Always & Forever (16 page)

Lilly stood and resumed her circuit around the room. “I heard men talking that night while I got ready for bed. When Charles had company, he never made an appearance in my room. I turned the lights out and crawled into bed, happy to escape his attention for another evening.

“When the door opened, my eyes hadn’t adjusted. A man jumped on top of me. He grabbed me by the throat and said he looked forward to killing me.”

Zach’s gut twisted. She must have been terrified. His body shook with the effort to remain seated. He wanted to run to Lilly, take her in his arms and do whatever it took to erase her pain. Surely she couldn’t come up with a story so horrific if it weren’t true, could she?

Then again, Victoria once spun a similar tale, and she certainly lied.

Lilly stopped walking and looked at him. “It all happened so fast. He punched my face, disorienting me. I still didn’t really understand what was happening, and then I felt the blade against my neck. I froze. I think I begged him not to hurt me. The next thing I knew, he stabbed me in the stomach.” She leaned against the wall. Her breathing came out in harsh gasps, and her hands clenched and unclenched. “I don’t remember much after that. The pain is all I really remember. Well, I remember his smell. He wore a Guerlain cologne my father likes and had onions on his breath.”

The ongoing pain of her leg was only part of the horror Lilly had endured if her story were true. Zach blinked back his own tears, knowing she wouldn’t appreciate seeing them. “What happened to your leg?”

She looked down and rubbed her hand absently against her thigh. “I had stab wounds all over my body. The doctors said it was a miracle I pulled myself to the phone and called 911 when he left.” She shrugged. “Although I had a lot of the scars removed from the rest of my body with laser surgery, there was no way to fix the leg. An infection started in the wound my first week in the hospital. It wasted away a lot of muscle. The doctors kept it from spreading beyond my thigh, but the damage was irreversible.”

It suddenly made sense why she had faint white lines on her arms. He’d never really thought about the marks, though he noticed them.

She ran her hands across her arms as though cold. “I’ve often wondered why he didn’t just slit my throat. Sometimes, I wish he had.”

Should he tell her he was glad that hadn’t happened? The story cut deep into Zach’s soul. He wanted to tell her everything would be okay. But how could he trust her? Even if what she said was the truth, she’d lied about who she was for three months.

Lilly’s face held pain. Surely, she fought her own internal battle even as Zach fought his.

“I had been in the hospital for six weeks before the police came to see me,” she continued. “No one had given me any information on the attack. I didn’t understand why Charles never came to visit, though I was relieved to be away from him and I didn’t ask anyone about him.” She laughed, but it held no humor. “They told me he was missing and presumed dead. Once I realized they weren’t joking, I had a hard time hiding my happiness.”

“I’m sure anyone would have been happy in your situation.”

She shrugged. “Part of me mourned, just for the loss of what was familiar. But a bigger part of me was happy to finally be free.”

Zach sat quietly for several minutes, trying to absorb her story. “Who would get your money if you and Charles both died?”

“My father, but he would never arrange for Charles to be killed.”

Zach noticed Lilly didn’t express confidence that her father wouldn’t have arranged
her
murder. “I don’t understand the motive to kill you both.”

“That’s what the cops said,” Lilly replied. “Since I lived, the only motive they could find came about when they talked to so-called friends of mine. Those gossips were happy to inform the police of the routine beatings Charles gave me. Because of that, the cops thought I hired a hit man to kill Charles to get him out of my life. They thought I arranged to have myself stabbed to throw off suspicion.”

Zach shook his head sharply in protest. “But it sounds like you nearly died. Who would stab you that many times if it was a ruse?”

“According to Detective Spalding, that was an error.” Lilly resumed her restless prowling. “Spalding theorized the hit man became so excited while stabbing me, he almost couldn’t stop himself.”

It made sense. If he allowed himself to forget her skill at lying all this time about her identity, her story sounded completely plausible. “Did they have any evidence against you?”

She scoffed. “They were working on that angle when I got the blackmail letter.”

Zach’s eyebrows rose. “Blackmail?”

“Claiming I owed the blackmailer $250,000 for killing my fiancé for me. There were instructions to leave the money in a warehouse at midnight.” She heaved a sigh. “I took it to Detective Spalding, thinking it could provide him with a clue as to who committed the crime. I thought we could set a trap for whoever killed Charles and clear my name. I was so stupid!”

The bitterness in her voice didn’t surprise him—if she were truly innocent. Zach felt himself waver on that point as her story continued. He wanted to believe her.

“They arrested me immediately. I don’t even know if they tried to catch the blackmailer since I was in jail when I was supposed to hand over the money.” She shuddered. “Living in that dingy little cell was almost as bad as being trapped in a relationship with Charles.”

“Almost?”

A humorless grin crossed her face. “I have to confess, once I recovered from my own injuries, I was relieved he wouldn’t be able to hurt me again. I could even understand why people thought I had someone kill him.” She looked at Zach, meeting his eyes. “If I’d been stronger, I would have killed him myself.”

Zach nodded, understanding completely. After all, he’d contemplated what he would’ve done to a bastard like Charles all throughout her story. “How’d you get out of jail?”

“I stayed there two months. The DA claimed I was a flight risk, since I still had money at the time. During the first real hearing, my lawyer argued the letter was circumstantial. It only proved someone read the papers and decided to extort money from me, not that I actually hired a hit man. Since the cops didn’t find more evidence, the prosecutor agreed the case was too weak to proceed and they let me go pending further investigation.”

“So you changed your name, packed up, and moved here.”

“I didn’t really change my name. The judge wouldn’t agree to that,” she said. “My name is Katherine Lilly. I decided to go by my middle name, hoping to start over without this hanging over my head.”

Her confession left Zach confused and uneasy. True, she was a liar, but Lilly had nothing in common with Victoria. The lies she told were never against him. She lied to live her life the best she could.

Zach needed time to think. Could he trust her again? Did he want to try? If she’d only told him the truth last night when they talked about Katherine in the car, things would be so much easier to accept.

He looked at her, hoping she would understand his confusion. “I gave you time to think last night when you asked for it. Can you do the same for me now?”

“It’s okay. I don’t expect anything from you. I just wanted you to know my side.” She walked into the kitchen and came out with the empty cooler against one hip. “Take care of yourself. Thank you for a couple of lovely evenings.”

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” he promised and opened the front door for her.

She laid her empty hand briefly against his chest and a tear gleamed in the corner of her eye. “Good night, Zach.”

Zach watched her walk away, wiping her face as she went down the driveway. Her silver car was soon lost around a bend in the road, but Zach stood staring after her.

Lilly’s story had done nothing to diminish the attraction he felt for her. She was exciting, smart, beautiful, funny—the list of characteristics he admired went on forever. She had more compassion than any other woman he knew. Imagine, making sure people Charles conned got their money back and putting herself in the poor house to do it. Who else had a heart that big?

Deep inside, he believed her story. Still, Zach hated lying above any sin. He mentioned Katherine last night when he took Lilly home, and she never said a word. Zach didn’t know if he could trust her again, now that he knew she was so good at lying.

Lilly woke to the buzz of her alarm clock. She hit the off button and slumped back into bed. The last time she looked at the little red numbers, the clock read just after four in the morning. It wasn’t as though Lilly could laze about in bed all day. Margaret would be waiting. Three hours of sleep would have to suffice.

Though Lilly knew better, all along she hoped Zach’s arms would wrap around her once he heard her story. She ached to hear him say everything would be okay. Life didn’t usually go the way Lilly wanted it to, and she couldn’t cry about Zach forever.

She climbed out of bed and forced herself to begin her morning routine. She needed to go to work and get the conversation with Margaret out of the way. The thought of starting over again was almost enough to break her.

She supposed she could call her father. Maybe she could return to New York and live at his house for a while. Though, truthfully, every conversation she had with him provoked more pain. He really didn’t treat her much better than Charles had. Lilly loved him and wished they could have a real relationship, but it would be better to stand on her own. She would only ask for his help if she had no other option.

Lilly stepped outside her house into the warm morning air. Perhaps if she arrived a little early to work she’d have time to talk to Margaret before things became hectic.

An engine started, shattering the peace of her quiet street. Lilly whipped her head around to identify the source. A black Corvette pulled away from the front of her house, speeding down the road.

The hair stood up on the back of Lilly’s neck as she watched the car leave. Hadn’t she seen that car a few times since the boat party? In fact, it followed her home last night, slowing down in front of her house while Lilly walked to the door. She hadn’t thought anything of it at the time, too lost in her distress over Zach’s rejection, but that car didn’t belong in this neighborhood. Something that nice, she would have heard about it if anyone in this income class came up with the money to buy it.

Lilly turned back to the door to lock the deadbolt. She tried to laugh at her own silliness, shaking off the creepy feeling provoked by the car. Her paranoia likely had been provoked because she relived her past last night with Zach. The driver of the car visited one of her neighbors, and her imagination was getting the best of her.

The flowerbed caught her attention as she turned from the doorframe. It looked funny. Lilly took a few steps closer and a gasp escaped her.

Large footprints crushed into the soil, mangling the flowers. Whoever stood there had a perfect view into her living room.

***

Zach knew he wouldn’t get any work done today. He jumped at the chance when Sarah called to invite him to lunch. Steven and Savannah were off having a daddy-daughter day and Sarah was bored. They agreed to meet at Jim’s Fish House.

The harried host ushered them to a table in the back corner of the crowded restaurant. Lunch rush was in full swing, and this place was always busy. There wasn’t a restaurant in the area that served better flounder.

Zach filled Sarah in on Lilly’s story between bites of his meal and waited for her advice. He knew he could trust his sister and her opinion.

Sarah sat forward and took a sip of wine. Concern clouded her green eyes. “What does your heart tell you, Zachie?”

He shrugged. “Can’t trust that. What do you think I should do?”

“I can’t tell you what to do,” she said, “but you do understand Lilly’s done nothing wrong, right? She wasn’t lying to you. I mean, how could she possibly bring something like that up in casual conversation?”

Zach shook his head. “I guess you’re right. That’s not exactly an icebreaker.”

He had thought of nothing except Lilly since she left his house. She was so beautiful. The way her red curls framed her face, the mischief and challenge in her blue eyes. She had responded so warmly when he kissed her. He couldn’t stop thinking about her flowery scent and the excitement she inspired in him.

Zach pushed his empty plate to the side and propped his elbows on the table. “God help me, but I want her.”

“Well, there you go.” Sarah smiled, looking pleased. “If you still want her, there must be something there.”

“Yeah, there’s something there.” Zach’s voice rose with his frustration level. “I want to sleep with her. That doesn’t mean I should be with a suspected murderer.”

“Keep your voice down.” She jerked her head at the table next to them.

Zach hoped the couple hadn’t overheard. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “You’re right. I shouldn’t shout out her business.”

“I can’t believe I’m encouraging this conversation...” Sarah sighed and her cheeks reddened. “Here goes—I think your feelings for Lilly are more than lust.”

“I tried to tell myself that with Victoria, too. You know how that turned out.”

“Screw Victoria. That little bitch did her best to ruin your life and take your money. Lilly’s not like that.”