by Milly Taiden
He pulled out a suit. He couldn’t remember ever being excited to see anyone like he was with her. Not even Gracen. He knew he was nowhere in her wealth scale, but he had a new job with Matt and Ryan doing security, so it wasn’t like he couldn’t earn a paycheck. For a long time, he thought he might not be able to. At one point, he really worried his sister was going to be stuck with him, taking care of him. Thankfully, that hadn’t been the case.
Dating had been something he wasn’t interested in, mainly because he knew not all women would look at a body like his and see past the scars. Addy had done that. She’d kissed his scars and shown him that they didn’t disgust her.
When he got to the hotel where the charity dinner was being held, he glanced around, looking for Addy. A group of men by the bar caught his attention. He frowned and watched as the men made space to reveal Addy smiling at them.
She wore a dress that was like the one at the other event. Elegant and beautiful with her hair up in a French twist. He marched up to the group and the recognition in her face made her smile. She left the group of men and placed a kiss on his lips before moving back and clearing her throat.
“Hi,” she smiled. “I didn’t think you’d make it.”
He had to stop himself from pulling her into his arms and hugging her tightly. He wanted to kiss her, really kiss her, so badly. “For you, I’d go to the ends of the earth.”
Her smile widened and she waved him off. “Stop.” Then a serious look took over her face. “I wanted to talk to you about this,” she glanced around, her gaze on everything but him. “Us.”
“What about us?” His chest tightened. He didn’t like the way she avoided his gaze or how she wrung her hands together in front of her.
“We’re moving too fast, Nick,” she said, glancing down at the floor. “I don’t know that I’m the right person for you. You need someone who can adjust to your disability.”
He reeled back as if he’d been slapped. Ice froze the blood in his veins. Was she pitying him? After last night? She ran a shaky hand over her face and let out a soft sigh.
“What are you saying, Addilyn?”
She glanced at his face and then away to look at the people around them. “I don’t think this is going to work. I’ve had fun, but we should stop before you get the wrong idea. I’m not looking for a relationship. Not with you.”
The way she said the words, as if he was someone beneath her and she wouldn’t dare be caught in a relationship with him, made him turn on his heel and leave. He should have known better. She was just like her twin. No matter what he’d wanted to believe, deep down, he knew. Addy and Gracen were two peas in a pod.
* * *
Someone knocked at his apartment door. He stumbled through the dark living room and opened the door to Kayla.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, more than a little annoyed at her. It was her fault he’d met Addy and fallen for the façade again. He’d been taken for a fool for a second time in a row.
Kayla scrunched her nose at him. “What the hell, Nick? When was the last time you showered? You look like hell.”
She shoved past him into his living room and turned on the lights he’d purposely left off.
“I didn’t say you could come in,” he growled. “Why are you here?”
Kayla turned on her heel and faced him. “I’m going to ignore that tone. You were supposed to come to my office to sign papers so you and Addy could go down to Golden Island for that weekend getaway.”
“Look, Kayla, no offense, but if I never see Addy or her sister again, it would be too soon. And no, I don’t need to be matched with anyone. Ever. I’m fine as I am. I tried telling you, but you wouldn’t listen.”
Kayla slapped her hands on her hips. “What the hell, Nick? What’s going on? You and Addy were doing great.”
He snorted and walked to the kitchen to get a bottle of water. She followed after him.
“Says who? All I know is that we were supposed to meet up for dinner and I was given my walking papers. She couldn’t date someone with my disabilities. That I was not the man for her,” he quoted Addy’s words to Kayla.
“Addy said that?”
He nodded and gulped the water. “Then she tried to call me. Maybe she wanted another night of fun. Or maybe she wanted to make fun of my scars. I don’t know, but I want to forget her. I don’t want to see her or talk to her. I’m done.”
Kayla frowned. “Did you do something? Did something happen?”
He gave a harsh laugh. “Yeah. We had sex. We fucking loved it. It was great and then she dumped me. A guy that’s disfigured like me doesn’t deserve someone as perfect as her.”
Kayla growled. “You stop that right now. This pity party is beneath you. You’re a strong warrior and those scars only mean you’ve fought a battle and won the right to stay alive. I don’t know what happened with Addy, but it doesn’t make you any less of a good man, Nick. Don’t let it get you this way.”
His shoulders dropped. God. He’d turned into such a fucking pussy. He’d fallen for Addy’s sweetness and now he couldn’t handle being dumped by her, too. How could he go on if he didn’t learn to let this shit go?
“I think you need to talk to her.”
“Hell, no,” he snapped. “No fucking way. She was pretty clear.”
Kayla bit her lip. “I don’t think she was.”
“Whatever. I’m done being played for a goddamned fool.” His heart hurt. He’d fallen for Addy. He’d fallen for the woman he’d shared his time with. The one he’d laughed with and played in the snow with. But she never existed.
FOURTEEN
Addy had no idea what happened. Nick cut off all their communication without a single notice and she didn’t know why. She was supposed to go to a big AIDS function her entire family attended with several high-profile celebrities, which meant Gracen would probably be there. But she didn’t feel like going anywhere.
All she wanted was to talk to Nick and find out what was going on. She’d already told her mother she was probably going to stay home, but was still unsure if she should.
Her cell phone rang and she debated answering before pressing the call answer button.
“Hi, Kayla. How are you?”
“Addy. Is it really you?”
She frowned. What a strange question. “Yes. Everything okay?”
“Yes. Actually, I am hoping you’re going to that AIDS ball tonight. I wanted to speak to you.”
She glanced at the red dress she was supposed to wear. “I guess.”
“Listen, can you please go? I want you to see something and it has to be in person.”
She should go anyway, people were expecting her to be there and run the event as usual. “You know, I really didn’t feel like going.”
“Please, Addy,” Kayla said with urgency. “I think you need to see what I have to show you.”
“If it’s that important then yes, I’ll go.”
She still had an appearance to maintain, so she carefully applied her makeup and put on her red mermaid dress in satin and tiny silver beading. By the time she got to the ball, the place was full of celebrities and top donors.
The main ballroom had a jazz band playing and soft lighting to go with the mood. She squinted and searched for Kayla in the room.
“There you are,” someone said from behind her.
She turned and saw Kayla and her husband Ryan looking around. “Hi. Have you been waiting long?”
“No, but I think there’s something you need to see,” Kayla told her, pulling her toward the area by the bar. There, the crowd was thicker, so it was difficult to get through, but after a while she saw Gracen and William making out.
“What the hell?”
She marched forward and tapped William on the back of his shoulder until he stopped kissing her twin and turned to look at her. He frowned and then glanced back at Gracen.
“William, what are you doing with my sister?”
William took a step back. “W
hat?” Then he looked at Gracen. “Addilyn, why does she sound just like you? I remember Gracen being different.”
“Addilyn?” Addy asked Gracen.
Gracen shrugged. “It was an honest mistake. William thought I was you.”
“What is really going on here?”
One of her best donors stopped as he was walking by and met her gaze and then glanced at Gracen. “She’s not Gracen, is she? You’re the real one!”
“Why would you think she was me?” Addy asked, completely dumbfounded.
“Because she said she was,” her donor said. “She said she was you and then proceeded to hit on me even though I told her I was a married man.”
Addy gasped, shock rooting her to the core. “No.”
“Yes,” William told her, moving away from Gracen. “She said she was you. Acted like you. Told me she’d thought about it and wanted to get back with me.”
“Oh god,” Addy mumbled. “I’m gonna be sick.”
“What’s going on here?” Her father marched up to the crowd with her mother next to him.
“Daddy—”
“I’ll be happy to explain,” said the donor, who was also her father’s best client. “Gracen tried to pass for Addilyn and hit on me, making me question if doing business with your family was the right thing for me.”
“There has to be some kind of misunderstanding,” her mom said, immediately looking to place blame on anyone but her daughter, the evil spawn from hell.
“Misunderstanding?” Addy asked. “Mother, Gracen has been passing herself off as me and ruining my life from the looks of it. How is this a misunderstanding?” Addy reached out to Gracen’s face and wiped at the beauty mark on her right cheek, smearing it. The others gasped.
“Gracen,” her father said in a steely voice. “What have you got to say for yourself?”
Gracen glared at Addy. “She deserved it. She was going out with Nick. Nick was mine first!”
Her mother’s eyes widened. “That nice captain? You dated him?”
“Yes, Mother,” Addy replied, her voice shrill from anger. “She dated him. And she also dumped him when she found out he was seriously injured at war. Your baby girl did that.”
“Oh, Gracen,” her mother wailed. “How could you do something so horrible?”
“He was going to be all deformed and ugly. But he’s not that bad. And instead of letting me have him again, Addy took him. He was mine! Mine!”
“Gracen Marie Walton!” her father roared. “That is enough! Get your coat. We’re going home and we’re going to discuss what you’ve done here tonight and how you’ve tried to damage your sister’s reputation and our company.”
“But, Daddy!” Gracen bemoaned. “It’s Addy’s fault.”
“You!” came a woman from behind her father and grabbed her sister by the hair. She looked like one of the same celebrities Gracen liked to hang out with. “I know who you are, Gracen. Even if you try to dress like your twin. Your whorish ways follow you around.” She pulled Gracen and both women started clawing at each other while everyone else moved back to give them space.
FIFTEEN
Addy gaped at the two women fighting in the middle of a ballroom for a charity event.
“Let go of me, Diamonique!” Gracen screamed, her dress looking dangerously like her top was going to fail and show her breasts to the packed ballroom.
“You fucking whore! You slept with my husband and tried to say you were your twin, like my security can’t figure out who the hell comes in and out of my husband’s studio.” She slapped Gracen hard, the sound making Addy wince.
Addy found it interesting that nobody dared interfere in the cat fight, even though her own parents stood watching, frozen in place.
Diamonique scratched Gracen’s face and made a bird’s nest out of her hair. She ripped the delicate beading off the gown and one of her earrings had come off at some point. Meanwhile, Diamonique still looked just as good as she had all night.
Suddenly, security guards rushed in and pulled the women apart. Diamonique’s husband, a well-known hip hop star that came to donate for the first time, pulled his wife away from Gracen, his eyes glued to Addy in confusion.
“There’s two of them? Bro, I’m tripping!”
Diamonique turned her fury to her man, shoving him away. “Don’t get any fucking ideas, or I’ll make you sorry you ever pulled your dick out of your pants with that ho. To think, I really believed her when she said she was my friend. Fucking lying bitch.”
Security and their own guards accompanied the hip hop star and his wife out of the ballroom.
“Let’s go, Gracen. Don’t make me make a bigger scene than the one you’ve already created,” her father warned.
Gracen bent down to pick up her heels and stormed off, clutching the neckline of her gown to her chest. Addy watched as her father pulled the donor to the side to apologize. William rushed over to Addy’s side, his features pale and worried.
“Addilyn, I am so very sorry. I should have known you would never act the way your sister did. I was just so happy when she said you’d give me another chance, that I ignored everything else.”
Addy patted his arm. “I’m sorry, William. We had our chance. It didn’t work out. You’re a great guy, really, but not the one for me.”
The party went back to normal and she turned to face Kayla and Ryan.
“How did you know about this?” she asked Kayla. “Most people don’t realize one of Gracen’s favorite past times as a kid was to switch into Addy mode. She stopped a long time ago pretending to be me, but I guess she must be really angry to do this now.”
Kayla and Ryan glanced at each other and then Kayla spoke. “She did it with Nick, too. She said some stuff. Hurtful things. It’s why he won’t answer your calls.”
Oh god. How could Gracen be so spiteful? Her heart sank. “Maybe it’s for the best. I don’t know that Nick ever thought I was any different than her.”
“What?” Kayla gasped. “No! Don’t say that. You are polar opposite to Gracen. You’re honest, sweet, kind and loving. She’s just a bitch. A spoiled one at that. Nick saw the differences and fell for you. You. You need to talk to him.”
“I have an idea,” Ryan finally spoke up. “It will require you being away for a few days.”
She gave a sharp nod. If it meant seeing where her relationship with Nick was going, she’d go as far as they told her. Nick deserved it. He was a good man.
SIXTEEN
Nick went up to the hospital unit he’d lived in for so long to visit a fellow SEAL who had lost a leg and was going through multiple surgeries. When he arrived at the floor he’d stayed, the Intensive Care Unit, the nurses remembered him. Nurse Parker, the one who had been assigned to his room, rushed over and hugged him.
“I am so happy to see you’re on your feet and doing your thing, Captain,” Nurse Parker grinned.
“Thank you, Nurse Parker. I came to see Lieutenant Thompson.”
She sighed and made a sad face. “It’s always difficult when you first get here. But I’m glad you came. He has no family. At least you had Ms. Addy visit you.”
He frowned. “What? Who came to visit me?”
She cocked her head. “Miss Addy Walton. You know, from the Scars Foundation? We all got to know her. She was here every day the first few months. Then, when you woke from the coma and were out of the anesthesia, right after surgery, she was here. As you recuperated, she’d call to make sure you were doing good. Every day, like clockwork, she called.”
“Are you sure?” he asked, his heart thudding hard in his chest and his hands turning clammy. “Addy Walton was here?”
“Boy!” She laughed. “I’m sure. I spoke to her every day. She was only here while you were drugged up. She was very particular about you not knowing she came. She saw you in pain and she’d cry and talk to you while you slept. She did a lot of talking. At one point, she started bringing books and reading to you.”
Addy? No. It couldn’t be. He had
n’t met her when he’d been in the hospital. How would she know about him?
“Why would she come see me?”
Nurse Parker shrugged. “I thought she was your girlfriend. She was so good to you. She made us change your hospital sheets for special ones she’d gotten that were good for the skin. And she had you in your own room.” She smiled excitedly. “When she realized that some people in the ICU had to share rooms, she grew upset and had you moved to a single and then said she’d see about getting another wing added to the ICU so people with traumatic events didn’t have to share.”
After his visit with Lieutenant Thompson, Nick went straight for Kayla’s office there at the hospital. She was alone, behind a desk and writing notes when he arrived.
“Nick, what are you doing here?”
“I came to see Lieutenant Thompson.”
She pressed her lips into a sad line. “Ah, yeah. He needs all the visits.”
“Kayla, Nurse Parker from the ICU just told me something that confused me. She said Addy came to see me every day for the months I was in a coma and after surgery.” He frowned. “Why? Why would she do that? She didn’t know me.”
Kayla put her pen down and sat straight. “When she found out that Gracen had broken things off with you right when you’d been hurt, she couldn’t let you go through all that alone. So, she was here to lend her support while you were going through surgeries. She did a lot. Mainly be here for you, but she also handled your entire bill through the foundation. She made it so all vets who come injured from war can get extra medical coverage from Scars. All because of you, Nick.”
Nick’s chest felt tight. He dropped onto the seat across from her desk and glanced at Kayla in confusion. “She saw me? Then?”
She nodded. “Everything, Nick. She saw all the scars. All the operations. All the open wounds. She never left. She always stayed by your side. And she asked everyone to keep it to themselves because she didn’t think you’d appreciate having your ex’s family there.”
