“You doubt me?”
“I doubt everything you say, Selina. You’ve been telling lies for so long I doubt you’d know the truth if it walked up to you and slapped your face.”
“You little bitch! How dare you preach to me? Where are your noble sensibilities now, Penelope? You’re his whore, a gold-digging slut, useful only for keeping his bed warm at night!”
* * * *
“Shouldn’t you stop them?” Cassie asked anxiously as she clung to her brother.
Luke folded his arms over his chest and shook his head. “Penny knows what she’s doing.”
“Do you know what she’s doing?”
* * * *
“What’s wrong, Selina? Jealous?” Penny taunted.
Selina stumbled for a retort. Penny went in for the kill. “That’s it, isn’t it? You’re jealous! But what of, I wonder? Maybe that I’m actually making something of myself despite your best efforts to see me fail? Or does it just come down to the fact that a man, this man, actually wants me more than you?”
Selina gasped and stared at Penny with wide eyes, frightened eyes. “You don’t know what you’re talking about!”
Penny’s eyes narrowed as she finally understood Selina’s motivation, and then everything fell into place. All these years, Penny had thought it only coincidence, but there was definitely method to this madness. She spoke slowly, as though weighing the truth of what she was saying. “At that luncheon, all those years ago, it was Luke that rejected you, wasn’t it?”
“I rejected him!”
“No, it was the other way around, wasn’t it, Selina? Luke rejected you, and we all know what happens when Selina Royale doesn’t get her way. You always said revenge was a dish best served cold and there’s none colder than you. You systematically sought the destruction of everything dear to Luke. You destroyed his family. You could have just tried to take over his company but no, that would have been too easy, too soft.”
Selina leveled a warning look at Penny. She ignored her aunt and continued. “You went after his father first, messed with his suppliers, made it hard for him to finish jobs, forced him into early retirement, then you went after Cassidy Holdings.”
“That is confidential information! You have no right−”
“No! You had no right! You did the same thing to George Cassidy that you did to Bill Hardcastle.”
“I did nothing illegal!”
“But you knew it was wrong! You made it hard for Cassidy to stay in business, you squeezed him until he started to fold—oh, but you were so clever, weren’t you, Selina? You took your time, you hid your tracks.”
“Obviously not well enough,” Selina said through gritted teeth, her hands fisted by her sides in rage.
“But then the unthinkable happened. Cassie took over from her father and exacted a turnaround. Cassidy Holdings was profitable again and their share prices began rising. It was going to cost you a lot more to buy them out and dismantle them. And that really pissed you off. But you found a solution to that problem, too, didn’t you?”
Selina’s bubbling rage boiled over. “Damn straight I did! That little upstart’s cancer was the best thing that ever happened to me. I knew share prices would plummet if the company’s CEO was in doubt. I wanted to shout it from the rooftops, but why do that when I have contacts at every television and radio station in town?”
“You disgust me,” Penny said.
“The feeling is mutual, I assure you,” Selina said, then raised her hand to her chest in a gesture of innocence and mimicked Penny. “Oh, please don’t do it, Aunt Selina, it’s not ethical, at least pay her a fair price for her family’s legacy. Haven’t you done enough damage already? Isn’t it enough that she’s dying? Oh, poor Luke. What he must be feeling…”
Penny glared at her aunt’s derision.
“It’s no wonder I kicked you out. You were more concerned with protecting Hardcastle’s sister than you were with supporting me. I get more loyalty from his secretary than I ever did from you!”
“Luke’s secretary?”
“Who do you think told me about Cassidy’s cancer, you twit? I have spies in every one of my competitor’s camps. And don’t try to make out that you’re an innocent party, Penelope. I’m guessing Mr. Fabulous standing over there doesn’t know your part in all of this.”
Penny turned her head and saw Luke standing to the side looking even more furious than the day he’d stormed into Royale Industries and demanded to speak with Selina. Cassie stood beside him clutching his arm, her face pale, her mouth open. Penny turned back to Selina.
“Actually, he does know, and he’s already punished me for it. More than he knows.”
“Oh. My. God!” Selina cackled. “You’re in love with him! You stupid, stupid girl. Have you learned nothing?”
But Penny didn’t stay to hear the rest of Selina’s tirade. She turned and surveyed the silent crowd that surrounded them, eyes wide and mouths hanging open like a hundred goldfish, except that she was the one in the glass bowl.
She ignored the sound of a hundred cameras sounding for all the world like a hundred guns being fired at her public execution and she stood before Luke, her chin raised with the last ounce of dignity she possessed.
“There’s your evidence,” she bit out quietly. “And I hope you bloody well choke on it.”
Just as the telling tears escaped her eyes, Penny shoved her way through the crowd and ran out to the balcony, away from Luke, and certain she’d lost everything she’d ever cared about.
* * * *
Luke glared at Selina with pure hatred. He’d not known about her dealings with his father and stepfather, and Penny had actually broken her confidentiality agreement to tell him. Not only that, but she’d been fired for trying to protect Cassie, a woman she’d never met. Because she loved him.
“I was always yours,” she’d told him once.
He marched toward Selina, his golden eyes shining like the devil’s as he towered over his adversary. “If you even think about retribution against Penny for any of this, I will have you arrested. You should have left well enough alone, Selina.”
“You shouldn’t have said no,” she spat.
“Penny was right. Why the hell would I waste my time with someone like you when I could be with someone like her?”
“What’s she got that I don’t have?”
“That you have to ask, Selina, means you’ll never understand.”
Luke turned his back on Selina Royale, on his hate, on his revenge, and on his past sorrows. Instead he faced the balcony and searched for Penny, his love, his future.
He found her staring out at the city skyline, staring at one of his cranes lit up like a beacon with his company logo. He stood behind her. She was shaking, her body wracked by sobs, her tears falling freely now. Luke wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back against his broad chest, holding her even tighter when she fought to free herself from his grasp.
“Leave me alone,” she wept.
“No. Not until you tell me if it’s true.”
“Yes. I wanted to tell you but I was too afraid of what Selina would do to me if I broke the agreement.”
Luke smiled into her hair. “Not that. The fact that you were willing to break your agreement tells me those things were true. I was talking about you loving me. Is that true? Do you love me, Penny Royale?”
“Why? Isn’t it enough that you got revenge on Selina? Do you really need to hear you got your revenge on me, too? I can’t believe I trusted you. Selina’s right. I am a stupid girl.”
Luke spun Penny around and forced her to face him. Her tearstained face wrenched at his gut and he just had to hold her, to comfort and protect her. He tried to pull her into his arms but she put her hands to his chest and shoved him away.
“Honey, I don’t know what you think is going on here−”
“You lied to me, Luke, you betrayed my trust. I overheard your little conversation with Chris Marks.”
“Ahh...what di
d you hear?”
“Enough.”
“But not all, I’m guessing.”
“No, not all. After you asked him how much money he wanted for his silence I couldn’t stomach listening to anymore. You said it wasn’t a set-up but it was. You set me up and I fell for it. Twice! So how much did it cost you, Luke? How much did he ask for?”
“Half a million dollars.”
“Half a million dollars? I’m worth that much?” she scoffed as she moved away from him.
“You’re worth a lot more than that,” he said as he grabbed her arms to prevent her escape. She struggled to free herself from his grasp but he wasn’t about to let her go. He stilled her and stared into her stormy eyes, determined to make her understand.
“I didn’t pay him, Penny. I punched him. If you had bothered to stick around for the finale you would have heard me say to him what I’ll now say to you. I haven’t got a clue what you’re talking about.”
“You punched him?” Penny asked, her brow scrunched in confusion. “Why would you punch him?”
Luke smiled and lifted a hand to stroke her cheek. “Because you’re mine, Penny, and I protect what’s mine.”
“But I heard Marks say he received an e-mail…”
“Not from me he didn’t, honey.”
“Then who−”
“It was me. I sent Chris Marks the e-mail divulging your affair.” Cassie stood behind Luke, her chin raised defiantly, ready to defend her actions.
“What? But you…Cassie, why?” Luke stared at his sister as though she’d just grown another head. What possible reason could she have for doing such a thing?
“Because you’re an idiot too stubborn to go after the only woman you’ve ever truly wanted to be with. Don’t look at me like that, Luke, you know it’s true. Have you told her yet?”
“I…ah…”
“No, I thought not.”
“Told me what?” Penny asked fearfully as her eyes flicked between Cassie’s cross expression and Luke’s look of warning.
“Why he dates skinny women.”
“No.”
“No time like the present, eh, Luke?”
Luke sighed heavily and knew there was definitely no escaping the question this time.
“Because they’re the complete opposite of you,” he said as he stared into Penny’s turbulent blue-grey eyes, eyes that widened and filled with tears of misunderstanding. “Penny, it’s not what you think,” he hastened to add. “I was infatuated with you. I’ve wanted you since you were sixteen.”
Her brow scrunched in obvious confusion. “You wanted…me?”
Luke smiled warmly. “Yes. You. At first your age kept me away, but even as you got older and became more accessible, I still couldn’t bring myself to approach you…because you were Selina Royale's niece.
“I’m ashamed to admit it, but the thought that you might be just like Selina kept me away. It was easier for me to hold on to the fantasy of you than it was to discover what I assumed was the truth. But then the fantasy became too much of a distraction too, so I did everything I could think of to get you out of my system. So even though I’m attracted to curvy brunettes, I dated women who were your complete opposite. Skinny blondes.”
Penny stared at Luke like he was a complete moron. “What on Earth for? Why not just date curvy brunettes?”
“Because they wouldn’t be you,” he said softly as he stroked her hair, “and that wouldn’t be fair to them or me. So tell me, Penny Royale, do you love me?”
Penny bit her lip and nodded. “Yes,” she said. “Yes, I love you.”
Luke reached inside his jacket and produced a small black velvet box before going down on one knee.
“And will you marry me?” He opened the box to reveal an antique four-carat diamond and platinum ring. Cassie cried and fanned her face with her hands like an overexcited pageant queen.
Penny simply gasped. “Luke, I…”
“Please say yes, honey.”
“Yes,” she said as the most magnificent smile adorned her face. Luke smiled as he slid the ring on her finger, then stood to pull her into a crushing and passionate embrace.
All around them the sound of applause and cheering erupted like a sudden burst of thunder, the flashing of cameras like lightning accompanying the storm of emotion that had just been witnessed by the Plaza Ballroom.
Grant Bellows appeared by Cassie’s side and put a comforting arm around her shoulders, only to have it thrown off as she turned to him and kissed him wildly.
Luke pulled back so he could gaze at Penny. “I wasn’t going to ask you until we went to Margaret River, but when I saw you in this dress…Honey, I thought my heart would explode if I didn’t propose to you tonight. I love you so much, Pen,” he said as he stroked his thumb over her pretty pout.
A distant voice recalled Luke and Penny to their surroundings. The event’s emcee was announcing the evening meal and asking everyone to take their seats.
“Come on, let’s go rub Selina’s nose in it,” Luke said with a wicked twinkle in his golden eyes.
“You’ll have to hurry,” Grant said. “I saw her running for cover after your…ah, whatever that was. What was that all about anyway?” he asked with a knit brow as the four of them made their way back to the ballroom.
“Love,” Cassie sighed.
“I thought it was about revenge,” Luke said, looking as confused as Grant.
“Nah, not so much.”
Luke stopped and pinned Cassie with an irritated stare. “Then what the hell did we do all this for?”
“Well, I had to bring you two together somehow and submitting to your quest for revenge seemed like the most suitable means of accomplishing that.”
“You mean everything Luke and I have done to get Selina’s admission of guilt was just a ruse to get us together? Even before you tipped off that horrid reporter?”
Cassie grinned apologetically and shrugged her shoulders. “He loves you, he always has, and I’m not going to be around much longer. I couldn’t bear the thought of Luke being on his own, so I did what was necessary.”
Grant hugged Cassie tightly. “My little love goddess.”
Luke sat down at their table and hauled Penny into his lap. “From now on neither of us need be alone. Never again, honey. You’re my family now, and I’m yours. Forever.”
“Forever,” she agreed as she snuggled against his shoulder. “I think we can do forever.”
“I know we can.”
THE END
Revenge and Redemption Page 17
