Unveiled

by Alice Raine

  FORTY-ONE

  Allie

  What the hell was I doing? My body was trembling so badly that I would surely never be able to pull this off. Swallowing hard, I drew in a deep breath, straightened my spine, and tried to look haughty, confident, and rich as I approached the woman wearing the navy blue uniform.

  I’d completely struck it lucky on my arrival at The Mansion in Las Vegas, and while waiting by the reception desk to try and find out what room Sean was in I’d overheard a cleaning woman talking to the manager about Mr Phillips in suite 6 needing a bucket of ice.

  I hadn’t stopped to let myself consider if there was more than one Mr Phillips staying here, or let myself dwell on why Sean would want a bucket of ice, (hopefully it wasn’t to cool some champagne that he was sharing with a woman) and had instead put on my best attempt at a smooth, confident swagger as I made my way past the concierge and towards the rooms.

  Miraculously, it had worked. No one had questioned me, stopped me, or even batted an eyelid, and I was now outside the door to suite 6 staring at it. How the hell I’d fluked that, I had no frigging idea. Perhaps my fake bravado had worked, or maybe my expensive dress and high heels looked convincing enough to fit in here. Who knew?

  I’d come this far, but now I was stuck. I didn’t want to just knock and hope he answered. If Sean was entertaining a woman, or god forbid, women, then I wanted to catch him at it so it might help to harden my heart against the pain I was currently experiencing. The only way to do that was to finish my fluky morning with one more blag.

  Clearing my throat again, I prepared to put on my best posh accent and stopped by the cleaning woman’s side before dramatically digging through my handbag, coming up empty, and sweeping my arm through the air. ‘Excuse me, daarrling, but I seem to have left my key with Mr Phillips in the dining room. He’s still breakfasting. You couldn’t be a dear and let me into our room, could you?’ I’d stolen the condescending tone, overly expressive arm flaps, and exaggerated ‘daarrling’ from Savannah, but it had sounded just as revolting and patronising in my voice as it did in hers.

  The cleaning lady looked me up and down and examined a list on a clipboard before her, presumably checking the name of the occupier of room 6, before nodding and pulling out a key card for the door.

  Oh my god, it actually worked! But my glee was short-lived as the door swung open and I realised that I was just seconds away from confronting Sean and seeing what he was really up to.

  Crap. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. If I found him screwing another woman, the images would be burnt into my retinas for eternity. I wasn’t sure I’d ever recover from something like that. Nerves were close to overwhelming me, my knees felt wobbly, my hands were shaking so much I had to bunch them at my sides, and I felt decidedly like I might throw up.

  Inching my way inside the hotel suite, I closed the door behind me and took off my heels as quietly as possible. If I was about to discover Sean shagging someone then I at least wanted to be able to run away with dignity, and not fall arse over tit because of my stupid shoes.

  After a small hallway, the suite opened up into a huge lounge area and I immediately saw Sean crashed out on the sofa. He was alone, which was a relief, but there was an assortment of empty glasses on the table, his face was red, and he had an ice pack over his forehead. There was also a bucket next to him, which judging by the funky smell in the air was for vomit, and in addition to that, I saw that one of his hands was wrapped up in bright white bandages.

  The cherry on the cake was the woman’s coat I could see carelessly tossed over a dining chair behind him.

  So he definitely wasn’t here alone.

  My stomach plummeted. Goddamn it. It would seem he had continued on his bender in significant style.

  Was he hungover now, or still drunk? I had no idea, but as I walked closer and he opened his eyes to reveal a bloodshot, bleary gaze, I settled on the latter.

  ‘Alllieee?’ He slurred my name dreadfully, sounding at once confused and seemingly happy.

  ‘Jesus, Sean, how much have you had to drink?’

  ‘Nooott drunk.’

  Yeah right. He looked as drunk as a skunk that had been on a week-long bender. Rolling my eyes, I put my hands on my hips and wondered what the heck I could, or should, do to help him. ‘You’re slurring, there’s an ice pack on your head, and you’ve thrown up.’ Pretty recently too, by the looks of it. ‘You sure as shit look drunk to me. Where is she, Sean?’

  ‘Eehhh?’ He was making no sense at all. ‘Bathooom.’

  Which I took to mean she was in the bathroom. ‘Oh my god, you’re not even going to try and hide it?’ I don’t know why I said that out loud, because sleeping with someone else and lying about it would be way worse than simply cheating. Not that either were acceptable, really. And I supposed seeing as we were on a break, I couldn’t call it cheating either, could I? It was certainly a flipping slap in the face though, that was for sure. God, this was all such a monumental mess that I barely knew what to do. Maybe I should just leave.

  ‘Whaaaa?’ Sean seemed to try and get up for a moment, his arms pushing himself almost to sitting before he fell back with a groan. If he was still this drunk, then he was going to have a monster hangover once the booze wore off.

  ‘You’re drunk off your face, you have a woman with you, probably more than one, and you can’t even be bothered to try and hide it?’ I flung my hands into my hair as scalding tears began to pour down my cheeks. I was just about to launch into another tirade when a voice floated through from another room. A female voice. His other woman.

  ‘I won’t be a second, Sean. I’m just mixing you another drink.’

  Another drink? Bloody hell, it was clear he’d already had enough – he could barely speak, he’d already thrown up, and wasn’t even able to stand. Who the hell was this woman? Did she have no sense of decency at all?

  I’d spent the entire hour’s flight from LA to Vegas imagining what the owner of the scarf and cardigan might look like. All the images had revolved around a trollop with fake tits, bleached teeth, over the top make up, and a slaggishly tight outfit.

  Unfortunately, with beautiful large blue eyes, sleek brown hair, an exceptionally pretty face, no make-up at all, and a relaxed jeans and jumper combo, the woman who walked into the room the next second looked nothing like that at all.

  Scanning her from head to toe in case I had missed some slut-like quality, I paused, and had to grudgingly admit that this woman didn’t look like a slut at all.

  Goddamn it, I had been pinning my hopes on her looking trampy so I could persuade myself she was just a quick, convenient lay. But this woman actually looked quite normal and nice, and … sweet.

  Steadying my resolve I told myself fiercely that it didn’t matter what she looked like. She was here with Sean, they had obviously been drinking – and presumably screwing – and that was all I needed to know.

  ‘I think he’s had enough to drink, don’t you?’ I spat as I tried to push past her as my tears overwhelmed my vision. ‘I hope you’ll be very happy together.’ My voice choked on the last word, but as I blindly reached for the door, a hand landed on my arm.

  ‘What? Wait, are you Allie, by any chance?’

  Pausing, I turned my tear-stained face toward her and swallowed loudly before nodding slowly. ‘I thought I recognised you from the photograph. I’m not sure what you think is going on here, but I’m Evie. Sean’s sister.’

  She was his sister.

  His sister?

  What was Evie doing here, and why the heck was she letting him get so plastered?

  Shaking her head, a wry smile curled Evie’s lips as she looked over to Sean, who appeared to have passed out again, and then turned her gaze back to me. Gosh, now I knew who she was it was screamingly obvious that they were related because she had the exact same hair and eye colour as him, not to mention she was a younger imprint of their mother.

  ‘I can only imagine what this must all loo
k like.’ Letting go of my arm, she smiled at me and jerked her chin toward the lounge. ‘This was not how I pictured our first meeting to be. Will you come in so I can explain?’

  Attempting to reel in all the thoughts speeding around my brain, I nodded mutely and followed Evie back inside the suite as I quickly wiped at my cheeks.

  ‘There’s a lot to explain, but let me start by saying, he’s not drunk.’ I opened my mouth to disagree, but she placed a full pint glass of orange liquid on the table and held up a hand to stop me. ‘I know it looks that way, but he’s got heatstroke. Pretty badly, too.’

  ‘Heatstroke?’ I choked, wondering if this was just a line from Evie trying to cover for her big brother.

  ‘He got roped into playing some charity golf thing yesterday, but his mind wasn’t in it. It was really hot, he was out all day and he obviously didn’t hydrate himself enough. When he finished he said he had a headache, but within half an hour of getting back he was throwing up and talking absolute nonsense.’

  My eyes narrowed with concern as I looked back to Sean and noticed the sweat beading on his nose and cheeks. He was sick?

  ‘We just got back from the emergency room a few hours ago, actually. They kept him in overnight to give him some fluids, and now I have to keep him drinking those rehydration drinks every hour,’ she explained, indicating the pint glass and other empty glasses collected on the table.

  ‘Sorry it’s such a mess, I haven’t had time to tidy up since we got back.’

  Wow. So he really wasn’t drunk? And he wasn’t balls deep in another woman fucking away his problems? This new, pleasant reality was taking quite a bit of getting used to. Although having heatstroke obviously wasn’t pleasant for him, it was a damn sight better for me than the alternative I had been imagining.

  A knock at the door made me jump, but Evie nodded and turned away. ‘Hang on, hopefully that’ll be the ice I ordered.’ Coming back with a bucket of ice, she carefully wrapped some cubes in napkins and tucked them under Sean’s armpits before looking at me again.

  ‘The doctor advised I do this until he’s more lucid.’ Flopping down into an armchair, she wiped her hands on her jeans and gave me a hopeful smile.

  ‘What happened to his hand?’ I asked, noticing the bandages again.

  ‘He bust two knuckles in his right hand when he hit a sign by accident after you two broke up.’ Oh. I could remember him thrashing his arms and banging into the sign, but I didn’t realise he’d done that much damage. ‘He explained to me about the issues with Savannah and how you and he are taking a break. I’m sorry.’

  Pulling in a deep breath, I glanced at Sean again and gave Evie a sad nod of thanks.

  ‘So, I bet you’re wondering what I’m doing here in the States, right?’ she asked, a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth.

  Wiping away the last of my tears, I nodded and returned her smile with a weak, watery one of my own.

  ‘Basically, to cut a long story short, I was booked to come out and visit Sean last week, but when I arrived in LA on Saturday night I got to his apartment and found him drunk and distraught.’

  ‘I saw the beer bottles … and the vodka,’ I murmured.

  ‘Yeah. Luckily, I arrived just after he’d opened the bottle so I managed to stop him.’

  A thought occurred to me that made my shoulders feel ten tonnes lighter. ‘So the cardigan at his house is yours?’

  Nodding, she smiled. ‘Yeah, and the shoes. I travelled in them but I never really wear heels, so when we decided to come here I just left them at his place.’

  ‘You left a scarf too. I thought he’d had another woman there,’ I admitted quietly.

  ‘Oh God! No! I can’t imagine what that must have been like. Sorry.’ Evie laughed, but then she licked her lips and flashed me a sympathetic look. ‘So Savannah’s been playing up like a spoilt child?’

  Nodding, I drew in a breath and pushed my hair back from my face, before bringing my feet up onto the sofa and hugging my knees to my chest. ‘Yeah, she’s a cow. It’s so messed up.’ Glancing at Sean’s slumped form, I sighed heavily. ‘God, this is all my fault.’ Flopping forward, I rested my head on my knees, completely swamped by everything.

  ‘No, it’s not. I know Savannah and I can’t stand her. Sean told me the pranks she played so I totally get your side of things. Having said that, you should know just how cut up about it he is. I’ve never seen him like this about a woman before.’ Guilt slithered in my belly again, and I began to chew on my lower lip fretfully.

  ‘Anyway, enough of my guilt trip. Our uncle runs this place, so we decided to get away from it all for a few days so Sean could clear his head and give you the space you had asked for.’

  Looking at me curiously, she tilted her head. ‘He really wants to make things work, you know. Before he left he demanded that his director bring forward the press conference so he can put everyone straight about Savannah and be free to date you.’

  So Cait had been right. That was good news. A small relieved murmur fluttered from my lips, followed by a giggle. ‘When I heard he was in Vegas I was thinking all sorts of things. I thought he was on a bender trying to forget me.’

  ‘Nope. Just chilling with his sister. It was going nicely, until the golf tournament yesterday,’ she added wryly with a shake of her head.

  Beside us, Sean let out a low groan and fidgeted on the sofa, causing both Evie and me to jump up and go to his side.

  ‘Eww. Let me empty this. I didn’t know he’d used it again,’ she said, grimacing as she picked up the sick bucket. ‘Can you lightly waft him, please?’ she asked, handing me a paper fan from the coffee table. ‘The doctor said I’m supposed to fan him while he’s sweating because it will help the moisture evaporate and keep his skin cooler.’

  ‘Of course.’ Taking the fan, I perched on the side of the sofa and began to gently swish it back and forth to create a breeze across his face. Sean shifted slightly, and his eyes fluttered, but didn’t fully open.

  Gazing down at him, I couldn’t help gently cupping his jaw and stroking it with my thumb. It was rough from several days’ stubble growth, and the prickly sensation tickled my skin until I was overcome with the urge to lean down and place the briefest of kisses on his chin.

  I loved him so much. So much had happened in the last week that I was still struggling to comprehend it all, but I supposed the only important things I needed to know were that Sean hadn’t cheated, and was demanding that his director sort out the mess with Savannah, which was music to my ears.

  The rest we could sort out once he was recovered, and better yet, once he was officially single.

  FORTY-TWO

  Allie

  Evie and I took turns fanning Sean and bringing him drinks, and by the time I’d been with them for just over ten hours, he was becoming more lucid when awake and starting to make a better recovery.

  We’d moved him to a bedroom because he was still asleep most of the time, and so during some of his snoozes I grabbed the opportunity to chat to Evie and get to know her. She was just as lovely as I had expected, and we hit it off immediately, lounging together on the sofa and gossiping like we’d known each other forever.

  ‘You guys better get back together,’ she announced suddenly, offering me the packet of crisps she was chomping her way through. ‘You’re the best girlfriend he’s ever had.’ I grabbed a handful of the crisps and laughed, feeling a little embarrassed. ‘Well, he’s not really had any other girlfriends, but you know what I mean. You’re lovely. I want you as part of the family!’

  Evie’s enthusiasm was charming, and her love for her brother was incredibly touching, but I still couldn’t get past all the issues Sean and I had yet to resolve. Taking a deep breath, I decided to ask the question that had been burning in the back of my mind ever since I’d arrived.

  ‘Evie, do you think I’m being awful telling Sean that I won’t be with him until things with Savannah are sorted?’

  Evie finished chewing her mouthful w
hile looking at me thoughtfully, and then shook her head. ‘No, I don’t. I mean, he’s my brother and I want him to be happy, and it’s obvious that you make him happy, but I can totally see your side of things too. Going out with someone but not being allowed to be with them? That would be horrible.’

  ‘You should try going out with someone and having to watch them touch someone else in public and pretend to be with them instead of you,’ I added quietly, hoping I didn’t sound quite as bitter as I felt. ‘I kills me a little bit every time I see him with her,’ I admitted, my voice cracking slightly.

  Dumping the crisp bag down, Evie leant forward and patted my arm supportively as she nodded. ‘Especially because it’s Savannah the super bitch we’re talking about,’ she agreed with a sage nod. ‘I get it. Sean does too. At first he was frustrated, but we talked about it a lot when I first got here. He knows what he needs to do, and I’m pretty sure that disappearing for a week will have shown his director just how serious he is about ending the farce.’

  ‘I hope so,’ I agreed softly.

  Beside me, Evie tried to stifle her third gigantic yawn in less than a minute, so I turned to her and smiled. ‘Look, it’s late and you were at the hospital all last night. Why don’t you go and get some rest? I’ll keep an eye on Sean.’

  ‘Are you sure?’ She might have been asking, but from the way Evie immediately jumped up, she was clearly keen, and I couldn’t help shooing her towards the bedrooms.

  ‘Of course. My flight back isn’t until tomorrow morning at ten. You hit the hay.’

  Giving me a hug, Evie stood back and smiled fondly. ‘Thank you so much. And thank you for caring about my brother, I’m so glad you two found each other. Goodnight, Allie.’

  My throat closed as I suddenly felt flooded with emotion: love, stress, desperation, hopelessness … you name it, it was there, forming a solid ball I just couldn’t seem to swallow down.