Page 68 of Love and Lies

“No, she does.” I was self-aware enough to know that she hadn’t suddenly lost interest. It was all too clear how she felt about me. A lick of heat shot through me as I pictured us in bed together, Helena on top of me, kissing my neck. Oh, fuck. I sighed inwardly.

“What, then?” Eli asked again.

“Our families have a complicated history.” And either side would do anything to keep us apart.

My brother scrutinized me with his green eyes, and I could practically see the cogs working in his brain. “You don’t mean Helena Weston, do you?”

I laughed bitterly—he’d gotten there so quickly. “What makes you say that? They’re not the only family that doesn’t get along with Trish.”

“Right. But Mom was talking about this just last week.”

“The Westons? Because of that project she’s desperate for, Westchester or something?”

“Winchester,” Eli corrected me casually. “But no, not the Westons. Helena. Rodney was there, and Trish told him she was trouble. It was only afterward when she said her name that I realized she was talking about Valerie’s sister.”

Rodney McVeil was Trish’s henchman. He tailed people on her behalf, got hold of information by nefarious means, had no problem getting his hands dirty. The fact that my mother was speaking to him about Helena made me nervous. After all, I’d assured her I had no interest in Valerie’s sister, and she didn’t know anything about what happened at the hotel. Or did she?

“Did she say anything else about it?”

Eli shook his head. “Only that it would be dangerous for her to get too close to you. Why, I don’t know.”

It was pretty cryptic, but it reminded me of what Trish had said when she’d visited my apartment. She’d seemed genuinely worried that I really had feelings for Helena. But asking my mother about it wasn’t an option, unless I wanted to get myself, Helena, and Eli in trouble.

“Don’t worry about it,” I reassured him. “She’s probably just paranoid because of Adam.” Trish was the most rational person I knew, but when it came to my brother’s death, she didn’t abide by her usual rules.

“Jess?” Eli looked at me. “Do you really think it was Valerie’s fault that she and Adam died?”

That was the million-dollar question. A few weeks ago, I’d have said yes without a second thought. Now I wasn’t so sure. Obviously, I’d believed for a long time that Valerie was the root of all evil, and I wasn’t yet fully convinced that the opposite was true. But I no longer thought Helena was the deluded little sister who couldn’t handle the truth. She was too smart to stick by Valerie without good reason. And that meant Adam’s fiancée must have been far more complex than people gave her credit for.

“I don’t know,” I replied finally. “At first I thought the same as everyone else—that Valerie must be to blame, since she lived in a world where drugs were part of the lifestyle. But now… if I’m honest, I don’t know enough about her to say who was at fault. Or whether it wasn’t just a tragic accident.”

Eli nodded slowly.

“What do you think?” I asked him. He was old enough to have an opinion on the subject.

It took a minute before he replied. “For a long time I was mad at Valerie. Mom said she was responsible for Adam’s death, and I believed her. But recently, I keep thinking about how happy Adam was right before he died. He was practically bursting with happiness whenever he was with her.” My little brother caught my eye. “I think I’d do anything to feel like that. No matter who was against it.”

We walked together in silence for a while, and before long the house came into view. Eli’s words rang in my mind even after he disappeared inside. I stayed where I was, taking a breath and looking out across the wide-open space around the farm. I thought about the moment I’d kissed Helena, when I’d been hit by the realization that I’d rarely felt more alive than when I was with her. It wasn’t just attraction or lust. And it was a lot more than wanting to spend the night with her. In that moment, I’d been happy for the first time in years. Because she’d touched something deep inside me. Much more than I’d been aware of until now.

I think I’d do anything to feel like that. No matter who was against it.

And that very moment, in front of my father’s house, without the energy of New York City crowding me out and making me so horribly stressed, I realized something. The very thing I’d fought against with all my strength had happened. I’d fallen in love. With Helena Weston, Upper East Side princess and daughter of my mother’s archenemy. With a smart, stunning, wonderful, headstrong woman who’d set not only my heart on fire, but every other part of me too.

I took a deep breath and let it out.

For fuck’s sake. What was I going to do now?

What could I do, except try to get her out of my head?

31 Helena

“Helena, tell us a little about your time in England.” Mrs. Huntington was looking at me. “Did you meet any of the royal family? I’m very close with the Earl of Surrey; perhaps you crossed paths with him.”

“No.” I gave her a pleasant smile. “Unfortunately not. A lot of my time was taken up with college.”

“What a shame. If I’d known you were there, I would have let him know. He has two really delightful nephews I’m sure he’d gladly have introduced you to.”

Smiling was beginning to hurt. And it was a little disconcerting that one of the wealthiest women in New York had had the same question as Maddy Rich. The only difference was that Maddy wasn’t friends with the Earl of Surrey.