“Micah, over here!”
“Who’s the girl, Corsetti? Won’t she get in the way of running your financial empire?”
“Did you buy a ring yet?”
“Does she know about the girl from the club?”
“Are you really sticking with just one, or is she the lady of the hour?”
The questions came hard and fast. He thanked his lucky stars that Mr. and Mrs. Morales, as well as their friends, had pulled away before they were spotted. As the lights flashed and the questions came, he ushered Isabel to the passenger’s seat and closed the door behind her.
Micah turned and faced the crowd. “Come on guys, you know the drill. No comment. Call my PR team in the morning.”
By the time he made it around to the other side of the car, he was furious, and his façade was fading. Someone was talking to the press, otherwise they wouldn’t have found him. The reservation wasn’t in his name or the firm’s, so something was up. He promised himself he would have his team get to the bottom of it in the morning, but for now, he had to get Isabel out from in front of the cameras. He slipped into the car and put it in gear. The manger from the restaurant, and the valet, were trying to gather the paparazzi and keep them back from the other cars out front. It was a total shit show. Micah slowly edged the car forward until he reached the street and then took off toward his apartment building. When they finally hit a stoplight, he reached for Isabel’s hand and looked over at her. She looked terrified.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah I’m fine.”
“You don’t look okay. Talk to me.”
The light changed, and he had to look back at the road.
“I knew it would happen. I just didn’t think it would happen this quickly.”
“I’m sorry. I have no idea how they found us. Someone must have talked.”
“Someone from where? My mother wouldn’t have said anything.”
“It had to be someone from the office. We’ll get to the bottom of it, I promise.”
She nodded her head but didn’t say anything else. Instead of pushing her, he held her cold, clammy hand in his as they made their way back to the apartment. However, when he pulled up, he saw the sidewalk was lined with more reporters. They were making a much bigger deal than ever before, and it didn’t make any sense. Something was up. He pulled into the private parking garage and helped Isabel out of the car and up to the apartment. She seemed really shaken, which concerned him. She had experienced the paparazzi with him when his father died, even at the occasional event. The only thing that was different was this time the cameras were pointed at her. Ever since he was voted Miami’s most eligible bachelor, his life had been full of people prying into things that didn’t concern them. Most of the previous candidates settled down shortly after winning, but he didn’t, and the media loved that about him.
“Why don’t you go get changed? I’m going to make a few calls, then I’ll be up to bed.”
She retreated down the hallway towards their bedroom, and he made a turn for the office. It may be after midnight, but he needed some answers before Monday.
It was over, or nearly over, and things had just started. Isabel was standing in the bathroom that was attached to the guest bedroom, starting at herself in the mirror. She knew the day would come that every secret she had would be exposed, but she didn’t think it would happen so soon. Her past was the number one reason she kept Micah at a distance, and now, once she finally gave in, it was all going to blow up in her face. She was falling for Micah, and he didn’t know who she really was. The paparazzi weren’t anything new, but it made no sense that they took that much interest in her. The only answer had to be that they found something out and she was about to be exposed.
As she slipped her shoes off and changed out of her clothes, the tears began to fall. There was no stopping them. Her mind was a confused mess and her heart was breaking. Not only for Micah, but for the life she had built over the last seven years. The day she dragged herself out of bed and took back control over her life had paid off in spades. Never would she have thought it would last this long. After a time, she forgot things that tore her down, and she assumed the persona of Isabel Diaz, financial planner. She loved the work she was doing. Clients like the Morales made all the hard work worth it. The thought of them finding out the truth only made her cry harder. She started the shower for fear Micah would hear her, and got in under the warm water, all while taking deep breaths and trying to calm her breathing.
When she finally calmed down, she had no sense of what time it was. She got out of the shower, dried off and brushed her hair all without Micah checking on her. As she got dressed for bed, every crazy thought raced through her mind. Did he already know? Were the calls he made ones that unearthed everything she had kept from him? The intrusive thoughts plagued her as she crawled into bed and turned out the lights.
“Izzy?” His voice startled her from the nightmare she was having. She felt his hand on her back as she lay in the darkness. “What are you doing in here?”
“Sleeping.”
“Why aren’t you in our room?”
At the reference of his room they shared, her tears started again. He leaned forward and flipped on the bedside lamp.
“What’s wrong?” He reached his arms under her and pulled her up into a seated position, holding her tight to his chest. “Talk to me Izzy, please. What’s going on?”
“I can’t do this anymore. I can’t keep up all the lies.”
“Honey, I know it’s hard on you, but it won’t last forever. Take a deep breath and we can talk about this. If it’s too much, we will just break it all off. It’s okay, nothing is worth you being this upset over.”
She knew in her heart his words were meant to make her feel better, but they didn’t. The lies she referred to weren’t the ones about the two of them. It was the lies of her past that were going to tear them apart. She pushed him away from her and pulled herself up into a sitting position. Wiping her face with her shirt, she realized she had to be a horrid sight and didn’t even care.