Page 12 of The Perfect Lie
How could I have ever trusted this man? I could have kicked myself in the ass for devising a plan to ensure he and Delilah adopted Reyna five years ago. I wanted to rip that grin from his face and shove it down his throat. Instead of giving him a reason to think he got to me, I took the lead and walked past him toward the elevators. Once inside, I pulled a key card from inside my wallet and held it to the elevator panel until the light turned green. Being a well-known businessman had its perks. Not only did I have an open-ended reservation, but it was also the Presidential suite—twenty-two hundred square feet of pure perfection.
Seconds later, I stepped inside the suite, with Crosby and Gwen at my heels. A fully stocked bar with the choicest brands of liquor, which I specifically requested, greeted me. Taking full advantage of the hotel’s hospitality, I flipped over a crystal tumbler and poured two fingers of Scotch in the glass. I wasn’t an impudent man, so I turned to face Crosby and Gwen. “Can I get you two a drink?”
“None for me,” Gwen said first, receiving a distasteful look from Crosby.
“I’ll have whatever you’re drinking.” Crosby shifted his feet away from Gwen and moved toward me.
Without asking for Crosby’s approval, I opened the door to the wine cooler and grabbed a bottle of Moscato, one of Gwen’s favorites that out of habit I always kept on hand. Pouring her half a glass, I stepped past Crosby and handed Gwen the glass of wine. The smile she greeted me with told me that she had wanted a drink despite what Crosby wanted.Asshole.
I wasn’t the type of person to dance around a situation, so instead of considering Gwen’s feelings, I became a man she would hate. “Now that all the hospitality bullshit is out of the way, are you going to tell me what the fuck is going on?”
Gwen was all too aware of the look I gave her when she placed her glass on the coffee table with a shaky hand before she spoke. “The only way I can make sense of this is to start from the beginning.”
“The night you fucking disappeared five years ago would be a good start.” I scolded her with annoyance since my patience was running thin.
“Do you have to be so crass? Gwen certainly doesn’t deserve your arrogant tone.” Crosby had no idea how pissed off I was. For the past five years, I’ve tried to understand what happened to her. So, yeah, she deserved to be talked to any way I saw fit.
“Pardon me for being so blunt and to the point, but my tone is the last thing that you or Gwen should be worried about.”
“Please, just stop.” Gwen rose to her feet with her hands fisted at her sides. “I think we all want answers to what happened to me five years ago. Can we just work together to figure this out?”
Gwen hit the nail on the head. I, more than anyone in this room, wanted answers. It was only after we all took a seat that Gwen began to relay the events five years ago. “I don’t remember much from the night that I was taken. I remember all of us dancing on the dance floor. I remember needing the ladies' room. There isn’t much after that that I remember other than a hand covering my mouth as I was coming out. At first, I thought it was you.” Gwen’s eyes met mine before she continued. “Only it wasn’t. Whoever it was must have used chloroform to knock me out.”
“So now we know the how. I want to know why you were taken and, more importantly, where you’ve been for the past five years,” I commented, pointing out two important missing pieces.
“I’m trying really hard to tell you everything Davian. Do you realize how difficult this is for me?” I was well aware of how hard this was for her, but all I wanted was the truth.
“Take your time, Gwen,” I said sympathetically.
Gwen adjusted her position before she began where she left off. “I don’t know why they took me or where they were taking me. There was a black bag over my head, and when I woke up, I couldn’t see anything except a small glimpse of light filtered through the material. All I know was there were at least two men. One drove, and the other sat next to me.”
Whatever happened to Gwen was getting to her. Tears filled her eyes as she shook her head back and forth. Her tears were real, and it made me realize what an ass I had been toward her. I had no right to judge what she had been through these past five years. Standing, I moved to take a seat next to her to offer her some sort of comfort.
Wrapping my arms around her, I pulled her close. “It’s okay, Gwen. Continue when you are ready.”
Wiping the tears from her cheeks, she pulled away from my embrace to continue. “I know we traveled at least two days based on how many times they stopped for gas. When I told them that I had to go to the bathroom, I realized that we must have been traveling in a motorhome of some kind. Instead of being led outside, they took me to the back of the RV and demanded I hurry up.”
Everything she said up to this point seemed sincere. Whoever took her wouldn’t chance Gwen seeing who her abductors were. A motorhome made perfect sense. It was self-contained, and no one would be the wiser that they took her against her will. “Whoever took you wanted to make sure they remain unknown. At any time, were you able to get a look at them?”
Gwen lowered her head and shook it back and forth. “No. Even after we arrived at the destination where they were instructed to take me, the bag remained over my head. The only time I was allowed to take it off was in my cell, and even then, I was ordered to face the wall until they left before I could remove it. I never saw any of them, Davian.”
“It’s okay, princess.” As angry as I was, I hated seeing her like this, but there was still one fact that needed to be explained. I pulled my phone from my pocket and shuffled through my gallery until I came to the picture of her and Salko. “Can you tell me about this picture and how you know Rui Salko?”
“He rescued me. He saved me from that horrible place. I was there for six months. You have no idea how bad it was.”
Anger flared again at her admission. “How could you possibly think that Rui Salko was your savior? Do you have any idea what that bastard is capable of?” I didn’t get it. Salko was a ruthless bastard in every sense of the word. He took Gwen just like he took Reyna.
“I was with him for four and a half years, and never once did he treat me like a prisoner. The picture on your phone was taken a week ago when Rui took me shopping in New York,” she admitted, her gaze on the screen. “That particular day was special. It was our anniversary of being together.”
Anniversary, my ass. Did Gwen honestly believe that Salko was a saint? He manipulated her thoughts. “If he was as good as you profess, then why are you here instead of with him?”
“Rui told me it was time for me to be reunited with my family. He said it would be safe for me to go back to Atlanta. Don’t you see, Davian? He was only protecting me. He said there were bad people after me, and he couldn’t risk losing me. He wanted to make sure I was safe until I could be reunited with my mom and dad… and you.”
“Look, Cross. Everything Gwen said is true. As much as I hated the fact that Rui Salko kept her from us, he did keep her safe. You can’t imagine my hesitancy when he contacted me and said he put her on a plane to Atlanta. Delilah doesn’t even know Gwen is here. That is why I brought her here until I had a chance to talk to Delilah.”
His story was so far-fetched that I didn’t believe it for a minute. Crosby McCall was lying through his teeth. My gut told me he knew what happened five years ago—more than he was letting on. He couldn’t be trusted, and sooner or later, the truth would come out. Eventually, he would make a mistake. When he did, I planned to be the first one in line to tighten the noose around his neck.
~8~
