Cunning (Infidelity #2) (39 page)

“I didn’t see it. I didn’t understand it.” She continued, reaching for my hand. “I was too stupid. But not you. You’ve been strong your entire life… and smart. Alton couldn’t beat you, until now. Please, I will beg. Please come home.”

“STOP ASKING ME
to do that,” Alexandria implored. “I don’t understand a word of what you just said. What does Alton have to do with Lennox? And don’t you care if I’m happy?”

I did. With all of my heart, I cared. My fingers trembled as I clenched the mostly empty glass of Bloody Mary. How could I possibly explain the web of lies and deceit when I’d played a vital role in all of it?

“Alexandria, I do want you to be happy. I believe Bryce can give you that.”

“You haven’t even met Lennox. How can you dismiss him?”

“I don’t need to meet Lennox.”

My beautiful daughter’s eyes dropped to the table. “You don’t even want to meet the man I think I love.”

Love?

“Dear, you’ve only just met him.”

“I didn’t
just
meet him. We met—”

“In Del Mar,” I interrupted.

“How? How did you know that? Oh, Bryce. That’s right. I told him I met Lennox this summer on vacation.”

“What made you choose to vacation in Del Mar?”

Alexandria shrugged. “Chelsea and I love the water, the coast. We wanted to go south.”

“But why Del Mar? Why that week?”

I motioned to the waiter for two more Bloody Marys. I wouldn’t be the only one needing it by the time I was done.

“Mother?” she questioned.

“Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Half Moon Bay. There are so many possibilities, and you chose Del Mar, the particular week that Lennox Demetri was there.”

“Fate?”

“That would be nice, but if you’re old enough to learn the truth about your father, you’re old enough to know that fairytales and fantasies don’t exist and neither does fate.”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying. If you’re insinuating that Nox was there for me, it’s not true.”

Nox?

“I didn’t say that. I’m saying you were there for him.”

“This isn’t making sense. I’d never heard of him. He’d never heard of me.”

I took a deep breath and tried to explain, “Sometimes… it’s a rare thing… but sometimes there’s an attraction too strong to resist. An invisible pull that even though you shouldn’t give into, you can’t resist, no matter the consequences or repercussions. Call it chemistry. Call it love at first sight.”

The waiter took our empty glasses and brought full ones.

“Was that you and my father?”

I smiled. “No. An attraction that strong never dies.”

Alexandria sat back and stared. Her expression turned as if the words she were about to utter tasted sour. “You and Alton?”

I couldn’t even justify that with words.

I tried to explain, “You were about ten. He was the only time I ever broke the rules. It almost cost me everything.” I took a deep breath. “I’d do it again, and I wouldn’t stop him. In hindsight, it would’ve made things better.”

In the moments it took for me to collect my thoughts and decide what I could share, I remembered. I remembered how it all started.

It was another dinner party, another function. I knew my role. With my parents gone, it was even more vital. However, ever since the death of my father, Alton’s power had grown. Both in and out of the boardroom, he was unstoppable.

Usually when he traveled, he preferred to be alone. I knew he wasn’t really alone. I also knew that occasionally Suzy was unavailable while he was gone. I didn’t know how stupid they thought I was, but the truth was, I didn’t care. It was a break, a reprieve. It was time I could spend with Alexandria, time when I saw her smile.

This trip was different. Alton needed his wife by his side. We were in New York and it was almost Christmas. I would’ve much rather been in Savannah than freezing in the north. People say snow is pretty. It chills me to the bone.

Alton never told me about the business, about Montague Corporation. It was my name above the doors, yet I was too stupid to understand. At least that’s what I’d been told. I wanted to know, to learn, but that wasn’t my job. As we settled into the back of a limousine, with me trimmed out in jewelry and fur, decorated like a Christmas tree to appease the eye, I was reminded again not to speak, not to embarrass him. It was the same speech I heard before every affair.

It usually didn’t matter. Once we crossed the threshold, he’d be off talking business and I’d be left with the wives to talk children, charities, and fashion. That was why I was always required to wear the finest and newest. It wasn’t enough to know the designer: I needed to own them.

We always arrived in time for cocktails. According to Alton that was when deals were started. It was like fishing. Cocktail time was the time to bait the hook and cast the line. During dinner was the time to tighten the line, and after dinner, set the hook and reel them in.

The room was festive, elegant, and chic. Though I didn’t know the amount, I was confident we’d spent a lot of money to attend this function. Busy with the other wives, some of whom I knew from other functions and many I didn’t, I looked up and our eyes met.

I didn’t know who he was or even his name. All I saw were his eyes, the palest blue I’d ever seen, and they were looking at me. Like a scene from a movie, the rest of the room faded into a fog. The music and chattering stopped, replaced by the sound of my beating heart.

“Hello.” His deep voice echoed in my mind, sending ripples through my body.

I didn’t know how we’d come to be standing before one another. One second we were on separate sides of the room, and the next, he was kissing my hand, his lips warm and full. His touch was gentle yet strong.

His black hair had just the right amount of whiteness. And from the way his tuxedo jacket hung from his broad shoulders, my imagination went wild with what was underneath.

It was completely out of character for me. I never noticed other men. I never daydreamed about sex. I’d gotten to the point that it was doable, acceptable, and while there were things Alton insisted upon that I didn’t care for, I did it, and my body would react.

This was altogether different.

As the man before me spoke, my insides twisted and clenched with need. I imagined excusing ourselves and finding a coatroom, a bathroom, hell, I didn’t care, a janitor’s closet. All I knew was that for the first time in my life I was in lust.

My tongue darted to my lip as I spoke. His tone was kind as he offered his name, Oren, and asked for mine.

“Adelaide.” I didn’t add my last name or that I was with my husband. I didn’t even consider it.

“A most beautiful name for an even more stunning woman.”

Perhaps it was that I hadn’t heard a compliment in years. I hadn’t been told I was pretty or kind. Nothing I did warranted praise. All too familiar with criticism, my cheeks reddened at his flattery.

He noticed my wedding ring. How could he not? The ostentatious diamond was a neon sign glittering under the chandeliers. “Why do you act surprised? Surely the man who put that ring on your finger tells you so daily. He’d be a fool not to see the gem he has.”

Words escaped me. There were the rehearsed answers I’d given for years: ‘
Yes, he’s a wonderful husband.’ ‘I’m the fortunate one to have him.’
Or even, ‘
It’s as if we’re newlyweds
.’ But they were all out of my reach at the moment.

The two of us talked for minutes or was it an hour? I didn’t know. Never had I spoken so freely at an affair. Oren asked questions about me. He asked about my children, my child, her name, her age. He spoke about his son and his divorce, and I found myself enthralled with a life that didn’t shun divorce but saw it as an opportunity for a new life.

He was a gentleman, acknowledging that I was a married woman. Other than the kiss to my hand, we didn’t touch. It wasn’t until another woman, one who with her husband often ran in the same circles as we, came up to me that I even remembered where we were.

“Adelaide, Alton has been looking for you.”

The blood drained from my cheeks straight to my feet.

Oren reached for my hand. “Are you all right?”

Though chemistry set off sparks at our connection, my husband’s name sent a cold chill of fear down my spine. I wasn’t well, and apparently I hadn’t hidden it well. Alton had been looking for me amongst the women and I wasn’t there.

I squared my shoulders and remembered my place. Releasing Oren’s hand, I turned toward the woman, Kate or Kit, I didn’t remember her name nor did I care. “Thank you, I’ll be right there.”

Turning back to the handsome man who could be my downfall if I allowed it, I said, “It was a pleasure meeting you. Thank you for talking with me.”

Oren bowed slightly. “Thank you, Adelaide. The pleasure was all mine.”

“Fitzgerald,” I corrected. “Mrs. Alton Fitzgerald. I must really get back to my husband.”

As soon as I found Alton, I saw his disapproving glare and knew what my future held. Nevertheless, I stayed by his side throughout the rest of the night.

Thank God we flew in a private plane. If we hadn’t surely TSA would have questioned us. Alton was usually skillful at delivering bruises in places easily hidden. That night he wasn’t. It was the worst beating of my life. I didn’t even learn Oren’s last name until somewhere in the middle of Alton’s tirade, when he said it.

I’d never forget the way it sounded: Oren Demetri. Alton accused him of underworld dealings, dangerous things
.

Sometimes I wonder if I hadn’t reminded Alton that night that upon my death, Alexandria inherited everything, if that would’ve been the last night of my life.

It wasn’t the last.

It was only the beginning, the first time I met the love of my life.

I just became more skillful at my own form of hiding.

“What? Stop. Who?” Alexandria asked, her words slowing. “Does this have anything to do with Oren Demetri?”

I sat taller as my eyes narrowed. How did she know?

“I met him last night,” she said.

My heartbeat quickened.

“He said to give you his love. You two know each other?”

His love.

“We met… a long time ago,” I tried to speak with as little emotion as possible. “If Lennox is anything like his father, you need to get away before it’s too late.”

“What does that even mean?”

It means he’ll hold your heart forever. That can’t happen.
I didn’t say that. Instead, I said, “From what Bryce said, there’s a history regarding his dead wife.”

“Mother, Father died. How would you like it if people accused you of his demise? I trust Nox, just like I trust you.”

My eyes fluttered as I debated. “There’s so much you should know, but no way to tell you without making you hate me.” I studied my daughter’s expression. “More than you already do.”

“I don’t hate you. I don’t like you very much. It doesn’t seem as though you’ve ever backed me, supported me, especially in regard to Alton.”

“I can’t…” I swallowed. “Alton has been good for Montague Corporation. Bryce will be good for Montague Corporation. Montague is a renowned name for a reason. The business climate has been and is unsettled, yet Montague has survived.”

“Good. Let it survive. I have no aspirations for CEO. Let Bryce have it. I don’t care.”

“It has always been a family-owned-and-operated company. The subsidiaries are publicly traded, but the infrastructure has a governing board of directors. It must stay in the family or it will be sold.”

“What?”

“It may seem archaic, but it is the way it is.”

Alexandria leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest. I hadn’t paid attention to her attire until now. Her charcoal gray dress with a complementary jacket was very high quality and quite stunning. My daughter wasn’t the little girl I’d raised. The woman across the table from me was just that—a woman.

“If you moved home, we could get to know each other, not as mother and daughter, but as friends.”

“We could do that here. Appoint me.”

My gaze narrowed. “What are you saying?”

“Appoint me as CEO. Throw Alton out on his ass.”

“Alexandria, you know I can’t…”

“Are you or are you not on the board of directors? Do you as a Montague have the lion’s share of stock?”

“I am and I do, but in name only. Alton manages my votes and yours until you turn twenty-five, or you marry. Then yours will be managed by your husband.”

“Then go to Hamilton and Porter and get our rights back. If the CEO must be a Montague, it’s either you or me.”

“It can be our spouse.”

“I don’t have a spouse. Make it me. I’ll appoint people to run the show. I’ll simply be a figurehead.”

“And you’ll move back to Savannah?”

Clouds passed behind her eyes. “I’m going to Columbia. I may even have a job lined up.” Something about that prospect gave her a momentary grin. She turned her attention back to me. “I’ll attend meetings but I won’t move back.”