Stirring Up Trouble (Inspiring the Greek Billionaire) (14 page)

CHAPTER 17

We men may say more, swear more, but indeed

our shows are more than will, for still we prove

much in our vows, but little in our love.

William Shakespeare,
Twelfth Night
, act 2, scene 4

Torture. That’s what it’s called when you’re forced to spend time with your intuitive mother helping your overly concerned sister find the perfect wedding dress twenty-four hours after having your heart trampled on by the one person you thought knew the real you.

Portia glided out of the dressing room and stepped up on the platform to show off dress number nine. She placed a hand on her hip and performed a
plié
. “What do you think of this one?”

Lola burst out laughing. “Really? You know the part in Cinderella where her Fairy Godmother bippety-boppety-boos her a shimmering gown so she can go to the ball?”

“Yeah,” her sister said cautiously.

“You look like the carriage that took her there,” she said honestly, garnering a dirty look from the saleswoman.

An ex-professional dancer, her sister was tall, skinny, and flat-chested. In other words, the exact opposite of Lola. Portia could pull off most looks, but the dress she currently wore puffed out with layers of taffeta, creating the illusion she was round as a pumpkin.

“It can’t be that bad,” Portia stated and turned around to check in the mirror. “Hmm.” She spun back around and sighed. “I’ll go try on the next one. Lola, could you help me out of this thing?”

The sales lady stepped forward. “I can help you with that.”

Her sister gave Lola the ‘we’ve gotta talk’ look. “No, I’d like my sister to help. I’ll let you know if I need anything further.”

Having no say in the matter, Lola got up from her chair and followed her sister to the large dressing room. She plastered on her fake smile. “How’s the wedding planning going?”

Portia crossed her arms over her chest. “Cut it out. I can tell when you’re miserable. What’s wrong?”

Lola spun her finger in the air signaling her sister to turn around. “Nothing. I’m fine.”

Portia frowned and turned. “Did something happen with Braden? You haven’t mentioned him all day.”

Her throat grew dry. “Why would I mention him?” She worked on unbuttoning the dress, having a difficult time with her shaky hands.

Portia glanced over her shoulder. “You can drop the whole innocent act. I know you two are sleeping together.”

She froze. Portia knew? She took a deep breath and continued getting her sister out of the horrible dress as she regained her composure. “
Slept
together. Past tense. We’re over.”

Portia slipped her arms out of the sleeves and let the dress fall to the floor. The thing stood up by itself as if she still wore it. “What happened?”

She shrugged. “Nothing. We got it out of our systems and ended it amicably.”

Her sister frowned and took her hands. “Viola, I know you’re lying. You would’ve never moved back in with Mom if you’d had a choice. She told me you came home yesterday afternoon with your suitcase and your guitar and then stayed in your room until this morning. You didn’t play your sets last night, which tells me your split with Braden wasn’t amicable at all. You have bags under your eyes, you’re wearing black, and you haven’t ragged on Mom once. In fact, with the exception of the carriage comment, you’ve been awfully quiet.”

Either Portia was awfully observant, or Lola wasn’t pulling off her act of nonchalance as well as she’d thought. She hadn’t slept more than an hour the previous night, and when she had, she’d dreamed of Euterpe and Demetrius for the first time since she’d started sleeping with Braden. She eyed her sister who waited for an answer. “You wore that dress on purpose to get me talking, didn’t you?

Portia laughed and patted her shoulder. “Of course. You don’t think my taste is that hideous, do you? So tell me what happened. I know from Ryan that Braden really liked you.” She took another dress off the hanger and stepped into it.

“He might have liked me, but he didn’t trust me. The first challenge to face us, he threw me to the werewolves without listening to my side of the story.”

Her sister motioned for her to button her up into the new dress. “What happened?”

“Did you know about my pheromony manipulation?”

“Pheromone manipulation,” Portia corrected. “Yeah, Mom explained it the night the customers ate the
moussaka
and started arguing. I take it you and Braden had been fighting when you cooked?”

Apparently, the one with the gift was the last to know. “Yeah, but he conveniently forgot to tell me he’d spoken with Reina, so when she told me about my gift, I decided to test it out.”

Portia glanced down at her dress, stuck out her tongue in disgust, and turned around for Lola to unbutton. “How’d you do that?”

Had it only been yesterday she’d made love with him in the closet? In one day, she’d cried enough tears to drown a giraffe, and yet, she could still feel the slight ache between her legs from their lovemaking. “We baked bread. I figured Braden would come clean. That he wouldn’t let anyone eat something I’d cooked.”

“And did he?”

“No,” she shook her head and cracked the first real smile of the day. “He told his chef not to serve it to the customers. So instead, a few of the employees ate it.” Portia covered her mouth with her hand. “Jenny must have skipped breakfast because apparently, she ate a lot. Enough that she went up on stage and performed a dance.” She owed the waitress a huge apology. But how did you apologize for manipulating someone’s hormones? Jenny probably wouldn’t believe her even if she told her the truth.

“What kind of dance?”

“The kind which requires stripping. She’d gotten down to her underwear when Stephan carried her off the stage and the cops arrived.”

Her sister’s jaw dropped as she took off the dress. “Who called the police?”

“Jon. He’s been paying a waitress to slip him information.” What a slime. He was so proud of himself for what he called ‘corporate espionage.’ He’d spilled all the details, not considering for a moment that she’d turn around and help Braden. “I found this out yesterday when Braden disappeared into the kitchen and left me alone with Jon. Turns out, Braden was right about Jon all along. He’d been using me to find out information to put Braden out of business. But I didn’t give him anything . . . until recently.”

She was so angry at herself for falling for Jon’s innocent act all these months. She’d wasted so much time on him when she could’ve spent it with Braden.

“The Will?” Portia asked.

She nodded. “Yeah. I knew as soon as I told him that it was a mistake. He got way too interested all of a sudden. But I figured it was public information, so he could have discovered it on his own anyway. I stopped calling him. Stopped hanging out with him. But when he showed up with the police, I knew we had a mole working at
Acropolis
. I played the dumb musician and Jon bought the act hooker, line, and kitchen sink.” Portia smiled at her intentional play on words. “I pretended I was on his side and got him to reveal the mole. I also bought Braden some time before Jon would move against him. Jon thinks I’m going to flunk the audits. He actually laughed at me when I told him I’d intentionally fail them. The guy doesn’t think I can pass even if I tried. I can’t believe I trusted him.” She dropped into a chair and rested her elbows on her knees.

“But you didn’t, did you? He was safe for you because you knew you’d never develop feelings for him like you would—”

“Braden,” Lola finished. She swallowed the lump of mixed emotions trapped in her throat. “In the end, I shouldn’t have trusted him either. I thought he knew the real me, but when he overheard me and Jon talking, he immediately assumed the worst. He thinks I was the mole and didn’t give me a chance to explain.” Portia stopped and hung the dress on the hanger, then turned and knelt down in front of Lola. “Then he told me he’d used me, too. That he’d seduced me so I would fall in love with him and keep the property, so he’d get his lease. All of it was a lie.”

Portia spoke in a soft voice, “I don’t believe that and Ryan doesn’t either. Braden may have told himself that’s why he was seducing you, but I think he was already half in love with you the night of my engagement party. Anyone could see how he looked at you. He couldn’t keep his eyes off you. Alexander just gave him the push he needed to act on his feelings.”

She wanted to believe that. “You say that like Alexander planned for Braden and me to—”

Portia smiled. “Fall in love? Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying.”

“How could he know?”

Her sister shrugged then stood. “I don’t know, but if it weren’t for his Will, Ryan and I would’ve never gotten together. I’d be waitressing in New York and he’d be working eighty hours a week as a lawyer. Alexander brought us together and I’d wager anything he did the same for you. I don’t know how he knew. It’s like he was omniscient. Let’s face it, if we’re Muses, anything is possible. Maybe he’s Zeus.”

They both laughed and Portia snorted, causing Lola to laugh harder. “Yeah, right. Good one.”

Portia slipped the last wedding dress off a hanger and unbuttoned it to step inside. “The point is, I wouldn’t give up on Braden.”

She focused on her sister and felt a warm rush of happiness pass through her chest. Tears, this time from joy, blurred her vision. “That’s the dress. It’s perfect.”

The strapless asymmetrical organza dress fit tight across her bust then spiraled and cascaded at the crystal-adorned waist. She looked like a beautiful white rose in bloom.

“We’ve got to show Mom.” She grabbed her sister’s hand and pulled her out of the dressing room to show Reina. The chair she’d been sitting in was vacant. Lola scanned the store and located the sales lady. “Excuse me, have you seen our mother?”

She nodded and pointed to the opposite side of the store. “Yes, I believe she went to the other dressing room to try on a mother-of-the-bride dress.”

“We’ve got to show her how beautiful you look. Come on.” Lola led her through the store, happy to focus on her sister rather than her mess of a love life.

They found the room and she opened the door. “Mom, you’ve got to see—” Their mother was straddling a man’s lap, her shirt on the floor and her skirt bunched up at her waist.

Lola slammed the door. “Ah, my eyes! My eyes!” She rubbed them with her fists but she couldn’t get the image out of her head.

Portia gripped her by her shoulders. “What’s wrong?”

She couldn’t speak. “Mom. Naked. George.”

“Mom and George? In there?” Portia pointed at the dressing room door. “Having sex?” she whispered.

She shook her head. “No, thank goodness. But most of her clothes were on the floor.” She shuddered in revulsion.

Wearing her shirt inside out, their mom came out of the room. “What did you need?” She spotted Portia in the dress and covered her heart with her hand. “Oh, Portia. It’s beautiful. It looks like it was made for you.”

For once, Lola agreed with her mother.

George walked out of the dressing room, his dress shirt poking out of his fly.

Portia lowered her voice and asked, “What’s going on with you and George?”

The lovers exchanged a glance. “We didn’t want to ruin your wedding with—”

George took her mother’s hand. “I’ve asked your mother to marry me and she’s accepted. We were going to wait to announce it until after your wedding, but I’m glad you caught us. I don’t want to keep it a secret anymore. I love your mother and I plan on making her the happiest woman in the world.”

They couldn’t have surprised her more if they’d said her mother was having an alien’s baby. “But you’re both so different.” As different as she and Braden. “Will you quit your law practice and travel with her?” she asked George.

“No. Your mother has agreed to move into my house and stay in Michigan. She’ll do some volunteer work to keep her busy.” He gave her mother a look which could only be described as awestruck. Lola could see how much the man loved her.

“At least until you give me grandbabies to babysit,” her mother added to both her daughters.

“You’re going to settle down in Michigan? What about floating wherever the wind takes you? The earth’s whispers?” asked Lola.

Her mother looked at George lovingly and kissed his cheek. “It was a long journey, but the wind blew me where I was meant to go. With George. Even if the earth hadn’t told me, I would have known the moment I met him he was my soul mate. I’ve dreamed of him for years.”

“And I her. She was worth the wait.”

They’d dreamed of each other, and Ryan and Portia had dreamed of each other . . . and now both couples were getting married. Lola recognized the buzzing sensation running through her veins. She was envious.

Portia smiled. “We’re very happy for you. When’s the wedding?”

“We’ll do a small ceremony after your weddings,” their mother said, looking at Lola.

“
Weddings
, as in plural? Mom, you’re going to have to wait forever, because I’m not getting married.” No, she’d learned her lesson. She’d fallen in love for the first time and he’d handed back her bleeding heart on a silver platter. She was done with love.

“We’ll see,” said her mother in a singsong voice. “So now that I’m staying in Michigan, we’ll all be together again.”

“No,” Lola said, a bit too forcefully. “I’m not staying.” She tried to ignore the disappointment on their faces.

George looked concerned. “Are you ready for the inspections, my dear?”

“Yes. I’ll pass.” She’d studied everything she needed to know.

“What about your music?”