Lie to Me (Pearl Island Trilogy #4)(79)

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Staring up at the dark ceiling of his bedroom, Luc held Chloe in his arms. He’d carried her to his bed after her sobs subsided. Her steady breaths fanned over his chest; she wasn’t asleep, but she was no longer crying.

He thought he finally got her now. When it came down to it, she was simply a woman who wanted to be loved. Who wanted to find a place where she felt safe enough and accepted enough to belong. He understood that better than most people. He’d had a taste of how it felt to not fit in growing up, but nothing on the scale of what she’d lived with her whole life. He’d found his place when he created Vortal, but he realized the place he’d created wasn’t complete. Wouldn’t be complete without her.

“I’ve been thinking,” he said, tracing patterns on her back. “What if you don’t go back to Pearl Island?”

“What do you mean?” She lifted her head to look at him. “I have to go back. I have a flight tomorrow. Allison is expecting me to be back at work on Monday.”

“I know. I’m not talking about tomorrow.” He shifted toward her. “I’m talking about after that. What if you go back just long enough to deal with things, and then…” He took a deep breath. “What if you moved here?”

“You mean get a place here in New Orleans?” With the faint light coming through the door, he could see her frown.

“No, I mean, move in… here. With me.”

She stared at him in disbelief. His heart started to pound, but he pushed on.

“You’ve said you don’t have a home. That you’ve never had one.” He cupped her face. “This could be your home.”

“Vortal?” As she glanced about, he saw the glitter of interest in her eyes, but it faded to worry. “But… what would I do? You don’t need me. You have everything covered.”

“You don’t have to ‘do’ anything,” he said. “Just live here. With me. You can do whatever you want. Whatever makes you happy.”

“Whatever makes me happy,” she echoed as a frown dimpled her brow.

“What?” he asked, wondering what was going on in her head.

She sat up, holding the sheet to her. “Earlier tonight, Harold said my mother needs purpose to make her happy. When he said that, it was like a light shone down on the chaos that is my mother’s life, and it all made sense. Now I’m thinking the same is true for me. I’m happy at Pearl Island because I have a purpose there.”

“Working in the gift shop?” he asked, wanting to understand.

“I do more than that,” she said. Her expression shifted, as if some thought had just occurred to her. Something she’d never considered before.

“What?” he asked, as worried as he was curious.

She looked at him in obvious reluctance. “I don’t even want to say this, because it’s going to sound as if Allison and Aurora take advantage of me, and they don’t.”

“Just tell me.”

“I fill in anywhere and everywhere I can, from watching the kids to serving breakfast to pitching in with laundry. I’m buying my place there.”

“Surely you don’t think you have to buy their affection.” He came up on one elbow. When she just stared at him, he shook his head. “No, I absolutely don’t think that’s true. I don’t know them well, but I saw how they are with you. Those people are genuine.” Unlike her family here, who played all kinds of head games, he thought. “You don’t have to live on Pearl Island and run yourself ragged for those people to love you. They’re going to love you whether you’re there, or here, or living in Timbuktu.”

“But what would I do here?”

“Well, since you won’t have to pay rent, do whatever you want that gives you some spending money.”

“No, that’s not what I mean.” She shook her head. “I don’t need a job for the money. Now that I gave in to John’s demand and attended the party tonight, I’m reasonably sure I don’t have to worry about him yanking my trust fund. Unless the family fortune really is in danger. I mean, the trust fund is separate, but still…”

“Whoa, wait, back up.” He rubbed his forehead as he wrapped his brain around the fact that she didn’t need to work, like everyone else he knew. Of course she had a trust fund, though. She was John LeRoche’s granddaughter. He’d just never known someone who lived in that kind of reality. “Your grandfather threatened to pull your trust fund if you didn’t attend your mother’s engagement party? That’s why you went?”

“Yes, and no.” She sighed. “Yes, he made that threat, but no, that’s not why I went. I went for a whole long list of reasons that would probably take a psychiatrist to explain.”

“Do any of those reasons include it being the right thing to do for you?”

“Of course. I don’t know. Maybe?” She frowned. “If it helps Diane and me to have a decent relationship someday, then maybe it was the right thing to do for me.” She went silent for a moment, then looked at him. “Luc, are you absolutely sure your grandmother’s necklace doesn’t have the power to affect people’s fortune?”

“Why would you ask that?” He leaned back, stunned. “You’re not thinking about helping them get it, are you?”