by Diana Nixon
“You can’t do this… I’m her aunt, remember? You and I have equal rights for her.”
“If you think so, I would highly recommend you find a good lawyer to prove your rights. Because if you forgot – I never lost a single case.”
“You did lose one – for me. Remember?”
“I’ve lost a lot of things for you, Olivia… But Bella isn’t going to be one of them.”
Chapter 14
Leo
I stood at the door to my brother’s apartment, trying to remember the last time I was here.
It was almost three years ago, when mom called me, all in tears, begging me to check on him because she knew something was wrong with him.
It turned out she was right. My little brother was found unconscious, somewhere in the back street of one of the city clubs. He was dead drunk, and the guys who found him thought he was dead. They called 911 as well as the last person he talked to, which just happened to be our mom. She didn’t get a word of what they were trying to tell her, that’s why she called me.
That day I got so scared we would lose him forever. I spent the entire night in the hospital, guarding him like a loyal dog that had always been there to save him from everything bad.
But when Jace woke up and saw me sitting on a chair next to his bed, he said I was the last person in the world he wanted to see at that moment.
This is how I knew I would never try to help him again. I sent him to hell and left the room, as furious as ever.
We hadn’t seen each other since that night.
Then last night, before Olivia arrived, I got a call from mom. She told me Jace had been arrested for drug dealing. As it turned out later, the drugs were not his, and the police let him go home. Mom wanted me to talk to him. Needless to say, I wasn’t anywhere close to being thrilled about it. I told her he and I didn’t have anything to talk about.
Until this morning.
When I found out he was Bella’s father…
I knocked at the door and waited for Jace to answer it.
No less than five minutes passed before he blessed me with his words, “Look who’s here! The famous Leonel Cohen.” He bowed his head ceremoniously. “Your Highness, to what do I owe the honor to see you here today?”
He didn’t change a bit. Still looking like an undone bed, with his hair in a permanent mess, dark circles under his eyes, and clothes that looked like he’d been wearing them for weeks.
“I’m glad to see you too.” I let myself into his lair and flinched from the strong smell of alcohol that was flying in the air. “Are you trying to kill yourself with this shit, or something?” I looked at the bottles of expensive whiskey standing on the table; all were empty. As well as two glasses standing next to them. “Are you alone?”
He nodded and sat down on a coach. “My guest just left. But you are welcome to join me for another drink.”
“No, thank you.” I took a chair facing him. It was the only piece of furniture that looked more or less clean. “Where did you get the money for this?” I nodded to the whiskey bottles. I knew they costed a fortune, as well as I knew he didn’t have that much money to pay for them himself.
“A friend of mine brought them.”
“The very friend who ‘forgot’ marihuana in your car?”
He chuckled. “Mom called you, didn’t she?”
“Why else would I be here today? I remember your words from three years ago when you told me to get out of the room and stop babysitting you. I swore I would never do it again, and I kept my word. So don’t push it, Jace.”
“What do you want?”
“I want you to stop being an asshole. Have some mercy on mom. For years she’s been crying herself to sleep because of you. If you don’t care about your own life, at least think about hers. She loves you. She can’t stand watching you live like this.” I waved around the place. “Go back home and start a new life. You are too young to die in this ass of the world that you call your apartment.”
“You are ashamed of me, aren’t you?”
I took a deep breath and shook my head. “It isn’t about the shame; it’s about the things you are wasting your life on.”
“You’d rather want me to be a copy of you – as boring as shit nerd who gets paid for ruining families.”
“I’m not ruining anything. I’m helping people who ask for my help.”
He laughed sarcastically. “Right. You – fucking lawyers – always find the right words to justify yourself. But do you have any idea of what life really is? Do you ever love? Do you ever feel anything but an endless pride for another case you win?”
Now it was my turn to laugh. “Do you even hear yourself, Jace? You ask me if I know anything about feelings. Okay, maybe I’m not an expert in feeling things. But what about the feelings of a little girl who’s never met her father because the idiot left her right after she was born?”
That made his face turn from humorous to dead serious.
“What did you say?” His eyes, that were the copies of my own, met mine.
“You heard me, Jace – I know about Bella.”
“Who told you?”
“It doesn’t matter. What does matter though, is the fact that you ruined her mother’s life who ended up in rehab because she couldn’t stop loving you, but you were not there to stop her from ending her life because of that stupid love.”
“Winter tried to kill herself?”
“About a year ago. She’s been in a rehab since then. And from what I know, she’s still in love with you, and she’s paying for it. As well as poor Bella, whose parents are two uncontrollable idiots who know no love for her.”
“It’s not true… I always loved my daughter.” Drunk tears glistened in my brother’s eyes.
“Of course you did. That’s why you left her.”
“I didn’t deserve her!” He cried and stood up. Pacing the room, he said, “She was so small, so fragile and so pure… I didn’t deserve to be the father of someone who looked like a little angel. I knew she would be better without me. Because I couldn’t take care of her. I didn’t know anything about being a father, or the responsibilities my fatherhood meant to me. I thought it would be better to leave… I was sure it would be the best decision for everyone. Winter supported it. She said she would be waiting for my return, no matter when it happened. She said I could take as much time as needed to get used to the idea of being a father. She said she would never stop loving me…”
“Well, she kept her word. She still loves you. Madly. And it’s her curse. The curse that ruined her for everyone and everything.”
“Where’s Bella now?”
“She lives with her aunt. But don’t worry, I’m gonna fix it. She’ll be living with me. I’ll take care of her.”
He stopped and nodded. “Good.”
“Good? Is that all that you can say? Don’t you want to see her? Though I doubt seeing you like this, would be any good for her.”
He ran both hands through his hair and growled. “I’m not ready to see her. I still don’t deserve her.”
I stood up, walked up to him, and shook him by the shoulders. “Then do something to become a good father for her. Otherwise, I swear, I’ll do my best to turn your miserable life into a living hell.” I pushed him to the chair and he fell into it. “You’ve got one month, Jace. One month to start it all over again.”
I walked away, never once turning to see if he was watching me. I knew he was. I always knew when my words affected him. So it was when we were kids, and I told him I would tell mom and dad about his misbehavior, or when I threatened to tell them about him being expelled from the university for drinking rum in the dean’s office. He always knew when I was determined to keep my word. And today was not an exception. He knew I would never come to see him if it were not for my desire to see Bella happy. It wasn’t her fault that neither of her parents was capable to give her the life that she deserved. Fortunately, she had me now. And Olivia. Who had no idea how much I wished I could
turn back time and change the events of this morning when I found out about her lies.
I trusted her.
I wanted to be with her.
I loved her…
More than I had ever loved anyone in my entire life.
Last night, when I saw her standing at the elevator door, I knew she was there for a reason. Only I could have never imagined she was there to tell me our meeting was not accidental, and that she walked into my life to destroy me.
She wanted to make me suffer for something I never did. She was wrong, thinking I was the reason for all the bad things that happened in her life. But she also changed my life.
And somehow, I knew it would never be the same again. Especially now, that my feelings for her were impossible to ignore.
The night we spent together was amazing. It was too good to be true, but I knew it was real, and I still had no idea how to forget about it and move on, knowing that after what happened in the morning, neither she nor I would be the same people.
The smell of her skin, the softness of her lips… I could still feel it. Even though she was nowhere around.
I told her I wanted full custody of Bella because I didn’t know what else to say when I saw her enter my office today. In less than two hours, a huge wall grew between us. We stood on the opposite sides of it, and I didn’t know how to break it.
I knew she was sorry for hiding the truth from me.
But a part of me – the one that never lost a single game I played – was hurt.
It hurt to know that even last night when she was in my arms, she still believed I was a traitor who left his newborn baby because he didn’t want her. It hurt to know that after all that time that she spent with me, she couldn’t see the difference between me and the man from the picture. It wasn’t just the facial difference that I always saw between my brother and myself. We were poles apart in everything, including our attitude to responsibilities.
Despite what everyone thought about me, I always felt responsible for the marriages I dealt with. I never took cases that I knew were different, those that didn’t mean the end of another family. Maybe that’s why I always won. Because my cases had always been decided even before the couples entered the courtroom. I knew they could never be together again, and that’s why I helped them end what could never be saved.
So it was the truth. I won because my couples lost playing families.
And the only time I willingly agreed to lose, was when I took the wrong case. The one that I knew from the very beginning was different from those I used to deal with.
I lost because I wanted to lose.
For her…
And I was losing it badly, again, because I couldn’t stop thinking about her, about being with her again, about kissing her again, about falling asleep and waking up in one bed with her again. About spending my whole life, telling her how much I loved her…
Fuck… I was screwed.
I parked at the porch of my parents’ place and leaned my forehead against the wheel. I couldn’t let them know something was wrong with me. They were worried about Jace, and what I was going through right now, was nothing compared to how fucked up his life was at that moment. I took a deep breath and got out of the car.
My legs felt as if made of water. Every step I took closer to the door felt like torture. But I needed to go through it. For Bella.
“How is Jace?” Was the first thing that mom asked when she saw me enter the house.
“He’ll be fine, as always.” I kissed her on the cheek and patted my father’s back. “Stop worrying about him. He’s a big boy now, remember?”
“You are a big boy,” mom corrected me. “And he’s still too young to suffer that much.”
I rolled my eyes. “You gave us birth on the same day. It doesn’t make a two-minute difference a huge age difference as well.”
She smiled and took my hand in hers. “You know I love both of you. But Jace, he needs a little more attention than you do.”
“Thanks, mom.”
Dad chuckled. “You get more than enough attention from everyone else. You’ll survive. Speaking of attention, how’s Olivia doing? The last time I talked to Molly, she said the girl almost made you eat a shitty marriage contract that you made for the couple she didn’t want to divorce.”
“Yeah, sounds exactly like what she and I do on a daily basis.”
“Are you okay, son?” Mom asked. “You look a bit tired.”
“I am tired. Of wiping off Jace’s ass.”
“Watch your language young man. I did the same thing when you were a kid.”
“My point exactly mom – we are not kids anymore. And he still makes the biggest mess.”
“He’ll outgrow it, someday.”
“Hope it happens before his daughter outgrows her desire to meet him.”
“His…daughter?” Dad asked, sharing a puzzled glance with mom.
“You heard me guys – Jace has a daughter. Her name’s Bella and she’s three. Sorry, I didn’t know how else to bring the news. Kill me if you want. But the fact remains.”
“Interesting…” Dad walked to the bar in the living room, took a bottle of whiskey, and poured some into a glass.
“I need one too,” mom said, taking a seat on a couch.
“Me too.” I joined dad at the bar.
“How did you know about his daughter?” He asked.
“Do you know where she lives?” Mom asked.
“I do. Her aunt is working with me. This is how I found out about Bella’s existence.”
“What about Jace? Does he know about her?”
I sighed. “He does.”
“Oh, God…” Mom covered her mouth with one hand, and her shoulders shook. “He knew about her all this time, didn’t he?”
I nodded and came to sit down next to her.
Dad spoke again, “You said her aunt is working with you, right? What a small world…”
“Indeed.” I didn’t want to tell them a whole story about how I found out about Bella. First of all, because I could see the point in Olivia’s desire to punish me. She thought I broke her sister’s heart, and she loved her niece too much to forget about what her father did to her. Only I wasn’t the bastard who ruined their lives.
“I need to call Jace,” mom said. She stood up, took the phone, and went to the kitchen. I knew she would most likely try to justify Jace’s behavior, and I was thankful she didn’t make me listen to it.
“Is it Olivia?” Dad asked.
“What?”
“Is Olivia Bella’s aunt?”
“How did you know?”
“Your face… It gave away so much more than you wanted us to see when you spoke about her.”
“She is…”
“I see.” Dad swallowed the rest of his drink and poured another portion of amber liquid into his empty glass. “I always wanted to have grandkids, but I never thought I would find out about one like this. What is Jace going to do now?”
“I have no idea. I told him I would do my best to take care of Bella. But if he doesn’t want to be a part of her life, it will be his loss, not mine, not yours, and definitely not Bella’s. She deserves to be loved. And she will be loved. She has us now. And I’m sure her aunt will never let her feel unloved or unwanted.”
“What about her mother?”
“She’s mentally unstable. I spoke to her doctor earlier today, and he said he thought she was getting better, but a few days ago, after Olivia visited her, Winter had a panic attack. She thought Olivia wanted to kill her. The doctor had to give her sedatives to calm her down.”
“Poor thing…”
“When Bella was born, Winter and Jace made a deal – she would be waiting for him to man up and get back to them to live like a real family. But he never did. And from what I’ve seen today, I can tell for sure he isn’t going to. I told him I would turn his life into hell if he doesn’t change his lifestyle.”
Dad nodded approvingly. “You did the right thing, son. Jac
e doesn’t care about what I or your mother say. But he always listens to you. Hope it makes him look at his life from a different point of view.”
“Amen.” I took a sip of my drink and grimaced.
“Does Olivia know about your kinship with Bella’s father?”
“She does.”
Dad thought for a moment. “Did she always know about it?”
He was a smart man. I always admired his ability to find the ends of every story. Maybe that’s why I always wanted to be like him.
“She did…” I said.
“Hmm…” He watched me with a thoughtful face.
“What?”
“You have feelings for her, don’t you?”
“I don’t want to talk about it. It doesn’t matter anymore.”
“Anymore?”
Ugh, shit… Why did he have to ask all those questions I didn’t want to answer?
“I think I did something that killed her every intention to be with me, ever again.”
Chapter 15
Olivia
“He can’t take Bella away from you!” Parker was shocked by what I told her about Leonel’s sudden desire to make Bella his responsibility.
“Trust me, he knows how to make it happen,” I said. “Unlike me. Where the hell do I find a better lawyer than he is? Or better question – how do I pay for a better lawyer than he is?”
“Maybe you should talk to Leonel first. Try to reason him.”
“You think I didn’t try to reason with him? Wanna know what he said in response to my poor attempts to explain things? Quoting, “If you want to talk like we did it last night, take off your dress and get on my desk.”
Parker chuckled. “He sure knows how to burn you up. And judging by how easily he offered repeating last night, you guys burned all the sheets in his apartments. And maybe not just the sheets.”
I threw a small red pillow at her. “Shut up!” We were in a café that both she and I liked visiting. They served the best apple strudels in the city and eating my desperation with something sweet felt like the best way to spend the night. It was almost midnight, and the place was empty, except for us and a couple, kissing passionately in the further corner of the room, thinking it was isolated enough, and no one could see them.