the year. Standing in this penthouse on top of the skyscraper with wall-to-wall glass, I feel like I'm in a fishbowl.
This is the Elliott family boardroom where they conduct all their business. The patriarch, who is in his seventies, sits right across from me with his fifty-year-old wife to my side. One of his adult sons is right next to me and the others stand brooding somewhere near the window.
No one in this room is happy that he is selling the Elliott Bay Marina and Hotel except for Mr. Thomas Elliott, and me. Even as I sign my name on one dotted line after another, his sons keep glaring at me, hoping that something happens to stop the carnage.
This marina complex has been in their family ever since Mr. Elliott opened it in 1959 and they have been the living life of luxury ever since. Mr. Elliott refuses to allow his sons to take over his legacy because he knows that they will run it into the ground.
Me, on the other hand? I am a reputable yacht broker with years of experience running various marinas all over the East Coast.
At least, that's what I am on paper.
“Now, that will do it, Mr. Beckett,” one of the lawyers from his side says when I sign the last of the paperwork. “You are now the proud owner of the Elliott Bay Marina and Hotel.”
I shake Mr. Elliott's hand and try to do the same with his wife, but she turns away from me in disgust. I expect even less courtesy from the sons so I don't even bother.
A photographer appears out of nowhere, snapping a picture of us and asking us to turn toward him and shake hands again.
“No,” I say, raising my hand up. “No pictures, please.”
Where did he come from? I want to kick him out, but at the same time I don’t want to draw more attention to myself.
“Mr. Beckett, please, we always take pictures to commemorate important family events,” Mr. Elliott says in his calm demeanor.
“I want you to know how much I appreciate this deal and that your legacy will be safe in my hands, but you have to understand, I'm a very private person. I really do not want to be photographed.”
This puts a stop to it. I don't make a scene, but I make the photographer back down.
“I really don't see why someone who looks like him would ever turn down a picture,” the older son says in a not very hushed tone.
Tempted to reply, I bite my tongue instead.
Mr. Elliott goes over to the drinks table and pours us two tumblers of the most expensive scotch that I have ever had.
“I know that you are going to make me proud, Oliver,” Mr. Elliott says, clinking his glass to mine.
We walk over to the window and look down at the marina below. Out in the distance, the Seattle Space Needle pierces the thick layer of clouds and glitters in the rain.
As the golden brown liquid runs down my throat, I think back to everything that I have gone through and how proud I should be of everything that I have accomplished.
Instead of feeling that, I feel regret. There's only one person who I want to share all of this with: Isabelle.
Yet, she's not here. She's the one who betrayed me and she's the one I can never have.
Thank you so much for reading THE PERFECT LIE!
I hope you are enjoying Tyler and Isabelle’s story. Can’t wait to find out what happens next? Their story continues in the next book.
1-click THE PERFECT LIFE now!
Everyone thinks I’m a murderer and after a while, it’s easier to just give in.
That’s what I learned in prison.
But what about now that I’m free?
I have outrun my past. I have a new life, a future.
But what about my old identity?
Isabelle thinks it’s worth fighting for. Isabelle thinks that I can get my sentence erased. But I know better.
Corruption runs deep. That’s why I got convicted in the first place.
I want to clear my name, but at what cost?
What more will I have to give up in order to get to the truth?
1-click THE PERFECT LIFE now!
Want to know more about Nicholas Crawford? He has his own COMPLETE series that readers call “dangerous and impossible to put down.”
Read TELL ME TO STOP now!
I owe him a debt. The kind money can’t repay.
He wants something else: me, for one year.
But I don’t even know who he is…
365 days and nights doing everything he wants…except that.
“I’m not going to sleep with you,” I say categorically.
He laughs.
“I’m going to make you a promise,” his eyes challenge mine. “Before our time is up, you’ll beg me for it.”
Read TELL ME TO STOP now!
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Also by Charlotte Byrd
All books are available at ALL major retailers! If you can’t find it, please email me at charlotte@charlotte-byrd.com
The Perfect Stranger Series
The Perfect Stranger
The Perfect Cover
The Perfect Lie
The Perfect Life
The Perfect Getaway
The Perfect Couple
All the Lies Series
All the Lies
All the Secrets
All the Doubts
All the Truths
All the Promises
All the Hopes
Tell me Series
Tell Me to Stop
Tell Me to Go
Tell Me to Stay
Tell Me to Run
Tell Me to Fight
Tell Me to Lie
Wedlocked Trilogy
Dangerous Engagement
Lethal Wedding
Fatal Wedding
Tangled Series
Tangled up in Ice
Tangled up in Pain
Tangled up in Lace
Tangled up in Hate
Tangled up in Love
Black Series
Black Edge
Black Rules
Black Bounds
Black Contract
Black Limit
Not into you Duet
Not into you
Still not into you
Lavish Trilogy
Lavish Lies
Lavish Betrayal
Lavish Obsession
Standalone Novels
Dressing Mr. Dalton
Debt
Offer
Unknown
About Charlotte Byrd
Charlotte Byrd is the bestselling author of romantic suspense novels. She has sold over 600,000 books and has been translated into five languages.
She lives near Palm Springs, California with her husband, son, and a toy Australian Shepherd. Charlotte is addicted to books and Netflix and she loves hot weather and crystal blue water.
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