"Shadows from the Past" (AU Chlex- Suspense/Romance) PG-13: Chapters 4 & 5
Summary: Alienated from the world of affections by a mysterious past Chloe is not aware of, she finds her world turned upside down when a tragic event reveals she has been living a lie. A small Kansas town seems to hold the key to the secret behind her nightmares.
Author: lexie ( lillianschild)
Homepage: http://www.freewebs.com/lillianschild
Forums: http://www.freepowerboards.com/lillianschild
E-mail: lillianschild@yahoo.co.uk
A/N: This fic helped me won the Murder Mystery Contest organised by DTS in April 2008.
A/N2: the starting point of this fic is loosely inspired on a novel I read a long time ago, whose name- unfortunately-I can´t remember.
Prologue and Chapter 1
Chapters 2 & 3
CHAPTER 4: Resolve
´My mother ... a beautiful person... incapable of doing something so despicable and vicious.´ Chloe changed gears and could still hear the words ringing in her ears. ´Branded guilty... couldn´t see beyond her surname... did nothing but sped up her death. ´
She gripped the wheel tightly in an attempt to control the tremor that coursed through her. Lex´s face and his accusing voice seemed to suggest he held her largely responsible for Lillian´s death. Chloe´s silence had prevented his mother from cleaning her name in the eyes of Smallville.
The sun was still shining brightly but Chloe couldn´t feel its warmth. She was cold due to the lack of memories from the past. She slowed down and took the dirt road which led to her house; then, she killed the engine and looked at the building with new eyes.
She wasn´t ready to step back into the house just yet. She was still too shocked after her discoveries and her encounter with the young billionaire. He had said his mother had been judged by the town only because of her name. It didn´t take a rocket scientist to understand what he had meant. He believed somebody else had killed Moira and that Chloe was the only one who held the key to solve the crime and clear Lillian´s name once and for all.
Chloe had seen rage and bitterness in his eyes but had also caught a glimpse of something else, a deep hurt which needed to be assuaged and a hint of guilt, as if he weren´t completely sure of Lillian´s absolute innocence.
The blond reporter held her breath, disturbed by her reaction towards Lex´s distress. She wasn´t used to getting emotionally involved with anybody, finding in isolation the best protection against heartbreak. She couldn´t afford to grow fond of a stranger, a man whose mother might have murdered or had something to do with her own mum´s death.
Was the real murdered still at large? Chloe looked at the foliage swaying in the wind and heard the murmur of the harvesters working in the fields. The world around her seemed normal while her own life had suffered a violent turn. Somebody had brutally murdered her mum in the house she was now staying in- that much she knew. Nevertheless, there was still the question of whether she had witnessed the horrible deed or not. Despite the fact that the anonymous woman had withdrawn the accusations, the people in the streets still believed in Lillian Luthor´s guilt. Would the truth ever come to light and the culprit be punished?
She closed her eyes in an attempt to control her emotions. In Gotham she had learnt to handle her fears by not keeping in touch with her feelings. Even though Gabe had tried to draw her out of isolation time and time again, Chloe hadn´t let herself feel or get near anybody for fear of getting hurt.
It wasn´t until she came back to Smallville that she became aware of how fragile her world was, of how hard she had tried to silence the truth. Obviously, her emotional troubles as an adult sprang from the tragic events her subconscious had chosen to repress for self-preservation.
Chloe fluttered her eyelids open. It wasn´t just her life which had changed that fateful day. Lex Luthor had been deeply affected by his mum´s untimely death and by the judgement passed on her at that time.
Their mothers´ fates had irrevocably brought their lives together. She suspected he knew more than he had let on. Lillian Luthor had seen Moira the day prior to the murder, if the witness´ testimony could be trusted. Lex had some of the answers she was looking for and she´d get them sooner or later
The following day Chloe got up at sunrise after sleeping only a couple of hours. She did the house chores and the shopping, and drove straight to The Talon in the hope of finding him there. He wasn´t, but Lana Lang was.
Chloe ordered a large mocha and a big portion of chocolate cake and, when the brunette came back with the loaded tray, Chloe introduced herself as a friend of Clark´s. After the initial shock, Lana drew up a chair and sat down to converse with the blond about her former paramour.
The reporter didn´t regret striking a personal conversation with the brunette for it provided her with a lot of information concerning Lex´s past, his family background and feuds with his infamous dad and, surprisingly, his friendship with Clark. They had more things in common than she had actually thought.
A while later, Lana´s husband Pete turned up and joined them. The couple was agreeable enough and Chloe thought that in another world they all might have been friends. Apparently, Chloe must have made a good impression on them because they readily issued a lunch invitation, which she accepted gladly.
The Talon closed at lunchtime and reopened around four o´clock, in time for tea. Lana invited her to stay at the coffee shop to keep her company- it was a slow day- and offered her free refills, having surmised the blond was a caffeine addict. Chloe complied with the brunette´s wishes, hoping that Lex Luthor´s would turn up before the shift was over to have a look at the numbers.
Chloe was helping get things ready for the following day while Lana was in the office collecting the papers and invoices to give Lex, when the billionaire unlocked the front door with his own key and entered the coffee shop.
Chloe stood stock still when their eyes locked. Skittish, she toyed with the cloth she had been using to wipe the tables clean, and then she dropped it on the counter under his scrutinising gaze. She cleared her throat and spoke out.
¨I must talk with you, ¨she said, and for a second she thought he was going to walk off again.
¨I don´t think that´d be such a great idea, ¨ he responded coldly.
Chloe was aware that Lana must have heard him come in, and the coffee shop was quiet enough for her to make out what they were saying.
¨Are you afraid of me? ¨she asked, refusing to be daunted.
¨If there´s anyone who here who should feel threatened that ought to be you, Miss Sullivan, ¨ he uttered with a smirk, coming closer to Chloe.
She didn´t know why but her instincts told her she wouldn´t touch a hair on her head, so she stood still. She could feel the warmth emanating from his body, and the perfume she remembered so well assaulted her senses.
¨I haven´t got the time to talk, ¨ he said suddenly. ¨I´ve got a corporation to run and deadlines to meet. If you want to talk, you´ll have to come with me to Plant#3, ¨ he added, grabbing a folder from Lana´s hands and walking past Chloe on the way to the front.
Lex had expected the blond to up and run when he had issued the challenge but he didn´t know her that well. Chloe weighed the pros and cons of being alone with a man who bore a grudge against her, but she was sick and tired of her isolation and- looking at his back- she made up her mind.
Lex pushed the door open and stole a glance behind him. To his surprise, the blond reporter had picked up her jacket and bag and was coming his way.
¨I´m new in town. Show me the way to the plant, ¨she stated, marching to the red Beetle parked round the corner.
Lex clenched his jaw and berated himself for letting Chloe Sullivan get under his skin. His intention had been to scare her away because her presence in Smallville did nothing but stirred memories he had tried to bury deep inside.
He hated himself for feeling something other than resentment against the young woman. He walked to the operators´ lockers and took a couple of helmets and two pairs of heavy-duty boots.
¨You should wear this if you are coming with me,¨ he said, handing her the equipment. ¨A murder suspect in the family´s more than enough, ¨ he added wryly.
Chloe snatched the boots and helmet and cocking an eyebrow, she put them on. Lex felt his admiration for her rise. Chloe Sullivan was no defenceless woman; she was strong and determined enough to stand up to him.
Chloe tailed Lex as he climbed up and down the ladders and used the metallic catwalks to check up the machinery involved in processing the fertilizers the plant produced.
Lex tried to remain focused on the task at hand and listen to the manager´s report, but he couldn´t help being distracted by Chloe´s feminine scent of magnolia. The images of her which had populated his dreams the two previous nights popped up uninvited. Rather than attracted to the young woman, he was definitely obsessed. An hour and a half later the tour of the plant was over and Chloe found herself alone with Lex Luthor in his private office.
¨OK, you wanted to talk so let´s hear what you´ve got to say, ¨he said, sitting behind his mahogany desk.
¨I want you to help me. ¨
¨What makes you think I would help you? ¨
¨I know it was rash of me to go to your place yesterday afternoon. I should have informed you of my intention to call on you but, let´s face it, you would have turned me down. ¨
¨Point taken. Are you apologising, Miss Sullivan? ¨
¨I´m not the only one who´s suffered here. Seeing your mother´s picture in the paper came as a complete shock to me.¨
¨And you took for granted as did most of Smallville´s population that my mother got off the hook thanks to the Luthors´ chequebook. ¨
¨I´m not that shallow, Mr Luthor. I´ve never judged anybody by his background or by what others might think of him. ¨
¨That´s good to know. So you don´t believe my mother was to blame. ¨
¨I haven´t said that. ¨
¨What is it that you want from me then? Why can´t you just let the past be? ¨
¨Have you left it behind? Because I can´t. At least you have memories, no matter how painful they are. I can´t remember anything about my time as a child. It wasn´t until a few weeks ago that I learnt my mother hadn´t deserted me and my dad but died here in Smallville. ¨
Lex studied her carefully in an attempt to discover if she was bluffing but couldn´t see anything that indicated she wasn´t telling the truth.
¨Why come to me? Why not engage the services of a PI? ¨ asked Lex.
¨I don´t know you that well, but this much I know, you don´t strike me as someone who would sit doing nothing while his mother´s reputation´s being torn to shreds. You did hire the services of more than one PI and they came with zip, didn´t you? ¨Chloe risked it.
¨You´re a good judge of character, Miss Sullivan, ¨ he smirked. ¨So what makes you think we´d succeed where professionals have failed? ¨
¨You need to know the truth as much as I do, and we´ve both got pieces of the puzzle. We need each other to make them fit. ¨
Chloe looked at Lex´s face and saw the same beautiful patrician features she had gazed at in the old newspaper.
¨You look just like her, ¨she blurted.
¨So I´ve been told. And you don´t believe her innocent. ¨
¨You recognise you look a lot like her and for all I know I might have been the only eye witness. If your mother were the murderer, don´t you think I´d be afraid of you? ¨
¨Aren´t you? ¨
¨No, when I look at you I only see your hurt. ¨
Lex was touched by her sincerity and wondered what she had done to him to make him take off that mask of cool detachment he had always worn as a protection from the outside world.
Chloe might have good intentions but she was naïve if she believed her prodding would not stir up a hornet´s nest. Nobody knew what hidden skeleton she would come across during her investigation and how the people involved would react. Lex had enough reasons to want to see her suffer, but he felt an overwhelming urge to protect her from harm.
¨Come, it´s getting late. We should leave, ¨he said, handing her her jacket and bag and showing her to the door.
They left the main building for the car park in front of the plant and walked in companionable silence to find an unexpected visitor already waiting for them outside.
The sheriff had parked his patrol car close to the Plant entrance and was clearly waiting for Lex and Chloe to leave the premises.
The reporter glanced at the billionaire with a questioning look and noticed he had slipped on that cool mask he was so famous for. Whereas minutes before his eyes had shown his feelings, his thoughts were now an enigma, and that put Chloe on alert.
¨Miss Sullivan? ¨asked the police officer, focusing his attention on the blonde.
¨Yes, that´d be me, ¨she frowned.
¨I´m Sheriff Ethan, ¨he introduced himself.
Chloe´s heart skipped a beat. This was the man who had found her mum´s body.
¨Is everything OK, Miss Sullivan? ¨ he asked, shooting a disapproving glance at Lex.
¨Couldn´t be better. Why do you ask? ¨retorted Chloe.
¨A couple of citizens were under the impression that you weren´t here of your own accord. ¨
¨Just in case you haven´t noticed, Sheriff Ethan, ¨answered Chloe, feeling Lex´s tense body next to her, ¨ I´ve brought my own car. ¨
¨That doesn´t mean... ¨
¨I´d advise these law-abiding citizens to have their eyesight checked, Sheriff Ethan. They haven´t watched carefully. Not only have I driven here myself, my car was the one following Mr Luthor´s, ¨ she stated seriously.
¨I´m glad you´re OK. You´re new in town and you don´t know how things stand. The Luthors aren´t highly-regarded in our community, ¨ he added looking at Lex, and Chloe could sense the young man was trying hard not to rise to the challenge.
¨I´m not easily threatened, I can assure you. There´s nothing for you to worry about. ¨
Chloe wondered what Lex had done for the sheriff and most of the community to bear a grudge against him. She was almost sure it had something, if not everything, to do with his late father and the suspicion surrounding his mother´s involvement in the murder that had shocked Smallville twenty-five years before. She couldn´t understand people´s short-sightedness- judging somebody by his parents´ deeds was simply not fair.
She felt her eyes grow misty and refrained from getting too emotional, she perceived Lex wouldn´t welcome her sympathy. Still, she couldn´t help but wonder why he´d stayed in Smallville for so long if this was the treatment he got from its people.
Chloe couldn´t explain it, but she felt an over-whelming need to protect him. Funny, her initial impression of him had nothing to do with a defenceless individual, but he was emotionally cracked just like her. She had never thought of herself as the motherly type, and it certainly felt odd to experience such feelings towards an adult male. It was definitely a time of firsts for Chloe.
¨It´s been an unfortunate misunderstanding, Sheriff, ¨she said, smiling politely. ¨Isn´t that so, Lex? ¨she added, turning her head towards the quiet man beside her.
¨So it seems, ¨he smirked.
¨I wasn´t aware you knew each other, ¨confessed the officer.
¨We´ve met each other on the road. Miss Sullivan had a problem with her car and I gave her a hand, ¨explained Lex.
¨You were lucky, Miss Sullivan, ¨the sheriff said wryly.
¨I was, ¨she smiled warmly. ¨Now, if you´ll excuse me, it´s getting late and I want to be home before the nine o´clock news. ¨
¨Of course. Would you like me to escort you, Miss Sullivan? ¨
¨I´m not in need of a knight in shining armour. I can find my way back home. But thanks for the officer, sheriff, ¨quipped Chloe, hearing Lex chuckle beside her.
The police officer accepted her refusal grudgingly and didn´t move, waiting for them to take the next step.
¨Thanks for the tour, Lex, ¨she said, handing him the helmet and feeling the sparks fly when their hands accidentally brushed. ¨We haven´t agreed on the time yet, ¨she blurted when his eyes locked with hers. ¨Would seven be all right for dinner? ¨
Lex´s eyes bored into her, and Chloe grabbed the strap of her bag tightly waiting for his answer. Most of the times, she came up with excuses whenever a man invited her to dine out but, on this occasion, she was the one who had actually issued the invitation.
¨Seven´s fine, ¨he finally answered to her relief.
¨See you tomorrow, then, ¨responded Chloe, flashing him a sincere smile. ¨Sheriff..., ¨she uttered, walking towards her Beetle and driving away without looking back.
Lex saw the taillights dim in the distance and shifted his attention to the sheriff.
¨She´s quite a lady, isn´t she? ¨ stated the police officer.
¨I´ve made certain allowances this time. I wanted to see how low you could stoop to, sheriff, but you´re trying my patience. ¨
¨Is that a threat, Mr Luthor? ¨
¨It´s a warning. Remember who´s paying your salary. If word gets to me that you´ve been bothering Miss Sullivan in any way, you´ll have me to deal with, ¨he said tersely, unlocking the Porsche with the remote.
¨I´ll be watching you, ¨said the officer grimly.
¨You can do with me whatever you please, but let Miss Sullivan be, ¨responded Lex before shutting the car door firmly and leaving for the mansion.
Lex knew how to handle people like Ethan- he had learnt from the master- but Chloe Sullivan was an entirely different matter. What had possessed him to accept her dinner invitation?
He remembered her petite body and how she had stood her ground, her chin tilted up in defiance when the sheriff had questioned her. He could picture her blond hair, her curves and her luminous smile... He was getting horny. Lex took a deep breath and tried to control his libido. She was a beautiful determined woman, but no match for a murderer. Lex hoped she´d listen to him and leave Smallville before it was too late.
CHAPTER 5: Confused
Chloe spent the following morning rummaging through her mother´s stuff to see if she could get any clue concerning her death, and found several photo albums stashed away. There were dozens of pictures featuring Moira and her smiling at the camera. Chloe felt a sudden tug at her heart. How had she forgotten a woman who clearly loved her so much?
Around five o´clock she began dinner preparations. Since she was no gourmet cook, she decided to play it safe; roasted chicken with vegetables and gravy, and a green salad using the fresh produce from her own orchard as a main course. For dessert she tried out a family recipe and baked a coffee cake with whipped cream, which had been her dad´s favourite. It was the first time she cooked for a man other than Gabe and she felt somewhat insecure. To relieve the discomfort she still experienced whenever she spent too much time inside the house; she took advantage of the warm evening and laid the table on the verandah.
The bell rang and Chloe stopped in the corridor to check her hair and make-up. Then, she frowned. He was there because there was the possibility of them becoming partners in her investigation not because he was interested in her in a romantic way. She took a deep breath and opened the door. Lex looked as impeccably groomed as on the previous occasions they had met; the only concession he had made to give his appearance a more informal look was to do without a tie. Chloe tried not to stare at him, but he was a real dish and- damn him- he knew it.
¨Am I early? ¨he smirked. ¨It was at seven, wasn´t it? ¨
¨You´re just on the dot, ¨ said she, finding her voice at last. ¨Come in, please. ¨
Lex stepped inside, brushing her skin in the process, and she broke out into goose pimples.
¨I hope I´ve made the right choice. I didn´t know what you were cooking, ¨he explained, handing her a bottle of vintage red wine.
¨I´m afraid I´m not much of a connoisseur. I´ll have to trust you on this, ¨she smiled, accepting the present and accidentally touching his hand when grabbing the bottle by its neck.
They both felt the electricity course through them and stood still with their hands intertwined for a while until he broke the contact reluctantly.
¨I´ll get the corkscrew, ¨murmured Chloe. ¨Make yourself at home, ¨she added, escaping to the kitchen and feeling again that discomfort which assaulted her every time she stepped into the room. ¨I´ve laid the table outdoors. I hope it´s OK with you, ¨she said, coming back with the bottle for him to open.
¨Whatever you´ve arranged I´m sure will be fine, ¨he said politely, taking the bottle and making certain their hands didn´t brush again.
¨Dinner´s ready. Do you like chicken, Lex? I know I should have asked but..., ¨ said Chloe, hating herself for sounding so insecure.
¨I may seem stuffy but I love homemade cooking, Chloe. Chicken´ll be just fine, ¨he sid warmly, trying to make her feel at ease.
¨I´ll be back in a minute, then, ¨she responded relieved.
Chloe carried the chicken and vegetables to the verandah and looked at the table objectively. The setting suggested a romantic dinner, which couldn´t be further removed from the truth. She told herself she had put the candles to provide an air of warm intimacy, a cocoon against the ghosts which lurked in the corners of the house.
Lex was standing with his back to her when she came out, and he made room for the dish on the table and drew up a chair for her to sit down.
¨Would you like to carve? ¨she asked, offering him the knife.
¨Sure, ¨he smiled, accepting it.
They ate in silence, both of them too absorbed in their musings to realise they had remained quiet throughout most of the meal. Their thoughts were too full of each other and their conflicting emotions.
Chloe was finishing her second glass of wine when Lex chose to break the silence and surprised her with a request.
¨I´d like to get to know you better, ¨he said, and Chloe felt her colour rise. ¨What I mean is... I don´t know the woman you´ve grown into.¨
¨I´m a reporter, ¨she conceded, considering how much information about her life she was willing to share.
¨You´ve followed in your mother´s footsteps. ¨
¨I´ve just found out. My dad gave me my first typewriter when I was ten and I´ve never stopped writing. Doing investigative research´s always been my dream. ¨
¨It´s nice to know it´s your dream. Not many people are fortunate enough to be able to choose what to be. ¨
¨Do you believe in fate? ¨
¨Most of the time I try not to. I´ve been fighting my destiny all my life. I still want to believe I can make a difference, that everything isn´t already written. ¨
¨It must be hard being you. ¨
¨We were talking about you. Where did you study journalism? ¨
¨At MetU. ¨
¨ At MetU? ¨he echoed, lifting an eyebrow.
¨With Clark Kent, ¨ she added with a small smile.
¨Good old Clark, ¨he responded with a smirk, refilling both their glasses. ¨So... are you friends? ¨
¨We´re very good friends. So were you, I´ve been told. ¨
¨Lana, right? ¨
¨What happened? ¨
¨It´s a long story and one I don´t feel like going into right now, ¨he sighed. ¨Have you two ever... ? ¨he asked interested.
¨No! ¨she exclaimed and chided herself for answering so vehemently.
¨I wouldn´t blame him. He´s always had an eye for beauty, ¨he said, caressing her face with his eyes.
¨He´s in love with my cousin Lois, ¨she volunteered, wondering why on earth she had allowed the conversation to veer towards such an intimate territory.
¨Lois Lane´s your cousin? ¨he asked surprised.
¨Unbelievable, isn´t it? ¨
¨I can see the resemblance. She´s spirited and relentless. ¨
¨You don´t approve of such qualities in a woman. ¨
¨On the contrary, I think they´re admirable; but they can put you in harm´s way. Sometimes you have to know when to quit. ¨
¨Are you suggesting I leave Smallville for good, Lex? Because if you are, you´re in for a big disappointment. ¨
¨I thought you´d say that. ¨
¨Don´t you want to find who did this? Don´t you want to make whoever´s made us suffer so much pay? ¨
¨You should forget about the past and start to live, Chloe. ¨
¨Have you succeeded at that? ¨she responded, locking her green eyes with his stormy blue-grey ones.
¨You don´t want to hear about my life. Trust me. ¨
¨Try me. ¨
¨You don´t need to listen to my crap. ¨
¨Maybe not, but you need to take it out. ¨
¨I´ve learnt to cope with everything that has befallen me. ¨
¨But, are you happy? ¨
¨What´s happiness?
¨Having someone you can count on to share the good and the bad. ¨
¨Do you have someone like that in your life, Chloe? ¨
¨I had my dad, ¨she answered with misty eyes.
¨What about Clark? ¨
¨He tries to be a good listener, but there are things I can´t talk with him about. What about you? ¨
¨Me? ¨
¨Who do you talk to? ¨
¨I´ve never been good at opening myself. ¨
¨Was your mum a good listener? ¨
¨What do you want from me, Chloe? ¨
¨Why are you running away? ¨
¨I´ve never run in my life. ¨
¨You´re running away now, Lex. Why? ¨
¨No good´ll come out of talking about my feelings. ¨
¨How will you know if you don´t even try? ¨
¨I just know it, in the same way I know when a business deal´s going to work. ¨
¨This isn´t business, Lex. What was she like? ¨
¨I don´t want to talk about her. ¨
¨Do you believe she was in part guilty of what happened to my mum? Is that why you don´t wan to talk about her? ¨
¨No! ¨he exploded. ¨It hurts too much! ¨ he cried, his eyes brimmed with tears.
Chloe felt a tightening at the pit of her stomach and saw him draw back his chair and lean on the verandah with his back to her.
¨I´m sorry, Lex, ¨she whispered, ¨but I just need to know, ¨she added chokingly. ¨I need to understand. ¨
Lex took a deep breath and looked up at the star-studded sky. He had never felt comfortable talking about his feelings. In fact, it had been his own father who had taught him that emotions were a sig of weakness. Things had been different when his mum was alive- she had been his confidante, his support and guide. But once she died he found himself alone in the world with nobody with whom to talk. He had no true friends- people his age either disparaged him on account of his odd appearance or came close to him to see what they could get from him. As a matter of fact, he didn´t know the meaning of friendship until he moved to Smallville permanently and met Clark Kent.
Now he was alone in the world yet again. Granted, he had a half-brother but his relationship with him was that of a mentor-student, in which he- being the eldest brother- was the ruling figure. Lucas was a valuable asset to Lexcorp, but Lex couldn´t bring himself to trust him with his innermost secrets.
It wasn´t until very recently that he had started to feel the need to purge his soul, to come clean and start afresh. He had had thought that opportunities like those came only once in a lifetime- he had had his with Clark, but it had gone awry. Was he willing to risk it one more time around? Chloe Sullivan was a very special woman, he had surmised that much when their paths had crossed once again. Maybe it was time to start trusting again. He hoped he wasn´t wrong about her.
¨I was twelve when my mother died, ¨he said, startling Chloe. ¨She was a real lady and I loved her with all my heart. A year before... a before that night... my baby brother Julian died. Mum had a severe nervous breakdown... she never truly recovered... Dad, ´he said half-laughingly, ¨Dad coped with the whole affair as he only knew how... fooling around. He was discreet but... my mother had always known. Six months later, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer and... the bastard sent me away to boarding school, ¨he added bitterly.
Chloe stood up and quietly walked towards the railing to be close to him. She wanted to be near him but was at the same time afraid of what he might say next.
¨I came back home for Independence Day. My mum had undergone a particularly trying mouth of chemo and convinced my dad to let me stay home for a while. I knew that things weren´t well between them; they hadn´t been for quite some time and then... I overheard something in the servants´ quarters... they said he was having an affair with a woman... a married woman... ¨he explained, trying to maintain his cool.
¨Was the woman... ¨asked Chloe, swallowing the lump in her throat.
¨It was town´s gossip, Chloe, ¨he answered, avoiding her eyes and knowing the hurt she would read in them.
¨The whole town thought my dad was obsessed with this woman and that my mother couldn´t put up with the shame of being cheated on in Smallville right under her nose. They said my mum murdered yours out of jealousy. ´What can be expected of someone who´s married to the devil?´ they said. ¨
Unable to restrain her nee to comfort him, Chloe put her hand on his arm and felt his tension communicate to her.
¨If you knew what´s best, you wouldn´t seek to associate yourself with me, Chloe, ¨he added in a low voice, placing his hand on top of hers.
The young blond felt the blood pumping in her ears. Incapable of moving or forming a coherent thought, she stood next to him in companionable silence until he took a step forward and- without letting her hand go- slipped his fingers through her hair. With a quick and graceful movement, he brought their bodies closer and surprised her by lowering his head to meet her lips.
tbc
CHAPTERS 6 TO 8