* * *
Simona took in the immaculate yards and expensive homes on the street as Donovan turned into a driveway with a three-car garage. He pressed a button, and two of the doors began to rise. Terrence backed his SUV halfway into one, and Donovan drove into the other one.
“I’ll get you settled, then help Terrence unload.”
“I can help.”
“We can manage.”
He got out and came around to her side. She slowly emerged from the car and gathered Yasmine from the backseat. Instead of going through the garage, he led her around to the front door and stood back to let her enter. Her eyes widened as she entered a large foyer with marble flooring.
Simona took in her surroundings as she followed Donovan down the hall. She noted formal living and dining areas across from where they entered, which she assumed was the family room. The deep tans and browns throughout gave a definite masculine feel to the house. Although the furniture was expensive, the atmosphere still felt homey. The walls held two landscape pieces similar to the ones she had seen at Terrence and Janae’s house, and she wondered if the same artist had done them. Donovan’s voice interrupted her thoughts.
“Make yourself comfortable.”
“You have a beautiful house. How long have you lived here?”
“Three years. I got tired of hearing doors slam and feet pounding on the stairs at all hours of the night when I lived in my condo. I found that I like the peace and quiet.”
She laughed. “I remember the same thing in my apartment.” Simona pointed to one of the paintings. “This is spectacular. Where did you get it?”
“Janae painted both of them. I bought them when she had her first gallery showing a year ago.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah. She does amazing work. I’m going to help Terrence. Feel free to explore, and don’t worry about Yasmine breaking anything.”
“You say that now.”
He smiled and tweaked Yasmine’s nose on the way out.
“Donovan,” she called after him. He stopped and turned. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Simona took one more glance around. “Let’s go check this place out, Yasmine.” The rest of the house was just as spectacular. She counted four bedrooms, a weight room and five bathrooms. Her favorite room by far was the kitchen. It had to be almost three times the size of her small one and contained every gadget a professional chef would need. She chuckled, remembering that Donovan didn’t know how to cook well, and wondered why he had bought a house with such a large kitchen.
After their tour, she and Yasmine sat in the family room and waited for Donovan. Simona had to constantly chase Yasmine around to keep her from destroying the room. “He definitely needs some childproofing,” she mumbled. She found a toy in one of the bags Donovan brought in that held the little girl’s attention.
Leaning back on the couch, she thought about Donovan confessing to loving her. She remembered him saying it that night in his office, and at the time, she hadn’t thought he meant it. Today, his words left no doubt in her mind. But now she had to deal with this mess. She tried to figure out how someone found out about her and Donovan. Even more puzzling was why he or she felt the need to start more rumors.
It had been over a year since she had seen Travis, so what would he have to gain by making that crazy statement about her being the type of woman to use a child to get money? She racked her brain trying to come up with a reason. Simona bolted upright. “Amber,” she whispered. But why? Amber had apparently moved on with her life and gotten everything she wanted in her career.
Simona retrieved her cell phone from her purse and scrolled until she came to the number she had never deleted. Taking a deep breath, she tapped the screen.
“Amber? It’s Simona.”
“Oh, my God, Simona. I’m-so-sorry-I-didn’t-do-this-I-know-you-think-I-did-but-I-didn’t-I-promise.”
The words came out in a tearful jumbled mess before Simona could say anything.
“Amber, you’re the only one I saw when I was home. If you didn’t, who did?”
Amber sniffed. “I don’t know. I know I messed up the first time, and I lost my best friend. But I swear it wasn’t me.”
Simona didn’t know what to believe. “Did you talk to anyone? What about the people you were with?”
“It was just a group of us celebrating mine and a couple of others’ success. Oh, no.”
“What, Amber?”