Say I Do (Wilde Ways #10) - Cynthia Eden Page 0,77
from “Lacey” on Tim’s phone.
Sure enough, some of them seemed legit. They probably were, going by the dates. There were several texts from Lacey saying…
“It’s over.”
“No, I don’t want to meet you for dinner.”
“Don’t call me again.”
“I wish you luck in your life, but it’s not working. Stop contacting me.”
“Tommy, you need to get a fucking clue,” Dex growled.
“It’s…Tim.”
The most recent texts from Lacey, though, were different…
“I miss you. Didn’t realize how much you mattered until you were gone.”
“No one can take your place. Other men can’t compare.”
“Come find me. I need you.”
The last text had been sent the same day that Lacey and Dex arrived at the lodge. The text even included the lodge’s name, saying that she was close by, just a small distance away from Tim’s winter home in Aspen.
“Be mad at her,” Tim urged him. “Not me. She screwed us both.”
A snarl built in Dex’s throat.
“Oh, fuck, that was the wrong thing to say, wasn’t it?” Tim’s voice rose. “Don’t break my hands, don’t—”
“Lacey didn’t send those texts. You were set up. Someone wanted you here, probably so that you could distract us from what was really happening. Or maybe someone wanted you to be the fall guy. Don’t really know what the end game is where you are concerned.”
Tim gaped at him. “Say what?”
“Lacey isn’t interested in you,” he enunciated slowly. “She didn’t send those texts.”
“But, they came from her number—”
“Someone set you up.” He glanced over at a silent Lacey. “Someone set her up, too.”
A rough laugh tumbled from Tim. “Man, why would you say that? It’s clear to see the number is hers. All of those texts are from her, even the break-up ones. Look, I get it, you don’t want to believe that she was double-timing you and—”
“I trust her,” Dex said simply. “Even if I didn’t trust Lacey, I’d still know how ridiculously easy it is for the right people to clone numbers and send false texts. You wouldn’t know that, though, and since you wanted Lacey back so desperately, you were more than ready to believe anything.”
“She texted me—”
“No,” Lacey said, voice quiet. “I didn’t. Someone pulled you into a very dangerous situation. You should leave the lodge. Take your blonde friend with you and go.”
“Hey, don’t be jealous, Lace! She just—you know, she was with me in Aspen, and so I brought her along because it would have been rude to leave her, but I swear, I was going to ditch her as soon as I saw how things with you and me—”
“Take your friend with you,” Lacey repeated. “And get the hell out before more bullets start flying.”
His Adam’s apple bobbed. “Bullets?”
“I’m keeping your phone.” Dex pocketed the device. “I’ll get a buddy to see if he can track down the real sender of the texts.”
“But…” Tim’s lips pulled down. “Lace, you don’t want me back?”
Her fingers curled around Dex’s shoulder. “I have a fiancé. He’s the only man I want.”
If only she meant those words. Dex’s heart surged hard into his chest.
Tim slowly nodded.
“Lacey…” Dex murmured her name carefully. “Will you please give me one moment alone with Tim?” He angled his head toward her. “Just one?”
Suspicion had her eyes narrowing. “What are you going to do?”
“Don’t break my hands!” Tim pleaded.
He glanced heavenward. Deliver me from dumbasses. Then he looked at Lacey. “I’m going to give him a quick word of advice. I think it will have more meaning if we can talk privately.”
Her eyebrows lifted. “Do not kill him.”
Tim whimpered. “Who is this guy, Lace? Why do you even have to tell him shit like that? You know that’s not normal, don’t you?”
“Do not hurt him,” Lacey continued.
“OhmyGod. Are you involved with like…a mobster or some shit?”
Without answering Tim, she strode for the door.
“Lacey!” Dex called out.
She paused.
“Stay close,” he urged her. I want her where I can keep an eye on her. “Sixty seconds is all I need.”
A nod. Then she slipped out.
Sixty, fifty-nine…
“She texted me,” Tim insisted.
“Thompson, you were used.”
“Tim. Name’s Tim, and you know that. I’ve corrected you like fifty—”
“Lacey didn’t text you. Someone else did. Someone threw you into my path probably because that person didn’t care if I kicked your ass or simply made you vanish from the face of the planet.”
Another whimper. The dude whimpered a lot. “Can you…do that?”
“You don’t want to find out.” He held Tim’s gaze. “Take this message and let it burn into your brain. Lacey isn’t interested. She’s marrying me. You come near her