Vandervilles: Book 1 : When Beauty Met The Beast

by Khardine Gray

  "Wade." She whispered his name against his lips.

  "Why did you leave me, baby?"

  She held his gaze and looked at him with a hint of surprise. "I thought you'd want me gone."

  "Woman, do you know how hard it was to get you there in the first place?" He probably gave away too much emotion there, but he didn't care. "Come on, let's go."

  "Okay."

  He smiled, noting that she didn't even bother to look back at the ingredients she'd laid out for the cake.

  He took her hand and led her through the door.

  Chapter 10

  Chloe

  "Here's to another successful show. Brought to you by my amazing team," Regina declared with pride as she raised her champagne glass.

  Everyone cheered and clapped. Regina stood at the end of the runway looking every bit the fashion queen she was with her white-blonde hair glistening against the light and a beautiful gold gown that gave her an ethereal appearance. Next to her was Pierre Beaumont, the man of the evening. Beside him stood the lineup of models who'd worked hard to make tonight a success.

  Tonight was definitely a true success, and Chloe knew it signified the start of something amazing. There was already a buzz around Pierre's work but tonight took everything to the next level. Both for him and Regina.

  The excitement of tonight's show electrified the air. Pierre's cutting-edge ensembles of eccentric designs accented with bold details and unusual embellishments had mesmerized everyone. His infallible masterpiece designs with daring aesthetic quality mixed classic with the latest contemporary trends.

  Pierre had undoubtedly brought out the true essence of originality.

  Chloe was so honored to have had a hand in it. If nothing else she was proud of herself and the talent she displayed in putting the show together. Sometimes, like tonight, she surprised herself. She was surprised at what she could create and her never-failing potential.

  Everyone continued to cheer as Regina and Pierre bowed. Chloe smiled wide when Regina turned towards her and raised her glass.

  "This evening wouldn't be possible without this wonderful lady here." Regina pointed at Chloe. Blood rushed to Chloe's cheeks. She hadn't expected that at all. "A special round of applause for Chloe Matthews."

  To Chloe's surprise, the crowd cheered even more.

  Chloe was standing below the stage in the front row of seats. She placed her hand at her heart and gave Regina a curt nod and smiled, then looked around at everyone as they cheered. She couldn't have felt more appreciated.

  Her eyes landed on Wade who was standing on the other side of the room next to Taylor and Richard. When she focused on him, he offered a pleased smile, which she happily returned.

  As she looked at him, she found herself melting at the memory of last night. He'd taken her to a beautiful Japanese restaurant called Aika, then finished the night with a romantic walk on the beach. It was nice. He'd held her hand and she actually felt like they were a couple. It was beautiful.

  "You're drooling," Wes said, nudging his elbow into her side. He didn't knock into her hard, but it was enough to make her already weakened knees wobble.

  "You leave her alone, Wes," Kelly warned. She was next to Wes and eyed him sharply. "It's sweet. Chloe has a boyfriend," Kelly teased.

  "Kelly," Chloe hissed. As close as she and Wade had gotten, she would never go around saying he was her boyfriend unless they discussed it first. Nice as it sounded, she wouldn't go jumping ahead to assumptions only to find herself wrong.

  "I'm going to vomit." Wes shook his head and sauntered away. Chloe shook her head at him.

  The after party started minutes later and soon everyone was celebrating the success of the show. Lots of different people, who were either from the press or fashion reps from other magazines, came to talk to her, engaging her in deep conversation. It was a busy night and she spent half the time trying to make her way back to Wade, but he was busy too. Every time she had a clear moment to get to him she saw him talking with some of his old friends. New friends, too, who she couldn't help but notice were mostly models. He was talking with a few of them now.

  "Why don't you go over there and get your man away from those sirens?" Kelly giggled, coming up to her. She leaned into her shoulder playfully.

  "Because he isn't my man," Chloe corrected her.

  "Of course, my mistake. I must have mistaken the non-existent you in our house again, and I guess that wasn't you running off with a travel bag only yesterday. Off to Wade's house again. Are you ever coming back?"

  "Yes, of course I am." Chloe had to laugh at the sarcastic expression on Kelly's face.

  "Well, you should know that I saw Pisces in your bed again. She might take your room if you're not careful." She giggled. "You look happy, Chloe. This may be something to think about."

  "I am happy." Happy was perhaps too mild a description to explain how she felt. Her insides were practically glowing. She brought her hands together and offered Kelly an appreciative smile.

  "Hey look. Go, there's your chance. He's free." Kelly pointed over at Wade exiting the hall.

  Chloe glanced over at him, then returned her gaze to Kelly. "I'll see you in a little while."

  "Or next week." Kelly rolled her eyes and laughed.

  "I'll call you." She supposed she was ready to leave now. Chloe wanted to spend the rest of the evening with Wade, wrapped in his arms, indulging on him. It was the start of the weekend and she wouldn't have to worry about going to work tomorrow, or anywhere else. She wouldn't have to worry about anything until Monday when she made her passage to Regina's office to find out if she got the job or not. Until then she would take every happy moment she could get her hands on.

  She gave Kelly a quick hug then made her way through the crowd. Once she was outside the hall, she walked down the corridor that led to the main entrance. She guessed Wade must have come this way because the other direction led back to the offices. There were a few people out here.

  She looked ahead and saw him, so she sped up. Chloe was about to call out to him when one of the models from the show rushed over to him, threw her arms around him and started kissing him.

  Chloe halted in her tracks. She stopped and watched, waiting for him to end the kiss, but he didn't. When his hands crept up to the woman's waist, Chloe turned away and walked back the way she came. She walked to the annex and from there took the back exit. Once outside she allowed the tears to fall.

  She was so stupid. So very stupid. Despite the continuous warnings she gave herself, she still held out for the hope that she could have something special with Wade. But she didn't. She should have been more sensible and listened to logic and all the cautions her brain flagged to her.

  Her legs could barely carry her as she walked away.

  Wade

  Wade looked for Chloe everywhere. He asked around for her and even spoke to Wesley. No one had seen her.

  Kelly told him Chloe went looking for him, so he continued his search to no avail. He tried calling her several times, but there was no answer. That was when he left and made his way back to his house. He wondered if she was sick or something.

  His heart sank when he got home and saw that she wasn't there either. That was when he knew something was wrong.

  When he got to the beach house and found her sitting on the terrace holding Pisces, he definitely knew something wasn't right. She seemed surprised to see him, but it was evident that she was upset, and looked like she'd been crying.

  "Chloe, what are you doing here?" He moved over to her.

  She flinched as he attempted to touch her and Pisces jumped off her lap. Chloe stood up and glared at him, resembling the Chloe she was when he first came home.

  "I saw you."

  "Saw me what?" There was only one crazy thing that happened tonight, and he hoped like hell it wasn't that she was referring to.

  "Kissing that model," she replied quite bluntly. Her autumn-colored eyes were full of hurt and sadness.

  "Did you s
ee me stop her?" He had. He knew Morgan a long time ago, and she was one of the women he admittedly hooked up with on several occasions. He told her the same as he did the brunette yesterday and all the other women who gravitated his way tonight. He said he couldn't.

  "I didn't. I wasn't sure how long the kiss would last and didn't plan to time it either."

  "Chloe I stopped kissing her, or rather I stopped her from kissing me."

  "It doesn't matter," she said, interrupting his next words.

  "Why?" He was starting to feel irritated now. He thought he'd done the right thing. What was he supposed to do, throw Morgan off him?

  "I can't see you anymore," she declared, and as she said that it felt like someone had dragged a rug out from under his feet.

  All he could do was stare at her. Wade wanted to scream at her but restrained himself. "Why?"

  "It's best that we stop this now before it's too late." She swallowed hard and glanced away from him.

  "Too late for what, Chloe? I didn't realize you had some kind of countdown, or a time frame on our relationship."

  "We don't have a relationship," she snapped.

  It felt like a knife had been plunged into his heart.

  No, wait…

  The knife was already in his heart. She put it there when she said she couldn't see him anymore. All she did just now was twist it.

  "Right, I see. I do the right thing, and somehow it's still wrong."

  "Wade, it seriously doesn't matter. You don't have to explain anything to me. I'm not your girlfriend or anybody. You aren't committed to me in any way, so don't explain. Go and be with your model." A tear ran down her cheek as she spoke and she wiped it away.

  "What do you want, Chloe? What the hell do you really want?" He had to ask because her words and her tears spoke confliction.

  "Nothing. Please just go."

  "No. I deserve to know why you'd want to ruin a good thing over a stupid kiss that meant nothing. You're just jealous."

  "Yes. I am jealous, and I shouldn't be. Wade, it's not just the kiss." She looked away, out towards the sea watching the waves wash over the shore. When she looked back to him, he saw fear in her eyes. "I can't be with you because sooner or later you'll hurt me. I don't want to be one of your women and just sleep with you. I want someone who I know is mine."

  "So you want to own a person, have control over them, over me?"

  His anger was talking now. Wade knew what she meant, but he was annoyed at the decision she'd taken on herself. Anger swelled within him and blindsided him. Despite all his attempts to be with her, this was what she chose, and she couldn't see that he'd changed. She couldn't see what she meant to him, or that all he did was think about her. And she wouldn't believe it if he told her because she clearly had him all figured out. She had him so figured out she knew it was best to stop any relations with him before she got hurt. What about him?

  She looked completely taken aback by his words. "It's not owning." More tears streamed down her cheeks. "It's love and respect."

  He'd lost control, and couldn't regain it. "If that's what love and respect are for you I don't want it."

  Too late to take it back, too late. The moment the words left his mouth he regretted them. There was a sudden sadness that filled her beautiful eyes. It seemed to come from deep within. It's the kind of sadness he wanted to protect her from, but he was the cause of it.

  She sucked in a sharp breath, shook her head, and ran past him, back into the house.

  Wade closed his eyes and squeezed them tight. He could have kicked himself. Shit, he really could have kicked himself. He just did the one thing he feared he would do to her.

  He disappointed her, and he knew he hurt her deeply.

  He didn't sleep that night.

  His argument with Chloe weighed heavily on his mind. He thought about what they said to each other and the situation. His mind took him right back to the day when he considered leaving her alone, and a part of him wished he had. If he had, he wouldn't feel like this now. As if a part of him was missing.

  He'd obsessed over her so much since he'd been back that he didn't think about the implications of what could go wrong.

  Wade didn't know what he felt for her, but he knew that he enjoyed being with her.

  And he wished he was with her now. He wished she was here with him, instead of this. The emptiness and loneliness of a big house that was full of life only yesterday.

  Although she hadn't spent that much time here, he saw traces of her in every room. Her hairbrush sat on the chest of drawers, her travel bag on the floor next to the bed. Her shower pearls were on one of the floating shelves in the bathroom next to his shaving cream, and that awful multi-grain bread she insisted on buying rested on the kitchen counter half eaten.

  She was everywhere. Remnants of her and the life she brought to him. It saddened him that she wasn't here and would probably never come back.

  He told her he didn't want her love or respect. That told her enough, except the truth.

  Wade decided he'd give his mother a visit to take his mind off Chloe. He needed to catch up with her anyway and find out if there were any further developments. She hadn't said anything over the last few days, but that didn't mean nothing had happened. She'd looked quite upset when he and Taylor told her about Penelope, and it bothered her that the news had come from them. Chances were she'd keep any developments to herself.

  He found her sitting on one of the wicker chairs on the patio, gazing out at the scene below where the rich blue water in the pool blended with the Jacuzzi. Below that was the stretch of garden she used to spend hours in when he was younger.

  She sipped from a glass of iced tea and removed the slice of lemon that hinged on the side of the glass, placing it on the saucer before her. She turned to face him as he approached. It was only then he noticed the pale look in her skin and her sullen eyes. Last night was a grand success, but that seemed meaningless as he observed her.

  "Mom. Are you okay?" He rested his hand on her shoulder.

  She swallowed hard and seemed to find it difficult to answer. "No son."

  He pulled up a seat and sat in front of her. "What happened? I thought last night would give you a little boost." He offered a smile.

  When her hands started to shake, he realized she was more than upset. She looked afraid.

  "What's going on, Mom?"

  When she looked away from him, he knew something was going on. Something else.

  "Your father didn't come home last night. He does that a lot and tells me it's work stuff. Of course, I know it's not. But I could have done with him being here last night." Her voice shook as she spoke and she looked so unlike the strong woman he was used to.

  "What happened last night?"

  A tear ran down her cheek as she picked up a piece of note paper that sat next to the plate. It was folded in half.

  "What's this?"

  Her hands shook even more as she handed it to him.

  Wade looked at the paper and saw a drawing of his mother asleep. Underneath the drawing were the words

  You look beautiful tonight.

  She wiped the tears that streamed down her cheeks and tried to catch her breath.

  "Mom, what is this?" His stomach clenched and his chest tightened. Wade knew what he thought it was but he didn't want to believe it. It was bad enough to deal with incidents that happened within the family, but what happened outside was beyond control.

  "Someone's been watching us, watching all of us, and clearly they were in my room last night."

  He released a sharp breath. "What?"

  "Your father knew, and I found all these threatening notes in his office. He said he was taking care of it, but Wade, they were in my room, and he wasn't here. He wasn't here. I was alone in the house with this person." She broke down.

  Wade put his arm around her. "Mom we need to call the police."

  "Your father didn't want the police involved, and that terrifies me, Wade. Gilly has someone
looking into it, but this has just pushed me over the edge."

  "I'll come back and stay."

  "No, no. I don't want you to do that." She moved out of his arms and shook her head. "You need your place."

  "Mom, you're more important than having my own place."

  "Wade they've been watching all of us. You coming back isn't going to help."

  "Maybe not, but it will mean you won't be alone here."

  "No." She shook her head again. "I don't want you to. You've looked so happy these last few weeks, and that's all I want you to focus on."

  It was ironic. Wade wasn't happy because he had his own house. He was happy because of Chloe, but he didn't have her anymore.

  They didn't need this problem now. He didn't need it.

  "Okay. Mom listen, I'm going to look into the security system." And hire a few bodyguards. He needed people who could take care of her if something happened.

  "Don't tell Taylor," she said quickly.

  "What? Mom, she should know if some weirdo is watching her. Can you imagine how it would freak her out if the same thing happened to her?" Taylor would be terrified, and that beach house was like a free for all with them keeping the door unlocked. He went in and out as he pleased, and Chloe kept her windows open.

  He stiffened at the thought of Chloe.

  Chloe stayed in that house last night. He didn't know if Kelly had gone home. She looked pretty hooked on one of the male models when he spoke to her before he left the show, and neither she nor Taylor were there when he went to the house to find Chloe.

  Like previous times he'd just walked through the door, and it was late, after-midnight late.

  Wade got up. She was going to say something else but stopped as she looked past him and widened her eyes. At first, he thought his father had returned, but quickly realized it couldn't have been because his mother had never looked at his father like that before. With love, trust, and admiration.

  Wade turned to see Brian Moretti, an old family friend, or rather one of his mother's old friends. Wade had a feeling his father didn't particularly like the man. He'd been alright in Wade's eyes, but he'd always suspected something more to the friendly relationship he claimed to have with his mother. Brian always seemed to fill that hole in her life. Right now his timing couldn't have been better.