Page 51 of Everyone’s a Liar

With a click of her tongue, Livia rose to her feet and dumped her empty plates in the nearest trash can. She wasn’t in a hurry to return to the Willows, but she didn’t want to be walking home after dark. She might be willing to continue digging into who hired Larry Sutton, but she wasn’t stupid. She’d already been locked in the garage. Who knew what might happen if she was caught wandering around at night.

She crossed toward the back of the park, avoiding the crush of people who headed to watch the fireworks being unloaded. There’d been a few curious glances throughout the afternoon, but no one had approached her. Which was fine. She was there to relax, not to answer questions about her family. Or worse, about herself. She just wanted to blend into the background and disappear without attracting attention.

Moving behind the bandstand, Livia picked up her pace, not hearing the footsteps behind her. It wasn’t until a hand reached out to grasp her shoulder, forcing her to stop, that she realized she’d been followed.

Glaring over her shoulder, Livia froze as she discovered Winston Durand standing directly behind her.

“Hello, Livia,” he drawled, his handsome features looking oddly sinister in the fading light.

“Winston.” Stiffening her spine, Livia shrugged off his hand and turned to face him. There were a hundred people in the park. He couldn’t risk hurting her in such a public setting. Could he? “I didn’t expect to see you in town. My aunt hates these local events.”

“They’re at the Willows.”

“And Celeste?”

“She’s with them. They’re meeting with the photographer to select which picture to use on the wedding invitations.”

Livia arched a brow. “Shouldn’t you be there?”

A hard, humorless smile curved his lips. “My opinion on the invitations isn’t needed or welcomed.”

“Why not? It’s your wedding too.”

“This is Celeste’s big day. I’m just there to support her.”

Did he think he sounded like a loyal fiancé? If so, he was completely mistaken. He came off as a man who didn’t give a crap about his upcoming wedding. Not that she cared one way or another.

“So instead you came to watch the fireworks?”

“No. I was looking for you.”

Unease crawled down her spine. He was staring at her with an unnerving intensity.

“Why?” she demanded.

“Tara texted me to say that you’d been to my estate.”

Livia blinked. The nurse had gone to the effort to text Winston about a random pedestrian when he was lunching with his soon to be in-laws? Interesting.

“I wasn’t at your estate,” she corrected him. “I was walking down the public pathway and she scurried out of your house to accuse me of trespassing.”

“I apologize.” There was no hint of regret in his hard tone. “I’ve asked the staff to keep an eye open for any paparazzi lurking around the house. I don’t want my father disturbed.”

Livia snorted. “Paparazzi? In Rushville?”

“It sounds ridiculous, but both Celeste and I have social connections. That unfortunately means we’re the targets of the worst sort of troll looking for a scandal.”

The explanation sounded practiced. As if he’d prepared for the day someone accused him of abusing his power.

“That’s a lot of effort to avoid someone taking a picture.” Livia lifted her brows. “Unless there actually is a scandal for them to expose?”

His jaw clenched. “I’m just a boring businessman who’s trying to do the best for his father and his new fiancée.”

“Okay.” She stared at him with blatant disbelief. “Did you hunt me down just because I was walking by your house?”

“Tara also said you were asking a lot of questions.”

“There weren’t a lot of questions. We had a brief, meaningless conversation, nothing worth sending texts about. Unless the two of you share every intimate detail of your day?”