Lie to Me (Pearl Island Trilogy #4)(81)

“Does that mean you’re going to move in with me?” Pleasure lit his eyes.

“That means I’m thinking about it.” A grin tugged her lips. “First, though, I need to deal with John and Diane.”

He sighed. “As much as I want to get the necklace for my grandmother, I hate that it’s causing friction for you with your family.”

“I do, too.” Worry gnawed at her. “I wish they hadn’t found out that you filed a claim with the Historical Commission.”

“How angry are they going to be that you obviously spent the night with me?”

She rolled her eyes. “DeeDee will frown at my lack of propriety. My mother will probably worry that you’ll seduce me into helping you. As for John, he’ll assume I was following orders.”

“Following orders?” Luc’s brows snapped together.

“He wants me to use my womanly wiles to convince you to drop your claim.”

“Are you kidding me?” He gaped at her.

“I wish I were.”

“Chloe, I don’t want you to go in there.” His face took on the same fierce expression he wore when battling pirates and dragons. “Forget your clothes; I’ll buy you new ones. Let’s just go back to Vortal and—”

“Stop.” She pressed a finger over his lips. His vehemence made her smile. “I’ll be fine. They’re my family. I know how to deal with them.”

“I don’t like you having to deal with them.” He scowled. “Especially not by yourself. Why don’t I go in with you? I’ll help you convince them the necklace doesn’t have the power they think it does.”

“Are you joking?” She pulled back. “As far as they’re concerned, you’re the competition. They won’t believe anything you say. You need to trust me on this.”

“Maybe.” His jaw set. “But I don’t have to like it.”

“I’ll be fine.” Leaning toward him, she cupped his tense jaw. When he looked ready to argue, she touched her lips to his.

A heartbeat passed before his mouth responded with a gentleness that grew gradually more demanding until his lips claimed hers as if he might never see her again. Kissing him back with equal intensity, she wished she could do what he’d suggested, return to Vortal and make love until it was time for her to leave for the airport. She couldn’t, though. Not if they were going to have a future together.

When Luc pulled back, he stared into her eyes. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” The words still played havoc with her heart, a tug of war between joy and fear.

“Call me when you get to Pearl Island,” he said as she climbed out of the car.

“Of course.” She gave him a reassuring smile. “Now, stop worrying. Everything will be fine.”

As Luc watched Chloe go through the wrought-iron gate, he fought the urge to go after her, either to whisk her away or stand at her side. While her courage made him love her even more, he wanted her to realize she didn’t have to fight all her battles on her own.

“It’ll be okay,” he muttered as he started the car.

~ ~ ~

By evening, Luc was pacing his apartment, cursing himself for not following his gut. Every instinct told him Chloe was going through hell, and he wasn’t there with her.

Finally, the phone rang. Seeing her name on the screen, he scooped it up.

“Chloe, hey, you made it back. I was starting to get worried—”

“L-luc?”

His stomach dropped. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know what to do.” He heard her take a ragged breath.

“What happened?”

“It was so much worse than I expected. I’ve never seen John so furious. At least not with me. Maybe because I’ve never defied him before.”

“Tell me what happened.” He felt every beat of his heart as he longed to climb through the phone and hold her.

“It started out really well. I went to my mother’s room since she was just waking up. We sat on her bed and talked like girlfriends. We haven’t done that in so long.” The pain in her voice told him how much Chloe must have craved moments like that growing up. How much she still craved them. “I don’t know what happened to change her mind, but she finally seems excited about marrying Harold. Maybe it was having some of her friends at the party last night tell her they thought Harold Bradford was a great catch despite how he looks. She hadn’t introduced him to any of her friends before, and some of them adore him. So now she’s eager for the wedding.”

“That’s great,” he said, thrown off kilter by the good news.

“It is great,” she agreed. “But then we joined John and DeeDee for lunch. John was in a surprisingly good mood, which should have tipped me off that something was up. When Diane mentioned that she’s so happy she doesn’t care about the necklace anymore, John said getting the necklace had nothing to do with her. He wants it so he can get out of the partnership deal with Harold and keep control of LeRoche Shipping in his own hands.”

“I’m sure he does,” Luc said, having a hard time imagining John LeRoche stepping aside for anyone.

“He was so calm, almost smug about it, I could tell he assumed that I would do whatever he said to help him get the necklace. I knew I had to say something. So I—” She took a shaky breath. “I told him I wouldn’t help you get the necklace, but I wouldn’t try to talk you into dropping your claim either. That I was going to leave it up to the Historical Commission.”