Partners (Fire & Lies - One) (20 page)

A sudden laugh
escapes my lips. “Is that what your problem is? You’re worried
about Leah?”

“Why is that
funny? He’s the guy you
live
with. And considering our
history, I have no idea if you have some sort of a relationship
going on with him or not.”

“You still
think I’m with Leah, and I’m screwing around with you behind his
back? I can’t believe you still doubt me.”

He glances at
me again. “I’d be a fucking idiot not to doubt you, Chloe. After
all, it wouldn’t be the first time you cheated on some guy with
me.”

My mouth falls
open and my eyes go wide. “That’s a low blow, Aiden. I thought I
explained that.”

“I’m not
letting you out of my sight, sugar. Simple as that. I want you.
You’re my woman, and the fact that I’m willing to rob a bank with
you to make sure it stays that way, speaks fucking volumes. There
aren’t many people I’d commit a felony worth twenty years for.”

Dropping my
head against the back of the seat, I feel a slight smile pull at my
lips as I watch the stern set of his features while he drives and
shifts gears with purpose after putting his foot down with me.

“What?” he
asks, meeting my eyes for a brief second.

“That’s
probably the most romantic thing you’ve ever said to me,” I say,
reaching over and sliding my fingers through his thick dark
hair.

A low,
pleasing rumble emanates out from his throat. “Sugar, you’re going
to have to quit touching me, or I’m going to pull over and take you
on the side of the road.”

“You don’t
need to threaten me with a fuck. I’d very gladly receive it.”

He chuckles.
“I bet you would.”

I pull my hand
away anyway, my mind still working over the plan and how Aiden’s
altered involvement is going to change things. As much as I love
Aiden’s possessiveness over me, I still need to talk to Leah on my
own.

Heading toward
my flat, we drive silently for a while before I turn to him again.
“You really don’t have anything to worry about with Leah. He’s not
interested in me like that.”

“I really
don’t care. I’m still coming with you.”

“Suit
yourself,” I say, wondering how the hell I was going to work my way
around this.

***

By the time we
make it back to my place, the sun has begun to set and Leah is
already home, sitting in front of the television, watching the
news, while he drinks a beer and eats a slice of pale looking
pizza.

“You’re not
going to heat that up?” I say the moment I see him bite into the
obviously cold wedge.

He ignores me.
“Remembered where you live? I was beginning to think you were
busted during your ‘appointment’ at the bank.”

“Worried, were
you?” I ask, picking up one of the cold pizza slices from the box
he has open on our coffee table, sniffing at it to make sure it was
ok.

“Nah. I didn’t
get a call to bail you out. So I figured you were probably busy
screwing around with this guy.” He nods in acknowledgment toward
Aiden, as I hold the pizza box out, to which Aiden wrinkles his
nose and shakes his head.

I decide to
take the same plan of action and return the slice, and the box, to
the table. Leah leans forward and grabs another, not one to care
how many days old it was. He takes a bite and chews thoughtfully.
“I guess you two have gotten over whatever was pissing you
off.”

“You could say
that,” I answer. “Although, you’ll find this funny–Aiden is worried
that something might be going on between us. So he’s here as a
chaperone of sorts, making sure we don’t do anything,” I state,
raising my eyebrows at Leah as I try not to laugh.

Leah doesn’t
show quite as much restraint and lets out a loud burst of
amusement. “Oh man, dude, you’ve got no worry at all. I don’t do
chicks,” Leah informs Aiden, his chest bouncing with laughter as he
takes another bite of his pizza.

I glance at
Aiden and he simply nods, taking the information in. “You couldn’t
just say that in the car?” he asks me.

Shaking my
head, I say, “No. This was way better.”

“All right.
You got your laugh. Just fill him in on what’s happening.”

I sit down and
explain our altered plan to Leah, letting him know how tight the
security is at the bank and that we needed to work on a different
approach.

“So, Aiden is
going in the bank with us,
and
you brought someone else in?
Fuck, Chloe. How do we know we can trust this guy? Do you know him?
Is he going to be as invested in this thing as we are? The plan was
you and me, girly. You get away and I take the fall. It was simple.
It was good.”

Aiden holds up
his hand. “Wait, what? First off, I know Jared and I’ll vouch for
him, so there’s no problem there. But second, what the fucking
fuck?
You
take the fall? Why would you do that?”

“Because going
to prison isn’t going to be bad enough for that Goldsmith arsehole.
I want to be in there to make every day for the rest of his life a
living hell.”

“You hate him
that bad?”

“Yeah. I
do.”

“Why?” Aiden
asks, and I press my lips together, looking at Leah, already
knowing the answer to this question as I watch Leah’s smooth brow
crease in a frown.

I turn to
Aiden and answer for him. “Because no one likes being betrayed by
the person they love.”

JULY,
three years ago

“
AND WHAT
about me, Seb?” Leah demanded when he saw that Chloe was packing up
her things and preparing to leave. She was upset about the way the
Goldsmiths had swooped in and bought out Donovan Corp the moment
her father was imprisoned.

Chloe leaving
bothered Leah. There had been a plan. An order they were all to
follow. But when the news broke about Terry Donovan’s embezzlement,
it was decided that Chloe would need to back off from the company.
They couldn’t have a Donovan working in Goldsmith Enterprises–it
would destroy investor confidence, and the failed merger had
already done more than enough damage. As a result, she was moving
out, refusing to be locked in her room like a dirty secret no one
wanted to be reminded of.

With the
merger off and Chloe leaving, everything was up in the air and Leah
didn’t know where he fit anymore. “Tell me, Seb? We had a plan. You
were supposed to stay in this marriage until after the merger then
we were going to come out. Chloe was supposed to get her life back.
We fucking had a plan!”

At first, Leah
had really disliked Chloe. He had been concerned that the marriage
would get in the way of his and Seb’s plans for the future. But he
quickly found that Chloe’s heart belonged elsewhere, her interest
was in a man she couldn’t have. She wasn’t going to make Sebastian
fulfil any of his husbandly ‘duties’. She didn’t want that at
all.

Once her
motives were established, Leah began to enjoy her company, finding
that they liked many of the same things. And knowing that it was
their parents who forced the marriage and controlled their futures,
they had all decided to work together to gain control, and once
that was done, they could go their separate ways–live their own
lives.

Seb looked out
the window, gritting his teeth as if he was annoyed that he was
even being asked such a question and, taking a deep breath he
turned to Leah, meeting his pleading eyes with his own. The moment
their eyes met, a sense of dread filled Leah, as he saw…nothing. No
life. No kindness. No love…It was all gone. Vanished as if it had
never been there in the first place.

“
Plan’s
change, Leah. It was never going to work out. Could you imagine–the
head of a global company comes out as openly gay? I don’t care how
open-minded society pretends to be. That would be corporate
suicide.”

Leah pulled
his head back, surprised at Sebastian’s sudden change of heart.
They had been together for years. They’d been a secret for all that
time. And finally, it was coming to the time they had promised
would be it–the time where they finally stepped out as more than
just friends. After the merger, the company was going to be handed
to Sebastian and Chloe to take over while the patriarchs finally
retired and enjoyed their money. Chloe and Sebastian would have had
an amicable divorce but still work together as co-CEOs. It was what
both of them wanted. Then Leah and Sebastian would finally tell
their parents that they were a couple–finally. And there would be
nothing they could do about it. No trust funds to pull. No threat
of being thrown out of the company. They would have had everything
they needed to make a life of their own, with no more sneaking
around. No more pretending that Leah was their driver. No more
pretending at all.

“
What
happened to you?” Leah breathed, shaking his head, as the man he’d
spent years of his life with seemed to go back on every promise
he’d ever made. “It was going to be our time?”

“
No, Leah.
Just be thankful I kept you around, and looked after you for as
long as I did. I normally get very bored with my playthings, and I
don’t tend to spoil them anywhere near as much as I spoiled
you.”

“
Wha–,” he
stated, completely stunned by Sebastian’s words, but unable to
finish before he heard the voice of Michael Goldsmith as he walked
through the front door of his son’s home without knocking.

“
No.
Everything needs to be gone. We don’t want anything of hers
anywhere near us…That’s right,” he said into his phone before
suddenly ending his conversation with, “Just get it done.” He
pocketed his phone and looked at Sebastian, ignoring Leah’s
presence entirely. “Is she ready to go?” he demanded.

“
I’m
ready,” Chloe said, her voice completely devoid of feeling as she
appeared in the hallway behind them, a large red suitcase pulling
along behind her. “I wouldn’t want to stay around you people if you
paid me.”

Michael
chuckled. “Actually, that’s exactly what you would do. If I offered
you your father’s company back, I’m fairly sure you’d do whatever
the hell I wanted for it.” He stepped up to her, his eyes slowly
moving over her body as if he was licking her with his sight. It
made her feel dirty. “Now there’s an idea. I think I could enjoy
breaking in a young thing like you.”

“
That’s
enough,” Leah said, coming to her defence.

Michael
turned, his curiosity piqued as to who would dare speak out of turn
around him. “And who are
you
to tell
me
what to
do?”

“
I’m your
son’s gay lover,” Leah said with a smile, folding his arms across
his chest as he narrowed his eyes at the man in front of
him.

The colour
from Sebastian’s face drained away. But Michael simply laughed and
turned to Sebastian. “Who is this man, son?” he asked.

“
He’s no
one to me. Just some guy from the street that Chloe brought in the
house. You know those Donovan’s and their bleeding hearts. I’ve
been standing here making sure he doesn’t steal anything.”

It was
Leah’s turn to lose all colour, as the full force of Sebastian’s
words hit him in the chest.
He’s no one to me…

“
Come on,
Chloe. Let’s get you out of here,” Leah said, reaching his hand out
to take her suitcase and guide her through the doors.

“
Tell your
mother I said hello, Chloe,” Michael sneered.

“
Why don’t
you go and fuck yourself,” she spat.

“
Actually,
I’d much rather fuck you. If you ever change your mind, I’m sure
Sebastian won’t mind me taking you for a spin. I could do a lot
with an impetuous girl such as yourself.”

She opened her
mouth to hurl an insult back, but Leah pulled her through the doors
and onto the street.

“
They’re
not worth it, girly. Don’t waste your breath.”

Chloe shook
her head, tears beginning to fall from her eyes as she became
overwhelmed by everything that had happened. Her father. The
company. Her need to get away… she couldn’t stay with those people,
not after her father was imprisoned and they had taken over the
company. It wasn’t supposed to go like that. Sebastian had promised
things would be different. That they’d all be able to live the
lives they wanted…but it was all lies. All of it–every single
promise was a lie…

“
What are
we going to do?” she asked Leah as she sobbed. He wrapped a strong
arm around her and guided her toward his car.

“
We’re
going to go and get really drunk. Then we’re going to figure out a
way to make this right.”

She nodded,
thinking that the bottom of a bottle was the best place for them at
that point.

As they drove
along, she thought that they were as low as they could get. But
then, fifteen minutes later they were pulled over by a policeman
for leaving in the car Leah had been given by Sebastian. They were
arrested for grand theft auto and quickly realised that they could
be pushed much, much lower.

PRESENT,
1 day before the job

TIME IS of the
essence. I want more of it, but Chloe’s father is listed as
critical, his condition degrading by the day. When she got the
call, Chloe had turned to me, with watery eyes, pushing her lips
together to keep them from trembling.

“I can’t let
him die in there, Aiden,” she whispered. I agreed. If he’s not
going to pull through, he should at least be able to die surrounded
by his family – not in some state prison where no one gives a
shit.

So, a few days
later, everything is as organised as it can get. We’re going into
the bank not long after it opens on a Friday morning. Jared will
control all the electronics from the warehouse facility, and Chloe,
Leah and myself will be in the bank. The plan is to go in quietly
so we don’t scare anyone unnecessarily. Leah will keep watch in the
main area, while Chloe and I hit the vault with the bank manager on
duty as our ‘help’–poor bastard.