Lies in Love (39 page)

“Talia,
are you here?”

Talia
heard Landon call for her from the stairs, his steps booming so
loudly she was certain he was taking them two at a time. She’d
locked the door when she came in, but hearing the panic in his voice,
she knew he wouldn’t hesitate to use his key. She sat in her
father’s recliner, watching the door handle when it jiggled in
place.

“Talia?”
Landon pounded on the door.

She
sat motionless, just staring at it. She knew he would come looking;
she found herself half-hoping he would, even though she had nothing
to say. He saw the result of her failed relationship. It was only a
matter of time before their relationship would fall to the same fate,
just like every other relationship she’d been witness to.

“Talia?”
He’d unlocked the door and called for her just before he
stepped inside.

She
was still sitting there, just staring.

“Petal?
What are you doing?”

“Nothing.”
She spoke without emotion as her arms crossed in front of her and she
adjusted her view, looking to the adjacent wall.

“Are
you okay?” He was moving closer to her.

Her
breath caught briefly when he was mere feet away. “I just
needed some time to myself.”

Landon
eased closer, taking a seat on the arm of the recliner. “Okay.”

She
wasn’t sure if he was responding or questioning. “How’d
you get here?”

“Reina’s
van.” His hand gently grasped her fingers, but she unfolded her
arms and pulled away from him.

“Oh,
well, you should probably get that back to her.” She was making
excuses, trying to get him to leave. Now that he was here, she just
wanted him to go.

“She’s
here too. All of the girls are downstairs.”

Talia
rolled her eyes, giving a wry smile. “That’s ridiculous.
You guys should get back to the reception.”

“Why
would I want to be there without you? I don’t know those
people.” He leaned into the chair, resting his arm above her
head, but she immediately jumped up.

Approaching
the front door, she exclaimed, “I’m going to go down
there and tell them to get back to the party.”

“Talia.”
Landon’s voice was soft but firm, holding her in place.

“It
really wasn’t necessary for everyone to follow me back here.
I’m fine.” She grabbed onto the door, trying to avoid his
inquisition.

“Talia.”
His voice grew louder.

“Marisa
will be wondering why we all disappeared.”

“Talia!”
Landon yelled.

“What?”
She turned to look at him with one hand resting on the knob.

“Talk
to me.” His voice grew quieter, coaxing.

“About
what?”

“About
what happened, why you left.” She could tell he was trying to
be delicate with her.

“I
just wasn’t in a celebratory mood anymore.” She was
trying to keep a lightness to her voice to hide the anger and sadness
and fear she felt over Brandy’s pregnancy.

“Talia,
talk to me goddammit.”

“There’s
nothing to say. It’s all pretty obvious.” She was already
sick of this conversation. It was evident that she just wasn’t
enough. She couldn’t hold her mother’s interest as a
child and she didn’t hold the interest of her fiancé as
an adult. She would never be enough. She was trembling under Landon’s
brutal gaze.

“What’s
so obvious?”

He
was getting close again and with each step she found it harder to
breathe, like the air was being ripped from her lungs. She couldn’t
explain what everyone saw today. It would hurt so much more once she
said it out loud.

Landon
hovered over her with his fists resting on the door, his solid arms
serving as a cage surrounding her. “You have to talk to me. I
can’t take this anymore.”

She
pushed past him and stomped to the kitchen in search of a way to
evade his intensity. “There’s nothing to talk about. Just
drop it.”

“Why
is that your immediate response? You expect everyone to sweep their
emotions under the rug. Well, I’m not made that way. I can’t
just act like I didn’t see the way you reacted to your
ex-fiancé and his pregnant girlfriend.”

She
had to get away from him. She wasn’t going to talk about this.
Not now. Just the thought had her choking up and she refused to cry
over that asshole. She turned for the bedroom, but Landon was close
on her heels.

“Where
are you going?”

“I
need a shower.” She began removing articles of clothing on the
way to her room.

“Are
you kidding me? We need to talk.” His voice had an edge to it
that Talia hadn’t heard before. He’d never been this
demanding with her.

She
spoke through gritted teeth. “I
need
a shower.” She turned on the water, standing naked before him.

“Damn
it, Tal. You
need
to talk to me.” He gripped her elbow and spun her to face him.
“You refuse to talk to anyone you care about. That stops now.”

Talia
ripped her arm from Landon’s hold. “Just leave me alone.”

“Damn
it, Tal, You’re so fucking stubborn. It’s no wonder they
hired me.” Landon’s hand was stopped halfway across his
head when Talia turned back to look at him.

“What
are you talking about?” She could tell he’d said
something he hadn’t meant to.

“Nothing.
Just forget I said anything.” He backpedaled toward the
bedroom.

“Hired
you to do what, Landon?”

“I
said forget it. Let’s just forget this whole damn
conversation.” He slipped out of sight.

Talia
pulled her robe from its hook and slipped it on, following him into
the living room. “You wanted to talk? Let’s talk.”
She approached him, needing to be close enough to know when the truth
was in his eyes. “Who hired you, Landon? What did they hire you
for?”

Landon’s
hand ran through his hair again before he fell into the recliner.
“The girls hired me.”

“What
girls?” She knew the answer, but she had to hear it from him.
She had to understand what he was saying.

“Camey.
Sara. Reina.” His head had fallen into his hands.

“What
did they hire you for?”

“To
take you out, show you a good time. They wanted you to be happy
again.” He looked up at her with an aggrieved expression.

“Why
would you even agree to do something like that?” She leaned up
against her entertainment center. She didn’t want to get any
closer now for fear of where this conversation was going. He wasn’t
answering and she was growing intolerant as the seconds ticked by.
“Why did you do it, Landon?”

“Because
it’s my job.”

“Your
job? What the hell does that mean?”

Landon’s
head shook as it dropped into his hands again.

She
grew impatient and screamed, “What the fuck does that mean?”
She heard him sigh before he spoke.

“I
was an escort before I met you. The girls found me online and hired
me to take you out.”

“My
friends paid you to sleep with me?”

“No,
Petal. It’s not like that.”

Talia’s
stomach turned at his pet name. “Don’t call me Petal.”

His
head shook when she rebuffed him. “Talia, please. Let me
explain.”

“No
need. I got it. My friends
and
my sister paid a guy to have me pawned off as the common whore. How
much did they give you for these past few months?” Talia
snickered briefly, then continued. “Did you get a bonus for
saying I love you? The girls must have had a good laugh over that.”

He
was shaking his head again. “This isn’t some act, Talia.
I really do love you. No one paid me to say it.”

“So
the money was just a bonus?”

“They
only paid me for one night. After that it was all me. I came back
because I knew…”

“You
knew what exactly?”

“I
knew you weren’t like anyone I’d ever met. I knew there
was something about you that would make me want to change my life
forever. You’re it for me.”

“That’s
hilarious.” Talia started for the bedroom.

“It’s
the truth.”

Once
inside her room, she heard him get up from the chair.

“Tal,
what are you doing?”

She
knew the moment he entered the bedroom, there would be no question to
what she was doing.

“Talia,
stop.”

She
was grabbing all of his clothes as fast as she could and shoving them
in his single duffle bag. When she’d emptied the second drawer,
he grabbed her hands to stop her.

“Don’t
do this.”

“Get
your hands off of me,” she spat. She didn’t want to feel
his hands on her. She wondered how many other women he’d
touched with those hands. How many had he said
I
love you
to? It was all too much to think about so she stopped what she was
doing and faced him. “Pack up the rest of your stuff and get
out.”

“Talia…”

“I
won’t ask you again. Get your shit and go.” She spun
toward the door, feeling tears forming at the back of her throat. She
was stopped in her tracks when Landon jumped in front of her.

“I
won’t let you do this.” He grabbed her shoulders, keeping
her from running away.

And
the tears spilled over. She couldn’t contain them anymore. Her
world came crashing around her. When Landon pulled her hard against
his chest, she gasped audibly.

“I
love you, Talia.”

Her
hands eased up his chest, then pushed against him. “It’s
always lies in love. It’s so easy to lie when it’s
you
you’re protecting.” Looking up at him with her forearms
pressed against his chest, she uttered, “Let me go.” She
couldn’t keep her voice from cracking as she tried to break
free from his arms.

“No,
I can’t.” He gripped her tighter, crushing her to him. “I
told you I’d never leave you again.”

“You
don’t have a choice.” She pressed resolutely against him
before she squirmed out of his grasp. “Just let me go.”
With tears clouding her vision, she ran out of the apartment to the
wolves awaiting her below, Landon calling after her all the way.

Sara
stood at the bottom of the stairs with worry marring her face. “Tal,
are you okay?”

“How
could you?” Tears came rushing uncontrollably down her cheeks.

“What
did she do?” Camey accused from behind Sara.

“How
could all of you betray me? Am I just some sick joke to you?”
Her breathing was ragged. She was barely hanging on.

“We
just wanted you happy.”

“Dios
mio. I told you this was a bad idea.”

“Shut
up, Reina. I don’t remember you putting up a fight,”
Camey retorted.

A
death glare was promptly sent in Camey’s direction.

“This
isn’t helping anything,” Landon spoke from the base of
the stairs; his duffle clutched in his hands.

Talia
turned her back to him. She couldn’t bear to look at the lie
she’d been living with for the last couple of months. “Landon,
please leave.” It was said through a whisper, but the shop was
suddenly so achingly quiet that every ear heard what she’d
said.

“Please,
Talia. Don’t do this.”

“Just
go.” Her voice cracked as she tried to push the words past the
giant lump in her throat.

The
shop sat silently except for the sound of Landon’s feet
shuffling behind her as she stood steadfastly in place. His large
hands came to rest on her shoulders and she gasped as he placed a
soft kiss on the top of her head.

“I’ll
always love you.”

His
words started a new wave of tears. She didn’t have the strength
to face anyone any longer so she tore up the stairs, locking herself
inside of her apartment.

“Why
did you tell her?” Camey lunged in front of Landon.

“I
didn’t mean to. It just slipped.”

“What
do you mean it just slipped? How do you let something like that just
slip?”

“She
wouldn’t talk to me. I just wanted her to tell me what was
going on and she kept telling me nothing was wrong. It was killing me
that she couldn’t just tell me the truth. I was practically
begging her to talk to me and it just came out.”

“So
you’re leaving?”

“It
was her choice, not mine.”

“Well,
what do we do now?” Sara cried, still staring up the staircase
after her sister.

“I
can’t tell you that. All I know is she’s hurting and
she’s going to need all of you, no matter how hard she tries to
push you away, so don’t let her.”

The
girls silently agreed as Landon prepared to leave.

“I
really do love her. I just wanted you to know that.” It was the
last thing he said before he left the shop behind.