Imperfect Harmony (House of Archer #1)

  Something about the way Dane didn’t meet her gaze had her investigative nature leaping up and taking notice. Their drinks arrived before she could question him further, though, and then Heather asked everyone what they were going to order. The moment had passed, but Lily intended to find out more about Elijah as soon as she could.

  She did her best to focus on keeping the conversation going with Heather. It was rough going thanks to Brandon and Dane’s continued silence, made even more stressful by the cameras that kept sweeping the room and getting close to their table. Lily knew the camera crew was there for Dane and Brandon, but she felt as though they were focused exclusively on her. It was only mildly relieving that the guys with the cameras retreated to the edges of the room when their food arrived. At least she could eat in peace.

  Sadly, the dinner conversation didn’t get any less awkward. Heather peppered everyone with questions in a seemingly desperate bid to keep the table from lapsing into silence. Lily did what she could to answer and kicked Dane under the table a couple of times to get him to reply himself.

  By the time the dinner plates were cleared, Lily’s stomach was more filled with stress than food. She regretted eating even the rather small amount she had managed with the cameras recording everything. She wiped her mouth with her napkin for the fourth time, certain she had sauce all over her face that the cameras would pick up. Once she realized that the cameras weren’t just there to capture parts of the dinner, she had switched to drinking water, which she sipped now as she prayed for the evening to end.

  The sound of some kind of commotion down in the main dining room had Lily and everyone else turning in curiosity. Lily saw Trey and Barney move to the top of the stairs and wondered if a fan of one of the musical acts was trying to get an autograph or photo. The camera guys hurried over to the half-wall to zero in on whatever was happening.

  Lily didn’t really care what the commotion was. It could have been a kitchen fire and she would have welcomed it right then.

  Anything to end this miserable dinner.

  “Get out of my way, you assholes!” a female shouted from the dining room. “I need to speak to my daughter.”

  Lily went perfectly still. She heard the beat of her own heart as all of the blood rushed out of her head. A sense of unreality settled over her, as if she was suddenly witnessing everything on a movie screen.

  “Lily Anne Montgomery, get your ungrateful ass down here right now before I make a scene you won’t ever forget!”

  A loud series of curses erupted after that, all issued by her mother. Lily barely registered them as everyone turned to look at her. One of the camera guys swiveled towards her and moved closer while the other continued filming her mother.

  “Oh, no she didn’t,” Aria fumed, pushing to her feet with a murderous look in her eye.

  The balding man, Elijah, now had a small camcorder in his hand, too. It was aimed right at Aria. Lily watched him smile and knew he was pleased with the footage he was capturing.

  It was like her worst nightmares were all coming true.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “I’ll handle this,” Dane said, pushing up from his chair.

  “No,” Lily managed as she got unsteadily to her feet. “She’s my mother. I need to deal with it. You know this won’t end otherwise.”

  Her statements were directed at both him and Aria. Neither of them looked happy about it, but they both knew her and her family situation enough to respect her position. She had used that to divert from her true fear...that if either of them got caught on camera dealing with her crazy mother, it would negatively impact their careers.

  “I’m sorry if I’ve ruined your dinner,” Lily said to the group in a remarkably level voice. “Barney, would you mind escorting my mother somewhere private so we can talk?”

  “Of course,” Barney said, heading down the stairs.

  “I’ll just go take care of this,” Lily said, placing a hand on Dane’s shoulder to encourage him to sit back down. “Please enjoy your dessert.”

  “Lily...”

  “I’m sure this won’t take long.”

  She waited until both he and Aria took their seats before she walked over to the stairs. Lily wasn’t bothered by the stares or cameras that followed her. Numbness had set in. That was due to the shock, she knew. Soon the anxiety would kick in. She wanted to be done with this conversation before that happened.

  Her eyes stayed focused straight ahead as she reached the bottom of the stairs and turned left to go further down the walkway they had taken earlier. Barney stood next to an arched entryway leading down another hall. Lily realized it was the hallway leading to the restrooms. Apparently this was as private as they were going to get.

  Her mother paced at the far end of the hallway, her arms crossed under her surgically enhanced breasts as she complained loudly about her treatment by everyone in the restaurant. As usual, her outfit was completely inappropriate for a forty-nine-year-old woman. She wore tight blue jeans and a cropped top that revealed a belly button ring. Her hair, genetically the same shade as Lily’s, had been dyed a vibrant red and was currently in a high ponytail that bounced when she walked. It was easy to see why Rhonda Coltrain was often confused as a sister to her six children.

  Because she wanted it that way.

  With no other choice, Lily walked over to her. “What are—?” she started to ask.

  Her mother jerked to a stop, yanked back her hand, and slapped Lily right across the face. The pain of it flashed like hot flames along Lily’s cheekbone, dissolving the numbness in an instant. She kept on her feet, though. Experience had taught her that much.

  More pain resulted when her mother grabbed her arm like a vise, digging her acrylic nails into her skin as she pulled Lily deeper down the hallway.

  Lily knew the sound of her mother striking her had reached the main dining area. Barney had turned from the hallway entrance and now took several steps forward, pausing when Lily held a hand subtly to the side to stop him. She knew things would be much worse for her and the people she was with if someone tried to defend her.

  “You selfish bitch,” her mother lashed at her. “You’re going to be with The Void all summer long and you can’t get over yourself for one minute to get your sisters tickets to even one show? You just ignore their texts and voicemails? You’re acting like an ungrateful, immature child who’s too good for her own family.”

  Heat burned in Lily’s eyes and throat, joining the agony in her cheek. She wanted to scream at her mother that she wasn’t the one acting like a spoiled, immature child, but the words got stuck around the huge lump in her throat.

  A shadow along the wall had Lily’s eyes flickering to the hallway entrance. A camera operator stood just behind Barney, filming over his shoulder. Bile rose in Lily’s stomach.

  “Now I’ve had to drag my ass all the way out here when this could have been resolved with one little text,” her mother railed, waving a hand in a furious gesture.

  Lily flinched at the movement, thinking her mother was about to hit her again. Even though the anticipated blow didn’t fall, the pain in her stomach doubled. She pressed a hand to her waist in a futile effort to ease the distress.

  “How did you know I was here?” Lily asked in the calm and deliberate tone she always used with her mother.

  Her mother’s eyes, more blue than violet but still every bit like Lily’s, gleamed. “Johnathan told me.”

  The response hit its mark almost more painfully than the slap. Johnathan knew how Lily felt about her mother. Revealing her location and setting her up like this with no warning at all was either a testament to how little he really knew her or the worst kind of treachery.

  Fighting back a surge of nausea, Lily said, “I’ll reach out to Caroline and Bridgette.” Her mother smirked. Before she could respond, Lily continued, “But you need to leave here right now or I’ll have security escort you out.”

  The smirk fell away. “You don’t have that kind of authority.”


  Lily just said, “Barney?”

  Without a word, Barney turned from his position at the end of the hallway and headed in their direction. Her mother’s nostrils flared, but she seemed to know not to press her luck.

  “Fine,” she replied. “I don’t want to be near you any longer anyway. You’re nothing but a huge disappointment to me.” As she turned to flounce past Barney, she added, “And you had better get your sisters those tickets or I’ll be back.”

  The moment her mother stepped out of sight, Lily whirled towards the ladies’ room and shoved through the door. She had never been as grateful as she was when she realized it was empty. Not caring if anyone needed the restroom right then, she locked the door. Then she ran to the closest toilet to be sick as the hold she had over her emotions finally broke.

  * * *

  Archer drummed his fingers on the table, ignoring the tiramisu sitting on the plate in front of him. His gaze kept returning to the stairs where Lily had disappeared. He caught the occasional stray shout from Lily’s mother who was being anything but discreet.

  Every word he did manage to hear raised his fury another notch. Everything in him wanted to go down and help Lily, but he knew how upset she would be if he did. He was truly between a rock and a hard place.

  “You sure know how to pick ‘em,” Brandon said between bites of his panna cotta.

  Heather elbowed him in the side. Brandon shrugged and quieted down. Archer didn’t even bother responding. Brandon had no idea what Lily was going through and Archer intended to keep it that way.

  It took him a few minutes to realize that one of the camera operators was no longer upstairs. He hadn’t seen anyone follow Lily down, but he hadn’t been staring at the stairs the entire time. His gut clenched when he thought about Lily’s argument with her mother getting aired on House of Archer.

  Deciding he had to risk Lily’s wrath, he again stood up to go downstairs. He hurried over to the top of the stairs and then stopped when he saw Rhonda striding out the front door. Thinking that Lily would now return, Archer stood next to Trey and waited for her.

  When several minutes passed and Lily didn’t return, he muttered, “Fuck it,” and rushed down the stairs. Trey and the other House of Archer camera operator followed close on his heels. He ignored them, just as he ignored the murmurs that arose as he entered the main dining room and looked around for Lily. One of the hostesses saw him and pointed to the left. He hurried over to the arched hallway with “Restrooms” written over it and spotted Barney standing at the end of the hallway by the ladies’ room.

  “Is Lily in there?” Archer asked.

  “Yes, sir,” Barney replied.

  Nodding, Archer knocked once on the wooden door. The sound of Lily retching reached him.

  “Lily, I’m coming in,” he warned.

  The only response this time was the sound of sobbing. He reached for the handle and tried to turn it only to discover the door was locked.

  Archer stepped back, intending to kick the damn door down. Trey grasped his shoulder to stop him.

  “Allow me, sir,” the large man said.

  Before Archer could respond, Trey positioned himself beside the door and gave it one swift kick next to the door handle. It burst open with a crunch, boom, and clang as the wooden jamb shredded and the door’s handle made contact with the tile on the bathroom wall.

  Lily, who was crumpled on the floor near the sink, issued an almost inaudible squeak. Her tear-filled eyes watched in disbelief as Archer marched through the ruined door and hurried over to her. Trey and Barney moved to block the now-open doorway, keeping even the camera operator away. Archer would have to thank them both later.

  Rather than pull Lily to her feet, Archer sat on the floor beside her and gathered her close. She slumped against him.

  “You shouldn’t have broken the door,” she said.

  “You should have opened it,” he replied.

  His gentle tone reflected none of the outrage he felt when he saw the bright red mark on her cheek. The strike had been hard enough to leave a welt along Lily’s delicate cheekbone. It was already starting to swell.

  Knowing he couldn’t reverse time and keep the injury from happening, he leaned down to brush his lips over it. “Tell me what happened.”

  She sighed and wiped more tears with the crumpled wad of toilet paper she held. “It’s my fault, really. I’ve been ignoring my sisters and I shouldn’t have.”

  Some of the anger he was trying to contain came through when he said, “I’ve told you never to blame yourself for your mother’s abuse.”

  Her already pale skin lost even more color. He reminded himself that Lily didn’t need someone else berating her. Especially now.

  “You know your mother shouldn’t have come here and made a scene,” he said in a more reasonable tone. “And there is never a cause to hit someone else like she did, especially her adult daughter.”

  She nodded and wiped more tears. He supposed that was the most agreement he was going to get out of her right then.

  “How did she know you were here?”

  Her shoulders tensed. “She asked Johnathan.”

  “What?”

  “Please, Dane,” she said, her voice thin and exhausted. “I’m upset enough as it is.”

  He bit back everything he wanted to say. In truth, Johnathan’s carelessness simply helped shore up Archer’s position in his pursuit of Lily. That did little to ease his anger though.

  “Okay,” he said at last, getting to his feet and reaching down to assist her up.

  “I don’t want to join the others,” Lily told him.

  “I’ll take care of it. Give me a minute and meet me in the hallway.”

  Her lips trembled again and then steadied. “Okay.”

  Barney and Trey turned when he approached them, parting to let him out. “Barney, please pull the car around back. There’s this emergency exit over here and we’re going to use it.”

  Nodding, Barney turned and headed up the hallway. Trey stood quietly as Archer texted Christopher and asked him to bring Lily’s purse downstairs. Then Archer asked Trey to meet Christopher.

  When Lily was ready, Archer guided her out the emergency exit to the awaiting vehicle while Trey collected her purse. Archer looked for cameras and was relieved not to see any. Once Trey reached the car, he took over driving and Barney returned to the restaurant to assist with the security detail for the other guests.

  Archer reached across the seat and took Lily’s hand, twining his fingers with hers. She didn’t speak for a while and he didn’t press her. Eventually, she turned from staring out the window to meet his gaze.

  “Thank you, Dane.”

  “Of course.”

  “I’m sorry about dinner.”

  “There’s nothing to be sorry about.”

  She looked down at their joined hands. “Do you think that incident will end up in the news?”

  “If it does, we’ll deal with it. I’m not worried.” He knew she would do enough of that for the both of them.

  “I don’t understand why she does these things,” she murmured, again turning to look out the window.

  Archer knew nearly everything about Rhonda Coltrain after many conversations with Lily over the years. He knew Rhonda had given birth to her first child, her only son, Scott, when she was barely nineteen. He knew Scott was the result of an affair with a married man and that the man had paid Rhonda a significant sum of money to keep quiet about it.

  He knew Rhonda had gone through that money within a year and decided to do it again, this time having an affair with an aspiring politician since she figured he would be willing to pay more to keep an illegitimate child out of the press. She gave birth to her first daughter, Bianca, before she turned twenty-one. Unless something had changed since the last time Lily discussed it, Rhonda was still collecting unrecorded child support payments from who was now a U.S. Representative for California.

  From what Archer gathered, Rhonda had a
ctually loved Jake Montgomery, the construction worker who would father Lily’s older sister, Rosemary, when Rhonda was twenty-four and then Lily only a year later. Unfortunately, Jake wasn’t around by the time Lily was born. It seemed he had realized that settling down and being a father just wasn’t for him. The last Archer had heard, he was working somewhere up in Alaska.

  Finding herself saddled with four young children at the age of twenty-five, Rhonda had relied on the only skill she had—seduction—to land her first husband, Roger Coltrain. He was fifteen years older than her and, according to Lily, a dreadfully boring CPA, but he was wealthy and a responsible father. Even after he divorced Rhonda when he caught her cheating on him, he continued to make regular child support payments for their daughters, Caroline and Bridgette.

  Rhonda made enough from her monthly child support contributors that she didn’t need to work, so she didn’t. Instead she spent her time chasing her fading youth in the salon and searching for the next unlucky guy she would take to her bed in the quest to find someone who could replace Jake in her heart.

  It didn’t take a psychologist to understand that Rhonda blamed Lily for Jake’s departure. In Rhonda’s twisted mind, Jake left because she was pregnant with Lily. As a result, Lily had taken the brunt of Rhonda’s wrath throughout her childhood while her five siblings could seemingly do no wrong.

  If Rhonda’s brother, Ray, hadn’t noticed the abuse and intervened by having Lily live with him throughout high school, Archer wasn’t sure what would have come of Lily. As it was, he knew she lived with chronic headaches and stomachaches, ailments rooted in her unhappy childhood.

  So he understood perfectly why Rhonda did things like she had that evening, and he knew Lily really did, too. It wasn’t necessary to mention any of that, though.

  The car came to a stop and Trey lowered the partition. “What would you like?” he asked.

  Lily looked confused until she registered that they had stopped in the brightly lit parking lot of an ice cream parlor. The frown that had been creasing her forehead eased as she looked questioningly at Dane.