Entangled (Vice Games) (10 page)

‘Well, you can’t just simply discard your engagement with Lauren,’ said Karen when her husband did not speak a word.

‘It is necessary that I end my relationship with Lauren,’ said Tristan with ice in his voice.

‘And why is that?’ Lauren
asked; her tone was sharp and deadly.

‘
Phoebe is carrying my child.’

I nearly choked at the announcement and everyone fell into stunned silence.
Anna was as shocked as I was to hear this from Tristan. It caught everyone off guard and no one knew how to react. Faking an engagement was one thing but faking a pregnancy was another matter. Tristan squeezed my hand gently, somehow, that is meant to be reassuring.

‘Do you have proof?’ Elliot Vice said in a deep low tone.

Tristan reached into his jacket pocket and produced an envelope. He handed it to his father who opened it and pulled out the letter inside. His glanced over the paper.

‘You’re lying,’ said Karen. ‘Elliot, if you’d please.’

Elliot Vice gave the paper to his wife. Lauren leaned over and her eyes grew wide with disbelieve.

‘The test was done yesterday and hence her absence from Annabelle’s math lesson.
I’m sure you’ve been informed. It was also the reason why I was absent from my meeting with you at the office yesterday afternoon.’

‘Is this true?’ Karen questioned him. Elliot Vice’s silence only confirmed what Tristan had just said.

Lauren could not take it anymore and immediately stood up. She left the dining room and when she was far away enough, we heard the echoes of her furious scream reverberate through the corridors. The butlers came in with the dinner - a serving of steak, potatoes, carrots and peas with the most glorious smelling gravy. But Karen was not in a mood to eat. She left as soon as the plates were placed down in front of us.

‘Bon appetite,’ said Anna as she grinned and began to cut into her steak.

Anna has never enjoyed any sort of meal at the
Main House since her birth mother passed away. She was bouncing like a balloon when we returned to Tristan’s house and decided to announce the news of my
pregnancy
to Lorraine and Jace.

‘I’m going to be an aunt!’ she screamed at the top of her lungs.

‘Off to bed you go,’ Tristan said to her. Anna squealed and gave me a tight hug before she bounded up the stairs. Lorraine and Jace came out of their rooms. They were old and wise enough not to be easily convinced as Anna.

‘Master Tristan,’
Jace began.

‘It is my day off tomorrow and I’m sure we can talk whatever it is you want to talk about then,’ he said to his trusted gardener and chauffer. ‘That goes to you too, Lorraine.’

They looked towards me with an explanation but I was mentally exhausted from the intensity of the dinner lies.

‘I am going to bed,’ I said and quickly made my way upstairs.

Anna was already in her pajamas and her mind bubbled with questions. However, she quickly held her tongue and continued with her grin when Tristan stood at my door, his arm above his head and rested against the frame. I turned and was taken aback by the appearance. His suit jacket buttons were undone and it showed his off his cream white shirt that fitted snuggly on his strong torso.

‘I’ll go and sleep in my room tonight,’
she said.

‘Anna,’ I started but the girl was already gone. Tristan stepped inside and closed the door after him.

‘What are you doing?’

‘What do you think I’m going to do?’ he asked as he narrowed his eyes playfully at me.
It made my heart skip a beat. He approached me and something about his sudden movement made be back away defensively. It was undeniable that I was certainly attracted to him but everything that occurred in the past few hours was more than I could process in one night.

I took the ring off my finger and held it out to him.

‘You can have it back now,’ I said.

Tristan smirked and took a step closer towards me. It gave him a devilish sort of look upon his face and that made my pulse quicken. He picked up the ring off my palm and as I dropped my hand, he took hold of it and held it securely in his hand.
Tristan slipped the dazzling rock back onto my finger again.

‘Keep it on,’ he said. ‘You’re going to be watched closely for the next few months.’

‘Few months?’ I found myself repeating.

‘Yes.’

‘And the matter concerning our non-existent child?’

‘You have at least
a month or two before they begin to notice anything, though I’m sure that a false baby bump can be arranged.’

‘I’m not going to wear a fake bump.’

‘Would you like to make it a real one?’

My mouth
dropped at his suggestion and I immediately reached out with my free hand and grabbed the pillow on the bed. I hit him as hard as I could with it. There was a soft thud as the goose feathers deflated against the impact and only made Tristan laugh. The sudden change in the way he spoke to me surprised and terrified me.

‘Perhaps not.’
He released my hand and I was allowed to escape to the other side of the room.

‘Are you mad?’ I hissed at him. He saw my fear and seemed to be amused by my reaction. Many things flashed through my mind – Lauren, the dream, my lunch with him yesterday, my unyielding attraction towards him – it was maddeningly unfair.

‘No,’ he said simply.

‘You were engaged to someone else two days ago,’ I started. ‘Don’t you love her at all?’

‘Love?’ Tristan snorted. ‘Do you really believe that I loved that woman?’

‘She was in your bed.’

‘Yes. But that was out of necessity.’

I blinked. ‘Necessity?’

‘I’m sure you’ve been listening and observed how close Karen and Lauren seemed to be.
I only agreed to marry her for Anna’s sake. It was the only way to get her out of the Main House at the time, since you rejected my initial employment offer. Lauren is Karen’s niece. Due to the prenuptials my father had to sign in order to marry my mother, Karen won’t be able to touch Baxter Enterprise.’

‘What do you mean?’ I asked.

‘My grandfather was a smart man and suspected my father’s intentions when he pursued my mother. Baxter Enterprise is a multibillion company and my mother is an only child, which makes her heiress. With that much amount of money, my grandfather felt the need to protect his family assets. He drew up the prenuptials and it excludes my father from everything that my mother gets. Only her children will have authority and the ability to inherit, that being myself and Anna. When my mother passed away, he was quick to remarry and Karen came into the scene. She was not aware of the arrangement and was under the impression that she would get a share in my mother’s fortune. However, when it became clear that could not touch anything, her tactics changed and at first she targeted me.’

‘But it didn’t work and so she went for Anna?’

‘Yes. She knew Anna is my weakness and used her against me in every way possible. I tried to get her out of the Main House several times but Karen would always arrange to have her back. There was a time, five years ago, when I attempted a legal injunction against them but it failed when I got into an accident.’

There was a sinister tone in the way he talked. It was clear that Karen must have had a hand in the events that
occurred. Although Tristan did not reveal the details of his accident, I understood that it forced him to change his tactics that eventually lead to accept Lauren into his life. As my brain began to process all this information, I began to realize that I had just become entangled in a family battle for control with the fight for Anna being in the center of things.

‘And your father lets her do this? Why?’

Tristan’s lips twisted in a skeptical grin and he lowered his eyes. It was clear that he didn’t like talking about his father and the relationship between them is not as it should be.

‘He only loved my mother’
s money,’ Tristan said bitterly.

‘Oh,’ I found myself saying and could not think of anything else that would be appropriate for the moment. ‘I’m sorry about that.’

‘Don’t pity me, Phoebe,’ he said to me, his tone was low and silky. There was something alluring in the way he spoke to me. It also made me aware that I was alone with him in the room. That made my heart race a little faster and I had to pinch myself to keep my head under control.

‘So what’s going to happen next?’ I asked.

‘Marry me,’ he said.

‘Just like that?’

‘Yes. You will be entitled to a divorce when Anna turns eighteen and you will be recompensed in the divorce settlement.’

‘And our non-existent child?’

‘There will be a miscarriage after the wedding and the only child you will have to take care of is Anna,’ he said. 

‘You have it all planed out,’ I found myself saying.

‘Yes. It is only
two more years until Anna becomes a legal adult. When the time comes, they will attempt to file a conservatorship to gain control over her share of the inheritance, citing mental instability as their main reason.’

‘How do you know all this?’

‘They’ve always been after the money and conservatorship is the most likely path they’ll take. Those pills Anna is forced to consume, she’s never needed them. It’s partly my fault because when mom died, I wasn’t there for her and Karen took advantage of that. When I did return, it was much too late and Anna was not herself anymore. But then you came into her life and your actions to defend her mental stability against Lauren…’ Tristan words faltered as his eyes seemed to look straight into my soul. ‘I saw the way you looked at me.’

‘I only did it because of Anna,’ I said.

Tristan paused and then nodded his head slightly. ‘Of course,’ he said so quietly that it came out almost like a whisper. He walked across the room and stood in front of me. We were less than an inch away and I found my back pressed against the wall. I did not move as I peered up at him. My limbs felt weak as I felt his body heat exude from his strong solid body. He lifted his left hand and brushed away a strand of hair from my cheek. The momentarily touch melted my insides as an electric wave travelled through my skin. He lowered his face close to mine and I didn’t dare close my eyes as I held my breath. He stopped and his slightly parted lips were less than an inch away from mine.  He moved his head to the side and allowed his warm moist lips to touch the side of my cheek. I flustered.

‘
We’re both doing this for Anna,’ he whispered in my ear. ‘Good night, Phoebe.’

Tristan left the room and I was allowed to be alone for the first time since my arrival at his house.
I collapsed on the floor and stared at the closed door.

‘What the hell just happened?’

I found it impossible to sleep that night. As I lay in the bed alone, I found myself staring at the blank dark ceiling while my mind struggled with what Tristan had revealed to me. His relationship with Lauren was not genuine but the bedroom scene he had with her, the images were still fresh and disturbing. I could not decide how I felt towards him or his plan. Although he said that it would only be two years, I doubted that it would be that simple. Karen and his father are after Tristan and Anna’s money. They would not let it go once Anna turns eighteen and it appears that they have power over Tristan through her. I was his solution and I felt as if I had unwittingly become entangled in something I did not suspect. Everything seemed unnecessary complicated and I just wanted to run away. But I couldn’t. Anna still needed me, or that is what I willed myself to believe. What exactly am I doing here? I know that my job is to take care of Anna, but to what extent? How far do I involve myself?

I was allowed to sleep in and when I did wake, it was almost eight.
I found Anna on her laptop happily flicking through wedding dresses when I came down. She beamed at me as she sat me down at the table.

‘Anna,’ I started. She needed to know the truth.
I didn’t want to lie to her and it is one of the reasons she trusts me. I’ve always been honest with her. Tristan walked in with a cup of coffee in his left hand as he leaned against the frame of the door. I felt like swearing at him. His presence made me nervous and it felt as if he was watching me. In fact, he was watching me. I felt conscious of my appearance. I was in jeans and a t-shirt while he’s always in some sort of pristine crisp shirt and pressed iron pants. Tristan was always well dressed, no matter what the situation.

‘Let’s go to that shop next to Regio’s,’ Anna started, ‘we always walk past them but never go in because it’s a wedding dress store.’

‘Anna,’ I stopped her. I took up her hands and looked her straight in the eye. She frowned and noticed that something was wrong. ‘I’m not pregnant and I’m not getting married to your brother.’