Deceit (Gallows Hill #1)

20. Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

Skyla

I wrap my cardigan tightly around myself as the midafternoon breeze intensifies. One person seeing my hickey is bad enough. I contemplated covering it with makeup, but something tells me Ronan wouldn’t like that very much. I can’t help but bite back a smile at the thought of him getting upset that I would cover his mark or being proud that I didn’t. Either way, I’m ridiculous. It’s just a bunch of broken blood vessels, there shouldn’t be anything sexy or exciting about it….and yet.

Moving through a group of students leaving the pool building, I slip through the door and down the hallway before pushing open the pool door. The comforting scent of chlorine hits me instantly, wrapping me up like a hug as I make my way to Ronan’s office. Glancing around the room, I double check that no one is watching before I open the door.

My smile drops instantly when I see a gorgeous leggy brunette, in her late twenties or so, on top of his desk. She’s facing him in his chair, her skirt ridden up and legs spread wide. Both of their eyes swing to me in unison, one filled with irritation and the other with panic.

I don’t need to tell you whose is whose.

A numb feeling begins tingling across my skin as I take a faltering step backwards, then another before I turn and run. I run so fast I don’t even remember going through the two doors needed to get outside. I run so fast that getting back to my dorm is practically a blur, so fast that I managed to outrun Ronan to the elevator of my dorm building. He narrowly misses the closing door and beats it with a single fist, before he begins shouting out for me to ‘let him explain’.

Yeah, I’ll pass.

My throat begins to tighten, and tears prick my eyes as the elevator whirs up to my floor. As soon as I step inside my room though, all bets are off. My throat isn’t just tight, it’s practically closed off, hot and scratchy from the tears that are now free falling down my face.

I feel stupid. So fucking stupid.

Maybe I shouldn’t have assumed that if we were…whatever we were, that I would be the only woman with that kind of special treatment. Maybe that was na?ve or ignorant of me. As painful as it is to learn that lesson now, I guess it’s better that I have all of the information now as opposed to months down the road. Where I’d, no doubt, be so in love with the man that I couldn’t see straight. Guess he’s a lot more like his nephew than he lets on.

I feel my phone begin to vibrate in my pocket and I pull it out to reveal Ronan’s number. I couldn’t decline it any faster if I tried, honestly. Unfortunately, it starts right back up again, and I hit the red button just as fast as before.

He tries calling me again and again. Eventually, I just have to turn my phone off. I don’t want to hear what he has to say, and I don’t want to be treated like the silly little girl I clearly am. I should have listened to him from the start. He clearly told me we could never be more than ‘this’. I just didn’t understand that ‘this’ was code for hooking up occasionally, while he pursued other women, more age-appropriate women. More beautiful women because god, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more stunning woman than the one who was sprawled across his desk like his next meal.

Eventually, I turn my phone on and only partially regret it when it begins buzzing like crazy. Notifications of voicemails and text after text keep coming through. I don’t bother looking at a single one as I scroll through my contacts. I click on Maggie and it only rings twice before she answers.

“Hey babe! What’s up?”

I try to speak but nothing comes out. Just a choppy gasping breath as I try to compose myself. Apparently, that was all Maggie needed to hear, though.

“I’m on my way. Dorm room?” she asks.

“Yeah,” I finally rasp.

“Be there in fifteen.”

Then, the line goes dead. I pause for a moment before I make my next call. Debating on bothering her since it’s already so late in London before I decide to say fuck it, and I call my aunt Steph.

“Hello?” she answers sleepily.

“Hey,” I smile sadly.

“What’s wrong?” she asks, immediately sounding more alert.

“N-nothing just…stupid stuff. Guys.”

She lets out a breath of relief and I can practically see her sinking back into her bed.

“They are always stupid, all the time. You’ll get used to it, sweetie.”

I laugh at that and nod.

“Is that why you’ve never bothered dating anyone?”

She hesitates for several seconds before she speaks.

“Actually, I’m sort of seeing this guy from my work. It’s nothing serious but he’s nice company. It’s been really….lonely since you’ve been gone.”

My heart pangs hearing that. I hate that she’s been lonely, I hate that I’ve been lonely. I’d do almost anything to be back in London with her, especially right now.

“I’m so happy for you, Steph. You deserve every bit of happiness you can get your hands on. What’s his name? How long have you guys been seeing each other? Tell me everything.”

She hesitates for only a second before she begins telling me that his name is Collin, he’s forty-one and extremely charming. Apparently he has a brother, Dillon, that lives in the states on the west coast. She sounds completely smitten, but slowly her voice becomes softer before she stops talking altogether. I smile to myself as I hang up the phone, just as a knock comes from my door.

My stomach flips, nerves scattering across my body, as an image of Ronan at my door flashes to the forefront of my mind. Thankfully, I hear Maggie shout through the door a second later instead.

“It’s me. Open up, babe.”

I push up from my bed, unlocking the door before opening it to reveal Maggie with four large bags in her hands. I quickly grab one of the slipping bags as she nods her thanks and pushes inside. Closing the door behind her, I pause. He wouldn’t use his keycard to get in here…right? Suddenly, my sense of security has evaporated, and I look around before reaching for the lounge chair in the corner. It’s heavier than I expect it to be, but I’m able to push it in front of the door. Hopefully it will keep him out even if he does have his master key.

When I turn around, I see Maggie watching me with concern in her eyes. She doesn’t ask though, doesn’t pry. Instead, she begins pulling items out of the bags, until they are scattered across my bed like a cornucopia of junk food.

I look at her curiously.

“What is all of this?”

“Nothing cures a broken heart like empty carbs and high-fructose corn syrup,” she says, as she sits on the edge of the bed and digs into a bag of chips. "Oh, and this!" she says, as she hands me a coffee cup.

"What is it?" I ask.

"Apple cider," she says, through a mouthful of chips.

I wrinkle my nose. "I'm not a huge apple person."

Maggie rolls her eyes. "Just drink it."

Hesitantly, I lift it to my mouth, taking a small sip. The hot spiced cider slides down my throat easily, warming me from the inside in an instant. Oh my god. This is good. Like so good. It tastes like fall in a cup. I take another sip, and another. Maggie's smile growing with each one before I slowly sit across from her.

“I feel so dumb,” I whisper.

“You’re not dumb, far from. He’s an idiot.”

“You don’t even know what happened,” I point out, in a half laugh.

“Don’t need to,” she shrugs. “He fumbled you. Idiot.”

That makes me smile, at least a tiny bit. I reach over for the TV remote, turning on the first movie I see before tossing it to the side again. Maggie turns her attention to the TV, letting me dictate the situation and pacing. Something I appreciate more than I could ever explain because I don’t know what to think or feel, let alone how to express it.

“He told me to meet him in his office today and when I showed up there was a woman.”

“A woman?” Maggie asks, as she turns to face me.

I nod. “A beautiful, leggy, perfectly bronzed woman.”

“Okay. What was the woman doing?”

I swallow and cringe. “She was sitting on his desk, her skirt raised, legs spread and…”

Maggie waits silently before she realizes I’m not going to continue.

“I’m going to say something completely unhelpful, and I hope you won’t hate me for it, but you deserve to know. That is just kind of how our world works.”

I frown at that. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, that woman you saw, she’s probably his fiancée or she will be.”

The word is like a punch to the chest.

“Well, what am I? What was I? A distraction? A game?” I ask.

She shakes her head before shrugging. “Maybe he really does like you and was hoping you could be his mistress when he marries. It’s extremely common, I actually don’t know of any married men in our…circle that doesn’t have a mistress.”

“What? That’s insane! Your dad?” I ask.

“Oh yeah. It’s one of the reasons my mom left him. My stepdad has one too but he chose someone who is from a good family, so my mom overlooks it.”

“That is so fucked up. Why is this okay?”

She smiles sadly and shakes her head.

“It’s just the way it is, babe. 90% of the marriages are arranged, people tie themselves to smart matches while they continue pursuing love and lust discreetly. You really think I’ll be happy to marry a man? Fuck no. I’ll be taking a mistress or ten on my wedding night, you can trust that,” she laughs hollowly.

“Why are we marrying people off anyways? This is the twenty-first century. This isn’t a nobility thing where titles and provinces are on the line,” I scoff.

“Isn’t it, though? Sure, it’s not like it was two or three-hundred years ago but that doesn’t mean the game has changed, simply the pieces. We aren’t battling for new land, but large estates. We aren’t negotiating treaties but conducting business acquisitions and mergers. There aren’t any dowries but there are the ‘I scratch your back you scratch mine’ methods to every arrangement. Every single one. Everything about these people is methodical, tactical, and you don’t step out of line. Ever.”

A heavy sinking feeling settles in my stomach as I numbly nod. It’s disgusting, but apparently it’s the world I now live in. Or more accurately, the one I was thrust into. Regardless, I hate everything about it.

I pick at my lunch, but I don’t have any real intention of eating any of it. Maggie is rattling on about a story from high school and I’m doing my best to pay attention. Really, I am. I’m just so….lost in my own head, I guess. God, would you listen to me? How pathetic am I? I’ve known the man for, what? A few weeks? And I’m all torn up like this? Ridiculous.

As if my mood couldn’t be soured anymore, a swaggering man with side swept blond hair and green eyes comes up to us, that smirk shining brighter than the sun.

“Hi babygirl,” Liam smiles.

I stare at him blankly before turning my attention down to my food. There is a pause for several moments before he tries again, Maggie instantly becomes silent as she listens in intently.

“So, I was wondering if I could take you out tonight?” he asks.

“No,” I say, as I stab my chicken with my fork and lift it to my mouth.

I glance up to see his eyes confused and his brows furrowed.

“Uh, no?”

“Yes, as in, no thank you. I decline. I refuse. I reject your proposal. Take your pick.”

A choked laugh escapes him like he’s trying to gauge whether I’m joking or not, before he clears his throat and attempts to lay it on even thicker. As if that were possible. He plops down into the seat beside me as he looks at me with those soft green eyes.

“Please? I have the best date planned and we will have a lot of fun.”

“Is that before or after you shove me into another grave? Or maybe this time you’ll pick me up, only to drop me off twenty miles away from the nearest town. Somewhere nice and secluded with no cell service,” I scoff with a shake of my head. “No, you can tell Asher that whatever little plan the two of you have concocted, I’m not interested. I’m not playing your games, leave me out of everything.”

His head cocks to the side slightly, like he’s genuinely confused as he speaks.

“Asher doesn’t know I’m trying to take you out.”

I give him a dubious look, not believing him for one second but his eyes shine genuinely.

“Then why would you try?”

Liam lets out a short laugh as he pushes his hair out of his face, like it’s a nervous tick or something.

“Despite what you may think, I’m not Asher’s lap dog. I have a mind of my own, my own thoughts, my own desires.”

“So, where does taking me out fit in?” I ask.

He smiles and shakes his head.

“Is that a yes?”

I go to correct him and say my answer stands, when two figures catch my eye across the courtyard. Ronan is walking to his car, but he isn’t alone. That leggy goddess from yesterday is on his arm like an accessory as they move towards the staff parking lot. Hurt jabs inside me and before I know what I’m doing, or saying, I nod towards Liam.

“Fine. Whatever. Pick me up at seven and if you’re even a second late, I’m not going with you.”

A wide grin, that shines so bright it actually takes me back, spreads across his face.

“Deal, except I’ll pick you up at nine. Everything doesn’t start until around then.”

“Everything?” I question, as he pushes up to stand and begins sauntering off.

“See you tonight, babygirl!”

Shaking my head, I look to see Maggie staring at me with wide eyes.

“Did you just agree to go out on a date, with your betrothed’s best friend?”

I can’t help but scoff at the word betrothed before shrugging.

“Guess so.”

I’m just finishing my lipstick when my phone lights up. The contact name Asshole Fiancé displays across the screen, but I have no intention of answering it. Thankfully it goes to voicemail just as my lipstick is done. I slip it into my clutch when my phone starts up again, and again. Finally, irritation wins and I click accept.

“What?” I snap.

He’s quiet for a moment, like he’s taken off guard before he recovers.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

“Just trying to survive this life, what about you?”

He curses under his breath before speaking.

“You know what I’m fucking talking about. You’re not going on a date with Liam.”

“Actually, I am. He should be here in–” I pause to check my phone before continuing, “three minutes.”

“Oh, I’m sure he is. What I’m saying is, I forbid it. Take off whatever slutty clothes and botched makeup you have on and go the fuck to sleep.”

I frown, looking down at my little black dress, matching black pumps and flawlessly executed makeup. Asshole.

“He’s a grown man,” I fire back. “He asked me out, not the other way around. You have a problem, take it up with him.”

“No,” Asher snarls. “I’m taking it up with you. My fiancée .”

A humorless laugh escapes me as I toss my hand out by my side.

“Please don’t act like that word actually means anything.”

He’s quiet for only half a second before he’s back to snarling at me, like the untamed beast he is.

“Fuck it. If you’re going out then so am I.”

“I’ve quickly come to expect nothing less.”

I can practically see his eyes bulging out of his head through the phone.

“You’re a fucking bitch!” he snaps before ending the call.

In the next moment there’s a knock at my door. Well, that was just the thing I needed to get into the spirit of the night. Thanks, Asher.