Legacy of Lies

by Tara Leigh

  And there was only one answer to give.

  “Yes.”

  52

  Tripp

  “You can let me go now. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”

  The desperate, choking tone of Jolie’s voice hit me like a kick in the solar-plexus and I immediately swiveled toward the sound.

  “Jolie!” Romy took off, racing down the narrow corridor.

  “Romy! Oh my god, Romy!” There was so much relief and love and joy radiating from the face I’d fallen in love with years before, I was nearly blinded by it. But not blind enough to miss the two men behind her, or the fact that her hands had been restrained.

  The lump of anxiety that had been lodged in my throat for the past few hours was wiped away by outrage. I glared at the man who had brought me here. “I don’t know what the hell happened, but handcuffs are clearly unnecessary.”

  He didn’t look pleased, but gave a stiff nod and went to speak to the men responsible. A moment later, Jolie’s arms were wrapped around Romy. Exactly where they belonged.

  Jolie extended a hand in my direction, her fingers beckoning me forward. My footsteps were sluggish from the relief coursing through my veins as I walked over.

  Sweeping Jolie and Romy into my arms, something deep inside of me cracked, breaking with emotion for the two beauties before me that were finally mine. Not just a little bit, either. A whole chasm opened up deep inside of my chest, fear and regret crumbling into the abyss, swallowed up by a surge of happiness.

  I was only able to savor it for just a moment before the slap of footsteps intruded. This time, it was my lawyer. His coolly appraising eyes took in the situation at one glance. “Mr. Montgomery, I’ll take care of the details, you’re free to leave with your family.

  The only one who dared to argue was Romy. “But, what about Mom?” Her voice was tremulous, her expression confused. “We can’t leave without her.”

  Jolie and I exchanged a glance, and she bent her knees to look Romy in the eyes. “We have to, for now. I think the three of us need to have a long chat, okay? And then we’ll figure out what’s going on with your mom.”

  Romy gave Jolie a thoughtful look, then glanced up at me before cupping her hand around Jolie’s ear and whispering loudly enough for me to hear. “Tripp told them he was my dad. Is he going to get in trouble, too?”

  Jolie’s eyes widened in surprise, although the rest of her face remained neutral. “No. I think all our troubles are finally behind us.”

  Epilogue

  Jolie

  Romy’s excited smile stretched from ear to ear as we walked through Disney’s Magic Kingdom. “I can’t believe you’ve never been to Disney World,” she said to Tripp.

  His grin mirrored his daughter’s. “I was waiting for a great tour guide.”

  Just watching them together made me feel like I was powered by batteries made of happiness. Energized and animated. Exhilarated and buoyant. Filled with contentment—the kind that couldn’t be faked. No Instagram photo or Facebook post could capture the pure joy that permeated every aspect of my life these days.

  It didn’t make up for all the time I’d lost with Tripp and Romy—but once I made the decision to let go of the resentment I’d been holding onto, happiness was much easier to come by.

  Romy stopped in front of the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. “Then this is our next ride.”

  I took a step back. “I think I’m going to sit this one out, guys.”

  “But this is one of your favorites.” Romy turned surprised eyes on me.

  “The heat’s getting to me a bit. I’m going to get a slushie and I’ll meet you right by the exit.”

  Tripp’s brows drew together, but I overrode his reluctance to separate with a gentle shove. As usual, even the tiniest touch sent a prickle of desire racing across my nerves. “Go.”

  We’d been at the park for two hours already but this was the first ride I knew I couldn’t go on. Easy ones like It’s a Small World were fine, but I wasn’t taking any chances with a roller coaster.

  Getting pregnant wasn’t as easy now as it had been at seventeen.

  Over a year had passed since that afternoon at the Nutmeg Inn, and although it was a rare day that Tripp and I didn’t find our way into each other’s arms, the stick hadn’t turned positive until last month. We were waiting to tell Romy until I was through the first trimester.

  I bought an extra-large, cherry-flavored slushie and was back by the time they emerged. “How was it?” Not that I needed to ask, given their grinning faces.

  “Great,” they chirped in unison, both a little breathless and a lot beaming.

  I slipped my arm through Tripp’s and offered the enormous drink to Romy. “What’s next, tour guide?”

  We spent the rest of the afternoon meandering around the park, and I managed to avoid any of the rides that might not be good for the peanut in my belly. Waiting for Tripp and Romy gave me a lot of time to reflect on the past year. It hadn’t been all frozen hot chocolates and Broadway shows. If anything, it had been a twelve-month roller coaster.

  In order to avoid a trial, Nina handed over all the money she had squirreled away, and pleaded guilty to reduced charges in return for a lighter sentence, followed by a long probation and community service hours. She would likely be out within two years.

  Tripp asked Romy and me to move into his triplex and we’d been living together as a family since the summer. Once a month, we took Romy to visit Nina at the federal correction facility upstate. Those were hard days, but it was in Romy’s best interest to maintain a relationship with Nina, so we all made it work.

  In the beginning, there were moments when it felt like Romy hated me for destroying the life she had with Nina. And there were other times when she railed against Nina for lying to her. But over the past couple of months, things had evened out. She loved her new school, and her new friends. And of course, her father. Tripp was the only person she was never angry with. From day one, they’d had an incredible bond. She was definitely a daddy’s girl.

  I’d forgiven Tripp for keeping the truth about Nina from me, too. I didn’t agree with his reasons, but I understood them.

  We had talked about getting married, but I’d been afraid of upsetting the delicate balance we’d finally achieved.

  But lately . . . Lately, all my fears had slipped away, one by one, like they’d never been there at all.

  Tripp was my partner in everything. In the moments when we found a quiet peace just knowing we were in the same room together. In the moments when our breaths and heartbeats were synched, our souls surging as we clung to each other. And even in the moments when we looked at Romy, love in our eyes and pain in our chests, grateful to have her with us even as we mourned those years we’d lost, sacrificed on the altar of youthful stupidity.

  And I had finally launched my business. Jolie was a line of chic, moderately priced jewelry crafted by women I’d met all over the world while I was modeling, using their creativity and skills to take their families above poverty.

  Eva had taken on additional responsibilities beyond social media, and was the reason I could leave the office without fielding calls every hour.

  Life was good. Great, actually.

  At the Bippity Boppity Boutique, a fairy godmother greeted Romy with a smile. “Come on princess, let’s go find you a tiara.”

  Romy scampered off, a playful smirk toying with the corners of Tripp’s mouth as he turned to me. “And what does this prince deserve?”

  I didn’t hesitate, lifting onto my toes to kiss the smirk right off his lips. “Me.”

  Our kiss was soft and sweet, just the barest brush of our lips before we pulled away from each other. “It’s always been you, Jolie. Always.” Love shined from Tripp’s eyes as he looked at me. The same emotion he would see reflected in mine.

  My prince and I had finally earned our happily ever after ending.

  Tripp

  Closing the door to Romy’s bedroom, I crossed the living room of th
e Four Seasons suite that would be our home for the next few nights and joined Jolie in bed. “I think she was asleep before her head hit the pillow.”

  Her full lips pushed into a smile. “Disney will do that to you.”

  “You’re not sleeping.”

  “That’s because I have something worth waiting up for.”

  Jolie rolled over on her side, a glossy curtain of hair sliding over her shoulder as she reached for me. Her arm curled around my neck, fitting perfectly. Everything about Jolie fit perfectly. As if she’d been made for me, and I for her.

  I hated that we weren’t together when Jolie was pregnant with Romy, and that we’d missed so many years together. But the sharp sting of that hurt was fading, a little more each day. It was hard to taste bitterness when life was so damn sweet. And it was. I spent every night with my arms wrapped around Jolie, and every day getting to know the incredible person we’d created together.

  My life had changed in a million other ways, too. After a lot of soul-searching, I’d decided to let my mother back into my life. It wasn’t easy, because I knew she still kept in touch with my father (who had come through surgery and was apparently healthier than ever), but I couldn’t keep Romy from her grandmother. If I could deal with Nina, I could deal with just about anyone. Anyone but Remington Owen Montgomery II, that is. I wasn’t ready to go that far. Not yet, anyway.

  I had stopped denying that I was his son though, taking out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal explaining the origins of RiskTaker. I wasn’t quite sure how it would be received, but I was sick of hiding, sick of lying. The truth was, if I wasn’t Remington Owen Montgomery III, there would be no RiskTaker. And believe me, judging by the cons we’d caught over the years, Wall Street needed us.

  Apparently, I needn’t have worried. Our client list had doubled and business was booming.

  Lance and I had also launched a new app, a game that was aimed at teaching teens the value of saving and investing their money, and the downside to overspending and debt. We set the price at ninety-nine cents, matched every single penny, and were using the proceeds to develop technology programs in our nation’s most underfunded schools.

  I slid my hand down the front of the silky teddy that had ridden up high on Jolie’s hips, pressing my palm against her still flat belly. “You sure it’s safe?”

  Her husky giggle pulsed within the charged air between us. “I’m sure.”

  “I don’t want to hurt you, or the baby.” I was dead serious.

  Jolie’s smile dropped as she pulled me closer. “You won’t. And I know you never will again.”

  “How do you do that?” I asked wonderingly.

  “Do what?”

  “Steal the breath right out of my lungs.” It was the truth.

  “I’ll give you some of mine.” She dragged her lips across mine. Once, twice, until I didn’t know where mine stopped and hers began. Until my leg was hooked over hers, and our bodies pressed together. We pulled away only long enough to lose the clothes restricting our access, and then we were a tangle of limbs and lips. A chorus of groans and sighs and whispered mumblings.

  This girl set my skin on fire. Over the past year I’d studied every curve and hollow, learned what made her eyes darken with desire, what made her gasp from pleasure. Tonight I used everything I knew, and then some. As the sounds of her climax rang inside my ears, I moved to the edge of the bed and pulled Jolie onto my lap, easing into her with my arms wrapped around her back, our mouths just a breath apart.

  Jolie moaned, a needy primal sound. I rocked my hips, working my way deeper. Her head lolled back, hair sliding over my hands. I swiped my tongue across her beating pulse, sucked on the lobe of her ear, kissed my way from her jaw to her chin.

  I could feel her tightening around me, and it was taking more restraint than I thought I possessed not to thrust hard and fast. But this woman was my whole world, and I kept my pace slow as I found that place where we were joined, flicking my thumb over her greedy nub.

  With a snap, her head came up, eyes enormous as her still lithe body trembled in my arms. It was all I needed to send me over the edge. I dropped my forehead to her shoulder, my mind scattering to a million pieces as I found my release with a muffled yell.

  After a minute, Jolie gave a breathless little laugh. “Yeah, definitely worth waiting up for.”

  I dropped a kiss on her lips and pulled away, just enough to take in the sweet smile I knew she reserved only for me. A smile so bright it was burned into my soul. “I’d wait a lifetime for you, Jolie. But I’m grateful it only took a decade.”

  The End

  I hope you loved Tripp and Jolie’s epic love story!

  If you are new to Tara, read on for an excerpt from Rock King, the first book in her sexy rock star series.

  Don’t miss the first book of the Nothing but Trouble series!

  I'm not who you think I am.

  Shane Hawthorne has it all. At least, that's what the headlines say about me. I have millions of fans, awards, more money—and women—than I know what to do with. But what you don't see is the wreckage I've caused. The memories and pain I can't escape, even when I pour them into music and spin them into gold.

  I tried to forget. To lose myself in booze and groupies. It didn't work. It hurt me and—worse—it hurt my band. That's the last thing I want to do, so I'm cleaning up my act... starting with Delaney Fraser.

  Gorgeous, smart, drama-free, and even nice—Delaney is the perfect "girlfriend." When I'm with her I don't have to pretend. It's like she sees the real me. And I can see a future with her. But that's dangerous. Because the truth is, Shane Hawthorne doesn't actually exist. He's a shield to hide who I really am. Fraud. Runaway. Addict. Murderer.

  And it's impossible to love a lie, right?

  Keep reading for an excerpt of Rock King, available now!

  Shane

  Fucking Malibu.

  The last traces of sleep evaporated as I stared out at the sea from the terrace off my bedroom, my right hand running through the hair on my head as my left idly plowed a destination farther south. I was naked, but the waist-high plants along the perimeter would block the view of any intrepid paparazzo. Inhaling air thick with salt and fog, I closed my eyes and listened to the rush of the waves crash along the beach.

  Normally the rhythm of the tides soothed me.

  But not today.

  My eyes snapped open, scowling at the relentless surf. The sun was just cresting the horizon, the ocean a quivering mass of gray and blue, littered with bruised shards of purple and orange. It wasn’t the view that was pissing me off. I’d been on edge before I got out of bed. Before I went to sleep. Hell, I’d been a bundle of nerves since we finished the album.

  One more week until the latest Nothing but Trouble tour kicked off.

  One more week and, for two hours out of every twenty-four, my view would be stadiums packed with thousands of fans screaming my name.

  The rest would be filled with impersonal hotel rooms, private planes, tour buses, and way too many people I didn’t want to look at—let alone talk to—fighting for my attention. Autographs. Selfies. Groupies with glossy lips whispering invitations for everything from blow jobs to backdoor action. Easy sex with an STD chaser.

  No thanks.

  My last counterfeit companion walked out a month ago, when I’d been spending every available second in the studio tweaking the last couple of songs, which had taken forever to get right. She’d already found someone else to sink her claws into, an up-and-coming actor who made sure he was photographed in public, the more compromising the situation the better, to cover up the fact that, behind closed doors, he was about as interested in tits as a kid with a milk allergy.

  Not that I missed her. It was time, and we both knew it. She had gotten what she’d wanted out of being Shane Hawthorne “girlfriend”: name recognition, a place on the Best Dressed lists, even a small part in a big-budget movie. It was time for someone new. Past time, actually. Someone who en
gendered more than apathy.

  Except I hadn’t met her yet. Maybe she didn’t exist.

  Of course, if she did, I sure as hell didn’t deserve her.

  My gut twisted, forming a gnarled, ugly clump leaching anxiety and tension into my bloodstream. The truth was, no one deserved me. I was a jagged knife, the tip of my blade edged with poison. Brutal. Messy. Lethal.

  The wind was strong this morning, stronger than usual, and each salty gust chafed at my skin. I welcomed the abrasion, wishing I could be swept up. Swept away. Days like these were too long, littered with too many opportunities to get lost in my own mind. That was a dangerous place for me. Dangerous for everyone around me.

  Being on the road sucked. But staying in one place, trapped with my memories, with my guilt…well, not even a beach house in Malibu could make that bearable.

  From the half-open door, I heard my phone. Recognizing the ringtone, I headed back inside to take my agent’s call. “Hey, Travis.” He slept even less than I did, and that was saying something.

  “I’m just confirming. You’re coming tonight, right?” Travis only had one setting: steamroll.

  My disgruntled sigh fogged up the screen. “Let me guess. There’s someone you want me to meet.”

  “Of course. Several actually. You’ll have your pick.”

  Agent. Lawyer. Matchmaker. Travis was a one-stop shop for me. He’d been on the hunt for my next girlfriend for a while now, and I was still single. Neither of us was happy about it. Left to my own devices, trouble was always too close for comfort. “Fine. I’ll be there.”