Discovered (9 page)

CHARLETTE

Thanks to Christopher’s anonymous tip, I knew news of Jules and Emily’s affair would draw the attention of Jack, Julien’s father. After speaking to Emily myself, I knew that it wouldn’t take long before she moved on from whatever delusional fantasies she had of being with Jules. Once she got a taste of all it would take to be with a man of Jules’ stature, she would surely buckle under the pressure of the media and run for the hills.

It took a special kind of woman to stand behind a man like Julien Belmont! A woman like me
, which was why his father sought me out to begin with! With Jules’ money and power, only a strong, successful, and confident woman like me could handle the responsibility of being with him. It was more than just appearing at events a few times a year in the perfect gown. It took dedication! Jules hadn’t known all that I’d done for him as his wife over the years. The interviews I had accepted merely because it would be great publicity for his company. Not to mention the deal I’d accepted from his father just to marry the man.

My father worked so hard to build the family vineyard into the empire
that it is today, and if he knew how much I had lost in the first year after his death, he would surely roll over in his grave.

Initially the company was running smoothly
, but soon investors began to question my ability to run the company. By the end of the year, we were faced with losing everything. That’s when Jack Belmont entered!

Jack Belmont, Jule
s’ father, hadn’t disclosed my financial troubles from a few years ago with Jules. When the company lost two major distributors during that time, Jack sought me out and made me an offer that I couldn’t refuse.

“Ms. Delacroix
, thank you for meeting with me,”
he said as he gestured for me to take a seat in front of his grand mahogany desk.

The man was quite intimidating
, but my father, God rest his soul, had done well in teaching me how to handle men like Jack Belmont. No matter how intimidating a man is, as a woman, I was to never buckle under the pressure. Never show weakness!

“It’s my pleasure to meet you
Mr. Belmont. Although, I must say I am not sure why you insisted on meeting with me,”
I responded once I took my seat.

The man
’s face was void of any emotion. His eyes never left mine as he sat across from me. For several seconds we stared at each other, each of us unwilling to break the eye contact.

“I
had known your father for several years. We practically grew up together. He was a fine businessman and often advised me in my own business dealings. I was greatly affected when I heard of his passing.”

The mention of my father made me flinch. Each time I thought about all
that my father had entrusted me with, it brought sorrow to my heart.

“He was a great man. But I’m sure you did not invite me here to tell me something that I already know. So, if you don’t mind Mr. Belmont, can you please tell me why I am here?”
I retorted; feeling aggravated that the man had mentioned my father in an attempt to connect with me. I was no fool. It was obvious that he wanted something and using my love for my father was distasteful!

“Well then I’ll just get straight to it t
hen! You have single handedly run your father’s business into the ground! It is quite obvious that you are in over your head and I have a business proposition for you.”

I couldn’t hide my infuriation at the man’s statement. Everything my father taught was instantly forgotten as I stood to my feet and glared at the man.

“I don’t know who you think you are Mr. Belmont, but I can handle my father’s business just fine!” I barked at the unflinching man.

Needless to say, the man hadn’t taken me seriously. After an hour long battle, I had buckled and agreed to
marry Jules for the survival of my father’s business. Almost immediately after our business arrangement, my father’s vineyard began thriving. I wanted to believe that I had done what was best for the company, but a man like Jack Belmont wasn’t someone to toy with. I knew he was the cause of my father’s company’s near demise from the start.

Shortly after our meeting he informed me that he had spoken to Jules and had convinced him to marry me. When I
was called into a meeting with Jules himself, I was quite pleased to hear his take on the arrangement. He believed that he was the one pulling the strings, and his father was happy that we were going to marry, hoping that Jules and I would produce an heir to his glorious empire. Each party was none the wiser!

S
ure our relationship started as merely a contract created out of desperation between Jules and I but as the years went by each time we attended our obligatory events, I fell deeper and deeper for the man. Try as might, Julien Belmont was not a man who you could get out of your head once he took residence.

When I received my invitation to the annual charity gala
that Jules’ father Jack was throwing this year, I knew that I needed to tell Jules how I felt. All I needed to do now was to make sure that Emily Roberts was no longer in the picture.

EMILY

Work was a complete blur. I went through the motions,
with my thoughts staying on that stupid article in the paper. I was beyond thankful that my face wasn’t really noticeable, which meant that the reporter hadn’t been close enough to get a better shot. The thought of someone following us still made my skin crawl.

I had just gotten into my car when someone knocked on the passenger window. Slightly startled, I paused to catch my breath before letting down the window. Just as my hand went to the button, Adam’s face appeared.

“What the heck are you doing here?” I asked as the window came down.

He was dressed casually, a baby blue button down shirt, white t-shirt and khaki pants. It had been a long time since I had seen him and though I would never admit it to
him; he was looking so freaking hot. His sexy smile was still the same, and he was still able to make me wet with just one curl of his lips.

Don’t even think about it Emily. He is the reason your life is as horrible as it is. Remember the two blondes from work,
I reminded myself.

“I’m sorry if I scared you but I really wanted to talk to you Em,” he said with his ocean blue eyes
looking at me hopefully.

“Adam, really there isn’t anything to talk about
,” I said, turning away and staring at the wheel. Just keep looking straight ahead.

“Come on Em, just five minutes. It’s really important, please?” he brought his hands together, begging me.

“You’ve got three minutes. I’m a busy woman.” I said but instantly regretted.

Adam didn’t deserve a second of my time after what he had done to me. What he deserved was a good
old fashioned kick in the groin.

“Ok, I’ll take it,” he said as he
opened my door and climbed in.

His cologne was the first thing
that I noticed. At one point in my life, his cologne was like a drug to me. It was my kryptonite. Every time he came near me, he wore that very cologne, sending me into heat, and here I was, in this small car, trapped with him and that damn cologne.

Just
breathe… 1, 2, 3, breathe.

“Three minutes doesn’t really give me much time so I’ll get straight to the point…” his voice trailed off as he thought his next words out. “I miss you Em. I know that things ended badly between us but I
still love you.” He reached over and grabbed my hand and continued as I stared at him dumbfounded, “You’re still here Em. And I know I don’t deserve you but I am willing to do whatever it takes to get you back. Name it, I’ll do it… for you…” he said as he pressed my hand against his chest, indicating that I was still in his heart.

I really wasn’t sure what to make of this conversation with Adam. I mean, the dude had cheated on me with my co-workers, granted they were also his co-workers too
, but still, the jerk embarrassed me and broke my heart. At the time I thought we were headed towards marriage, well… maybe not marriage but a nice long engagement until we settled into our careers, but instead he released his inner horn dog and freaking nearly sent me over the edge. How Diana and Suzie managed to put up with me after that breakup was something that I could never understand. I was a mess! No, scratch that… I was a HOT ASS MESS!

And now, after all this time this man seriously thought he could just mind-f his way back into my world? You’ve got to be freaking kidding me! How dare he think that he could bathe himself in the cologne he freaking
knew I loved, bat those freakishly beautiful lashes of his and smile his panty-freeing smile at me and then what? Did he think I would just forget the whole thing? Was I supposed to erase the last year out of my head and somehow continue right where we left off?

Before I could even stop myself from doing it, I
found myself open-handedly slapping the crap out of him, causing him to yelp in pain. “Who in the hell do you think you are Adam?” I screeched.

“
What the… are you freaking crazy Em?” he retorted while holding on to his now reddened face.

It serves you right
, I thought to myself. I had wanted to do that to him since we’d first broken up. Many nights, I had laid in my bed crying, wanting so bad to hurt him like he hurt me and today he was so lucky that we were seated in the car or I might have just kicked the crap out of his blasted boner, making sure that he wouldn’t be able to use it ever again.

I had to admit that a small piece of me was slapping Julien as well
, but that was a battle for another day, right now I had to deal with the past bastard who had screwed me over.

“Get the heck out my car
! You think you can just show up and bam, everything is fixed? You’re some cocky piece of work aren’t you Adam? Well save that crap for someone else. Beat it!” I ordered, unlocking the car door and pointing out.

He sta
red at me at first and then slowly made his way out of the car, but not before saying something completely unexpected. “I know I don’t deserve you, but I need you. It feels like I have been breathless since you left and I… I realized that who I thought I was…” he trailed off and then paused, looking down at the ground.

I had never seen
him this way before. The Adam I had known and loved was cocky, confident… an ass! But this person before me seemed a little different; on the surface he was the same but… I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.

“I am
nothing without you. Just please think about it. There’s more to the story than you know, but telling you now would only hurt you more, so just know that I love you and would never intentionally hurt you. Please just… think about it,” he continued, bringing me out of my reverie.

He turned and walked away, hands still clutching his bruised face, defeat causing his shoulders to slouch.
Who the heck was that guy? What did he mean by there was more to the story?

Instinctively I got out of the car, wanting t
o call after him. I needed to… to what? I wasn’t sure but when I did call out for him, he was too far to hear me and my heart plummeted. A swell of emotions took over as tears flooded my eyes. He had somehow placed me back in time, a time where my heart yearned for him and that was too much for me to handle. I had spent the last year determined to put him behind me and in one conversation, everything I had done fell to the waste wayside.
What is happening to me?

I watched as he disappeared, feeling lost and sobbing now into my hands. As a child I never cried
, but since coming into adulthood, men had broken me down and made me someone I couldn’t begin to recognize.

“A boyfriend I assume?
” I heard from behind me and right then, in the parking lot of my job, I wanted to die.
Julien!