Power Play

by Anna DePalo

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I figured it was baseless gossip until now. I want to have the facts first.”

  Right. Time to figure out how to spin this story for her, perhaps? There was always a reason—an explanation. Neil had had one, too.

  When they arrived at her apartment, she popped out of the car and shot for the door. She heard his car door slam and then Jordan rushing to catch up to her.

  “Sera!”

  She didn’t want to talk about this right now. How could she be so stupid? Again.

  She must be giving some kind of signal to men: this one is easy to dupe.

  Jordan touched her arm, and she spun toward him. “Leave me alone.”

  “We need to talk. Listen—”

  “No, you listen.” She stabbed a finger in the direction of his chest. “I don’t like being had.”

  He had the indecency to appear surprised. “Neither do I.”

  “There’s a lot about you I apparently didn’t know.”

  “Let’s talk somewhere more private.”

  “I don’t think so.” No way was she continuing this...discussion. Especially inside her apartment. So he could work his charm on her and gaslight her. There’d be nowhere to run if she was completely broken.

  Neil had played with her mind, too. And her feelings—and her heart. You’ve got it all wrong, Sera... My marriage isn’t real... I adore you. Afterward, she’d discovered at the bar where she’d first met him that he’d been a longtime customer, and she hadn’t been the first woman he’d dallied with. And there’d been a baby, all right—or at least a toddler. A two-year-old who’d lived with his wife in Boston.

  Jordan remained silent but sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets.

  “What? Nothing to say? This news didn’t come as a complete surprise to you.”

  “I told you what I know. It was sudden, and I just learned the mother’s last name. I’m still processing it.”

  “How stupid do you think I am? These types of scandals are usually percolating for a while before they grab a lot of headlines. And you—” she sucked in a deep breath “—didn’t tell me.”

  “I didn’t think you’d be this upset that I’d waited.”

  “What?” She stared at him. “I wouldn’t be upset that you’re a father, and I didn’t know it?”

  “Alleged father. And I recently found out myself.”

  “But you knew before tonight.” She made a strangled sound and then muttered, “I should have learned my lesson with Neil.”

  “Who’s Neil?”

  “The guy I had the misfortune to date after he walked into my bar.” She paused. “Until I discovered he was married and had a wife and toddler daughter squirreled away in Boston.” Her voice dripped sarcasm. “Conveniently far but not too far away from Welsdale, where he traveled frequently on business.”

  Jordan swore.

  Sera gave a humorless laugh. “To think that I thought my biggest problem with you was some ridiculous bet that you’d made with Marc Bellitti about—” she waved her hand “—making me melt. I guess we all know who the fool is, don’t we?”

  Jordan looked solemn. “Sera... I’m sorry.”

  “Yes, I guess there’s nothing else to say, is there?” she replied flippantly, feeling traitorous tears welling. “Except sometimes I’m sorry isn’t enough. Goodbye, Jordan.”

  * * *

  Jordan stared broodingly at his apartment wall from his spot on the sofa.

  When he’d reluctantly driven off earlier without settling things with Sera, he realized that he needed the truth first before he could convince her. Had he really fathered a child he hadn’t known about? He’d always been careful. In this case, more than three years ago, he’d been intimate with Lauren once, and he’d used protection. Sure, such measures weren’t foolproof, but it gave him reason to question the veracity of the claims here.

  He’d met Lauren at a party, and she’d come on strong. She’d had a summer-vacation share on Cape Cod with a bunch of twentysomethings—and his house had been nearby. He’d quickly realized they didn’t have much in common, so he’d let her down easy and had never seen or heard from her again. Until now.

  Sure, those minimal facts would be small consolation to Sera. But he also wasn’t the same person he’d been three years ago. These days, an aspiring groupie held little appeal for him.

  He knew what he had to do. If he was already being stalked by paparazzi, the story was spreading quickly. He couldn’t afford to wait, even if his agent had flagged the story for him just yesterday—as he often did when his name popped up online, associated with good or negative articles. He’d have to tell his family before they read about it. Before they had a reaction of shock and disappoint akin to Sera’s.

  He winced inwardly. First, though, he had to marshal his resources.

  Picking up the phone, he called Marv.

  His agent answered on the third ring, sounding sleepy.

  “Early bedtime these days, Marv?” Jordan couldn’t resist teasing.

  “What’s up?” Marvin replied in a gravelly voice.

  Jordan sobered. “I need you to follow up on the recent gossip story about the baby I allegedly fathered. I can’t afford to wait, and we need to move up the timeline about how we react.”

  “What happened?”

  “A paparazzo caught up with me tonight, and the story is gaining traction.” He paused, tightening his jaw. “He blurted the woman’s last name, and I just discovered that this Lauren is someone I may have known.”

  He didn’t need to spell things out for Marv. Lauren was a common enough name that it had been easy for both him and his agent to initially dismiss this story. But now he was admitting to Marv that this was a woman from his past. And Jordan knew he had to face the consequences, one way or another. “I’m willing to take a paternity test if necessary.”

  What if he was the father? He weighed the idea. Sure, he figured he’d have kids someday. He liked kids. He loved being the newly minted uncle to his brothers’ babies. He cared enough to fund-raise with Once upon a Dream and want to sponsor new facilities at Children’s Hospital. But having children of his own wasn’t something he’d seriously contemplated up to now given his lifestyle; he was at the peak of his career. Plus, if he was honest, he’d say he’d never met a woman he wanted to have kids with.

  An image of Sera flashed through his mind, and he started to smile. His baby and Sera’s would be a firecracker, no question.

  Marv sighed. “You know, a scandal on top of everything else won’t be good for the revenue stream or your contract-negotiating position. I gotta put that out there.”

  “We’re living in the era of reality-TV stars. Don’t be too sure,” Jordan responded drily. “Anyway, I want the truth—whatever it is.”

  “Of course.”

  “I want you to hire a private investigator and find out all you can. I need as much background as possible fast.”

  He trusted Marv and considered him more than an agent because of their long-standing working relationship. That was why he was asking him to be the point person and hire whomever and do whatever it took.

  “You got it,” his agent said. “And Jordan?”

  “Yeah?”

  “No matter what the truth is, you can handle it.”

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence, Marv.”

  His life had been turned upside down, but he’d been in worse situations before.

  Thirteen

  “Bernice, I need to be reassigned.”

  Sera stood in the doorway of her manager’s office, not looking at Bernice but focused on the bobblehead dolls on the shelves. Frankly, she felt a bit like a bobblehead herself lately.

  It wasn’t every day that a woman had to deal with being outed as a couple in the press and a private breakup
at the same time. From some angles, it would seem that she and Jordan had the shortest relationship on record. They were the local version of a Las Vegas wedding and divorce.

  Plus, the juiciness of Jordan being outed as a baby daddy while dating another woman at the same time was making the press slaver.

  The twin headlines ran through her head: “Jordan Serenghetti’s Secret Love Child.” “Jordan Serenghetti’s New Mystery Woman.”

  Bernice swiveled her chair so that she faced Sera more fully. “You want to be reassigned? Because Jordan may have fathered a child?”

  “You know already?”

  “Honey, everyone knows. It’s Jordan Serenghetti. The news is hard to avoid, especially around here, and I’m not a good gossip-dodger.”

  Sera wasn’t ashamed to admit she’d cried last night. The pain had been a dull throb in the region of her heart. If it had been sharp and awful but over and done within minutes, she might have been thankful. Instead, she had this agonizing aftermath.

  It wasn’t as if she’d be able to avoid Jordan for the rest of her life. Not unless she declined Marisa and Cole’s future invites. And maybe not entirely even then. Welsdale wasn’t that big a town, and she was bound to run into Jordan eventually, even if she ducked every event that Marisa and Cole planned for Dahlia or any other child they might have.

  Which brought Sera back to the children she and Jordan would never have. Because he may have already plunged into parenthood with another woman, and had hidden it from her—just like Neil had.

  Why hadn’t she learned? Her inner voice wailed and raged, refusing to be silenced.

  Bernice looked at her sympathetically.

  “I know you said we need this contract with the Razors...” Sera trailed off and bit her trembling lip. Damn it. She would not cry. She’d thought she’d used up all her tears last night.

  “Things got a little too cozy with Jordan?”

  Sera nodded, still avoiding her manager’s gaze. She’d behaved unprofessionally—she inwardly rolled her eyes—and with Jordan Serenghetti, of all people. He was an in-law and a sports celebrity.

  “Feelings?”

  “Yeah,” she responded thickly.

  She blamed Jordan—and herself. How had she fallen prey to his charm? She should have known better. She did know better. And even if she had to keep banging her head against a wall, she would do better next time.

  Bernice sighed. “The smooth-as-honey jocks are always the ones that are hardest to resist.”

  “You know?” Sera raised her eyebrows. Bernice seemed to be speaking from experience.

  “Remind me to tell you about Miguel another time.”

  Sera’s eyes widened because her manager had been married for years. Had Bernice had an affair?

  “He was pre-Keith,” her manager added. “I learned my lesson.”

  Sera wished she had, too.

  “Okay,” Bernice said briskly. “When’s your next appointment with the Razors’ resident bad boy?”

  “Wednesday at two.”

  “Let me look at my schedule and see who else on staff is available.”

  Sera relaxed her shoulders. “Thanks, Bernice.”

  “We can tell him you’re unavailable this week and work from there, until this situation gets resolved.”

  As far as Sera was concerned, this situation was already resolved. She and Jordan were over and done. She shook her head. “This isn’t a temporary squabble. There’s no hope—”

  Bernice waved her hand. “We’ll see.”

  Sera sighed. At least she had a temporary reprieve. “Thanks, Bernice.”

  Sera did her best to focus on work for the rest of the day. On the way home, she stopped at Bellerose in order to pick up some groceries. She was either going to cook and bake her troubles away or indulge in some premade comfort food—maybe both.

  On the way to the ice-cream section, she stopped abruptly as she caught sight of her cousin Marisa—or rather, her cousin spotted her. She bit back a groan.

  “We have to stop meeting this way,” Marisa joked, maneuvering her cart out of the way.

  Tell me about it. The last thing she needed right now was to run into her cousin. She wasn’t sure she had time to put on her brave face. “Let me guess. With Dahlia around now, you mostly get to do the supermarket run only in the evenings when Cole gets home.”

  Her cousin smiled. “Bingo.”

  Unfortunately, Sera thought, it was also the time when she’d be getting out of work and maybe stopping for milk on the way home. Karma was against her these days in a major way.

  Marisa searched her cousin’s face and then glanced around them as if to be sure they had some privacy for the moment. “How are you doing?”

  “As well as can be expected today,” Sera responded noncommittally.

  “I was going to call you later on, after I knew you’d be home from work. If you need someone to lend an ear or a shoulder...”

  Sera blinked. “To cry on?” She shrugged. “Sorry, all my tears have been washed away.”

  Marisa sighed.

  “How are the Serenghettis handling the news?” Sera damned herself for asking.

  After she and Jordan had been ambushed by the photographer, she’d figured it was just a matter of time until the news became really public—though she hadn’t expected it to find its way to Bernice so quickly. Perhaps Jordan had called to forewarn his family...a courtesy he hadn’t extended to her. Maybe he’d learned something from her reaction to being caught by surprise and decided telling others himself was the better course.

  “Jordan has told all of us that he doesn’t know what’s true yet.”

  Sera shrugged again. “Well, best of luck to him.”

  Marisa looked worried. “Oh, Sera, I know you care.”

  “Do you?”

  “I thought, especially at the wedding, that there was a special spark between you and Jordan.” Marisa searched her expression again. “Was I wrong?”

  “Does it matter now? The only thing that does is that I was a fool. Again.”

  “Because Jordan may have a child?”

  “Because he didn’t tell me!” Sera waved a hand. “Like a certain lying ex-boyfriend. I seem to have a special gift for ferreting out impostors.”

  “Oh, I don’t know, the feelings between you seemed very real to me.”

  As another customer turned into their aisle, they moved apart.

  “I need to go,” Sera said quickly. “Before someone recognizes me from the news.”

  “I’m here if you need me.”

  Sera just nodded as she moved down the aisle, but she mulled over Marisa’s words.

  Feelings. The magic word. First Bernice, now her cousin. She was hoping these feelings would go away soon. Far, far away.

  * * *

  Fool. Sera had called herself the dirty word more times than she could count in the past few days. What kind of pushover got taken for a ride twice by men singing the same tune? Would she ever learn?

  She’d taken to the gym with a vengeance. Pilates, yoga, kickboxing, two-mile runs. There was no hurdle that she wouldn’t surmount. But she couldn’t overcome her fury. Okay, her pain.

  Damn it.

  And now she was facing Sunday dinner with her family at her mother’s house. Not showing up wasn’t an option. Her family would just take her absence as confirmation that something was amiss—and perhaps wonder and worry more than they already were. She had to face reality, and the sooner the better.

  After serving the spaghetti and meatballs, her mother eyed her speculatively. “I heard the most outrageous story this week. I knew it couldn’t possibly be true.”

  “Hmm.” Sera didn’t look up from her plate.

  “Something about you and Jordan Serenghetti being an item,” her mother went on. “I told my hairdresser th
at the press must have snapped you together because of some invite from your cousin Marisa. You’re related by marriage these days, after all.”

  Yup, and bound to stay that way. It was a gloomy prospect. She was destined to see Jordan again and again. Some traitorous part of her longed to see him again—still—but at the same time, she knew it would be unbearable to maintain a brave front.

  “So am I right?” her mother asked brightly, glancing from her to a studiously silent Dante, who’d arrived for the family meal only minutes before.

  “It wasn’t an event that Marisa was hosting,” Sera mumbled.

  “And then Natalie—that’s my hairdresser—also said she’d heard that Jordan had fathered a child with some woman recently.” Rosana Perini heaved a sigh. “Honestly, Natalie hears the worst gossip.”

  Sera’s face grew hot. “Yes, I heard the same story.”

  Her mother paused and blinked. “You did?”

  Sera played with her food. “The photographer who trailed me and Jordan to the movie theater mentioned it.”

  “Where the Serenghettis were having an outing and invited you. How nice.”

  Sera held her mother’s gaze. “Where Jordan and I were going, just the two of us.” After spectacular sex.

  Dante coughed.

  Rosana tilted her head, puzzlement drawing her brows together. “So the story is true? You and Jordan have been dating?”

  “Yes.”

  “And now it turns out he’s fathered a child with another woman?”

  Sera felt her face heat again. Put that way, it sounded like just another scrape that, in her family’s eyes, poor Sera would get herself into. “That’s what the press is saying.”

  Her mother seemed to be floundering, unsure of how to process what she was hearing. “You didn’t tell me that you and Jordan...were seeing each other.”

  Right. Precisely to avoid situations like this.

  “But he’s been injured...” Her mother’s voice trailed off, as if shock had left her at a loss for words.

  “I’ve been giving him physical therapy.” And more.