Truth Untold (Eligible Bachelors #1) - Completed

Chapter Three

“Ness-” he started, wanting to comfort her and hear what they said so that he may deal with it adequately, but his sister cut him off, the keys jangling as she stole it from her clutch purse.

“Hey, before I leave. I need to ask you something.”

“Ask away.”

Vanessa pursed her lips, pondering if she should even bring it up. Scott would never betray her like this. Everyone who had been inside the lounge room, herself included, had been requested to sign a gag order by Alexander’s demand. He hadn’t wanted anyone to utter a single word about his marriage to Vanessa, all to protect Daphne’s fragile mental health.

Alexander never wore the wedding ring, like his wife. Instead, they had placed it in individual ring boxes and tucked it in a faraway corner. Out of sight. Out of mind.

“Did you by chance tell anyone about the marketing campaign for my new book?”

Scott frowned. “No. If anything, I went out of my way to ensure none of our family members, or their friends and acquaintances saw the ad your publisher put out a month ago.” Scott paused and tilted his head. “Why? What happened?”

“Well…do you know if anyone mentioned the marriage to someone else? When they’re not supposed to.”

Scott considered that, pondering on it for a moment before shaking his head. “Not to my knowledge.”

“Did you?” Vanessa followed up sharply, earning her an incredulous stare from her little brother. She held her hands up. “Hey, it’s not personal. I’m just trying to ensure you had nothing to do with the crap storm happening on Twitter.”

Scott raised an eyebrow. “Well, don’t leave me hanging. You know I avoid that site like the plague. It’s garbage.”

Vanessa laughed. “Someone posted something about not purchasing my new book after finding out how I stole Alexander from Daphne and married him. Lyn is working on that, but I just wanted to know if someone said something. I mean, there’s a huge advantage that came from the gag order.”

Nobody would find out that Alexander was married to Vanessa. She liked it that way. She was never one for unnecessary drama.

“Ahh…” Scott mused, “So, who blabbed, then?” Vanessa nodded, and her brother made a humming sound in thought. “I can look into it. Send me the link and I’ll have my buddy scope it out.”

“Scott! No, we can’t do that.”

“Calm down, Ness. It’s my buddy who was there at the wedding. You know, the one whose uncle is a detective? Not to mention, if it’s on Twitter, I’m sure a lot of people have already seen it. It’s out, Ness. People know, now, and whether you want it or not, the press and paparazzi are going to eat this up.”

Vanessa groaned in agony, slumping against the side of her car. “I hate being in the spotlight like this.”

Scott gripped her shoulders, straightening her posture and giving her a reassuring smile. “We’ll fix this, Ness. Get home safely and call me some time.”

“Okay, I will.” Vanessa rubbed her cheeks in frustration. “Goodnight, Scott.”

“Goodnight, Ness.” He gave her cheek a quick peck, holding the car door open and shutting it once she got inside. Only when she left the driveway, speeding off toward the mansion-home she shared with Alexander, did he head back inside after idly standing around for a few minutes more, pondering this bit of news he had learned.

Scott returned, and when asked by Daphne where Vanessa was, he frowned at her. He knew her true face and responded dryly with, “She left.”

He didn’t stick around for dinner. He’d come to dinner solely for the purpose of catching up with his favourite big sister but now that she’d left, there was no point in staying. He made up an excuse and left.

The evening fell apart after that. Sean and Renee Roche arrived at dinner, but upon realizing and asking after Scott’s and Vanessa’s absence, their enthusiasm vanished. They rarely spoke through dinner, and once the meal had been served and had, they left.

Eloisa’s hope of further diminishing Vanessa’s character in front of Sean and Renee to make Daphne look better, and the more favourable choice in a daughter-in-law to the Roche family, fell flat. Still, she tried, constantly talking about, and complimenting her daughter. The sucking up to Renee in particular was entertained to a minimum.

Only Alexander remained after everyone else had left. He stayed and chatted with Patrick and Eloisa with Daphne at his side, clinging to him and that, he hadn’t minded. It was after eleven when he returned to his mansion-home with Daphne.

Vanessa’s car was in the garage, but her bedroom light was off. Alexander figured that she had retired early for the night.

He and Daphne had their fun and after an hour or so of making love, Daphne was exhausted and shortly fell asleep. Only then did Alexander leave his bedroom. For whatever curious reason, he was unsettled and felt as though he should check on his wife. So, he opened the door to her bedroom and even in the darkness of the space, her bed was made, and she was nowhere to be found.

He checked every other room in the house and even went out onto the patio deck. She was nowhere, and a sudden bout of panic assailed him. It had come out of nowhere and even he had trouble making sense of it as he returned to his bedroom, quietly fishing his phone from his pants pocket. He was careful not to awaken Daphne as he left the bedroom again and headed down to the living room.

Alexander tried Vanessa’s number. The first two times he tried; it rang until it went to voicemail. The third time, it rang once before going to voicemail and the fourth time, it went straight there. That told him that wherever she was, she had dismissed his first two calls, hung up after the first ring on the third, and possibly shut off her phone the next time around.

He sat down on the comforter chair in the dark, rubbing at his forehead. He pondered calling Scott and asking if she was with him. But if Vanessa had left before Scott, chances are, they both went separate ways and didn’t meet up elsewhere, especially if her car was sitting in the garage.

His face suddenly scrunched in distaste. He wondered briefly if she was with that abominable guy she called a best friend. Alexander wasn’t sure why Vanessa having a guy best friend bothered him so much especially when it hadn’t before tonight.

Just as he was about to call Scott and get that abominable guy’s number since his wife had refused to answer his calls, the front door opened and closed. His gaze snapped up and he moved over to the light switch on the wall near the living room’s entrance. She’d have to pass right by him and as she did so a moment later, her light footfalls and whistling to some song coming with her, he turned the light on, bringing her steps to a halt.

Vanessa turned to look up at Alexander with a raised eyebrow, a slight expression of irritation stretched across her face.

“Where were you?”

Vanessa looked down at the running shoes on her feet, and her attire of black leggings and a white hoodie, a gray vest underneath. “You have eyes. Put one and one together.”

Without another word, she moved along, heading toward the kitchen to get a bottled water from the fridge, aware of the six-foot-three male, radiating waves of anxiety following behind her. And Alexander was careful to hide that anxiety, not wanting her to know that he nearly went mad worrying over her of all people.

“Cut the sass, Vanessa. Do you know what time it is?”

Vanessa paused in drinking her water, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. Her expression, as usual, was blank. “Yes,” she drawled as though he had asked the dumbest question, “it’s after one in the morning.”

“Exactly! What kind of crazy person goes running at one in the morning?” Alexander thundered, his reaction and the unnecessary scolding confusing Vanessa until she felt the mild throbbing of an incoming headache.

“The best time to run around the neighbourhood is when everyone is asleep. No cars, and no people.” Vanessa’s voice was monotone as usual when she spoke to him, and she paused and tilted her head, studying him for a moment. She squinted her gaze. “You sound worried. Why?”

“I don’t know! It’s not every night a man comes home to find his wife not there and with no idea where she is!”

“Oh. Sorry.” Again, her expression was blank, and her voice monotoned, making it difficult for Alexander to decipher her. She seemed just as dismissive as ever, not at all remorseful for what she’d done. “Why do you care, anyway?”

“I just wanted to know where you were since you ruined dinner earlier,” Alexander fired. Perhaps Vanessa wasn’t all to blame but she had a significant hand in ruining the evening.

Eloisa seemed upset most of the time throughout dinner despite Daphne’s best attempts to cheer up her mother and because of that, Daphne was upset. Scott split the first chance he got, making up some garbage excuse about needing to work early in the morning. And his parents hardly spoke to anyone. They left as soon as they were finished with dinner, not even bothering to accept the food Eloisa had ordered the kitchen staff to box for them to take home.

“How so?” This intrigued Vanessa and she allowed it to show, her brows furrowing in curiosity. He unleashed all of the evening’s mishaps to her with a thunderous fury.

“I’m pretty sure everyone would have been in a better mood had you just done your job,” Alexander retorted haughtily, unaware that he had just pushed the wrong button.

Job, Vanessa thought.

“And just what the hell was my job tonight, Alexander?” she thundered. Her stoic expression cracked giving way to the fury that matched her irate tone. She clutched the water bottle in her hand, the plastic crackling from the force of her grip, and she looked seconds away from launching it at him.

Alexander stepped back, eyes wide and jaw slightly ajar, not having expected her outburst.

“What? Was I supposed to sit there and pretend like everything they said didn’t affect me and that their insults were nothing more than mere friendly jokes? What, Alexander? Should I have been the clown they degraded to make themselves feel better and while everyone else slept soundly tonight, I’m questioning what the f**k I’m even living for? Is that what you wanted me to do, Alexander?”

“Vanessa-”

“Oh, you know, Alexander. I don’t think you should’ve worn that ugly green shirt tonight. It’s too big and it makes you look fatter than usual. That’s gross, you know. No good woman with taste and class is going to want a fat, disgusting piece of s**t as her husband. And drinking every night and sleeping with every woman you can get your hands on, that’s not attractive. What a pig! Talk about repelling women!”

“What-” Alexander was stunned into silence, fumbling for words as he stared at the irate woman in front of him, her delicate features twisted into a snarl born of the deepest resentment and fury. She clutched the water bottle, and he eyed it closely, ready to dodge should she think about launching it.

“It doesn’t feel great, does it? Having people constantly s**t on you for nothing?” Vanessa snapped, slamming the bottle down on the counter. She continued to glare heatedly at her husband through the dark.

Silence followed as neither spoke. Vanessa kept glaring at him, hoping he saw and felt how much she hated him, and just how badly she wanted to condemn him to hell. He was unsure how to respond. In all his twenty-eight years of life, he’d had women slap him, and call him a pig. He’d even had women tell him off after he ruthlessly played with their hearts, but to have one play a verbal smackdown on him without even giving him a chance to retaliate had been a new experience.

Or maybe, he simply hadn’t expected his wife to react. Yes, that was it. He’d grown so accustomed to her monotonous, dull existence that he didn’t think she was capable of snapping like that.

A quiet movement drew their attention, and Alexander suddenly remembered that he and Vanessa were not the only ones here. As if caught doing something wrong, he snapped his gaze to Vanessa, finding the fury there almost suffocating as Daphne waltzed into the kitchen.

“Alex? Nessie? What’s wrong?” Daphne stared wide-eyed between them, looking back and forth like a doe-eyed fawn. “Why are you yelling? Is it because I’m here?” Daphne’s face fell, morphing into a saddened one as she turned to look at Vanessa. “Nessie, I’m so sorry. It was so stupid of me to come here when I knew you’d be upset. Please, forgive me.”

Vanessa growled in agitation, wanting nothing more than to lash out and fling the bottle at Daphne’s face.

“It’s nothing to be bothered about,” Alexander replied, waving his hand dismissively toward Vanessa as though she held no importance. Vanessa saw that he’d quickly recovered from his moment of astoundment.

The green monster reared its ugly head and her need to be petty surged to the surface as she watched them kiss, without a care in the world, and without the slightest ounce of common courtesy.

“I wouldn’t be so quick to play tonsil hockey with him, Daph,” she piped up, speaking loud and sharp and with enough malice to break their kiss. Alexander glared at her, and Daphne looked at her with interest, as if challenging the other to gain an advantage over her.

Vanessa wanted them to be as miserable as she felt on a daily basis when she wasn’t writing, or with Lyn, or Scott, or with her best friend, Royce Banning. For once, she wanted them to writhe and suffer, and maybe then, she’d feel lighter.

“He had some woman over last night.”

It was satisfying enough watching Alexander’s eyes widen in panic, and hearing Daphne’s gasp of shock and betrayal. It gave her great pleasure watching how Daphne jumped away from him as though she had touched filth.

“What?” Daphne stuttered.

“Daph, she’s lying. I would never-”

“He does it quite often,” Vanessa continued, beginning to walk around the counter and past the couple to exit the kitchen. “I believe his most active nights out are Tuesdays and Fridays.”

A sinister grin broke out on her face as the couple started arguing, Daphne’s irate cries and Alexander’s attempts to calm her down and claim his innocence was music to her ears that followed her up the stairs.

Tonight, she’d sleep in peace.