Mustang_A Mountain Man Romance

by S. Cook

  I couldn’t help but conclude that being forced to be seen on Theo’s arm at such outings was one of the many whims he’d expect me to adhere to once we were married. So maybe it was time I stopped complaining and just did my duty.

  Naturally Theo would always pick out every item I was to wear, right down to my hairdo and makeup. He’d become more of a control freak since our return from the resort all those weeks ago.

  It was like my attempt to leave him had snapped something inside him and now he was hell bent on keeping me on a tight leash. Who I saw, where I went, anything could be vetoed at will by him. And if he needed me to be his escort at any social gathering, I could never seem to find a way to get myself out of it.

  It had been promised to be a glamorous night, but I hadn’t been looking forward to any surprises. Just another big, luxury leisure accommodation adding to the many the city boasted.

  Still, I was finding it harder and harder to hide how much I wished I could have been anywhere else but there. My eyes swung again to Theo standing next to me who seemed totally oblivious to my irritation while he held conversation with the two other dignitaries in our group.

  And if he did notice, he’d probably take a sinister delight in it, I thought. So I looked away with a deep sigh and then let my eyes roam the room.

  Just then my eyes caught and held with a figure standing at the other end of the hall, and it took superhuman effort not to let out a cry of surprise.

  I couldn’t mistake that face or body anywhere. His hair was much shorter and cut in a flattering style, and he was dressed in a suit that looked expensive enough to fund aid for a small third world village, but I knew my eyes didn’t deceive me.

  Brian.

  Here.

  And he was looking right at me – no, through me. Like I was less than a stranger.

  I gasped, my hand resting against my pounding heartbeat. Seeing him again brought a shock to my system that I felt unequipped to handle. Was all the stress finally getting to me enough to have me hallucinating?

  It had to be him, I realized.

  Those blue eyes filled with stormy sea and brilliant sky turned everything to jelly inside my system. He seemed to smile slightly at my obvious discomposure, while I started to rack my mind at what the odds were of Brian being here, thousands of miles from where I’d last seen him.

  I’d known he was American of course. I’d simply never asked him much about his background or roots. At the beginning I’d wanted to keep some sort of distance and then, when we’d suddenly come together in a frenzied joining of hearts and souls, there hadn’t been time to go over unnecessary details, not then. And by the end we never got the chance.

  I wanted to look away from him but couldn’t. Even when Brian’s attention was taken by a distinguished-looking couple who came over to speak to him, I still couldn’t stop staring. It didn’t take long for Theo to notice my interest was held elsewhere and he glanced in the direction of my gaze.

  “I wonder why that face looks so familiar,” Theo said, thinking out loud. “I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere before.”

  I stiffened, but before I could speak one of the men standing beside us named Denny Boyd, a well-heeled property financier, put in with a chuckle, “Now don’t say you don’t know the name behind tonight’s event. That’s none other than Brian Payne, heir to the Payne fortune whose father just stepped down after a health scare. Brian Payne is hardly known in these parts but with this new project and many others under development, looks like people here are going to start sitting up and taking notice. Not that they’ll be able to help it – after all the lucky young devil happens to be swimming in billions.”

  Theo looked suitably impressed. “He sounds like a man I’d like to meet.”

  “I’ll be happy to make introductions later,” Denny Boyd said agreeably.

  Theo’s glance at me had him frowning in concern at my suddenly blanched face. “Lydia, is everything okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  I shook my head, unable to speak and instead of bothering to reply I reached for a glass of champagne from a passing waiter. With trembling fingers, I lifted it quickly to my lips and drank it all down in two gulps. My head swam.

  “Hey, take it easy,” he told me in surprise, retrieving the glass from my nerveless grip. “The evening’s barely begun, wouldn’t have you passing out in the middle of it.”

  My lips curled at Theo’s ironic, solicitous tone while the other two guests chatted, unaware of the exchange while I murmured sarcastically, “Oh, I wouldn’t want to miss a thing.”

  I saw Theo send me another uncertain glance before he shrugged almost imperceptibly and joined in the conversation with our fellow guests. My chest heaved in a relieved sigh to get Theo’s attention off me even for a moment, even as I kept hearing the words Boyd had said which echoed in my muddled brain.

  Happens to be swimming in billions...swimming in billions...

  I shook my head slightly as if to clear it. Brian was rich? It all seemed so incredible, a mirage.

  And then I wanted to laugh out loud at how he’d fooled me, fooled us all.

  Everything seemed to click into place now. How I’d arrived at the check in desk at the resort and mistook Brian for a hotel staff, working as...what? I’d never been able to figure out for sure, so I’d settled for imagining he was some kind of manager with lots of leeway.

  I recalled how Theo had walked in too had actually thought Brian was some bellhop – and Brian, the jerk – had simply played along. And had probably enjoyed a good laugh at us while he was at it.

  In that instant I decided that I really, really loathed him.

  Now all those things I’d always wondered about him began to make perfect sense. The way he seemed to carry himself; his total ease with his surroundings like he virtually ran the place. Which I now realized he did, in a manner.

  For some reason, the discovery gave me a certain kind of calm I hadn’t felt in long weeks. I’d been filled with such guilt and agony about what had happened between us. Now, I felt nothing but hollowness.

  It was easy to look away from him now. Knowing he was nothing but a liar and a deceiver changed my perspective. Now I put on a mask of all smiles and played the perfect companion. I couldn’t care less how the evening went; I simply surrounded myself with a blank, insensible shield. I drank, I ate, I took part in the general conversation. But I was totally removed from what was happening around me.

  I wasn’t even aware when Theo excused himself from our table. All I knew was that minutes passed and a figure took his place.

  I heard Brian’s voice say my name in my ear and that had me breaking out of my trance and I only just stopped myself from shrieking in surprise.

  “My apologies. I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said easily, sitting back as I swung in my seat to face him. Close up, he looked even more devastating; suave, cold – a stranger.

  “Because something tells me you’ve already had your share of surprises tonight,” he added in a more mocking tone.

  My eyes snapped fire at him. “Go to hell, Brian Payne,” I veritably spat while pasting on a smile. I wished I had a drink in my hand so I could throw it in his cynical looking face.

  “Or are you about to have more laughs at my expense?” I continued, teeth gritted in that same fake smile. “I’m sure you enjoyed your little charade all those months ago. You had the guts to call yourself real. Hah! You’re nothing but a fake and I can’t believe I didn’t see right through you.”

  “Just like I couldn’t see through you?” he returned in an equally deceptively mild tone. “You fooled me, I fooled you. Looks like we got away even.”

  His heartless, implacable demeanor felt so different from the Brian I’d known and loved, that coupled with getting too much to drink and my misery over the wedding, I felt my hardened shell start to crack. I turned away quickly so he couldn’t see my unbidden tears.

  “Please, go away. You’ve had your victory. Why can’t
you just let me be?” I sent him one last glaring look that had too much of glassy shimmer in it. I looked away in an instant and just missed the sudden softening of his harsh gaze. His hand reached out in a sudden movement, about to cover mine as he said my name more gently than he had before. But before I could respond, Theo returned to the table and viewed us with eyes narrowing in suspicion.

  “Mr. Clayton,” Brian said, rising slowly and holding Theo’s gaze coolly. The other man held out a hand and Brian reluctantly shook it.

  “Mr. Payne,” Theo returned. “I was expecting to meet you. And I didn’t realize you were acquainted with my fiancée, Lydia Thorpe.”

  I felt more than saw Theo’s reproving glance but I refused to look at or speak to him, keeping my eyes averted.

  “I met Lydia a few months ago, at the Serene Resorts,” Brian said smoothly. “You probably wouldn’t recognize who I was. We shared only brief words when you first arrived at the resort.”

  Theo stared at him quizzically, and then his frown cleared. “Aaah. The guy at the reception lobby. Well that was a hell of a mix up. Sorry about that,” Theo said with a deep laugh that was tinged with his apology.

  “No offence taken,” Brian said with a slight nod, “Please enjoy the rest of the event.”

  With that he strode away and was almost immediately intercepted by what looked like a Press crew. Theo retook his seat next to me, his expression hardening.

  “Why didn’t you mention you knew Brian Payne? You heard me wondering who he was earlier.”

  I had reached the end of my rope and Theo’s cold, accusing tone was not helping. “Would you please not start on me? Like you I just found out who he really was. I thought he looked familiar but couldn’t be sure – and besides I too was of the mistaken belief he was just some member of staff, not the freaking owner.” I exhaled an angry breath. “He must have recognized me too and that’s when he came over for a chat.”

  “I hope for your sake that’s all there is,” was his threatening reply.

  “Why don’t you get your suspicious mind out of the sewer and let me endure the evening in peace?” I barely managed to keep my voice from carrying over the music.

  I remembered saying close to the same thing to Brian earlier; I really just wanted to be left alone. Everyone kept taking a piece out of me and it was wearing my sense of reality thin. I was an eye-tick away from a nervous breakdown if something didn’t give soon.

  Theo seemed to sense I’d reached almost to breaking point, and he smiled thinly. “Fine. I’ll let this go this time. But watch yourself, Lydia. Soon, very soon, I’ll have you where I want you and then you’ll see...I won’t be so patient with you.”

  I drew in a sharp breath at the barely veiled threat. My mind flew to that one time Theo had hit me and I shivered thinking of the prospect that once we were married, he’d see it as his right to lay his hand on me. I looked away from him and stared unseeingly ahead of me, the ton of load on my chest suddenly getting a lot heavier and harder to bear.

  Was there truly no way out?

  ***

  “I can’t believe I missed out on all this,” Brandi exclaimed, staring across from me in the classy restaurant we chose to meet for lunch. Brandi had arrived the day before and hadn’t wasted much time in hooking up with me again.

  I had filled her in on what happened since the last time we’d seen. Getting with Brian, and Theo’s unexpected return. “I think I handled it wrong, but I didn’t know what to do when Theo showed up out of the blue. Brian wanted to face up to Theo with the truth there and then but I was so conscious of my cheating and needed the chance to explain it to Theo one on one because I felt he deserved that much consideration.”

  “Consideration? The asshole punched you in the face,” Brandi cried, slamming her palm down on the tablecloth and almost sending our wine glasses flying. She exhaled angrily, ignoring the looks from the other guests. “And just because you tried to break up with him. Only heaven knows what he’d have done if you told him about you and Brian. Now you’re telling me he’s practically blackmailing you into marrying him?”

  I bit hard on my lip and looked down into my plate with eyes that grew moist. “It feels like a life sentence. Months ago I was fine going along with the idea of marrying him but after Brian.” I shook my head sadly. “I thought I hated him for lying to me about his true identity, but I just have so much pain it’s hard to define what I feel for him anymore.”

  “He didn’t exactly lie, Lydia. He simply kept the truth hidden – and maybe he had his reasons. I’m not saying he’s in the right though,” Brandi said quickly. “I’m still so shocked finding out he’s some filthy rich heir to one of the biggest names in the travel and hospitality industry. No wonder he seemed so familiar at the start. I may have seen him in some society column or something.”

  I sighed and tried to pick a forkful of food into my mouth but couldn’t, placing my silverware down again listlessly. “Everything’s just so messed up,” I said quietly. “I took your advice, I went for it. I fell for Brian’s wiles and made an utter fool of myself, never dreaming he was having a laugh at my expense. I thought he really cared, and that’s why marrying Theo had felt so difficult to bear. But if Brian loved me then why did he deceive me the way he did?”

  Brandi looked pained to see me suffering so much turmoil. “I don’t know, Lydia. Like I said, he had his reasons. I just wish you’d told him about this forced marriage thing with Theo.”

  I shook my head firmly. “Trust me, whatever was ever between us two is dead. He thinks I’m some gold-digger out for the largest bidder. Why would he want to have anything more to do with me and my problems?”

  Brandi could only shake her head sympathetically. “I’m sorry, Lydia. I wish there was something I could do to help.”

  My lips suddenly lifted in a small smile. “Knowing you’re there to give a listening ear is already a big comfort to me. I just have to be strong and bear the great weight that’s been put on my shoulders all for the love of family. How could I bear the possibility that refusing to marry Theo would have him calling in the debts my father owes and is unable to pay? Theo is powerful enough to crush my father – and my family. I can’t risk that.” I sighed heavily, my fingers twirling the fork I held in hand. “Ever since I was a little girl everything has simply been handed to me. Life was easy and I never gave a second thought to what could happen if it was all taken away. I can wish all I want that my father hadn’t run up those debts but the fact is it’s up to me now to make a sacrifice and I can’t back down. In two weeks I’ll be married to Theo and that’s that.”

  Brandi didn’t speak. Instead she nodded in understanding. “I wish there was something I could do to help,” she said.

  I shook my head and let out a long sigh.

  “There’s not.”

  Chapter 19

  Theo was in an important meeting with a team of his Asian partners when his secretary interrupted to tell him that Ebenezer Thorpe was there to see him. Theo wondered what his prospective father-in-law wanted. They’d seen each other just two nights before when he’d been present for dinner at the Thorpe home.

  It had to be some kind of emergency, he decided. He rose to excuse himself from the meeting with a polite smile.

  “I won’t be long,” he promised, and left it to his executive assistant to handle showing the slides they’d been viewing.

  Lydia’s father was waiting for him in his office, and he wasn’t seated but standing by one of the windows. The older man turned when Theo appeared.

  “This is a pleasant surprise, Ebenezer,” Theo murmured, advancing into the office. “Though I really have to return to my meeting in a moment. If it’s about the upcoming wedding, I’m sure it can wait.”

  Ebenezer Thorpe cut in coldly, “There will be no wedding.” He smiled a thin, victorious smile. “Not anymore.”

  He withdrew a thin envelope from his inner pocket and rested it on the polished desk. “That, you will find, is a check f
or all I owe you – in full and with interest.”

  “That’s impossible,” Theo snapped in disbelief. “Is this some kind of joke?”

  He walked to the desk, picked up the envelope and retrieved the check which he scanned carefully. Looking at the figures he saw that it was no joke.

  He looked up furiously at Lydia’s father. “Look, I don’t know how you managed to pull this off. But may I remind you that we had an agreement. It was never all about the money and you can see that. Lydia...”

  “Don’t,” Ebenezer said, his face going darker in sudden rage. “Leave my daughter out of this. I must have been mad to even think of putting her through an unholy marriage with you. But you had me by the throat; I was in a desperate situation and felt I had no other option. And as to any so-called agreement, I assure you there never was one. Whatever understanding we had in the beginning regarding your relationship with Lydia went out the window when I saw how easily you used the debts against her. Yes, she told me about how she wanted to break up with you but you threatened to destroy me. Since then I felt like two feet tall and prayed each day for some kind of miracle. Now, you can’t hurt anyone in my family ever again.”

  He drew in a harsh breath, shaking his head at Theo. “Your father was a good man, Theo and I always respected him until the day he died. But it was a sad day when he raised a cold, ruthless son like you. I’ve wanted a chance to tell you that for a long time. Now you better listen; I don’t want you near my daughter or my family ever again. Your cruel plot has been thwarted.”

  And with that, Ebenezer Thorpe walked out of the silent office, slamming the door after him.

  Chapter 20: Lydia

  I sent my father a look of curiosity for the umpteenth time. He was acting pretty strangely, despite his calm exterior. It was in the way he barely seemed able to meet my eyes, and the small smile that kept playing in the corner of his lips. We were seated in his office and I was about to leave on behalf of the company to meet with an important new client for lunch.