Deceived 5 - New Beginnings (10 page)

Winters in New York were rotten. I hadn’t been minding the cold so much this season because being pregnant kept me feeling warm all of the time – I pitied the women who were in their last trimesters over the summer. Nina, being from Florida, however, had complained about it pretty much non-stop, even before it had gotten cold. Every time we’d gotten together for lunch or a spa day she would talk about how she missed the balmy weather and her house in South Beach. After a particularly frigid and windy day just two days after her opening, she brought up her Florida party again. Everything was set for that weekend. It seemed like a bit of short notice, but she assured me that all I had to do was show up at the airport and she’d take care of the rest.

Early Saturday afternoon, Patrick and I joined our friends at the airport and boarded the private jet Nina had hired. In addition to Liam and Ryan, Elyse and Ricky were also with us, and I found that my time away from Elyse had made me forget how much I loved spending time with her. True, she was still hanging on Ricky, but when we were like this, I had Patrick, so it wasn’t so bad. The flight was smooth, and true to her word, Nina really did hire a nurse to accompany me on the trip, which had immediately made me feel better about deciding to go.

Before we knew it, we were in Florida and heading to our hotel. We arrived with plenty of time to get ready for the party but, at the last minute, I decided I to get my hair done at the hotel’s beauty salon. With just two weeks to go before Victoria made her appearance, even the gorgeous maternity dress Nina had found for me wasn’t making me feel very beautiful. I just kept hearing that awful woman on television insulting the actor’s wife for what she’d worn to the Oscars. I needed something to make myself feel pretty. My hair was something I still had some control over. Besides, I figured if my hair looked fantastic, people would focus on that and not my huge belly.

Unfortunately, my primping meant that Patrick and I ended up running late. The others went ahead without us, which made me nervous since, besides the six of us, the other guests would be friends and business acquaintances of Nina’s. Aside from not knowing any of them, they’d probably all dressed to the nines and not looking pregnant at all. I imagined that these people would be the jet setter types: young, single, or maybe newly married, but the kind of people who have all of their time for themselves and spend all of their money on the finer things in life. That wasn’t exactly the kind of party I wanted to make an entrance into, especially in my state.

I texted Elyse from the town car that we were on our way and got a quick reply back. She and Ricky were already at the party, and she was anxious for us to arrive. While she waited for us, she gave me a gushing description of how beautiful the house was. Not that I was surprised. Nina liked expensive things.

When we arrived, Patrick got out first and came around to open my door for me, waving off the driver who’d gotten out to do the same thing. I smiled up at my husband, taking his hand as I stepped out into the warm Florida air. The evening sun was just setting and the weather was perfectly mild, quite the opposite of what we had just left behind in New York. Nina was right—getting
 
away from the cold had been a good idea.

Patrick gazed down at me with heated eyes and said, “You look beautiful in that dress, Chloe.” He leaned over, kissed me on the cheek, and then asked, “Are you feeling okay? I’ve heard traveling while you’re pregnant can be draining, so let me know if you want to leave the party early, or need to rest awhile. Whatever you need, just let me know.”

I smiled, grateful for his concern. I didn’t know what I’d do without him. “Thank you, sweetie. I’ll be fine. I’ll just need to find a comfortable chair at some point and stay off my feet.”

As we walked towards the sprawling white house, he said, “You know, you can take it easy when we get home until the baby comes if you want. Elyse and I can handle Nina’s account along with the others.”

He’d been trying to convince me to take it easier for the last month. I’d reminded him that most women worked up until their due date. I’d already backed off of several other accounts to lighten my workload, but this particular account had been my pride and joy and I’d wanted to see it through to the end. “I know, but I want to keep working on Nina’s account as long as I can. Besides, the biggest stuff is already done.”

“Alright. But if it gets to be too much, just give me the word.”

Caught up in my conversation with Patrick, I hadn’t taken a good look yet at the estate we were walking towards, but now I was struck with its beauty...and its massiveness. The house was located on a small barrier island with Nina’s lot having the point view to the Atlantic Ocean. I couldn’t wait to go inside and see the rest of it, especially knowing how Nina’s taste ran.

Holding hands, Patrick and I walked up the front stone pavers to a grand arched entryway, lined with stately columns. We barely rang the bell when the double mahogany doors swung open. A smiling catering attendant dressed in black and white greeted us. No sooner had the girl welcomed us when Nina popped up behind her in a stylish, form-fitting summer dress. It was still winter, but there she was, looking all summery. Typical Nina. She stretched out her arms wide for a hug, trying not to spill the martini she held in one hand.

“Chloe, Patrick,” she gushed and flung her arms around me first, and then Patrick. “Welcome to my home. I’m so glad you came.” She gave a kiss to each of us on our cheeks.

The culture of the South was still evident here in Florida. It could be seen in the colonial style designs of some of the older architecture, but there was nothing demure about Nina’s house. It was magnificent, inside and out.

“Come in and join the party.” She gestured for us to follow her as her high heels clicked
across the polished marble floors of the
front foyer.

As we entered, we saw more columns like the ones out front, only these were made of marble and opened expansively to a grand sweeping staircase, decorated with ornate, black wrought iron railings. Sitting at the bottom of the staircase, and located in the center of the foyer was a round, glass-topped table, sprouting a heavy Grecian urn full of cut flowers, professionally arranged, and shooting up to nearly six feet high at the center of the arrangement. I shot Patrick a look, mouthing the word, “Wow,” behind Nina’s back and took him by the hand to follow her further into the house.

“Your house if beautiful, Nina.” Patrick said.

“Yes, it’s amazing,” I added, craning my neck to try to see all of the details I could.

“Thank you,” Nina said. “I’ll give you the tour in a minute, but first I want you to meet everyone. They’re out back on the patio. The sunset is absolutely gorgeous right now over the water. You won’t want to miss it. Come on, I’ll show you.”

A dramatic living room opened to the right, and I had to pause for a quick look as we passed through the foyer on our way to the patio. The room contained classic ornate furniture, a chandelier and an elaborate cast stone fireplace that soared up to a ceiling that was easily over twenty-five feet tall. The entire room faced a two-tiered window wall that opened to a riverfront patio. Now I understood why Elyse had been gushing in her texts. This place was amazing, and I’d only seen the entryway and living room so far.

Patrick tugged on my hand, reminding me to keep up, though I wanted to take a closer look at a painting I saw in the living room and see if it was an original.

“Did you see that living room?” I whispered as I trailed along behind him.

“Yes, dear.” Patrick was already looking in the direction of the party when he said, “But wait until you see the back patio.”

I turned my attention to the group of people I saw milling around the back patio area. Just over their heads I caught a glimpse of the yellow-orange glow of dusk as it reflected off the water.

As Nina led us out through the screened lanai, I saw a stunning sunset spread across a panoramic view that ran up and down the river channel and as far out as the coastline. The house was set at the tip of the island with river channels running up between all the houses, so that every house had an outlet to the ocean. A lush, night-lit landscape covered the back lawn and ran down to the water’s edge where an eighty-five foot yacht floated, tethered to Nina’s private dock.

Oh. My. Fucking. God
. I was thankful I hadn’t said the words out loud. Nina was even more loaded than I had thought. Maybe I should have raised my prices for her marketing campaign, because it kind of looked like she could’ve said that the sky was the limit.

“Hey, you!” Elyse’s familiar greeting rang out as she snaked her way over to Patrick and me.

“I’m going to say hi to Ricky.” Patrick excused himself as Elyse came over.

“Hey yourself, Elyse.”

“You look ravishing, Dah-ling,” she said in a mock British accent.

I raised an eyebrow. “Acting a bit silly, aren’t you? How much have you had to drink?” I grabbed her glass and took a sniff. “Whew. Mixing them a little strong, there.”

“I have to.” Elyse gave me a pouting face. “All of these South Beach bimbos are flocking to Ricky like bees to honey. How am I supposed to compete with that?”

“You’re exaggerating,” I said. I looked over at Ricky, who’d walked away from a disappointed-looking pair of women and was now saying hello to Patrick. I tilted my head and examined his back then said in a dry tone, “I don’t see any women stuck to him like glue.”

“Yeah, just wait,” she said petulantly.

I looked around as Patrick and Ricky crossed the last few feet between us to join the conversation. “Have any of you seen Ryan and Liam?”

“I don’t think they are here yet. Maybe they started their own party at the hotel.” Elyse giggled. She was definitely getting drunk.

I tried not to give her a disapproving look. We didn’t judge each other, but we also looked out for each other and I didn’t want her doing something stupid because she’d drunk too much.

“Ricky, doesn’t Chloe look lovely all dressed up with her baby bump?” She patted my stomach, earning a dirty look from me.

Ricky gave me a polite smile. “Yes, she does. Chloe, you look beautiful. Glowing, as they say. Patrick, you’re a lucky man.”

“Thanks, Ricky,” Patrick said. With his usual charm, he changed the subject. “So what do you think of Nina’s place here? Pretty fantastic, wouldn’t you say?”

I was glad Patrick had changed the subject. I had a bad feeling that Elyse’s jealousy was going to get her into trouble tonight if she wasn’t careful.

“Yes.” Ricky nodded. “It just keeps getting better every time I come here. It was completely renovated a couple of years ago by the designers from the McDonald Companies.”

“Ah,” I said, as if I knew who Ricky was talking about. I wondered if this had been a family home, a place where their families had summered when they were kids, but I wasn’t sure if that would be a good question to ask. If I brought up the past, Elyse might use it as an excuse to ask Ricky if he’d ever brought other women here.

Just when Ricky started to say something else about the history of the house, Nina swooped in and interrupted in a loud voice, “Chloe,
hon
, we need to get you a drink.” With one hand in his pocket and the other holding his drink, Ricky paused mid-sentence and stared blankly at Nina, the expression on his face clearly saying that he was as puzzled by her behavior as the rest of us.

Nina ignored the fact that she was cutting in on the conversation and spoke to me. “How about a Virgin Mary? It’s kind of healthy, made with tomato juice.” She took my arm and started to pull me away.