Beauty from Pain (27 page)

I turn on the television, but can’t find
anything I want to watch. I decide Lachlan’s absence might be the
perfect time to use my pole for a workout. I haven’t used it for
exercise once since it’s been installed. Every time I try, he puts
on some sexy music and my workout becomes a show for his
pleasure.

I put my hair into a bun because I’m going to
get hot and sweaty. I change into the two-piece set I bought for
practice. It isn’t sexy like the ones Lachlan buys for me. It’s a
practical black racer-back top with matching sport shorts, the same
type of outfit I would wear if I were going to class.

I go into the gym and turn on the receiver. I
put “Lift Me Up” by Christina Aguilera on repeat. I’ve been
thinking about choreographing a slow, graceful routine to that song
for months and this is the first opportunity I’ve had to be alone
with a pole.

When I finish stretching, I start by doing the
Phoenix pose. I’ve practiced it in my head time and time again. I
think I stick it perfectly, but it sucks not having an instructor
to tell me if I’m doing it right. All I can do is watch in the
mirror and judge it based on memory.

I do several spins and transitions I’ve
mastered to get warmed up before I try a new invert—the Rainbow
Marchenko. It’s difficulty level is a 5, and I have no business
trying it without an instructor, but this could be my only chance
to go for it without Lachlan around to see me drop on my head if I
don’t stick it. Hopefully, Mrs. Porcelli won’t find me with a
broken neck in the morning.

I manage to do it without killing myself and
now I have a feel for it. I know I can do it more gracefully, but
my heart rate needs to return to normal before I give it another
go. I lower myself to the floor to catch my breath.

I’m standing with my hands on my hips when I
see motion in the mirror through my peripheral vision. I spin
around to see if my eyes are playing tricks on me, which is a real
possibility, but they’re not. There’s a woman standing in the
middle of the gym floor and she’s staring at me.

I don’t know why, but I sense that she’s been
there for a while watching me. There’s no initial shock on her
face, at least not like what’s on mine right now. Who is this
woman, and why is she here?

I tell myself she could be Lachlan’s sister,
or Mrs. Porcelli’s daughter, but I know it’s wishful thinking. My
gut tells me I’ve met a pit bull in a dark alley, ready for a
fight.

I reach for the remote to turn off the music
and she speaks before I have the chance. “That’s a beautiful song.
It goes well with the slow spins, but not that upside-down thing
you were doing.” She uses her fingers as she speaks.

“
The Rainbow Marchenko. It’s an
invert.”

“
I wouldn’t know because I’m not a
stripper.”

I admit she had me for a brief moment with her
friendly opening statement, but the stripper comment is her attempt
to put me in my place. This is no sister or friend to Lachlan. This
is a former girlfriend or companion, and she’s pissed about me
being here.

She’s tall and slender in an elegant taupe
dress with matching heels. Her natural red hair is cut in a
medium-length bob with bangs that are too blunt, just like the way
she walked in here and called me a stripper.

I want to tell her Lachlan isn’t here, but I
don’t know what to call him, so I go for generic. “He’s not
here.”

She’s laughing. “Honey, you don’t even know
his name, do you?”

I don’t answer.

“
And I know he’s not here because
I left him at his parents’ house. I wanted to see you when he
wasn’t around so we could get a few things straight.”

Now, I’m confused. I know he’s at
his parents’. How does
she
know and why does she say she left him there?
“I’m sorry, but I’m at a bit of a disadvantage here. You seem to
know me, but I don’t know you.”

She slinks over to the chair Lachlan uses when
he watches me dance. She sits and crosses her legs as though she
plans to stay a while. “How rude of me to not introduce myself. I’m
Audrey, his wife.”

No. This is not happening again.

“
You didn’t know, did
you?”

I feel sick. I’m devastated. He could have had
any number of women who didn’t mind if he had a wife—except me. I
agreed to all of his crazy-ass rules and the only thing I asked of
him was to not lie about being married.

“
What’s your name?”

“
Laurelyn.”

“
Laurelyn,” she repeats. “What a
pretty name. I’ve never heard it before.” She’s smiling at me in a
friendly way. It’s confusing. “I’m not angry with you. I can read
your face and tell that you didn’t know he was married, but you can
understand why I must ask you to stop seeing my husband, can’t
you?”

“
I do, but you don’t have to ask.
I’ll gladly leave on my own accord.”

“
Thank you, Laurelyn. I want you
to leave tonight and never see him again. I know my husband’s …
tastes. I trust you don’t know his real name and he doesn’t know
yours.”

There’s no point in telling her I know his
last name. “That’s right.”

“
And you won’t call him on the
phone he gave you? You’ll leave and never come back?”

She even knows about the
phone?
“I can’t leave tonight because I
have nowhere to go, but I’ll be gone first thing in the morning,
before he comes back.”

“
Thank you for being so
understanding, Laurelyn. I love my husband very much and he has a
problem, but I’m willing to work through it for our
children.”

Children?
That’s when I can’t look at her anymore. “If you’ll excuse
me, I have some packing to do.”

–––––

I go into the extra bedroom to get my luggage. I toss
the suitcases onto Lachlan’s bed and go into the closet to strip my
clothes from the hangers. I hurl them in without any kind of
structure. I know all of my things are never going to fit in there
like this, but I don’t care. I’ll leave what I can’t jam in.

Somehow, I make everything fit. I pull my
luggage into the kitchen and park it by the door for my departure
first thing in the morning. I remember I’ll need a ride. I call
Daniel, the only other contact programmed into the phone given to
me by Lachlan.

“
Hi, Daniel. It’s Laurelyn. I need
you to drive me to town in the morning. Can you be ready at
seven?”

“
Certainly, Miss Beckett. I’ll see
you in the morning.”

Miss Beckett.
I feel a frown form on my face and I sigh. “Thank you,
Daniel.”

I survey the pile of luggage and wonder where
I’ll go in the morning. I have no idea. I’m short on money so a
hotel for longer than one night is out of the question. I can’t ask
to come back to Ben’s after the way I left, so I guess I have no
choice. I’m forced to go home. Jolie will be happy.

I decide to shower tonight so there’s no delay
in getting away from this place first thing in the morning. Under
water that’s as hot as I can stand, I need this torment to be
washed away. I’m unsuccessful at ridding myself of the pain, and
the water eventually runs cold, much like the feeling I have deep
inside.

I’m lying in bed, but nowhere near sleep, when
Lachlan calls for the fourth time. I finally silence the ringer
because I don’t want to hear Bret sing anymore. It’s too bad I’ll
never hear him sing again without thinking of Lachlan
Henry.

32

Jack McLachlan

I can’t stay away from Laurelyn until tomorrow
afternoon. I leave my parents’ house early to come home to be with
her, but not without hearing a shitload of trash talk from my
brother about being pussy-whipped. I may be, but I’m not
complaining.

I come through the garage door and
stumble over a pile of luggage. I turn on the light and recognize
the bags as Laurelyn’s.
What the hell is
going on here? First, she wouldn’t answer my calls and now her
luggage is by the door?

I walk to the bedroom, not sure of
what I’m going to find.
Please don’t be
gone, Laurelyn.
I hold my breath as I stop
in the doorway. It’s pitch black, so I turn on the bathroom light
and see her asleep in my bed. I release the breath I was
holding.

It’s three in the morning and I only want to
strip down and climb into bed with her, but I don’t because I know
something isn’t right. I sit on the bed next to her and brush her
soft cheek with the back of my fingers. “Laurelyn.”

She stirs, but doesn’t wake, so I say her name
again. “Laurelyn, baby.”

She opens her eyes and bolts up in the bed,
taking the sheet with her. “What are you doing here?”

This isn’t the welcome home I’d
imagined.
“I live here.”

“
You told me you wouldn’t be home
until this afternoon.”

“
I left early because I wanted to
be with you. I’ve sort of developed a habit of doing that.” She
doesn’t say anything. “What’s going on? Why are your bags by the
door?”

“
Because I’m leaving.”

I feel my heart jump into my throat.
“Why?”

“
Your wife thought it would be the
appropriate thing for me to do and I tend to agree with
her.”

What the hell is she talking
about?
“I don’t have a wife.”

“
Audrey paid me a visit, and she
says differently. She’s stunning, Lachlan. And I should know
because she stunned me.”

That psycho has traced me
to
A
valon. She’s
getting smarter. And braver. Attempting to destroy two of my
vineyards was ballsy, but now she has walked into my house and
fucked with my personal life through Laurelyn. “I’m not married to
that woman.”

“
I don’t believe you.”

“
I swear I’ve
never been married.” She doesn’t say it again, but I see she
doesn’t believe me. I run my hands through my hair.
How am I going to prove this to
her?

There’s only one way. I reach for my phone in
my pocket. “You can ask my mum. She’ll tell you.”

It’s three o’clock in the morning, but I bring
up my contacts and press the one labeled “Mum.” I put it on speaker
and it rings a few times before she answers the phone.

“
Hello?”

“
Mum, this is going to sound
crazy, but am I married?”

“
What are you talking about, son?”
My mum has no idea she’s the only one who can save me with Laurelyn
right now.

“
Have I ever been
married?”

“
No. What’s this all
about?”

“
Laurelyn and I had a bit of a
misunderstanding. She just needs to hear that I’m not
married.”

“
He’s not married, dear, but I’d
sure like for him to be. How are you feeling?”

Oh, hell.
I mute the phone. “Tell her you feel much better. I’ll
explain later.”

I unmute the phone and hold out for Laurelyn
to answer my mum. “I’m feeling much better, ma’am. Thank you for
asking.”

“
I’m sorry to wake you, Mum. Go
back to sleep and we’ll talk later.”

After I end the call, I put the phone down on
the nightstand. “She wanted to know why you didn’t come with me, so
I told her you had the stomach flu.”

“
Oh.”

“
Tell me what happened with
Audrey.”

“
I was in the gym working out. I
stopped to take a break and I thought I saw something in the
mirror. When I looked, I saw this redheaded woman in the middle of
the floor watching me. I’m pretty sure she’d been standing there
for a while, but I can’t be certain because I didn’t hear her come
in.”

“
What did she tell
you?”

“
That she was your wife and she
loved you. She wanted to work things out because of the
children.”

“
Children?”
Wow. She is
desperate.

“
She asked me to stop seeing you
and leave without any contact ever again.”

Huh
. “You
were going to leave me without saying goodbye?”

“
Only because I believed you were
married with children. You know how I feel about that.”

“
And you know I understand how bad
it would hurt you if I were married. Why would you doubt
me?”

“
Because I don’t know
you.”

Wow, that hurt.
“But you’re wrong. Maybe you don’t know my real
name, but you know me like no one else does.”

“
Who is she?”

Psycho bitch. “Number three.”

“
A previous companion?”

“
Yes, of the deranged sort. Crazy
stuff has gone down with that woman. She found out my real identity
after our relationship ended and she’s been stalking me for three
years. Because I travel so often, it’s hard for her to keep up with
my whereabouts. When she can’t find me, she causes mischief at the
vineyards to draw me out.”