by M. D. Melai
Deceptive
A novel by
M.D. Melai & C.S. Leigh
Disclaimer
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2014 by M.D. Melai & C.S. Leigh
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.
“The human heart feels things the eyes cannot see and knows what the mind cannot understand,”
--- Robert Valett
Deceptive
Prologue
All I could hear was the cracking of the branches and leaves under my feet. Dodging the trees and trying not to fall, I ran as fast as I could. The quicker I ran, the harder my heart pounded against my chest. I didn’t hear him anymore, but I knew he was still behind me. I could feel him getting closer.
When I saw an opening in the trees I turned and headed toward it. I felt like everything was going to be okay. I walked out of the trees into the bright moonlight, just to find myself teetering on a ledge.
A cliff? Are you kidding me?
It was a good three hundred foot drop into a canopy of trees. I wouldn’t survive the fall. I started searching for a way out of this. I looked from side to side and saw that the cliff extended for miles with no bridge in sight.
“Liliana,” he yelled, drawing out my name. He was getting closer. “You can run, but you can’t hide.”
I didn’t have much time. I started to panic as soon as I saw his shadow in the trees, and before I could take off he emerged from the tree line. I immediately took a step back, almost losing my balance. I couldn’t make out his face, but somehow I felt connected to him.
“I told you,” he said as he caught his breath, “you can’t escape me. You are mine.”
He lunged forward and I startled awake.
Chapter 1
“Liliana.” My mother’s voice snapped me back to reality. “How would you like your eggs?”
All morning the only thing I could think about was my nightmare. It felt so real. I had woken up with my heart racing and drenched in sweat. The scariest part was I felt connected to that man.
“Scrambled please,” I replied. My mother was a wonderful cook and a beautiful woman, even standing there in her dirty old apron. Her long dark brown hair, which usually flowed to the middle of her back, was pulled up into a bun and her full lips were pressed together.
“So, Liliana,” my father said, his dark blue eyes glaring at me from the top of his newspaper. I quickly dropped my eyes back to the sale ad I held in my hands.
Unlike my mother, my father looked his age. He had dark gray hair that faded to white at the ends. He was average height and had a strong frame for being in his sixties. Anyone would be able to tell in his younger years he was a handsome man. “Are you prepared for the trip to New York this weekend?”
“Papà, I told you I can’t go to New York this weekend.” I could feel his eyes staring into the top of my head and I refused to lift mine to meet them. “I have four projects due this next week. I don’t have time to take a four day vacation.”
“We already had this conversation Liliana and you are going to go.” His voice was stern.
“And I told you Papà, I am busy!” I retorted.
“You are going to go and that is final!” His tone didn’t change, but I could tell by his facial expression he was getting angrier. “I helped pay for your business and when I ask you to go check out a few new buildings I am going to acquire, you will go. Do you understand me?”
“Massimo!” My mother’s voice was firm as she tried to get his attention.
“Please Papà, I told you I can go next weekend. There are several things that can’t be finished unless I am here to finalize them. I can’t reschedule contractors. It could put me behind schedule and I would lose money and clients. I have a reputation to uphold!” I was starting to lose my temper.
“It needs to be done this week! I need to make sure the buildings are going to be worth the time and effort.”
We had this same argument every time my father acquired or bought a new building. I was always sent in to check it out before he renovated it. He wanted to see what I envisioned it to be. I never minded going to look at it, but my father had the worst timing ever, on top of being the most impatient man I knew. But he did give Violet, my best friend, and I our first break in the interior design business. We owed him for it and he always used that to his advantage.
“Why don’t you have someone else do the walk-through with the realtor and then they can bring me the pictures?” I offered as an alternative. “I haven’t met a building of yours that I haven’t transformed into exactly what you wanted.”
“I want you to do it,” he said. “We do not have time to waste on this. You will go! We will not discuss this matter any further!”
“Massimo, enough!” my mother yelled this time. He looked at her and they exchanged a silently heated moment.
“Do you understand?” he asked looking back at me. My mother stared at me with pleading eyes.
“Yes, I understand,” I scowled back at him. No matter how hard I tried to fight back, the results would be the same. He never took no for an answer, but that didn’t stop me from pushing nor him from pulling. I never wanted him to doubt how I was feeling about any situation. I had seen my brothers over the years cower to his every word and never put up a fight. They always did exactly what he said and I did not want to be that person.
“I will go,” I stated, “but do not expect me to be happy about it. And Violet is going with me!” I didn’t even give him time to retort. I had had enough for one morning. Standing up from the breakfast table, I threw my napkin down, stomped toward the entry hall, and grabbed my purse, nearly knocking over a family portrait.
For the first time in a while I heard my mother raise her voice at him. In all the years I lived at home, and even to this day, I could count on one hand the times I've heard her upset with him. My mother never yelled at him. Out of respect for my father, she would mind her own business and not get caught up in whatever disagreement he was having at that moment. But when it came to an argument between me and my father and he was clearly in the wrong, she made her feelings known.
I could still hear their voices as I slammed the door shut.
Why did I walk down here today? I thought to myself as I took off running down their driveway.
The faster I got out of here the better. I wanted to get home as soon as possible. Luckily, I lived right down the street.
Most of the time, my father was a thorn in my side. Other times when he took off his business hat and became just my father, he was actually really pleasant. Those days were far and few in between. He played two sides on me, telling me “be your own person Liliana,” and then “do as I say Liliana.” I never knew which side I was going to encounter. It was going to be a nightmare leaving town with four projects due next week.
Violet had already left the house when I jogged up our driveway. I didn’t go into the house. I was already dressed for the day and the only person I wanted to talk to was Violet. I had my phone calling her before I reached my car.
“Sometimes my father makes me so mad!” I yelled into the phone just as Violet answered. She didn’t even get the chance to say hello.
“What did he do this time?” she asked with a slight giggle. Violet was no stranger to these calls that started with those exact words.
“We
have to rearrange our schedule from Thursday on! We are going to New York this weekend.”
“Again!” she protested. "I am really sick of this.” She paused for a moment. “Did you say we?”
“Yes I said we.” Then I finally understood why she paused.
“WE ARE GOING TO NEW YORK THIS WEEKEND!” she screamed, damaging my ear drum.
“Calm down, jeez.” I shook my head and pulled at my ear making sure I still had hearing. I could hear her trying to even out her breathing. “I thought you might like to go with me. Summer is around the corner and I don’t know about you, but I am in dire need of a new wardrobe.”
She was elated with excitement.
“As happy as I am that we are going to New York, I am still mad at your father. He needs to stop pulling you and me around. He isn’t our only client.”
“I know that, but he thinks since he was our investor that he deserves special treatment above anyone and everyone.”
“Of course he does,” she sighed. “I just get aggravated when he does this to us.”
“Trust me, so do I. Anyways, I’m on my way to the office. We can nail out the details later.” She agreed and I hung up. This week had started off terribly and even though it would be cut short, I could tell it was going to feel long.
***
It was a busy next couple of days. I had meetings with new clients and a few returning ones. We added six new projects to our ever growing list. Business was good, and as much as I hated to admit it, we wouldn’t be where we were if it wasn’t for my father. He let two nineteen year old college freshmen talk him into an adventure of a lifetime.
We had always been into fashion and design. Our rooms always looked like something the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition crew might imagine and our closets were even more glamorous.
My house was still being renovated during our first semester of college, so Violet and I decided that we would stay in the campus dorms to get the entire college experience. We ended up spending more time decorating room after room than we actually spent studying, and we made quite a bit of money from it.
We decorated our home when the renovation was done and received many comments and questions about who decorated the house. When we told them it was Violet and I that had decorated the house, they were shocked. After our first year in college, we talked my father into letting us go to New York and spend the summer with the interior designer he had been using. He told her to give us free reign over everything and to just help guide us to the right people. By the end of the summer, we had completed a restaurant and a salon studio. My father was so impressed with the work Violet and I had accomplished that he hired us permanently as his interior designers
***.
Wednesday evening my brother, Dante, called and informed me that Violet and I needed to be ready to roll by ten the next morning, and quickly hung up before I could ask why. When I tried to call him back to get more information, he just told me, “it’s a surprise” and “just do it Lily,” and then he hung back up. How could I explain to him that was impossible to do? I was just about to yell for Violet when she came bouncing down the stairs.
“Hey, your brother just texted me and said that I needed to pack and be ready by ten in the morning. And don’t forget my bathing suit.” She looked as confused as I felt.
“Yeah, he called me… kind of.” I told her that I tried calling him back, but he just told me the same thing and hung up.
***
The next morning I woke up later than planned and headed downstairs. I was so tired that I hadn’t noticed the two suitcases at the bottom of the stairs, which I proceeded to trip over. I murmured a few choice words as I tried to catch my balance.
“You’re awake!” I heard Violet’s voice before I saw her fair face peek out of the kitchen. She looked like a model, her long blonde hair already fixed in big beautiful waves. She had on a sky blue sleeveless blouse and dark skinny jeans that hugged her slim figure perfectly. Her outfit complemented her blue eyes and sparkling smile.
Violet and I matched each other in height, but I definitely fit in with the rest of my Italian family in looks. I had dark brown hair and was the only one in my family with green eyes. My brothers, mother, and father all had blue. I didn’t look like anyone particular in my family though. I had soft features, high cheek bones and heart shaped lips with straight white teeth, thanks to the braces I had in junior high. I was the only one out of all the children to have braces to.
“I see you’re already packed,” I growled at her as I motioned to the suitcases now on their sides. I wasn’t in the mood to pick them up, so I just left them laying there and stepped around them.
“Yeah! I have been up since six-thirty.” Violet smiled at me, and I scrunched my face at her. She was always the early riser. “Actually I was about to come wake you. I know you like to wait until the last minute to pack, so I went ahead and packed mostly everything for you. All you need to do is pack your clothes.” She turned around, smiled, and winked. “You’re welcome, by the way.” Now that right there was one of the reasons I loved Violet.
I was able to drink a cup of coffee before Violet started pushing me up the stairs. I thought I had plenty of time left to pack, but according to Violet’s schedule I did not. She was always so organized and handled the scheduling for our business, so it didn’t surprise me when she told me I had to be ready soon.
I got ready and dressed before I even began packing. I threw a couple of outfits and a few pairs of shoes in my suitcases. I didn’t fill them up all the way. I planned on having them bursting with an entire new summer wardrobe I’d be getting in New York. My father didn’t know it yet, but he was going to be buying me several new outfits.
Violet was asking me when I thought my brother might arrive when a knock sounded at the front door.
Why was Dante always on time?
I hurried and zipped my suitcases up as Violet headed downstairs to meet him. It was quiet for a minute before I heard her shriek with delight and heard the footsteps of someone coming up the stairs.
“Oh my gosh,” she squealed as she came bursting through my bedroom door, almost knocking me over, “change your outfit! We are going on the yacht today!” I looked at her jumbled, but she wasn’t paying attention. “Lily, your brother is so awesome, oh and by the way Roman came with him.” That was the end of that conversation. She was out the door.
I quickly undressed and put on my bathing suit underneath my outfit. I stopped and looked in the mirror on my way out the door. I thought I looked pretty cute in my black shorts and turquoise halter top. It matched the bathing suit I was wearing underneath.
Violet was right though. As soon as I turned to come down the stairs, there stood my brother Dante and our best friend Roman. Dante had on a wife beater tank top and a pair of blue and white plaid swim shorts.
Dante was the youngest of my five brothers and my favorite. He and I were close in age, so I shared a special bond with him that I didn’t have with the rest of my brothers. My other four brothers were all much older than me. Benito was the oldest at forty-one, followed by the twins Giorgio and Giovanni at thirty-nine, and then Marcello at thirty-seven. Dante was twenty-three and two years older than me. When I asked my mother why she had Dante and me at an older age, her only reply was that we were blessed accidents.
Dante was his own kind of handsome, although all my brothers were handsome, Dante was different. He had more of a short athletic build, with medium brown hair. His bangs were long and usually pushed to the right. Dante had the darkest blue eyes of all my brothers with semi full lips and he usually sported a little bit of scruff.
Roman was dressed exactly like Dante except that he had on red and black plaid swim shorts instead. Roman was just as handsome as Dante. He had shaggy black hair that curled at the ends, hazel eyes that were more brown than green, a strong jaw line with full lips, or kissable lips as Violet would say. For those who do not know him, he can be a bit mysterious, but to those who do kno
w him, he was a fun and loving friend.
Roman’s family became friends with our family when they moved to Toronto. Dante and Roman were both seven and they have been best friends ever since. It wasn’t until I was a few years older that Roman and I became very good friends as well.
“Aww don’t you two look adorable in your matching swim suits,” I laughed as I came down the stairs.
“Shut up,” Dante said. “It’s not our fault we have excellent taste in swim apparel.”
“I thought you said bring our swim suits not wear them,” I said.
“Well, maybe if you weren’t pitching a fit about leaving earlier in the day, you would have been paying attention,” Roman chimed in. I rolled my eyes at him and turned my attention toward Dante.
“I thought I was leaving with papà and mamma,” I stated.
“Roman and I thought you and Violet might need to work on your summer tans,” Dante said as he smiled and looked at my arm, “and by the looks of it, I am right.” I rubbed my arm for a second examining how light my olive skin actually was.
“Shut up, it’s been a long and busy winter,” I said. Dante ignored me and turned his attention to the stairs as Violet came bouncing down them. She was so excited she didn’t even stop to notice he was watching her every move.
“Come on boys!” she said with enthusiasm as she passed by, grabbed her bags, and headed out the door. Seeing her excited always made me smile. It was the little things to her that mattered. I could take a few lessons.
I met Violet on the first day of kindergarten. She tripped and knocked me over, causing both of us to fall to the ground. I got a scratch on my knee, a bump on my head, and I started crying. She comforted me by giving me a cookie and a hug. Every day that week she would tell me how sorry she was and hand me another cookie. Violet was so sweet. I couldn’t help but like her after that. We became instant friends, inseparable and unstoppable.
