The Unreal Boyfriend

by Miranda P. Charles

  Bernadette blushed, sipping from her teacup to cover up her embarrassment.

  “I gave her a bit of advice,” Ross said. “And she took it.”

  “What advice?” he asked.

  “That’s between her and me. So what are you doing here?”

  Derek glanced at Bernadette again, fear stirring in his gut. Why was Ross befriending her?

  “Come on, Derek,” Ross said with exasperation. “If you don’t want Bernadette to hear what you have to say, then maybe you should come back some other time. Bernadette and I haven’t finished talking.”

  Derek relaxed on his seat, although he was feeling anything but. “I don’t mind Bernie hearing this. I was just surprised that she’s here, that’s all.”

  “I’ll go inside while you talk,” Bernadette said, rising up from her chair.

  “No, please stay,” Derek said hurriedly. He wasn’t about to let her out of his sight. Boyd was in the house, and who knew what Boyd might do to her?

  “Yes, Bernadette. Stay,” Ross said.

  Bernadette smiled and stayed put.

  Derek searched his head for a good topic to put forward to Ross. He hadn’t planned this far ahead, damn it. He’d been so preoccupied worrying over Bernadette that he hadn’t been able to think of anything else.

  Suddenly, a bright idea occurred to him.

  “Just wondering if you want to make around twenty million dollars, Uncle Ross.”

  Ross straightened up in surprise. “What do you mean?”

  “I have someone who might be interested in Mountain Sunrise.”

  “Oh, that’s a beautiful painting,” Bernadette gushed.

  “You’ve seen it?” Ross asked.

  Bernadette reddened to the tips of her ears. “I’m sorry, Mr. Anton, but one time that I picked Mum up, it so happened that she was still changing the bedsheets in your master bedroom. I insisted on helping and saw the painting. I hope you don’t mind. It was all my idea—”

  Ross interrupted Bernadette with a laugh. “That’s fine. I would have been more surprised if you hadn’t taken the opportunity to look around my house. Why did you think I also got you to sign an NDA?”

  Derek smiled at the relief on Bernadette’s face.

  “So, Derek, are you a buyer’s agent for artwork now, too?” Ross asked dryly.

  Derek chuckled. “This client happened to mention he wants to buy a Richard McCarthy, but since the sentimental value of Dad’s work to us is priceless, Mum and I don’t want to sell any of ours. So I’m approaching the several people I know who own a Richard McCarthy to see if anyone’s interested in offloading theirs for a cool few million.”

  “Who’s this client of yours?”

  “He wishes to remain anonymous until you’re ready to have a serious discussion. He’ll only talk to those who are definitely keen on selling.”

  “Twenty million,” Ross said with a frown. “It’s got to be worth more than that.”

  “It’s a small painting, one of the smallest of Dad’s works. You know that’s an excellent price for it, considering the National Gallery exhibit won’t happen for another year. You can already do a lot with your twenty million from now till then.”

  Ross leaned back on his seat, his face taking on a thoughtful look. “Fine,” he said after a long moment. “I’m not happy with twenty million, but I’m willing to negotiate.”

  “Great. I’ll let him know. He’s actually looking for a much bigger Richard McCarthy, but I thought I’d throw Mountain Sunrise into the mix as it’s such a masterpiece.”

  “Man and His Secrets is a masterpiece, too,” Bernadette said.

  Derek whipped his head towards Bernadette. She’d seen Man and His Secrets?

  “Uh, right,” Ross said, suddenly uncomfortable. “That’s not for sale.”

  “Oh, of course.” Bernadette flushed. “See? I should have gone inside while you had this conversation. But I’ll shut my mouth now.”

  Derek watched his uncle’s face carefully. “You still have Man and His Secrets? I’m surprised, because you told Mum years ago that you sold it.”

  Ross shrugged. “I lied.”

  “May I see it?”

  “No!”

  “I’d really like to. I haven’t seen that painting in years. Dad asked me to sit for it.”

  Bernadette gasped.

  He turned to her. “He just changed the face and hair colour so it wouldn’t look like me.”

  “The body did seem familiar, even though the man had his back turned,” she said with a smile, before turning red once more, realising what she’d implied.

  Derek chuckled, and their gazes locked for a long second before he looked away. His uncle was watching.

  Fortunately, Ross’s phone must have been vibrating because he fished it out of his pocket and got out of his seat. Holding out a forefinger to them, he walked further up the lake’s shoreline before taking the call.

  “You were talking to Paige,” Bernadette whispered a tad accusingly.

  “Yes. When did you see Man and His Secrets?”

  “When Mr. Anton asked me and Mum to sign an NDA in his home office.”

  He inhaled deeply. Ross’s home office was off-limits to everyone else. Why had Ross allowed Bernadette and June in there? He leaned closer to Bernadette. “Why are you here today, Bern?”

  Bernadette didn’t answer.

  “Please don’t trust Ross.”

  Bernadette frowned. “Why? Because you don’t like him?”

  His jaw clenched. If something happened to Bernadette, he’d never forgive himself. He had no choice but to throw caution to the wind.

  Keeping one eye on Ross, he said in a low voice, “Because he’s dangerous.”

  Bernadette’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

  He shook his head. “I can’t tell you right now.”

  The creasing of Bernadette’s brows deepened. Clearly, she was dubious.

  Damn it, he didn’t have time to explain to her. “When I leave, come with me.”

  “Don’t drag me into your fight with your uncle, Derek,” Bernadette said coldly. “He’s my mother’s employer.”

  He rubbed his face in dismay. “I will tell you everything, but you have to leave with me. Please.”

  Bernadette stared at him, then just as Ross was walking back to them, she said under her breath, “Okay.”

  He let out a relieved sigh.

  “Right, where were we?” Ross asked.

  “I was telling Bernie how I sat for Man and His Secrets,” Derek said.

  “That’s right.”

  “Anyway,” Derek said, getting up, “since you won’t show me the painting, we better get going.”

  “We?” Ross asked.

  “Bernie and I have something to discuss.”

  Ross glared at him. “Well, Bernie and I are not done talking.”

  “I’ll come back some other time, Mr. Anton,” Bernadette said, standing up herself. “Derek and I do need to continue our conversation from earlier.”

  Ross studied them with narrowed eyes. “I want you to stay, Bernadette.”

  Derek’s breath hitched. He didn’t like the way his uncle’s expression had hardened.

  Chapter 18

  Bernadette’s heart started racing as Ross’s tone sent shivers down her spine. He was practically ordering her to stay. Suddenly, Derek’s warning that his uncle was dangerous bore down on her.

  “If you like, Mr. Anton,” she said, “I’ll come back as soon as Derek and I finish talking. It has taken us weeks before we got to discuss what he did to me the last time we were here, so I’d like to take this opportunity before he shuts me out again.”

  Ross laughed. “Fine. But I’d like to talk to Derek alone for a few minutes before you go. Could you wait for us inside? I won’t keep him long.”

  She glanced at Derek.

  “I won’t be long,” he said.

  She nodded and headed back to the house, her nerves increasing with every step she
took. Surely, Derek didn’t mean that Ross was murderer-like dangerous, did he? She’d never gotten that vibe from Ross. She’d always thought he was a nice, generous man, albeit exacting and demanding when it came to his networking events.

  She had no idea what Derek had meant by calling Ross dangerous, but she bet it had something to do with money or reputation—not personal safety—so she let herself relax. It was stupid to be so concerned all of a sudden.

  She walked to the kitchen so she could watch the two men from the window while she waited for Derek.

  “Bernadette,” Boyd called from the hallway. “Could you help me with something in the living room?”

  Drats. “Sure. What do you need done?”

  “We need to move the big sofa. There’s a cigarette under there, probably left by a guest during the last party.”

  “Maybe we should use a broom to sweep it out?”

  “Nah. Easier for me to lift the sofa up and you can reach for it.”

  “Okay.” She wondered why her mum hadn’t noticed it. Hopefully, Boyd wasn’t thinking that her mother wasn’t being thorough with her job.

  “It’s under here,” Boyd said, pointing to the long, heavy couch.

  Bernadette got down on her knees to check out the exact location of the cigarette.

  And something large clamped over her mouth. Then she was being lifted bodily towards the front door, which she now noticed was open.

  “Boyd!” she tried to scream, but all that came out of her were muffled sounds.

  “Shut up and stop struggling!” Boyd ordered harshly, keeping her imprisoned with an arm around her waist and a hand over her mouth. She tried to flail her limbs to loosen his grip on her, but her efforts only served to make Boyd hold her tighter.

  Boyd managed to carry her out the door without much effort, and Bernadette’s fear soared.

  Derek! What was going to happen to him?

  “You’re gonna drive,” Boyd said, pushing her into the driver’s seat of a car parked in front of the house and taking out a gun. Pointing the weapon at her head, he started to get into the backseat behind her.

  But he didn’t get there. She heard a whacking sound and the next thing she knew, Boyd was lying on the ground.

  She looked up at the man who’d hit Boyd. “Lawrence!”

  Lawrence smirked. “Lucky I was here, huh?”

  “What?… Why?” She got out of the car, her shock keeping her mind blank.

  “I wanted to fire this,” Lawrence said, admiring his gun before putting it away to tie up Boyd. “But it probably wasn’t necessary to kill Boyd. Yet.”

  She gaped at Lawrence as he moved a still-unconscious Boyd into the backseat of the vehicle she’d just exited. A little blood was on the pavement, probably from Boyd’s injuries, but she was sure the man would live.

  “Thank you, Lawrence,” she murmured. “But why did Boyd try to kidnap me?”

  Lawrence shook his head, huffing from his efforts as he closed the car doors. “You should ask Mr. Anton that. He might be happy to answer your questions. Let’s go back inside.”

  Bernadette’s eyes widened, her fear returning tenfold. Derek had said his uncle was dangerous…

  And Derek was still in there!

  She had to get help somehow, but… she was now scared to trust Lawrence.

  “Oh, shit,” Lawrence muttered, looking at two cars coming from up the road. Then he got into the vehicle and drove off with speed.

  Bernadette’s mouth dropped. What the hell was going on?

  “Bernie!” a woman’s voice called out.

  “Holly?”

  To Bernadette’s further surprise, Holly hugged her tight.

  “Miss Luna?” a woman in a suit said. “I’m Detective Swanson. Who’s that man?” She pointed to the car Lawrence was driving.

  “Um, his name is Lawrence Johns. He works for Mr. Anton. He… he has a guy named Boyd in the back of his car, unconscious.”

  “What?” Holly asked in shock.

  “Boyd tried to kidnap me,” she said, explaining how it all happened. “Then Lawrence appeared out of nowhere and hit Boyd on the head. He tied him up and put him on the backseat. Then when he saw you arriving, he just bolted—with Boyd.”

  Detective Swanson called someone on the phone and relayed some information.

  “Detective,” Bernadette interrupted. “Derek McCarthy is still in the house with Ross Anton. He said Ross is dangerous. It’s probably true, because Boyd works for Mr. Anton. But then… Lawrence does, too.”

  Detective Swanson nodded her head, continuing to talk to someone on the phone as she walked towards two men huddled outside the front door of Ross’s house.

  “What are they doing?” Bernadette asked angrily. “Why don’t they go in and save Derek?”

  “Derek has his phone on speaker so my brother Xavier could listen in. That’s my brother there in the blue shirt, next to the other detective.” Holly indicated the two men standing close together, listening to one phone. “Derek learnt that you were here alone with Ross, so he drove straight here while Xavier called the police. Then, of course, I insisted on coming, too. Since Xavier couldn’t talk loudly to avoid Ross hearing our voices, he didn’t have a choice but to let me ride with him. Coincidentally, we and the detectives got here at the same time.”

  Bernadette gulped. “So they’re still just talking, right?”

  “Yes. Looks like Ross is trying to make some deal with Derek.”

  “Yes. Derek’s client is looking to buy a Richard McCarthy and he wants to know if Mr. Anton is willing to sell his.”

  Holly touched her arm. “No. Ross is saying he’s being blackmailed by someone who wants to make it look like he’s done some bad things. He’s trying to ask for Derek’s help.”

  Bernadette shook her head slowly. She had absolutely no clue what was going on.

  “I don’t know why Boyd tried to kidnap you, though,” Holly said.

  And Bernadette couldn’t understand why Lawrence had helped her, then had run away. Was he scared of the police?

  She bit her lip. What would she say to her mother? June would be devastated if Lawrence was a criminal.

  The two detectives and Xavier were suddenly hurrying up to them.

  “Derek is pretending to agree with Ross,” Xavier said. “They’re going back into the house now. They’re bound to look for you,” he said to Bernadette.

  “Shall I go back in?” she asked.

  “No,” Detective Swanson said. “We’ll be arresting Ross, but we need to take him by surprise so he won’t do something drastic while Derek’s still with him. He’s clearly desperate now. So you three hide where you can’t be seen from the windows or the front door. Quick!”

  Bernadette nodded, running in front of one of the parked vehicles and crouching low. Anything to keep Derek safe.

  She noticed that Holly and Xavier hadn’t joined her. She peered carefully to the side of the car and saw Holly hiding behind a tall row of hedges with Xavier beside her. They seemed to be listening to Xavier’s phone.

  Ugh, why did she choose to hide behind a car? Did she have time to join them? She’d like to listen in, too.

  She noticed the two detectives had positioned themselves on either side of Ross’s front door, presumably waiting for it to open.

  And it did. Derek walked out first, faltering at noticing the detectives, but catching himself pretty quickly. He walked further down the front path, looking around.

  “She out there?” Ross asked, himself stepping out the threshold.

  The detectives swooped in, grabbing his hands and handcuffing them to the back.

  “Derek, you have to believe me!” Ross cried out.

  “We’ll see, Uncle Ross,” Derek said.

  “Don’t just see it, do it! Or you and anyone you love will always be in danger.”

  “You should have thought of the repercussions of your actions earlier,” Derek said, unmoved.

  “Damn you, Derek! I’m your uncle! H
olly! Xavier! What are you doing here?”

  Bernadette was so engrossed in what was happening that she hadn’t realised Holly and Xavier had come out in the open.

  The siblings didn’t answer Ross. Instead, they went to Derek.

  Bernadette watched as Holly and Derek hugged. Derek was safe. That was all that mattered. She wasn’t jealous or hurting.

  Her heart constricted, contradicting herself.

  “What?” she heard Derek exclaim, then he broke off from Holly and looked at the cars. “Bernie!”

  Oh. He was looking for her.

  She stood up gingerly, and her gaze locked with Derek. Then he was running to her.

  “Bern,” Derek breathed, pulling her to him and holding her tight. “I’m so sorry.”

  She smiled sadly as she returned his hug. He only wanted to apologise for what she’d been through. “It’s okay. It’s not your fault.”

  Derek cupped her face. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded.

  “Tell me what happened.”

  She repeated what she’d told the others earlier.

  Derek’s brows furrowed. “I’m starting to think there’s some truth to what Ross had said.”

  “What did he say?”

  “He said another guy—who he didn’t want to name until the authorities would guarantee him protection—is pulling all the strings. Apparently, this guy was the one who’d written the names of the persons he’d murdered at the back of Man and His Secrets—including my father’s.”

  Bernadette’s eyes rounded in shock. “I’m so sorry,” she murmured, at a loss for words.

  Derek nodded in acknowledgment. “Anyway, Ross said that he was starting to believe that Holly, Xavier and I were suspecting something. He just didn’t know what. The puppetmaster—as Ross called the big boss he wouldn’t name yet—was also of the same mind. But the puppetmaster wasn’t concerned at all because, based on all the evidence, it would be Ross’s ass on the line, not his. Ross swore he didn’t commit any of the murders, although he was forced to steal valuable items, which he’d listed at the back of a painting he kept at his place at Palm Beach. I’ve seen that painting, so I know he’s telling the truth there. So…” Derek sighed raggedly. “Ross practically admitted he stole a valuable pearl necklace from my mother. But he’s saying he didn’t kill my dad or get him killed.”