Marriage of Convenience (26 page)

“My payment isn’t late. And if it is, you have only yourself to blame.” Her shaky nerves didn’t match her raised, defiant chin.

Mr. Green raised a brow. “Normally, I believe in giving clients the benefit of the doubt. Most people are honest and try to pay me back as soon as possible, but my boss doesn’t see things the way I do. He gets a little uptight regarding the rate of return on our investments. As a result, I’ve had to increase my level of concern and adjust my incentives accordingly. Still, my boss doesn’t feel I’ve been doing enough. This is where you come in.” He paused to drink a sip of water. Placing the glass back down carefully on the glass and chrome table top, he replaced his fingers under his lip. She imagined he thought the look made him pensive, thoughtful. She was going to be sick.

“My boss called a couple of days ago, concerned about the books. He insisted I make an example of someone. Unfortunately, you are that someone.”

Caroline was certain she didn’t like the sound of that. In the movies she’d seen “examples” get their fingers removed, their legs broken, or worse. Eyes wide, she racked her brain for a decent argument against her prescribed fate.

“But my payment isn’t due for two weeks! The store will reopen in three days. That leaves plenty of time to get it together.” Even as she pleaded her case, there was a buzzing sound in her ears, and the room seemed to lose oxygen. She felt faint.

“Perhaps. But let’s not split hairs. Let me make you an offer. If you can make your payment on time, I’d have no reason to use you as an example. Instead, I could call my man back and report that the mere threat was enough to make you see the light.”

“Threats and property damage, you mean.”

“You’re splitting hairs again, my dear. Do we have a deal?”

“Of course.” Caroline wasn’t sure where her bravado was coming from. The darkness that had encroached on her vision and ability to breathe was fading. Perhaps the lightheaded feeling of relief was giving her confidence. Either way, she felt it best to agree so that she could leave before it got her into trouble. She stood to leave.

“Not so fast. I’m glad you can see I’m a civilized man. Do you mind if I ask how you’re going to get the money?”

Caroline frowned. She would have thought that was obvious. “I own a business, remember?”

“Ah, yes. But you’re missing some vital information, aren’t you? How do you propose to overcome that and still stay on top of the numbers?” His stare told her he knew damn well she was missing something. Without her invoices, she was scrambling in the dark.

She raised her chin. “I’ll manage. I have a good memory and a good staff. We’ll make it work.”

“I hope you do. Really, I do. Because if you don’t, I’ll use them to find your customers and your customers’ friends and their friends until I get what’s owed to me. Do we understand each other?” His voice had grown hard. He brandished a stack of papers in front of her and then threw them on his desk when she reached to snatch them from his hand.

“If you’re so anxious to get paid and keep your boss off your back, why would you take them? You’re making it more unlikely you’ll get paid.” Caroline growled in frustration.

“You think so? I see it as insurance. You have other ways of paying if the shop fails, don’t you?” He sneered at her as he casually sat back and crossed an ankle over his knee. It took Caroline a second to realize he hadn’t asked a question—he’d made a statement.

“You think my mother is going to rush to my rescue?” Caroline threw her head back and laughed derisively. “You obviously haven’t completed all your homework. She wouldn’t give you a penny to save me. You’re wasting your time. Give me the invoices, and you’ll get your money on time.”

His eyes twinkled. “I wasn’t thinking of your mother. Clearly, she’s a bitch.” He reached into his pants pocket and slipped out a slim cigar case. Shaking the cigar loose from its casing, he slid it into his mouth and sucked it to the side. He continued to hold her gaze. “No, you have other options and even more riding on this than you know.” He stood swiftly and rounded his desk, putting it between them. “Get me my money on time, or you’ll lose everything.” Leaning so far across the desk that his face nearly cleared the other side, he eyed her ring finger and then her stomach. “And I mean everything.”

Caroline had risen when he’d stood. She sank back into her seat.

“Please, don’t sit on my account. Have a peaceful evening, Ms. Mathers. I’m sure your husband is anxious to hear your happy news.”

“Caroline?” Malcolm slammed through the front door, calling her name as he entered.

Silence greeted him.

He walked straight through the living room and out onto the patio. Following the patio walkway to the left, he entered the house through the bedroom. “Caroline?” More silence. He stuck his head into the bathroom and then back through the living to the kitchen. Not a sign that she’d been home since she left this morning.

That was not what he expected. He could count on one hand the number of time he’d beaten her home. He checked his phone. No messages. He clicked through the screens and dialed her number. He heard the ringtone blast from the kitchen. Puzzled, he circled through the living room and back into the kitchen. Her phone lay vibrating on the counter next to the bananas she’d raided on her way out the door. She must have forgotten her phone in her rush to get out of the door. A long shower had had them both running late.

After some thought, he was more displeased. She shouldn’t be out late without her cell phone.

He dialed the shop. No answer.

Circling the island he pulled the landline hand-held off the wall. The small screen indicated a missed call, but the caller hadn’t left a message. If it had been Caroline, he’d be surprised. She knew he had his cell nearby day and night in case he got a call from the hospital.

Taking a few deep breaths, he paced the kitchen a few times and then returned to the living room, sinking heavily onto the couch telling himself she was a grown woman in a City she’d grown up in. She had friends and family and acquaintances all over the City. She was fine. And perhaps she was. But he definitely was not.

He’d wait ten minutes and then call Sarah. If Sarah hadn’t seen or heard from her, then he’d panic.

Five minutes in, he couldn’t stand it any longer. Picking up his cell, he was clicking through the screens to get to his contacts when the doorbell rang.

Finally! He threw down the phone and raced to the door.

“Caroline, why are you ringing the doorbell? Did you forget your keys, too?”

Flinging open the door, emotions crowded his head. He was still seething over her deception, but he was deliriously happy that she was at the door after his brain had concocted any number of gruesome scenarios to explain why she wasn’t home.

Malcolm stared. Elsy. Fuck. What the hell was she doing here? He didn’t want to deal with this now. And he sure as hell didn’t want Caroline to see her when she got home.

“Elsy. Why are you—” His voice trailed off as Elsy slipped by him and into the house.

“Oh, Malcolm, thank you for seeing me. You were always such a great friend.” She scanned the room. She turned back to him and pulled him in after her. The door shut firmly behind him.

“We have got to talk. I just can’t stand it any longer.” She held his hands in hers and pulled him into her personal space. She peered up at him with tears pooled in big round eyes.

Despite his better judgment, Malcolm felt his shoulders slump. If he just listened, perhaps he could help her solve her problem and get her out before Caroline got home. He’d still have to figure out how to get rid of her long term, but one problem at a time.

“You’re not supposed to be here. Tell me how I can help, quickly, so that you can leave. And dare I say never come back?”

Elsy pouted. “Oh, dear, you can’t help me. It’s how I can help you.” She raised his hand to her face and pressed her check into his palm. “I just feel so badly that she was able to sucker you in so deeply that you married her. God, how you must be suffering. You deserve better, darling. Let me help you.”

Malcolm’s brow furrowed. “Elsy, what are you talking about? I’ve never been happier.” He checked himself. “Well, until today.”

“You see? It’s starting to unravel, isn’t it? The lies, the deceit, the secrets. Girls like her are so arrogant to think they can keep it all together forever.” She made a cooing sound and pressed a kiss into his palm. “But you don’t need to worry. I have all the details, and together we can get through this. You’ll see.”

She dropped his hands and looked around the room. “How about a drink?” She spotted the wet bar and headed toward it. Malcolm caught hold of her arm and stopped her.

“Elsy, I don’t think this is a good idea. Caroline and I need to talk, as all couples do, but that doesn’t concern you. And if I need comfort, I’ll seek it from my wife.”

She turned on him. “Will you? And are you so certain it’s you she wants? And not your money? Or what you can give her?” She placed her hands on her hips and dared him to doubt her.

“This is old news, Elsy. Caroline has as much money as I do. There is nothing she can’t get for herself. And really, after our relationship, I’m not sure you’re one to talk about other people’s motives.” He folded his arms over his chest and returned her hard look.

“She doesn’t have access to that money though, does she? So if she got into a little financial bind, where would she go? Ever talk to her about her business?” Elsy asked the questions with a sneer on her face. She was baiting him, but he didn’t know where she was headed.

“I don’t need to, Elsy. I trust her.”

“Do you? But you learned today that no news isn’t necessarily good news, didn’t you?” The smug look on her face told him she’d hoped to shock him. “You don’t know your wife as well as you think you do.”

“What are you talking about, Elsy?”

“You know, I’d like to think there’s a certain bond between women, but your wife really makes that tough.”

“That’s a bit dramatic, don’t you think?”

“No, I don’t.” Elsy stepped to him, pressing her chest against his. She tugged at his tie, pouting her lips, and clucking softly. “You know how I feel about you.” She batted her eyelashes, and Malcolm felt sick. She peered up at him coyly. “You can only imagine what else she’s hiding. Want to know what I saw?” She sang the words, obviously trying to goad him.

“Why are you doing this, Elsy?”

Elsy huffed and rolled her eyes as though she was tired of explaining the obvious. “To protect you, silly. You know I would never let anyone hurt you.” She appeared hurt by his thoughtlessness. “Once I knew she had been deceitful about her money, I knew she was capable of anything. I was thinking of you, darling.” She purred the last sentence, pressing closer and laying her head on his shoulder.

“I doubt that very much. Say what you need to say and then go, Elsy. I have things I need to do.”

Elsy planted both palms against his chest and pushed off, stepping back and crossing her arms under her breasts. He supposed she intended him to be distracted by the increased cleavage. He felt nothing.

“You were never ungrateful before.” She shrugged and turned away, looking back over her shoulder slyly. “Maybe I’ll just keep it to myself. You can find out later or perhaps never.”

“Am I supposed to beg here?” Malcolm glanced at his watch again. He didn’t know what “it” was, but he was tired of playing along. Caroline should have been home a long time ago. Where was she? Why wasn’t she calling? As if on cue, Malcolm heard a faint ring and scanned the living room. Shit, where had he thrown the phone?

From across the room Elsy asked “Is that her? Ask her if she’s feeling all right.” Malcolm stopped lifting pillows off the couch and turned to stare at her.

“Why would I need to do that? What did you do?”

“Me?” Elsy’s tone was indignant. “Sweetie, that’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. I don’t have to do anything. She’s a mess all of her own making.” She winked at him. “Ask her.”

But the phone had stopped ringing.

“Elsy, if you’ve done anything—”

“What?” She spun on her heel to face him, her face suddenly flushed. “Why are you so attached to her?”

“She’s my wife, Elsy.”

“She’s a liar. A sneak. She doesn’t deserve your devotion, your loyalty. My friend? The one I told you about meeting the night you left me on the street?” Her voice rose in question, as though they had many conversations about this friend and he should recall them and take her words to heart. “He says she owes the company he works for a lot of money. He said he needs to get in touch with Caroline, but she’s been avoiding him.”

“I doubt that.” Caroline was a respected businesswoman. She wouldn’t have difficulty getting a legitimate loan. And if she did, she had him to fall back on. “She knows she can tell me anything.”

“Does she?” One of Elsy’s eyebrows rose to her hairline. “In a very short period of time she’s already started a pretty impressive pattern of lies—even if only by omission. And that does not bode well for a happy marriage, dear. You’re better off cutting your losses now.”

Malcolm didn’t trust this woman as far as he could throw her. He certainly was pissed about having to hear about their pregnancy from acquaintances, but if what Elsy was saying was true, he’d have to admit that his wife had really pulled the wool over his eyes. Still, until today, he’d never had a reason to doubt Caroline’s dedication to their marriage. If he took his vows seriously, he’d have to give her the benefit of the doubt before passing judgment on her actions. He stood with his hands on his hips, eyes squinted at the ceiling trying to understand what Elsy thought she could really get from him. He must have looked upset.

“Oh, baby, I’m so sorry. I didn’t want our reunion to go this way. But you have got to see what she’s doing to you before it’s too late.” Elsy closed the distance between them quickly and pushed herself into his chest, wrapping his arms around her back. She snuggled into him, pulling him closer. She tapped her finger over his heart. “I knew that once you realize the depth of her betrayal, she would disappear as quickly as she appeared, and we could try us again.” She rubbed her cheek against his chest and squeezed his waist. “It will be better this time. I promise.”