Page 96 of The Woman I’ve Become

He looks up from his phone. He smiles. Over the years I have come to differentiate the genuine ones from the automatic ones. This one is for me, and it’s genuine.

“This has been some wild day.” He stands and comes around the desk. He takes my hand and ushers me to a chair, then he takes the one next to it.

“Wild for sure.” For a moment I feel uncertain as to what I should say. I begin with, “I never wanted that ugly part of my past to become a part of our lives.”

The sadness that shows on his face gives me hope that he believes me.

“We’ll get this taken care of.” He dips his head in a succinct nod. “Then we’ll go back home and forget this ever happened.”

I wonder how he believes we can take care of this. Ah, money, of course. “I’m not sure this will go away by just throwing money at it.”

Perhaps Alicia will as long as she isn’t on the verge of doing something stupid. I can’t say about her boyfriend. He sounds like the sort who will keep coming back for more.

“Wendy has been through a lot,” he concedes. “I’m sure a nice nest egg would make her future more comfortable.”

If he only knew.

Rather than argue, I let it go. “We can hope.”

“Don’t be naive, Julia. Why did this woman not come to you before now? It seems quite the coincidence that she came after the publicity in the Times. She could be a con artist. How can we be certain she’s even Wendy Neely? Does she have a birthmark or scar you can use to confirm it’s really her? A record with the police so we can compare fingerprints? And why does she have her hair dyed red like yours? This is all very suspicious to me.”

For a moment I hesitate, then I decide to seize the opportunity. “Oh.” I press my hand to my chest in feigned surprise. “You could be right. I never even considered that scenario. It’s been so long and she does look like my old friend. Not to mention she knows so much from back then.”

“We could be looking at a major fraud case,” he suggests. “This Casey whatever his name is was there. He knew both you and Wendy. He could have set this whole thing up. He may have told her, or this woman pretending to be her, all the right things to say.”

Except I know that isn’t the case. But if it makes Phillip feel better to believe this, I’m all in.

I glance back at the closed door. “I think Acacia is in on it too. Have you noticed the way she interacts with this woman?”

As with Helen and Rick, there was no need to mention to Phillip that Acacia is actually Alicia.

He nods, his gaze narrowed. “I should have taken more time to look into her before hiring her.”

I shudder. “The worst part is that Olivia is caught in the middle of all this.”

He reaches across the table between us and takes my hand, gives it a squeeze. “Don’t you worry about our girl. I will see that she stays safe. In fact, I’ve called Rick for an update. He needs to get this going now, not tomorrow.”

I don’t bother telling him that I fear Rick is in this up to his eyeballs. He trusts the man, and nothing I say will likely change that.

And I know for certain that Julia is capable of anything. No matter the offerings of regret or the seemingly demure demeanor she is suddenly presenting, she is one evil bitch.

This is not going to end well . . . for any of us, I fear.

Ten Years, One Month Ago

43

Julia

Westport, Connecticut

It feels so strange to have Casey in the lake house with me. In my bed with me.

I drag my fingers down his bare chest, and he groans. “That feels good.” He rolls onto his side and ushers me down onto my back. “When did you say your parents are coming back?”

“Tomorrow. My dad is accepting some award on behalf of his company.” No one has a clue how badly it sucks to have one parent who’s a shrink and another who runs one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. They are always watching my every move and every word. Worse, they control everything and everyone. I cannot wait to be rid of them.

“I’m just glad they’re gone.” He kisses my throat, then trails those amazing lips down to my breast. I moan. “Wait. Wait.” I pull his amazing mouth from my boob. “There’s something we need to talk about.”