His gaze landed on her bag which Lily probably thought was discreetly tucked away, but who could miss a bag that big? Now where was that damn camera?
He tried digging through the abyss that was her purse and finally gave up, pouring everything onto Lena’s desk. A letter slipped out of an envelope, and he couldn’t help but read its contents.
He did a double-take. Then a triple-take. Then he reread the entire letter to make sure he was not losing his mind. Surely he was hallucinating or something. His Lily would never do anything so asinine as go out of state to New York City, of all places, by herself. And she would not plot behind his and Ethan’s backs while she was sleeping with them every night.
Right?
His intestines knotted, and he felt sick. Ah, hell. Who was he kidding? Of course she would leave. What the hell did he have to offer her? Ethan was “the nice twin.” What was he? The asshole twin? He winced. The description fit.
His hands shook, which pissed him off. Damn her and her ability to make him panic like this. No. No, this was not happening. He was not going to let Lily go off all by herself into the city. Those bastards would take one look at her and know she was sweet and naïve and take advantage. He balled his hands into fists, trying to control his rage at just the very idea. The letter crumbled in his grip. Surely the fact that his heart was racing and the empty, hollow pit forming in his gut simply meant that he was worried about her, not panicking at the idea of losing her.
He kicked himself. Why did her leaving matter, anyway? It wasn’t like he was head-over-heels in love with her like Ethan was. Sure, he cared about her a lot, but that was as far as it went on his end. But how did she feel about him? The idea of her leaving gave him a painfully hollow feeling in his chest, but of course that was for Ethan. After all, Jackson Stone did not have a heart to break, but he did feel for his brother. Ah, Jesus. He would have to nurse Ethan back to health after Lily dropped this bomb on him.
Unless he got to her first.
Yes. That was it. He would get her to confess to Ethan before his brother fell even more in love with her.
* * * *
Lily knew something was horribly wrong the moment Jackson practically stomped back into the room like a pissed-off bull. Without any modicum of social decorum, he walked up to her, grabbed her arm, and said, “I need to talk to you.”
She glanced up at Ethan, who regarded them with a puzzled expression.
“Now,” Jackson pressed.
“Uh—” She fought against his grip. “—we’re in the middle of a conversation.”
“It’s fine,” Ethan supplied, looking at the reporter. “I’ll meet the two of you in a few minutes.”
“Great. See, Lily? Let’s go.” With that, Jackson dragged her none-too-gently into the hallway. His face was mottled with an angry red, and his breathing was erratic.
His fingers dug into her arm, and she tried to pull away. “Ow! Jackson, you’re hurting me!”
“Not as much as you’re going to hurt Ethan. He’s already picking out china patterns, for Christ’s sake.”
“Ethan? What the hell are you talking about?”
“Don’t treat me like I’m stupid. You know what I’m talking about. The letter? Or did you not think I’d find out? Or maybe that was your plan all along. Get Jackson to get your camera and—Oh! What’s this letter?”
Dread settled like curdled milk in her stomach. “W–what do you mean?”
“I’ve got to hand it to you, Lily. That was brilliantly played. All that shit about you hating us? It just made us want you more. Damn, you’re good. You made us eat out of the palm of your hand.”
“Excuse me?”
“Oh, yeah. Just dangle yourself in front of us like some sort of forbidden fruit. So unattainable.”
Rage reared its ugly head, blasting through her panic. “You jackass! You’re way off base, but if you stop talking, I’ll forgive you for being so thick skulled.”
Jackson scoffed. “Look at you, being all self-righteous.”
“Of course I am! You’re accusing me of things that aren’t true.”
“Not true? Not true!” He lowered his face so close to hers she could see the blond tips of his eyelashes. “You expect me to buy the trembling lip routine when I have this—” He whipped the letter out and brandished it in her face. “—to back me up?”
“Oh, God. Jackson—”
“Save it, babe. I’ve got your number. I have to congratulate you on finagling Ethan and me into this. Wow. You had us working our asses off in the middle of the Texas summer for you, and we thought we had it good getting to look at you in those shorts and that cute little tool belt. And don’t even get me started on the sex.”
He put a hand on his chest. “Damn. I gotta say that it was some of the best I’ve ever had. I don’t think Ethan will ever stop thinking about it. Poor guy. I’m going to have to put him back together after you’re gone. I might even have to find a Lily-lookalike.”
He might as well have sucker punched her in the stomach for how painfully breathless she felt. She never thought him capable of being so deliberately cruel, but something in his eyes told her he had not even started yet.
Lily swallowed her tears and fought to be reasonable. “My God, can we talk about this somewhere else? Guests are just down the hall.”
“It’s okay, Lily. I won’t tell anyone else that you’re cold hearted and that you lead softies like my brother around for the fun of it. Your secret is safe with me.”
“Stop it, Jackson. Just stop. Now you’re just being mean—”
“What I really don’t get is why you didn’t tell us. I mean, if you had just wanted some action to get you past your dry spell, we would have been happy to oblige.”
Before she realized it, she had levered her hand back and swung, wanting to slap him so hard he would see stars. And maybe bloody his mouth up a bit. But his hand shot out and wrapped around her wrist, making a mockery of her.
“Fuck you, Jackson Stone. Fuck you and your goddamn pride.”
He yanked her closer to him, and for a moment, she feared he would hurt her. The fear only fed her anger, though, and she shoved against his chest until he let her go. “You son of a bitch. Don’t you fucking handle me like that ever again, or I swear to God I’ll make you regret it.”
“Don’t you talk to me like that, you self-righteous hypocrite. You’re the one who swung first, remember? And don’t you look at me like I’d hit you. I would never do that, and you damn well know it.”
“Do I? Huh, Jackson? When you’re the one trying to intimidate me?”
“Oh, please.” He snarled. “You’re just pissed because you got caught, and your plan to get me and Ethan pussy-whipped was ruined.”
She was so frustrated she thought she might cry. She felt the tears burning at the back of her throat, making her tongue feel thick and fat in her mouth. “My God! That was never my plan! If you would just listen to me, you’d—”
“Then get to talking, Lily, because it seems you have a lot to do,” Ethan commanded from behind her.
Lily squeezed her eyes shut, willing that moment to end. No, no, no. She did not recognize the tone in his voice, but it sent chills up her spine. She must have been quiet for a moment too long because Ethan took a step closer. She took a deep breath and turned from Jackson to face his twin and peeled her eyes back open, terrified of what she would see.
Ethan stared at her, an exasperated look on his face. “What the hell is going on?” His apparent calmness threw her. Surely he heard more than he was letting on?
“Why don’t you ask Lily?” Jackson responded from behind her and shoved her forward none too politely.
“I…” She twiddled with the ends of her hair like a dimwit and searched for the right words to say, but they would not come. There was something about Ethan’s demeanor that just did not sit right.
“Well?” Ethan supplied.
“It’s just that—”
Jackson sidestepped her
and pushed the letter at Ethan. “This is what’s going on. Our little lady has been playing us for fools.”
Ethan looked down at the now crumpled papers in his hands then up at her. Lily wanted to throw up. She tasted the hors d’oeuvres in the back of her throat already.
Jackson continued talking at Ethan, gesticulating wildly and pointing his finger at her, but she just stared in abject horror as Ethan methodically smoothed out the pages and started reading them. He seemed to curl in on himself more the farther down he got, and her sick feeling made her sway on her feet.
“Ethan, I can explain.”
“Sure you can explain. Use us to do all the heavy work and get some sex on the side. Kudos, babe. It’s pure genius. I couldn’t have done it any better myself.”
“Damn it, Jackson, just shut up and let me explain!”
“Nah. I don’t think you’ve earned it.”
“Earned? Oh, fuck you, you arrogant son of a bitch! I haven’t done anything wrong or malicious at all.”
Jackson snatched the letter from Ethan, advanced on her, and waved it in her face. “I think this is proof of malicious intent, don’t you, Ethan?” Jackson looked like a raving lunatic compared to Ethan, who was eerily sedate. He banded an arm across his brother’s chest and forced him back two steps.
“Let her explain, Jackson. I think we both need to hear this.” His words were calm and quiet, but the hard set of his jaw let her know they were uttered through clenched teeth.
Her belly quivered, and her palms broke out in a sweat. The past few weeks flashed in front of her—Ethan emerging from the shadows after she had been attacked, Jackson sending her that coy smile of his when she caught him staring—and she watched it all fall away.
“I sent in all the applications before I even knew I’d be working with you,” she said, her words jumbling together in her haste to get them out. She took a deep breath. “I swear. And then it all got started and we happened, and it just got pushed to the back of my mind. Then all of a sudden it was tonight.”
Jackson looked like he wanted to hit something. With a disgusted sound, he turned away and started pacing.
“When did you get the letter?” Ethan asked, devoid of any emotion.
“I…”
“How long have you had the letter? It’s a simple question, really.” He smiled at her, but it looked more like he was baring his teeth. His upper lip curled.
She fiddled with the lace on her dress. “Since the afternoon at the lake.”
Jackson spun around mid step. “That was weeks ago! My God, Lily, you’ve been carrying on like nothing was even wrong, but this was in your purse the entire time?”
“I didn’t open it,” she countered. But it sounded pitiful even to her ears.
“Don’t feed us that bullshit. You knew exactly what was in it, but you pretended like everything was just goddamn peachy.”
“And what would you have done? Don’t even think of saying you would have told me everything, Jackson, because I know for a fact you wouldn’t have. You would have gone along with things just to get as much pussy as you could because that’s all you care about!”
Jackson recoiled from her for a split second, and then he sneered at her. “Well, lookie here. Sweet little Lily has a dirty mouth.”
Ethan stared at her with a scarily resolute look on his face. “It was all done before this whole thing—us—started.”
Lily shifted her gaze from a red-faced Jackson to Ethan. “Yes.”
“When did you open the letter? And don’t lie,” he added when she opened her mouth before he finished talking.
“Tonight,” she answered. “Right before everyone started getting here.”
Ethan narrowed his eyes at her, appraising her with a shrewd look she had never seen on his face before. “Why didn’t you open it sooner?”
“I… Well—it’s…” She wanted so desperately to look away from him, but he would not let her. “I didn’t want to know.” His silence prompted her to continue. “I didn’t want to know what was in there—” She took a shaky breath. “—because I didn’t want it all to change.”
There. She’d done it. She’d laid it all out on the table.
“That is the biggest load of crap I have ever heard. But, hey, what else can you expect from a Chisholm?” And there went Jackson ruining it.
Anger, hot and uncontrolled, burst through her, making her shake. She charged through the small distance separating them, so enraged she wanted to wrap her fingers around his neck and shake him.
“You arrogant prick!” she snarled.
“Whoa, Lily.” Ethan wrapped an arm around her and, as gently as if he were leading her on the dance floor, stepped into her so that she walked backward. “Calm down. Shhh. Just breathe.” She fought against him, but he just held her against his body and crooned into her hair. “I know the feeling. Trust me. He pisses me off almost every day. Let it go.”
She clenched her teeth and shot a murderous glance at Jackson over Ethan’s shoulder, too angry to calm down.
“It’s fine. Everything is going to be fine. Jesus, you’re shaking. Breathe.”
Lily concentrated on the way Ethan’s hands felt skimming up and down her back, and when she did, she realized she was, indeed, shaking. Hard. Her breath came out in shallow bursts. Her heart thudded against her ribs. She was completely out of control, and she did not know how to get it back. She had put off all of her carefully laid plans of going off and pursuing her dreams because she did not want to leave Jackson and Ethan when what they had together was so addictingly good. Look what it had brought her—something that looked terrifyingly like a broken heart and the realization that she had almost given everything up for two men whose affection, loyalty, and trust disappeared at the first sign of trouble.
She backed out of Ethan’s embrace and willed herself calm. “I’m finished explaining myself to you. No, Jackson, you’re going to listen now,” she said when he opened his mouth. “Yes, I applied to grad school. It was before I even knew Edie and Lena had a project for me. Then, before I even realized what was happening, something changed between us. And, yes, the idea that I might have to leave was there when I chose to get involved with you, but would you have taken no for an answer? Don’t try to come off like you’re the victims here because if you’re honest with yourselves, you’d know you wouldn’t have.”
Jackson regarded her with a closed-off look and started pacing again, staring at the floor instead of her. The heavy sound of his steps echoed in the hallway and mixed with the voices floating out of the room.
Jesus, the room. The party. The guests.
She shut her eyes and ran her hands over her face. “Look, this isn’t going to change anything. I still have to make a decision, and we still have to finish the rest of the project, even if I do leave at the end of the summer. There’s still a roomful of people in there probably wondering where we went, and I really don’t want to embarrass our future sisters-in-law by causing a scene, so I’m going back in there, whether you like it or not.”
She moved to walk past Ethan, but he gently grasped her wrist. “Wait.”
Taking a step back, she looked up into his face. “You’re right. We wouldn’t have taken no for an answer. It would have happened anyway. So let’s just keep it that way.”
Jackson’s mouth flopped open. “Are you hearing yourself?”
“Yes. I am. And I’m also hearing myself say that it doesn’t matter. If we only have a few weeks left, then we better make the best of it.” He looked down at her. “Right?”
Stark fear made Lily stay in place even as Ethan dropped a kiss on her forehead. What in the living hell was going on? Why was he so damn calm as if they were talking about color samples? “Don’t worry about it, Lily. No harm done. But I think I better get back home before it gets too late. Parties wear me out.”
Oh, God. What had she done? “Ethan?” she called after him. Her voice came out strangled.
He stopped in his tracks and tur
ned around. A haunted smile came to his lips. “I’ll see you Monday.”
Her eyes bugged out of her head. “Monday?”
Ethan’s smile did not quite meet his eyes. “Monday. Bright and early. Just like always.” Then he walked down the stairs toward the front door, without looking back.
Panic clawed at her insides. She felt the unfamiliar burn of tears in her throat, and her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. She met Jackson’s wild, angry gaze just as the tears started to fall. “Jackson…”
“Save it. If it were up to me, we wouldn’t see you again.”
Lily squeezed her eyes shut, willing this all to be a horrible dream. But when she opened her eyes, all she could see was that she was alone and crying in her prettiest dress.
Chapter Four
Lily nervously gnawed on her pencil as she stared down at the blank page in front of her. She was supposed to be designing the furniture for the dungeon suite, but she could not concentrate. Instead, she looked down at her watch for the umpteenth time. Her gaze scanned the studio, focusing not on the objects filling the room but the emptiness in between.
They were late, something that used to irritate her to no end, but not now, not today. Today was different from all others because she was waiting not for two Neanderthals whom she had spent the better part of her life avoiding, but for two men whom she dared to care about and desperately hoped they still felt the same about her. As she waited for them, only two emotions swirled inside her—fear and sadness.
What if Ethan changed his mind, and they don’t show up? What if they both hate me? What have I done?
She let out a deep breath and ran her fingers against her scalp, trying to massage away the tension manifesting there and fast becoming a raging headache.
The door creaked open, and Lily felt her heart leap to her throat. She vacillated between wanting to run to the door and hiding under her drafting table. It all depended on the look she’d see on Jackson’s or Ethan’s face. Hopefully, that would tell her all she needed to know to understand where they all stood. But, the moment the twins walked through the door, she realized it wouldn’t be so simple.
Mitchell, Ava and Holiday, Sydney - Corralling the Stones, Part 2: The Taming [Liebling, Texas 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 5
