What Makes Us Stronger (A Well Paired Novel Book 3) Read online

  Their driver would bring them from store to store where Damian would pick out items for her, which would then sell out as the next big fashion statement. He loved trend-setting with her. Or rather, using her to do so. It was all a game. See how many people he could control.

  And it was also part of his cover-up. She’d bought into it when he first came to the States. She was wowed by his presence. Sixteen years her senior, he was established and glamorous in ways an impressionable twenty-two-year-old would succumb to.

  Damian and her father had formed a partnership and before she realized what had happened, she’d been manipulated into marriage. Her entire life had been controlled. First by her father, then by her husband.

  It was the only life she knew, living in her gilded cage, and had no idea it wasn’t normal until she’d overheard Damian on the phone.

  “That was you in the shop, wasn’t it? Your hair was short. Darker. You were thinner. Too skinny. I wouldn’t have recognized you had I not been obsessive about following you in the daily rags. I looked for social media accounts, but you never had any. I thought that odd in this day and age.”

  No social media for the Stewart-Gervais heiress. It would cause too much frenzy. People would learn too much about their private lives, Damian had said. Better to leave it to his PR people.

  Needing to wash it all away, she gulped her tea, not caring how hot it was, not caring if it burned her insides.

  Her father and husband had burned her from so much, from life.

  “Lily?” Grace scooted closer, placing a hand on her foot. “Do you want to talk about it? About the rest?”

  So she had heard. Or read. Or seen. Lily couldn’t talk. Couldn’t formulate words. She shook her head.

  “Is it true? Did Damian kill that man? The detective or whatever they call them in France?”

  Lily swallowed the ball of pain in her throat and nodding, set her tea on the table. She couldn’t fight the tremble anymore.

  “Some say he killed your father. Other reports are that he committed suicide.”

  Lily didn’t know which was true and, frankly, she didn’t care. After she’d witnessed Damian shooting the detective in his office, she’d snuck back to her room and threw up at least a week’s worth of meals. Cold sweats and uncontrollable shakes took over her body.

  Damian had found her huddled around the toilet and thought she had the flu. It was what had saved her. She couldn’t face him and hide her reaction. Hide the fact she’d witness him kill a man. A police officer.

  She didn’t hear the gun go off, but the blood on the man’s chest and his body falling to the floor in a sudden thud was clear enough a picture. And her father stood only a few feet away. She’d seen his reaction. It was of satisfaction.

  Her father was just as guilty as Damian.

  The toilet, the privacy of the bathroom became her saving grace. She slept there all night avoiding their bedroom. Their bed. When she heard him leave in the morning—without even checking on her—she ran to her room to change and flee.

  Only there was no one to call. No one to run to.

  “Do you think he killed your father?”

  There was no doubt in her mind. “Yeah,” she managed to say.

  “I’m sorry, Lily. I’m so, so sorry. I can’t imagine the hell you’ve experienced in life.”

  “The grass is always greener, huh?” Her failed attempt at humor didn’t make either one of them feel better.

  “Your name change, this is your way of escaping the past?”

  So Grace didn’t know everything. To have one friend to confide in, to tell her secrets to had always been her dream. And while Lily had the women in town, she could only share with them stories from Lily Novak’s life, not anything from Veronica Stewart’s.

  Going against Agent Thorne’s advice, she decided to open up to Grace.

  “I witnessed the murder.”

  “Holy shit! You saw him kill that guy?”

  Lily closed her eyes and nodded. “The next day I left Damian a message telling him I was spending the day at the spa. I figured he’d be too busy cleaning up his mess and figuring out what to do with the body to pay much attention to me.”

  “Maybe we do need the tequila.”

  “I don’t think I could handle it now. Maybe later.”

  “You name it and it’s yours.” Grace kept earnest eyes on Lily. Yes, she’d turn into a good friend.

  “I did go to the spa. I never needed an appointment. They’d bump someone to squeeze me in. I knew I had to act normal or I’d draw suspicion to Damian. Having a massage and facial meant I didn’t have to talk to anyone, and it would give me time to think. By the time I was done, Bruno, one of Damian’s bodyguards, was waiting for me.”

  “Bruno? Did he look as stereotypical as his name sounds?”

  “Identical. Only instead of ushering me into the Mercedes, he gripped my elbow and said we needed to take a walk.”

  “He tried to kill you?”

  “You and Ty should watch movies together.”

  “Ty knows about this?”

  “No. I just meant”—Lily tugged at her ponytail—“you both love to interrupt stories.”

  “Oh my word. I’m so sorry. I do that a lot. I’m an interrupter. I’ll shut up now.”

  “It’s okay.” Lily managed a slight smile. “At least I know you’re listening.”

  “How can I not? I mean, your life, first it was a fairy tale and now it’s a freaking mystery suspense thriller. Screw book club. You can tell us stories about your life. It’s better than fiction.” Grace cupped her hand over her mouth. “I didn’t just say that. That’s not what I meant. Your life sucks. Sucked. Seriously, Lily. I swear I’m not an insensitive bitch.”

  “I know you aren’t. I wouldn’t be telling you all of this if I thought otherwise.”

  “I’ll shut up and let you finish. So Bruno takes you for a walk...”

  The shaking in her hands had stopped, so she picked up her tea again telling the story with no emotion. She’d worked hard to compartmentalize so she wasn’t living in fear twenty-four seven. “He told me Damian suspected I knew. He offered to take me away. Set me up somewhere safe.”

  “And you believed the guy? Sorry. I’ll stop.”

  “That’s okay. I didn’t believe him at first. I figured it was Damian’s way to get me out of the picture. Stage a car accident or something. I let Bruno believe I believed him, though. That night at dinner my father asked me about my day. If I was feeling better. He was heading back to New York in the morning and wanted to spend one last evening with me. I didn’t want to be in the house and thought a crowd would be safer, so I suggested the opera.”

  “Why do all rich people like that stuff?”

  “Actually, I hated it. My dad loved it, or pretended to love it. Like you said, rich, classy people are supposed to appreciate it, so he made us go quite often.”

  “Did you tell your dad what you saw? That your husband killed a man?”

  “No.” Lily shook her head and sighed. It was all she could do. There were no feelings left inside her for her father. “He knew. He was standing next to Damian when it happened.”

  “Dear God.” Grace fell back on the couch and covered her face with her hands. “You poor girl. This story keeps getting worse. So you go out with your father not knowing if he has plans to off you? Again. Sorry. No filter here.”

  “Pretty much. Right before intermission, Bruno whispers to my father loud enough so I can hear. He told him Damian needed him back at the house immediately. Bruno stayed with me until the end of the opera, and I still didn’t know who to trust. If I was safer sitting next to my dad or the bodyguard who knew I’d witnessed the murder.”

  Putting her cup down again, she grabbed a pillow and cradled it to her chest. “That night Bruno drove me to the embassy and reported what he knew. Apparently, my father and Damian had been receiving illegal shipments of jewels from Africa and covering it up for nearly a decade. They’d made the
ir billions by stealing from those who couldn’t even afford to put a real roof over their heads.”

  “And that’s why the detective was there. When he knew he was busted, Damian reacted by killing the guy.”

  “Pretty much. There was some bribery going on as well. That night when officials from the embassy went to arrest my father and bring him back to the States, they found him dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Forensics later said it wasn’t suicide. Something about the angle of the gun. At that point, I didn’t care. Damian’s serving life in prison. He shouldn’t be a problem for me anymore.”

  “Shouldn’t. What aren’t you saying?”

  This was where her future would never be the same. “The investigators discovered it went deeper than just my father and Damian. There have been at least five others arrested for consorting with them. And some have said...” she hugged her pillow tighter. “It’s come out that some of these criminals think I know all the names of those involved. And there’s fear that those who haven’t been identified or caught, will come after me.”

  “Oh, honey.” Grace shot up and wrapped Lily in a hug.

  “My death was staged and leaked to the papers.”

  “Oh, Lily.” She cried, her tears soaking Lily’s shirt, and soon Lily’s floodgates opened as well.

  They rocked back and forth and cried into each other’s arms until there were no more tears, only the unattractive sniffing and convulsing tearjerker aftershocks.

  “You’re living your life in fear. And yet you appear fresh and beautiful and happy day after day. You amaze me.”

  “I’ll accept half the compliment. I am happy. This town, the women I’ve become friends with. You mean more to me than all the money in the world.”

  “Shit. That’s a hefty compliment considering you used to have all the money in the world.”

  “And I mean it.”

  “I think it’s more than that. You always looked happy, but lately you shine. It’s Ty, isn’t it? I won’t be jealous of you anymore, not after that story.”

  “Jealous?”

  “Sure. You make it look so easy. I know your clothes aren’t designer right now, and you’re barely making ends meet. Yet you have it together. And now, knowing the hell you’ve been through and still are so sweet and kind to everyone, wow. You’re totally up there on my pedestal.”

  “I admire you too, Grace.”

  “Ah, don’t feel you need to return the compliment. There’s not much going on here.”

  “Sure there is. You went searching for something, for yourself. You knew you wouldn’t be happy working on your family’s winery, so you did a little self-discovery. And now you’re giving back by giving aspiring designers a chance to showcase their work. I think it’s a lovely idea.”

  “Really?”

  “Really.” Grace’s mouth dropped open, and her eyes went wide with fear. “Oh my God.”

  “What is it?” The fear spread to Lily. The hammering in her chest too familiar.

  “I. I.” Grace ran to the kitchen and searched frantically through her purse until she pulled out her phone. “I took pictures at the concert. I posted them on my Facebook and Instagram pages. I even made a comment about how you looked like that jewelry heiress. I couldn’t remember your name at the time; I’d had a lot to drink.”

  Lily wrapped her arms around her waist and bent over. She didn’t go on social media for that very reason. While she wasn’t famous, those who followed the fashion and jewelry industry, especially in Europe, could recognize her. Bile made its way up her throat but she held it at bay, reaching for a glass of water to wash it back down.

  “I’m deleting it right now. No one commented back about Veronica Stewart-Gervais. I’m sorry, Lily. I’m so, so sorry. Had I known...” Grace dropped her phone back in her purse and hung her head low.

  “It’s okay,” she said in a shaky voice. Grace didn’t know. It wasn’t her fault. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I knew it would be a matter of time before someone recognized me. I just figured in a small town like this no one would.”

  “Did I put you in danger? What can I do to help? Can I call someone? The police?”

  “No. The police don’t know who I am. I’ll call Agent Thorne in the morning to let him know there could be a possible slip. The chances are small, though.”

  “I’ve never hated myself more than I do right now.”

  She was scared, she’d always be scared for her life, but she didn’t want to live as a recluse anymore. The relationships she’d built with her new friends and with Ty taught her about life. About living. This was living, not tossing around money as if it grew on trees. Lily reached for Grace and hugged her tight.

  “I don’t blame you. I’m not mad. Honestly.”

  “I don’t deserve your kindness.” Grace sniffed.

  Lily heard her phone vibrate in the other room. “That’s probably Ty. I forgot to call him.” She needed more time to compose herself before she went over to his house. He’d be wondering where she was though, so she needed to answer it.

  “Do you want me to stay?”

  “I appreciate the thought. I’m okay now. I feel better. Honestly. It actually feels good to be able to talk to someone about it.”

  “I know I’m known for my love of gossip, but you have my absolute word that not the slightest—”

  “I trust you, Grace. Last week when you came to see me you knew yet you didn’t let on. Tonight you discreetly got me out of the bookstore when I thought I’d collapse. I know you didn’t realize the severity of the situation. You only knew part of the story. Now that you know it all—”

  “You’re Lily Novak. From Arizona, if rumor is correct. Family is gone. Not sure how. That’s some digging the rest of the town is anxiously awaiting to hear. When I hear the story, I’ll be sure to spread it.”

  “Thank you. For waiting to talk to me. For being my friend.” Her eyes filled again, and she sniffed back the tears.

  Grace leaned in for another long hug before letting herself out the door.

  Relief washed over Lily. A cleansing of the soul in a way. Now she had to figure out what to tell Ty. If anything at all.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  THE MID-SUMMER SUN bore down on his neck, heating his body until he’d soaked through his second shirt of the day. And it wasn’t even noon yet. Needing to hydrate, Ty climbed down the ladder, grateful to be off the hot as hell asphalt shingles.

  The Winston house should have been a quick reno. A leaky roof from years of neglect turned into redoing the entire backside of the house. Shingling in the summer was never a fun job. Ty liked to arrive early and beat the summer heat, but the Winstons were late sleepers and wouldn’t allow Ty and his crew to arrive before nine.

  Two more days and they’d be done. He’d wanted desperately to take a few days off and go away somewhere private with Lily. Hell, he’d settle on a two-day lock-in at his house. Their schedules didn’t mesh though, except for their Sundays off. Other than that, it was a quick meal here and there.

  Their sleepovers were happening more frequently, which he had absolutely no problems with, but he wanted to take Lily somewhere. He’d never done that before. Never had the opportunity or never cared.

  It wasn’t like he needed to show her off, everyone in town had figured out they were together, thanks to his car being parked in her lot all night and the few times they’d had dinner at The Happy Clam and even the Sunrise Diner.

  Priscilla had loved that one. She was all smiles when Ty held the door open for Lily and pulled out her chair before ordering their Sunday breakfast.

  “’Scilla knows what she’s talking about.” She fanned herself with a plastic menu. “The colors coming off you two. Phewy! It’s hot.”

  Ty smiled at the memory as he opened the cooler in the back of his truck and drank from his water bottle. He’d already refilled it twice from the garden hose.

  “Make sure to hydrate,” he said to Phil, his right-hand man on t
he job. “Let’s break for lunch. Looks like some cloud cover will be here in a bit.” Ty pointed across the horizon where a batch of white fluffy clouds would shield them from the sun.

  His crew had been small this summer with many guys taking time off for family vacations. He’d never taken one before. Why bother? Where would he go? Who would he go with? It wasn’t until Lily that he’d understood the importance of downtime.

  “You’re pushing yourself too hard, Ty.” His dad carried his cooler over to a shady spot under a maple tree and sat in the grass. Ty followed him, bringing his lunch with him as well.

  “Just trying to finish up the job.” He unwrapped his roast beef sandwich and bit into it.

  “When was the last time you took a day off? Phil says you’ve been working side projects on Saturdays as well.”

  Saturdays had turned lonely with Lily at work, and he’d used that time productively instead of moping around. It was a win-win. He wasn’t as stressed about squeezing in the little projects after work and could be home in time for dinner with Lily.

  “Simple repairs is all, Dad. The Chamberlains front porch stairs were rotted out. Buddy’s getting up there in age and shouldn’t be pushing himself and Milly can barely walk now, so I put in a simple ramp.”

  “That was nice of you. Milly called your mother last week to tell her what a nice boy she’d raised.” His father scraped the bottom of his yogurt container. “Speaking of your mother, she’d like you and Lily to come over for dinner on Sunday.”

  He hadn’t talked to his parents about Lily. It wasn’t like he was keeping her from them; the entire town knew they were seeing each other. He’d never introduced a girlfriend to his family before. Not that Lily needed an introduction. His mother knew her before he did.

  “I’ll ask her.”

  “That would make your mother happy. She likes Lily a lot.” They ate their lunches in silence until his father broke the spell. “You know, I’m not getting any younger either.”