Undone (10 page)

So why then did she doubt him now? Well, because admitting that she'd failed yet again in finding love hurt
, far deeply than she'd thought it would. It wasn't so much that she was desperate for love, but…but just once, she'd wanted to not feel so alone. She’d wanted to fill the emptiness that she hid so well from the rest of the world. She’d wanted Andrew to fill that void.

With her heart hammering mercilessly against her sternum, she looked down. Her gaze perused over the black scrawl across the pages, the photographs as well as the information written there holding her attention for several minutes
. Her brows creased and Sophie wondered whether what she saw was real. But how could pictures lie? There, in black and white, was unmitigated proof that she'd been duped.

There were countless images, more pictures than Sophie could count, stacked ever so perfectly on one side of the folder. Her fingers worked fast, unblinking eyes skimmed the glossed surfaces of each photograph, each image depicting Andrew
or rather a light haired man who bore a striking resemblance to him, participating in some nefarious crimes.

At the left hand corner of the photographs were dates and beneath that were the acronyms of a name she'd heard uttered only once today. JHA. Julian Hunter Andrews. The images continued on much in the same manner, until Andrew's image in the photos began to change and too soon he looked like the man Sophie recognized. The dark haired man she'd supposedly fallen for. The last remnants of doubt she'd held so dearly slithered through her fingers and Sophie found that she could not conjure any sort of emotion even if she tried.

"Hey, baby, what's going on? I heard yelling..."

"Speak of the devil
,” Nicholas said coolly, watching Andrew's progression into the living room. "Join us, Andrew, or is it Julian?"

To his credit, Nicholas had to admire the way Hunter remained cool under pressure. His puzzled expression seemed almost genuine enough to fool even him and
, on a good day, he would've been able to get past him. But tonight…tonight Nicholas was a little bit too perceptive and a whole lot pissed off.

"I don't know what you mean, Nicholas. Sophie, baby, what's going on?"
He approached Sophie, settled a hand on her shoulder and drew her away slightly.

Sophie held the folder in her grasp, her grip
Herculean strong. She tried to remain impartial, attempted to remain calm despite the need to draw away from him. She swallowed the lump in her throat, praying the sudden aridness of her throat away. Her tongue, however, remained thick in her mouth, weighed down by nerves, disbelief and a profound sadness burrowed deep within her core.

She produced a smile as brittle as her fragile emotions and met Andrew's curious gaze
; his beautiful, hypnotic eyes searched her face for answers. Answers Sophie did not have but desperately needed from Andrew himself. "Um…okay, I’m going to need you to be completely honest with me right now, Andy. Because I'm trying really hard to give you the benefit of the doubt here."

She stepped away, nerves rattling, she raked a hand through her hair and sighed. Knowing that her family was spectators to this debacle made it even worse. "I've known you for almost a year now. I've shared with you almost
all
aspects of my life. I've told you things that I normally wouldn't tell another person. And I've come to care about you, Andy. I cared about you so much that I brought you over to my parents’ home to meet my family, despite how I knew they would react. So I know I can say that I've been relatively honest throughout our relationship. What I need to know now is have you been just as honest with me?"

Andrew stepped forward and attempted to take hold of her arm, only, Sophie recoiled from him, her inky eyes betraying her unraveling emotions. "No…
," her voice trembled, a weakness she hated in herself, "just…just tell me the truth, Andy. Right now, I need you to tell me the truth."

"I don't understand what this is all about, Sophie. I don't understand where this is coming from but you have to know I've never lied to you. You know almost everything about me!"

"Do I?" Sophie countered, her obsidian eyes narrowed to slits. "You're telling me that I know everything there is to know about you? There aren't any deep, dark secrets in your past that you want to tell me?"

"Sophie, baby, I'm not keeping any secrets from you. I swear it on my soul
,” he said with such conviction that Sophie almost dared to believe him and if it were not for the damning photos in the folder and the information that accompanied it, she would've been fool enough in doing so.

She peered at the man she'd nearly given herself to, her gaze critically assessing
his features that had attracted her instantly. Sophie felt like she was staring at a complete stranger. Which, technically, she was, seeing as the folder in her hand disputed almost everything Andrew told her.

"Who's Annette Smith?" The paleness of his features was condemnation enough that had he spoken otherwise Sophie would’ve been inclined to hit him.

"You remember Annette Smith, right, Julian? I believe she was the heiress you married and then divorced after blowing her inheritance,” Nicholas took this time to pipe in, his tone gleefully inappropriate.

"I…I don't know what the hell you're talking about
,” he stammered, his eyes wild now, almost as though deliberating between finding an exit or staying to plead his case.

"Is your name Julian Hunter Andrews?"

"Sophie, you're being ridiculous. You know my name!"

"You're parents
aren’t really physicians, are they?" It was more statement than inquiry. "And the stories about your childhood in Connecticut, all lies, right?"

"Alright, that's enough." Andrew's laughter was as brittle as kindling. He grabbed the folder from Sophie’s hand and tossed it at Nicholas’s feet. "Baby," he wheedled, taking hold of Sophie’s arm he turned her to him.
“Look, I thought I could do this. Give your family a chance to get to know me but I didn't know it would be like this. I didn't sign up for this, so I think it's best if we left, before your loon of a father tries to pin me with things I haven't even done. It's obvious they don't want us to be together and they'll do and say almost anything to break us up."

"My family's a lot of things, but I know they wouldn't do that."

"Right, like they're not trying to push you away from me? Look at you, you're looking at me as though I'm a stranger."

Sophie peered up at him, dark brows knitting. "You
are
a stranger. And a liar. And a thief. And a gambler. A con-artist too. I know almost everything there is to know about you, Andy and I also know that everything you've told me since we started seeing each other is complete and utter garbage. But what I don't know is why? Why the hell did you pick me? What did you hope to gain? Money? Is that what this was all about? Did you want to steal money? Or is it something else?"

Andrew's grip on Sophie’s arms tightened and through clenched teeth he asked
, "Don't tell me you're buying into your step-father's delusions? He's psychotic! He's even more fucked up than you said he was! Sophie, how the hell do you know he didn't just rustle up information just to make me look guilty? He's wealthy enough to do almost anything and get away with it. You're daddy dearest isn't so fucking noble, don't underestimate him, Sophie!" Andrew desperately shook her hard and it seemed it was all the incentive Nicholas needed to take action.

In
seconds flat, he had Andrew by the front of his shirt, the driving left hook he delivered sent the other man sprawling. Security took that exact moment to rush in, descending upon Andrew like a crashing wave of brute strength and brusqueness.

"You can't do this to me! Get the fuck off me! Sophie
…!” He struggled like a madman, kicking and screaming as they carted him away, his demands and threats echoing throughout the manor.

In the momentary lapse of silence that ensued, none knew what to say. Robbed completely of the ability to comprehend what had just transpired, they remained silent.

"Dad...Dad, I'm sorry,” Sophie finally uttered, her voice, choked with tears broke through the silence. "Mom was right, I was way out of line speaking to you the way I did and I'm sorry…" Nicholas was by her side in a flash; he gathered her in his arms and it simply broke his heart as he felt her sobs.

"I’m sorry, Sophie,
if I could have prevented this…"

Sophie sniffed, gently pulling away from him
. "I know." She swiped the back of her hand across her cheeks and attempted a smile. "I know you didn't want to hurt me. I'm just glad I found this out before anything serious happened. Do…do you guys mind if I go upstairs for a little bit? I just need to be alone right now." She did not wait for a response, instead she swept past her parents and continued on upstairs. Ellie turned to follow, but Nicholas deterred her.

"Just give her a few minutes
,” he advised, hating himself for the pain he'd caused her.

"Bella, Dylan
go to your rooms, I need to speak to your father alone,” Ellie quietly ordered, stepping away from Nicholas. She needed space to understand what just transpired and exactly how it would affect their family. The twins mutedly rose, following their mother’s wish. They headed upstairs, only, Bella stopped at the threshold and turned to face her parents. She opened her mouth to speak but seemed to think better of it, because she frowned and shook her head. "It's nothing. Just…," she peered at them and wanly smiled, “just talk to Sophie. And Daddy…I'm glad you got rid of him." She followed in Dylan's wake, disappearing seconds later.

"
I’ll keep you informed,
” Ellie mocked, turning on her husband with a glare.

“Ellie…”

She held up a hand. “I don’t want to hear it. Just tell me how this all played out.”

Nicholas turned
his wearied eyes to his wife. Noting her rigid stance, he sighed and finally released his secrets.

"Something in my gut told me that there was something going on with that guy. So I decided to have one of my informants do a little background check, the worse I figured he'd find was a few criminal offenses. Hunter, however, takes the cake in criminal offenses. Like I said before, he wasn't who he said he was. Both his parents are in jail, his father put away for murder, his mother, for prostitution and drug possession. He was placed in state custody when he was ten;
during his teenage years he was involved in a few misdemeanors that put him in juvie for a few years. When he got out, he began to gamble, as horrible as he was at it, he needed money to support his habit. A burglary gone wrong put him in prison for nearly ten years. When he got out, he disappeared for several years. My informant couldn't tell me where he went in that time frame, but when he reappeared so did the alias Andrew Hunter. He had a sterling background, a new social security number, a new passport, a new life. He took a position at Georgetown University as a T.A. There he met Annette Smith, who he later married and gambled away her inheritance."

"How did he end up at Buxom?"

"We're guessing whoever helped him with the new identity also helped him stay under the radar for a while after his marriage. He resurfaced about a year later in Uzes, a small town in southern France. Again, whoever he's been working for probably helped him get a teaching position at Buxom. There is a reason why he chose Sophie; we have yet to discover that reason or who he's working for, but it's only a matter of time,” he finished with a drawn out sigh, taking into account the emotions rolling off his lover. Nicholas remained where he was, approaching Ellie now would seem like the wrong thing to do.

"And no matter the reason
, you’re going to let the police to handle this, right?"

"I guess I have no choice," he said.
“But I promise, I will put this into the hands of the proper authorities and let them take care of it."

Ellie stared at him through narrowed eyes, imagining all the ways Nicholas could negate on his words. There was always a loophole for Nicholas as far as Ellie was concerned and she just hoped for his sake that he didn't find one. She resignedly sighed moving into Nicholas’s awaiting arms. Despite how he went about his methods
, now wasn't the time to be angry with him, Ellie reasoned silently. No matter their own problems, they needed to show a united front for their eldest daughter who would need them now more than ever.

"I hate that she's hurting and I hate that I'm the reason for it
,” Nicholas said ruefully, holding tight to Ellie, he rested his chin on her head.

"I know, but
it’s better she found this out now rather than later, before something happened. She needed to know the truth. We all needed to know."

"So what do we do now? I hate feeling this helpless, Ellie
,” he said softly. Gone was the self-assured Grayson patriarch and in his stead was a man who appeared as lost as Ellie felt.

Ellie sighed. "We'll get through it like we always do, Nicky, together." She pressed a kiss to his lips. Taking hold of his hand, she led him upstairs. "Come on, we
should go check up on her." Together they climbed the stairs, heading towards Sophie room, armed and ready to face the barrage of emotions she would no doubt hurl their way.