All the Wrong Places

by Jerilee Kaye

  “I’m sure he is,” River said. “He was quite upset when I spoke to him on the phone. You know him. He wants no disaster attached to your company’s reputation.”

  “He’s quite a perfectionist.”

  “Now, do you mind telling me why I had to orchestrate chaos and lie to the most cynical person I’ve known in my life? Do you know how difficult it is to lie—to Justin Adams? I know you were in trouble. I’d like to know what that trouble was. And what extent.”

  Julianne sighed. She knew she could not escape this. But somehow, she had a feeling that she could trust River. And right now, that’s what she needed. A person she could trust.

  “I told you before that I have a son, right?”

  “Yes. Six-year-old Jared Sanders,” River replied.

  Julianne nodded, pouring herself another glass of wine. She really needed liquid courage. “I told you that I got pregnant with him when I went to Paris.”

  “Yes. You fake named a guy. But you fell in love with him. And that short-lived romance bore a son. To this day, he doesn’t know who you really were.”

  Julianne shook her head wearily. “I’m afraid, that’s no longer the case.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I saw him again. In Paris.”

  “Oh, of course. As soon as you get back there, the first person you met was the father of your son. Destiny has ways of making things work out, huh.”

  Julianne shook her head again. “Maybe. But this time, destiny decided to play with my fate.”

  River stared at her face for a moment. He didn’t say anything. He just waited for her to continue her story.

  Tears started to well up in Julianne’s eyes as she was again reminded of the gravity of her situation.

  “I… gave him a fake name,” she said. “It turned out, so did he.”

  “Wait, what?”

  “His name wasn’t Jas Mathieu, like he said when he introduced himself. He paints but he wasn’t a struggling painter who was trying to make ends meet, waiting for his break to come. He didn’t live in a studio apartment where he painted and lived at the same time. He wasn’t a hand to mouth guy who was only armed with principles, values and lessons in life.”

  “Okay. Then what is he?”

  Julianne heaved a very deep, frustrated sigh. “He paints, maybe just for leisure. He didn’t need to make money out of his paintings no matter how good he was. He actually owned several estates and a couple of dozen hotel properties. He wasn’t just armed with principles and all that shit. He was loaded… fully… loaded. He’s like an nth generation freaking billionaire!” Tears rolled down her cheeks. “I left him, because I was protecting him from my father. From the McAllisters. I thought… if I stayed with him, they would ruin his life and he would be helpless to stand up for himself. It turned out… he was probably richer than my father and Patrick McAllister—combined!”

  River raised a brow at her, urging her to continue.

  “God, I thought I was protecting him from my family. But it seemed that he was protecting himself from me. He must have thought I would be after his money. He didn’t trust me enough to tell me who he really was.”

  “And are you… going to tell me who he really is though?”

  Julianne sighed. “His real name is… Jin Adrien Starck.”

  River stared at her in shock. From the look on his face, Julianne could instantly tell that River knew who Jin Starck was.

  Of course! Who wouldn’t!? Jin Starck was probably just as rich as Justin Adams!

  “What did you do?” River asked, obviously concerned.

  “I fainted,” Julianne responded.

  “That’s quick thinking.”

  “Except I didn’t fake that. I really did faint,” Julianne said. “For years, my brother and my cousins had made it their life mission to hunt down the father of my son to make him pay for what he did to me. It would be a bloodbath if they found out he was just right under their noses this whole time.”

  “So, you met Jin Starck in Paris, realized he was the guy who turned your world upside down seven years ago,” River said. “But you couldn’t tell anyone because your family will murder him. And that would start a war of clans, leaving Adrienne and Jared in the middle.”

  Julianne drank her wine and said, “Bingo!”

  “So, when everything unfolded before you, you decided to run. Instead of face Jin Starck or your family.”

  “You’re right again.” She took another sip of her wine.

  “So, what’s your plan now?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know. I really don’t. Or maybe I could just keep on fainting every time he appears in the same room as me!”

  “You know Jin Starck is not a very gracious and forgiving man, don’t you?”

  “So, I’ve heard. Before I found out he was Jas Mathieu, I was almost afraid to meet him. Apparently, he could be quite a monster.”

  “But your son deserves to know his father. Every child does. Believe me. I grew up without a father. All those years, I wanted nothing more than to get to know him. And to know if he accepts me. I still have that yearning once in a while.”

  “How am I going to do that without striking chaos in my family? I cannot control my brother’s thoughts. Or Justin’s. Okay, maybe Justin will be willing to sit this one out for Adrienne’s sake. But what about Gian? Worse, Jordan and Mason!”

  “Yeah, the prodigal son and Denis the Menace,” River nodded. Ian suddenly realized how well-acquainted he was with her family.

  “Moreover, I cannot control Jin’s reaction. Thank God I fainted when I saw him. I must have made quite a scene when I collapsed in his arms. But for sure that would be nothing compared to the scene we would have created if we confronted each other there.”

  “So, what happened afterwards?”

  “I woke up in a room with Adrienne, Justin and my brother,” Julianne replied. “That night was supposed to be Jin’s engagement party. He was expected to propose to Vanessa Bernard.”

  “Oh yeah, you told me about that. The proposal party. What happened? Did he propose?”

  Julianne shook her head. “He didn’t. But in his speech, he was talking about how bullshit romance was and how you shouldn’t believe in happily ever afters. He even looked at me when he said that.”

  “Seriously?”

  She nodded.

  River looked at her thoughtfully. “Do you have a picture of your son in your phone? May I see it?”

  Julianne scanned her phone for a good photo of Jared. River looked at her son’s photo with a shocked expression on his face.

  “Well, hello there, little Jin Starck.”

  Julianne groaned.

  “The boy is a spitting image of his father. The only reason nobody suspected that before was because nobody knew of your connection in Paris.”

  “I know.”

  “But you know there is one other person who knows about that connection now.”

  “Yes. You!” Julianne drank another glass of wine.

  “No, silly! Jin Starck, himself. He can take one look at your son, remember that night you spent together and boom! He’s smart enough to put that together.”

  “I know. That’s why I left. And Jared followed soon after. I took my son’s phone away. I want to make sure Jin Starck cannot contact him. I’m not sure how to get out of this situation with minimal damage to Jared and my family.”

  Tears rolled down Julianne’s cheek. River reached forward and handed her a tissue.

  “Ssshh… I’m sure there is a way out of this.”

  “How? Jin Starck is a powerful man. What if he takes my son away from me?”

  “I know he can be ruthless. But I’m sure he’s not that much of a monster. He won’t make his own son motherless.”

  “But Jared is mine! He’s mine!” Julianne could taste desperation at the tip of her tongue.

  River shook his head. “Unfortunately, he’s not just yours, sweetheart. He’s Jin Starck’s too. And do yo
u realize the kind of life Starck can offer him?”

  “I know that now. Jared can have the moon and the stars if Jin recognizes him. But… he doesn’t need that. He needs me. He needs love, affection. He needs family.”

  “Jared needs a mother and a father,” River said. “That’s the only way he can be complete.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “I’m saying that when the time is right, you have to tell Jin the truth. And you have to let him into your son’s life if he wants to be a part of it,”

  Julianne took another gulp of her wine. “You’re supposed to be on my side!”

  “I am. And you know it’s the right thing to do.”

  “What about Justin? Gian? My family? They want to murder Jin for what happened to me in Paris!”

  “Well… you let Jin handle that. I’m sure he’s tough enough to hold his ground, defend himself.”

  “None of it was his fault. I was the one who hid my identity from him,” Julianne admitted.

  “Well, sweetheart, he did the same thing to you too. And who knows what his reason was?”

  Yeah. Why did he hide his identity in the first place?

  “Holy shit! What if he just wanted to get into my pants and disappear after that night without a trace? Maybe that’s why he gave me a fake name.”

  River stared at her for a moment and then shrugged. “I can’t defend the guy. I don’t know him well enough. And I certainly did not meet him at the time you met him, so I couldn’t really say for sure what his intentions were. And when I met him… well, he wasn’t a very jolly person.”

  “You mean to say, as far as you know, he’s always been an ass?”

  River shrugged again and took a sip of his wine.

  “You could have done that to him. Maybe you broke his heart.”

  “Or maybe that was the real him all along. The person I met was wearing a mask and putting on a show to get inside my pants.”

  “Any regrets?”

  “No. I will never regret having Jared. Jin Starck can do whatever he wants and I don’t fucking give a damn as long as he leaves his son alone with me!”

  River raised his glass towards her. “Well, may the odds be always in your favor.”

  By the end of the night, Julianne was really glad she told River everything. For the first time in years, she felt a little lighter. It was nice to finally be able to speak to somebody about her past, what happened in Paris, and the father of the son she loved so much.

  If Jin Starck would not be interested in the paternity of Jared, then everything would be perfect. She could go on with her life and focus on her plan. She had a long way to go to make her dreams for Jared come true. And Jin Starck messing that up was out of the equation.

  River dropped her off at the Adams’s mansion by midnight.

  “Well, it’s been great,” River said.

  “Indeed, it is,” Julianne agreed. “Thank you. I feel… really better. I’ve been keeping a lot of things to myself for at least seven years.”

  “That must have been pretty tough,” River said, smiling apologetically. “Well, you can call me anytime if you feel like talking to anyone. We’re best friends, remember?”

  Julianne laughed. “Well, I’ll definitely remember that.”

  Suddenly River whistled. Julianne turned to what he was looking at. She saw a new green Ferrari parked in the driveway.

  “I thought Justin was not allowed to buy a new car anymore,” River commented.

  It was also the first time she’s seen the bright green Ferrari that River was admiring. She was not surprised. If it weren’t for Adrienne controlling Justin, he would be sporting a new sports car every week. It was sort of his ‘vice’.

  “I’ve just seen that car in a magazine last week,” River said. “I wonder what Justin did to make Adrienne say yes to a new car.”

  “Adrienne has been controlling Justin from spending too much on cars. She wanted to show their kids the value of money.”

  “That’s good. Just because you’re born to privilege does not mean you don’t need to work hard to keep what you have.”

  “Yes. Because even if you are born to privilege, you can lose all that. Trust me, I know. First-hand experience.”

  “Your parents took away everything when they found out you were pregnant?”

  Julianne nodded sadly. “Jewelry. Trust fund. Credit card. Savings account. Property. I didn’t even get to say goodbye to my glass bottle collection.”

  “That’s… harsh.”

  “Well, I brought shame to the family. And for my father… our name was everything. I was engaged to Patrick McAllister and we had to break the engagement because of my indiscretion in Paris. My father could never forgive me for that.”

  “But you seem to be doing just fine on your own,” River said, smiling at her encouragingly.

  “I am. Because I work hard,” Julianne said. She couldn’t help feeling proud. She had come a long way from the homeless, hopeless girl she was the night she arrived at her cousin, Mason’s doorstep. “And I wasn’t extravagant like my brother, to begin with. And now, I exercise extreme ways of frugality. I have dreams for Jared. I want the best for him.”

  River stared at her for a while and then carefully, he said, “Well, you know… if you want the best life money can buy for your son, all you had to do is… tell his father about him.”

  She shook her head. “I’m not going to do that.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I’ve heard stories about the real man that Jin Starck was. He’s ruthless and emotionless. I don’t want my son to be like that,” Julianne said sadly. “Jin Starck showed me the face of a wonderful, sweet and romantic man. That man was Jas Mathieu. He wasn’t real. He didn’t exist. Jin Starck created him so he could get me to bed. And any guy who would go to that extent, does not deserve to know my son.”

  “Well, maybe he’s changed. You may not want anything to do with him now, but your son deserves to know his father. And he has a birthright that he deserves to claim.”

  “There is more to life than money. I want Jared to live a happy life. Not just a rich life,” Julianne said. “I was born an heiress. I lived in luxury. But you know what? Those last two weeks in Paris, with Jas Mathieu, when I thought he was just a simple guy… those… those were the best days of my life. I was the happiest then.”

  “You don’t know that. Jared will never be complete until he meets his father. Trust me. I know.”

  Julianne was getting more and more confused. As soon as she found out that Jas and Jin are one and the same person, she had decided not to let Jin know about Jared. But talking to River now gave her a different perspective. Especially since River didn’t know his father until he was in college.

  She frowned at him. “I hate you.”

  River laughed. “Well, it’s never easy to hear the things you needed to hear, if they weren’t what you wanted to hear.”

  “I know. But maybe I’m overthinking this right now,” she said. “Maybe I should just let the crumbs fall where they may. I mean… Jin Starck fake named me, right? It means he was not interested in having me for the long haul. I was… maybe a flavor of the month. It was good for him. It was great for me because even though I lost everything, I gained something better in return—my son.”

  “And so…?”

  “So, I don’t think he’ll be coming after me anytime soon. I don’t think he’ll be interested in Jared’s paternity. Unless I tell him we have a son together, I doubt he’ll even care to ask me if Jared was his.”

  “And what? You’re just never gonna tell him?”

  “I will. When Jared’s old enough to understand,” she replied. “Hopefully, when Jared is eighteen, so Jin Starck cannot make him choose between us.”

  The more Julianne listened to herself speak, the more convinced she was that Jin Starck would never care to bother her and there’s a huge chance he would never ask about Jared’s paternity.

  “I don’t think
Starck could take Jared away from you.”

  “How sure are you?”

  “Because no matter what happened between you two in Paris, he’s still Adrienne’s brother. And you’re still Justin’s blood. So is Jared. And if there is anyone who can stand against Jin Starck, it’s Justin Adams. And I don’t think Justin will allow him to take Jared away from you.”

  “I know you’re right. It’s just that… I don’t want our families dragged into this. I already caused them so much pain as it is. And when my father banished me, Justin and Adrienne never left my side.” Julianne sighed. “And the last thing I want is to put a wedge between them, when Adrienne stands by her brother’s side and Justin stands up for me and Jared.”

  River reached forward and squeezed her hand. “I know. I feel you. And you’re right. This will be huge, particularly since I think your cousins were all dying to put a shiner on the guy who stole your heart in Paris.”

  “Yep. No matter how many times I told them that he didn’t have to steal it, I gave it to him on a silver platter.”

  “You can’t blame them. It’s not just your heart Jin Starck took away with him. He took away your future… your family... the love of your parents.”

  Julianne smiled at River, but that smile didn’t reach her eyes. “Thank you, River,” she said. “It felt so much better to be able to speak to someone about this. But like I said, no one can know.”

  River nodded. “Until Jared is ready to know the truth.”

  “I will try my best to avoid Jin Starck. What happened between us must stay in the past. And I’m sure… he’ll be happy to oblige. He doesn’t need this type of distraction. We had a good time in Paris seven years ago. He has no obligation towards me or my son. Life goes on as it should. Nothing should change.”

  River nodded again. “Good luck. And you know if you need someone to talk to, or to help you get out of a country again, I’m here.”

  “Thank you,” she smiled, giving River’s hand a squeeze.

  River got out of the car at the same time as her. “I’ll walk you inside,” he said.

  “I’ll be fine.”

  But suddenly, she felt a little dizzy. Good thing, River caught her by the hand to keep her steady.