Her Perfect Revenge (40 page)

Bill had spotted 'her' the minute she walked into the auditorium.

He and Linda were sitting in box seats high above the main seating area of the theatre where they had a first class bird's eye view of all the patrons walking in to get to their seats. Bill had gotten these tickets from one of his friends.

Just because he wasn't rich anymore didn't mean he still didn't have rich friends who could afford to give him great tickets. And he had promised Linda to take her to this opera last week before he had met 'her' again.

And now—sitting there, bored—his eyes had roamed the theatre waiting for the curtain call, when suddenly he had seen 'her' walk in. His senses had instantly come alive and he had sat up straighter in his chair.

It was 'her'.

It was Christina.

His Christina.

She was dressed in a formal black gown that molded itself to those sexy curves of hers, her hair was pinned up in an elegant style and her smile was breathtaking. Bill could see all that from his perch high up at the side of the theatre.

And he could also see that her arm was linked through that of some man dressed in a tuxedo, as they made their way to their seats in the center section.

Jealousy surged through Bill's system. Who the hell was that? Who was that man with Christina? And why was her hand linked with his? And why was she smiling at him like that?

His expression turned sour as he watched them take their seats. And then he saw the creep—whoever he was—lean towards her and say something in her ear. Bill's eyes shot beams of fire down at them as he saw Christina laugh in response. Then he glared even more as he watched her look in her purse and pull out a tissue and then—goddamn it—she wiped something off of his clad thigh with it! What the hell was she doing that for? And why was she touching him in that way? And why was he looking at her like that—staring at her—leering at her—lusting after her?

Was she sleeping with him?

Bill wanted to march down there and break every single bone in that asshole's body, whoever the hell he was!

Suddenly, he felt Linda's hand intertwine itself through his. He turned to her then; and she smiled but he didn't smile back. His mind was fully occupied with 'her'—Christina and her goddamn date.

Linda's smile dropped. "Is something wrong, darling?"

Bill pasted a fake smile on his face for her sake. "No; just waiting for the show to begin."

Linda seemed appeased as she turned her eyes back to the stage. Bill's phony smile vanished quickly as he turned his own angry eyes back to the more interesting show down below where 'his' Christina was obviously enjoying herself with some other man.

Damn it all to hell!

The opera began but Bill didn't watch any of it as wave after wave of hot jealously coursed through his entire system and his glare remained glued to the happy couple down below.

At intermission, he saw them get up and walk up the aisle towards the back of the theatre. They were probably going for a drink, Bill surmised. He grabbed Linda's hand and pulled her up.

"Let's get a drink," he stated bluntly, as he half dragged her out of the box.

Linda looked at him oddly. Something was definitely wrong with Bill tonight. He was not in a very good mood.

Well, when he took her home tonight, she knew exactly what she'd have to do to put him in a good mood. After all, men were her area of 'sexpertise' and Bill Havenwood was top-of-the-line, prime, male beefcake.

* * *

Christina and Stanley were standing near the bar enjoying their drinks and chatting about nothing in particular. Jenny had been right, Christina thought. This evening was turning out to be very pleasant and she was having fun. Stanley was a gentleman and had treated her like fine china.

He was nice and comfortable and handsome, and she was having a great time. It was obvious to Christina that Stanley found her attractive and would have been interested in more than a casual date with her. That he admired and wanted her made Christina feel good. It was nice to feel wanted by a man for a change. She had wasted over a year and a half of her life pining over someone who didn't want her anymore that she'd forgotten that there was a whole world out there with different people waiting to be explored and savored.

Jenny had been right. It was time for her to move on—with new people and new relationships and new men. Life was too short to waste away. Look at how quickly a year and a half had gone by already?

Christina smiled back at Stanley as he continued to regale her with another tale of courtroom drama. He wasn't the best conversationalist and he did tend to say the wrong thing at the wrong time but he was sweet, he had a good heart and he was trying—and Christina was charmed by that.

"Hello, Christina," a male voice said from behind her.

Christina swung her head around and knew who it was even before she saw him. There, standing a few feet away was Bill and he had his hand clasped in some other woman's hand—probably the new girlfriend that Jenny had told her about.

In a millisecond, Christina had studied the 'chippy' and made her catty conclusion. She was young and pretty and very amply endowed and a little too simple for his tastes. She wasn't up to his speed but then again maybe conversation and mental challenge weren't what he was looking for now.

Maybe all he wanted now was some good ole' fashioned plowing down on the farm? After all, how many times had he told her, and proved to her, that 'farming' was indeed his specialty? And Christina could see that this new girl in his life was built for exactly that.

Christina instinctively moved a couple of inches closer to Stanley for protection and the handsome lawyer instantly wrapped his arm around her waist. Bill witnessed the subtle move and it only added to the jealous fury he was feeling. He hated to see another man touching 'her' and in such a sweet, intimate, protective way. It infuriated him and made him feel primal!

Christina suddenly gave Bill a bright smile. "Bill! Fancy meeting you here," she said.

Bill did not smile back. In fact, he looked—mad—very mad. "Yeah, fancy that," he sarcastically replied.

So, Christina thought, he was probably upset at his bad luck at having to run into her again. It was obvious from his livid expression and his rigid body stance that he still hated her, wanted nothing to do with her and couldn't wait to get out of her sight. Well, she wasn't going to allow him to spoil her wonderful evening.

Christina kept her beautiful smile trained on him. "Are you enjoying the show?"

Bill's cold eyes traveled to Stanley's face before returning to hers. "It's been… very interesting." No one realized that he wasn't talking about the opera but the 'show' he'd been watching between Christina and Stanley.

Bill was so jealous and angry right now that his mind had to exert extreme force on his body to prevent him from punching this asshole in the face.

"Oh, I'm sorry, where are my manners," Christina quipped. "Bill, this is Stanley Moore." She turned to Stanley. "Stanley, this is Bill Havenwood. He runs the GME environmental group."

Stanley knew exactly who Bill Havenwood was—that he wasn't just some business acquaintance but Christina's ex-fiancé—but he smiled anyway and politely extended his hand out to Bill for a handshake.

"It's nice to meet you, Bill," he smiled.

Bill glared at him and didn't shake Stanley's hand. He just stood there, like a stone statue, shooting daggers of hate at Stanley.

Stanley's arm remained suspended in mid-air in front of Bill for several seconds more before he finally realized that Bill wasn't going to take it. His smile slowly dropped, as did his pre-offered hand.

How bloody rude, Christina thought to herself! Just because Bill hated her didn't mean he had to be such an ass towards other people who had nothing to do with what she had done to him. Ignoring him, she turned to the woman beside him and politely extended her own hand out to her.

"Hi, I'm Christina Matteo," she said. Yes, Christina was jealous of this new woman in his life but she wasn't going to show it and give him the satisfaction.

The woman smiled, oblivious to all of the undercurrents flowing between them and she shook Christina's hand. "I'm Linda, nice to meet you," she replied.

"Nice to meet you too," Christina smiled.

"How's your back?" Bill barked out, still angry and jealous at seeing Christina with another man.

Christina's eyes turned to his stony face and gave him a small laugh. "My backside's healed very nicely, thank you for asking," she joked with a twinkle in her eye. She then turned her face up to Stanley's. "Don't you agree, Stanley?" She gave a little wiggle with her well-shaped bum.

Stanley was confused as he continued to feel the waves of intense dislike emanating from Bill.

"Oh…" he gave Christina's derriere a quick look before replying, "Very nice… yes… it's… very nice," he awkwardly stammered and he laughed to cover up that awkwardness.

The comment had sounded sexual but it wasn't how Stanley had meant it. It was just that Bill's furious stance was making him flustered and you could always count on Stanley Moore to say the wrong thing at the wrong time when he was flustered. This wasn't his area of expertise. The courtroom was. No, this was real life and he wasn't very good at real life—especially when he had such a hot woman as Christina Matteo on his arm.

Bill's glare grew even chillier at Stanley's lewd remark and the way the creep had looked at Christina's ass. If they weren't in such a public place, Bill thought he would have pulled his fist back and landed a right hook to the bastard's jaw right then and there.

At that moment, the first chime sounded, signaling that intermission was over and the opera was about to begin again.

Christina raised her chin up. "Nice to see you again, Bill," she spouted as she placed her hand through Stanley's arm and turned to walk away.

Christina was fuming inside. That man obviously hated her guts. He had never forgiven her for what she'd done and never would. He'd been so rude, so nasty to them that Christina knew that chapter of her life was finally over. And she had no one to blame but herself and her own stupidity.

She had killed his love for her with her lies and revenge plans, and it was all now truly over.

Bill watched the couple walk away and he gritted his teeth in anger. He loved her—and he wanted her—but he just still couldn't forgive her. What was he to do?

* * *

Christina had strict instructions to immediately come to Jenny's apartment after her date with Stanley Moore, no matter what time it was. Jenny wanted details.

It was 2:30 a.m. in the morning when Christina finally rang Jenny's doorbell. Jenny opened the door and pulled Christina into her kitchen.

"I want details and start from the beginning," Jenny ordered.

"Did I wake Taylor?" Christina hadn't wanted to wake the little girl up by coming at this late hour but Jenny had insisted.

"Nah, the door to her room is closed. She didn't hear a thing. So, how was Stanley?"

"A perfect gentleman and a sweetheart."

"Did you kiss him?"

"He saw me to my door just now and I kissed him on the cheek."

"So how was the opera? Did you have fun?" What Jenny really wanted to know was—did you see Bill Havenwood there?

"I had lots of fun, Jenny. Thanks so much for pushing me to go. It was the best thing I could have done for myself and it was the perfect evening except for one small thing that happened."

"What?"

"Bill was there and we met up at intermission."

Jenny pretended to be shocked. "What? He was there?"

Christina nodded. "With the chippy."

"Really? And what was she like?"

Christina shrugged her shoulders. "Big boobs, little brain but she seemed nice, if a little too obvious."

"And what about Bill? What did he say?"

Christina turned indignant. "Bill Havenwood is an ass! He was extremely rude to Stanley, refusing to even shake his hand and he was really abrupt with me. He's still mad at me, Jenny for what I did to him, I know it. It was all over his face."

Jenny pretended to think. "Maybe he was jealous at seeing you with another man? Did you think of that?"

Christina shook her head. "No, he hates me and he was angry for having the bad luck of running into me again."

Jenny rolled her eyes upwards. "Chrissy, for such a smart girl, you can be really dumb sometimes. Bill Havenwood is probably still in love with you and what he hated was seeing you with another man. That's why he was so upset."

"Jenny, you're wrong. You weren't there. You didn't see the dirty looks he was giving me and poor Stanley. No, he hates me. And seeing him like this again has made me come to a decision. I'm putting him out of my life completely."

"Chrissy, no! He still loves you. You still love him. Love like that is rare and hard to find. Don't give up on it, please!" Jenny wailed.

Christina was adamant as she shook her head again. "No, Jenny. He hasn't forgiven me and never will. But before I move on with my life, there's something I have to do. Something I owe him."

"What?"

"I need to try to smooth things over between him and his father. It's the least I can do after the part I played breaking them up." Christina paused. "So you said that William and Bill haven't spoken to each other since the night he got thrown out of the house?"

Jenny nodded. "That's what Jake said. William is still furious at being betrayed by his son and refuses to even acknowledge him."

Christina made up her mind. "Jenny, I'm going to see William. I'm going to try to patch things up between the two of them and then I'm breaking all ties with Bill Havenwood… mentally and emotionally, and I'm moving on." Christina gave her friend a saucy smile. "Who knows, maybe I'll go out with Stanley again? He asked me out again tonight, you know."

Jenny pouted. "Oh no, Chrissy…"

Jenny was extremely upset at the way things had worked out. In her imagined scenario, Bill Havenwood was supposed to have been so incensed with jealousy at seeing Christina with another man that he was supposed to have come to his senses, punched out poor old Stanley, told Christina he was still madly in love with her and begged to be a part of her life again.