“Cara!” I hear a feminine voice say my name, and I turn on my heels to face its owner. “So wonderful to see you again,” Liam’s mom says and, before I can do anything about it, she wraps her arms around me and hugs me tight.
“Ah, you’re choking her out,” Liam’s dad laughs from behind her, and then he offers me his hand and his wife finally releases me from her hold. Instead of taking his hand, I just take one step forward and hug him. I don’t even know why I’m doing it, but I just feel close to the Donovan’s. Which will make it all more painful if Liam just brought me here to break up with me.
“Cara, is that…?” Renee asks me, whispering in my ear as she holds my arm and points to the end of the room. My gaze follows the trajectory of her finger, and I just nod at her as I see what’s there.
“Yeah, that’s the press,” I tell, watching as a crowd of journalists set up their cameras and microphones, all of them pointing toward the stage on the opposite side of the ballroom. Something big is going to happen, and it seems that everyone in here knows what it is - everyone except me, of course. Which is driving me completely mad, if you ask me. Usually, I’m the one that knows everything about everything…
But it seems that this time the tables have been turned.
“Champagne, ma’am?” One of the waiters waltzing among the guests ask me, and I give him one quick nod. Taking a flute of champagne out from his tray, he hands it to me with a slight bow.
“Thank you,” I mutter, taking the glass to my lips and downing all of the champagne at once. God, I hope nobody was watching me - I don’t want to look like a drunken idiot that came here just because there was free booze. Still, I don’t say no when the waiter comes around a few minutes later; this time, though, I take my time with the second flute of champagne.
“Where’s Liam?” I ask his mom as she passes by me again. Even though I’ve spent most of my time in here looking around the room, trying to find Liam, he seems to be nowhere.
“I haven’t seen him in a while, dear,” she simply shrugs, offering me a kind smile.
“Oh,” I reply, having no idea on what else to say.
“I’m sure he’ll be here anytime now,” she comforts, tenderly patting my arm. “Oh, look! There he is!” She suddenly says, pointing to the entrance. I turn my gaze there immediately, and I do it just in time to see Liam walk in, buttoning up his jacket as he strolls toward the stage.
Looking straight ahead, he doesn’t greet anyone as he takes over the stage. There, he stands up still behind the mic mounted right on the center, and he scans the room with his gaze. When his eyes meet mine, I swear I can almost see a hint of a smile on his lips.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he starts, “I have an announcement to make.”
Liam
I scan the crowd from my place on the stage, searching for Cara. I know she’s here because I had some people assigned to keeping an eye out for her, instructing them to let me know the minute she arrived. I spotted her a time or two myself, but I’ve made a point of remaining hidden. I have this planned out to the finest detail, and I’d be damned if I ruined it by showing myself too soon.
The lights are bright in my eyes, so I don’t see her, but I know Connor has my back. He’ll make sure she’s here for this.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” I say, giving the crowd my most winning smile, “thank you for coming out this evening.”
Light bulbs flash as the media goes crazy at my appearance. I take a slow breath. All these years I’ve worked to keep my secrets, and now I’m standing here in front of the media. Everything I’m about to confess is going to be all over the Internet within minutes.
“I’m sure many of you will recognize a lot of familiar faces tonight. A lot of members of our community who make a point of supporting the same charities. Charities that mean a lot to most of you in attendance tonight. But even more so, charities that mean a lot to me. They mean everything to me, in fact.”
The crowd is hushed, and expectant energy is rising from them as all eyes are on me. This is it. Do or die.
“That’s because all of these charities have something in common. Me.”
A murmur races through the crowd as they try to understand my words. I don’t make them wait to put the pieces together.
“Most of you know who I am.” I grin ironically. “Because I’m featured in the tabloids regularly. But there’s something no one knows. Well, almost no one.”
I look down and see my mother standing in the front of the crowd. Sure my dad is supportive, but this woman would never miss a chance to support me. Her pride and faith in me are unwavering. And she couldn’t be more excited about what I have in store tonight.
I scan the crowd again, and my eyes finally find Cara. She’s standing about halfway back and off to the right of the mass of people gathered in front of the stage. Her eyes are wide. She realized I’m about to come clean about my involvement in the charities. But she has no clue what else I’m going to say. I try to get some kind of indicator from her expression about how she’s feeling toward me, but her face is carefully blank. That sends a wave of nerves skittering through me, but I’ll just have to deal with it. Do or die.
Looking back at the crowd in general, I lean closer to the mic.
“I’m here tonight to come clean. To admit to the public that Liam Donovan is actually the face behind all these charities.”
Another murmur goes through the crowd, and I press on. “They mean everything to me. I’ve devoted my life to working to support veterans and their families because it’s the best way I know to honor one of the most important people in my life. My brother, Lucas Donovan, who died serving his country. I kept myself out of the spotlight with all my charities because I wanted them to thrive on their own merit. They do, and they’ll continue to. But there’s something else I want to do tonight. Something that I want to be public about.”
I glance at my mom again, and she gives me an encouraging smile.
“I want to honor someone else the way I strive to honor my brother. Tate Dawn, the father of the most remarkable woman I’ve ever known. Please consider this gala tonight to be the first official fundraiser for the brand new Dawn Foundation for Cancer Research.”