Beneath The Lies

by Riann C. Miller

  “Sure, babe.” Noah drapes his arm around Gabby and the two of them say a quick goodbye and leave with Alyssa and Kyler following. Kiran however doesn’t act like he plans to leave anytime soon.

  “This is going to make him go crazy, at least where you’re concerned. Go easy on him. Please.”

  I glance at Kiran. “I’ll try. I’m going to go to bed. I’ll see you later.”

  Kiran remains silent as I walk to our bedroom. This information going public is bad. Really bad, and not just because my birth father belongs to a drug cartel, but because Carly could easily use this information against Gavin to try to take Callie away from him.

  I can’t stand in the way of Gavin and Callie, but walking away from him will kill me. I love him. I love him more than I thought possible, and I love Callie just as much. They’re my family, and I learned once already how horrible life feels when you lose your family.

  ****

  Over the next two weeks, Gavin goes from slightly protective to crazy over the top vigilant. The first few days after discovering my life was made accessible to the public, Gavin wouldn’t even entertain the idea of me going to school. He worked from home and somehow managed to get Carly to agree to let Callie stay with us.

  I knew everyone in my life was worried about me. Stacy contacted me, telling me that she was watching her children closely in case Damian decides to retaliate against her. Alex called again to see if there was anything he could do to help. I think he also was secretly wondering if I had heard anything about his sister.

  After a week of being caged in our apartment, I told Gavin I was returning to school, which did not go over well. I know I agreed to go easy on him, and I would likely be beside myself with worry if the roles were reversed, but I can’t stay hidden away forever.

  When it came time, Gavin and I met in the middle when I agreed to take a bodyguard with me to school. At least this way I could attend while hopefully giving Gavin some sense of peace.

  Tonight when I got home from school, Gavin was back to acting agitated but he kept his mood in check.

  “I found out who sold us out,” he finally says as Callie is curled up in Gavin’s lap, fast asleep.

  “Leeta?”

  Gavin looks down and starts playing with a strand of Callie’s hair. “Yes, but it was the PI I hired to find Stacy that gave her the information. He’s denying it, of course, but I hacked into his system and found an email from him to Leeta telling her the same information he told me. Stacy didn’t do much to hide her past. I’m sure a little digging around and he figured out she was connected to the Paasch cartel.

  “I thought PIs were licensed like lawyers and aren’t allowed to share information like that?”

  “They are. And I don’t care how I found the information. I’ve already turned him in. I hope his pay day from Leeta was enough to fund him into retirement.”

  I sit here watching Gavin love on his daughter, wondering what will happen if my birth father decides to suddenly show up. “Don’t you think he would have done something by now if he was going to?”

  We both know who he is. “Predicting what Damian Paasch will do is like predicting what Leeta Loman will do next...It’s impossible.”

  I say through a sigh, “Geez. We’re quite the pair when it comes to the genetic lottery.”

  Gavin gives me a soft laugh in return. “That we are, babe. I’m tired. Let’s go to bed.”

  At least for now, I still have the two people that mean the most to me.

  Finals came and went and before I know it, Christmas is almost upon us. I arranged for gifts to be sent to Stacy and her kids, and even sent something to Alex. Buying for Callie was easy, but trying to come up with the perfect gift for Gavin has been anything but simple.

  I could easily find him a gift to open, but I want my gift to be something he’ll always remember, which is why I asked Ned exactly how much money he was willing to loan me.

  The best gift I can think of is to come up with enough money to buy Carly off and to ensure that Gavin is Callie’s sole parent, but part of me almost feels guilty for even considering pushing Carly out of Callie’s life. In the last month, she hasn’t given Gavin any problems. If anything she’s been almost too agreeable, which is why I feel this is still for the best because she’s probably up to something.

  After my classes ended, Gavin dismissed my full time bodyguard. Now I have to prearrange the times I want to go somewhere with either him, Kiran, or a guy he keeps on contract. The rare occasion that all three of them are busy I’m forced to stay home until one of them arrives.

  Jake, the guy on Gavin’s payroll, was the unlucky one that walked around the mall with me while I shopped for Gabby and Alyssa. After dragging him into fifty different stores, I could tell he was about to explode, which had me feeling sorry for him.

  I made a few more purchases then I let him take me home. Like usual, Jake steps into the apartment while I wait by the door to ensure everything is just the way it should be. Once Jake is gone, I take my bags back to the bedroom and place them in the closet then change into something more comfortable. When I arrive back to the living room, my heart drops to my stomach when I see Damian Paasch sitting on the sofa.

  My throat tightens and words are unable to form as he slowly takes me in from head to toe. “Hello, Kate.”

  I swallow but I still can’t find my voice. “My, my. You sure are beautiful. You seem to have captured the most beautiful parts of your mother and paired them with my eyes.” He shakes his head for a second like he’s almost upset. “I can’t believe I didn’t expect that.”

  Damian looks lost for a moment then he looks me in the eyes with what I think is supposed to be a reassuring smile. “What do you want?” I ask in a weak voice.

  He shakes his head as he fakes a laugh. “I want the same thing any father wants...to know his child. To know his daughter is safe and being taken care of.”

  I’m not nearly as scared as I thought I would be being in the same room as Damian, but at the same time I’m lost on what I should say or do. “I love Belle, my daughter, but...but I always knew something was missing. I just never expected it to be this.” He waves his hand out toward me.

  “Belle is soft. I’ve been told many times that she’s too soft to be my child, but I never listened. I never questioned the men who have had the balls to imply any such thing.”

  Damian straightens his tie while his eyes stay locked on mine. “Blood or not, Belle is mine, but that also makes you mine.”

  “Please...please don’t take me. I have a life, people that I love, and—”

  “Kate, stop,” Damian growls out, causing me to immediately stop talking. “I’m not your enemy. I’m your father. If you’d rather not come back with me, then I’m not going to make you, but that doesn’t mean I won’t do anything and everything to ensure you’re taken care of. That you’re offered the life you deserve.” He pauses, waiting for me to say something, but I remain quiet.

  “Like it or not, Kate, you are my daughter...and with that comes a great deal of power. Power I never believed Belle could manage, but with you...with you the possibilities seem endless.”

  When Damian Paasch speaks he demands respect. I’m not sure if it’s that or my fear of the unknown that has me staying quiet.

  “I won’t hover over you, but always know I’ll be somewhere in the background of your life, taking care of you, protecting what’s mine. If someone hurts you, I’ll know and they’ll pay. If you need something I’ll find out and you’ll get it.”

  Damian stands up and starts to head to the door, but before he leaves he looks back at me. “We’ll never have the bond that I have with Belle, or the one you shared with Marcus, but whatever happens from this point on, I want you to know that you’ll never have to fear me. I would die before I allowed anything to happen to you.

  Damian gives me one more smile then walks straight out the door, leaving me confused as hell in his wake. I always thought if Damian showed up—someh
ow got me alone—I would be whisked away against my will and held prisoner God only knows where.

  Instead, he gave me a glimpse into the type of man he really is. And while I don’t doubt many people would and should fear him, I don’t believe that I need to. He had the chance to do whatever he wanted, and all he chose to do was talk.

  My phone beeps with a message from Gavin, telling me he’s heading home. God, Gavin. After the way he reacted when Leeta came here, I can only imagine what he’ll do if I tell him about Damian. He’ll go crazy...I know that much. He was protecting me from the very man who casually walked straight into our apartment like he had his own key—and maybe he did.

  Damian might be a mad man, he might make his billions from selling drugs, but I get the impression he takes his role as a father seriously.

  Therefore...I’m not going to tell Gavin. At least not right away. I fear the consequences I’m sure I’ll undoubtedly have to deal with, but my fear for Gavin’s safety outweighs everything else.

  ****

  Christmas comes and goes and I end up giving Gavin a watch. It’s a fancy watch that links up to his phone, but it’s still nothing like the gift of removing Carly from our lives would have been.

  When I asked Ned how much money I could borrow, he was on board until I told him how much I needed. I didn’t want to lie, and when I told the real reason I was asking for that much he instantly said no. Apparently, he was on board with paying for my school but not buying off crazy ex-girlfriends, which I understood.

  I’ve just returned home from a lunch date with Gabby and Noah when Gavin walks into the living room with a strange look on his face. “Gavin? What’s wrong?” He flickers his eyes over to mine before he takes a deep breath.

  “Leeta was arrested today on murder charges.”

  “What?” I softly ask while my brain runs wild, wondering who in the hell she killed.

  “Leeta is being charged with my father’s murder. Evidence was turned in that she paid a car mechanic to tamper with his break lines, to ensure he’d wreck, exactly what I overheard her saying when I was only a kid.” His father...oh shit. “Tanner overheard her, too. He’s being called in for questioning as well.”

  “Wow. That’s, well...” I trail off, not knowing what else to say.

  “I always knew Leeta killed my dad, but I never thought—”

  Gavin takes his hands and rubs them over his face. “I guess you’ll get to finally meet my brother,” he adds with a small smile on his face.

  There are times when I forget that Gavin has a brother. He told me Tanner moved out east the second he turned eighteen to ensure he got away from Leeta, something Gavin planned to do himself until Carly, then The Hill, and eventually Callie came to be a part of his life, keeping him here in California.

  The few times that Gavin has actually seen Tanner since he moved have been when Gavin has gone there, not the other way around. At least, that’s what Gavin has told me.

  “I guess so. I can’t believe she was arrested.” Something doesn’t completely add up but I’m not about to take this moment away from him.

  “C’mere.” I walk over to Gavin while he wraps me up tight in his arms. “I feel free. Like a burden has finally been lifted,” he whispers in my ear.

  I understand what Gavin means. Knowing the damage Leeta has inflected on not only Gavin and his brother but my father as well, I feel lighter knowing she’s finally going to get what’s coming to her.

  ****

  “Come in,” I hear Gavin say to whoever knocked on our door. I hurry and finish my makeup then head out where I’m stopped dead in my tracks when I see a slightly older but just as gorgeous version of the man I love.

  “Kate, this is Tanner. Tanner, meet Kate,” Gavin says with a huge smile on his face.

  “Nice to meet you, Kate.” Tanner’s voice makes my stomach drop, and if I wasn’t already head over heels in love with his brother I might beg him for his number.

  “Likewise,” I mumble back.

  Gavin and Tanner start talking like they see each other every day and I’m amazed. I didn’t have a sibling growing up and watching them is captivating.

  “Where’s my beautiful niece?”

  I feel a tug on my heart at Tanner’s comment. I’m sure he knows the circumstances surrounding Callie’s paternity, but he doesn’t allow that to affect how he sees her. “Ugh. With Carly,” Gavin says in irritated voice.

  “Carly still the same wonderful woman she’s always been?”

  Gavin shrugs. “She was acting better. I mean, she almost made me think she was finally growing up. Then after Leeta was arrested she flipped back to the old Carly. Started throwing fits whenever I pick up or drop off Callie. Demanding that I tell Leeta to call her—from jail, no less. As if I plan to be anywhere near that bitch unless it’s in a courtroom.”

  Tanner has a disgusted look on his face. “Seriously, what did you ever see in that chick? Carly is a Leeta junior.” Tanner starts laughing at his own joke but Gavin doesn’t seem to find it nearly as funny.

  “Whatever,” he mumbles bringing his gaze back to me. We stare at each other for a beat until I hear my phone beep with a text message.

  “I’ll be back,” I say as I turn and head back to the office to check my phone and to give them a few minutes to themselves. I sit down at the desk as I open my text and my blood runs cold.

  Those are the exact words that Damian said to me the day he was here a few weeks ago. What does that mean? Is he talking about Gavin? Has he done something that I don’t know about?

  My mind is racing when I suddenly wonder if he means Leeta. Leeta’s arrest happened almost a week ago. That’s the whole reason Tanner is here, to give his statement.

  My mind is still spinning with ideas when I hear Gavin’s voice change to a harsh tone, causing me to walk back out to the living room where I find two police officers. One of them is handing Callie over to Gavin.

  “What’s going on?” I frantically ask.

  “Ms. Reynolds?” an officer asks.

  “Yes, that’s me.” I recognize the officer as the same man who was at the hospital the day I had my accident.

  “We came to inform you that we made an arrest on your hit and run accident.”

  I glance over at Gavin, who looks ready to kill someone. He’s also holding Callie, who last I knew was with Carly. “You did?” I faintly ask.

  “Yes, ma’am. Maybe you’d like to talk in private.” Before I can answer, Gavin speaks up.

  “I’m going to take Callie to her room and put a movie on for her. I’ll be right back.”

  As soon as Gavin and Callie leave the officers relax a little. “We knew the little girl belonged to your boyfriend, so to avoid taking her into CPS, we came here hoping to find him.”

  “You brought Callie here?” I ask almost hysterically. “Yes. We found her in a guest room hiding out when we arrested her mother.”

  My jaw drops open. “You did what?”

  “Carly was the one driving the car that hit Kate?” Gavin asks from behind me.

  “Yes, we believe so, and we have enough evidence to back up that claim therefore the DA issued an arrest warrant. Ms. Mattson was arrested about two hours ago and should appear in front of a judge in the morning.”

  I find my voice, but it’s soft, almost weak. “How? I mean, why now a few months later?”

  “Our traffic cams were acting up during the time of your accident, but we were able to make out a partial plate and a decent description and make of the vehicle and driver thanks to eye witnesses. Yesterday, the owner of the vehicle came forward, alleging he heard Ms. Mattson claim to have been the driver of his vehicle when she purposely hit you. The vehicle still has damage that validates his allegation.”

  My mind is already racing with ideas. “Who turned her in?”

  “Phillip Sarver.”

  I hear Gavin growl. “Phil? That piece of shit actually ratted her out?”

  Gavin starts pacing while he continues
his rant. “He’s known this whole fucking time. I know he has, so why now? What does he have to gain by coming forward now?”

  I know why, but with Tanner and two police officers in the room, I’m not about to open my mouth. “I’m not sure, sir.” The officer turns away from Gavin and looks at me.

  “Ms. Reynolds, the DA’s office will be in touch with you. And Mr. Loman, CPS will be in touch to ensure your daughter is safely being cared for.”

  Without another word, they leave. “Geez, Gav. I’ve been here for less than an hour. You don’t need to wonder why I moved across the fucking continent.”

  Both Tanner and I laugh off his words, but not Gavin. He’s standing motionless, staring at the door the officers just left through.

  “Gavin?” I whisper but he doesn’t move a muscle, although his eyes flicker to mine. “Gavin?” Slowly I walk up to him and wrap my arms around his waist.

  “She tried to kill you and...and it’s all my fault.”

  “What? That is not true.” I pull away as Gavin’s eyes continue to follow me. “How can you say that? The only person responsible for Carly is Carly.”

  Instead of answering, he reaches out and pulls me tight against his body while he buries his face into the side of my neck. “Fuck, she tried to kill you.”

  My accident happened over two months ago, and everyone thought there was at least the possibility that it was Carly, but I guess the confirmation is more than Gavin can handle.

  “I’m okay. Carly is behind bars and Callie is safely with us. Everything is...perfect. Let’s focus on that and not on what ifs. Please.”

  Gavin pulls back long enough to take my mouth with his. I start to melt into his body when I hear someone behind me clear their throat.

  “Sorry, bro, but we need to get down to the lawyer to take care of our statements against Leeta.”

  The two of us look over at Tanner, who’s greeting us both with a warm smile. “Are you okay to stay here with Callie until we get back?” Gavin asks while I’m struggling to come back down from the high our kiss created.

  “Absolutely. Go take care of everything and enjoy some brother time. Us girls will be here waiting on you when you get home.”