“I see,” Chloe stated. Stepping into the room and noticing that a few of her things were already in there, placed neatly upon surfaces.
“You’ll have everything you want here. In public, we put forward a united front but in private, you can do as you please, as long as it never interferes with our image or the company’s. When the time comes, we’ll have children and they’ll carry on the Donovan-Goldsmith name. It will be the dawn of a new era for the world of corporate finance.” He waved his hand as if he was simply saying a rehearsed speech but didn’t really care about what he was saying. It made Chloe curious.
“Why did you agree to this, Sebastian? Why did you marry me? You obviously don’t want me.”
He looked at her, his eyes travelling from her face, down over the simple wedding dress she still wore, to her feet and back up again. “Our families had planned for us to marry all along. It made sense for the two families to unite as one.”
“But what about what we wanted? This isn’t the dark ages. We could have said no.”
“Don’t you get it, Chloe? It never mattered what we wanted. And it never will. Our family name is our duty.” He reached out and placed his hand on the door. “Good night, Chloe.”
With that, he withdrew from her room, closing the door behind him and leaving her on her own. Feeling anything but the blushing bride she was supposed to be, she walked over to the bed, curled up in a ball, hugging her knees to her chest, and that’s where she stayed, letting sleep overcome her as she hoped that this time, she would wake and it would all be a dream.
***
Waking with a start, the room around her had grown dark. She wasn’t sure what time it was, but when she heard someone’s voice, she realised it was what woke her.
Climbing off her bed, she walked to her door and peaked down the hall. There she saw Sebastian talking with a man who was slightly shorter than him, but much stockier. His skin was tanned and he appeared to be an Islander of sorts. But the light was dim and she couldn’t make out his features.
“I told you not to come here,” Sebastian whispered sharply. “Not yet.”
“Where is she?” the man asked.
“She’s in her room. I think she’s asleep.” He turned his head, looking down the hall and Chloe tucked back inside her doorway, her heart beating in her chest as she hoped she wasn’t seen.
“Did you fuck her?”
“What? Leah! No. I told you no. Is that why you came here? Fuck you’re a jealous bastard,” he chuckled. It was a nice sound, something Chloe hadn’t expected to come out of a man who had seemed to her, so emotionless.
“I don’t like sharing.”
Chloe strained her ears, trying to hear what they were saying, but they were moving away from her. Checking down the hall, she could see a beam of light coming from around the door to what she assumed was Sebastian’s room. She knew she shouldn’t, but she couldn’t help herself. She needed to see what was happening. Needed to hear what they were saying. She’d just married this man and she didn’t know anything about him.
Keeping close to the wall, she gathered her long dress in her arms to quiet its movement as she snuck along the hallway to take a peek.
She heard a moan. And her eyes widened, her heart beating rapidly with nerves as she paused and listened again. She felt like a spy, felt like she was doing something wrong. But she couldn’t seem to make herself go back. Curiosity drove her on.
She heard hushed words. Gentle words. And she paused beside the door, barely breathing as she moved, ever so slowly, to look through the small gap where it hadn’t clicked shut.
From in the darkened hallway, that line of light painted a yellow stripe down Chloe’s face, highlighting her features as she saw. For some reason, it shocked her and she didn’t understand why. For the moment she saw them together, she knew. But seeing it. Seeing exactly what was happening, still came as a surprise. So she watched. Watched as the man Sebastian had called Leah, knelt on the floor in front of him and took Sebastian’s member into his mouth, his head moving back and forth in an erotic rhythm as soft groans left Sebastian’s lips.
She watched. Seeing the way Sebastian’s hands ran over the other man’s head and clenched within his dark hair. And she watched, until his head rolled back and he released a groan, shuddering in ecstasy.
“Can I help you ma’am?” a quiet voice asked from behind her, causing her to spin around quickly, embarrassed to have been caught peeking.
The voice belonged to the housekeeper, Ms Prescot, who had moved into the role after Sebastian became too old to require a nanny. She had made it her life’s work to keep his proclivities away from his father’s knowledge and now that he had been forced to marry, she wasn’t about to let this new woman make things any worse for him.
“I…” Chloe started, shaking her head. She had no explanation. She was spying and she knew it.
Ms Prescot reached out and quietly closed Sebastian’s door. “Perhaps you’d like some help with that dress before I leave for the night. It can’t be too comfortable for you, dear.”
“I…I’ll be fine…thank you,” Chloe whispered, her eyes darting toward the now closed door as she quickly backed away and rushed back to her room.
Quietly, she closed her door, pressing her head against the cool wood as she felt a great sorrow wash over her. She didn’t belong in that house. She didn’t belong with that man. There were too many secrets in her world and she hated every single one of them. She didn’t want this life. She didn’t want any part of it. What the hell had she done?
Chapter Twenty
PRESENT, 7 days before the job
Aiden
CHLOE LAYS beside me, looking peaceful in her sleep, her dark blonde hair falling in waves over the skin on her back. I let out a slow breath and tuck my hands behind my head, looking up at the ceiling as I think.
The last time I woke beside her, I didn’t see her for three years and as much as I’m glad I have her back, I can’t help but wonder for how long. She seems so hell bent on doing this job. It’s a fool’s errand that will land her exactly where her dad is–behind bars.
But I get why she wants to do it, hell, if my dad was still alive and in the same situation, I’d probably be doing this exact thing. But she’s not experienced enough to pull this off. She needs more help than what she’s asking for.
I just need to decide whether I’m willing to give it. If we pull it off, I’ll be more than compensated for the time and effort. But the problem is, I’m not exactly wanting for money–more is always good. But one has to weigh the risk against the reward…
I glance over at her again, watching her back rise and fall with her breath as she continues to sleep on her stomach, the blankets twisted around her naked body. My cock hardens just looking at her, and I need to look away or I won’t think this through. I’ll just wake her up and fuck her again.
Personally, I’d rather we both ditch this whole idea and spend the rest of our lives free with the ability to fuck each other until we die. But I’m pretty sure she’s not going to go for that, and in all honesty, I don’t think I could live with myself if I didn’t help out. Chloe is a stubborn woman and I know that she’d just go in there regardless and probably unprepared. My help could be the difference between success and failure.
I chew my lip as I picture the interior of the bank. We’ll need to watch it for a while and pick the best time of the day to go in there without causing too much of a scene. The less people in there, the less the risk of needing to hurt one of them. And banks aren’t the same as they used to be. I wouldn’t be able to get into that safe without someone to open it, without finding the same model and practising on it… shit, I can’t believe I’m actually considering this. I could fucking lose everything over this.
I look over at Chloe again, noticing how her features are worrying as if she’s having a dream that isn’t going so well. And I realise that this girl next to me, a girl I tried to hate but couldn’t, has lost so much mo
re than I ever could. She’s surviving. But she isn’t free and she won’t be until the right people are behind bars.
Suddenly, her eyes fly open and she frowns, then rolls on her back reaching up and touching the side of her head, her fingers gripping at her hair, pressing into her scalp as if she’s trying to dull a pain.
“Bad dream?” I ask.
Inhaling deeply, she looks at me, nodding. “Kind of. More like a memory.”
“Obviously not a good one.”
She shakes her head no. “I dreamt of the day I had to give you up.”
I roll to my side and run my hand gently down the side of her arm. “Tell me about it,” I whisper. “Start from the beginning. I want to know everything.”
“Everything? It’s a rather long story.”
Reaching up, I run my fingers through her hair. “I’ve got time.”
She closes her eyes and nods, opening them again to meet mine before she speaks. “I loved my father. Always admired his power and his vision, and when I went to university, I worked my arse off to be the top of my class and become the perfect successor to his role when it was time for him to retire. I thought that’s what he wanted. I mean, who doesn’t want their only child to take over the family business. But he was old fashioned in some ways, and thought it better to leave the big business to the men.
“For as long as I can remember, Goldsmith and Donovan had been at loggerheads in the business world, but personally, my father and Michael seemed to get along. I think it was a case of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer. They had always joked about marrying their children to each other. And it seemed to have always been that–a joke. But, just after I finished my degree, that joke became serious, and it was suggested that Donovan and Goldsmith join forces, and to make sure that the companies stayed within their families it was decided that Sebastian Goldsmith and I would marry.
“At the time, it seemed like a genius idea. The union of two power families would send our stock price through the roof and as the companies merged, investor confidence would increase and we’d all stand to make a huge amount of money and gain control of the market.
“Seb and I agreed. In a way, we saw it coming. Kids tend to see the serious side of adult jokes, so when they told us what they wanted, we didn’t fight it. Wealthy families married wealthy families. Unions rarely happened out of love and from where I stood, I was fairly lucky. I could tolerate Seb, which is more than I could say for some of my girlfriend’s match ups. In the end, we both looked at it as a marriage of convenience. Both of us were more focused on our careers and the family business to even consider falling in love and having a family for real. I mean, all my life it had been the company this and the company that. We lived it and we breathed it. And we were willing to do whatever it took to make our own mark in the world. So, the deal was struck and plans were made and then…”
“Then you met me,” I interrupt.
She nods. “Then I met you. And everything changed. I went to my father, fully intending to tell him that I didn’t want to go through with the wedding. I wanted you. And I didn’t think the company’s profits should come before my own happiness. But when I got to work, they were already waiting for me.
“Michael and Sebastian Goldsmith were with my father in his office and they presented me with the collected footage of you and me. It was like this collage of looks and sly touches. Things we probably didn’t even know we were doing. I denied everything. Something about the way they were confronting me made me wary and then they played the rest of the video. It showed us…together–here–in your house. Someone had been following us. They told me that the wedding had to go ahead or they’d destroy you. I couldn’t let them.”
“And your father was all right with this?”
She closes her eyes and nods again. “He said that I’d made a promise and I had to follow through–not everyone gets to live out their happy ending. Then I was told to pack up my desk and go home to prepare for the wedding. I felt like I’d been sold.”
Confusion furrows my brow as I wonder how Terry Donovan could do that to his daughter.
“Why aren’t you angry with him?”
“I was. For a while, I really hated him. But in the end, I realised that he was just a man trying to do what he thought was best for his daughter. He thought that joining the two companies would secure my future. Goldsmith wanted to reign and he would never have stopped coming for us. Joining seemed like the only option to make it stop.”
“But the merger was just a ruse,” I add. “It was a way for them to see our books and frame your father.”
“It was a way for them to weaken him and take him down. Goldsmith smiles and shakes your hand while reaching around with the other to stab you in the back.”
“And he couldn’t get enough stock for a hostile takeover while the company was healthy but when the stock fell, he could buy it all and force his hand.”
“Exactly.”
“But why? Why was Goldsmith so intent on tearing your father down?”
“I wondered that too. It turns out, it has a lot to do with my mother.”
“Your mother? How?”
“She had an affair with Goldsmith.”
“Shit, is his dick made of gold too? That guy really gets around. Did your father know?”
She shook her head. “Not that I’m aware. But my mother told me the day she was evicted from our family home.”
Chapter Twenty-One
DECEMBER, three years before
“MUM?” CHLOE called out, as she walked through the empty rooms of what was once her family home. With no furniture to absorb the sound, her steps echoed loudly off the marble floors, giving the house an eerie quality it never seemed to have before.
“Mum?” she called again, walking up the long winding staircase to the second floor. She listened carefully, heading toward the master bedroom where she felt sure that she could hear her mother’s sobs.
Pushing open the door, she found Sienna Donovan sitting on the carpeted steps that lead down to what was once their sunken bedroom. Chloe looked around, noting how enormous the room seemed without furniture in it, then she sat down next to her mother and placed her arm around her, holding her as she sobbed.
“This is all my fault,” Sienna moaned, crying into her daughter’s neck.
Chloe shushed her mother, rubbing her hand up and down her slim frame soothingly. “It wasn’t your fault at all. If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine. I’m the one who married into that family. The opportunity wouldn’t have been there if I’d refused.”
“No. You don’t understand. It is my fault. Michael Goldsmith. He did this to hurt me.”
“To hurt you? Why?”
Sienna lifted her head, her eyes shining as mascara ran down her face, still beautiful despite the years. “Because I wouldn’t run away with him.”
Chloe’s head pulled back in surprise. “You wouldn’t what?”
“We had an affair, Chloe. Back when you were still just a girl. He wanted me to leave your father. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t take you away from him and I didn’t want to be the woman who ruined two families. So I said no.”
“Did you know he was going to do this?”
Sienna shook her head, wiping at her eyes as fresh tears fell. “No. Not until he sent me those.” She pointed to a bouquet of red roses that Chloe hadn’t noticed lying, half broken on the floor. It was obvious that her mother had thrown them.
Standing, Chloe moved over to the bouquet and picked it up, reading the card that was attached. When nothing stands in your way, there is no excuse. M.
“He removed the obstacles,” Chloe stated, understanding why her mother was so upset.
She’d had her suspicions that Michael Goldsmith’s interest in her family was more than economical, and now this proved it. Of course there was an affair involved. When a person’s life was ruled by money and power, very rarely did one ever find the happiness of real love. Like all wealthy men, M
ichael Goldsmith used his money and power to woo women and like many a powerful man’s wife, Sienna Donovan had felt a loneliness so powerful that the attentions of a man like Michael Goldsmith had caused her to turn her head.
“I believe so.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Nothing. I don’t love him. The affair was… it was a mistake. I was lonely. He was there…” She shook her head and wiped at her eyes again, sniffling as she looked at the floor. “And now look what he’s done.”
“We have to tell someone it was him,” Chloe said.
“I have, Chloe. I told the police that I was sure Michael was behind it. But there’s no evidence.”
“Then we have to get some. He must have left something somewhere. He can’t get away with this.”
“He already has, Chloe. And if you pursue this, he’ll take everything from you too.”
“What is there for him to take? Everything I care about is already gone.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
PRESENT, 7 days before the job
Chloe
I TELL Aiden everything, finally explaining why we couldn’t be together and why I left him without a word. “What we had was apocalyptic, Aiden. I had to leave or it was going to destroy the both of us,” I say to finish, wiping at my eye before any sort of tear can make it out to my cheek.
“Isn’t that exactly what happened anyway?”
I wipe at my eye again, pressing my lips together as I nod. “We were damned if we did and damned if we didn’t.”
“I suppose we were.” He reaches over and cups my face in his hands, pressing his lips ever so softly to my eyelids. “Come here,” he murmurs, pulling me toward him as he brings our mouths together. His arms slide around my body and he rolls, pulling me so my chest lies on his.
I look down at him, studying his face and committing it to memory. I don’t know how long we have this time. But I don’t want to forget a moment of it.
“I’d do everything differently if I could do it again,” I whisper.
Partners (Fire & Lies - One) Page 12
