The Most Expensive Lie of All

by Michelle Conder

  ‘We haven’t spoken for a long time. I don’t see any point in changing that.’

  ‘What if I do?’

  Aspen felt her mouth tighten. ‘I believe Cruz told you not to come near me.’ And she hated pulling that card.

  Chad’s lip curled. ‘See, Boy Wonder would like to think he controls everything, but he doesn’t control me. Does he control you, Assie?’

  Aspen’s mouth tightened. There was no way she was playing mind games with her ex-husband again. She’d done that enough when they had been married.

  ‘Goodbye, Chad.’

  She turned on her heel, intent on walking away from him. but it seemed he had other ideas.

  ‘Aspen, wait.’ He jogged after her. ‘I didn’t mean to upset you.’

  ‘No?’

  ‘No. I wanted to apologise to you, actually.’

  Aspen stopped. ‘For...?’

  ‘For being such an idiot when we got married. I was in a bad way and—’

  Aspen held up her hand like a stop sign. ‘Don’t, Chad.’ She knew his game. She had heard his apologies a thousand times before. Usually they amounted to nothing. ‘It doesn’t matter anymore.’ And amazingly it didn’t. Cruz had seen to that.

  Cruz who was nothing like Chad. Cruz who was proud, but gentle. Cruz who was smart and masterful and possessive. And it thrilled her. He thrilled her. And she couldn’t wait to see him. Maybe even to tell him that she loved him if she had the courage.

  She looked at Chad now. Really looked at him. He couldn’t hurt her anymore and it made her feel a little giddy.

  ‘Chad, I’m sorry, but I don’t want to see you or talk to you. Whatever you have to say is irrelevant.’ She smiled inwardly as she borrowed one of Cruz’s favourite expressions.

  ‘I just want to be friends, Aspen, put things behind us.’

  Aspen felt petty in refusing him, but he had hurt her too much for her ever to consider him as a friend. ‘I’d like to put things behind us too, but we can’t ever be friends, Chad.’

  ‘Because of Rodriguez?’ Chad sneered. ‘He won’t want you for long. His heart belongs to his horses and nothing else.’

  Aspen shook her head. This was the Chad she knew too well.

  ‘Is it serious between you?’

  ‘That’s none of your business.’

  ‘You’re in love with him.’ Chad spat on the ground. ‘You always were.’

  ‘I wasn’t. I thought I loved you.’

  ‘But you didn’t, did you? It was him all along. I told your grandfather. That night.’

  Aspen frowned. ‘It was you who sent him out after me?’

  ‘I watched you chase him like one of his fawning groupies. Did you have sex with him? Your grandfather would never say.’

  God, this was awful, but Aspen wasn’t sure if she was more appalled that he had talked to her grandfather so intimately about her or that he was talking to her about it now.

  ‘Why do you hate Cruz so much?’ She couldn’t help asking.

  Chad shrugged and stared at her mulishly. ‘He was an arrogant SOB who never saw me as competition. He never took me seriously except where you were concerned.’

  Aspen gave a sharp, self-conscious laugh. ‘And there I was, thinking that you wanted Ocean Haven.’

  Chad shook his head. ‘I didn’t. But he did. And he’s won that too, I hear.’

  An uneasy sensation slipped down Aspen’s spine and she told herself to ignore him. To walk away. ‘What is that supposed to mean?’

  He looked at her like a hyena scenting a wounded animal. ‘Boy Wonder bought The Farm. Not literally—unfortunately—but... You didn’t know?’

  Aspen knew better than most not to listen to anything Chad said, not to place any importance on his words, but she couldn’t make herself leave. Not with her mother’s cautionary advice that if something looked too good to be true it usually was ringing loudly in her ears.

  ‘How would you know anything about the sale of The Farm?’

  ‘My daddy wanted to buy it. He had high hopes of swooping in at the last minute and picking it up for a song.’

  Aspen’s head started to hurt. ‘Well, it’s not true. Cruz hasn’t bought Ocean Haven. Your father has his facts wrong.’

  Chad shrugged. ‘I guess the guy brokering the deal is the one who has it wrong. My father did wonder when he heard Rodriguez had paid more than double the value of the property.’

  More than double?

  Aspen felt a burning sensation in the back of her throat. ‘Yes, I’d say he’s wrong. Excuse me.’

  She pushed past Chad, only to have him grab her arm.

  ‘He’s not worth it, you know. You can’t see it, but he won’t hang around for long.’

  Hardly in the mood for any more of Chad’s snide comments, Aspen turned on him sharply. ‘That’s not your business, is it?’

  Chad reeled back and covered the movement with a disbelieving laugh. ‘You’ve changed.’

  ‘So I’ve been told.’

  She said the words automatically but Aspen knew that if there was any truth to Chad’s words then she hadn’t changed at all. Because if Cruz had bought The Farm out from under her it would mean that she had fallen into the same trap she had in the past—wanting the love and affection of a man who wouldn’t think twice before walking all over her.

  Telling herself to calm down, she stabbed the button on the lift to the penthouse and used the temporary access card Cruz had given her.

  Chad had admitted that he hated Cruz, so this could just be trouble he was stirring up between them. But how would he know it would cause trouble? He couldn’t. No one knew about the private deal she had struck with Cruz. No one but her knew that this morning Cruz had promised her he had decided not to buy Ocean Haven.

  Calm, Aspen, she reminded herself, desperately trying to check her temper.

  When the lift doors opened her eyes immediately fell on an immaculately dressed woman who looked like a supermodel.

  For a minute she thought she was in the wrong suite, but deep down she knew she wasn’t.

  ‘I’m sorry...’ She frowned. ‘I’m looking for Cruz.’

  ‘He’s in the shower,’ the woman said.

  Was he, now?

  Aspen swallowed down the sudden feeling of jealousy. The woman was dressed, for heaven’s sake. ‘And you are...?’

  The woman held out her hand. ‘I’m Lauren Burnside. Cruz’s lawyer. Would I be right in assuming that you’re Aspen Carmichael?’

  The fact that his lawyer knew of her wasn’t a good sign in Aspen’s mind. ‘Yes. Would I be right in assuming you’re here about the sale of Ocean Haven?’

  The lawyer’s eyes flickered at the corners and an awkward silence prevailed over the room. ‘You would have to ask Cruz about that.’

  Cruz, not Mr Rodriguez, Aspen noted sourly. How well did this woman know him? And why did the thought of this woman running her hands all over Cruz’s naked body hurt her so much?

  Because you love him, you nincompoop.

  Aspen moved to the side table beside the Renoir and placed her hands lightly on the wood-grained surface. Memories of the last time she had stood in this exact position, with Cruz behind her, kissing her neck, murmuring tender words of encouragement to her, lanced her very soul. Yes, she loved him—and that just took this situation from bad to completely hideous.

  ‘His heart belongs to his horses and nothing else.’

  Chad getting inside her head did nothing to stave off her temper either. But still she tried to convince herself that she didn’t know the facts. That she wouldn’t jump to conclusions as Cruz had done about her eight years ago.

  ‘Lauren. Aspen!’

  Aspen turned as Cruz entered the room. Pleasure shot through her at the sight
of him fresh from the shower in worn jeans and a body-hugging white T-shirt.

  He smiled at her.

  She looked away, but he had already transferred his attention to the other woman.

  ‘You have the contracts?’

  ‘Right here.’

  Aspen turned and leant against the side table, blocking all memories of the intimacies they had shared, blocking the pain of his betrayal, her foolish feelings for him.

  ‘They would be the contracts to finalise the sale of my farm?’ she said lightly.

  Cruz’s eyes narrowed and Aspen knew. She knew!

  ‘When were you going to tell me?’

  Her casual tone must have alerted him to her state of mind because he didn’t take his eyes off her. ‘Can you excuse us, please, Lauren?’

  ‘Of course. I’ll leave the contracts on the table.’

  She threw Cruz an intimate glance and Aspen felt her cheeks heat at having witnessed it.

  ‘So, here we are, then...’ Aspen strolled across the room and stopped beside the urn of flowers on the dining table. She stroked the soft rose petals and thought how impervious they were to the fact that she felt like hoisting them up and hurling them across the room.

  ‘Yes. And to answer your earlier question I was going to surprise you over dinner.’

  Surprise her? Aspen’s mouth hit the floor and her temper shot through the roof. Surprise her!

  ‘Dinner? Dinner?’ She laughed harshly. ‘You filthy, gloating bastard.’

  ‘Aspen—’

  ‘Don’t.’ Disappointment coalesced into rage and she just needed to get away from him. ‘Don’t say a word. I don’t want to hear it. I don’t want to hear anything from you. I hate you.’

  She whirled away and would have walked out of the room—no, run out of the room—but he was on her in a second.

  ‘Aspen, let me explain.’

  ‘No.’ She shoved against him and beat her fists against his chest in her anger. ‘You tricked me. You lied to me. You told me you weren’t trying to buy Ocean Haven any more but you were.’

  ‘Dammit, Aspen.’ He bound her wrists in one of his hands but she broke loose and tried to slap him. ‘Stop it, you little hellcat. Dammit. Ow! Listen to me. I left a message for Lauren to pull the pin on the sale but she didn’t get it,’ he said, breathing hard.

  As suddenly as her rage had swept over her it left her, and Aspen felt deflated and appalled that she had hit him. She hated violence. ‘Let me go, Cruz,’ she said flatly.

  He frowned down at her. ‘It’s the truth.’

  Aspen sighed and pushed away from him, feeling shivery and cold when he released her. ‘It doesn’t matter.’

  ‘Of course it matters.’ Cruz moved to the table and picked up the wad of paper Lauren had left behind. ‘Look at this.’

  Aspen glanced at it warily. ‘What is it?’

  ‘As soon as I found out that your uncle had accepted my offer I had Lauren organise the immediate transfer of the deeds into your name. It’s all here in this contract.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘That was what I was going to tell you over dinner.’

  Aspen frowned. ‘So you’re saying our deal is still on?’

  Cruz glowered at her. ‘Of course the deal is not still on. I don’t expect you to pay me back. I’m giving you the property.’

  ‘You’re giving...’ She shook her head. ‘You mean lending me the money to buy it?’

  ‘No, I mean giving it to you.’

  ‘Why would you do that?’

  ‘Because this way you have security.’

  ‘Security?’

  ‘You would have been bankrupt within the year if you’d borrowed all that money.’

  Scowling, she moved away from him. ‘That’s not true. I have a great business plan to get Ocean Haven out of trouble and—’ She stopped as he shook his head at her as if she didn’t have a clue.

  ‘Aspen, there’s no way you can carry that kind of debt and survive,’ he said softly.

  His words registered in her brain as if she was sitting at the back of a large lecture theatre and trying to read off a tiny whiteboard. ‘So you’re just giving it to me?’

  ‘It’s just a property, Aspen.’

  It’s just a dress.

  It’s just her self-worth.

  Just her heart.

  ‘I don’t want you to give it to me,’ she said.

  ‘Why are you being so stubborn about this?’

  Why? She didn’t know. And then she did. For years she’d thought that all she wanted was security, but really—really what she wanted was validation. Trust in her judgement. What she wanted was to know that she could direct her own future. Her way. But somewhere in the last couple of days Cruz had become the centre of her world. Just as both her grandfather and Chad had been at one stage.

  Hadn’t she once pinned her hopes and dreams for the future on both of them and been let down?

  She shook her head. ‘I don’t want it that way.’

  ‘What way? Hell!’ Cruz raked a hand through his hair. ‘I don’t see what the problem is.’

  ‘I want to do it my way.’

  ‘So do it your way,’ he almost roared in frustration. ‘Debt-free.’

  ‘I would have thought you of all people would understand,’ she said, completely exasperated. ‘You hated that your mother didn’t trust you to do things your way when you were a teenager.’

  ‘This is not that same thing.’

  ‘It is to me.’

  ‘You’re being stupid now.’

  Aspen rounded on him. ‘Do not call me stupid. I had one man put me down. I won’t take it from another.’

  ‘Dios mio, I didn’t mean it like that.’ He turned his back on her and then swung back just as quickly. ‘Aspen, I’m in love with you.’

  Aspen wrapped her arms around her chest as if she was trying to hold her heart in. Was this some backhanded way for him to get Ocean Haven? She stared at him, her emotions in turmoil, a terrible numbness invading her limbs.

  ‘You’re not.’

  Cruz swore. ‘I’ve just spent over two hundred million dollars on a property I’m prepared to give you. What would you call it?’

  ‘Crazy.’

  ‘Well, it is that...’

  ‘What would you buy me for my birthday?’ she asked suddenly.

  Cruz frowned. ‘Your birthday is...two months away.’

  ‘You have no idea, do you?’

  ‘How is that relevant?’

  It was relevant because she knew if he presented her with an envelope full of cash it would break her heart. It was relevant because if he really loved her for who she was he would have some idea.

  His eyes narrowed on her face. ‘What is this? Some kind of test?’

  ‘And if it is?’

  A calmness seemed to pervade his limbs. ‘You’re being ridiculously stubborn about this. I’m giving you everything that you want. Most women would be on their knees with gratitude right now.’

  Aspen wasn’t sure if he meant sexually, but the fact that she thought it startled her. She wanted to be on her knees in front of him. She wanted to do all sorts of things to his body until he was as out of control as she was. But that wasn’t right. His power over her was so much stronger than Chad’s. Or her grandfather’s. If she stayed, if she accepted his gift, she knew she would do anything for him. Would accept anything from him. And that scared her to death. She would be completely at his mercy and a shadow of herself. A woman seeking the approval of a man who didn’t listen to her. It wasn’t how she wanted to live her life. Nor was he the type of person she wanted to share her life with. Not again.

  ‘I don’t play those games, Aspen,’ he warned.

  ‘And I
don’t play yours. Not anymore. Goodbye, Cruz. I hope you never run out of money. You’ll be awfully lost if you do.’

  Thankfully the lift doors opened just as she pressed the button, but it wasn’t divine intervention finally looking out for her. Ricardo was inside. His wide smile of greeting faltered when he glimpsed her expression and a stilted silence filled the space between them as she waited for the lift doors to close.

  Once they had, Ricardo turned to his brother. ‘What was that all about?’

  Cruz let out a harsh laugh. ‘That was Aspen Carmichael making me feel like a fool. Again.’

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  EXACTLY ONE WEEK to the day later Cruz sat on the squash court beside his brother after a particularly gruelling game. Both of them were sweat-soaked and exhausted and Cruz relished the feeling of complete burnout that had turned his muscles to rubber.

  His phone beeped an incoming message and since he was right there he checked it.

  Frustration warred with disappointment when he saw that it was from Lauren Burnside. Well, what had he expected? Aspen Carmichael to send him a message telling him how much she missed him?

  Right. She’d rejected him. How many ways did he need to be kicked before he got the message?

  ‘Now the woman sends me a text,’ he muttered.

  ‘Who?’

  ‘My lawyer.’

  Maybe if she’d dropped in he would have taken her up on her offer to get up close and personal with his abs. He wouldn’t mind losing himself in a woman right now. Smelling her sweet floral scent with a touch of vanilla. Winding his hands through her tumble of wild curls. Hearing her laugh.

  ‘You’re muttering,’ Ricardo said unhelpfully.

  That was because he needed to visit a loony bin so that he could undergo electroshock therapy and once and for all convince his body that Aspen Carmichael was not the woman to end all women. Bad enough that he’d thought he had been in love with her. That he’d told her.

  He clamped down on the unwanted memory. It had been a foolish thought that had died as soon as she’d walked out through the door. A foolish thought brought on by an adrenaline rush after the polo match.

  Feeling spent, he scrolled through Lauren’s text. ‘Idiot woman.’