The Perfect Little Lie: A Thrilling Romantic Suspense (The Perfect Revenge Book 2)

by Madyson Grey

  Victoria searched Rafael’s eyes and saw that there was honesty, truth, and love there. So she figured that she may as well come clean, too.

  “Well, I guess since it’s confession time, I may as well come clean, too,” she said. “The reason I went out with you is because Mother made me. She wanted me to find some dirt on you that she could use to take back Daddy’s company from you. She demanded that I keep seeing you until I found something. But after the second or third time with you, I knew there was nothing to find out. That is the main thing that sent Marian into the rages she had the past couple of days. I kept telling her that I couldn’t figure out what she wanted me to find. And that just made her mad.

  “And another thing. After Mr. Hall told me about you a little while ago, I do remember seeing you around here when we were kids. But you’ve changed so much, that I had no idea you were that same kid,” Victoria told him.

  “So I guess we both had our devious reasons for those first couple of dates, didn’t we?” he said.

  “Yeah, but I won’t hold it against you, if you won’t hold it against me,” she said.

  “The only thing I’m gonna hold against you is me,” Rafael said, putting his arms around her again.

  This time she responded, putting her arms around him, too. They held each other for a long moment while Victoria let a few tears slide down her cheeks and onto his shoulder. He could feel her sobs as he held her close. When she got a hold of herself, she drew back a little ways from him.

  “Rafael, we are coming into this relationship with a lot of baggage, both of us,” she said. “But if you’re willing to work at it, and work at it together, instead of letting things come between us, I am willing, too. I know that I already love you, and I don’t want to go through what lies ahead of me without you by my side. It’s not going to be easy. There’s a police investigation ahead. My mother is in a psych ward and will soon be tried for assaulting Lena and threatening you and Karen here, if not for Daddy’s murder. It’s not going to be fun. But I need you, Rafael, I need you. Will you be there for me?”

  “Oh, yes, my beautiful Victoria,” he breathed. “I will be there every step of the way. Right beside you. I love you, babe, and I have for years.”

  He drew his head back a bit and looked deeply into her eyes. Now? he wondered. Yes. He got up from his knees and walked over to the desk, opened the center drawer all the way and reached clear into the back of it and pulled out a tiny black velvet box. He closed it in his hand and went back over to where Victoria was still sitting.

  Dropping to one knee, he took one of Victoria’s hands in his free hand, looked into her face and asked, “Victoria Thornton, will you marry me?”

  He then opened his closed hand, revealing the small box. He opened it with his other hand, revealing a stunning diamond and sapphire wedding and engagement ring set. Victoria gasped as she saw the rings. They had belonged to her grandmother, her dad’s mother. She had seen them once or twice years ago on her sixteenth birthday. David had shown them to her privately, and told her that someday, when some young man asked for her hand in marriage, they would be hers.

  Just knowing that her dad had already trusted Rafael enough to give the rings to him, made her weep, aching for her great loss. How she wished her dad could be there. He would have been so pleased. His mother had died at an early age of cancer. Just before she died, she told David and his father that she wanted the rings to go to Victoria someday. She would wear them until she was dead, but then David’s father should take them off, as he was the one who put them on her, and then give them to David to keep until Victoria should become engaged.

  “Oh, Rafael,” she said in a shaky voice. “My grandma’s rings. Daddy gave them to you for me, didn’t he? Of course, I’ll marry you. And not just because it was Daddy’s wish, but because I do truly love you.”

  Rafael took the engagement ring out of the box and slipped it on Victoria’s finger. Then he pulled her to him and kissed her with all the pent-up love that he’d cherished for fifteen years. Now he had finally come clean about his long-standing feelings for her. Now he didn’t have to pretend that they had just met. Now he was free to love and cherish openly this woman that he had only fantasized about before. What a long way he’d come since he was that fat, pimply-faced juvenile who was practically scared of his own shadow.

  He stood to his feet and pulled her up with him.

  “It’s time to go, my love,” he said. “Let’s blow this pop stand. I want to take you out to the fanciest place in town to celebrate our engagement. What do you say?”

  Victoria gave him a shaky smile.

  “Well, I think I need to go home first and fix my face and try to find something suitable to wear. And don’t you need reservations for the fanciest place in town?”

  “So we’ll settle for the second fanciest. How’s that?”

  “Suits me. I’ll even settle for the third fanciest. I don’t even care about fancy. I got so turned off by high society by my mother’s trying to force me into that lifestyle that I’m more comfortable at a plain diner than at an elegant restaurant.”

  “Whatever you wish, my love,” he said. “We’ll dine at McDonald’s if that’s what tickles your fancy.”

  She laughed and said they might choose a place a little classier than that for this time. But it couldn’t be too fancy because she didn’t know if she had anything suitable to wear to a really upscale place.

  “Don’t worry, honey,” he said. “We’ll just find a nice place. In fact, I may know just the place. How about if I run by my place and grab some things and then I’ll come to your place and we can go from there? OK?”

  “OK, that sounds good,” she agreed.

  They drove their separate ways. Rafael went to his place and packed a suitcase with enough stuff to stay for several days at Victoria’s, just in case she wanted him to. With Lena coming home in a couple of days, she may not need him then. But he’d go prepared.

  Victoria got home and spent several minutes in her closet trying to decide what to wear. She finally settled on a pair of white slacks and a dressy red blouse that had pearl buttons down the front. She added a pair of white open-toed heels and a wide gold belt. She brushed out her hair and let it lay long and in soft curls down her back. When the gate buzzer sounded, she dashed downstairs to let Rafael in.

  Chapter Six

  When Victoria opened the door, Rafael let out a low wolf whistle. An embarrassed grin spread across her face as she held the door wide for him to come in.

  “I’m just about ready,” she said. “I just need to grab my purse and make sure the alarm system is set.”

  She ran back upstairs to get her purse. Downstairs again, she went to the alarm panel, keyed in the code, and set the alarm. Then they hurried out the door and got into the Ferrari. The gate had a separate alarm code that she set when they went through it. Now the place was as secure as humans could make it.

  “So, where are we going?” she asked Rafael as he pulled out onto the street.

  “Remember Clifton’s?” he asked.

  “Oh, Clifton’s,” she said, a touch of nostalgia coloring her voice. “I remember Clifton’s. Daddy used to take me there sometimes when Mother was off at one of her luncheons. She thought Clifton’s was beneath her station, but Daddy and I loved it. I especially loved the Pacific Seas part. And I loved getting to choose my own food from the serving deck. I liked being able to see what the food looked like before I asked for it. I haven’t been there in years. But then, I haven’t been home in years.”

  “I thought you might like to go there. Your dad told me that you liked that place. He told me a lot of things about you,” Rafael said.

  He reached across the console to take Victoria’s hand.

  “You know something?” she said wistfully. “All the past seven years that I’ve been gone from here, I tried my best to shut out LA. Because being in LA meant being under Mother’s thumb, and her trying to push me into her high society. I couldn
’t bear the thought of becoming a social snob like she was. Neither could I stand those stuffy luncheons. She dragged me to as many of them as she could. I hated that life. So I broke away the only way I knew how. There are art schools in southern California, but I chose one in Seattle just to get away.

  “But there were days when it seemed as though it had rained forever and would continue to rain forever that I longed for some California sunshine. I love my job in the art museum, I really do. And I loved my college experience. But it is so good to be home here in LA, that I almost dread having to go back to Seattle just to pack my things.”

  “Well, I’ll go with you and we’ll make a quick trip of it,” Rafael said.

  “Can you take time off from work?” Victoria asked.

  “Oh, yeah, no problem,” Rafael said.

  Clifton’s looked different when the couple walked through the door. Under new ownership, major renovations had taken place recently, and it didn’t look like Victoria remembered it. But it was still good to be there and remember the times she had been there with her daddy. Just thinking about him made her eyes grow misty. She blinked several times, willing the tears to dry up.

  They went through the food line and made their selections, and then took their trays to a table in a private corner. The food took their best attention for a few minutes.

  “It’s been a rough day for you, hasn’t it?” Rafael asked after he had made a decent dent in the pile of food on his plate.

  “Who? Me? A rough day? Nah.”

  She gave him a wry smile.

  “Let’s see—Lena’s in the hospital, my mother’s in the psych ward under arrest, my dad is dead, I find out that you didn’t buy Daddy out, he turned the company over to you, but now it’s mine; Daddy wanted me to marry you and have you keep running the company; Mother has been cheating on Daddy for years, and probably murdered him; Mother has been lying to me all week. Can you think of anything I left out? No, my day has been just peachy keen.”

  Rafael reached his hand across the small table to lay it on her shoulder.

  “I am so sorry, honey,” he said soberly. “I truly am. I know that I contributed to the lie about me buying out your dad’s company. But that was how he wanted it. Your mother just couldn’t find out what was really going down. Then I just got so used to the story that it became my truth. Also, I didn’t really know where your loyalties lay. If I were to tell you the truth about the company, would you tell your mother? I didn’t think you would, but I had to protect you and the company for you from your mother until everything could be resolved.

  “Shoot, I didn’t even know whether or not I could convince you to marry me,” he said. “For all I knew, you might hate me or worse yet, ignore me. But I hope that the worst is over now for you. I know there are hard times ahead, but maybe they will come little at a time, instead of all at once.”

  “I know. Tomorrow I’ve got to call Mother’s attorney so he can represent her in court. I don’t know how that is going to play out, and I certainly dread going through it. But I, too, hope that the worst is over. I’ve still got to sit down with you and figure out this company transfer thing. And then there’s the matter of those large cash withdrawals out of Daddy’s bank account. You wouldn’t happen to be able to now tell me where that money went, could you?”

  Victoria eyed Rafael suspiciously. Everyone had been lying to or hiding so much from her this week that every unexplained angle of the circumstances surrounding her dad’s death was proving to be something other than they appeared to be.

  Rafael pushed the last bite of food around on his plate and onto his fork. He put the forkful of food in his mouth and chewed methodically, thinking about how to tell her about the money. She knew he was stalling, but she could wait. He swallowed, and then took a long drink of the milk in his glass. He wiped his mouth on a napkin, and then began to speak.

  “The large amounts that you saw on the statements,” he said in a low voice, mindful of others in the cafeteria, “those went into an account set up in my name with you as beneficiary. Your dad pulled as much money out of the business as he dared and put it into this special account so that if anything happened to him before the divorce was final, or if your mother fought the terms of the divorce and was awarded more than he had stipulated, that there would be a nice little nest egg for you, regardless of what happened. He hoped you would use it to open your own little art gallery or whatever here in the LA area.”

  “Wow!” was all she could say for a moment. Then, “How much is in that account?”

  “Roughly one point five mil,” he said quietly.

  Her eyes widened. Even though she had been raised in the lap of luxury, after being on her own for seven years and learning how to earn money and pay her own way, she had a new appreciation for large sums of money. Yes, her dad had set her up with a modest bank account, but she rarely touched it except for important purchases, like when she bought a car.

  Then her mind went to something else that Rafael had just said. Her dad hoped that she would open an art gallery or museum here in LA. Her mother had said something similar just the other day. Well, if that was what Daddy wanted, she would do her best to make it happen. She just wished that he would be there to cheer her on and help her get it started.

  “What about those regular smaller amounts? Do you know where they went?” she asked.

  “Yes, I know that they went into your mother’s personal account,” Rafael answered.

  “I saw on the statements that the amounts gradually increased over the years, until the last few were quite sizeable,” Victoria stated. “I’ve been wondering now if her inheritance is gone, and has been, and Daddy was just giving her money.”

  “Inheritance?”

  “Yeah, when her father died, she inherited several million, but the way I know my mother can spend money, it could be gone by now. Or nearly so, anyway.”

  “All I know is that I can truthfully tell you that your mother got those withdrawals, but I don’t know why. Nor do I know why he handled the transactions the way he did. Why couldn’t he just transfer the money from his account to hers? Why did he have to take out cash and then deposit it in to her account? Doesn’t make sense to me.”

  “I’ve wondered that, too, about both of the cash withdrawals,” Victoria said. “I can see now why he did yours—so there wouldn’t be a paper trail that Mother could follow. But why did he do it for her account? Oh, maybe it’s because the accounts aren’t linked. Maybe Daddy didn’t want her to be able to access his account and take money out that she had no right to. So he set it up so hers was totally separate from his.”

  “Yeah, that could be,” he said.

  After they were finished with their meal, they got up and left. On the way back to Victoria’s place, Rafael asked her if she wanted him to stay all night with her again, just so she wouldn’t be alone. She did.

  “Can we run by the hospital and see Lena again this evening?” Victoria asked him. “I know I should have said something sooner, but I just now thought about it.”

  “Sure, no problem,” Rafael said. “I would like to see her myself. I hope it’s not too late, though.”

  He made a couple of turns to head the car in the direction of the hospital. They got there about fifteen minutes later. When they went past the nurses’ station near Lena’s room, they were cautioned that visiting hours would be over in about twenty minutes.

  They entered Lena’s room quietly, just in case she was sleeping. But she wasn’t. She was lying there watching TV. When she saw them come in, she turned off the TV and greeted them eagerly.

  “Hi, Lena,” Victoria said, stepping close to the bed. “How are you feeling this evening?”

  “Hi, you two,” Lena replied. “I’m doing pretty good. But that stuffy old doctor still wants me to stay here until Thursday.”

  Victoria chuckled at her description of Dr. Stevens.

  “Like I said, you’d better enjoy it while you can,” Victoria teased. “When
you get home, your vacation will be over. It’ll be back to the salt mines for you!”

  “Oh, no, how will I ever bear it?” Lena teased back.

  “Thank you for the beautiful flowers, honey,” Lena said. “I’m enjoying them so much.”

  “You’re welcome. It was the least I could do,” Victoria returned.

  She was glad to see Lena in good spirits.

  “We have some good news for you, Lena,” Rafael said.

  “I could do with some good news after the way this week has gone,” Lena said.

  Even Victoria couldn’t think what he was talking about for a moment, but then it dawned on her.

  “We’re going to get married,” he said, holding up Victoria’s hand to show off the engagement ring.

  “Oh, my goodness!” Lena exclaimed. “Already? You two barely know each other. But oh, I’m so happy for you. My, that ring is stunning. You have good taste, Rafael.”

  “This was my grandma Thornton’s ring, Lena,” Victoria explained. “Daddy told me on my sixteenth birthday that someday her wedding and engagement ring set would be mine. Somehow, he felt that Rafael and I would make a good couple, so he gave the rings to him before he died.”

  “Oh, my,” Lena sighed. “That makes them really special, now, doesn’t it?”

  “It certainly does,” Victoria said. “And I know we haven’t known each other very long. At least I haven’t known Rafael very long. He tells me that he’s had his eye on me since he first went to work for Daddy. But I trust Daddy’s judgment. If Daddy thinks we’re suitable for one another, I believe it. It almost smacks of an old-fashioned arranged marriage, doesn’t it? But that’s OK. I’m more than willing.”

  She smiled up at Rafael with more love in her eyes than he’d ever seen before.

  “Well, all I can say is congratulations, and God bless you both,” Lena said, happy tears shining in her eyes. “Have you set a date yet?”