chapter 10
THE WEEK before the engagement party passed far too quickly for Gabriel. His confidence in Lucy had grown considerably, yet he still felt anxious about her meeting his family. Would they fall for their act? Could he convince them he was in love with the girl? He wasn’t worried about Lucy’s performance: she was showing herself to be an incredible actress. And the story she’d concocted of the way they’d met had been genius.
It went like this:
They’d literally run into each other in the entrance of The Szechuan Garden. He had knocked her down, accidentally, and she had thought he was a complete jerk. He’d helped her up, and was unsuccessfully trying to apologize when she’d kicked him in the shin and took off down the street, absently leaving behind her takeout order.
He’d scooped up the bag and rushed after her. “Like a creepy stalker,” Lucy had said, “He followed me to my car and invited me to join him in the park to split the bag of takeout food I’d left behind. What an arrogant pig!”
But somehow Gabriel had convinced her he was harmless, and by the time they’d gorged on the contents of the bag, which strangely had two fortune cookies in it (a romantic touch that made Gabriel want to gag,) they began to talk, and so was the beginning of their courtship.
He had to admire how she’d effortlessly organized some tidbits about him into an actual romantic scenario. Obviously the imagination of the average American high school senior was alive and well. Must’ve been the glut of cable television, practically how-too programs for those who wanted to rule the world through treachery.
Either way, it was impressive, yet deceptively simple and easy to remember. And even though Lucy was unabashedly greedy, Gabriel was finding her rather easy to like. He still couldn’t believe he’d told her about the tattoo. He had never told anyone that story, even though he displayed the photograph in his office. But somehow, he just seemed to want to tell Lucy things.
Actually, he hadn’t even told the whole truth of the tattoo to Delia…and she’d actually seen the real thing, not just a picture.
What did that mean? The question left him sitting alone in his office, in the dim light of evening, wondering what the hell was he really doing? Was he just confused by trying to act the part of Lucy’s fiancé? Or was there something he didn’t understand, something right there in front of him, so obvious it should be as big as a billboard, but somehow he just couldn’t see it.
And if what he was feeling wasn’t just an after effect of an act, if it was something real and tangible…well then what?
Had it changed the way he felt about Delia?
No. As he leaned into the leather couch in his office he knew for a fact that it hadn’t changed the way he felt about Delia. But somehow he just knew that the way he was feeling toward Lucy was so far different than what he felt for Delia that he should be ashamed. He should feel guilt ridden and retched. But thinking about Lucy didn’t make him feel anything but good.
No, not just good. He felt like he was overheating when he thought about Lucy. He felt like every molecule in his body was vibrating fast enough he should just explode. And then there was how his mind felt around her. His usually cool, confident thought processes snagged and tripped clumsily around her…and he really didn’t seem to mind.
What the hell was happening to him?
He looked to his watch and saw the time. It was only an hour before the engagement party. He needed to shower and change into his tuxedo. Laurel had it hanging on the back of his office door with a little note tacked to the clingy plastic sleeve.
Congratulations Boss. Lucy’s great!
He smiled as he plucked the note from the dry-cleaning bag. Lucy really was great. But did that mean anything?
He grabbed the tux and started for the gym locker-room. He needed to get ready. And, deep down, he wanted to look good for Lucy.
~*~
After close to four weeks of preparation Lucy was appalled that she was actually nervous the night of the engagement party. Especially since there was no reason to be nervous…well, no real reason anyways.
Between her fashion sense and Elaina’s elegant advice, she was sure her clothes were beyond reproach. And since she’d been dieting for the last month, and back on her exercise routine—now that the shoulder injury from her horrid days at McDonalds was just a memory—she’d lost the ten pounds she’d been carrying around. Even without the aid of her dermatologist her skin was back to its usual lustrous, blemish-free self.
Red is so my color, Lucy thought as she gazed appreciatively at herself in the full length mirror she’d installed in her room. The dress she’d picked for the engagement party was a very deep, dark red silk, cut to show some cleavage—but not that much— and formfitting enough to show off her newly regained figure. The hem came a little over the knee with a slit up the thigh. She loved the dress. With its perfect little silk straps and a skirt that felt daring and elegant at the same time.
The dress was truly romantic. It would be something she would wear herself, if one day she was actually going to tie-the-knot.
That thought made her a little sad. Wasn’t this real? Did it not count? And if it did count, did it count against the years of happiness she would have waiting for her on the other side of this little arrangement?
Shit! She thought, pulling her hair up in a lovely twist on the top of her head. Her hair was back to its old manageable self. If anything, it looked a little better than it had.
Lucy stared at herself in the mirror and willed herself to stop thinking about it. It didn’t matter if this counted or not. This was a means to an end…the end of her life of poverty, which—though short lived—had been both excruciating and humiliating.
No. Fake engagement or phony marriage, this was the means. It would buy her back her life and a chance at happiness after high school—no matter how bad her father had screwed things up for them.
Lucy slipped on the yummy pair of matching red Italian leather shoes Elaina had found for her at a boutique two hours away. She was now ready. Ready to meet her future in-laws, and the family—the rather large family, from all reports—she’d only seen so far in pictures and via word of mouth from Elaina, Dante, and Mr. Excitement himself, Gabe.
She still called him that even though he gave her the evil eye every time, and even though he threatened to expose her relationship with Mr. Gordo. She knew, though, that he wouldn’t expose Mr. Gordo. That was just a bit of verbose idle threatening. Actually, Lucy got the feeling that Gabe was starting to warm up to her. After many long dinners in his huge office at Enoch Industries, going over his past—where he went to school, college, grad school (he didn’t seem old enough to have done all of that, but he had the diplomas and the way about him.)
Lucy had seen that way in her father, a graduate of Stanford himself. She also saw it in Dante. All three were extremely well educated, and had a natural affinity to the work they did.
She looked at her reflection once more into the full-length mirror. Gabriel will like the way I look…right? She shook the question off. Of course he’ll like the way she looked. She looked freaking sensational!
Though Gabe seemed rather cold and detached for his age, it was part of what was making him interesting to Lucy. There was nothing on this earth that was more boring than listening to a nerd talk hours on end about his life. “I went to MIT; didn’t make one friend, never had a single date. Then I went to work for Microsoft; never made one friend, never had a single date. Then I built myself an android girlfriend, her name was Heather. She didn’t like me either.”
But talking with Gabe wasn’t boring. He was actually passionate about the family business. And he obviously had as many friends as he had family members. His office was lined with their photos. She’d seen smaller graduating classes from high schools.
Maybe she was a much older woman, this inappropriate lady love of his? Not an old hag, no…just maybe a cougar. That was an interesting thought.
I can’t bring home my girlfriend because she graduated the same year as my mom.
Lucy smiled as she got into her shiny new car. She didn’t like having to park it so far away from the house. But better the inconvenient walk than explaining how she’d gotten it to her mom and Grandmother. Sooner or later, she supposed, she would have to break the news to her family. After all, there would be the wedding, and the wedding announcement.
Suddenly, as she turned the key in the ignition, she had a horrifying thought.
Would there be an engagement announcement in the paper?
Crap!
But maybe the announcement would only be in the papers in San Bernardino? Yeah, but what if one of Mom’s old friends calls her up to congratulate her on her daughter’s good fortune. Marrying up in the world.
Lucy’s head swam with terrible thoughts as she sat there, the car purring in idled. She pulled out her phone and called Gabe. He picked up on the third ring.
“Is there going to be an announcement in the paper?”
“Lucy?” She could hear people in the background—more than just a few. It sounded like a prom.
“Yes, it’s me. Now tell me there’s not going to be something in the paper about all this. If so, I’ve got some major damage control to do when I get home tonight.”
“Calm down, calm down! My family is pretty private, so no, there won’t be any announcements.”
Lucy let out a long, slow breath. So she was safe…for now.
“Are you on your way? People are arriving already.”
“Sure...I’m on my way.”
“How long will you be?” He sounded anxious, and then Lucy heard why.
“Hey, Gabriel!” A nasally woman’s voice rang through the connection. “Where is this fiancée we’ve all been hearing about?”
“I’m talking to her right now, Aunt Junipa…” Junipa? “She’ll be here any time now.”
“That’s marvelous. Everyone is salivating to meet her.”
Lucy suddenly felt like the main course at a banquet. This night was going to be rough.
“So when are you going to be here?” Gabe asked again in a whisper.
How am I going to tell him I’m just getting on the freeway? She stamped her foot down on the gas and the hot little sports car took off like a rocket. As long as she was going too fast for the police to see her as she passed by, then things would be fine…right?
Riiight…
“Half an hour…give or take.”
~*~
Smoke rolled out from the tires as Lucy skidded the car to a halt in front of the La Companion Refectory: yet another, very exclusive, very large dining venue. She remembered Gabe saying that they had rented out the entire place. Suddenly Lucy wondered how many people were going to be there.
A valet jogged out to the car and opened the door for her. He offering his hand to assist her, but she smiled and said, “No thanks.” She swung her legs free of the car and smoothed the hem of her dress as she stood. The valet was young, a bit older than Lucy, and he made a little breathy whistle as he took in the sight of her.
Excellent, Lucy thought. I’ve still got it. Then she thought, Pig…
A door man ushered her through the front doors, and standing there in a freshly pressed black linen suit stood Frank Luvici. Not only was the suit tailored and wrinkle free, but his shoes shined and his hair was neatly slicked back. “Nice driving. I can smell the burnt rubber from here.”
Lucy smiled. Only a few weeks ago Luvici had made her ill. But since then he’d grown on her like some sort of likable mold. She gave him a wide eyed once over.
“Who knew you could clean up.” She winked at him. “Who’d you borrow the suit from?”
Luvici gave her a lopsided grin then offered her his arm. “Funny.” He led her past what could only be described as three human Rottweilers. They were all in matching tuxedoes, and they had the same body types—muscular to the point they had no necks.
The muscle in the middle moved to open another set of doors.
“Everybody’s been waiting for you,” Luvic said. “The family’s been practically drooling with anticipation.”
“I heard.” Lucy smiled at the way both Gabe and Luvici had described the family’s anticipation. Lucy looked up at Luvici. “So what are you doing here, looking all dapper?”
“Dapper, really?”
Lucy nodded. “You look fantastic.”
“Well, I couldn’t miss you meeting the family. It’s just one of those things, like train wrecks and reality television.”
Lucy rolled her eyes at him. “Very funny.”
“And I kind of have to be here. You can’t get out of a family event.” He nodded toward the doors as they opened to an immense ballroom. “Especially not ours.”
“Oh,” Lucy said, her eyes widening for real this time. But her attention was torn away from Luvici a moment later.
The ballroom was decorated with wild flowers and roses, orchids and lilies. Candlelight made the room sparkle and glow. Huge crystal chandeliers hung from the vaulted gold inlayed ceiling, and the walls echoed the same theme, gold encrusted walls and long, elegant inset mirrors. Carved vines and flowers and angels shimmered from the gold.
The parquet floor was deep mahogany and polished to a dazzling sheen. But no sooner did Lucy take in the grandeur of the place than she realized that the three hundred or so elegantly dressed partygoers were all suddenly staring right at her.
She gulped.
“The natives look hungry.” Luvici dove right on into the crowd of Gabe’s family, pulling her along, introducing her to a couple dozen aunts and uncles, nephews, nieces, great aunts, great uncles (one an older, more distinguished version of Luvici: his father.) Lucy felt as if she were being twirled around in an ever quickening dance. Before she knew it everything turned into a blur. She didn’t even notice when Luvici was replace by Dante.
Dante looked, if possible, even more regal and handsome than before. She’d seen him a few times when she’d go to see Gabe at Enoch Industries, and they’d talked often on the phone. He’d filled in some of the gaps in Gabe’s history.
But even with Gabe and Dante hand feeding her facts and crucial events from Gabe’s past, she still felt there was something huge missing. Something that just made the picture they had painted not quite mesh. If Gabe’s life had been a jigsaw puzzle Lucy knew she would never be able to finish it.
Too many pieces missing.
Fun…
Abruptly Lucy found herself standing before Gabe and the most elegant, beautiful middle aged couple she had ever seen. The man was a larger, broad shouldered version on Gabe, with long graying hair that was swept back from his face in thick waves, just long enough to touch his collar. The woman had long golden blonde hair pilled in exquisite curls on the top of her head. Her dress was vintage Dior, silver silk, and hugged her rather lithe body to perfection. She was stunning.
The parents, Lucy thought with a mental gasp. If Dante had looked like royalty, these two were certainly the king and queen. Lucy felt underdressed, out classed and yearning to have a few months more time to prepare herself…or reinvent herself.
But that wasn’t happening. You didn’t get do-overs in real life. So she took a deep breath and offered her hand to Mr. and Mrs. Enoch.
“So,” Mr. Enoch said, smiling broadly. “This is the young lady that has captured my son’s heart.” He bowed and kissed Lucy’s hand. When he stood back up he said, “I am Jonas Enoch, and this is my wife, Vivian.”
Vivian Enoch smiled as she took Lucy’s hand and gently shook it. A beautiful warm smile was in place, but her eyes were cold and searching…questioning. She obviously didn’t believe her son had eyes for Lucy. That or she simply didn’t think Lucy was good enough for him.
Either way, the coldness in Vivian Enoch’s eyes made the annoyed heat ignite in Lucy’s head. Where only a moment ago Lucy felt she was over her head, and drowning in the varied richness and elegance of the Enoch family, Vivian Enoch’s chilly gaze filled Lucy with that good old feeling of Who does this bitch think she is?
Nice, Lucy thought as Mrs. Enoch released her hand and gave her a flat, cold glare. She hasn’t said a word and I’m calling her a bitch…
“Lacey,” she said intentionally, rubbing the fingers of the hand Lucy had just shook like something sticky had rubbed off. “I’ve been dying to meet you.” She gave Gabe a rather chilly smile too. “Gabriel has absolutely refused to bring you to the house. I can’t for the life of me understand why.” Her gaze returned to Lucy. “You’re just…stunning.”
Oblivious to his wife’s obvious dislike for Lucy, Jonas Enoch held out his arm to Lucy, asking, “May this old man have the first dance?” He was addressing both Lucy and Gabriel.
“Of course,” Gabriel said. He looked at Lucy as he always did. Friendly, yet distant, as if he expected her to pick her nose, or break out in Hillbilly song.
At least now I know where he gets it from, Lucy shuddered. That cool way of making you feel like you’re below him, and he’s slumming it just talking to you. Good old Mom.
“I’d love to,” Lucy said, smiling at Jonas with genuine warmth. She didn’t spare a second glance for Vivian. She would have to ask him someday why he’d married a woman like her. But for the moment she let herself take in the thrill of being the object of everyone’s attention as Jonas Enoch lead her out onto the dance floor.
There was a small orchestra by the dance floor, and their music just seemed to flow through the room like water in a stream, as if it had been playing the entire time: a waltz. Lucy had heard it in a movie once. Mozart or Chopin or someone dead long before the advent of electricity, or the hair dryer, or anything else Lucy found instrumental to everyday life. But the music was beautiful, and Jonas Enoch was an amazingly graceful dancer, twirling her around the floor, yet never pushing so fast that she could not keep up.
She suddenly realized that Jonas Enoch’s hands were hot, just like Gabriel’s and Dante’s were.
Jonas caught Lucy’s eyes in his gaze and smiled. “So what are your intentions for my son, young lady?”
Direct. Maybe he wasn’t as affable as she’d thought.
“What do you mean?” Lucy said, stalling for time, trying to get the more calculating and clever part of her brain to take over.
“What I mean is no one has even heard of you before a couple of weeks ago. Where has he been hiding you, and what has he been doing with you?”
Okay, now we’re talking, Lucy hit Jonas Enoch with her million dollar smile. This guy is sharp, and no amount of guile and complement is going to placate or fool him. So Lucy decided to go for the honest approach…kind of.
“Well, we haven’t really known each other much longer than that.” Lucy smiled up at Jonas as if to say, that’s that, and Jonas gave her the expression of being unimpressed she was looking for. “Well,” she continued, “Gabe really wants to go further…if you get the gist, and I told him flat out that I wasn’t about to sleep with him until there was a huge rock on my finger and a big old honking checking account at my disposal.”
For a moment Jonas Enoch looked as if he were going to turn red as a fire hydrant, and then his handsome expression relaxed and he chuckled. “You’re good…you really had me going there.”
Lucy beamed her best smile up at Jonas then felt something warm slide up inside her chest, something that made her heart start to thump in her chest. And suddenly she just started talking. Not really to Jonas, not really to anybody, maybe just to herself.
“There’s just something about him…Gabe, you know?”
Jonas nodded and took a breath to say something, but Lucy just kept talking.
“It’s like, most of the time he drives me crazy. He’s so freaking bossy and anal, and he’s just such a jerk sometimes…but then sometimes when we’re alone, and he’s talking, telling some stupid, pointless story about college, or boating, or whatever…I just can’t take my eyes off him.”
“Love is strange sometimes.” Jonas looked a little confused. Obviously he hadn’t expected his future daughter in law to bad mouth her groom at the engagement party. “Truth be told, I spent most of my youth hating my wife.”
Lucy looked up at him with shocked eyes. Was he really saying this?
“Vivian was my best friend’s little sister. A real snob, even though we were both from wealthy families, both going back…” He coughed, and then smiled at Lucy as if he were just remembering she was there. “Let’s just say, she had no place looking down her pretty little nose at me…but that didn’t stop her. And then one night, at the party for her brother’s graduation, we just started talking…mostly about her brother…” The look on his face was as if he were remembering the most wonderful night ever. “And then right before I left she pulled me aside, onto a balcony overlooking the King…er, I mean a garden, and right there and then she kissed me.”
“Oh…” Lucy whispered. She felt like she was melting inside. “That’s so romantic.”
“Yes, it was very romantic. And then she slapped me and wouldn’t talk to me for three weeks.”
“How did you get her back?” She felt her breathing coming more and more rapidly. She just had to know.
“Well, she waited for a hunter’s moon, and when our two families were in the forest, she lured me onto a mountain and, well…” Jonas’ face blushed beautifully. “She jumped me.”
Lucy laughed as her own face flushed hot just thinking about it. Cold as ice Vivian jumping big old Jonas’ bones.
“That’s our little secret,” he said tensely. “If Vivian ever even suspected I told you—”
“She’d jump your ass, but not in a good way?”
“Exactly.”
Suddenly a large, gorgeous young man deftly lifted Lucy’s hand from Jonas’ and spun her around and out of her dance partner’s arms.
“Micah!” Jonas said, chuckling again. Jonas had a great laugh. “Be careful with your brother’s fiancée.”
Lucy’s eyes snapped wide open with surprise. Looking up at the tall, handsome man that was spinning her around the dance floor with blurry speed, she could see a little resemblance to Gabe…something about the eyes and the set of the mouth, but truthfully he was a taller, broader version of his father.
Where did these huge beautiful men come from? Lucy was used to maybe six foot tall quarterbacks, the occasional six three basketball player. But Jonas and Micah were enormous.
“I’ve been dying to meet Gabe’s brother.” Lucy started to feel a little dizzy as Micah twirled them a path through the din of dancers.
Suddenly Micah spun her around and deposited Lucy, dizzy and breathing heavily, onto a marble bench on a veranda. The view of the city was beautiful. She looked up at Micah and saw the most mischievous smile.
Crap! Lucy was flashing back to Jonas’ story: the balcony, the kiss. What the hell was going on? Was she going to have to defend herself from a big meaty Viking of a future brother-in-law? She would’ve worn something more athletic if she’d known.
Micah plopped down on the bench beside her, throwing one of his muscular, tuxedo clad arms over her shoulder. He smelled like a forest…no, a wild garden? And she could see, even though his suit was very expensive and stylish, he was wearing it completely rumpled, as if he’d been partying in it for days. Even his longish dark blond hair was haphazardly tucked behind his ears.
“I’m surprised he mentioned me. We don’t see eye to eye on most things. He’s more business minded, and I’m the…” he stopped, staring out into the night, searching to the right word.
“The screw up of the family?” Just taking a shot in the dark here.
“The warrior type, I was going to say.”
Warrior? “So you’re into hostile takeovers?”
Micah snorted. “War is always hostile.”
“You’re in the armed forces?” Lucy asked with more disbelief than she’d intended. Micah just didn’t strike her as the soldier type.
“Not exactly, but you’ll find out soon enough.” A song sprang from the open door to the ballroom. It was fast and very vibrant, and a chorus of applause erupted from the room of dancers and party guests. Micah winked. “Time to get you back inside. The natives are just dying to get a piece of you.”
Micah jumped up and pulled Lucy along to the doors. This can’t be good.