Wicked Liar by Faith Summers

Chapter Five

Candace

Heads turn as Jacques and I stroll into the foyer.

Every female eye lands on the man beside me, some look on with curiosity, others are definitely jealous.

I know I’m going to be a hot topic in the office for a while. The last time I caused a stir was when Massimo hired me. I hate having any form of attention, but I can handle it today.

Besides, I can’t help but take some pleasure in it because usually, I’m the introverted workaholic woman who's always rushed off her feet. Formerly known as one of Massimo's housekeepers. I have, however, heard some of the bitches here refer to me as a former servant, or my personal favorite... the house slave.

There are a lot of nice people here, but there are also some who didn’t think it was sane for him to bring his housekeeper to work for him, even if she had a college degree.

I don’t pay attention to people like that. Ever. They can think whatever they want for all I care. Those same people watch me now, and they can continue to watch me if they wish.

I had my reasons for being a housekeeper. Jobs like that are easier to do when you’re trying to find yourself, and more so when you just want to keep close to where you feel safest.

Jacques and I stop near the reception desk. He insisted on walking me back to work from the coffeehouse, then he took the elevator up with me. We stop here because he knows I have to go to a meeting with the marketing team.

“So, how’d I do?” he asks, speaking with the hint of a French accent.

I shift in my ballerina pumps and gaze up at him. Like most of the giants around here, he’s well over six feet at six one.

I’m not that short at five four but find myself often craning my neck to look up at people.

“What do you mean?” I reply. I know what he means, but I feel like I’m getting in scene for a play.

His handsome face lights up like he can see I’m still playing hard to get, which I guess I actually am. Running a hand through his spiky black hair, he squares his wide shoulders and regards me with admiration.

“Dinner. I never mentioned it throughout coffee.” He flashes me one of his dazzling trademark smiles and his bright green eyes ooze sex appeal.

“No, you didn’t. I agreed to coffee though, didn’t I?”

He’d sent me that dinner invite from Saturday. I'd planned to make him wait all day for an answer. I wasn’t expecting to see him this morning, but shouldn’t have been that surprised when he pitched up at my office bright and early. Men like him hate not having control of a situation. That’s why he came.

“Is coffee all I get from the lovely Candace Ricci? Mademoiselle, you do realize you’re breaking my heart here by making me wait, right?”

I can definitely see the appeal to him. He’s very handsome and has that Patrick Dempsey thing going on with his hair. I think I would be charmed too like most here if I didn’t have my suspicions about him.

“Mr. Belmont, your heart does not look broken.”

“You can’t see it, Miss Ricci. I feel it though. Come on, have dinner with me tomorrow night.”

The twinkle in his eyes suggests I really have struck his interest, which means I have him exactly where I want.

“I’ll go to dinner,” I answer, and I can’t believe those words actually come from my mouth.

When he smiles wide like he’s just won something, I feel like I’m making headway with this plan.

“Fantastic. How about I take you to one of my restaurants?”

“That would be nice.”

“I’ll pick you up at eight.”

“How about I meet you there?” I suggest, running my finger over the smooth cotton of his white button-down shirt.

One corner of his mouth slides into a curious grin. “I can’t pick you up from your place?”

“No. I prefer to meet you.” I smile up at him and tuck a lock of hair behind my ear.

“Alright, mademoiselle. Have it your way. At least you agreed. I’ll send you the details of the restaurant by the end of the day.”

“Thank you.”

“No, mon chéri, thank you.”

With his perfect manners, I’m sure is part of his gentlemanly façade, he reaches for my hand and plants a kiss on my knuckles. I smile when he holds on for longer than appropriate. I’m no fool. The gentlemen's act is to butter me up.

When he releases me and allows his gaze to drift down my body, the real him comes out, but I keep my smile plastered to my face.

“See you tomorrow,” he says, then turns and walks away.

I turn to walk in the opposite direction so I can go to the meeting room, but I freeze mid-stride when my gaze lands on the man standing over in the corner watching me.

At first, I think I must be hallucinating. That’s one thing that’s never happened to me before, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it were happening now.

I’ve imagined this moment many times. Seeing Dominic. When I first got out of the hospital and went back to work, my mind conjured him up around the clock.

There were countless times when I saw someone I thought looked like him, then was disappointed to find it wasn’t him, and often the person couldn’t have looked more different.

So, this must be what’s happening to me now.

That man standing in the corner can’t be Dominic D'Agostino.

I wait for him to disappear or for my eyes to adjust and take note that it’s not him. But neither happens and… I think it could be him this time.

He steps away from the wall and shock claws through me when I realize it’s really him.

When he gets closer, tears sting the backs of my eyes and the air squeezes from my body, leaving me the way darkness fills up a room when the lights go out.

My entire body goes rigid and although my throat works, the constriction in my lungs gets tighter with each passing second.

Dominic’s home.

He’s back.

He’s standing right in front of me.

I gaze up into those deep blue eyes that used to remind me of the Mediterranean Sea. Looking at him is a world of difference from looking at Jacques. When I was staring at Jacques, I was mildly aware he was handsome. Looking at Dominic, however, is like staring at a masterpiece.

His full lips part and I remember kissing them, then I remember the last time we were this close.

I was in his bed.

I’d woken up in his arms to a magical sunset with him telling me things would be different for us.

Then days later he left me on my deathbed.

“Candace… hi,” he says, and the smooth, deep baritone of his voice snaps me out of the reverie. Fury constricts my lungs as I remember how he left me.

I was so sick, and I just needed him.

While I was in a coma, he spoke to me in his state of remorse and told me he was going to leave. I wanted him to stay so badly the first thing I asked him to do when I woke up was to stay. Yet, he left anyway.

A tear slides down my cheek feeling cold on my skin. It's a juxtapose against the shiver of heat that works its way down my spine.

“Candace, I--”

He doesn’t get to finish whatever it was he was going to say because my left hand takes on a life of its own and lands a slap across his cheek so hard it leaves a mark.

I’m glad he doesn’t look surprised or phased. If anything, he looks like he knows he deserves the slap. He looks like he deserves the next one I give him too.

“Bastard,” I snap and back away from him.

Tears are streaming down my cheeks and I don’t even care that I have even more attention on me than I already did.

You don’t just slap one of the D’Agostino brothers in public and it goes unnoticed. I don’t care though. I’m sick of being hurt.

“Candace, please,” he says, but I hold up my hand to stop him from talking.

“No, just no… leave me alone.”

I turn and rush away, away from him and the eyes that follow me through the door.

* * *

I open the door to my apartment when the bell rings and step aside for Massimo and Tristan to enter. They both look down at me like two concerned brothers. I predicted their visit, and can only guess people must have told them what happened earlier.

Not feeling like I could continue with the work I had scheduled; I went home after my encounter with Dominic.

“Are you okay?” Massimo asks.

“I’m fine,” I reply. He might believe that answer more if my voice wasn’t so heavy with emotion.

“You don’t look fine, Candace,” Tristan states.

“I’m okay. Why shouldn’t I be? Dominic’s home and that’s good news. You don’t have to worry anymore.”

They both exchange worried glances.

Massimo slips his arm around me and ushers me to the living room. “Come sit, let’s talk.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

“But there is.”

He sits me down on the soft leather three-seater and sits next to me. Tristan lowers into the armchair opposite us and leans forward, resting his elbows on to his knees.

“Candace, we can both see you aren’t okay. We knew you wouldn’t be, that’s why we came to check on you,” Tristan says.  

“We didn’t know what was best. I contemplated telling you but Dominic said he was going to see you, so he waited until you got back from coffee with Jacques,” Massimo explains.

I wonder if Dominic saw me talking to Jacques. Chances are he did. What did he think? It was obvious I was flirting, and it wouldn’t have looked like anything other than what I was doing.

Why do I care though if Dominic saw us? It doesn’t matter. My thoughts switch to what Massimo said as I process his words. When did he know Dominic was back?

Protective as they are of me, they’re also secretive. There’s always a line neither of us cross. It allows us to switch between that employee and employer relationship regardless of the work I’m doing.

I know my place. I’m respectful of my place and the way they both look after me, but I think on this occasion I’m going to step over the line. The situation calls for it.

“When did you know? You sound like you knew he was back, Massimo. Did you know he was coming back?” The words fall mindlessly from my lips.

“No. We knew a couple of hours before you. He was in my office when we got in this morning. That’s what happened. I promise you, neither of us knew when he was coming back or anything like that until today.”

“If either of us knew, we would have definitely told you,” Tristan intones.

I stare back at him, remembering that last conversation I had with him about Dominic. It was just after Dominic left and we found our notes. I was still in the hospital and Tristan came to look for me. I think it was my words of wisdom that set him straight because I knew no one would have been able to find Dominic until he was ready to be found. I told Tristan what my note said. I’ll never forget how shocked he seemed when I told him I planned to do exactly as instructed and not wait. I wonder if he knew how hard it was going to be for me, or that I would fail miserably.

He reaches forward and gives my hand a gentle squeeze. With a sigh, he straightens up and opens his palms.

“We were all affected when he left, but I know no one was more shaken than you. So please talk to us.”

“I don’t know what to say, Tristan.”

“We’re all going to be mad at him for different reasons, even though we understand why he left,” Massimo says, and I don’t have the heart to agree that I understand.

I know why Dominic left, but I don’t understand why he thought that was the only solution.

“I will be fine. Don’t worry about me. It’s not like we were actually together. I was just the girl in the shadows who kept secrets. The person in the background who didn’t matter.”

Massimo frowns and brushes over my cheek, shaking his head. “No, that’s not true.”

“That’s how he treated me.”

“I don’t think he meant to.”

“He hurt me and stayed away for two years. What else am I supposed to think? I’m not stupid, I work for you and I’ve heard you guys talking. I know he sent stuff occasionally. He never sent me anything. Not a damn thing.” I want to say it all doesn’t matter because it shouldn’t, but I’m well and truly pissed right now.

“I’m sorry. I don’t think either of us can say more than that. The situation was difficult, and he says he felt he needed to be away.”

“Is he home for good or just passing through?”

“It seems he’s home for good. There’s um… something going on we’re gonna check out.”

Great… that explains a lot. I always thought something big would happen and Dominic would come back. At first, I wished for it.

“What’s happening?”

“Nothing for you to worry about yet,” Massimo assures me. “While we’re checking, however, we’ll have a few guards around. You won’t even notice them.”

I blink several times. “That doesn’t sound like it's nothing to worry about.”

“Candace, you’re going to have to just trust me on this one.”

That means I’m to stop pushing for answers.

“Okay.”

He stands, and Tristan follows.

“Maybe take the day off tomorrow. I’ll get someone to cover you.”

“No. I’ll be fine to go in.” Working is how I get through things.

“Well, if you change your mind, let me know.” He nods and they both go.

I must sit there for another hour before I get up and go to my room.

I walk straight over to my wardrobe where I reach for the little keepsake box my mother gave me. It’s a little powder pink box with gold trimmings going around the edges. I open it and the first thing I see is the little rose quartz heart Papa gave me for my tenth birthday. Next to that is my note from Dominic.

I take that out and read it. It’s really brief. I have so many big emotions when I read it, but it’s just a few lines.

Angel,

Thank you for being my rock. I can’t stay in L.A. anymore. I have to leave and figure things out. I’m so ashamed of myself for what I did to you. I never thought I’d have to protect you from myself. Never thought it would come to such a thing.

I’m sorry for what I did, but I'm more sorry I can’t be with you.

Don’t wait for me. Move on. There are better men in this world who deserve you. I wasn’t one of them.

I love you always,

Dominic

I pull in a breath and set the note back inside the box.

Two years ago, when I first read that note, I experienced a gamut of emotion.

Hurt, pain, anger, rage, rejection... sadness.

All emotions that shattered my already fragile heart

I feel the same way now.