Sweet Deception

Belinda smiled at Myles. “What about you and Brina?”

A slight frown furrowed his forehead. “What about us?”

“You still have feelings for her, don’t you?”

“Of course I have feelings for her, Lindy. After all, I did promise to marry the woman.”

“What about now, Myles?”

“What about it?” he said, answering her question with one of his own.

Belinda gasped softly when Myles swung her around and around. Her brother had always been a very good dancer, and it appeared that he hadn’t lost his skill. She wasn’t certain whether his dancing prowess came from years of martial arts training or from a natural grace and style that turned heads whenever he entered a room. Although he’d earned a black belt in tae kwon do, he intensely disliked competition.

Belinda leaned closer, pressing her mouth to his ear. “You haven’t taken your eyes off her all night.”

Myles’s expression did not change. “Is that why you invited her, Lindy? Did you decide to become a matchmaker after I’d agreed to be Griffin’s best man? Don’t you think she hurt our family enough when she waited until two weeks before we were to be married to tell me that she was in love with someone else? Then, a week later she marries Thomas Cooper.”

“I didn’t invite her to spite you, Myles. It was only a couple of months ago that I ran into Brina for the first time in almost ten years. When she confessed that she hated Thomas Cooper as much as she loved you, I knew something wasn’t quite right.”

A sardonic smile spread across his face. “So, she lied twice. Once when she told me that she was in love with another man, and again when she tells you that she hated her husband.”

Belinda shook her head. “It’s all too confusing. When I asked her why she’d married Thomas, she said she couldn’t tell me. She mentioned something about swearing that she’d never tell anyone.”

“Swore to whom?”

“That I don’t know, Myles.”

The song ended and Myles led Belinda back to her seat beside her husband. He’d heard enough. He needed answers. He wanted answers and he intended to get them.

His gaze searched the crowded dance floor for Zabrina, but she was nowhere in sight. She was missing and so was Griffin’s college roommate. There was no doubt they were together. Wending his way across the tent, Myles stepped out into the warm night air.

Chairs and love seats were set up on the verdant lawn for those wishing to get away from the frivolity to sit, talk quietly and/or relax. Dozens of lanterns were suspended from stanchions surrounding the magnificent estate. He saw Zabrina with her red-haired dining partner sitting together on a love seat. She’d rested her head on his shoulder while he massaged her back.

Taking long strides, Myles approached the couple. “Is she all right?”

Bailey Mercer glanced up to find the groom’s best man looming over him like an avenging angel. “Zabrina said she needed some air.”

Myles hunkered down and placed the back of his hand against her moist cheek. “Brina, darling, are you all right?” The endearment had slipped out as if ten years had morphed into a nanosecond.

Zabrina heard the familiar voice from her past, and she tried smiling but the pounding in her temples intensified. “I don’t know.”

“What did she eat or drink?” Myles asked Bailey.

“She didn’t eat much, but she did have three cocktails.”

Effortlessly, Myles lifted Zabrina off the love seat, while coming to a standing position. “She can’t drink.”

Bailey stood up. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“She usually can’t have more than one drink or she’ll wind up with a headache.”

“I’ll take care of her,” Bailey offered.

Myles glared at the man. “Walk away.”

A flush suffused Bailey’s face, the color increasing to match his hairline. He moved closer. “I said I’ll take care of her.”

Myles angled his head. “Don’t get in my face,” he warned through clenched teeth. “Look, man,” he said, his tone softer, calmer. “Just walk away while you can.” That said, he turned on his heels and carried Zabrina past the tent and into the hotel. He slipped in through a side entrance and took a staircase to the third floor. When he set Zabrina on her feet to search for his room’s cardkey, she dropped her evening purse, spilling its contents.

“Muh—my things,” Zabrina slurred.

“Don’t worry about them, Brina. I’ll pick them up after I get you inside.”

Zabrina swallowed back a rush of bile. She felt sick, sicker than she had in a very long time. Her first experience with drinking alcohol had become a lasting one. But it was apparent she’d forgotten. She hadn’t known what possessed her to have a third cosmopolitan. What she should’ve done was stop after the first one. But she’d wanted to forget that the past ten years hadn’t existed. She wanted to blot them out by drinking until she passed out. She hadn’t passed out, but she did have an excruciating headache.

Myles had always teased her, calling her a very cheap date. Her colleagues couldn’t understand why she opted to drink club soda with a twist during their employee gatherings. Some had asked whether she was a recovering alcoholic, but she reassured them that she did drink, just always sparingly.

She closed her eyes as her dulled senses took over. Being cradled against Myles’s broad chest brought back a rush of memories that made Zabrina want to weep. He’d always been there for her, had promised to love, protect and take care of her. He no longer loved her, yet he was still looking after her.

Myles walked through the entry, the living/dining area and into the bedroom. He placed Zabrina on the king-size bed, removed her shoes and covered her with a lightweight blanket. “I’ll be right back.”

He returned to the hall to gather up the jeweled compact, the tube of lipstick and a set of car keys that had fallen out of her bag. He pocketed the keys. Zabrina was in no shape to get behind the wheel of a car, even if just to drive it out of the parking lot. A cold chill swept over him when he thought of her trying to drive back to Philly under the circumstances. Either she would kill herself or someone else.

Closing the door, he slipped the security lock into place and returned to the bedroom. Zabrina hadn’t moved. She lay on her back, eyes closed and her chest rising and falling in a slow, even rhythm. He smiled. She’d fallen asleep.

Myles reached up and undid his silk tie. Undressing, he placed his clothes on the padded bench at the foot of the bed. Clad in only a pair of boxer briefs, he retreated to the bathroom to shower and brush his teeth.

Zabrina was still asleep when Myles reentered the bedroom. She lay on her right side, her head resting on her hands and her legs pulled up into a fetal position. A smile tilted the corners of his mouth when he stared down at her. She was so incredibly beautiful and so very cunning. When he’d asked Zabrina to marry him he never would’ve thought she would deceive him, especially not with another man.

Reaching over, he turned off the bedside lamp. The light from the sconce outside the bathroom provided enough illumination to make out the slight figure on the bed. Sitting on the mattress, Myles studied the woman whom he’d never forgotten. He’d once admitted to Belinda that he had two passions—Zabrina Mixon and the law. Despite her deception, his feelings hadn’t changed. Nothing had changed. Zabrina was still his passion.

Slowly, methodically, he undressed her. She stirred briefly before settling back to sleep. Waiting for her breathing to resume a measured cadence, he anchored a hand under her hips, easing her dress down her bare legs. Myles didn’t know why, but he felt like a voyeur when he stared at Zabrina’s half-naked body. She hadn’t worn a bra under the dress. He recalled her preference for sleeping nude, but decided not to remove her bikini panties.

She moaned softly when he eased her between the sheets. He waited a full minute, then shrugged off his robe and slipped into bed beside her. It was as if nothing had changed. Pressing his chest to her back, he rested an arm over her waist, pulling her closer. The angry words Myles had rehearsed so many times he could recite them backward he’d erased from memory. He buried his face in her hair and inhaled the lingering floral fragrance of her shampoo.

“Myles?”

He froze when Zabrina whispered his name. “Yes, baby?”

“I…I…I’m sorry,” she slurred.

There came a beat. “So am I,” Myles whispered. “So am I, Brina,” he repeated.

Myles wasn’t certain what she was apologizing for, but he knew why he was sorry. He was sorry they hadn’t gone through with their plan to marry, sorry that her son wasn’t his and sorry it had taken almost a decade for him to get the opportunity to confront her about her deception.

Chapter 5

Zabrina knew something was different when she opened her eyes. She wasn’t in her bed, and she wasn’t alone. She sat up quickly, chiding herself for the sudden action. Her head felt as if it was in a vise, and her mouth was dry as sandpaper. She closed her eyes and sank back to the pillow.