Forever (Time for Love Book 1) (3 page)

"Fine. Suit yourself," Jeff replied with exasperation. "If I were you, I'd just treat her as one of Gran's nurses and ignore the fact that you had a past with her. If she so much as sniffs that you're still affected by her, I'm concerned she'll use that knowledge to manipulate you again. And don't even bother denying she's still under your skin. It's very obvious."

"I just want to know if she was really two-timing me when we were together," he said, his voice rising.

"Hey, shush!" Jeff scolded. "You're at the bar, right? Don't make a fool of yourself there. People will recognise you, for God's sake."

Zach took a deep breath and composed himself. Jeff was right. The last thing he wanted was for other passengers to witness the CEO of The Carmichael Corporation breaking into pieces over a woman who'd dumped him seven months ago. That would just be something their competitors and the press would have a field day with.

"Sorry," he muttered.

"Ah, hell," Jeff said. "I can't wait to board that ship so I can stop you from doing something stupid."

"I won't, Jeff. Can't you see that if I show her that I know everything, it might scare her enough to stop any scheming she might be planning?"

"Okay. I see your point. But like I said, do it in such a way that doesn't show her how much she still affects you. The last thing you want is for her to mess with your head even further."

"Don't worry. I'm doing this so she knows she can't mess with a Carmichael again."

"I hope that's really why you want to do this, bro," Jeff said gravely.

"It is," he said with conviction.

Zach ended the call and leaned back on his seat, planning on how he would approach Rebecca. He couldn't be sure that she would tell him the truth if he asked her his questions outright. He'd have to be cunning in his search for answers.

He stared at his drink as he forced himself to recall why he needed to face Rebecca and interrogate her.

It was months ago, but the utter disbelief in what Phillip—the son of Magda's best friend—had told him and his brothers back then swamped him again now.

Phillip had called for an urgent meeting the day Zach had come back from his business trip. Apparently, Phillip had seen Rebecca parking her car in the basement garage of the luxury apartment Phillip also lived in. An annoyingly suspicious man even at the best of times, Phillip had wondered how Rebecca was able to afford living in a place like that on the salary she was on, and had worried that Magda's nurse might have been preying on Magda's kind and generous nature.

Zach had walked out of that little meeting. He wasn't a violent man, but he'd wanted to punch Phillip's face, and he hadn't wanted to do it in his own office. Jeff had forced him to come back, saying they had to get to the bottom of it.

As the apartment building was one of The Carmichael Corporation's own developments, a quick check of company records proved something unbelievable. Rebecca Andrews was named as the full owner of a three-bedroom apartment in the luxury complex.

Zach had stared in disbelief at the computer screen. He'd scanned his memory of his conversations with Rebecca, looking for clues as to how she'd come about owning that place.

Rebecca had mainly talked to him about her nursing life and her grandmother, who was now living happily in a retirement village with her friends. She hadn't liked talking about her parents much—although she did divulge that her father had left them when she was only two, and that she hardly saw her mother, who had re-married for the third or fourth time. She'd sounded fond of her brother, who worked from home doing some software development.

But there had been nothing in Rebecca's stories that had indicated she could afford something like the apartment she had suddenly owned two months after breaking up with him.

Phillip had volunteered to arrange to have Rebecca investigated by a company he'd used previously. Since he lived in the same building, Phillip had suggested it would give the private investigators better access to the complex if he was the main point of contact.

Zach had still hated the idea, but he had to admit things didn't look right. Not wanting to deal with the investigators himself, he'd agreed for Phillip to run things.

Zach shut his eyes tightly as he recalled Phillip's shocking news.

The investigations had revealed that Rebecca was the mistress of a wealthy married man, and it was that man who'd bought her the apartment.

Phillip had shown them the photo of Rebecca hugging a man tightly in the garage of her apartment. Apparently, Rebecca had even called out 'I love you' to the guy as he drove off in his Mercedes. Then there was another photo, taken on the same day, of the same man kissing another woman in a coffee shop. Phillip had also played a recording, taken by the investigator while sitting next to the man at the coffee shop, confirming that it was indeed that man who'd paid for Rebecca's apartment. The recording had included Rebecca's boyfriend saying to someone on the phone that Rebecca had discovered his "secret"—presumably that he was a married man—but that she only got mad for a short while, as she loved her new place.

Zach hadn't wanted to know anything else after that. He'd ordered the investigation to close even though he'd never found out who the guy was. He didn't want to know. It would hurt more if he had a name to match with the face of the bastard Rebecca had been sleeping with.

What nagged at him was whether Rebecca had been seeing that other guy during the time they were together. Had she been playing them both—seeing whom she could fully ensnare first?

"You're fucking stupid," he scolded himself. Even up till now, he wondered if Rebecca would still be in his life if he'd done things differently. Frankly, money wasn't an issue—he had plenty of it to give to whomever he chose. He would have given her what she'd wanted if she'd asked for it.

What broke him was that she'd lied. She'd made him believe she'd loved him. She'd made him dig deep into his heart to discover his own feelings, only to find out he was the only one in love. That was what he hadn't as yet recovered from.

And now he had no choice but to see her again.

"W
ow, I can't believe we're here."

"I know," Rebecca said as she and Sarah inspected the comfy stateroom they were sharing. She would have been happy in a room with just one of those portholes, since they weren't paying for this trip. Instead, they even had a balcony. She couldn't wait for the next morning when they were at sea. It would be awesome to have breakfast out there while staring at the vast expanse of the ocean. Maybe they'd even spot some whales.

"We better find Magda and see what she wants to do for the rest of the day," Sarah suggested. "We'll have to check her daily activities so we can plan around her schedule. I'm sure she'd be with friends or family most of the time, and unless she needs assistance with anything, all we might have to do is shadow her like we're her bodyguards."

"It kind of makes me feel guilty," Rebecca said, making a face. "It's like we're being paid to be on a one-month holiday. We're only here in case something happens to Magda."

Sarah shrugged. "We've had really awful clients at one time or another. I'd say this just evens things out."

"Um, Sarah, would you mind going ahead first? Could you ask Magda who exactly is on this trip with her and text me? Then I'll join you. I just want to be... you know... prepared for it if—"

Sarah shook her head. "No, Bec. You are going to be the professional that you are, no matter who is or who's not on this ship. I'm not going to let you simply hide away if Zach's here. You're going to act as if everything that happened is all water under the bridge."

Rebecca took a deep breath, marshalling her courage.

"You'll be fine," Sarah said in a gentler tone. "It just feels awkward because this would be the first time you'll see him again—if he's even here, that is. Just pretend he's one of those clients you'd rather not work with but you have to because it's your job and you're a professional."

She nodded. "Okay. Let's go find Magda."

*****

"N
o, I don't expect you girls to follow me around every single minute," Magda said. "All I ask is that you keep your phones with you so if I need you, I can call you. What I want the two of you to do is to enjoy yourselves as if you're on holidays. Because if you have to literally work, that means I'm not well, or I've been injured, or something. I don't want that to happen at any point, so let's all hope that for the whole month, all of us can simply enjoy this cruise."

"Okay," Rebecca said hesitantly. "So you'd be happy for Sarah and me to watch you from a distance?"

Magda's laughter rang out in her massive suite. "Goodness, no! There will be times when I'd love for you girls to join me for some company, but no, I don't want you hanging around me all the time. If I need you, I'll call you."

Rebecca and Sarah looked at each other, overwhelmed.

"That's so kind and generous of you, Magda," Sarah murmured.

"Eh!" Magda said, flicking her hand in a dismissive fashion. "Don't mention it. I do want you girls to join me for dinner tonight, though. There'll be ten of us. Unfortunately two of my grandsons aren't here yet, but they'll be joining us in a few days. I haven't mentioned this before because I didn't want you to make a fuss, but this trip is to celebrate my eightieth birthday, which is in two weeks. I'm over big parties, and if I'm on dry land I'll be expected to have one. So that's why we're here this month."

"Thanks so much for including us, Magda," Rebecca said.

The elderly woman smiled at them fondly. "You girls looked after me so well when I was recovering from my accident. I've missed you. This was a good excuse to spend some time with you again."

"May I ask who else is joining us on this trip?" Rebecca asked, keeping her tone nonchalant.

"Well, there's my sister Miriam and my late best friend's son Phillip, whom you've already met a few times. You'll also meet my friend Olga, her granddaughter Marilyn, my other friend Debra and her granddaughter Vicky. And of course, my three grandsons are joining us, although we won't see Jeffrey and Gregory until we get to the Philippines."

Rebecca's throat closed up and breathing became hard. Did that mean Zach was already on board?

"What about your other grandson—Zach?" Sarah asked, glancing at Rebecca surreptitiously.

"He's here already. He'll be having dinner with us."

*****

R
ebecca stared critically at herself in the mirror, smoothing her new blue dress. "Sarah, is this cleavage too low?"

Sarah poked her head out of the bathroom. "Damn, you look sexy, sister."

"I think I should change," she said, worrying her bottom lip.

"Why? You look gorgeous!"

"I don't want Zach to think I've dressed up for him."

Sarah snorted. "I thought you won't be making any decisions based on him? If you want to wear that dress tonight, then wear it."

"Well, actually, I originally put it on with him in mind. I don't want to look frumpy when the woman he replaced me with was Miss U-A," she said, trying to erase the picture of the incredibly beautiful Miss Universe-Australia out of her mind.

Sarah put her hands on her hips. "All the more reason for you not to change."

Rebecca chuckled. "I thought I shouldn't be making decisions based on him?"

"This is different. This isn't you hiding away, this is you holding your head up high. So keep that dress on."

*****

R
ebecca tried not to stare at the other two young women at their table. What were their names again? Marilyn and Vicky?

She was more than glad she hadn't changed her outfit. The granddaughters of Magda's friends were stunning in their much sexier frocks.

"Tomorrow, I'm going shopping at the ship's boutiques," Sarah whispered in her ear. "I feel so out of place right now. I don't care how much a new dress from here would cost me."

"You look fine," Rebecca assured her. "And you can try one of mine and see if it would fit."

"You're taller than me so I don't think I'd look good in any of yours—" Sarah's voice trailed as her gaze was drawn to something.

Rebecca followed her friend's line of sight and froze—externally that was, because her heart did just the opposite. It galloped in her chest as if she were running a sprint.

"Damn. I'd forgotten how ridiculously hot Zach Carmichael is," Sarah breathed.

Rebecca scowled at Sarah.

"Sorry," Sarah said. "I was just saying. Mind you, I think all three brothers are super hunky. But that doesn't mean Zach isn't a jerk," she added.

"Zach! Hi!" cried the woman wearing the most revealing dress. Which one was she again?

"Hey Vicky," Zach said. "Hi everyone. Sorry I'm late. I had to finish an important phone call."

"We just got here, Zach. You're not late," Magda said.

Zach sat on the lone empty chair between Magda and Vicky. "How's everyone going?" he asked casually.

A babble of 'good' and 'fine' rose from around the table.

"And how are you?" Marilyn said.

"I'm well, thanks," Zach answered.

"You remember Marilyn, don't you, Zach?" Marilyn's mother Olga asked.

"Yes, of course."

"And you remember Rebecca and Sarah, don't you, dear?" Magda said.

"Yes," Zach said with a smile. "Thanks for being here for my grandmother, girls."

Rebecca mumbled a 'no worries'—looking at Magda instead of Zach—as she forced herself to relax.
Breathe, Bec. Breathe.

Vicky quickly engaged Zach in a private chat as the other people at the table started their own conversations.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Sarah whispered to Rebecca.

"No," Rebecca answered. It annoyed her no end that Zach could look so cool, calm and collected while she was sweating profusely in her expensive new dress. Couldn't he at least have the decency to look just a tiny bit bothered that she was sitting directly in front of him?

Hell, she really was one stupid girl for letting him get under her skin even up to now.