Her Perfect Revenge (28 page)

Bill was on the warpath. He entered the dark, noisy interior of Shades, one of the city's hippest and hottest nightclubs and gave himself a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the dim lighting. A few seconds was all he needed. He knew the confines of this place like the back of both hands. It had been his home away from home many moons ago when he'd been dating Stephie.

Everyone who was anyone in their rich, cosmopolitan set was here tonight and Bill saw many familiar faces as he scanned the crowded dance floor. But he was looking for only one person and Bill knew that she was here—somewhere. She was always here, guaranteed—partying, drinking, dancing, getting high and generally wasting away her idle, privileged life.

Like he had once done—many moons ago.

He spotted her then. She was standing in the back, with drink in hand—and the center of attention of two men. Typical, Bill smirked to himself. Leopards really didn't change their spots especially dangerous, sharp-clawed felines like Stephanie Hartwell.

Bill pushed his way through some of the dancers and reached her side in five seconds flat. He grabbed her wrist and surprised, she turned around to see him by her side.

A welcoming smile stretched across her face. "Well hello, lover," she purred, obviously glad to see him.

Bill's face remained stony. "Let's talk," he ordered, then proceeded to half drag her, half pull her across the dance floor into one of the VIP private rooms off to the side.

The second they were in the room, he released her wrist as if it had burned him and he slammed the door shut. He pulled out the three airline tickets and waved them at her.

"Your handiwork, I take it?" he accused, as he threw them at her. They fluttered to the floor.

Stephie looked down at the tickets before raising her eyes back to Bill's angry face. "You can't blame a girl for trying, now can you?" she taunted him.

Bill was livid and he started shouting at her. "How dare you pull a stunt like this, coming to my house, uninvited and spewing a pack of lies to cause trouble between Christina and me."

Stephie's smile dropped and her true malicious self shone through. "I can't believe you really want to tie yourself to a nondescript, little nobody like her when I gave you so much—and I still can." Stephie bridged the gap between them and wrapped her graceful arms around Bill's neck. "It can be me, you know, instead of her; I can be your wife." She sounded desperate.

Bill pulled her arms off of his body. "Stephie, no. It's over. We're over." He was adamant and he pushed her away.

"You don't love her. How can you love a little mouse like that?"

"My relationship with Christina is my business, so stay out of it."

"You can't mean that?"

"Oh, I mean it. And if I hear that you've approached her again in any way with anymore of your lies or tricks or schemes, I won't be so nice next time. I'll make sure the bank calls in everyone of your loans that I helped you get."

"You wouldn't!" she gasped.

"Try me." Bill was deadly serious. It was written all over his face.

Stephie was shocked. In the back of her mind, she had always thought that she and Bill would somehow get back together, that this Miss Nobody was just a passing fancy to help him out with his father but now she saw that he had genuine feelings for her. The little bitch had won! She'd won him and the pot of gold he came with. Stephie's jealousy soared to new heights, as did her vindictiveness.

She raised her nose up in the air. "Don't you threaten me!" she threw at him.

Bill glared at her, "Stay away from Christina or else."

With one last disgusted look at her, he turned and walked out.

Stephie's rage boiled over. Looking around the room, she spotted a tray of glasses and taking them one by one, started to throw them against the wall, smashing them into a million pieces.

She wasn't finished with those two—not by a long shot. If she couldn't have him, she'd somehow make damn sure that the little bitch wouldn't have him either.

* * *

Outside the nightclub, Bill strode to his parked car.

One down, one to go, he thought to himself.

Christina arrived at the Baldora couture shop in the afternoon. She had another scheduled fitting for her wedding dress and was meeting Mindy, the wedding planner there to discuss the plans.

Even though she had spent last night in her own bed at her own apartment, she hadn't been able to sleep at all. If truth were told, she was worried about Bill's reaction when she went back to the house tonight. Would he still be mad at her for what she'd done to him? Would they have another fight and she'd have to storm out again?

Christina didn't regret what she'd done. He'd had it coming for trying to sneak that slut into their honeymoon—not that Christina had any intention of actually going on a honeymoon since she still hoped to get out of marrying the creep. It was just the idea that he was taking her for a fool by trying to pull a cheap, scumbag move on her like that.

Christina giggled to herself. He did look pretty funny dressed in those stupid shorts chained to the bed. Wonder what William thought when he'd seen his son like that? Probably got a big kick out of it, as well. And how in heaven did they get those cuffs off? And how long had the bastard stayed like that? Maybe, he was still handcuffed to the bedpost right now?

Christina giggled some more at the image of that.

But she, suddenly, stopped giggling when she remembered the hot, sizzling kisses they'd shared—and the way his greedy hands had run all over her body—and how she'd felt when she'd been sitting on top of his hard erection—and then those sweet kisses he'd trailed from her neck, down her stomach almost reaching her privates before she had stopped him.

She hadn't meant for things to go that far. She hadn't meant for him to give her those soul-destroying kisses or have his hot hands travel all over her body. Although her anger at him had kept her in control the entire time, her physical attraction for him had allowed her to push the envelope when it came to her little foreplay games.

It would have been so easy to give in and forget her plan and her self-respect—and spend all of last night making love to him. She had wanted to do that so very badly but she was in a big mess when it came to Bill Havenwood. This wasn't a normal, everyday relationship. There was no love here, at least not on his side—and there were too many games, deceptions and lies on all sides. No—she needed to stay focused and somehow extricate herself from this disastrous situation before she'd have to say any real 'I do's'.

Having changed into her wedding dress, Christina came out to stand on the platform where two seamstresses were waiting. As she was turning around as per their instructions, Mindy walked in followed by Christina's mom, Gabriella and Bill's mom, Maddie Havenwood.

Christina was stunned. "Mom? Mrs. Havenwood… Maddie? What are you two doing here," she asked.

"I invited them. I thought we could all sit down and discuss your wedding plans together," Mindy innocently piped up.

"What a good idea, Mindy," Christina replied as she pasted a phony smile on her lips. She was not thrilled.

"Darling, you look beautiful," Gabriella choked on her words as she lovingly gazed at her daughter in her wedding gown. She dabbed her wet eyes with a tissue.

"Mommy, please don't cry."

"I can't help it. You look like an angel."

Maddie put a comforting hand on Gabriella's arm. "She does look beautiful, Gabriella." She then turned to Christina. "My son's very lucky."

Christina smiled, "No, I'm the lucky one, Maddie. Your son is… amazing." Yeah—an amazing bastard, that's what.

Gabriella was still tearing up and Maddie grasped her hand. "Gabriella, let's wait outside and give these hard-working ladies…" meaning the seamstresses, "…some privacy?"

Gabriella nodded, "We'll be right outside, sweetheart," she said to Christina.

"Okay, mommy." Great, thought Christina; now she'd have to deal with those two!

Christina spent the next twenty minutes standing still for the seamstresses, then went to change and joined her mom, Maddie and Mindy in the lounge area.

Sandwiched between her mom and Maddie on the antique couch with Mindy opposite them, Christina had to endure an hour of discussions on her stupid, damn wedding which was never going to happen anyway, if she had anything to do about it.

As the two mother hens took over the decision-making, Christina's mind kept wandering back to last night—and how his hot kisses had tasted—and how he had smelled of some exotic male cologne, or had that been his scent? Whatever it was, it had driven her wild. And then, when their bodies had been plastered on top of each other on the bed—and she'd been kissing him—and he'd been kissing her back—doing to her what she was doing to him—why, she could feel the heat again now.

"My dear," Mindy examined Christina. "You look flushed. Are you all right?"

All three women studied Christina's red face.

"Ye… yes, it's just awfully hot in here," Christina stammered.

Appeased, Mindy continued. "Anyway, my dear, you have to tell me who your bridesmaids and maid of honor will be? We need to get their dresses made and the wedding's three weeks away."

Oh no, Christina thought, who else was she going to have to involve in this debacle?

"We'll ask your cousins Angela and Connie and your maid of honor will be Theresa. I owe her mother," Gabriella immediately piped up.

"Mom, no; I don't want any of those people involved."

"But your aunts will make my life hell if we don't ask your cousins."

"Mommy, this is my wedding." She turned to Mindy. "I only want a maid of honor and one flower girl; and that's it."

"But my dear," Mindy began, "You have to have bridesmaids."

Maddie, on the other hand, saw that Christina had already made up her mind. She turned to the other two women. "Wedding etiquette isn't set in stone. If Christina doesn't want any bridesmaids, then she won't have any. After all, the Havenwoods make up their own rules." She smiled at her daughter-in-law-to-be.

Christina gave her a warm smile back. She liked this woman a lot. Too bad things had soured between her and William. She could see how the two had been initially attracted to each other. They were both no nonsense types with he providing the brains and drive of the team; and she providing the warmth and nurturing.

"Maddie's right. I'm going to ask my friend, Jenny and her daughter, Taylor. I'm firm on this."

Gabriella was about to argue when she took in her daughter's determined and set face. She threw her hands up in surrender, "Okay. What do I know? I'm only your mother!"

Christina gave her mom a quick kiss on the cheek, "Thanks, mommy."

Christina needed someone to pose as her maid of honor who could come in for dress fittings and be part of several wedding strategy meetings with Mindy but be in on the scam that the wedding would never happen. The most perfect accomplice for the position was Jenny, of course.

The meeting wrapped up and as they were all about to leave, Maddie pulled Christina to the side. "Christina, why don't we have lunch tomorrow? That way we can get to know each other better."

Christina smiled, "I'd love to, Maddie. How about one in the afternoon? You just let me know where you want to meet."

Maddie smiled. "I'll give you a call tomorrow morning to confirm."

Oh great, Christina thought, how was she going to get through a lunch with Bill's mom? Maddie would probably ask all kinds of personal questions about her supposed love match with her rotten son. How many lies would she have to tell then?

The sooner Christina found something to hold over the rat's head, the better. This entire fiasco couldn't be over soon enough for her.

Christina studied her appearance in her full-length bedroom mirror. Not bad, she thought. It was the custom at the Havenwood manor to dress for dinner and she had decided to wear a very sexy, low-cut black dress that enticingly skimmed her curvy body.

Hopefully, if Bill kept his dirty mind on her figure, he wouldn't keep it focused on his anger at what she'd done to him last night. Maybe it would take some of the sting out of the confrontation with the bastard that Christina knew was waiting for her downstairs.

She took a deep breath. Okay, time to face the Bill Havenwood music, which in this case was going to be a full-fledged concert of screaming, accusations and fury.

* * *

Christina entered the salon. That's where they all usually had drinks before dinner.

But tonight no one was there yet.

There were, however, two long tables set up by the north wall with what looked liked gift-wrapped wedding gifts piled high on both. Christina walked over and began to read the gift cards. She recognized some of the names as some of the high society set she had been introduced to at her engagement party.

She sighed with frustration, as she knew all of these gifts would have to be returned eventually. Still, it might be fun to open them up and see what was inside.

Bill, dressed in his elegant dinner suit, walked in and spotted her at the gift tables. She hadn't seen him yet as her back was turned to him, and this gave him a chance to study her.

In that dress, she looked amazing. Every soft curve was on display for his enjoyment. And her hair was piled high on top of her head, exposing her long, swan-like, creamy neck and back. Yes, she was definitely delicious eye candy and he could kick himself for having had all that within his grasp and then lost it. But it hadn't really been his fault, now had it. In fact, it had never really been in his grasp at all. She'd only made him think that so that she could embarrass the hell out of him for something he hadn't even done. It had all been a plot to teach him a lesson.

Bill's anger resurfaced at what she had done to him.

Instead of asking him about the tickets—or maybe even screaming at him about the tickets, like any other normal, rational woman would have done—she'd played dirty. And he, idiot that he was, had fallen for it—hook, line and sinker, at the speed of a ship's steel anchor dropping into the sea.

Yes, she was definitely a dirty fighter.

But so was he. He was going to get her just as she had gotten him but not tonight—maybe not even tomorrow—or the day after that. She'd be expecting a big blowout on this first meeting but he wasn't going to give her that. No—he was going to make her sweat it out, like someone who was on death row but didn't know the date of the execution. The waiting would be worse than the punishment.

He pasted a sexy smile on his lips and turned on the charm switch. "Are you going to open them?" he asked, in his most debonair, suave voice.

Christina gasped and quickly spun around. He was leaning against the wall by the double doors with his hands in his pockets—and outrageously handsome as ever. And he was watching her like a lion would watch their prey before the kill. She could see the dangerous glint in his eyes.

"How… how long have you been standing there?" She sounded nervous.

"Long enough to notice how beautiful you look in that dress," he smiled then and added, "But then again, you could wear a potato sack and still look beautiful to me."

Christina straightened her spine in self-defense. "Well, next time I go shopping, I'll buy one," she sarcastically retorted.

She thought he would be angry at her snippy reply but instead he laughed—that irresistible laugh that all male super rats had and was so alluring to female saps like herself.

He smiled at her again. "Do that and then you can model it for me."

Something was wrong here, Christina thought. He didn't seem mad at all. In fact, he was being nice—too nice. Why wasn't he mad? What was he playing at?

Bill pushed himself off the wall and strode deeper into the room towards her. Christina didn't consciously realize it but she took two involuntary steps back—away from him. But he saw it. So, the little hellion was scared of him tonight? Good, he thought to himself.

Christina raised her nose in the air. "I'm not apologizing, you know," she dared him with her voice.

He smiled at her again as he continued to approach her. "Did I ask you too?" He raised an enquiring eyebrow demanding an answer.

"N… no." Damn it! She had stammered again.

He stopped a couple of feet away from her and Christina's stomach was doing somersaults. Her fear of him and what he was going to do next plus the intense sexual magnetism he was exuding were all playing havoc with her insides.

"May I give my lovely wife-to-be a peck on the cheek?" he gently asked.

"Why? There's only the two of us in here." Christina instinctively folded her arms in front of her chest to protect herself from his strong, sexy presence.

"Because I haven't seen you since yesterday and I missed you. Is that so bad?"

When Christina didn't answer, Bill leaned into her and gave her a sweet kiss on the cheek. As he pulled away, he looked into her eyes and gave her a sexy laugh. "Now that didn't hurt, did it?"

She stared at him with frightened eyes. She'd better get a hold of her nerves tonight, Christina thought, otherwise the creep would win whatever game he was playing at.

At that moment, William walked in and taking note of the close proximity of the two lovebirds, remarked, "Good; I'm glad to see you two have kissed and made up."

"Why wouldn't we?" Bill smiled, as he turned to his father.

He sounded so calm and so casual—as if all she'd done to him yesterday was—nothing. Christina was scared. For the first time, she was scared. And suddenly, she knew. He was going to get even with her but not tonight. Who even knew when? Only he knew that and he wasn't telling.

He turned back to her then. "Christina, can I get you a drink?"

He sounded so nice—so goddamned nice—but she now knew why. She stared into his beautiful, green eyes and turned on the charm herself. "Thank you, yes, but don't put arsenic in it."

He burst out laughing. "Not before the wedding anyway. I want to get you to the altar first." He paused and gave her a devilish grin. Bending down to her ear, he whispered, "Then we'll see."

He straightened and moved to the drinks cabinet—a picture of elegant, refined, sophisticated—evil. Oh no, Christina thought, she'd guessed right about his plans. That meant she was in for a bumpy ride for who knew how long.

The louse was going to make her sweat, not knowing what was going to hit her or when. He was going to slowly torture her with uncertainty and doubt and fear. Oh—he was good. If the big guns weren't being trained on her, Christina could almost admire his cunning. It was something she would have done—if she'd thought of it first.

"Why don't we go into dinner instead?" William innocently asked, not understanding any of the dangerous undercurrents that were swirling in the room.

"Sure, why not." Bill agreed. He walked back to where Christina was standing and offered her his arm. "May I escort my beautiful bride-to-be?"

Christina would have told him to 'stick it' but William was there and they had to keep up appearances for his sake. Besides, she was going to give him back whatever he dished out and see who broke first.

She smiled at him—a full wattage smile that almost made Bill go suddenly weak at the knees. "Of course," she replied.

And taking his arm, the two walked towards the dining room.

If Bill wasn't being controlled by his anger tonight, he would have marched her right upstairs and begged for forgiveness for something he hadn't even done—all so that he could have her in his arms again. Her nearness and the vulnerable way she was clasping his arm now as they were walking into the dining room was all it took for him to want her badly again. He ached for the fulfillment of what had been promised to him last night and never received—for what he'd been cheated out of…

But he had time.

And she had to pay for her sins first.

And this time he was the one in control.

* * *

Dinner turned out to be a pleasant affair.

William chatted about business and politics, and Christina was surprised to see that Bill added many intelligent comments to the conversation. He was definitely a lot smarter than he let on. He wasn't exactly the wasted, ex-partyer he pretended to be.

Towards her, he was very charming and polite. He made every endeavor to include her in the discussions and asked for her opinions throughout the evening. He was gracious, sweet and nice; the perfect dinner companion and host. Yes—the bastard was definitely up to no good.

William didn't stay for dessert. Excusing himself, he left the two alone in the cavernous dining room. As soon as the door closed behind him, Christina rounded on Bill.

"I know what you're doing and it's not going to work," she threw at him.

Bill acted surprised, "Sorry? I don't understand?"

"You're being nice to me… too nice!"

"That's right, I am. What's wrong with that?"

"Don't play stupid. The longer I know you, the more I realize how smart you really are. You're being nice to me to keep me off balance until you decide it's time to exact your revenge for what I did to you last night."

"Those are your games, sweetheart, not mine," he said innocently. "In fact, about last night, I spoke to Stephie and she admitted everything. It was all a plot of hers to come between us. I had nothing to do with any of it." He reached for his glass of mineral water and took a casual sip.

"And I'm supposed to believe that?"

Bill shrugged his shoulders. "That's up to you."

He was so cool, so matter-of-fact that Christina had an overwhelming urge to walk around the table and slap his face hard. But she didn't do any such thing.

"Let's get a few facts straight," she tartly replied. "The tickets were in your room and that's proof enough for me. And you're planning something, so come on, take your best shot now." She dared him with her eyes.

He scraped his chair back and stood up, and Christina flinched in her seat. She was scared.

Confident, Bill smirked at her. He knew exactly what he was doing to her and what she was feeling. "Christina, you're being paranoid. I'm not going to do anything to you. I had nothing to do with those tickets but I understand how it must have looked. So, I forgive you for what you did."

Bill slowly came around the table to where Christina was sitting. Immediately, she was on guard. As he bent down, a frightened Christina nearly jumped out of her chair but all he did was to give her a quick kiss on her cheek before straightening up again.

"Good night; sleep tight," he whispered, before strolling out of the room.

As soon as he was gone, Christina let out a panicked and tense breath. She'd been right. He was planning something, but what? And when?

* * *

For the next couple of days, Christina was a basket case.

She was waiting for the axe to fall on her head but it hadn't yet. And she knew that this waiting game was part of her punishment. The bastard was playing it beautifully.

Throughout these past two days, he had been polite, thoughtful and caring towards her. He hadn't wavered once nor had he shown any anger or impatience. He was proving himself to be a master at these types of games—her types of games. She was being outwitted and outfoxed.

Damn him to hell!

Today, Christina was on her way to pick up Jenny and Taylor to drive them to the couture house for their first dress fitting for their matron of honor and flower girl dresses.

Later, Christina was going to meet Maddie Havenwood for an early dinner. She was going to have to act like the happy, in-love bride and today she just didn't feel up to it. The anxiety and fear she'd been feeling because of Bill's tricks had sapped all her energy lately.

As Christina pulled up to her apartment building, she spotted Jenny and Taylor waiting outside. They waved and then quickly got into the car. Jenny had left work an hour early so that they could make this appointment as soon as Taylor got out of school.

Jenny had agreed to be the 'pretend' matron of honor and go for the dress fittings as she thought it would be fun, even if she was never going to get to wear the outfit. At the very least, Christina had told her friend, she would have an original Baldora hanging in her closet at Havenwood expense.

"Thanks for doing this for me, Jenny," Christina said as she pulled out into the traffic.

"So it adds a bit of excitement to my dull life. What else have I got?" Jenny laughed. Then she turned to Taylor in the backseat and said, "Put your seatbelt on, honey." She turned back to Christina. "Oh, Robert said he was calling you tonight with some information about the Shelley Ave. warehouse."

"Great; hopefully he's got some good news."

"How you holding up?" Jenny was concerned.

"Awful, just awful; look…" Christina took one hand off the steering wheel and showed Jenny how it was shaking slightly. "My nerves are shot and I'm on edge all the time."

"Why are you letting him get to you like this, Chrissy?"

"I don't know, he just is."

"You're playing into his plans."

"I can't help it." With panic in her eyes, Christina turned to her friend. "I've got to somehow get out of this mess, Jenny. I can't marry him for real; I can't. And there's only two weeks left."

"Don't worry; we'll get something on him." Jenny smiled but Christina was not comforted.

In the end, Christina, Jenny and Taylor had a wonderful time trying on their dresses. It was such a fun, girlie thing to do and Christina did forget about her problems for a little while.

* * *

After dropping Jenny and Taylor back at their apartment building, Christina went to the West Indian restaurant that Maddie had picked out for their meal. On entering the exotic establishment, Christina spotted Maddie already sitting cross-legged on the floor at one of the low tables in the corner.