Page 45 of Acquiring Ainsley
“Obviously, you’re upset.” I loosened my tie and unbuttoned the top collar of my shirt. Whatever was about to happen next, I knew this day was about to turn even worse. “But whatever it is, you can talk to me. You can tell me anything.”
I sat in the black chair across from her. Her tight grip on the arms of the chair told me I dare not go further with my comments, or my questions.
“I’m confused. Angry. Frustrated. And I’m… I’m not sure what to think.” She tore her gaze away from mine and looked at the windows behind my desk for a few seconds, windows which featured a sweeping view of Manhattan through frosty glass. When she turned back to me, her jaw had tightened. “Who in the hell is Olivia van Hewitt?”
My shoulders slumped. “An ex-girlfriend.”
“And what happened that day on the yacht, Trevor?”
Shit. No,fuck. So, she did know. This was about my past. And god, once again, it had come back to haunt me.
“Olivia was—”
Ainsley held up a hand. “Before you go telling me something that youthinkthat I want to hear, I want to make this perfectly clear to you. I need you to tell me the truth. Absolute truth, and nothing more than that. Don’t lie.”
“I wouldn’t. I’ve never lied to you.” I sliced my hand through the air. “Never.”
She released a heavy sigh. “From what I understand, you two have had quite a past. Very… Dramatic. Yes, I think that’s the right word for it.”
My dread began to turn to desperation. If she knew about the yacht, she might have already formed an opinion about what had happened. She might already have judged the situation, and that meant I had minutes—maybe seconds—to change her mind.
“I won’t disagree with you there. It was all of that, and more,” I said, choosing my words carefully. “She’s a handful, and from the moment I started dating her, I had doubts. I thought she’d change, though. She kept telling me that she would.” I recoiled at the volatile memories, the outbursts, the lies and manipulation, the constant drama. “But she didn’t. Not even close. Or wait, shedidchange—she got viler. And wickeder, and meaner, and she became the most malicious… Well, let’s just say that being with her was one of the worst decisions of my life.”
“Interesting.” Olivia crossed her arms. “Is that why you were so angry that day in the South of France?”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Once again, Olivia had managed to bring that back into my life; and once again, the fury of that afternoon had proven to be one of the defining moments of my entire existence. I opened my eyes.
“The charges were dropped. We never went to court. It was no—”
“Oh, my god,” Ainsley whispered, her eyes wide and the whitewash of fear paralyzing her beautiful face. “You’re not even bothering to deny it, are you? It happened the way she said, didn’t it?”
“No.” I moved to the edge of my chair. My attention locked on her, and the desperation I felt threatened to crack through every word that I spoke. Still, I needed her to understand me. I needed her to see this for what it truly was. “We had a fight that day, but it didn’t happen the way that she claimed. She threw the china and broke some of the furniture; she’s the one who cut herself in the bathroom.” My mouth went dry and my palms turned clammy. “You don’t believe me, do you?”
Ainsley sank further into the chair, but I could tell by the guarded expression on her face that she didn’t believe me. She thought I was at fault. And in a way, maybe I was. After all, hadn’t I been the one to get mixed up with this woman in the first place?
“I don’t believe you,” Ainsley finally said. “I keep thinking about that night at the Whitney Museum.” She raked a hand through her hair. “If you could do that, then maybe this whole yacht incident is within your wheelhouse, too.” She sneered. “Maybe you’re not the man that I thought you were.”
“Please,” I said as the lump began to grow in my throat. “That night was a mistake. I was—I was overcome, and I’d had too much to drink. I thought I saw something in your eyes. I… I guess that I misread it. I fucked up. I’m sorry.” I reached out to her, then let my hand fall. “I really thought you wanted me to kiss you. It wasn’t until you slapped me that I realized I shouldn’t have been so assuming.”
I gulped. He wasn’t totally wrong. I might not have wanted him to kiss me that night, but once he did, I’d liked it. Enjoyed it. Relished how he’d claimed me with no regard for any consequences. But this new information about his past still stung.
“I feel like I don’t know who you are, Trevor.”
“Everything Olivia said or did regarding this is a lie, a flat-out fabrication.”
I stared at him. “Is it? I just don’t know what to believe.”
“Let me show you something, Ainsley.” I stood from the chair, walked over to the black cabinet at the end of the room, and retrieved a file from the top drawer. When I returned to the chair, I handed the information to her. As I did, my stomach lurched. I hadn’t ever expected to use the information I’d stored in there, but part of me felt relieved that I’d bothered to keep it. “Here. This is the truth about Olivia. I’ve been documenting this for a while, and I had hoped that I wouldn’t need to use this anymore.” I thought of the black roses in the closet. “But maybe what I had really been doing was accumulating it for you.”
Ainsley took the portfolio from me, her eyes glittering with wary fire, and gave a low whistle. “It seems like everything important happening in my life these days happens because of a file folder.”
“Yes, I guess it does, and I’m sorry.”
She flipped through some of the pages. Memories assailed me of those delicate little fingers stroking my skin during our passionate lovemaking, and I had an urge to grab her hands. I wanted to force her to look into my eyes and my heart and see the truth, but she wasn’t ready for that. Her stiff body and cool exterior were proof.
Come on, Trevor, work your way out of this mess…
“Olivia isn’t… she isn’t well. She’s self-destructive.” I paused, waiting for her to get my underlying meaning. All she did was turn another page and scan it. “But I’m glad you know about her now. I’m not hiding it from you anymore.”
