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Fuck, I hate it when this happens, but my mother was right. I should have known better.





27


KAAVI


Three Days before the Wedding


I STOOD THROUGH my dad’s bullshit speech, all heart and gusto, put on for the benefit of our nosy houseguests. I held Spencer’s hand. I went along with everything. I didn’t know what the fuck else to do. Maybe I could talk to my dad later on today. Maybe I could convince him that this whole thing was a con. That Spencer was a con artist. A broke, lying con artist who got caught in his act and still managed to weave his way out of it. I can’t believe I fell for his bullshit in the first place.

I thought I was being so smart—finding a way to keep my mother and the rest of Colombo happy while still being able to live my life. And here I was, about to marry a broke liar who’s clearly in it for my family’s money.

I looked around at the guests, all of them lapping up my father’s words. I even spotted Amaya in a corner. Why the hell was she here today? I thought back on her chatting away with the various aunties last night. What if she was the one who fed the information to Aunty Josephina? But then my gaze fell on Spencer and it didn’t seem as important anymore.

“We should go for a walk,” I mumbled in his ear the moment my father finished.

“Yes, of course,” was all he replied, leading me outside. We sat down on a bench under the large mango tree.

“People inside can see us, you know,” I reminded him.

“I’m counting on it,” he replied.

He was waiting for me to take the first shot. I could sense it.

Well, no one ever accused me of shying away from a fight.

“You’re full of shit and you know it. Just because you’ve got my father wrapped around your finger, don’t think for a second that you’ve fooled me too.”

Spencer looked upset. He rubbed his hair and looked agitated but didn’t say anything.

“You were smart—I’ll hand it to you. The proposal I couldn’t turn down, the cozying up to my parents, but I really hope you don’t think, Spencer, that I’m afraid to end everything. Because I could.”

“Then why haven’t you?” His voice was cold. Deathly cold. I’d never heard it like this before. The look on his face, the uneasy way he was tugging on his hair, it was all a show. His voice was composed. He was in total control.

“Why haven’t you?” he asked again.

I was too surprised to answer.

“I know why, Kaavi. It’s because you’d do anything, and boy do I mean just about anything, to keep your pristine reputation intact. It makes it so easy to figure you out. You’d rather die than lose face.”

I forced a laugh.

“If you think you can coerce me into a goddamned marriage by holding my reputation hostage, Spencer, you are far stupider than I thought. This is Colombo, remember; this is my town. Would it cause a scandal? Sure. But a few months and a few large donations to various charities, and maybe a huge party, is all I need to make everyone forget. No. This bullshit ends now. I want you gone by tomorrow.”

I started to get up but Spencer grabbed my hand.

“Sit down, Kaavi. I’m not done.”

“Oh, but I am.”

“Sit the fuck back down and listen to me or you’ll fucking regret it.”

Who the hell did he think he was?

But he hadn’t loosed his grip on my arm, and I couldn’t push him off without causing a scene.

“Now you listen.” His voice was evil, but his face was the picture of a pleasant, devoted fiancé. What a fucking sociopath. “You will marry me, like we planned. You will forgive me for hiding a few details of my past. Your father accepted my reasons, and they should be enough for you.”

I snorted.

“You have some nerve—”

“If you think I’ve spent my time in and out of Colombo just helping you out with your charity, well, that’s sweet. But I’m no idiot, Kaavi. Do you think your father is the only one who runs background checks?”

I laughed.

“What do you mean? You ran a background check on me? I don’t have a fucking thing to hide except that my engagement is a goddamned sham.”

“Not on you, Kaavi. I just happened to stumble onto something very interesting about your father.”

I was caught off guard for a moment.

“On my dad?”

“Yes. I don’t think he ever intended on me seeing it. I’d just dropped by his office quite late and unannounced one day when I caught wind of it at first. And then a little more digging and, well, let’s just say that no one likes to be caught with their pants down.”

“Oh please, Spencer.” I rolled my eyes. “If this is about some woman or the other that he’s been with over the years, or, well, even right now, it’s really no big deal.” And I was right. You didn’t get to be where we were without some rumors flying around. I’d heard it all—that Nadia was the love child my father had with a mistress, that my mother had a lover that my father had killed, whatever you could come up with, the gossips had been there before. I steeled myself.

“This is Colombo—nearly every man in my father’s position has a mistress. If you’ve got information about some woman—”