Crossing Lines: A gripping psychological thriller (Behind Closed Doors Book 3) (12 page)

I’m about to tell her she can fix it by telling the truth, when the impenetrable self-defense in Ashleigh’s tone cracks, as her voice climbs an octave and she curses Sean. I’m forced to look at them, because I fear Ashleigh is close to losing her cool completely. When Sean lowers his gaze to her, the chemistry visibly sizzles between them. It’s like a slap on the back of my head. Her feelings are not entirely one-sided. The only person standing in Ashleigh’s way of achieving everything she wants, and everything she’s confessed to me already, is herself. And possibly Sean.

“This thing they had, and the fall out?” I ask Julia, and she looks at me like that’s something I should already know. “It’s because she wouldn’t have an affair with him, wasn’t it?”

Ashleigh’s told me time and time again, at least as Krystal, that she believes in monogamy—so many times, in fact, I’d consider it to be a fixation. But if she’s been accused of not one, but two relationships with married men, I’d understand her predisposition to correct assumptions before they happen. Besides, the first undenied accusation would make her innocence harder to believe a second time around.

“No, it’s because she moved to L.A., although I’m still not sure why she came here!”

Because Ashleigh thought her twin sister needed her help. She told me that last night, so why doesn’t Julia know this much? She’s Ashleigh’s best friend, isn’t she? I have a feeling the fall out between Ashleigh and Sean wasn’t as a result of Ashleigh’s move. It was the cause of it.

Ashleigh’s voice cuts through our conversation. “Do you think I give a damn about your egotistical opinions,
Preston?
”

“Yes, I do, because you’re
Krystal Valentina,
and you’re nothing without me and my egotistical opinions!”

As Sean laughs, I decide that’s my cue to break up the argument and introduce myself to Julia’s brother. I feel Julia’s presence behind me all the way there.

He notices me come up behind Ashleigh, just before she cries, “For as long as I live, Sean Anderson, I swear I will never
ever
give a damn about you,
ever again!
” Her hands burst into his chest. “Now get out of my way!” She spins on her bare feet, and rams right into me.

Instincts wrap a protective arm around her, to pull her closer to me and stop her from falling. Our eyes meet for a brief second before her cheeks turn an interesting shade of pink. Her chin drops to her chest. Her rage slips away to disappointment, and I know she’s already berating herself for acting the way she has with Sean. She truly wouldn't care about Sean anymore if our relationship were real.

I know I have just seconds before Julia starts to question the relationship, so I tuck my free hand under Ashleigh's chin. I tilt her face upward until her eyes meet my gaze. “Good morning, Kitten.”

I have no idea why I call her that, or where the nickname comes from, but the way she lifts her brows, I guess she approves of it, as much as the guy standing right behind her does not. I feel the questioning annoyance radiating from Sean. Who am I? Where did I come from? Why am I intimately holding his girl? Even his irritation because he cares bothers him. But I can’t afford to take my gaze away from Ashleigh's. Instead, I answer all of Sean's silent questions by dipping my head and kissing her.

It feels wrong, so wrong, on a thousand different levels, that I don’t allow my lips to linger on hers for more than a few seconds—just long enough to send a message to Sean, and more importantly to Julia: I’m here to stay.

Ashleigh’s stunned yet approving green eyes smile at me as I pull away. “Well, good morning to you too, Dr. Hawthorne!”

“Maybe you owe Sean an apology?” She looks very annoyed at my suggestion. “After all, it isn’t his fault I pissed you off last night and you couldn’t sleep. Shouldn't all that excitement be aimed at me?”

My effort and acting skills are rewarded with a huge smile. “Well, yes. But there’s plenty excitement left over for you. How about I tip you in the pool? Yes. I think that would be quite satisfying after last night.”

“I can think of another way we can get wet together.” I hope that sounds more suggestive to the others, because to me, it sounds wrong—cringe-worthy, in fact. “Sans the clothes and the chlorine?”

Her eyes widen. Her cheeks turn pink. Her gawking stare jumps between me and Julia, before she stumbles over her words and finally laughs out loud. “You're going skinny dipping on your own, doctor.”

I laugh. The thought of Krystal Valentina skinny dipping is actually funny. Too funny. She was wild and outrageous when she wanted to be, but Ashleigh getting naked where there are potential camera lenses watching is never going to happen, or she’d have done it already.

“C’mon, Kitten.” I don’t have to try too hard to keep the laugh in my voice as I ignore the burning of two pairs of eyes staring at me. There is only one thing for a man to do when his ‘girlfriend’ is nose to nose with a potential threat: initiate caveman mode. Like a knight in shining armor, I make a show of sweeping her right from under Sean's nose. Quite literally. I swoop down and take her knees from beneath her and tip her into my arms.

“What are you doing?” She squeals and grips my shoulders.

Surprised by how little she actually weighs, I wink and ask, “You wanna stay and fight with Sean? Or would you rather I whisk you away and take advantage of what little time we have together?” Without waiting for a reply, I turn my back on our audience and carry her back the way Julia and I had come.

“I don’t think you’ve given me a choice on this matter, Doc.”

“No.” Climbing the stairs two at a time, even with her in my arms, is surprisingly easy. “I guess I didn’t.” I only set her back on her feet the moment I know there’s a heavy wooden door between us and Sean. “There’s a difference between fooling others and being made a fool of. This was a drastic attempt at the former, before you did the latter. I didn’t sign up for the expectant-father role.” Her mouth drops open. “But I guess you knew that, or you would have told me you’re pregnant already."

I’m surprised to see her stutter over her explanation. But I’m not surprised by her eventual response. “It’s complicated.”

I shake my head. Yes, I know the truth, but what pisses me off is it wasn’t Ashleigh who told me any of this, which means she still isn’t being straight with me. “Well, un-complicate it, Ashleigh. Or I’m on the next plane back to New York!” And to add emphasis to my point, I leave her standing in the hallway alone.

Chapter Nine

FROM BENEATH A BLANKET
of hot water drumming on my head, I hear my cell phone ring. The shower’s double wide doors clatter as I burst from the overly large cubical. My foot slips on the wet marble floor and I grasp at the cold metal towel rail. This bathroom, which is bigger than my entire bedroom at home in New York, is a bloody deathtrap. I mutter as much as I exit the ensuite and head for the side table where I left my phone.

After a full morning of paperwork, broken up by intermittent coffee breaks that have made me feel more like the new kid on the playground, as Sean and Julia either ignore me or stare, point, and whisper whenever I’m around … I’m by no means in the mood for Ashleigh’s luxury deathtraps.

The swim I took in her private beach cove hasn’t served its purpose. Neither has the shower. I’m still as coiled and cranky as I was the final time Sean and Julia made me feel like an attraction in the local zoo. Now, as I look at the caller ID, I sigh. I have to explain myself to Georgia.

“Hey, Georgia!” Although I feel far from bright and breezy, I sing my greeting into the phone. There’s no point starting off a phone call ready for battle. It'll be a thousand times worse if I do. “How are you?”

“‘Hey, Georgia?’” she remarks bitterly. “Is that all you have to say? What are you doing in Los Angeles? Did you just decide you'd had enough and could run off for two weeks? What the hell is wrong with you, Darryl? What about Lisa? She’s really upset that you’ve just left her.”

It’s a cheap shot, yet it hits me like a physical punch in the gut. For a moment or two I have to concentrate on just breathing, as my mind races with thoughts of Lisa, alone, not understanding what’s going on … because it’s supposed to be my job to make her feel safe and secure.

“I can’t believe you left Caleb in charge.”

The guilt shifts, and a rapidly growing seed of annoyance that has been building all day replaces it. Is that what this call is about? She’s pissed because I asked Caleb to take care of things while I’m in L.A.? Hadn't I known it was a bad idea to leave Georgia and Caleb in the same house, without some kind of adult supervision? “I have a work emergency, Georgia.”

“Of course you do.” Her snooty reply grates on my already frayed nerves. “You drop everything and take off, just like you always do because your career comes first. Isn’t that right, Darryl?”

“When have I ever run out on this family?”

“Oh, I don't know, maybe after Mom fell and lost the baby?”

“I went to college!”

“Yes, and then Dad had an affair, which Mom never forgave him for, and it was the whole reason she left him in the end.” She pauses and I wait. There’s no doubt in my mind she's expecting me to bite. And I do. Silently I argue;
that’s not why Faith left Calvin
. When she doesn't get the rise she’s expecting from me, she just continues. “And then you just blew us off completely the night Caitlyn was born.”

No, I hadn’t. Calvin had blamed me for Caitlyn’s very premature arrival, and told me Faith never wanted to see me again. It hadn't been until I received her first letter, and the accompanying journal that I’d learned that was a lie.

“You've done whatever suited you, ever since you started sneaking around with Izzy behind Dad's back the summer before your senior year. You know how he felt about the Worthingtons and you started sleeping with the enemy!”

“You don't know what you're talking about,” I hiss.

“I know everything, Darryl.”
I hate it when Georgia’s like this. So smug, because she can, and will, make my life hell.
“I spoke to Izzy like you told me to, and she told me
everything
!”

I suck a long, sharp breath in through my nose. “She had no right to.”

“Just because you don't love her anymore, doesn't mean she doesn't love you. You meant everything to her for almost twenty years, and she stuck by you through thick and thin. But you tossed her to the curb, just like you did us!”

I don’t know what has changed, but I suddenly see that we can't go on like this. We can’t keep turning in this perpetual cyclone she keeps throwing us into. And the only way I know to end that is to stop protecting her, to allow her the whole truth and suffer the heartbreak it will surely bring her. Not just about Izzy, but Faith, and Calvin too. She needs to learn exactly who this man is, the monster who continues to manipulate her, and yet she adores him.

“Aren't you fed up with this?” I ask. “Aren't you tired of fighting with me all the time?”

“You keep screwing everything up, Darryl.”

“I know.” The acknowledgment slips out on a long, heavy breath. “But you don't have to rub it in my face every time we speak.”

“Yes, I do. Because you resent us for the life you have. You blame Mom for saddling you with us, because your perfect life was ruined.”

I stop pacing. Where the hell did she get that idea from? What exactly has Izzy told her? “My life has been far from perfect since I was fifteen.” Ever since Cal made me feel like somehow I was an imposition on him, rather than a member of his family.

“Caleb and I were more than capable of handling our family matters by ourselves. You didn’t need to interfere.”

Well, there’s Cal's baby girl, accepting daddy's opinion like it’s law. I recognize the blatant attempt to taunt me, but it still hurts. Doesn't she consider me part of the family?

“You just barged in,” she continues, “and I honestly don't understand why I’ve let you have control over things for this long, Darryl. I’m the eldest child, and all of this is my responsibility to handle!”

And it would have been if the mess was Faith’s. But it wasn’t. It was mine. As though our parents had predicted nothing good would come from Faith’s and Calvin's marriage, long before anyone else had, they’d left everything to me. So when I’d claimed the inheritance Cal had stolen from us, I had also taken it away from her children. I had tried to share it with Faith, but she hadn’t wanted it. She hadn’t wanted an excuse for Calvin to torment her any longer.

“Faith didn't want you to handle any of this, Georgia. She wanted you and Caleb to continue on the paths you've chosen, to make her proud.”

The paths I’ve funded for so long now, I have no idea whether I should tell her the truth, and if she’d believe me, or reject it as a lie. And honestly, I can’t now risk losing the only lead the police have for locating Calvin and the girls. Or Cal losing the money he needs to support them, money she sends to him.

“So you keep saying.” Georgia scoffs, dragging me back to the present. “But can you honestly say you know what Mom wanted, Darryl?”

“I know she never wanted you to know the whole truth. She told me, over and over again. You and Caleb, I wasn’t allowed to tell you what she told me. She wanted you to be protected from all of that. Even if the worst happened to her, I wasn't to tell you the truth.”