Beneath The Lies Read online

  I run a hand down my face. I can’t form an attachment to this girl, no matter how much she appeals to me. I cannot get involved with her when I haven’t yet solved the mysteries surrounding me. And there are one too many.

  So many questions plague me. Why were my father and brother killed? Who killed them? Who had my father and brother pissed off so thoroughly that they want me dead as well? And until I don’t have the answers to these questions, it would be wrong to involve Aaliya further. She doesn’t deserve to become a part of the mess that is my life. I need to remember the last five years before I bring her into it, even someone as special and lovely as her.

  Every atom of my being rebels at the thought of leaving her like this. I gently caress the apple of her soft cheek and don my clothes. I exit the room with a heavy heart, but with a clear mind.

  Aaliya

  Iwake up to an empty bed. My body protests as I finally rise up to go to the bathroom, the various aches and pains making me remember the way he owned me so thoroughly last night, twice. It was…indescribable. Damien had been my first lover and up until this point in my life, I had thought sex was great.

  But after last night, it is so much…more!

  My brain and heart are at war with one another because although my heart knows it was the same man, my husband, who made love to me, my brain refuses to recognize this stranger who so expertly consumed my soul.

  I stare at myself in the bathroom mirror and my eyes fall on the bite mark on my shoulder. My cheeks flush and my skin heats as the memories from last night resurface. Each time I’m intimate with him, the same questions haunt my mind. How much of his true self has Damien kept from me? How could he hide such an intrinsic, dominant part of himself?

  Damien was always a gentle lover, giving pleasure before seeking it but last night he took and took what he wanted. The way he touched me, the way he dominated my body, his commanding words, all of that is new for me. It’s like making love to two different people and I’m unsure how I feel about it. It scares me a little, embarrasses me to a certain degree and thrills me to no end. My body is alternating between flushing hot and cold, all my emotions mixing into one another in a big jumble of confusion. I don’t know whether to be happy or sad. All I know is that I want to experience that again with him.

  I brush my teeth and step into the shower, hoping that the hot water will clear my head because nothing is making sense to me.

  After dressing in another pair of leggings teemed with a striking turquoise sweater, I make my way downstairs and bump into Mike. I’m still a little embarrassed around him because I’m most certain he heard me scream that night in Damien’s library. But he remains stoic as ever, not speaking a word and simply pointing me towards the dining room.

  “Good morning,” I greet Damien as soon as I enter the dining room. He’s reading something on his phone while sipping from a mug. He looks up at me and gives me a quick smile in greeting before reverting to his phone.

  I find his behavior a bit off but I ignore it in favor of the excitement bubbling through my veins. Last night was a big step in a positive direction towards being a part of his life once again and I’m not going to let anything destroy my happiness right now.

  I take up the reins of the conversation instead.

  “I’d hoped to find you in bed when I woke up. What time did you leave?” I ask him while I open the various salvers on the dishes in front of me and choose my breakfast.

  He looks up at me. “I woke up early and couldn’t sleep after that. So, I decided to get some work done instead.”

  He reverts to scrolling through his phone again.

  I reach forward and take his hand, linking our fingers. “Is everything alright?”

  “Perfect,” he replies. He squeezes my fingers once before removing his hand from mine.

  I smile, satisfied for the moment.

  “The weather looks fine, doesn’t it?” I remark looking out through the window. The view outside is all white but it’s calm and silent with no hint of storm or bad weather.

  Damien looks outside and then at me. “Mike says we can leave within an hour if that’s okay with you.”

  “Oh! Okay. The weather sure seems to be unpredictable in this part of the world.”

  “Well, that’s Scotland for you.”

  He gives me a strange look and I chew my lower lip in worry, my forehead puckering.

  “Aaliya, about last night…” he begins. “That second time, I didn’t use a condom. I…”

  I raise my hand to stop him. “I’m on the pill, Damien. Besides, it was the wrong time of the month.”

  “Oh! Good.” He exhales and bows his head.

  I understand his relief. After all, in his mind he’s only just met me and yet he lost control with me to the extent that he didn’t use protection. I smile inwardly at that thought. I’ve been on the pill ever since Rian was born. Neither of us wanted another child so soon.

  I’d hoped to be stranded here for at least a day more with him but it doesn’t seem likely now. We hurry through the rest of the meal and our departure is even faster.

  We reach the private airstrip and I have to literally pinch myself when our car parks right in front of a waiting jet. It is gleaming white, with black stripes running across the base. The interior is softly lit with individually placed, plush leather seats, a leather couch and a small table in front of it. I stare at it all in awe as I take my seat. The staff greets us and Damien speaks familiarly to them. He takes a seat next to me and we take off soon after.

  Damien takes out his laptop as soon as the flight takes off. “Sorry, I need to get some work done,” he says and is soon busy working.

  He’s reverted to his brooding self, the one I now recognize as the post-accident Damien or perhaps it was him from the pre-Aaliya days. I grin at that thought.

  A sudden gust of cold air from the air conditioner blasts against my skin, making me shiver. I had changed into my own clothes for the flight and now I remove my red shawl from my handbag and drape it across me. Damien lifts his head, his gaze latching onto the red shawl and then his eyes lock with mine. He stares hungrily at me and I know he too is remembering the previous night. He gives me a slow lingering look that makes me hot all over before he blinks and turns his attention back to the laptop screen in front of him.

  The flight is short and we arrive in London much too soon for my liking. There’s a car, a jaguar, waiting at the tarmac and Damien asks me for directions to my house once I’m settled next to him. He relays the information to Mike to get us there and lapses into silence, his attention once again on his phone.

  By the time we reach my house, his behavior is beginning to bother me. I recollect everything from the moment we met at Jonathan’s estate to now and find nothing that could have triggered this reaction in him. We spent an incredible night together. That surely must mean something to him.

  “When are we going to meet again?” I ask as the car stops in front of my door.

  He finally looks at me. “Soon. I’ll call you.”

  His tone sounds dismissive, so I ask, “And what about us working together?”

  “My office will be in touch with you to organize something.”

  Does his voice sound flippant or am I making things up in my head? After studying him carefully for a few seconds, I finally lean forward and kiss his cheek. His breath hisses as my lips touch his cheek and it gives me joy that he is not unaffected by me. Damien turns his face and captures my lips with his own, kissing me hard and fast. Our arms go around each other as we pull ourselves closer. We both are panting when he finally releases me.

  Thank God! It was probably just my imagination making things out to be wrong when there’s nothing to worry about.

  “I’ll wait for your call.” I smile at him and peck his lips once more before I exit the car.

  Damien

  Istand at the entrance of the conference room where Aaliya is explaining her designs to some members of my staff. Her eye
s sparkle and her lips tilt into a broad, welcoming smile as she finds me, but she continues her presentation.

  It’s been a week since I dropped her to her house. I kept my word to her and organized for my assistant Joan to call her and give her directions to our office. Gabe and the rest of the staff have helped her settle in and she immediately started working on Jonathan’s renovation project.

  We’ve spoken a few times on the phone, but our conversations have been short and work related only. After I dropped her to her house, I asked Mike to drive us straight to Heaven’s Gate, where I’ve been ensconced since the last week. I told myself I had tons of matters to handle at the country estate, all of which I’ve ignored so far and I have to see to them now that I am the Duke. But in reality, it was all a reason to get away from her.

  That day in the car, I wasn’t able to resist her and after I kissed her like I couldn’t get enough of her, I had to stay away for a few days to clear my mind. I had given my word that she would work on Jonathan’s estate with me and I had to be strong enough to be close to her and yet keep a distance from her.

  Aaliya’s laughter bounces around the conference room, bringing me back to the present. She’s laughing at something while gesticulating with her hand towards a drawing on the board. That laugh—it manages to punch me in the gut every single time. Fuck! Staying away from her was futile because she lures me like a siren’s song. She looks up at me in that moment, her eyes going soft and I hungrily drink her in.

  Today, she’s wearing black trousers with a fitted red silk shirt and black pumps on her feet. Her hair is tied at her nape with a few strands framing her beautiful face. Although her face is devoid of make-up, except for those kohl-lined eyes, she is the most stunning woman I’ve ever laid eyes on. Shit! What is wrong with me? I have to get a grip on myself. My life is a colossal mess already and the last thing I need is the complication of adding her to my fucked-up story. I turn and march to my own office, my stupid heart hurting with every step that takes me away from her.

  I open my laptop and find an email from Peter Dighby. He has returned to work and has been in touch with me. His latest email shows that he’s made the payments to Kardesh Areen and all others of his ilk. He’s also attached an Excel sheet that shows how much money we’ll lose once we stop buying diamonds from these entities. The number is big and will eat into our profits by more than thirty percent, but I don’t care. We will make the business healthy through other means. I forward the name of Kardesh Areen and others to Mike to investigate further.

  I can understand if any of them wanted to kill my brother or father for not paying them money. But why would they want to kill me? I haven’t existed in my family’s life for five years. I do have my doubts on this, but Mike can use his resources to get answers.

  There’s a knock on the door and I look up and find Mike seeking permission to enter. I allow him in with a flick of my fingers.

  “Sir, this just came in at the reception below,” Mike places a large box on the table.

  I frown looking at the elegantly wrapped black box. “What is it?”

  “Security caught a little boy wandering inside the reception with this box in his hand, addressed to you. They called me immediately when he said it had to be given to you. When I spoke to the boy, he said a random woman gave him a hundred pounds to deliver this to you here.”

  “What?” I instinctively back away from the box.

  Mike comes forward and I see he’s wearing gloves. “May I?” He points to the box. When I continue to stare at the box, Mike prods me again, “Sir, it’s safe. I’ve scanned it.”

  I lower my chin and he opens the box carefully. Under the black wrapping is a plain white box. When he opens it, there’s a single black rose inside, its tips dipped in red color. Mike lifts it out. There’s a note attached to it. He places the note on the table for me to read.

  You were lucky! Next time, you won’t be.

  Holy shit!

  “This proves that…” Mike starts to say but I cut him off.

  “I know what it fucking proves, Mike. We’d already figured that I was the target of the shooting. What I want is to catch the fucking bastard who’s doing this.”

  Mike picks up the note and the flower. “I’ll get everything scanned for prints, though I doubt we’ll find anything. And the boy seems to be a dead end as well. He’s just a poor kid enticed to make a quick buck. We’re looking into him in any case. The woman who gave him this wore a scarf, sunglasses and gloves throughout, so he couldn’t give us anything substantial to go on. Apparently, she told him she’d be watching if he does the delivery or not. Security stepped outside to look for her but that was pointless as no one matching that description was around.”

  “Fine, keep me informed.”

  “Also, Sir, the florist that delivered the flowers that came with the first note had used their regular delivery boy. He dropped the flowers off with Joan. I looked into his background and he’s clean. The florist is a small store at Piccadilly. They have no security measures, no cameras and not even an online store. The owner remembered the order being placed by a male. She couldn’t make out his age. He too wore gloves and a hat throughout and so she didn’t get a good look at his face either.”

  “So, a similar modus operandi for today,” I say.

  “I’m checking with stores neighboring the florist for any cameras that could give us a breakthrough in recognizing the man.”

  I tug on my hair. “Where have the police reached with the shooter?”

  “They found some security footage but it’s quite useless because there is nothing identifiable. The number plate’s all blurred like it’s been scraped off and the shooter was wearing a helmet.”

  I cross my arms. “So again, nothing worthwhile?”

  “They think it’s a damp squib. However, I’m going through all the feeds from the cameras at Annette & Co. I want to check on something. I’ll let you know if I find out anything concrete.”

  I don’t know how much Mike can find out because we are dealing with someone cold, calculating and ruthless. How else could he have orchestrated two accidents and one shooting if he wasn’t extremely careful? My fists clench painfully. More than the fear for my life is the anger that’s simmering through my veins. It sucks to even think I probably knew who was doing all this and I’ve now forgotten it. That some part of my brain stores that knowledge and I’ve no way of unlocking that piece of my mind.

  “Sir, I got your email. I will look into the names you sent.”

  I take a deep breath, trying to rein my temper in. “Thank you for your help, Mike, I appreciate it.”

  “My job is to protect you, Sir,” he says. “I have some more updates, though,” he says handing me an iPad. “Security cameras have been installed in the garages at Heaven’s Gate and at all other common areas that needed surveillance.”

  The iPad shows live camera feed from various angles of Heaven’s Gate, the porch, the back garden, the garages, stables, kennels and many outside areas, entrances and exits as well.

  “That’s good work, Mike.” I hand the iPad back to him.

  The last week, while I was working on matters pertaining to the massive estate that’s now in my care, Mike was busy ensuring the security of the place. He found that the estate had hardly any cameras installed and those present, were poorly placed. So, we couldn’t out find if the cars that David drove and later I had driven had been tampered with. We even did a quick sweep of my father and brother’s personal rooms at the estate, but came up blank.

  I sigh in frustration.

  Then there’s a soft knock on my door and Aaliya peeps in. And I don’t think about my father and brother anymore.

  Aaliya

  “Hello, again,” I greet Damien after Mike leaves.

  He shuffles a few papers on his desk before he looks up at me. “Hello again, Aaliya.”

  It’s been a week since he’s been away and every minute has passed like an eternity. When Joan had cal
led me with details of the office address and when to come, I was elated I would be with him once again. I’d hoped that working together would spark some of his lost memory, but I was sorely disappointed to learn he was visiting his country estate. He didn’t call me, not even once, in the week he was gone. I was the one who called him daily with some or the other excuse regarding work.

  I sense the difference in him, like he’s taken a step back from me. It scares me to no end because what am I going to do if that night didn’t mean anything to him. But then I remember the way he kissed me in the car and I force myself to consider all he’s going through and that he probably does have a lot on his mind.

  I take a few steps forward to stand in front of his desk, facing him. “You disappeared on me.”

  He sighs. “Yes, I had urgent matters to attend to at my country estate.”

  “I trust they’re resolved to your satisfaction.”

  “Not everything, but I made a start at least.”

  His tone is cold and flat, much like all the other times we have spoken on the phone recently and his cool gaze resting on me now sends sharp tingles down my nape, scaring me.

  “What’s wrong, Damien?” I ask, unable to live in suspense any more.

  He narrows his eyes at me. “I don’t quite follow what you’re asking me.”

  “Well, then let me clarify. We had sex and it was great and ever since then you’re different.”

  “It’s not like I’ve been twiddling my thumbs. I’ve been plain busy, Aaliya.”

  His frigid response chills me to the bones. But I soldier on, “There’s this distance between us that has sprung up and I…I don’t know what to make of it. The last week, you vanished and then you’ve hardly been in touch. Everything seems different.”

  “You just can’t take a hint, can you?”