Love & Lies

by Jessica Wood

  “I love you too; at least I think I do, but that’s not enough to build a relationship on.”

  “What does that mean?” Ben asked, feeling truly hurt by the remark.

  “It means I don’t know who you really are. I thought I did when I thought you were Liam Taylor. I knew everything about him; his likes and dislikes, his childhood, his passions and dreams. Then I found out there was no Liam Taylor, just Ben Liamsworth. He looks like the man I loved and he sounds like him, but who is he really. The truth is I don’t have any idea who you are and if you’re serious about loving me and wanting me to give you a second chance; then I need the truth.”

  “You’re right.” Ben said after a long pause. He got up and paced the room. His naked body gleamed in the morning sunlight that dappled through the windows and his face was the most serious she had ever seen. Gemma sat up in bed and wrapped the sheet around her, listening as he finally poured out his story.

  “Do you remember that day in the mansion by the pool-side when I told you my mother had left me and my father for another man? Well, that story was true. I was ten years old when it happened. My mother was Brooke Liamsworth and my father’s name is Walter. She was beautiful, sophisticated, and drew everyone to her like a moth to a fire. My father worshiped her. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for my mother, but she wasn’t content with him. He wasn’t exciting enough for her and spent too much time at the office. She wanted to travel and see the world. One day I came home from school and Dad wasn’t at work. He was sitting in his favorite chair with a weird look on his face, staring at a blank television screen. I asked him where mom was and he just broke into tears. He told me she had left us for his business partner. They had flown off to Mexico together. My father was devastated; the fire of her light had burned him into nothing but ash. Not me; I was angry and the fire hardened my heart into steel.”

  “I’m so sorry. It must have been awful for you to go through that, especially as a young child.” Gemma blinked back the tears of sympathy that welled in her eyes.

  “A few months later my mother came back, saying the affair had been a mistake. I vowed never to forgive her, but my father took her back and his weakness sickened me. It was obvious she didn’t love or respect him anymore; she just missed the money. I made up my mind right then that I would never be so blinded by love that I would let someone stomp on my heart and use me like that. So I built a shield of armor around myself so thick, no one could penetrate it. I shut everyone out of my life; never making friends or letting anyone get close to me. When I grew up and took over my father’s empire, I was as ruthless in business as I was in my personal life. I thought by being heartless I was protecting myself from ever being hurt, so I became as vicious a person as possible and did some awful things.”

  “What kind of things did you do?” There was no judgment in Gemma’s eyes, but she needed to know the whole truth.

  Ben took a deep breath for courage and decided he might as well confess everything. “I didn’t want to let anyone know the real me, so I created a fake identity for myself. I took Liam from my surname and Brook from my mother; and called myself Liam Taylor. As Liam, I vowed revenge against my mother’s lover and did everything I could to ruin his life. I undercut him in every way I could think of until he was financially ruined. Then I met you, and it changed my life.”

  “Me?” Gemma was taken aback by the statement.

  “I was at the Manfield Unified Bank and saw you walking out with a look of total heartbreak in your eyes. I recognized it as the same look my father had in his eyes every day. I don’t know why, but I decided to follow you. “

  Gemma remembered that horrible day when she had been denied a bank loan. It had broken her heart to think she had let her parents down and they would lose everything they had worked so hard for. Ben’s voice seemed far away as he said, “As I watched you, the expression in your eyes changed and the fire inside you reignited into a flame of passion. You were determined, strong, and I was mesmerized by it. My only role models had both been weak. I’d never seen anyone with the strength to pull themselves up from heartbreak and immerge stronger for it. I had to learn how you did it, so I watched you. I followed you everywhere you went and I was even foolish enough to buy that file on you from a private investigator.”

  “Why?” Gemma asked. She knew she should be horrified by depths of his obsession for her, and yet she felt no fear. Just sadness that his life had led him to such desperate longing.

  Ben searched for the words to explain his motivations, but they seemed inadequate. As she sat staring at him, he knew he had to try. “The more I learned about you, the more impressed I was by your dedication and perseverance. You weren’t driven by greed, anger, despair, selfishness, pain or hate as all my experiences had taught me. You were driven purely by love, kindness, and a belief that what you were doing was for the greater good. It inspired me to want to try and help you. I thought maybe if I did I could experience some of the passion and love for life that you seemed to have.”

  “That’s when you asked me to come stay in your mansion for thirty days in exchange for the loan I needed to save my parents business.” Gemma eyes lit up with understanding, encouraging Ben to go on.

  “Yes. It was first time I’d ever done something to help someone else. I tried to convince myself I wasn’t doing anything good by blackmailing you to live with me, but the idea had consequences I hadn’t expected. I had never lived with a woman before and I wasn’t prepared for how much of an emotional affect it would have on me. Things became intimate between us very quickly; beyond sex, I’m talking about a true emotional connection. You stripped away my armor and got me to open up my heart to you. Only then…”

  “What?” Gemma asked as Ben hesitated. She got up from the bed, dragging the bed sheet behind her like a robe so she could wrap her arms around his chest. “Only what?”

  “Only then I didn’t have my armor to protect me anymore and for the first time in a long time, my heart was vulnerable again. I had fallen in love with you; actually fallen in love. Only I wasn’t Liam Taylor like I had told you I was; how could I tell to you the truth after lying to you about my identity for an entire month? I tried to do it so many times, but I never had the guts to go through with it. I was a terrible person and I knew you would hate me for it.”

  “You’re not a bad person.” Gemma held his face in her delicate hands, forcing him to look into her eyes and see that she meant it. “You were just hurt, that’s all.”

  “Does that mean you could forgive me? Is there still a chance we could make things work between us?”

  In answer, Gemma pressed her lips to his and kissed him. They lay back onto the bed together and their naked bodies molded together as one. He was hard for her almost instantly as she mashed her incredible tits against his naked torso and ran her delicate hands over his muscles.

  His probing fingers found she was still wet for him and he sank his erection deep into her eager folds, forcing a moan of pleasure from her lungs. They undulated together in perfect rhythm, gasping and moaning, clutching and holding, squeezing and kissing, fucking and coming. Their mutual orgasm seemed to last forever as they just kept moving together as one. They were made for each other and in that moment they both knew they belonged together forever.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Gemma Adams had never been so happy. Every day that week she woke up with a big smile on her face and rushed to her phone where a text message would be waiting from Ben. Good morning beautiful! I hope u had sweet dreams.

  After she showered and got dressed for the day, she would call him and they would have breakfast together; him from the dining room in his mansion and her from the kitchen in her apartment.

  “So, what did chef Stephan make you this morning?” Gemma asked when she heard him chewing into the phone.

  “Nothing you would like; dry burnt toast and lumpy oatmeal.” Ben said through a mouthful, making Gemma giggle.

  “Nice try, but I know
it was probably something wonderful like eggs Florentine or those incredible pastries he knows I love. Thanks for trying to make me feel better though about my bagel and crappy coffee.”

  “I tried.” Ben laughed. He loved the way she could make something as mundane as breakfast fun. She filled his days with laughter and made him feel young and alive. With each day, he fell more in love with her and realized his life would be dark without her. “Hey, why don’t I make it up to you by taking you out of town for the weekend? What do you say?”

  “That would be great.” Gemma said, but I have a lot of work to do. Maybe I should spend some extra time in the office.

  “Is it anything I could help you with?” Ben asked. When Gemma hesitated, he said light heartedly “I know you don’t like to talk about work when we’re together and I respect your independence in wanting to do things yourself; but now it’s interfering with Me Time. I planned on having lots of sex this weekend in a beautiful tropical paradise. It would be shame to have to take a bottle of lotion as my date instead of you.”

  Gemma couldn’t help but laugh at the joke, but she recognized the truth in his teasing. She had been spending a lot of extra hours at the office, and even when she wasn’t there she was preoccupied with it.

  “I’ll tell you what, let me see how much I can get accomplished today and I’ll text you to let you know if I can go.”

  “I guess that will have to be good enough.” Ben acquiesced. “I love you. Now get to work; my sex life depends on it!”

  Gemma was still smiling by the time she got to work and strolled into the office. Her chestnut hair flowed freely to her waist like she wore it ever since she found out that’s the way Ben liked it best. She was wearing a green patterned skirt with a simple white silk blouse and the green emerald pendant necklace Ben had given back to her after they got back together.

  “I believe this belongs to you.” Ben had said after they had officially gotten back together and Gemma had gasped with surprise as he clasped it around her neck again.

  “My necklace! Thank you! I’m sorry I gave it back to you after we broke up. It was spiteful and petty. I just wanted to hurt you like you’d hurt me. I can’t believe you still have it and are willing to let me have it back.”

  “I bought it for you because it reminded me of the way your green eyes look when they sparkle. It’s yours to keep forever, no matter ever happens between us. It belongs to you.”

  Gemma had worn it every day since, and often sat staring at it when she was on hold on the phone, waiting to talk to the next private investigator. The work was tedious and often required her to stay late after everyone else had gone. Still, knowing that Ben was waiting to take her out to dinner and make love to her every evening, made the work seem light.

  “Someone’s in a good mood, again.” Her father, Harry Adams teased as he dropped in on her hard at work, crossing the last private detective in the tri-state area off her list. She’d been twirling her pendant in her fingers as she made notes from her phone interview with him, and humming the song she and Ben had danced to during their last date.

  “What was that Dad?” she asked, startled out of her daydream.

  “You were humming again and I think it has to do with a certain gentleman you’ve been out with almost every night this week.”

  “I know I’ve become one of those annoying saps that can’t stop thinking about her boyfriend. I just can’t help it! I’m in love!” Gemma said, grinning uncontrollably from ear to ear.

  “I’m glad, sweetheart.” Harry said, giving his little girl a loving squeeze on the shoulder. She may be twenty-six, but she was still his baby. Closing the door of her office for privacy, he said “It’s good to see you in love and so happy, just don’t let things move too quickly. You can’t tell me you weren’t living with that last boyfriend you had; I know you were. And I hate to say it, but that doesn’t seem to have worked out very well. So make sure you take your time with this one.”

  Gemma nodded thoughtfully. It would give him a heart attack for sure if he ever found out Ben was the man she’d lived with for a month. Smiling sweetly, she said “I will, Daddy.”

  Satisfied, Harry decided to change the subject. “I see you’ve been working a lot of extra hours lately. What have you been working on that’s so important?”

  “I didn’t want to worry you, but it’s not going well, so I think it’s better if I tell you now.” Gemma said with a heavy sigh.

  Harry listened as his daughter told him everything about her suspicions that someone was preparing for a hostile takeover and that it was probably the same person who had been driving them towards bankruptcy. The only thing she left out was the part about the private investigator who took pictures of her. When she was finished, Harry just held his head in his hands, muttering to himself. “Why would someone do this? What do they want? Who could they be?”

  “As aggressive as their being, it doesn’t look good.” Gemma didn’t sugar coat her answer. “I can only assume that as soon as they have controlling interest, they plan to break apart the company and sell it for parts.”

  “That would ruin a lifetime of work for me and your mother!” Harry cried out. “Why would anyone be so vicious? We’re not that big a company. They won’t gain a big profit from it!”

  “I was hoping you might be able to give some insight on why.” Gemma said. “Who do you know that might want to get revenge on you? Is there anyone you’ve hurt in your rise to make Adams Corporation what it is today? Anyone with a personal grudge against you or even mom?”

  Harry shook his head pitifully. It broke Gemma’s heart to see her father so distraught. “I can’t think of anyone.”

  “What about when you and mom split up when I was little. Did you or mom have an affair?”

  Harry turned so deathly pale; Gemma knew she had hit the mark. As much as it hurt her to ask, she needed to know. She moved from her desk to sit in the chair next to her father and gently held his hand. “What happened Dad, did you cheat on Mom? Was that why she kicked you out?”

  Harry shook his head, but tears filled his eyes. “No. I thought your mother was cheating on me. I was working long days trying to get the company off the ground and she was always telling me how lonely she was. There was someone she was always flirting with, and I thought for certain she was having an affair with him. I became insanely jealous and told her I was going to have an affair of my own. She kicked me out, telling me if I couldn’t trust her then I should get out.”

  “Who was it?” Gemma asked. Her skin prickled with intuition.

  Harry pursed his lips, refusing to say. “I confronted the guy and told him I had found receipts for a motel in his desk.”

  “Who was it, Dad? Who was mom having an affair with?” Gemma was more convinced than ever that her father knew who was trying to ruin them. As painful as it was for him to say and as awful as it was for her to hear; she needed him to tell her the name of the man.

  Harry was openly crying now and it broke Gemma’s heart to see him this way. He said to her “That’s when he confessed to me that he’d been secretly having an affair with a model he’d fallen in love with. Your mother was innocent; she wasn’t the one he was having an affair with; she was just the one person who knew about his infidelity. I almost ruined my marriage because of my own damned insecurities and jealousy. Your mother didn’t deserve to be treated like that. I apologized to her and she agreed to take me back if I’d go to counseling.”

  Gemma was swept away in a hurricane of emotions; relief that her parents hadn’t cheated on each other. Disappointment and frustration and she was still no closer to saving the family business.

  “Well, I guess that puts me right back in square one with no idea who’s trying to ruin our company and no way to stop them.” Gemma sighed.

  Harry patted her on the knee and said “Don’t lose heart, sweetheart. We’ve survived worse problems than this. We’ll begin again on Monday. Now take the weekend off before you burn yourself out; bo
sses orders.”

  “Yes, sir.” Gemma gave her father a playful salute, but she was grinning happily. She had been working too hard lately. It would be nice to spend the weekend with Ben relaxing.

  As she walked out to her car, she sent Ben a quick text he was sure to like. Off work for the weekend.

  He texted her back right away. Good. Go home and pack a bag. I will b there 2 pick u up in 1 hour.

  Where R we going? Gemma typed back.

  It’s a secret but you R sure 2 love it! Was his only reply.

  Gemma felt a thrill of anticipation, wondering where they were going. Smiling happily to herself, she got into her car and turned on the engine. Suddenly, she got an uneasy feeling, like someone was watching her from the nearby shrubs. As she peered at them, she thought she saw a glint of light, like a ray of sunlight reflecting off a camera lens. No sooner had she seen it than it was gone.

  “Now I know I need a weekend off. I’m completely paranoid.” She said aloud to herself.

  She rushed home and started packing her bag, but it was impossible without knowing where she was going. She put all her clothes in and took them back out again at least half a dozen times. In the end she just took her toothbrush. Anything else she needed, Ben would just have to buy her when they got there; especially if he was going to keep their destination a secret.

  “Ready to go?” Ben asked with a grin when she opened her apartment door for him.

  “Ready!” she grinned and showed him the toothbrush.

  “Kinky! I like it!” Ben teased and she punched him lovingly on the arm. “Seriously, though. You might want to bring some sun block and a swimsuit.”

  “We’re going to the beach!” Gemma squealed with delight. Suddenly she knew exactly what she wanted to pack. Holding up her index finger, she said “Wait here just one minute! I’ve got a few more things to put in my suitcase.”