Alluring Promises Box Set (Books 1-3)

by Josie Bordeaux

  “Baby, I just want to talk about this,” the guy pleaded reaching out for her.

  I stood there feeling like I was just punched in the gut with the same fucking flashback all over again. Fucking A, this was not going to happen to me again. “Fiancée? You didn’t break it off with him?” I yelled at Vanessa, trying so hard not to punch the fucker just out of pure anger.

  “Who the hell are you?” the guy snapped at me angrily. I also noticed his fists clenched which prompted me to start doing the same.

  I turned to him, pissed as hell and determined this time not to be the idiot. Again. “I’m her boyfriend,” I yelled as I started to stride towards him. I was ready to beat the fucking piss out of him. Son of a bitch, I’m in the same damn situation. Again.

  His gaze snapped at Vanessa. “Vanessa?” He asked, making me stop in my tracks. I turned to look at her to see if she had anything to say.

  We both watched her swallow nervously as she stammered. “Uhh, um. Well…I…”

  I stood there wondering which guy I was going to be this time. How the fuck was I fooled by this whole damned situation again?

  “Charles, I umm.” She stopped and glanced at me. “Can you…Umm. Can I just have a moment with Charles?” She pleaded, her eyes glossed with worry. Damn straight she better be worried and like fuck if I’m going to leave them alone. She’s lucky I wasn’t beating the shit out of this guy and going off on her.

  I crossed my arms and leaned against the door frame. “Yep. I’ll stand right here. Talk,” I demanded through gritted teeth. I’m won’t leave like last time.

  I glanced over and saw Aubrey standing there with wide eyes. She knew the whole fucking time too. Mother fucker, I’m the other guy. Again. I shook my head as I glanced up at the ceiling wondering how the hell I was fooled living right across the hallway from her. If she could lie like that so easily and me not ever see it, how could I ever have a relationship with anyone?

  I stood there watching and waiting and thinking that all I really want is her. I don’t want another relationship with anyone else. But would I ever be able to trust her?

  Vanessa turned towards the guy and took a deep breath as she stated. “Charles, I thought we agreed that it was over.”

  “No, you told me it was over. I wasn’t set on it. Not to mention, I noticed you didn’t give me back my engagement ring, so I’m pretty sure you don’t really want this to be over.”

  Vanessa looked confused as her eyes darted around nervously. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Aubrey run into her room.

  I focused back to Vanessa, waiting to hear what she had to say now. Vanessa’s mouth was opened and she seemed like she was trying to formulate words. Finally she said, “That’s not true, Charles, I told you repeatedly that I wanted to break up.” Relief flooded me as I tried to process that she might have actually broken up with him.

  Charles looked over at me and then back to her. He shook his head, pissed as hell before spitting out, “This guy? You think this guy is going to measure up to what your parents want for you?” I tried not to take offense as I watched her face redden with anger. At least I thought it was anger.

  Vanessa was just about to answer when Aubrey came running out of her room. She stood in front of Vanessa and seemed to slip something into her hand and then walked away. I was still pissed off from his comment as if I weren’t good enough or something. I was ready to kick his ass from his comment and wanted to say something.

  “It doesn’t matter what my parents think anymore, Charles. I’m so sorry,” Vanessa said, trying to keep calm, as she handed him a ring. That same huge rock that I remembered she had on her finger when I first met her.

  He took the ring and stared at it. I realized now that the guy was crushed and Vanessa had probably tried to tell him. I didn’t really want to, but I knew I needed to give them a little room to talk. I quietly walked over to where Aubrey was watching the whole thing.

  “We’re perfect for each other. We’re meant to be together. I love you, Vanessa. You know that I’ve always loved you,” he practically begged and I actually started to feel bad for the guy.

  Vanessa’s lip started to quiver as her eyes filled with tears. She pressed her lips together and took a deep breath. She lowered her voice as she assured him, “Charles, I’ll always love you. I’ll always…”

  Beep Beep Beep. Charles gritted his teeth as I watched him fish his beeper out of his pocket, frustrated the entire time. He shook his head and looked up to the ceiling in disbelief.

  “Emergency?” Vanessa gently asked. Charles nodded his head, pressing his lips together.

  He grabbed the door handle and stopped, looking down at the floor. He took in a deep breath, looking back at Vanessa with pain in his eyes. “We’ll discuss this later.” He didn’t wait for her reply as he walked out the door. I’ll be sure as fuck I’m around whenever “later” came. Like hell if I was going to let him talk to her alone.

  Vanessa stared at the door for a moment after he left and then looked back at me. Sympathy and sadness was written all over her face. This time I was going to wait to see what she had to say — what I should have done with Stephanie. I may be pissed off that she lied to me, but I could see for myself how persistent he could be.

  I stood there staring at Vanessa as she turned towards me. I crossed my arms waiting to hear her explanation. I hoped it was pretty damn good because I wasn’t sure if I was ready to let go of her. Even as pissed as I am right now, I still wanted to do nothing more than hold her in my arms. Especially seeing how apologetic she seemed. Her eyes were filled with remorse, making me want to forgive her for everything. Although I still didn’t know what “everything” really was just yet.

  “Matt, I’m so sorry I lied to you. Several times I’ve told him it was over and he…” She stopped talking as my phone rang just as she was going to say something. She glanced down to my pocket and then back to my eyes. I ignored the call as I continued to stare at her, waiting to hear what she had to say.

  “Go on,” I commanded her, needing to hear her side of things.

  She briefly nodded her head as she swallowed and continued, “When you and I first started this, Charles and I discussed a break from our relationship. I didn’t think that you and I would…”

  My phone rang again. I pulled my brow in, confused who might be calling. Frustrated that I wasn’t hearing her explanation, I pulled my phone from my back pocket and checked. It was from Mom. I noted that the last call was Z, so I knew something might be going on. I held up my finger as I went ahead and answered it, completely concerned that something was wrong.

  “It’s your Dad. He’s had a heart attack.” Mom frantically sobbed into the phone. My heart felt like it completely stopped. Panic ran through me as I tried to process what she just said.

  “Is he okay?” I asked trying to keep my voice calm and in control although I felt anything but that.

  “I don’t know. They’re taking him over to the hospital right now,” she managed to sputter out.

  Fear gripped me as I fired off questions, “Are you driving? Where are you? Do you need me to come get you?” I needed to have some sort of control over this. Dad. Heart attack. I knew he had some problems, but I didn’t think anything like this. Panic was setting in and I needed to make sure I didn’t sound that way.

  “Z is with me. We’re following the ambulance. I was lucky enough he was over visiting.” Mom’s voice was anything but calm as she was still trying to say something positive through all this. I was glad my brother was there and driving her. I can’t imagine her trying to drive as upset as she was.

  “Mom, can you put Z on the phone?” I barely heard her response before he came onto the line.

  “Hey,” I heard my brother say. “They think he’s gonna be okay.” He took a deep breath just as I was about to ask another question, he told me what I feared the most. “The clubhouse might be comin’ down.”

  Fuck. As soon as he said that my heart dropped and panic
ran through me. That was our code we’d say in front of Dad if we were really in trouble. When we were little and we did something pretty bad we said that code right before we were punished, except we used to say it more in a joking manner. Somehow, it lightened the situation for us as if we had our own personal joke right before a hell of a punishment. Too bad saying it didn’t lighten up this situation, but at least he knew how to tell me without letting mom know how worried he was.

  “I’m on my way,” I told him as I grabbed the door handle, forgetting anything else that happened right before that call. Vanessa was right behind me, not even asking what happened. Prayers went through my head as I started to have flashbacks of my dad all through my childhood. I wasn’t ready to let go of him just yet. I hoped someone up there heard my prayers as Vanessa and I hurried to the hospital.

  WE WERE SITTING in the waiting room hoping to find out more information about Dad’s surgery. After arriving at the hospital we were told he needed a double bypass. They’ve been operating for close to six hours now.

  My nerves were shot. Mom was trying so hard to keep it together, but kept bursting into tears if she sat too long with her thoughts. I tried to keep conversations going by asking Z and Izzy if they were planning vacations. Of course that just led to Mom telling us how she was going to surprise Dad with another cruise somewhere. Every thing suggested brought up something that led the conversation back to Dad.

  Flynn’s Dad, Greg, finally made it to the hospital to help relieve some of the pressure for me. Being the oldest man there, I knew he had to make sure to keep everyone together. He made sure to bring up all the good times our parents had and all the funny stories they shared, keeping our minds off the waiting game we were playing.

  Vanessa sat next to me and continually asked everyone if they wanted coffee or something to eat. She was trying her best also to make sure everyone kept their minds off things. Shitty way for her to meet my parents and Flynn’s, that’s for sure. I was hoping to introduce her at a normal family gathering. I really wanted her to meet my Dad. He’s an amazing man with a great sense of humor who I’ve always looked up to. He would welcome Vanessa as his own daughter, like he did with Izzy. My dad is everything to me and now his life was completely out of our hands. And all we could do was wait.

  I was staring at Vanessa’s hands, watching her twirl her grandmother’s ring nervously — at least I hoped she hadn’t lied about that. I was listening to another story from Greg and tried to focus on what he was saying. Vanessa and I hadn’t said a word about what was going on between us.

  Her finger started turning purple as I watched her wring it tightly and I wondered what had shaken her up even more.

  I glanced to her eyes, noticing she was fixated on something. I looked over to what she would be staring at with such angst. I saw a familiar guy standing there and it only took me a second longer to realize it was her ex, Charles. Her fucking ex-fiancé. At least I was pretty sure he was her ex. He better be now. He was dressed in green hospital scrubs. At first, I was wondering why he was wearing them and then I remembered right at that second what Vanessa’s mom told me when we first met. Charles is a heart surgeon. It hit me even harder when he asked for Mrs. Williams and my mom stood to walk over to him.

  Vanessa’s ex just operated on my dad. Holy shit.

  Another doctor, an older guy, was standing next to him. When he spotted Vanessa, he smiled brightly. Vanessa jumped up and ran over to him. She hugged him as I tried to focus on what Charles was telling my mom and Flynn’s parents. I stood up so I could listen closely, my heart pounding at what he would say about my dad.

  “It’s going to be touch and go for a day or two, so we need to keep a close watch on him in intensive care, but this was a successful operation and he should make a full recovery,” Charles told my mom. His voice was calm and in control. So unlike how it was hours ago at Vanessa’s apartment.

  My mom clutched her hand to her heart as relief flooded her face. She reached up and hugged Charles. Vanessa’s ex. Who just saved my dad’s life. Mom pulled back and Z shook his hand, clapping his back. What did I do? Same thing. He just saved my dad and I couldn’t have been more relieved and grateful.

  “I was watching Charles perform the best double bypass surgery I’ve ever seen,” Vanessa’s dad told her with a gleam in his eyes. He looked over to me, probably because I was staring at him and told me, “Mr. Williams, thanks to Dr. Radcliffe here, your dad is going to be just fine.”

  I nodded my head. “That’s great,” I told him as relief continued to flood through me. I turned to Charles and shook his hand. “Thank you,” I told him sincerely. Charles didn’t look me in the eyes, but nodded his head.

  Vanessa’s dad patted Charles’ back. “I can’t wait for you to be my son-in-law. Isn’t it fantastic? Another doctor in the family. I’ll be proud to call you my son, soon.”

  My heart jumped into my throat. “Son-in-law,” I repeated, I thought to myself, but obviously I must have said it out loud.

  “Yeah,” her dad beamed as he looked back at me. “Vanessa and Charles are going to be married soon.” He turned to Vanessa and told her, “That reminds me. Your mom has some things she wanted to discuss with you. She’s pretty angry that you’ve been avoiding her calls and just sending texts. You know how she gets, princess.” He turned back to all of us and laughed. “I’m sure she just wants to discuss what else to buy for the wedding.” He shook his head and chuckled. “More money for the wedding. Nothing is too expensive for my little princess.” He kissed her on top of her head and told her that he needed to get going. He slapped Charles on the back one last time.

  I stood there silent as I stared at Vanessa. Charles glanced at me, pure hatred in his eyes for me as he turned and started to walk down the hallway.

  Vanessa silently pleaded me to wait for her. Anger shot through me again that she would chase after him. I shook my head, pressing my lips together not wanting her to follow him. She backed up as tears fell from her eyes and she whispered, “I’ll be right back, please don’t leave.”

  Where the fuck was I going? My dad just had surgery.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Vanessa

  “CHARLES WAIT!” I called after him. He stopped in the middle of the hallway and pinched the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes.

  I caught up to him and stood in front of him, unsure of what I was going to say. He just saved Matt’s dad’s life right after he found out that Matt and I were dating. He glared at me with pure hatred for me and I deserved it.

  “We were supposed to be just taking a break from our relationship so you could work on your career. That’s what this was supposed to be about. But, this whole time you were dating that guy?” He flung his arm towards the waiting room. His eyes were red, tired from surgery and I’m sure frustrated from…this.

  My heart broke for him and I wanted to wrap my arms around him to tell him all of it would be okay. I wanted to make it all just go away, but then I realized that’s how I got myself into this mess. I had never fully stood my ground to tell him it was over.

  Gently, I reminded him, “I tried to tell you that I wanted to break up, Charles. Every time you wanted to try again. I…”

  He grabbed my arms as he glared into my eyes. “Because I love you, Vanessa.” Tears glossed over his eyes as he continued to stare at me, almost pleading with me. His grip on my arms became tighter as his eyes implored me to understand him.

  “I love you too, Charles, but it’s not that type of love. I’m so sorry,” I admitted as I let him continue his grasp on me, hoping he could understand. I’ve loved him for so long and I knew I’d continue to love him, just not as my husband. My decision was firm even though my heart was breaking for him. I resolved that I wasn’t going to marry Charles. This was really over.

  Charles huffed as he released his grasp and pushed me away from him. His face seemed almost disgusted with me as if I were nothing to him. I watched him walk down the hallway again. Thru
sting his hands through his hair in pure frustration and anger.

  Unsure of what to do, I stood there watching Charles pace back and forth in the hallway as a lump formed in my throat. It was finally over between us and I hoped he could accept that.

  I felt Matt before I turned to see him standing nearby. He seemed to want to keep some distance between us. I saw the hurt look on his face. He was angry with me too. And he should be. I caused all of this. Both men were suffering because of my stupid choices — my indecision to finally end it with Charles and my hesitation to allow myself to fall for Matt.

  I felt Matt’s eyes burn into me. His arms were crossed over his chest as he stood there glaring at me. His deep voice sounded hurt as he asked, “Was I just a fling, Vanessa? Just someone to have fun with during your little break from your fiancé?”

  My eyes snapped to his as I shook my head, terrified that I would lose Matt. “No! I…I mean, at first I wasn’t sure what we were doing. When you told me you loved me, I knew there was something more between us.” I watched relief flood his face. Although he still looked angry, the expression in his eyes for me softened.

  Charles walked back at that very moment and stood right in front of me, blocking my view of Matt. His stance was fierce, putting me on edge immediately. I was glad Matt was still nearby, even though he kept his distance. I wasn’t sure if he was giving Charles an opportunity to say his peace with me — or maybe I misread Matt’s expression and he was finished with me.

  “I’m…I’m so very sorry, Charles. I should have completely broken up with you that first night. I was just…scared.”

  Standing there with his arms crossed and his angry glare, I’ve never seen Charles so furious. Never. I felt immediately uneasy; I had no idea what to expect. We were together for so long, but it dawned on me then that I had never seen him so enraged. Upset, yes, but never angry.