Behind Her Smile (29 page)

“Completely. That’s what friends do, Karolina.” Alec touches my shoulder gently, sending a cascade of soothing warmth from the spot he touches through all my nerve endings. “It doesn’t have to be permanent. Just until you are ready to get your own place.”

I glance back at Hector and Adriana, weighing my options. Basically, I have none. I’ll have to find a way to pay them back. Free fashion until my fingers bleed. Maybe I can offer childcare or volunteer on one of Adriana’s charity committees—anything to show them just how grateful I am for their friendship.

I cave faster than you can say mac-n-cheese. “And you’re sure it wouldn’t be a burden? The moment you need to rent it, you’ll let me know and I’ll find somewhere else to live?”

Adriana claps her hands together. “Absolutely. Tomorrow, I’ll take you there. Even better, Jared’s office is located down the street.”

The lawyer’s name makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Suddenly, it’s as if I’m choking with information. I want to share the burden of last night with someone and, looking around the table, these are the closest friends I have. The only friends I have. I inhale a deep breath.

“I don’t have a great track record with trusting the right people. But you three make me want to share. Would it—would you mind if I told you what happened to last night?”

“Oh, Karolina.” Adriana’s chair makes a rough grating sound when she pushes it backward and races around the table to embrace me. I’m not used to the easy affection, but it fills me with a kind of warmth I’ve never known. “Darling, it would be our pleasure to listen.” I return her hug, grateful for her in a way I can’t express verbally. She scoots back to her side of the table and laces her fingers with Hector as if to gain his strength.

Alec leans close to me until his handsome, strong features fill my entire field of vision. “Whatever you need,” he murmurs.

Then it hits me square in the chest nearly stealing my breath from my lungs. Alec supports me completely. He has shown me nothing but loyalty. And when he apologized tonight, I saw true sincerity ringing clear in his eyes.

“Thank you,” I whisper just to him. His expression softens. It’s the gentlest way any man has ever looked at me. My heart swells and I allow myself just one tiny moment to revel in the sensation of his tenderness. Alec’s arm curves around the back of my chair. The silent show of support touches me deeply. I cast a quick look at him from the corner of my eye. I have his full focus.

“Nothing seemed out of the ordinary last night. When I told David that you wanted me to design a gown for you, he acted as if he was pleased. To him, it was another way to get closer to you. He was constantly scheming for ways to get his hands on the Martinez money.” Neither Martinez appears surprised by this statement. “Digging for business made me uncomfortable. He would become furious if he felt I wasn’t doing enough to promote Morgan Financial.”

“I understand, Karolina. Believe me. Most of the Miami socialites very clearly want something when they interact with you. I know you aren’t like that,” Adriana says.

Hector nods solemnly. “Continue,” he rumbles.

“Stupidly, I thought he was proud of me,” I mumble more to myself than the attentive group. “I was a starving woman, greedily lapping up the tiniest compliment as if it were the finest meal. As usual, the moment we got home, we split up—David working in his den and me sketching in my studio. It was no more than an hour when the electricity shut off. It was completely black, and I was terrified.” Heat stains my cheeks, and I look down at my empty dessert plate. Then Alec’s hand glides onto my shoulder, the pressure enough reassurance to make me continue. “I rushed into the bedroom and the curtains were drawn. David likes to sleep in absolute darkness, so I thought he was sleeping. It was too dark to see the trap waiting for me.” I take a wobbly breath.

“My God, that must have been absolutely horrifying,” Adriana murmurs sympathetically.

“He tied my wrists together and then, somehow, I had the sense to fight him off. I only got as far away as the staircase before he dragged me down to David’s office where he was, I thought, tied to a chair. How naïve I was.”

“How were you to know David planned this?” Alec interjects harshly. I know he’s not directing his anger at me because the touch of his hand remains a source of support.

“The better question is why would I ever trust him after all the beatings? The verbal abuse? My—my son . . .” A violent shudder rolls through me. I turn my attention to Hector, suddenly desperately needing to know if I am the only one at the table who knows what David did to his family. The secret weighs on me too heavily. It chokes me with its momentous implications. “Did you know?”

His impassive expression doesn’t falter. “Apparently, there are far too many things to know. What are you referring to, Karolina?”

The words come out raggedly. “William, Georgia and Chandler.”

Other than the darkening of his stare, Hector does not show any flicker of emotion. “The only thing I knew for certain was a gut feeling I had after the plane crashed. My friends in law enforcement told me there was no evidence to back up my speculations.”

“Your speculations were correct,” I say dully. “David organized the death of his family because they didn’t want to give him the business. He said meeting me was their last chance to redeem themselves, and well, his mother dismissed me on sight. Chandler referred to David being a bad businessman, but I had no idea . . . I thought everything was going well at work. Our lifestyle didn’t change. In fact, David wanted more and more. He bought new cars and watches that cost more than a down payment on a house. He traveled to Asia all the time with meet with clients. All of it was a lie. My entire life was one big façade.” Tears claw at my throat, making it difficult to speak. “He murdered his parents, his brother, our
son,
and he wanted me dead, too. He was a soulless monster, and I stayed with him for five years.” I don’t realize my shoulders are shaking with the effort to hold back the tsunami of emotion swirling inside me until Alec shoves my chair backward and sweeps me out of the chair and against his chest.

The emotion overpowers me. Relentless sobs wrack my body. Tears course down my cheeks, dualing rivers dripping off my chin and onto my clothing. My breaths are shallow and uneven. I can’t pretend I don’t hurt anymore. Everything pours out of me—the grief, loneliness, and utter despair threaten to swallow me whole.

Until Alec centers me. He whispers words of encouragement on an endless loop. He finds somewhere for us to sit and strokes my back until the trembling stops and my breaths even. And then I sleep.

Karolina

T
he condo is more beautiful than I imagined it could be. A wall of windows provides incredible views of the ocean and city. Contemporary furnishings remind me of the Martinez home, warm and welcoming. Before my meeting with the attorney, Adriana and I are moving my meager belongings in what will be my new home. It’s a two-bedroom unit with far more space than I’ll ever need. My clothes hang in the closet and my fabric, needles, and sewing machine are set up in the office. Yes, this sprawling condo has an office, too. I have never lived alone, and the prospect of having this huge place all to myself is both daunting and thrilling.

I’m staring out the window, lost in the calming motion of the waves lapping against the shore, when Adriana’s reflection appears next to mine in the windows. “How are you doing now?” she murmurs softly.

It’s exactly the right question to ask because my emotions are all over the place. One moment, I am full of hope and possibility, and the next, I am breaking out in a cold sweat wondering if David has sent someone else after me. Finally, I drown in melancholy thinking of my son. “Filled with gratitude for your friendship,” I tell her honestly.

“We share a sisterhood,” Adriana says. “It’s not a pretty, pink sorority sisterhood, but it’s a bond nonetheless.”

“One day, when I’m strong enough, I want to do for someone what you’ve done for me,” I say quietly. “Because without you I’m not sure where I would be or how I would survive this.”

“You’d do just fine, darling. I know that for a fact.”

After my dinnertime breakdown, Adriana and I did not speak of what happened. At some point, Alec must have put me to bed because I woke ten hours later underneath the luxurious sheets feeling the most rested I ever have. I’m not embarrassed or ashamed about my upheaval. I needed to release all that was building inside me.

“Ready then?” Adriana asks, dabbing at her eyes with a manicured hand. I pretend not to notice how my words affect her, and instead, I smile weakly. “As I’ll ever be.”

Lindsay, Smith, and Cohen is only two blocks from where I’ll be living for the indeterminate future. That’s probably a plus seeing as I will likely be here many times in the upcoming weeks. Nervous butterflies take flight in my stomach. I don’t know what will happen in this first meeting with my new lawyer—what secrets he may reveal or what I may have to share.

“Thank you for coming with me.” I grab Adriana’s hand, hoping she doesn’t notice my clammy palm. Her swishy blue-black hair swirls around her shoulders when she looks at me with a calming smile.

“I’m glad you asked me. Sisterhood, remember?”

Dropping her hand, I smooth my hands down the black shirtdress I picked for this meeting. “Yes. Okay. Let’s do this.” The manicured lobby has plush carpeting and a large maple desk for the receptionist. “Hello, there.” I smile at the middle-aged woman tentatively. In a tailored suit and neat hairstyle, she is poised and professional. “Karolina Morgan here to see Jared Cohen.”

“I’ll let Mr. Cohen know you are here, dear. Can I get you anything to drink? Mrs. Martinez?” Obviously, the two women know each other as they share familiar pleasantries while we wait. Soon, a man in his mid-fifties enters the waiting area. The way the man carries himself immediately instills confidence in me. He walks through the office assuredly, and when he spots Adriana, his face lights up with a pleasant smile.

“Jared Cohen.” His handshake is firm but not domineering.

“Karolina.” All of a sudden, I want to drop the Morgan. I don’t ever want to be known as a Morgan again if I can help it.

“Pleasure to meet you,” he says pleasantly, as if we were meeting under normal circumstances. His gaze doesn’t linger on the still fading bruises my foundation doesn’t cover completely. A little piece of me relaxes, and my lips quirk toward a tiny smile. “Ladies, right this way.”

Jared shows us to a small conference room with frosted glass walls to shield us from prying eyes walking through the office. The table is circular and has room for four chairs. Jared offers us a beverage for the second time since we got here. Once we both decline, his pleasantries fall away.

“I have a very rough idea of what you’re here to discuss,” he starts succulently. “I am aware of a legal investigation into Morgan Financial and David Morgan. When you introduced yourself to me, I couldn’t help but notice you didn’t use your last name. Pardon me for cutting right to the chase, but was that for a reason, Karolina?”

With his short, staccato speak, Jared Cohen reminds me of a character from an Aaron Sorkin television show. I always thought his characters were brilliant. Another notch of tension releases from where it cinches around my chest. “Considering how he hired two men to tie me up, beat me, and then murder me, I’d say I no longer want to be married to David Morgan.”

A frown draws Jared’s brows together. Beside me, Adriana gasps at my nonchalant description. I lift my shoulders in a weak shrug. “I was married to an abusive man, and I should have done this a long, long time ago. There’s no point in looking back on what’s done. All I have is what’s in front of me. Where do I sign to get started?”

Jared explains the terms of the business relationship, and I quickly agree. If Adriana and Hector trust this man with their family, I know I am safe with him, too.

Alec wouldn’t let you make a mistake,
a little voice whispers in the back of my mind. I don’t want to remember his warning before I married David. It’s a stark reminder of my stubborn streak.

“Before we go any further, did you sign a prenuptial agreement?” Jared asks.

“Looking back, it seems odd now, but no, he didn’t ask me to sign anything.” I lift my shoulders.

“Probably thought he was invincible,” Jared muses.

“Ha!” Adriana covers her mouth with the out-of-character outburst. The humor falls flat with me because I was almost a casualty of his delusions of grandeur.

“The first thing we’ll do is look into your shared assets and determine what you want. I’ll be in contact with the government investigators because we’ll need to know what the charges are against David,” Jared explains.

“I don’t want anything,” I say immediately. “He can have it all. None of it belonged to me anyway, and frankly, I’m not sure how much of his money is left. The first time I heard of any financial trouble was Friday night. David said something about keeping money elsewhere, but I can’t begin to guess where.”

Jared holds up a hand and I pause. “You are entitled to any assets you acquired while you were married. I’m not going to argue with your decision to walk away without physical or financial reminders of your marriage, but I will ask you to sleep on the decision for one week before we file any official documents. From what I understand, there were video cameras in the house planted legally by the FBI. However, you may be called upon to testify against your husband.”