FORGIVE OR FURY CHAPTER 5

Lies. It was something I could sense in my own gut. But God, his voice soft and pleading pulled at the broken parts of me. "How? How do you prove something like that?"

"Let me help with the baby. Doctor visits. Whatever you need. We can start slow. No strings."

I shook my head, moving farther away from him. “No. I don’t trust you. Not after everything.”

He reached out to me, his fingers brushing my arm softly. “Please, Cece. For our child.” It was almost. electrified connection. almost familiar.

How did he know it was a girl? The nurse? Or was he bluffing? My resolve cracked just a fraction. "One coffee. Tomorrow. Public place. That's all."

His smile was slow, victorious. "Thank you. You won't regret it."

But as he walked away, I already did.

Isabel paced in her sleek apartment, the city skyline an arrogant pose outside her windows. Adrian had not responded to her texts again! Since Cecilia went missing, he had been different - distant, obsessed: scouring hospitals, hiring private investigators, calling out Cecilia in his sleep.

She knew why. It was not revenge anymore. At least, not totally. For Adrian was falling in love with the daughter of the man who had destroyed his life. It made Isabel Madriz seethe with anger.

She wasn't going to lose him; Not to Cecilia Lancaster and her wide-eyed innocence and her perfect little life.

"And as for Cecilia, yeah, the girl was smarter, sharper, better qualified to begin with. She came from nothing, single mom, deadbeat dad.Scholarships earned through sheer sweat and determination. Cecilia had life handed to her on a silver platter. And now, knock me over with a feather."

Her hands went instinctively to her still-flat abdomen. Her first pregnancy ruse had been a desperation move, but this time. this time, she'd make sure the pregnancy happened. Or, at any rate, that the world believed it did.

She reached for her phone to dial the clinic. "Yes, I'd like an appointment. Fertility specialist required. As soon as possible."

If she couldn't get pregnant naturally, she'd find a way. Pills, treatments, whatever. And if that failed? Well, lies had worked before.

But first, she needed to see Adrian. Remind him who he really belonged with.

The next day, I agreed to meet Adrian at the busy coffeehouse downtown. A place to start safely. The place was filled with people. I stirred my coffee, breathing in the steam rising up off my decaf latte, reminding me of ghosts in my dreams. My hands were still shaking.

Adrian was just in time and slid into the booth across from me, drinking in every detail of my face. "You look great," he whispered in my ear, sounding a little breathless. "Pregnancy looks good on you."

“I am not paying any attention to that comment, Adrian," I said to him as my heart was beating furiously aside.

“But Adrian, why are you here? Really, no more.

He leaned forward, elbows on the table. "No games. I swear. I want to be part of this. Talk to me. What about the baby? Healthy? Kicks and all that?"

"She is." I hesitated, then added, "The doctor says everything's on track. Due in three months."

His eyes softened—or pretended to. "A girl. Our daughter. God, Cece, I can't believe I almost lost you both."

"You did lose us," I whispered, voice cracking. "The night of the crash... I thought we were gone. The water was so cold. I whispered to her that we'd be okay without you. And we were. We are."

He reached across, covering my hand with his. Warm. Steady. "But you don't have to be. Let me in. Let me fix this."

Blinded by tears, I said, "How? How can I forget that betrayal? Isabel, my best friend, in your arms? Telling me she carried your child?"

"It was a lie," he said. "It was all a lie. Isabel lied to me about everything. But the truth is, that night you left, was the night I told her it was over."

Nothing? The word hurt me. Isabel had been my "everything sister," my confidante. "And me? Was I nothing too? Just revenge?"

"No," he said, his tone dropping, his words loaded with emotion. "You were everything. That's why it scared me. Falling for you was never part of the plan."

Plan. The word hung between us like a noose.

I jerked my hand away. "I need time. This. it's too much."

He nodded, though his eyes sparkled with something unsaid. “Take all the time you need. I’m here.”

As I left, I did not see Isabel glance in from across the street, her face distorted in rage.

Back at the condo, however, his mind whirled with the meaning of all that had transpired. Not to mention, and most especially, that Cicilia was finally crumbling. He could see that – the look in her eyes that was fueled by obsession, the words she uttered with nervousness ingrained within each and every one of them. Just one or two degrees higher in agitation and she'd belong to him again. He'd begin to Share the measure of the evidence that had demonstrated the purposeful acts of sabotage designed by Cicilia's father that had been found within the information he'd uncovered about the case. He'd see the world come tumbling around the head of Cecilia once again. He'd begin to Make her pay.

But as he was refilling another scotch, a knock was heard. Isabel.

She stormed into the office without waiting, her eyes flashing with anger. "Where have you been? Have you been ignoring me?"

"Isabel," he sighed, setting the glass down.

“Yes, now." She grasped his arm, her fingernails digging in. “I saw you. I saw you with her. At the coffee shop. What is going on?”

Shook Her Off. "Finishing what I started. Revenge isn’t over."

She looked back at me, and I could see the look of incredulity on her face. “Bullshit, I knew that look in your eye, the way you so easily fall in love and get associated with the daughter of a man who murdered your own parents. It's pathetic, you…”