Little White Lie

by Madison Night

  He felt used and stupid—so, so stupid.

  He had come to Toronto hoping to talk to Syd and find closure, and that was most certainly what he had found tonight. He was done with her—done with her stories, done with her lies.

  Forever done.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  With only one day left before the wedding, Syd had decided to come back home to prepare everything she needed for their faux wedding night. The time she’d spent at Cara’s had helped immensely. While the very thought of Caleb put her through hell, at least now she was able to say his name without crumbling to her knees in a heap of depression. Still, she was grateful her friend would be hanging around for the night. Thoughts of Caleb could sneak up on her at any given time and Cara’s shoulder might be needed at a moment’s notice.

  Cara was helping her pack a bag of items she’d need on the wedding day. “So, is Theo swinging by?” she asked, her voice even.

  Syd grinned. “I got a text from him a little bit ago. He should he here any second. Why? Do you need a minute to pretty yourself up?”

  Her friend’s face went beet red. “What? No! Why would you say that?”

  Syd giggled. It was so obvious her friend was crushing on Theo as much as he was on her.

  “And what in God’s name is that?”

  “Don’t you like it?” Syd asked, holding up an ugly, green and orange floral-patterned, floor-length flannel nightgown. Bound and determined to not let Brett touch her, she had bought the garment especially for their wedding night. She stuffed it into her overnight bag.

  “Brett’s gonna get all riled up seeing you wear that,” Cara joked.

  The doorbell rang, followed by urgent knocking. Puff barked Alert, alert! and ran down the stairs, nearly tripping over her fluff in her haste to get to the foyer. Cara shot her friend a confused look and they both headed downstairs to see who it was.

  As soon as she opened the door, Theo burst in, visibly upset. “You can’t agree to this.”

  “What’s wrong?” the girls asked simultaneously.

  He shook his head. “This is wrong. You cannot let that prick make you do this.”

  Syd put her hand on her brother’s shoulder. “Theo, we’ll be okay, honey, I promise.” The poor boy seemed as if he was about to blow a gasket.

  He stalked into the living room and threw a piece of paper on the coffee table. “Read it, go on,” he insisted. He cracked his neck from side to side. “I’m going to kill that pus-infested, back-stabbing son of a bitch!”

  Confused, Syd picked it up and scanned it, Cara peering over her shoulder.

  “Oh, hell no,” Cara said, her tone matter-of-fact.

  “He… He can’t make me do this,” Syd stammered. “How can he expect me—any of us—to be okay with this?”

  “I don’t know what he’s thinking, but I am sick and tired of his bullshit!” Theo punched the wall in anger.

  They all looked at the hole, their eyes following the flakes of drywall that swirled to the ground.

  “Please don’t beat up my house.”

  He ran a hand through his chestnut hair. “Sorry. First this bogus fucking wedding, and now this—I’m incredibly pissed off.”

  Cara took Theo’s hand, trying to calm him. “We all are,” she said softly.

  “I’m calling Brett,” Syd said, grabbing her phone and dialing his number.

  He answered on the second ring. “Oh, isn’t this a nice surprise. My bride to be, Nikoleta, calling me for a change.”

  “Who the hell do you think you are, Brett?”

  “Excuse me?”

  She waved Theo away, who was desperately trying to pluck the cell from her fingers. “I read the email you sent to my father, Brett. What makes you presume I’d ever agree to this? What gives you the right to even suggest it?

  There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line, then Brett let loose a bitter laugh. “I think you’re forgetting your place, Nikoleta. Effective tomorrow you’re a Hudson woman, and that gives me the right to do any damn thing I want. If I say sneeze, you’ll sneeze, and if I say you’re quitting your job…you are.”

  “I won’t.”

  “Yes, my love, you will. Two things will be happening immediately after the honeymoon—you’ll be packing up and moving into my house, and you will hand in your resignation to your father. You’ll be at home, with me, where I can keep tabs on you at all times.”

  Theo snatched the phone away from her. “You can’t do this, you fucking piece of—”

  “Theo!” Syd grabbed it back and shot him a glance. “That won’t help anything, please.”

  “Get your brother on a leash,” Brett warned.

  “I won’t quit the restaurant, Brett. This is my life we’re talking about here, my passion. I love my job and what I do, and, damn it, I’m good at it. Just because I’m marrying you doesn’t mean you get to have that level of control over me. I won’t be your little trophy wife to be kept locked away until you want to show me off to your friends.”

  He snorted and dismissed her comment. “I’ll deal with your hissy fit another time, Nikoleta. For now, you should focus on getting ready for the wedding. Tomorrow, you become my wife.”

  She put her phone onto the coffee table and glanced toward Theo and Cara, who were staring at her expectantly. “He hung up on me.”

  “That little…”

  She took a deep breath. “I can’t deal with this right now. He said he wouldn’t force me to resign until after I’ve moved in with him. I need to get through tomorrow first. One crisis at a time.”

  Her brother stepped in front of her and put his hands on her shoulders. “Okay, Nikki, one thing at a time, and I’ll do my best to contain my need to throttle his fucking neck.”

  “Hey, have you made any headway with that criminal lawyer you found?” she asked.

  “Which one?” he said, rolling his eyes. “I’ve only spoken to a dozen of them over the past several months.”

  “The newest one…Simonson, or something?” Cara piped up.

  “Oh, right! Yeah, no.”

  Syd twitched. “Come again?”

  He sighed in frustration. “She’s pretty much saying the exact same thing every other damn lawyer I’ve spoken to had said. I go through an identical same rigmarole—say I’m taking a college law class, and I’m doing a research paper, and told her in very vague detail about the ‘hypothetical’ situation.” He threw his hands in the air. “Like everyone else, she said that if the person was charged with murder in another country, no matter how long ago it may have occurred, that person needs to be held accountable and go to trial. And that trial would need to happen in the country the illegal act took place in.” He scowled. “Ergo…since the crime happened in Greece, Papa would have to go back to Greece for the trial.”

  “So there really is no real way out right now,” Syd murmured.

  “There’s got to be something we’re missing,” Cara started.

  “We need to dig something up on him!” Theo exclaimed, rubbing his hands together as he paced the room. “Yes, we’ll find some sordid little detail from his past, and blackmail him back!”

  “Theo, Brett may be a total jerk, but he’s no criminal. We’d never get anything like this on him.”

  “Then we can offer him money.”

  She scrunched up her face. “Are you serious? Theo, he’s from one of the wealthiest families in the city. He would laugh in our faces.”

  “Well, fuck! You deserve to be happy, not marry that jackass.”

  She frowned and fingered the boondoggle bracelet around her wrist.

  With the way I treated Caleb, and how I hurt him? I don’t deserve to be happy at all.

  “We need wine,” Cara stated and glided toward the kitchen. “Hey, what’s this?” she called from behind them. She came back into the living room holding the painting of Caleb that Sydney had hidden weeks ago.

  “Wow,” Theo breathed. “Nikki, this is amazing.”

  “Wh
at on earth are you talking about…” Syd’s heart sank to the floor when she saw what was in Cara’s hands. “I forgot about that,” she whispered.

  “Syddie, this is absolutely beautiful.” She frowned, and glanced at her friend. “You can tell how much you love him when you look at this, honey. This whole situation—it isn’t right.”

  Sydney shook her head and snatched away the painting. Tears threatened to spill and she quickly put the picture back in its hiding place, out of sight. “I don’t want to look at that, Cara, not now. Maybe not ever again.”

  An awkward silence settled over the trio.

  “Hey!” Theo piped up suddenly. “So I’m betting the wine idea Cara had might be a bad one, given the fact we’re all emotional basket cases right now. How about I go out and grab us some coffees instead?” He nodded. “Yes? Yes. I’ll be back in a few.”

  When he left, the girls flopped back onto the couch and stretched their legs out on the coffee table. Puff cuddled between them and Syd closed her eyes, trying to distract herself from the knowledge that this was her last night as a free woman.

  After a few minutes of contemplative silence, Cara said, “I’ve never seen Theo act like this before.”

  “Like what?” Syd probed.

  “All mad and angry and protective, like he’s been almost every time the name Brett is mentioned.”

  Syd smiled. “It’s because, even though he acts like a goof without a care in the world half the time, he’s got a huge heart. Lots of love to give to the right person.” She snuck a sideways glance at her best friend.

  Cara was looking up at the ceiling. “You’re right. He’s usually busy cracking jokes and being a total sweetheart. But this Theo,” she hesitated. “He’s so different.”

  “Anything you want to admit to yet, Cara?” Syd teased.

  At that, Cara popped off the couch so fast she startled poor Puff and headed toward the front door. “You okay if I take off? Theo’s coming back so you’ll be good for a bit, right? I’m going to go home and grab everything I need for a sleepover here tonight.”

  “Yeah, Car, we’ll be fine so you can avoid the topic of Theo… Oh, I mean, go home and get your stuff,” Syd joked. She got up and followed Cara into the foyer, right at the same time the front door opened and Theo appeared holding a tray with three coffees.

  He blinked. “Um…you guys weren’t, like, waiting for me right here the whole time, were you? Because that wouldn’t be strange at all.”

  “That’s precisely what we were doing. Waiting for our knight in shining caffeine to come back to the castle and save us.”

  He stuck out his tongue at his sister as he moved past her into the house.

  “Actually, I’m going to take off for a bit, so your nutter of a sister is all yours.” Cara reached for Syd and hugged her. “I’ll be back later tonight to help you finish up, okay?”

  “Do me a favor and call me before you come in case I fall asleep.”

  Cara nodded and advanced to Theo, brushing a light kiss at the corner of his mouth. “Bye,” she whispered.

  His face went a lovely shade of eggplant and he cleared his throat. “Uh, Cara?”

  She turned to face him.

  “Coffee,” was all he managed, holding the cup out to her.

  She smiled. “Thanks.”

  Syd closed the door behind her and sing-sang, “La de da!”

  “What… What just happened?” Theo asked. He was adorably rooted to the floor, the tray of coffee balanced carefully in his hand and a completely perplexed expression on his handsome face.

  “Why don’t you tell me, stud?”

  He blinked. His mouth worked, opening and closing, and yet not a single word came out.

  Syd took the tray from her brother and hooked her free arm in his, pulling him with her to the living room to sit. “It appears you have an admirer.”

  That snapped him back to this planet. “What? No, no way. Not Cara. I’ve known her for years. She’s never thought of me like that before, it’s totally impossible. To her I’m only your dorky older brother.” He started bouncing his left leg, the knee going up and down at a steady pace. “She was just being nice or something, you know, given the stress we’re all under.”

  “Nice, my ass,” Syd snorted. “Nice is a warm hug and a pat on the shoulder. She practically planted one on you.”

  Hi face got impossibly redder.

  This is awesome! Finally, something good to think about!

  “But why now, all of a sudden? I mean, nothing has changed. I’m still me.”

  “Not entirely true.”

  He glanced down at himself, his brown eyes moving left and right. He was starting to panic. “What do you mean? I haven’t changed, have I? What’d I do? Oh God, did I do something stupid?”

  Syd laughed and pulled a decorative pillow to her chest, hugging it as she spoke, thankful for the distraction from the impending wedding. “No, doofus. Till now Cara has only seen one side of you, the sweet, cuddly, funny side. Cara’s got this thing—this monster attraction—for bad boys. The way you’ve been handling Brett, and how fiercely protective you’ve been… She sees you in a different light, I guarantee it.”

  He frowned. “But I wouldn’t want her attentions strictly because I shoved that walking pimple of a human around. I’m not usually like that at all.”

  “I highly doubt you have to worry about that. I’m pretty sure deep inside she’s always liked ‘Sweet Theo’ too…and now that she’s gotten a taste of ‘Bad Boy Theo’…well, she’s starting to really like the whole package.” She laughed again. “I think she likes you.”

  “Nikki, come on, stop it,” he whined, swatting at her.

  She held the pillow up to block him. “No, seriously, Theo. I really do think she like likes you.”

  “Okay, new topic!” He stood and offered his hand to his sister. “Let’s get back to work on strategizing how we can get you out of this sham of a marriage ASAP, so you can go back to being your usual happy self.”

  She took his hand and stood beside him. She willed herself to be strong and believe things would work out for the best. “Yes, Theo. Let’s.”

  Chapter Forty

  Caleb leaned back in his lounger, enjoying the heat of the Florida sun on his bare skin. He drew a sip of beer and carefully placed the bottle beside him on the deck. He raised his arms above his head and stretched, yawning as he did so. Given how much he’d had to drink the night before, he was stunned his head wasn’t throbbing and his gut wasn’t roiling and trying to revisit the past.

  Since he’d returned from California nearly two weeks ago, Caleb had been battling bouts of either depression or anger more often than not. One minute he longed for Sydney and what could have been, and the next he was filled with hatred for her—and himself. It was like Meg all over again.

  Last night he’d had a small get-together—nothing crazy, only a few old intimate friends. And by ‘intimate friends’ he meant he’d invited all the pretty ladies he’d fucked over the years. He had planned on having a good night, hoping that would at last knock all thoughts of Syd from his mind and his heart. PJ had been very vocal in his objection to the party, stating that he was still wounded by what had transpired with Syd, that he needed more time to heal and it was too much too fast—and so Caleb had told his brother in no uncertain terms to either come to the party or go to hell.

  After all—he was Caleb Fucking Jones, the lead guitarist, co-founder and co-writer for Divine Intervention. His kind fucks till the sun comes up, they don’t settle down with one woman, fall in love, start a family…

  He shook the thought out of his head and drained the bottle of beer.

  Last night was exactly what he’d needed to remind him of the person he used to be and, he decided as he popped the cap off another brew, he liked it.

  He jerked as cold water hit his legs. “Hey now, ladies,” he warned the two blondes who were giggling by the edge of the pool. They were gorgeous and buxom and curvy and fun—a
nd clearly still not entirely sober from last night’s festivities. They were friends with one of his invited guests who had tagged along for the party, and for the life of him he couldn’t remember their names.

  “Come on in, Caleb,” one whined.

  “You’re not playing with us,” the other chimed in.

  He lifted his head off the lounge chair and pulled his shades down his nose. He looked at them over the edge of his sunglasses and grinned. “Excuse me, but I clearly played with you both last night. Several times over.” He winked and settled back.

  One giggled and her counterpart made a soft mewling sound. “Yes, you did,” they said at the same time.

  Caleb rolled his eyes. Last night had been fun, sure. He had sent everyone else home and kept these two beauties on hand for the night for some bed-messing antics. What had made them interesting was that they had enjoyed playing with each other as much as they had liked playing with him—perhaps even more so—which had added an interesting dynamic to the evening.

  He was back to his old self—making music and fucking for the hell of it.

  Life was good.

  Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, buddy.

  “What the hell, Caleb?”

  He groaned, and the girls squealed with delight. He didn’t have the patience to even glance over his shoulder and deal with his brother’s patent disapproving expression.

  “Oh my God, it’s Pat Jones!”

  “PJ!”

  They hauled their naked bouncy selves out of the pool and boinged their way over to his brother.

  “Whoa, ladies, no, no touchy,” Pat cried. “You’re soaking wet and I’d prefer to stay dry.”

  “We’d prefer to stay wet,” one of them purred.

  Caleb groaned and covered his face—he was almost embarrassed for her.

  “Uh, right. So, ladies…you really need to get going.”

  “What? Why?” came the synchronized moans.

  “Because my brother isn’t nearly as much fun as I am.”

  They giggled.

  “Because,” Pat said sternly, “I said it’s time to go.” He came around to Caleb’s lounge chair and bent to pick up the clothes that were strewn beside it. He tossed the girls their towels and belongings. “Go. Now.”