Mistress to the Magnate

Could he be another doctor maybe? God knew she had seen her share in the past couple of days. But something about him, the way he carried himself, even though she only saw him in profile, told her he wasn’t a part of the hospital staff. This man was someone … important. Someone of a higher authority.

The first thing that came to mind of course was a police detective, and her heart did a somersault with a triple twist. Maybe the police had seen the money in her purse and they sent someone to question her. Then she realized that no one on a public servant’s pay could afford such an expensive suit. She didn’t even know how she knew that it was expensive, but she did. Somewhere deep down she instinctively knew she should recognize the clothes designer, yet the name refused to surface. And it didn’t escape her attention how well the man inside the suit wore it. She didn’t doubt it was tailored to fit him exclusively.

The man listened intently as the doctor spoke, nodding occasionally. Who could he be? Did he know her? He must, or why else would they be standing in her doorway?

The man turned in her direction, caught her blatantly staring, and when his eyes met hers, her heart did that weird flippy thing again. The only way to describe him was … intense. His eyes were clear and intelligent, his build long and lean, his features sharp and angular. And he was ridiculously attractive. Like someone straight off the television or the pages of her gossip mags.

He said a few words to the doctor, his eyes never straying from hers, then entered her room, walking to the bed, no hesitation or reserve, that air of authority preceding him like a living, breathing entity.

Whoever this man was, he knew exactly what he wanted, and she didn’t doubt he would go to any lengths to get it.

“You have a visitor, Melody.” Only when Dr. Nelson spoke did she realize he’d walked in, too.

The man stood silently beside her bed, watching her with eyes that were a striking combination of green and brown flecks rimmed in deep amber—as unique and intense as the rest of him.

He looked as though he expected her to say something. She wasn’t sure what though.

Dr. Nelson walked around to stand at the opposite side of her bed, his presence a comfort as she felt herself begin to wither under the stranger’s scrutiny. Why did he look at her that way? Almost as though he was angry with her.

“Does he look familiar to you?” Dr. Nelson asked.

He was undeniably easy on the eyes, but she couldn’t say that she’d ever seen him before. Melody shook her head. “Should he?”

The men exchanged a look, and for some reason her heart sank.

“Melody,” Dr. Nelson said, in a soothing and patient voice. “This Asher Williams. Your fiancé.”

Two

Melody shook her head, unwilling to accept what the doctor was telling her. She didn’t even know why. It just didn’t feel right. Maybe it was the way he was looking at her, as if her being in an accident had somehow been a slight against him. Shouldn’t he be relieved that she was alive?

So where were his tears of joy? Why didn’t he gather her up and hold her?

“No, he isn’t,” she said.

The doctor frowned, and her so-called fiancé looked taken aback.

“You remember?” Dr. Nelson asked.

“No. But I just know. That man can’t be my fiancé.”

Tension hung like a foul odor in the room. No one seemed to know what to do or say next.

“Would you excuse us, Doctor?” her imposter fiancé said, and Melody felt a quick and sharp stab of panic. She didn’t want to be alone with him. Something about his presence was just so disconcerting.

“I’d like him to stay,” she said.

“Actually, I do have patients I need to see.” He flashed Melody an encouraging smile and gave her arm a gentle pat. “The nurse is just down the hall if you need anything.”

That wasn’t very reassuring. What did they even know about this man? Did they check out his story at all, or take him on his word? He could be a rapist or an ax murderer. A criminal who preyed on innocent women with amnesia. Or even worse, maybe he was the person she had taken that cash from. Maybe he was here for revenge.

She tucked her purse closer to her side under the covers, until she was practically sitting on it.

The phrase never show fear popped into her head, although from where, she didn’t have a clue. But it was smart advice, so she lifted her chin as he grabbed a chair and pulled it up to the side of her bed. He removed his jacket and draped it over the back before he sat down. He wasn’t a big man, more lean than muscular, so why did she feel this nervous energy? This instinct to run?

He eased the chair closer to her side and she instinctively jerked upright. So much for not showing fear. Even in repose the man had an assuming presence.

“You don’t have to be afraid of me,” he said.

“Do you honestly expect me to just take your word that we’re engaged?” she asked. “You could be. anyone.”

“Do you have your driver’s license?”

“Why?”

He reached into his back pants pocket and she tensed again. “Relax. I’m just grabbing my wallet. Look at the address on my driver’s license.” He handed his wallet to her.

The first thing she noticed, as she flipped it open, was that there were no photos, nothing of a personal nature, and the second thing was the thick stack of cash tucked inside. And yes, the address on his license was the same as hers. She knew without checking her own license because she had read it over and over about a thousand times yesterday, hoping it would trigger some sort of memory. A visual representation of the place she’d lived.

Of course, it hadn’t.

She handed his wallet back to him, and he stuck it in his pocket. “That doesn’t prove anything. If we’re really engaged, where is my ring?” She held up her hand, so he could see her naked finger. A man of his obvious wealth would have bought the woman he planned to marry a huge rock.

He reached into his shirt pocket and produced a ring box. He snapped it open and inside was a diamond ring with a stone so enormous and sparkly it nearly took her breath away. “One of the prongs came loose and it was at the jeweler’s being repaired.”

He handed it to her, but she shook her head. She still wasn’t ready to accept this. Although, what man would offer what must have been a ridiculously expensive ring to a woman who wasn’t his fiancée?

Of course, one quick thwack with the ax and it would easily be his again.

She cringed and chastised herself for the gruesome thought.

“Maybe you should hang on to it for now, just to be safe,” she told him.

“No. I don’t care if you believe me or not.” He rose from his chair and reached for her hand, and it took everything in her not to flinch. “This belongs to you.”

The ring slid with ease on her finger. A perfect fit. Could it just be a coincidence? It was becoming increasingly difficult not to believe him.

“I have these, too,” he said, leaning down to take a stack of photos from the inside of his jacket. He gave them to her, then sat back down.

The pictures were indeed of her and this Asher person. She skimmed them, and in each and every one they were either smiling or laughing or … oh, my … some were rather racy in nature.

Her cheeks blushed brightly and a grin quirked up the corner of his mouth. “I included a few from our personal collection, so there wouldn’t be any doubt.”

In one of the shots Asher wore nothing but a pair of boxer briefs and the sight of all that lean muscle and smooth skin caused an unexpected jab of longing that she felt deep inside her belly. A memory, maybe, or just a natural female reaction to the sight of an attractive man.

“I have video, as well,” he said. She was going to ask what kind of video, but his expression said it all. The look in his eyes was so steamy it nearly melted her. “Due to their scandalous nature, I felt it best to leave them at home,” he added.

Melody couldn’t imagine she was the type of woman who would let herself be photographed, or even worse videotaped, in a compromising position with a man she didn’t trust completely.

Maybe Asher Williams really was her fiancé.

Ash’s first suspicion, when the doctor told him Melody had amnesia, was that she was faking it. But then he asked himself, why would she? What logical reason did she have to pretend that she didn’t know him? Besides, he doubted that anyone in her physical condition could convincingly fabricate the look of bewildered shock she wore when the doctor told her Ash was her fiancé.

Of course, she had managed to keep the baby she was carrying a secret, and the affair she’d been having. After the initial shock of her betrayal had worn off, he’d felt nothing but seething, bone-deep anger. After all he had done for her—paying her living expenses and college tuition, giving her credit cards to purchase everything her greedy heart had desired, taking care of her for three years—how could she so callously betray him?

Coincidentally, just like his ex-wife. He hadn’t had a clue then either. One would think he’d have learned his lesson the first time. And though his first instinct had been to walk out the door and never look back, he’d had an even better idea.

This time he would get revenge.

He would keep up the ruse of their engagement and take Melody home. He would make her fall in love with him, depend on him, then he would betray her, just as cold-heartedly and callously as she had him. And he wouldn’t lose a single night’s sleep over it.

“What was I doing in Texas alone?” Melody asked him, still not totally convinced.

Ash had anticipated this question and had an answer already prepared. “A research trip.”

“Research for what?”

“A paper you were working on for school.”

She looked puzzled. “I go to school?”

“You’re in law school.”

“I am?” she asked, looking stunned.

“You have a year to go before you take the bar exam.”

Her brow furrowed and she reached up to rub her temple. “Not if I can’t remember anything I’ve learned.”

“I don’t care what the doctors say,” he told her, taking her hand, and this time she didn’t flinch. “You’ll get your memory back.”

Her grateful smile almost filled him with guilt. Almost.

“So you just let me go on this trip, no questions asked?”

He gave her hand a squeeze. “I trust you, Mel.”

The comment hit its mark, and the really pathetic thing was that it used to be true. He never would have guessed that Melody would do something like this to him.

“How long was I gone?”

“A few weeks,” he lied. “I began to worry when you stopped answering your phone. I tried to find you myself, but that went nowhere fast. I was beside myself with worry, Mel. I thought something terrible had happened. I thought … I thought that you were dead. That I would never see you again.” The fabricated emotion in his voice sounded genuine, even to his own ears, and Melody was eating it up. “The police were no help, so I hired a private detective.”

“And here you are.”

He nodded. “Here I am. And I would really like to hold my fiancée. If she would let me.”

Melody bit her lip, and with gratitude in her eyes, held her arms out. She bought his bull—hook, line and sinker. This was almost too easy.

Ash rose from his chair and sat on the edge of her bed, and when he took her in his arms and she melted against him, soft and warm and a little fragile, he had a flash of something that felt like relief, or maybe satisfaction, then he reminded himself exactly what it was that brought them to this place. How deeply she had betrayed him. His first instinct was to push her away, but he had to play the role of the loving fiancé.

She let her head rest on his shoulder and her arms slipped around his back. The contour of her body felt so familiar to him, and he couldn’t help wondering what it must have been like for her, holding a stranger. Some deep place inside him wanted to feel sympathy, but she had brought this on herself. If she hadn’t cheated on him, hadn’t stolen away like a criminal, she never would have been in the accident and everything would be normal.

As her arms tightened around him, he did notice that she felt frailer than before, as though not only had she lost pounds, but muscle mass. Their building had an exercise room and as long as Ash had known her, Melody had been almost fanatical about staying in shape. He wondered if this would be a blow to her ego.

But how could it be if she didn’t even remember she had an ego? Or maybe that was something that was inborn.

Under the circumstances Ash didn’t expect the embrace to last long, and he kept waiting for her to pull away. Instead she moved closer, held him tighter, and after a moment he realized that she was trembling.

“Are you okay?” he asked, lifting a hand to stroke her hair.

“I’m scared,” she said, her voice small and soft. Melody wasn’t a crier—in three years together he could recall only two times he’d even seen the sheen of moisture in her eyes—but he could swear that now he heard tears in her voice.

“What are you scared of?” he asked, stroking her hair and her back, pretending to comfort her, when in reality he felt that she was getting exactly what she deserved.

“Everything,” she said. “I’m afraid of all I don’t know, and everything I need to learn. What if I’m never.” She shook her head against his chest.

He held her away from him, so he could see her face. Melody was a fighter. Much like himself, when she wanted something, she went after it with all pistons firing. It was what had drawn him to her in the first place. But right now, he couldn’t recall ever seeing her look more pale and distraught, and he actually had to harden his heart to keep from feeling sorry for her.

She had brought this on herself.

“If you never what?” he asked.

Her eyes were full of uncertainty. “What if I can’t be the person I was before? What if the accident changed me? What will I do with my life? Who will I be?”

Not the heartless betrayer she had been before the accident. Not if he had anything to do with it. He would break her spirit, so no other man would have to suffer the same humiliation he had.

A tear spilled over onto her cheek and he wiped it away with his thumb, cradling her cheek in his palm. “Why don’t you concentrate on getting better? Everything will work out. I promise.”

Looking as though she desperately wanted to believe him, she leaned her head back down and sighed against his shoulder. And maybe she did believe him, because she was no longer shaking.

“I’m getting sleepy,” she said.

“I’m not surprised. You’ve had an eventful morning. Why don’t you lie down?”

He helped her lie back against the pillows. She did look exhausted. Mentally and physically.

He pulled the covers up and tucked them around her, much the way his mother had for him when he was a boy. When he’d been sick, and weakened by the radiation, she’d somehow managed to be there every evening to kiss him goodnight, despite working two, and sometimes three jobs at a time to keep their heads above water. Until she’d literally worked herself to death.

Though Ash was declared cancer free by his thirteenth birthday, the medical bills had mounted. His father had been too lazy and most times too drunk to hold down a job, so the responsibility of taking care of them had fallen solely on his mother. And due to their debt, annual trips to the doctor for preventative care that wasn’t covered by their insurance had been a luxury she couldn’t afford. By the time she’d begun getting symptoms and the cancer was discovered, it had already metastasized and spread to most of her major organs. The news had sent his father into a downward spiral, and it was left up to Ash to take care of her.

Eight months later, and barely a week after Ash graduated from high school, she was gone. For years, he felt partially responsible for her death. Had it not been for his own cancer, they might have caught hers sooner, when it was still treatable.

The day of his mother’s funeral was the day Ash had written his father out of his life for good. His aunt had contacted him several years later to let him know that his father had passed away. Advanced liver cirrhosis. Ash didn’t go to the funeral.

By then Ash was living in California, and going to school. Like his mother, he worked two and three jobs to make ends meet. Despite that, he’d somehow managed to maintain a near-perfect GPA. After graduation he’d married his college sweetheart and landed a job with Maddox Communications, convinced he was living the American dream. Unfortunately things had not been what they seemed.

The day he was offered the position of CFO, what should have been one of the best days of his life, he’d learned that his wife was having an affair. She’d claimed she did it because she was lonely. He’d worked such long hours he was never there for her. She sure hadn’t minded spending the money he earned working those long hours, though. Not to mention, when he had been home, the “I have a headache” excuse was a regular. The irony of it would have been laughable had he not been so completely devastated.

Granted, theirs had never been a particularly passionate marriage, but he’d thought they were relatively happy. Apparently not. And the worst part had been that he hadn’t suspected a thing.

Ash had thought he was through with women for good, but only a few months after the divorce was final he met Melody. She was young and beautiful and bright, and he was fascinated by her spunk and enthusiasm. Probably because he saw much of himself mirrored back in her eyes.

They had come from similar humble beginnings, and, like him, she was determined to succeed. They’d started dating in early April. The last week of May when the sublet on her apartment expired, he’d suggested she stay with him until she found another place, and she just never left.

Since then they seemed to have an unwritten understanding. She made herself accessible to him in any capacity necessary with no strings attached. There were no sentiments of love or talk of marriage, no questions or accusations when he worked late or cancelled a date. In return he provided financial security.

At times, he couldn’t help thinking he was getting the better end of the deal. Not only did he have a willing mistress at his disposal 24/7, he also had the satisfaction of knowing that he was helping her make something of her life. If his mother had someone like that, someone to take care of her, she might still be alive.

Helping Melody had, in his own way, been a tribute to his mother. An homage to her strength and character, and as far as he was concerned, Melody had betrayed her, too.

He gazed down at Melody and realized she was sound asleep. For several minutes he just watched her, wondering what could have driven her to be unfaithful to him. When had she changed her mind, and decided that she wanted more than what they had? And why hadn’t she just told him the truth? If she’d truly wanted out, he would have respected that. He wouldn’t have liked it, and he would have tried to talk her out of leaving, but he would have eventually let her go. No strings attached.

Instead she had thrown back in his face everything he had ever done for her.

“How is she?” someone asked, and Ash turned to see Dr. Nelson standing in the doorway.

“Sleeping.”

“I just wanted to stop back in once more before I left.”

“I’m glad you did. We never discussed when I could take her home. I’d like to make travel arrangements.”

He gestured Ash into the hall. “If she continues to improve, I would say a week to ten days.”

“That long? She seems to be doing so well.”

“She suffered a severe brain injury. You can’t necessarily see the damage, but believe me, it’s there.” He paused then added, “When you say home, I assume you mean California.”

“Of course.”

“You should know that flying will be out of the question.”

“Not even in my company’s private jet?”

“She had a brain bleed. The change in pressure could very literally kill her. Frankly, I’m not crazy about the idea of her being on the road for that long either, but I guess there aren’t any other options.”

Sixteen hundred miles trapped in a car together. Not his idea of fun. Besides, he wanted to get her home and settled before she remembered something. If she ever did.

“I was wondering,” Ash said. “If she does regain her memory, how long will it take?”

“There’s no definitive answer that I can give you, Mr. Williams. If she does regain any memories, it can be a slow and sometimes traumatic process. Just be thankful that she’s doing as well as she is. It will just take time and patience.”

Unfortunately he had little of either.

“Even if she doesn’t regain her memories,” he added, “there’s no reason to expect that you two won’t live a long and happy life together regardless.”

Actually, there was one damned good reason. Whether she remembered it or not, Melody had crossed him. It was time she got a taste of her own medicine.

But to make this work, Ash had a bit of cleaning up to do first.

Three

When Melody opened her eyes again, Ash wasn’t in the room. She had the sudden, terrifying sensation that everything that had happened earlier was a dream or a hallucination. Then she lifted her hand, saw the diamond on her ring finger and relief washed over her.

It was real.

But where did Ash go? She pushed herself up on her elbows to look around and saw the note he’d left on the tray beside her:

Went to get your things. Back later to see you.

XOXO

Ash

She wondered where he was going to get them, then realized she must have been staying in a hotel when she’d had her accident. But that was more than two weeks ago. Wouldn’t they have discarded her things by now? Did hotels hang on to the items abandoned by their customers?

She hoped so. Maybe there was something among her things that would spark a memory, and she was interested to see this so-called research Ash had been talking about. Not that she didn’t believe him. It was just that something about this whole scenario was … off.

If what he said was true, and she was only here for school, what was she doing with four thousand dollars hidden in the lining of her purse? Was she trying to bribe someone, or buy information? Had she gotten herself into something illegal that she had been afraid to tell him? What if her accident hadn’t been an accident after all?

And even worse, what if the person she was trying to get away from was Ash?

She realized just how ridiculous that sounded and that she was letting her imagination run away from her. She’d seen the photos; they were obviously very happy together. She was sure that the expression she’d mistaken for anger when he’d first entered her room was just his reaction to learning that she didn’t remember him. After all, how would she feel if the man she had planned to spend the rest of her life with forgot who she was? Then insisted that she supply proof of their relationship? That would be devastating.

There were other things that disturbed her, as well. It seemed as though the news that she was in law school would evoke some sort of emotion. If not excitement, then maybe mild curiosity. Instead she’d just felt … disconnected. As though he were talking about another woman’s life. One she had little interest in. And in a way maybe she was.

She was sure that once she got home and back into a regular routine, things would come back to her. She would be more interested in things like her career and her hobbies. If she had any hobbies. She hadn’t even thought to ask him. There were all sorts of things he could tell her about her life.

She heard footsteps in the hall, her spirits lifting when she thought it might be Ash, but it was only the nurse.