Miss White and the Seventh Heir

CHAPTER TWELVE

SHE WOULD NOT look over her shoulder.

She would not.

Sage’s heart ached as she walked away from Trey or Quentin or whatever he wanted to call himself. She’d thought at last she found someone that she could trust. Someone that would be a true friend. She couldn’t have been more wrong.

Why hadn’t she seen it? It was all right there in front of her if she’d had been thinking with her head instead of her heart.

There was his Rolex watch. That was no knockoff. It was the genuine article. And now that she thought of it, he did bear a slight resemblance to his father. And there were his fine clothes including more than one tux. Those definitely didn’t come from a secondhand shop like her red gown.

The elevator deposited her on the ground floor. She didn’t waste any time heading for the door. She should shove aside all these tangled emotions and work. It was her reason for being in France. But the lump in her throat would keep her from speaking to anyone.

She walked straight out the front door and kept walking with no particular destination in mind. All the while, she continued to think of the telltale signs of his deception. His résumé, it had been too perfect. She wondered which things he had told her were the truth and which were the lies. She shook her head. No, she didn’t want to know. It’d only make it worse.

The more she thought of Trey, the faster she walked. Her vision blurred, but she blinked it back into focus. Why in the world had she thought he would be different?

Here she was trying to report on facts for the magazine and she couldn’t even get the facts right in her own life. If people knew how gullible she was, they would never trust anything she published. And she couldn’t blame them.

Trey probably laughed behind her back, thinking how easily he’d been able to deceive her. But why do it? Why try to fool her?

That last question dogged her the rest of the way back to the château. She tried every conceivable answer, but none of them made sense. What did he hope to accomplish by playing the part of her assistant?

She shook her head, trying to chase away the taunting questions. She had other matters that needed her attention. Once in her room, she grabbed her phone and started calling every hotel in Cannes. With the festival in full swing, she was hoping that there would be an early checkout.

Call after call, she learned there were no rooms in Cannes...anywhere. She sighed. She didn’t want to give up on her plans for the magazine. She was running out of time before the next board meeting where she had to present her plan for the restructure and sustainability of the magazine.

She needed caffeine. It would make her feel better. And maybe some chocolate. But first the coffee.

She had just reached the bottom of the stairs when Trey came through the door. His face was drawn and his hair was scattered as though he’d been raking his fingers through it. Was it wrong that she took some comfort in the fact that he was unhappy that his plan had been ruined?

His gaze met hers. “Sage, we need to talk.”

“I think we said everything we need to say.” She turned to head to the back of the house. And then on second thought, she turned back to Trey. “There is one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“You’re fired.”

With the tiniest bit of satisfaction, she turned and walked away. She still didn’t understand his motive. She knew Elsa was not above blackmail or other devious motives. But Sage just couldn’t believe Elsa was behind Trey’s actions. She’d seen Trey’s reaction to Elsa. They definitely weren’t working together.

So what was going on?

* * *

Fired.

As he watched her walk away, the word echoed in Trey’s mind. It was a first for him. Having been his own boss since college, he’d never been in this position. And even though he was the CEO, the fact that Sage felt the need to fire him pricked his ego.

But what was bothering him most of all was the fact that he’d hurt her. Sage had been nothing but good to him. Looking back now, he realized his excuses for not telling her were because he knew once the truth was out there that Sage wouldn’t look at him the same way.

He hadn’t wanted to lose the close connection that they’d developed. It was new and fragile. It was a connection unlike any other he’d ever experienced in his life.

He should go after Sage. If the problem festered, there would be absolutely no chance for him to repair the damage. He still wasn’t sure they could ever recapture what they had. Which was what?

They worked well together, but this thing between them went deeper. But how deep? He wasn’t the commitment type. He supposed he’d gotten that from his father.

He didn’t want to end up in a relationship like his parents. They never divorced, but they never lived together after his father walked away. He never understood why they’d remained married. What was the point of marriage?