1
Beautiful Ever After
MAXWELL HUTCHESON
Lou. She came into my life and became my world. My everything. It’s that simple.
Brady opens the door and shakes his head when he looks at me. “You dumb bastard. You were supposed to fuck her and let her go when the arrangement ended.”
“Aye, that was the plan.” But plans change. And mine certainly did.
He steps out of the doorway, making room for me to enter. “Get the hell in here, and let’s sort out this fucking mess you’ve gotten yourself into.”
“Aye, but whisky first.”
Brady pours two Tomatins and I toss mine back before he picks up his glass. “Hit me again, mate.”
He pours another whisky three fingers high, and I throw it back, same as the first.
“Another?”
“No.” I can’t be steamin’ while we try to figure out what the hell I’m going to do.
I place the whisky glass on the table and run my palms down my face, groaning. “Everything was fine this morning. We were fine.”
We. Were. Fine.
“Maybe you were fine but she wasn’t? Did anything seem off?”
“She was crying this morning when I woke up.”
Brady chuckles. “When a woman cries, it’s usually a strong indication that she definitely isn’t fine.”
“It sounds bad when I say it aloud, I know, but we talked and everything seemed to be all right. She stopped crying and we had sex… and everything seemed okay. Before I left for work, I told her to choose something special for tonight, and she told me that she would. She was okay.”
“Why were you doing something special tonight?”
“Our Inamorata arrangement was ending at midnight.”
“Ahh… I hate to break it to you, you brilliant motherfucker, but I think your inamorata left because she didn’t want to go through saying goodbye.”
“But I wasn’t going to say goodbye. I was planning to ask Lou for a real relationship. No contract or any of that other Inamorata shite.”
“I figured as much. I’ve seen that one coming for a while.”
“I don’t think avoiding a goodbye was Lou’s reason for leaving early. Mrs. McVey told me Blair came to the house. She said Lou was in tears afterward.”
“So you find Lou and straighten out this mess. Ask her to be your girlfriend or whatever it is you want out of a relationship with her. Problem solved.”
If only it were that easy. “Finding her is going to be difficult when I don’t know her last name or where she lives.”
“Cora knows.”
“Already been to see her. She won’t tell me anything.”
“That’s not surprising. The survival of her business is dependent upon discretion and privacy. Without those things, she has nothing.”
“I understand Cora’s position and I’m not angry at her.” She called Lou on my behalf. I can’t ask more of her than that.
“Let’s go over what you know to be fact. What do you know about Lou’s life outside of Inamorata?”
“Her real name is Cait. I’m sure it’s a shortened version of Caitriona. Or maybe Catherine?”
“All common names so that’s not helpful.”
Her father and his family live in Edinburgh, but I don’t remember ever hearing her call them by their names. Also not helpful.
“Her best friend’s name is Rachel.”
“I met Lou’s best friend at the cocktail party, and she introduced her as Meg.”
“Meg would be her Inamorata name. Her real name is Rachel. I confirmed that when I went to the building where they used to live. A tenant remembered a pair of roommates named Cait and Rachel who recently moved out.”
Brady’s eyes narrow the way they always do when he’s in deep thought. “Their former landlord might be able to tell you their last names. Or a forwarding address. Unless, of course, he’s upstanding and respects their privacy enough to withhold that information.”
“He could probably be bought.”
“And if he can’t?” Brady asks.
“She was planning to return to the University of Edinburgh. Maybe I could use that as a way to find her?”
“Without a last name, that’s no help. You’re reduced to walking around campus, hoping you’ll see her.”
Ian will be there. I could ask him to be on the lookout for her, but he’d ask why she left me and why I have no idea how to reach her. I don’t want him to know the details of our relationship.
Those details are our secret.
“She has an ex-boyfriend. His name is Cameron Stewart. He’s a bartender and works in Edinburgh. Or at least he did.”
“Finally. A first and last name. That’s helpful information.”
“It’s helpful until you factor in that he’s trying to win Lou back.” He isn’t likely to help me just as I wouldn’t help him when he wanted me to tell Lou to call him.
“The guy is a bartender. His knowledge about her could easily be bought.”
It would kill me to have to go to that fucker. “I’ll only consider it after all other options have been exhausted.”
“Then let’s go back to Lou’s best friend. I met her at the cocktail party. She was with a client. A regular, Lou said.” Brady’s brow wrinkles. “His name was Clyde or Claud. Something like that and he owns tour companies, the ones with all-day excursions around Scotland.”
“Well that’s slightly better than looking for a needle in a haystack.”
“You can get to Rachel through this Clyde or Claud and ask her to put you in contact with Lou. If she won’t, Cameron Stewart can be your next move. After that, you may be forced to hire a private investigator.”
I’d prefer to not take that route. Thomas is dirty. Very dirty. And I don’t know which private investigators are and aren’t on his payroll.
“Lou told me she loved me.” After we made love, skin on skin, an act that she believes should only be shared by two people in love. That alone tells me how she feels about me. The words weren’t necessary, but I coveted hearing them from her.
Her ‘I love you’ doesn’t accompany motive. It comes from a place of honesty. Her heart.
“Did you say it back?”
“No.”
I wasn’t expecting her to say those words to me. I wasn’t prepared. And when I didn’t say them back, I hated the hurt that I saw in her eyes.
I was afraid to love her. Now, I’m more afraid to lose her.
I’m such a fucking dobber. I should have told her right then and there how I felt about her.
“Do you love the lass?”
“I do.” I love her so much it hurts. “And I should have told her so, but I was afraid.”
“Don’t beat yourself up over it. Mina put you through some intense shite. No one can blame you for being cautious.”
I foolishly let her get away without telling her how I feel. “Caution may have caused me to lose the only thing that’s ever made me feel alive.”
“If she’s the one, you’ll find her and tell her. Simple as that.”
The one. Is that even possible? I’ve only known Lou for three months.
“I made myself believe that Mina was the one and look at how wrong I was about that. How can I trust myself to get it right this time?”
“I don’t think I’m the person to ask. In case you forgot, I got it wrong too. But if I had to guess at what kind of advice to give you, I’d say listen to your gut this time and not Thomas Lochridge.”
Brady has that much right.
I wasn’t ready to get married but Thomas Lochridge was clear about my options. No marriage meant no promotion. The only way I was going to climb the ladder at the firm was as his son-in-law. Because Mina was ready to be a wife. And what Mina wanted, Mina got. Thomas always saw to that.
Somewhere along the way, I was sucked into all there was to gain, but the cost was so much more than I could have ever imagined.
I thought things were complicated before Lou, but my problems multiplied tenfold when she entered my life. Having her is going to cost me. I know that. There’s never been any doubt in my mind about it. I’ll probably lose everything. And I don’t care. Having everything means nothing without her.
She is worth the fall.
Brady opens the door and shakes his head when he looks at me. “You dumb bastard. You were supposed to fuck her and let her go when the arrangement ended.”
“Aye, that was the plan.” But plans change. And mine certainly did.
He steps out of the doorway, making room for me to enter. “Get the hell in here, and let’s sort out this fucking mess you’ve gotten yourself into.”
“Aye, but whisky first.”
Brady pours two Tomatins and I toss mine back before he picks up his glass. “Hit me again, mate.”
He pours another whisky three fingers high, and I throw it back, same as the first.
“Another?”
“No.” I can’t be steamin’ while we try to figure out what the hell I’m going to do.
I place the whisky glass on the table and run my palms down my face, groaning. “Everything was fine this morning. We were fine.”
We. Were. Fine.
“Maybe you were fine but she wasn’t? Did anything seem off?”
“She was crying this morning when I woke up.”
Brady chuckles. “When a woman cries, it’s usually a strong indication that she definitely isn’t fine.”
“It sounds bad when I say it aloud, I know, but we talked and everything seemed to be all right. She stopped crying and we had sex… and everything seemed okay. Before I left for work, I told her to choose something special for tonight, and she told me that she would. She was okay.”
“Why were you doing something special tonight?”
“Our Inamorata arrangement was ending at midnight.”
“Ahh… I hate to break it to you, you brilliant motherfucker, but I think your inamorata left because she didn’t want to go through saying goodbye.”
“But I wasn’t going to say goodbye. I was planning to ask Lou for a real relationship. No contract or any of that other Inamorata shite.”
“I figured as much. I’ve seen that one coming for a while.”
“I don’t think avoiding a goodbye was Lou’s reason for leaving early. Mrs. McVey told me Blair came to the house. She said Lou was in tears afterward.”
“So you find Lou and straighten out this mess. Ask her to be your girlfriend or whatever it is you want out of a relationship with her. Problem solved.”
If only it were that easy. “Finding her is going to be difficult when I don’t know her last name or where she lives.”
“Cora knows.”
“Already been to see her. She won’t tell me anything.”
“That’s not surprising. The survival of her business is dependent upon discretion and privacy. Without those things, she has nothing.”
“I understand Cora’s position and I’m not angry at her.” She called Lou on my behalf. I can’t ask more of her than that.
“Let’s go over what you know to be fact. What do you know about Lou’s life outside of Inamorata?”
“Her real name is Cait. I’m sure it’s a shortened version of Caitriona. Or maybe Catherine?”
“All common names so that’s not helpful.”
Her father and his family live in Edinburgh, but I don’t remember ever hearing her call them by their names. Also not helpful.
“Her best friend’s name is Rachel.”
“I met Lou’s best friend at the cocktail party, and she introduced her as Meg.”
“Meg would be her Inamorata name. Her real name is Rachel. I confirmed that when I went to the building where they used to live. A tenant remembered a pair of roommates named Cait and Rachel who recently moved out.”
Brady’s eyes narrow the way they always do when he’s in deep thought. “Their former landlord might be able to tell you their last names. Or a forwarding address. Unless, of course, he’s upstanding and respects their privacy enough to withhold that information.”
“He could probably be bought.”
“And if he can’t?” Brady asks.
“She was planning to return to the University of Edinburgh. Maybe I could use that as a way to find her?”
“Without a last name, that’s no help. You’re reduced to walking around campus, hoping you’ll see her.”
Ian will be there. I could ask him to be on the lookout for her, but he’d ask why she left me and why I have no idea how to reach her. I don’t want him to know the details of our relationship.
Those details are our secret.
“She has an ex-boyfriend. His name is Cameron Stewart. He’s a bartender and works in Edinburgh. Or at least he did.”
“Finally. A first and last name. That’s helpful information.”
“It’s helpful until you factor in that he’s trying to win Lou back.” He isn’t likely to help me just as I wouldn’t help him when he wanted me to tell Lou to call him.
“The guy is a bartender. His knowledge about her could easily be bought.”
It would kill me to have to go to that fucker. “I’ll only consider it after all other options have been exhausted.”
“Then let’s go back to Lou’s best friend. I met her at the cocktail party. She was with a client. A regular, Lou said.” Brady’s brow wrinkles. “His name was Clyde or Claud. Something like that and he owns tour companies, the ones with all-day excursions around Scotland.”
“Well that’s slightly better than looking for a needle in a haystack.”
“You can get to Rachel through this Clyde or Claud and ask her to put you in contact with Lou. If she won’t, Cameron Stewart can be your next move. After that, you may be forced to hire a private investigator.”
I’d prefer to not take that route. Thomas is dirty. Very dirty. And I don’t know which private investigators are and aren’t on his payroll.
“Lou told me she loved me.” After we made love, skin on skin, an act that she believes should only be shared by two people in love. That alone tells me how she feels about me. The words weren’t necessary, but I coveted hearing them from her.
Her ‘I love you’ doesn’t accompany motive. It comes from a place of honesty. Her heart.
“Did you say it back?”
“No.”
I wasn’t expecting her to say those words to me. I wasn’t prepared. And when I didn’t say them back, I hated the hurt that I saw in her eyes.
I was afraid to love her. Now, I’m more afraid to lose her.
I’m such a fucking dobber. I should have told her right then and there how I felt about her.
“Do you love the lass?”
“I do.” I love her so much it hurts. “And I should have told her so, but I was afraid.”
“Don’t beat yourself up over it. Mina put you through some intense shite. No one can blame you for being cautious.”
I foolishly let her get away without telling her how I feel. “Caution may have caused me to lose the only thing that’s ever made me feel alive.”
“If she’s the one, you’ll find her and tell her. Simple as that.”
The one. Is that even possible? I’ve only known Lou for three months.
“I made myself believe that Mina was the one and look at how wrong I was about that. How can I trust myself to get it right this time?”
“I don’t think I’m the person to ask. In case you forgot, I got it wrong too. But if I had to guess at what kind of advice to give you, I’d say listen to your gut this time and not Thomas Lochridge.”
Brady has that much right.
I wasn’t ready to get married but Thomas Lochridge was clear about my options. No marriage meant no promotion. The only way I was going to climb the ladder at the firm was as his son-in-law. Because Mina was ready to be a wife. And what Mina wanted, Mina got. Thomas always saw to that.
Somewhere along the way, I was sucked into all there was to gain, but the cost was so much more than I could have ever imagined.
I thought things were complicated before Lou, but my problems multiplied tenfold when she entered my life. Having her is going to cost me. I know that. There’s never been any doubt in my mind about it. I’ll probably lose everything. And I don’t care. Having everything means nothing without her.
She is worth the fall.
Thank you for reading Chapter One of Beautiful Ever After.
They promised eighty-one nights. But what they found was forever. Now, they must fight for the ending they never dared to imagine.
Ready to see how their illusion becomes an unforgettable love story? Get your copy now.
They promised eighty-one nights. But what they found was forever. Now, they must fight for the ending they never dared to imagine.
Ready to see how their illusion becomes an unforgettable love story? Get your copy now.