said, leaning back in his chair.
“I was only going to marry you for six months,” she said.
“Ah,” he said.
“That clause in the prenup.”
“Yes, I know it’s shameful, but I didn’t know how else to provide for Tami and Tina.”
“Why didn’t you just snag another wealthy man?” he asked. “The first one to come along?”
“Because it didn’t seem right,” she said. “At least, this way, you were partly responsible for my sisters becoming orphans. I told myself it was a six-month assignment, but the trouble was…” She trailed off and glanced away.
“The trouble was what?” he prompted.
“The trouble was that I liked you,” she said with a fierce frown. “And in bed—” She shook her head. “Then you were wonderful about Pooh.” She looked perplexed. “And now you’re being wonderful about Tami.”
He chuckled at her confusion. “Does this mean you want me to go back to your version of Satan?”
She looked at him for a long moment and shook her head. “No,” she said softly.
Her expression made his gut knot. He didn’t understand it and he sure as hell didn’t like it, but he wouldn’t ignore it. “You haven’t said what you want,” he said.
She took a deep breath. “I don’t know. I didn’t expect you to be like you are. In another situation, I wish you and my father had never met. I wish you and I could have met with no ugly history between us.”
“Then let’s do that,” he said.
She swung her head upward to gape at him. “How?”
“Fresh start. Allow me to introduce myself.” He leaned across the table and extended his hand. “I’m Leonardo Grant, your husband.”
She stared at his hand for a long moment and paused. She met his gaze. “Hello, Leonardo Grant. I’m Calista French Grant, your wife,” she said and slid her hand inside his.
He felt a rocking sense of possession that soared through his blood. “I’m going to want more than six months.”
Her eyelids dipped, shielding her expression from him. “Okay.”
He stood and tugged her from her chair and pulled her against him. “Starting tonight.”
Two mornings later, Leo did his work from his home office. Calista took Pooh in for a checkup and he’d agreed to hang around until she returned. He asked Meg to tell him if and when Tami awakened. Midmorning, his housekeeper tapped at his door.
