Page 20 of White Wedding
He remembered holding her in his arms as she sobbed out of fear she’d ruined her life forever. She hadn’t told him what she’d done, only that she’d fucked up so badly her father might never forgive her. Rather than push her to reveal her secrets, he just offered comfort.
Later, he offered a lot more.
“I made a huge mistake, and my father paid a lot of money to clean it up,” she said. “But in return, he made my life hell. That’s why I went to Baja without telling him where I was going.” A slight smile crossed her face. “I should be grateful it took him three weeks to track me down.”
“Was that why you left so abruptly?”
She nodded. “You were sleeping when he called. Even though it was five in the morning, he insisted I leave on the next flight out.”
On the morning she’d left, he hadn’t woken until nine, groggy and tired from too much tequila and too little sleep. He’d been surprised to find her side of the bed empty, but he assumed she was out getting coffee. Until he noticed every trace of her had vanished. All she left was a short note:Thanks for everything. Sorry to leave you like this.
By now, the pain had dulled considerably, but it had crushed him at the time. Especially after he learned that Tori Dubois didn’t exist. Without her real name, he had no way to reach her.
“Going home just about killed me,” Victoria said. “My father couldn’t wait to remind me how much I still owed him.”
What was the guy’s problem? Wasn’t he a millionaire? “I don’t get it. Your family’s loaded, right? Why didn’t your dad take it out of your trust fund?”
Not that Rafael knew anything about that shit. But on TV, wealthy families always seemed to be fighting over trust funds, wills, and inheritances.
“Because I don’t have one,” she said. “My father doesn’t believe in giving me or my brothers anything we haven’t earned. We live a privileged life, but we don’t get a lot of discretionary income. Certainly not enough to pay off a massive debt.”
“How much money are we talking about?”
“Thousands. But I made a plan. Once I graduated and started working for Blackwood Cellars, I set a little money aside each month. It wasn’t hard to do, seeing as how I lived at home.” She blew out a breath. “Entitled, I know.”
He shrugged. “Debt is debt. No matter what, it sucks.” He’d dealt with a similar situation after he wrecked the family car in high school. Those five minutes of drunken stupidity had cost him dearly. Not just in terms of money, but in the grief he’d caused his mother.
A couple came over to the pond and began taking photos. After watching them for a minute, Victoria started walking and motioned for Rafael to follow. She crossed the bridge and led him to a bench on the other side of the pond. When she sat down, he did the same but waited for her to continue.
“Even though I’d saved up all this money, I didn’t tell my father,” she said. “I wanted to surprise him. Show up at his office and place a big fat check on his desk—an ‘in your face’ kind of move. But before I could get that far, he hinted there were other ways I could work off my debt. Like dating Ben Macalister.”
He recoiled. “Your dad was pimping you out?”
“Not entirely. He might have pushed me toward Ben, but I’m the one who fell for his bullshit. Ben can be a total charmer when he shows his good side. And he went all out, trying to win me over. As you can imagine, my father was thrilled. Ben’s dad is hoping to run in the next presidential election, and my father wanted to ride that train. He said if I married Ben, he’d cancel my debt.”
That was some manipulative shit, right there. “That’s fucked up.”
“I know. But I was desperate to please him. For most of my life, I behaved like the perfect daughter. My father doesn’t dole out affection easily, and I spent my childhood working for it.”
He gave a silent prayer of thanks his family was nothing like the Blackwoods. Even if the Sanchez clan was constantly in each other’s business, they cared about one another.
“Six months after we got engaged, Ben cheated on me with Missy. When he decided he wanted me back, I turned him down. By then, he’d started showing his ugly side, especially when he’d been drinking. But my father convinced me to forgive him. Big mistake. Ben left me for Missy in October.”
What a mess. The more Rafael heard about Victoria’s father, the more he hated him. The guy obviously didn’t give a shit about anything except his wealth and his political connections.
“Did that mean you were still in debt?” he asked.
“You guessed it. Even worse, I’d gotten cocky during my engagement, and I spent all the money I’d saved. When my brother left Blackwood Cellars to start his own winery, I helped him out by becoming an investor. Maybe it was foolish, but I wanted one of us to follow our dreams.”
“It wasn’t foolish,” Rafael murmured.
How could he fault her for helping her brother? His own brothers had given him so many chances. That was what family wassupposedto do. He wanted to reach over and take her hand, but she stood abruptly as if sensing the conversation was getting too intimate.
“Let’s go up to the West Lawn,” she said. “That’s where the wedding ceremony is taking place. The view is breathtaking.”
As they walked along the path leading away from the gardens, he mulled over what she’d told him. “I get why your dad wanted you to marry Ben. But why isn’t he pissed Ben’s marrying someone else? And why is he letting him have the wedding here?”
She gave him a sad smile. “Somehow, my emotional welfare wasn’t as important as my father’s connection to Senator Macalister. That’s why he caved to all of Ben’s demands. So, in answer to your original question, I’m doing this because I still owe my father. But if I can throw an unforgettable wedding, worthy of the society pages, he’ll let me off the hook. That’s what keeps me going.”
