New Beginnings (89 page)

He smiled at me in the rearview mirror. “I have no doubt he would be. Okay, you win, but if he comes down on me, I’m shifting the blame to you.”

“It’s a deal,” I said, winking.

“Now put your seat belt back on. If anything happens to my precious cargo, he’ll have my ass.”

I did as I was told, my whole body warming at the thought of the lengths Deacon had gone to to take care of me. Sometimes the man irritated me to no end, but there were also times when he made me wonder how I’d gotten lucky enough to find him.

I settled in for the ten-minute ride to his home. It was impossible to appreciate my surroundings in the dark, but I could tell by the outlines of the expansive homes and properties that we’d ventured into sacred territory. The land alone in that neighborhood probably cost more than most people earned in a lifetime.

At the entrance to Deacon’s winding drive was a security guard posted at a gatehouse.
Wow, paranoid much, my freaky psycho?
My driver, whose name was Barry, explained to the security guard that I was Deacon’s girlfriend and I was there to surprise him. The uniformed man looked skeptical, which led me to believe Deacon didn’t invite many of his conquests into his private domain. Sacred territory, indeed.

“I should call up just to be sure,” he said, scratching his head as he peered into the backseat through the open driver’s window.

“Sir, I know you don’t want to lose your job, but I promise if Deacon is upset, I’ll tell him it was all my fault.”

Barry said to the other man, “I’ve worked for the Starkis family for a long time, and when Mr. Starkis asked me to take this assignment, he made it clear this young lady is
very
special to him. I have no doubt your job would be at risk if you made the mistake of sending her away, Jack.”

“Okay, okay.” The man reached into the gatehouse to press the button that would open the gate. “But this is against my better judgment.”

“Thanks for coming through for me, Barry,” I said as he pulled through the gate.

“I was just telling the truth, ma’am.”

I giggled. “You’re happily married, aren’t you?”

“With two beautiful children and a grandbaby on the way. Why do you ask?”

“Because my sexy psycho got jealous of my last bodyguard and reassigned him.” Oops… maybe I shouldn’t have polished off that entire bottle of wine.

Barry chuckled, his twinkling brown eyes meeting mine in the rearview mirror. “Is that so? I won’t tell Mr. Starkis you called him a psycho. It’ll be our little secret.”

I shrugged. “It’s okay. I call him that to his face all the time.”

“You do?” His chuckle deepened. “You and I will get along just fine, Miss Barnes. Don’t tell Mr. Starkis I said this, but I’ve been waiting for him to meet a woman who’ll put him in his place, and I think he’s finally found the one.”

The one.
I liked the sound of that.

I gaped at the two-story stone-and-stucco monstrosity in front of me. It had to be twenty thousand square feet, and even with only the security lights illuminating it, I could tell the manicured grounds were equally impressive. “Are you freakin’ kidding me? One person needs this much space? It looks like he could house a small country here!”

Barry’s booming laughter filled the car. “This is where he feels comfortable. He grew up living in the lap of luxury. This is all he knows.”

I felt intimidated, as though I were stepping into a world where I didn’t know how to speak the language. Downplaying his wealth was easy when we were at the office, on my turf, or on neutral ground, but just a glimpse into his world showed me how different we were.

“Are you having second thoughts about this?” Barry asked.

I wasn’t going to let his wealth intimidate me, I decided, squaring my shoulders. Deacon knew who I was and wasn’t asking me to pretend to be anyone else. If I truly loved him, I would find a way to be myself in his world.

“No, let’s do this.”

I waited for Barry to round the car to collect me before I walked up to the massive, richly stained oak doors. I had another moment’s hesitation when I tried to decide whether or not I should ring the doorbell. Of course, that would have spoiled the surprise. Maybe I could catch him in bed… with his guard down.

With a deep breath, I twisted the knob and was shocked to find the door unlocked. I guessed having an armed security guard meant he didn’t have to bother locking his doors. I gave Barry the thumbs-up and said a silent prayer as he drove away.

After slipping out of my high heels, I curled my feet into the Persian entrance rug. The house was dark, but I couldn’t turn on a light without alerting him to my presence. I prayed he had a good ticker ‘cause I just might give him a heart attack.

I looked right and left as my eyes adjusted to the darkness. There was a hallway in each direction, but when I heard a masculine voice, I froze. At first, I thought he was talking on the phone. Then I heard
her
voice. I clutched my stomach. Oh, God. He wasn’t alone. What had I been thinking coming here uninvited? More importantly, how could I have been stupid enough to believe his lies? Great, I was stuck in the middle of nowhere without a ride and…

“Oh God, Selene, that feels amazing. Deeper. Oh yeah, just like that. Ohhh, you have no idea how much I needed this tonight.”

That son of a bitch! I tiptoed to the closed door, holding my breath as I fought back tears. I’d trusted him. In spite of my fears, I’d let my guard down and started to trust him, and this was how he repaid me? I fought back nausea as I thought of all the things he’d said to me—love, trust, devotion… what a crock!

“Hmmm, I love when you do that.”

His words, paired with the knowledge that he was experiencing so much pleasure with another woman, crushed me. Not only had I been learning to trust him, I’d fallen deeply, irrevocably in love with him. How stupid could I have been?

“Just relax, Deacon,” she purred. “I know what you need.”

I couldn’t take any more. I threw the door open, ready to let him have it.

He scrambled to sit up, clutching the towel around his waist. “What the…?”

I took in the scene. He’d been stretched out on a massage table, and the woman standing above him was wearing a white uniform.
Oh, no
. I’d interrupted his massage. At least I hadn’t stormed into the room and made a bigger fool of myself by hurling wild accusations at him.

“Mia, what are you doing here?”

“I’m sorry,” I said, backing out of the room. “I didn’t mean to interrupt. I wanted to surprise you. I should have called first or—”

“Wait!” He clutched his towel as he held up his free hand. “You’re not going anywhere.” He gestured toward the woman standing demurely at his side. “Selene, this is my girlfriend, Mia Barnes. Mia, this is Selene, my massage therapist.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” I said, offering my hand to the petite woman with her hair pulled into a tight bun. She was a bit older than me, probably closer to Deacon’s age, but she looked younger without the makeup my friends and I favored.

“Mr. Starkis was right,” she said, bowing her head slightly. “You are very beautiful, miss.”

“Thank you.” I smiled, trying to act as though barging into my boyfriend’s home uninvited in the middle of the night wasn’t odd behavior. “I’m sorry I interrupted your…” I waved, looking for the right word. “Work.”

“It is okay.” She moved about quickly, collecting her belongings. “Now that you are here, I suspect Mr. Starkis will find other ways to relieve his stress.”

She and Deacon exchanged an amused glance. I wondered what kind of relationship they had if she felt comfortable enough to make inappropriate comments in front of his guests.

“Will you be needing me in the morning?” she asked.

Deacon stole a quick glance at me, obviously trying to gauge my mood. “Let’s play that by ear.”

“Very well.” She smiled sweetly at me, whispered something to Deacon in their native tongue, and inched past him.

I didn’t know why the fact that they were both Greek added to my discomfort—perhaps because I had the uneasy feeling their relationship was, or had been, more than professional.

Deacon ran a hand over his messy hair. “Well, this is a nice surprise, beautiful. Just let me grab a robe, and we can get comfortable.”

I could tell he felt uncharacteristically awkward, prompting me to ask the question at the forefront of my mind. “Have you had sex with that woman?”

His mouth opened and snapped shut before he walked into an adjoining room—a sauna—to slip into a white robe.

The fact that he hadn’t answered told me he was hoping I’d let it go. Not a chance.

“Well? Have you slept with her?”

He cleared his throat before reaching for an iPod in a docking station and pocketing it. “Slept together? No.”

He was trying to get off on a technicality, but I wouldn’t let him.

“But you have screwed around with her?” I was tired of playing games with him, having to work so hard to extract the truth.

“She is paid to help relieve my stress.”

“What the hell does that mean?” I demanded, rounding the massage table. We stood toe to toe, though his decided height advantage made me feel as though he was the one with the upper hand despite my justifiable outrage. “What else does she do for you?”

He closed his eyes, tipping his head back as though he was annoyed I was undoing all of Selene’s hard work. “Selene’s family has worked for mine for a long time. Her mother is my housekeeper, her father my groundskeeper. They live in a guest house on the property.”

“You’re doing a great job avoiding the real question here.” I was even more insulted that she shared his home, in a manner of speaking, but we would get to that in due time. First, I needed him to spell out the nature of his relationship with the woman.

“I am just trying to explain the situation to you, theia,” he said, gripping my upper arms.

I scowled at his hands curling around my arms. “Take your hands off me until I decide whether you have the right to touch me again.”

His eyes flashed with anger before his fingers bit into my flesh. He begrudgingly released me just when I thought he would override my demand to make a point. “I have known Selene since we were children. She knows me better than most—my idiosyncrasies, my faults…”

It hurt that that woman, who was still very much a part of his life, knew my man better than I did, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing he’d hurt me. I still had my pride. Sort of.

“I guess you could say she’s had something of a crush on me for years,” he said.

Well, duh. How could any woman rub down his naked body for years without falling in love? The opportunity to do just that was probably the reason for her choice of vocation. “She told you this?”

“Yes, when we were young.” He braced a fist on the massage table, looking as though he resented being forced to take an unwanted trip down memory lane. “I was home from Harvard for the summer. We went for a swim in the lake at my summer home, and she kissed me. It was then she told me how she felt about me, why she’d never had a boyfriend.” He shrugged. “According to her, I’m a big part of the reason she’s never married.”

I doubled over the table, trying to process everything he was telling me. Selene was in love with him and had been for years. She was a part of his family, she’d spent time with him at his parents’ vacation home, and if my instincts were correct, they’d been lovers.

“Sweetheart, please,” he said, rubbing my back, “don’t make too much of this. She understands we will never be more than friends.”

“But you have had sex with her?”

After a long pause, he said, “Yes. But she knows it will never—”

“When was the last time you had sex?”

His olive skin momentarily lost all trace of color. “I don’t see what difference that—”

“Just answer the question.” When he remained silent, I made my way to the door. “I’ll just find her. I’m sure she’ll be more forthcoming than you’ve been.”

“Three weeks ago.”

I gripped the doorknob as I wrestled with my feelings of betrayal. I knew I had no right to feel so hurt and disappointed. I had still been living with Drew at the time. Deacon had never actually met me, but the things he’d said in our texts and emails had led me to believe I was the only one, that he couldn’t stop thinking about
me
. Had that been a lie? Had he been lying all along, saying the things he felt he had to just to get me to break up with Drew so he could have me in his bed? It seemed so.

“I have to go.” Through a veil of unshed tears, I tried to find my way down the dark hallway. I heard his footsteps on the hardwood behind me. He wouldn’t make it that easy for me to leave, yet I prayed he’d give me the space I needed. “Coming here was a mistake. This whole thing was a mistake.”

“Don’t say that,” he said, closing his arms around me from behind. “Please don’t say that. I want you here, theia. I need you with me.”

I succumbed to the bitterness. “No, you need a soft body to keep you warm at night. It doesn’t matter who it is. The women in your life are interchangeable.”

“They have been… until you. You are the one I can’t live without.”

I closed my eyes when the tears threatened to spill down my cheeks. I wouldn’t let him see me cry again. He had too much power over me, and he knew it. He knew he could make me feel more deeply than I’d ever felt, hurt more than I ever had. “I don’t believe you.”

He gripped me tighter, burying his face in my neck. “You have to believe me. Please, theia. You have to.” It sounded like the plea of a desperate man, but he was good at manipulating people, getting them to bend to his will.

“Let me go.”

“I can’t. I won’t.” The steely edge was back in his voice. He’d made up his mind about the outcome of my visit. “Selene offered to pleasure me tonight. That’s when I told her about you.”

I whirled around, stunned and appalled that he’d shared that with me. Was he trying to hurt me? If so, he’d hit his mark.

Without thinking, I slapped him as hard as I could across the face, leaving the imprint of my hand on his bristled cheek. “You make me sick! God, I hate you!”