Deception (Infidelity #3)

“I can’t say as though I blame her.”

Deloris shrugged. “Chelsea is doing all she can to make this work. The last time we spoke she said she only has forty-nine and a half weeks to go. The young lady is a trouper. I don’t see this ending sooner than the length of the agreement. Not without further scandal and to be honest, Edward Spencer can’t afford more scandal. He’s been called in for questioning on Melissa Summer’s disappearance twice.”

“What about Melissa’s client?” I asked.

“He had an airtight alibi for the night she was assaulted. From everything I’ve seen and accessed, he isn’t a suspect in her disappearance.”

“Are there any other suspects?”

“No one who’s been questioned.”

I leaned back, pushing my chair to recline slightly. “What if they have reason to do more than suspect Spencer? What if they have enough to make a case?”

“It’s my understanding that Chelsea is his new alibi. He was in California the week Melissa disappeared.”

“Didn’t Charli say that Spencer called her the same day we all arrived? That he said he was on his way there?”

Deloris pulled up a file on her iPad. “She didn’t tell me that. But you’re right: he called her. His number was on her phone. Remember I told you that I deduced that Alex was going to California because other than Isaac, you, and me, all her other calls came from California, including the one from Edward Spencer. I was able to confirm his location with his travel documents. He was in California—he flew into San Francisco on the day before we all traveled out there.”

I shook my head. “Maybe I had that wrong. Too many fucked-up things since then.”

“Tell her, Lennox. I can pull up an article from a Savannah gossip blog. You can say I showed it to you. Just tell her,” Deloris implored.

“It’s not going away, is it?”

“No. And Chelsea has resigned herself to that fact. She won’t tell anyone that it was me who got her involved in Infidelity. Remember, the company doesn’t really exist.”

I ran my hand through my hair. “Fuck.”





I PULLED MY suit jacket closed, latching the button as I stepped from the car. I wasn’t sure if the chill was from the weather or the thought of my impending conversation with Charli.

Without a doubt, autumn was setting its claws into the Northeast. The breeze blowing between the buildings, especially now that the sun had set, contained more than a mild nip. October was almost here, and in New York it wouldn’t be long before the snow began to flurry.

As traffic continued to pass, I noticed the small trees bordered by iron fences along the street. They grew in perfect squares of ground surrounded by sidewalk. Even under the streetlights, they were bright with color. Orange and yellow leaves blew in the cold wind as brown ones chased one another in cyclones that danced upon the pavement.

“Seven o’clock?” Isaac asked as he closed the car door behind me.

“Yes. Tomorrow morning.”

“Yes, sir.”

Another few steps and the glass door opened.

“It’s getting colder every night, sir.”

One side of my face rose in a lopsided grin. There was something comforting in the predictability of my doorman. “Yes, Hudson, it is.”

“Miss Collins hasn’t returned. But I do expect her soon.”

My steps stuttered. “What? I thought she was home from class hours ago.”

“Yes, sir, she was. She left about an hour ago and asked me to let you know that she didn’t plan to be gone long.”

I pulled my phone from my pocket and swiped the screen. One text message. How had I not seen it?

Charli: “RUNNING WITH PATRICK. WILL BE HOME SOON.”

Instinctively I looked back out the windows only to see my own image. The sky was dark, creating a mirror instead of a portal to the world beyond the glass. Dark and cold. The muscles in my neck tightened.

“Was she alone?” I asked Hudson.

“No, Mr. Clayton was with her. I don’t think he appreciates Miss Collins’s affinity for healthy living.”

I smiled at his observation. “Thank you, Hudson.”

“Yes, sir. Have a nice night.”

As the elevator moved upward, I tapped on Charli’s GPS app. Another tap and a tiny map appeared with a moving blue dot. It was ridiculous how much comfort I found in that simple pearl necklace. I could even tap another icon and see that her heart rate was slightly elevated.

Charli didn’t usually run in the evenings, but as I walked toward our apartment, the thought of her returning and being in need of a shower had my mind imagining all sorts of possibilities.

A succulent aroma met me at the door. I wasn’t sure how much I paid Lana, but the woman needed a raise. No wonder Charli was running. The meals that Lana prepared had become more elaborate since I was no longer eating alone. Consuming them as frequently as we did would require more exercise or soon, a new, bigger-sized wardrobe.

I tossed my keys on the table near the door and flipped the switches to bring the apartment to life. As I did, the lights of the city disappeared and the windows reflected the interior. It wasn’t often that I came home to an empty apartment. Though Charli had been living with me for less than two months, I’d grown accustomed to her presence. From her clothes in the closet to her cosmetics in the bathroom, she was part of our home.

I’d never imagined that I’d ever again have someone in my life and never dreamed that another would acclimate to my lifestyle so well. It was as if we belonged together, in every sense of the word. Even minutes without her in our home left a part of me void, creating a space that only she could fill.

I never intended for this to happen. Or imagined that one simple business trip to Del Mar could forever change my life. I chuckled as I took off my suit jacket and went to the kitchen to check out Lana’s culinary creation. Who would have thought that a meeting I hadn’t even wanted to attend would have brought someone as wonderful as Charli to my life?

“Nox?” Her voice rang through the apartment, accentuated by the sound of the front door closing.

“In the kitchen,” I yelled as I waited for her to enter.

Catching her in my arms, I spun her around. She looked too fucking good and too carefree to tell her about Chelsea. Not yet.

“Stop!” Charli said with a giggle. “I’m gross and need a shower before we eat.”

“You had me worried.” I smoothed back the unruly locks of her auburn hair, strands that had gone rogue during her run. “I’m not used to getting home and finding you gone.”

“I sent you a text.”

“I know, but I like you here.”

“I tried to get back here first. Pat had a rough day and wanted to run…” Her eyes sparkled, forehead shimmered with perspiration, and muscles quivered from her exertion in the cool weather.

I couldn’t not voice my assessment. “Damn, you’re beautiful.”

Charli’s face bowed, burrowing into my chest. “I’m disgusting. Give me ten minutes.”

“No.”

“No?” Her eyes opened wide.

“I just turned our dinner to warm. And well, with you in my arms, I’m feeling a little dirty myself.” I arched my brows as I emphasized the word dirty.

“Oh.” The gold of her eyes shimmered. “In that case. I have some good news.”

“You do?”

“Yes,” Charli said, taking my hand in hers. “I’ve got an absurdly large shower off my room. Since you don’t really have a room anymore, thus no en-suite bath, I’ll let you share mine. No sense wasting water.”

“Beautiful and a conservationist. How’d I get so lucky?”

“I seem to recall a ridiculous pickup line by a pool…”





LIGHT ASSAULTED MY eyes as the beige walls of our bedroom suite swayed, the ornate woodwork no longer present in straight lines but in undulating waves as it bowed against the contrasting color. Slamming my eyes shut, I held tight to the mattress as if it were a life raft capable of jettisoning me into the ocean’s depths. Surely that made the most sense. Instead of being on a bed in an old Southern manor, I was being tossed at sea on a succession of whitecaps.

The rocky waters had my stomach reeling and head pounding.