The Cinderella Arrangement (13 page)

“Let’s find my uncle.”

My guts twisted as I nodded. I wiped my hand before I took Luke’s again. He led me through a succession of rooms toward the sound of piano playing. We walked into a living room with a huge ceiling. A crowd of people gathered around the white grand piano, where an older man sat, his fingers flying over the keys.

He was a thin, reedy man with a wiry black mustache. Domenico jumped from the piano seat as he saw Luke approach. “Luke!” He grabbed his nephew by the shoulders and kissed both of his cheeks.

“Happy Birthday, Uncle Dominic.”

“Thanks. I’m so happy that you could make it.”

The display of affection shocked me. His uncle gripped his shoulder, unwilling to let go of his nephew. Luke introduced me with a wave of his free arm.

“So, this is the girl I’ve seen in the papers.” He winked at me and shook my hand. “We’re so glad you could come.”

“Nice to meet you,” I beamed.

“When did you fly in?”

“Today, actually.”

“Jesus, you must be tired.” The fabric on Luke’s shoulder bunched together as his hand tightened. Domenico’s face crumpled as he wheeled him away from the crowd of people. “You haven’t seen your dad yet, have you?”

I tensed as a frown creased on Luke’s forehead.
Please don’t blow up at him.

“We did.”

“He’s taken a sharp turn for the worse. I found out from James that he tried to fire you.”

Luke made a sound that might have been a laugh. “Yes, he did.”

“Listen, I blocked it. He may be a board member, but he can only work in a limited capacity and it’s clear that his judgment is off his rocker. You’re a great employee, no matter how many soccer fans you beat up. The San Francisco deal you got for us is brilliant and you’ll always have a job at Pardini Worldwide. It’s your birthright and I won’t let him do this to you.”

Uncle Dominic patted him on the back as Luke pinched the bridge of his nose, his face screwed up in pain. I dug my nails into my palms as I watched him fight to keep his emotions from bursting out. The person who he wanted to hear those words from would never do it.

“I love my brother, but he hasn’t been himself lately. No matter what, you will get what belongs to you. I promise.”

“Thanks, Dominic.”

“I know it’s been hard dealing with your dad, but he won’t be around much longer. Promise me you’ll visit him more often.”

A bitter look crossed Luke’s face, but it softened when heard his uncle’s voice crack. “I will.”

 He gave him a smile and one final pat on the back, and then he walked back toward the piano. “Who wants to hear ragtime?”

A volley of cheers and whistles blasted across the room and I looked away as Luke wiped his eyes with his thumb. I took his hand and squeezed it. “Everything will work out.” I slipped my hand into my purse and muted my phone. It had been buzzing all night. What did Natalie want?

“We can turn in early. My uncle will understand.”

I nearly collapsed in relief. “Really? That’d be great.”

Though it was only seven, I was exhausted, and I thought longingly of the bed upstairs with its fluffy, white comforter. Luke and I went upstairs, and I curled into bed as Luke took a shower. All was well. Luke’s uncle seemed like a decent man. I clawed the nightstand for the remote. I wanted to fix my mind on something else before I fell asleep. My thumb clicked the buttons, scrolling through the channels as my eyeballs burned from the bright, plasma screen.
Jessica Knight.
I stopped as I saw my name blazing on the television screen with an old picture of Luke and I kissing in Hyde Park.

How did they find out my name?

A blonde woman smiled at the camera.
“Today, we’ve received an exclusive report about the Luke Pardini’s new girlfriend, or should we say, his escort.”

The remote clattered on the wooden floor.

“Jessica?” Luke’s voice said from the bathroom. “What was that?”

“Jessica Knight, a graduate from San Francisco State University, signed up on an escort website for rich men to make ends meet. The beautiful blonde caught the eye of Luke Pardini, son of Giacomo Pardini and heir to Pardini Worldwide.”

“Hey, are you there?”

My eyes were glued to the television as horror suffocated my chest. How did they find out all this? I told no one—absolutely no one. Neither of us had. The bathroom door opened and steam poured in the bedroom. I heard Luke’s heavy footsteps and dreaded the moment he would see screen.

“Jessica, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?” He looked at the screen and fell silent.

“At TMZ, we wondered who the mysterious blonde and where she was from, check this out—”

The screen faded into a view of a dilapidated porch of a house that I knew very well. On it were three people: a fat blonde woman and her husband, and squeezed between them was their son, Vincent.

A reporter held a microphone to them. “She was a difficult child, but we did the best we could. We had her for seven years, and then she left to join a group home. We never saw her again.”

Shelly Kramer leaned in, her watery, small eyes staring into the camera. “She had a major drug problem, behavioral issues.” She shook her head. “Always acting out.”

Vincent smiled at the camera. He had gained weight, but nothing else had changed. His white-blonde hair still hung around his head at shoulder-length. He had charmed and fooled so many people with his angelic face, but a close look into his eyes was like staring into the abyss. 

I didn’t hear the rest of the program. The violence surged up my throat, and I shoved Luke aside to flip open the toilet seat and I voided everything I ate at the party. The man who haunted my thoughts for years was blown up on the television, unpunished—along with my foster parents.

“Jessica, you’re safe.”

My lip quivered as my stomach still clenched with nausea. All it took was a short video of my attackers to shatter the delusion that I had moved on. That I was fixed. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, it’s not your fault.”

He held me. I was boiling in pain and I didn’t want to do it anymore.
When will I be free of them?
I wanted to break away from Luke and sob in private, but he refused to let me go. I felt ashamed. It was as though my tears were indecent that I should hide them like everything in my past.

“How did they find out my name?” I said in a shaking voice. “How did they find out all of it?”

“Someone told them your name, address, everything. They sold a story about you.”

His deep voice rumbled through my chest. I shook my head. “No, I told no one about us. I swear, Luke!”

Except Natalie.

I froze in Luke’s arms.

Natalie, how could you do this?

The betrayal was like a slap to the face. How could she tell them about my foster parents? Fresh tears spilled down my cheeks and as Luke pulled away, there was sympathy in his expression, but a little anger, too.

“She would
never
do this to me.”

He smiled without humor. “Just about anyone is capable of just about anything. I’ve had this happen countless times.” He stroked my hair. “I’m sorry about this. I know how it feels, believe me.”

The horror of it all pounded in my brain. I dug into my purse and opened my cellphone and saw three texts:

You need to call me immediately

Don’t let Luke go on TMZ

Jessica, I swear I didn’t tell anyone

Five missed calls and two messages. I played them both on speakerphone. Luke listened beside me, fury etched all over his face. The first message expressed her confusion, the second one was much more clear.

“Jessica,” she said in a trembling voice. “I found out what happened. Ben saw the photos and called TMZ. They offered him a lot of money for your name and background, and then they got your foster parents and they said all of those terrible things.” She sobbed. “I’m so sorry, Jessica. I don’t think he meant for any of this to happen—”

Her voice vanished as I ended the message. Somehow I felt emptier than I had before. My best friend’s fiancé sold me out, all because she couldn’t keep her trap shut. I looked at him. “I never told Ben anything. Natalie knew about the website before I met you, so she must have blabbed to him. She wasn't supposed to say anything!”

Luke shook his head and shrugged. He wouldn’t even look at me. “I’m going to bed.”

Darkness swallowed the room as Luke turned off the light. I sat on the carpet, hugging my legs.

* * *

I
woke
up with my back aching as Luke shook me awake, his hand on my knee. It took several moments for me to remember why I felt so awful.

His hands stroked my shoulders. “Did you stay here all night?”

My eyes burned with fatigue. “I—didn’t think you wanted me around.”

Luke’s face was pained. “I was angry, but not at you.” He picked me up and kissed my cheek. “Let’s get out of here.”

I nodded, my spirits rising. So, we were still together, despite our secret being out in the open. My heart beat against my throat as he hugged me.

I don’t deserve him.

A nagging guilt needled at my conscience. What kind of damage would this exposé do to Luke? It was hard to tell whether his aunt and uncle had seen the report on TMZ. By now, other gossip websites would have the same story plastered all over their pages. I dressed as quickly as possible, eager to leave Chicago and return home.

Return to what? To my volunteer job at the soup kitchen? To my ‘best friend’?

She knew how fucking important this was. It galled me that she would do something like this for money, especially when I wired everything I owed her and then some.

A depressing thought entered my head. The ten grand in my account—how long would it last? My heart pounded with anxiety. I did not want to return home; I didn’t want to look at Natalie and hear her useless apologies, or deal with the fact that I was
still
broke and jobless.

At least I have Luke.

I watched as Luke packed his bags with more force than was necessary. Even he felt like a temporary arrangement. One day he’d wake up and realize that he would have to marry a high-society girl, a woman who would look good hanging on his arm. Hell, a woman without all the baggage I’m carrying.

That couldn’t—
would never
—be me. The fairytale would end.

Luke was silent all the way to the airport and didn’t speak a word during the flight. Like him, I was waiting for the axe to fall. It was only a matter of time before his father when he got wind of the tabloids.

Relief flowed through my veins when the pilot announced that we were flying over Oakland and would land shortly. I looked down and saw the blue, freezing water of the bay. Luke glanced at his phone after landing and stuffed it back into his jacket.

What now?

As I followed Luke out of the plane and into San Francisco’s breezy air, I wondered what the hell would happen. I squeezed his hand as we waited in the chilly air for a cab.

He turned his head toward me, his windswept hair making him look adorably ruffled. “I know you’re eager to go home, but I don’t want to be alone.”

He was asking me to stay with him.

“Luke, I want to be with you.” I didn’t need to add that I had no desire to be in Natalie’s presence, not after what her fiancé did.

It annoyed me that there were paparazzi still clicking away at us outside SFO. I couldn’t wait to see the headlines:
Luke Pardini seen at SFO with blonde escort, who does he think he’s kidding?

I bounced on my toes to give him a kiss. He drew my body into his and bit down on my lip as I swept my tongue across his mouth. My heart was pounding when he pulled away with a heated look on his face.

“I can’t wait to get home,” he whispered in my ear as the cab appeared.

Twenty-minutes later, we stumbled up the steps of his Victorian home in Pacific Heights. It was one of the richest areas in San Francisco, where the homes had actual driveways, a luxury in the city.

He really lives like a king
.

I barely had time to marvel at the beauty of his home before Luke grabbed my hand and led me upstairs. We ran up the steps and he pulled me to the side, his arms wrapping themselves around my waist. His mouth parted, and I leaned forward to taste those lips I fantasized about all day. His fingers dug into the waistband of my jeans and I slipped my hands under his sweater. I dragged my thumb across his hard nipple and squeezed his back muscles as he slid around my backside. I could already feel his hardness grinding against my leg and my core heated, almost like I could feel him thrusting inside me already.

We were halfway to the bedroom and his mouth was tracing a downward path from my neck. Then the phone rang, jarring us out of our dance toward the bed. My face hot, I looked up at Luke who seemed to debate whether to answer it or not. He let out an angry sigh and kissed my head.

“It might be work, just hold on.”

Damn it.

He picked the phone off the dresser and winced when he looked at the screen. I felt cold all over as I realized what his expression meant.