Elliot

Lies and love are the same thing, yet I’ve fooled myself anyway.

 

I was a fool. I thought making Ilaria beholden to me would only be a means to an end, a mild inconvenience I’d disabuse her of the moment I was finished with my plan. But my carefully laid strategy was coming apart at the seams, and my history seemed tied more to the pain of being a forgotten child left to fend for himself and getting answer instead of a hostile coup of my family. Her love scared and ruined me. I’d seen how I’d acted when that bastard of a woman was cruel to her. Now, I was going to be the source of her pain. When she realized this was all a sham and the only reason I came into her life, cared for her mother’s remains, and took her as my own was to get revenge, her love would burn to ashes.

The thought destroyed me.

It would be so easy to come clean, to explain things had changed and I’d learned revenge wasn’t as important as I’d always thought, but I was ashamed to admit fear stopped me. I was afraid, for the first time, to disappoint another soul and be left standing alone.

I let her keep loving me.

I showered her with gifts to weather the impending storm. I lavished her in my bed to mark her as mine forever. I withheld the three words in my heart that would be her ultimate destruction to save her—and myself. I did it all, and she smiled at me, her big, bright eyes worshipping me, and I never turned away. I was everything she wanted me to be and nothing like she needed. I did it all consciously and hid my cringe when I received the expected call.

“Is this Elliot Wilmington?”

Here it was, my chance, the last shot of my game, and I had to play my part. I hung my head, alone in my office, and answered Lennox Demetri. “It is. To whom am I speaking?”

A wry chuckle filled the phone. “As if you didn’t know. Your security rivals mine, Mr. Wilmington.”

“Please, call me Elliot.”

I didn’t receive the same invitation. “Fine, Elliot. What do you want with my father?”

“I don’t want your father at all.” It was true; I wanted more than Oren Demetri could give me, beyond his connection through marriage. Oren was the gatekeeper, and I was aware of that. Still, I could play this game.

“This is getting us nowhere. I’m not surprised, but I am a bit disappointed. For a man who has pointedly targeted companies surrounding mine, I assumed you would know what this call truly is.”

A line in the sand or an olive branch.

The separation between the two was razor-thin. I sucked in a deep breath. “This isn’t something to discuss by phone, I assure you. What information I have, and why, you will want to see in person.”

“Excellent. It seems I find myself in Ithaca and can be at your home in less than an hour. I’ll see you soon.”

Lennox disconnected the call, and I couldn’t stop the impressed smile from touching my lips. Lennox Demetri, on many fronts, was a brilliant adversary. I could appreciate his command of the situation and his forthright manner in protecting what was more than just a family business to him. Demetri Enterprises was his family’s lifeblood, the reason they hated and loved each other. The destruction and mending of fences between father and son. I knew this because I’d thoroughly done my research.

I stood and headed out of my office. It was time for Ilaria to know the truth, and I didn’t have long before it all blew up in my face, but I was selfish and wanted some more of her love, more of her brightness. I found her in my bed, wearing wool leggings and a long shirt from my closet. She’d been wearing my clothing around the house, wrapping herself in my scent, and it pleased me to no end.

She turned a quizzical look to me, prying herself from her book when I opened the door. “Sir?”

“What are you reading this time?”

She blushed, and I was fascinated by the fact she still could after all we’d done. “The author I was telling you about, the one who writes BDSM romance? She came out with another one and I had it delivered.”

I sat on the bed and leaned over her, caging her between my hard body and the softness of the mattress. “I can be so much more pleasurable than what you can find in those pages.”

She arched her back, pressing her breasts against me, and her fingers found their way into my hair. I closed my eyes for a moment, relishing her touch and the calming effect it had on me. “I know. Do you want to show me, Sir?”

God, I was tempted. I could lose myself in her, bury my face in her neck and feel her pulse race against my tongue as I taught her more about pleasure and pain, but I didn’t want Demetri to interrupt those sacred times between us. Instead of doing what I wanted, I sighed and shook my head.

“We have a guest coming.”

“Oh. Who?”

“Lennox Demetri.”

She pressed against my chest, and I moved away to let her sit up. “Is this about my meeting with his father?”

“Most likely. You made quite the impression.”

“Yeah, it wasn’t me who made the impression. That poor girl is still probably terrified of what you’ll do to her.”

“Good. Anyone who believes they could hurt you should fear me.”

She swallowed and caressed my cheek. “It’s okay that you can’t say it. I know you do when you say things like that.”

Confused, I looked down at her. “What?”

“Love me.”

I pressed my lips into her palm. Yes, I did love her, for what it was worth. I loved the weakness she tried to hide behind anger and a jutted jaw, the strength she’d cultivated and blossomed under my care, and the soft way she looked at me with absolute trust. I’d come to crave all of it the more I realized I would lose it. I’d heard it said you can lead a horse to water but you couldn’t make it drink, and I’d never quite felt the truth of that statement the way I did with her. I’d been led to love and what it could be, but I hadn’t realized it until it was too late to save myself.

“I—”

“Mr. Demetri is here.”

I turned to Natalie and gripped Ilaria’s hand harder against my mouth. I’d wasted too much time, didn’t calculate that Lennox may have been just outside of my estate when he’d called instead of in the city proper. A fatal mistake.

“Come on, Ilaria.”

To the end. To the truth. To the moment when you leave me. Just a month wasn’t long enough with her.

I’m sorry, I’m a liar.