A Beautiful Lie (Unlocked #1) Read online

  When I emerged out onto the street, the fresh air hit me like a Mack truck. Within seconds, I was doubled over on the small lawn in front of the building, heaving all the contents out of my stomach.

  One signature. That was all I came to get, and I succeeded.

  12

  Nina

  TOMAS: Change of plans. Boarding the plane home now. See you soon, love.

  How could one text message send me into such a frenzy? A wave of guilt washed over me as I read it. What would Tomas think when he found out I hadn’t been staying at the loft? What would he think if he knew that I had been spending all of my time with Luke?

  He would think nothing, because he’d never find out. He’d sent the message a few hours earlier. I was fast asleep when it came through early Sunday morning. I made a promise to keep the events of the last few days to myself. Now that Tomas had been in a good mood for a sustained period of time, I refused to let anything get in the way of us. Of course, Eden could always throw a wrench in my plan, but I would deal with her if and when I needed to.

  Another text arrived.

  BRIA: Hey G, do you need a ride tonight?

  “Fuck,” I muttered aloud to the empty penthouse. Of all days to have a show, I hated that it fell on the day when Tomas returned home.

  GIGI: Please.

  BRIA: Pick you up at 7.

  So much had happened over the last few days. Now it was like having to navigate between two separate existences. First there was Gigi, the girl whose dreams were coming true before her eyes, the girl every other girl wanted to be, the girl who didn’t need anyone in the world except for Tomas. And then there was Nina, the sad, pathetic girl who had never gotten a chance at a real family, the girl who clung to any hope that a family might exist, good or bad.

  How could I choose? I had no time to choose. Just as the sun sunk over the city, I slipped out of the penthouse to fade back into Gigi.

  The familiar nervous anticipation returned as I rode the C train back to Brooklyn. My heartbeat grew rapid and my body broke out into a sweat. The heat of the crowded car became unbearable. In a few hours, I would have Tomas all to myself. In a few hours, we could finally be together in the way I’d always wanted.

  I was met with an eerie silence when I entered the loft. It had only been a few days since I’d left, but it felt as though a hundred years had passed since anyone had walked through the halls. I listened for any evidence that Eden was there, but only the quiet responded. The housekeeper must have come, as the space was now immaculate. I tiptoed toward the room Eden and Tomas shared. The door was cracked open, and I saw Eden, curled in the mess of bed sheets as though she’d been lying there for days. I made a silent wish that she’d overdosed and died.

  I had no idea when Tomas would return. But before he did, I needed to clear my head. With one last look at Eden, I left and made my way up to my small apartment. What a contrast the small, unkempt room was to the grand penthouse that I’d just come from. As I made my way toward the bathroom, I caught a glimpse of myself in the floor-length mirror in the corner.

  Who have you become? Why do you look nothing like Gigi?

  I stripped and got into the small claw-foot tub. With my foot, I pushed the lever as far left as it would go, filling the bath with the hottest water the pipes would give. The continuous stream of scalding water burned the tops of my feet as the heat worked its way up between my legs then to my stomach and breasts until I was encased in fire water up to my neck.

  I needed to burn every inch of Nina Parker off me before he returned. Tomas had a sense for things being off, and he would know that something was amiss if I wasn’t careful. I allowed my head to rest on the hard, curved porcelain and drifted off.

  Then, a small splash woke me up. My eyes had been closed for what seemed like minutes, but must have been longer since the temperature of the water had cooled.

  “There you are.” A familiar voice roused me from my deep sleep. “My God, you are incredible.” Tomas was drinking in the sight of my naked flesh from his spot on the edge of the tub.

  “You’re home.” I sat up, fully awake and suddenly self-conscious. The topography of my body was the culmination of the time I’d spent with him. Scars, bruises, scratches, and burns, all in various stages of healing, adorned me. I looked down, only to realize that the makeup I had painstakingly applied that morning to cover the wounds had washed off. I drew my knees to my chest in an attempt to hide myself. He had seen me like this so many times – in fact, one of the paintings in the series had even been in a bathtub – but this time was different. He was gazing at me without the artist’s eye. There was no easel to act as a buffer for my feelings.

  “Everything went better than expected. The new materials will be here later this afternoon. We are launching the exhibit in two days.” His dark eyes lit up with joy and he dipped his fingertips in the water, gently caressing my hip, where a deep scar had formed from my struggle against a metal wire fence during one of our projects. I think he adored the way my entire body was marked by him.

  “Two days.” I pulled myself into a smaller ball, retreating from his touch. “Why so soon?” The entire thing felt so sudden. Wasn’t there a lot to do? His touch followed me, finding the scar on my hip again, continuing to stroke it.

  “The element of surprise keeps the public guessing. People are already speculating that something will happen at the gallery. We need to be ahead of the ball. And I need you full-time from here on out.” His fingers rested on my thigh, dangerously close to the apex. Part of me wanted to beg him to quit this cat and mouse game we’d been playing for months. But I had to play by his rules.

  “I have a show tonight.” My staccato breath couldn’t hide the way I felt about his fingers inching closer.

  “Oh, no. My love.” He dropped to his knees at the side of the tub, abruptly withdrawing the painful pleasure of his touch. He leaned onto his arms and lowered his head toward mine. “You have to leave that behind now. Everything is going to change.” He put a hand to my cheek and I nestled into it.

  “Like quit the troupe?”

  “I think so, Gigi.”

  Quit the troupe? That had always been a possibility, even the goal. Hell, the only reason any of us girls had joined in the first place was to find the next stepping stone toward success. But now, faced with the reality of leaving it all behind, an overwhelming sadness engulfed me. Performing had become the only outlet I had. It was too much to be confronted with in that moment and I wanted nothing more than to disappear beneath the water.

  “Remember the document you signed?” His voice was different now, almost accusing.

  The memory came back to me in an instant. It was a few days after graduation. I’d been staying with Tomas and Eden ever since, and dancing with the troupe. When I returned home one evening, a candlelight dinner was set in the living room. At the time, the view of New York’s skyline from inside the loft still took my breath away. I’d stopped to admire the scene.

  “Come sit.” Tomas pulled a chair out for me. Except, when I sat down, there was no dinner, only paperwork.

  “What is this?” Attention like that from him was unheard of, so I was sure I blushed like a little girl.

  “I want to offer you a real job.”

  “Doing what?”

  “Gigi, I want you to be my next muse.”

  The girls in the troupe had been whispering amongst each other that this offer was going to be made to me. Their words had been a mixture of jealous and genuine intrigue.

  “What do I have to do?”

  “You’ll be put in some uncomfortable situations.”

  He held my gaze, studying me for a reaction. I had no way of knowing then that ‘uncomfortable’ meant things like sitting outside naked in the bitter cold, or standing naked in the window of a busy high-rise at rush hour. I couldn’t know that he’d tie me to a tree at the break of dawn, just out of view of early morning commuters. I couldn’t know any of that, and so I said, “Yes.�
�

  Without hesitation, I signed on the dotted line. I didn’t even read the contract. I had no idea what I’d agreed to. After a short time, I wrote the entire thing off as a formality that didn’t mean anything.

  “Yes, I recall.”

  “It said that when the exhibit opens, you have to be there. That you must be solely employed by me.” He stood up from the side of the tub, grabbed my towel and held it out to me. I stepped out and was encased by his arms wrapping me in the towel. “So you’ll quit.”

  He left me there, dripping and confused. “Oh, and make sure you try on the dresses Angelina dropped off,” he shouted from the main room. Without another word, I heard the front door close behind him.

  Dresses? I moved from the bathroom and surveyed the rest of my apartment. My eyes fell to my closet where, sure enough, seven dress bags were hung. Each one was more beautiful than the last. I slipped from a tight black cocktail dress that fit me like a glove, into an elegant silver ball gown that made me feel like a fairy princess. They were the nicest pieces of clothing I’d ever worn.

  I took one final turn in the full-length mirror, admiring myself in a flowing, fiery red number. Even though I only pretended to be a movie star, I was beginning to believe that someday red carpet movie premieres could be my reality.

  LUKE: Do you want to get dinner?

  My heart fluttered unexpectedly when Luke’s text came through that evening. I hadn’t seen him since two nights earlier, when he’d first showed me the loft. As quickly as I’d rushed home to be with Tomas, the realization had set in that, as long as I was in the loft, I would never get to be with him. The loft was Eden’s domain. I was and would always be their guest. Then there was Luke, who had ties to my family, my real family.

  The balancing act was becoming too much. Would it be impossible to be both Nina and Gigi? How long would this game with Tomas drag out? If I stayed here and waited until the exhibit closed, then I would seem desperate to him. If I left of my own volition, maybe things would end differently for us than it had for the girls before me.

  NINA: Moving out of the loft now. I’ll be back within an hour.

  A few moments passed before he responded.

  LUKE: Moving out…really? Is everything okay?

  NINA: Never better. Now that I have my own place, no need for an apartment.

  LUKE: Right. Do you need help?

  NINA: Thanks, I don’t have much though. Just a few bags. I’ll text you when I’m back.

  LUKE: Okay, let me know if you need anything.

  Just as I was shoving more clothes into my bag, Bria’s horn blared outside of the loft.

  Shit. I’d forgotten to call her.

  I walked outside to her idling car. “Where are your costumes?” she asked when I opened the door.

  “Hey.” I slid into the passenger seat. “I need you to tell Lillian something for me.”

  “Are you sick or something?”

  “I have to quit Russo.”

  She went silent.

  “I have other priorities right now,” I added.

  “All this Perrot shit is changing you. It’s getting to your head.”

  “That’s not true, you have no idea what’s going on with me.” I wasn’t even sure I had any idea what was going on with me. But I had signed the contract, and I had to uphold that.

  “Oh bullshit, we’ve all got shit going on, Gigi. You couldn’t even be bothered to give us advanced warning to get a fill-in. And now I have to go be the bearer of bad news.” Bria shook her head, shifting the car into drive.

  “I’m sorry.” I threw open the door and jumped out, afraid she might actually drive away with me. “Bria, please.”

  But without another word, she was gone. I didn’t blame her. The troupe was like a sisterhood and I’d violated it by screwing them over.

  I wandered back into the loft. A glowing light illuminated the great room beyond the gallery. I followed it, half-expecting to see Tomas and Eden interlocked in a naked embrace. Instead, Tomas sat at the kitchen counter alone, illuminated only by the twinkling city lights shining through the window and the glow of his laptop, into which he was staring. I cleared my voice, getting his attention.

  “Hi there, my love.” He smiled. “The Internet is buzzing, Gigi. The world cannot wait to meet you.”

  He was in a good mood, but it was difficult to know how he’d react to my decision. “I’m moving out,” I blurted.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Does the contract say I have to live here?” Never in all of our time together had I challenged Tomas about anything. It was always what he said went.

  “No, but you live here free. I don’t see why…”

  “I’ve found a new residence,” I said matter-of-factly. “In the West Village.”

  “And how, might I ask, are you affording that?” His tone was irritated. I watched him trying to come to terms with the fact that he lacked control over the situation.

  “A relative has offered me a place to stay.” It wasn’t a complete lie. It just so happened that I had yet to meet this relative.

  “Really, a relative from the family you never speak to?” He gave me his most disappointed look. I wanted to see if Eden was still asleep in their room. I wanted to ask him why he was still with her when he clearly wanted me.

  “Circumstances have recently changed.” It would be much too easy to give into him. That was what he expected me to do.

  “You want to leave all this?” He gestured to the loft. “And me?” He grabbed my hand and pulled me closer. “You and me, we’re just getting started.”

  Only he knew how to make me dissolve into a million pieces and throw all caution to the wind. But I recognized this as another attempt by him to seize the power from me.

  “I’m not leaving you. I’d never leave you.” I leaned in dangerously close. The back and forth of our breaths escaped in and out of each other’s mouths. Tempted, I nearly leaned in to close the gap, but then he pushed away.

  “I think that is a mistake. But you are free to go.” He was no longer looking at me. “You must attend all scheduled appearances and meetings as I decide or else you will be in breach of your contract.”

  He was cold and unforgiving. As much as I wanted to tell him that I didn’t mean it, and of course I wanted to stay at the loft with him, I reminded myself of all of the girls before me who had done the same, and been dropped like flies by him when the contract was over. So instead, I turned and went back up to the apartment to finish gathering my things.

  NINA: Can you give me a ride? I have a few bags.

  LUKE: I’ll be there in 30.

  It was nice to be able to rely on someone the way I could rely on Luke. No matter what, I knew he would show up if I needed him. Tomas on the other hand might have decided I deserved whatever pickle I was in at the time.

  Twenty-eight minutes later, my phone vibrated.

  LUKE: Outside.

  I took one last look around the small space that had at first been my refuge, but had slowly become a prison. Before I walked out the front door, I made my way down the gallery hall back to where Tomas was sitting. Without a word, I left the key on the countertop beside him. He didn’t look at me or even acknowledge my presence.

  For one last time, I looked out at the skyline of Manhattan. Soon, I’d be looking out my own window, trying hard to squint and see through the tall buildings and find the little speck that was the loft. And I knew I wouldn’t be able to look back.

  “Thanks for picking me up,” I greeted Luke in the car.

  “Uh huh,” he responded, his gaze focused on the loft. “So you were just renting there?”

  “Something like that. A friend was helping me out.” I was really not in the mood to talk about it with Luke. He would never understand. I wasn’t sure what to tell him about the exhibit. Even I hadn’t seen the paintings, so I had no idea what to expect. Hell, maybe he knew nothing about art and wouldn’t even notice when the papers started writing about it,
and about me.

  Doubtful. I was starting to dread the opening more than anticipate it.

  “Listen, an idea was floated around during my meeting with the team this afternoon.”

  “Yeah?” I asked as we turned onto the Brooklyn Bridge.

  “Everyone agrees that we should reunite you with Patrick Blake. With your father.”

  All the air filling my lungs disappeared.

  “Why?” It was insane. Why would I want to be reunited with my father, who was potentially a violent criminal?

  “We need someone on the inside. Someone who can get closer than anyone else. The only person who can get the level of access we need, is you.”

  I sighed and pressed my forehead against the cold window. Yes, I’d agreed to help Luke, but to what extent?

  “Wouldn’t that be dangerous?”

  “No, Nina, we would be monitoring you the entire time. You’d never be alone in there.”

  “And what if he found out that I was working for you?”

  Luke ran a hand through his hair. “We know what we’re doing. We’d make sure that didn’t happen.”

  We rode in silence for a few minutes. The only thing I wanted to do was return to the penthouse, crawl into the cavern of the bed and sleep for days. Instead, I stupidly entertained the idea. Something about Luke made me at least willing to consider the what-ifs, and I hated him for it.

  “So how would it work?”

  “Well, he would obviously want to verify your claims that you are his daughter. We’ll have to present it as a suspicion you’ve had. If we can just get them to do a DNA test…”

  DNA test. It was real. If I agreed to go through with this grand plan, I might find my real father. If I really was Patrick’s daughter, then I was the only person who could get close enough. I fucking hated being under that much pressure. I’d gone my entire life making sure that I wasn’t important to anyone or anything. And now I had to go and save the world.