He squeezed my hand tightly and all I found myself choking back my own tears.
“Anyway, she would ’a wanted to be buried by her mama, so tha’s where I put her. An’ every Sunday, I take flowers to the two most important women in my life. It’s all I can give ’em now.”
My heart ached for him. No wonder he took the night shift job as the doorman and plugged holes in the schedule when he could. Some negligent doorman didn’t do his job, and his daughter was killed because of it.
“I… am so sorry, Franz,” I breathed.
“Point is,” he croaked, “she had no business bein’ with that man in that city. Ya can’t take the country lovin’ out’o a country girl, if ya ask me. An’ bein’ where she wasn’t supposed to be chewed her up and spit her out. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my life, child, it’s that we don’t belong nowhere except where we supposed to be.”
“And how does someone know where she’s supposed to be?” I whispered.
“You know ‘cause when you leave it,” he murmured, “it makes ya feel empty. Like your soul is singing’ a certain song, hopin’ to lure ya back to it. It’s kinda like how you feelin’ right now.”
“I don’t belong with Derek,” I breathed before I sat up. “He’s got his family now.”
“Family ain’t always about blood, girl,” Franz said lowly. “You remember that.”
“I’m worried about Clara,” I whispered.
“I know. An’ outta all of ‘em in this, she’ll be the one to pay,” Franz murmured.
“What do I do?” I asked. I turned my gaze towards the old man, and somehow he seemed… older. Like ten years’ time had made a home on his face while he sat and stared at the wall in front of him.
“Mr. Blake’s a good man. Cold in his business, toxic in his love life, but dedicated to his core. He’ll stay by that woman’s side on account o’ she’s the mother of his kid, but that don’t mean he trusts her.”
“So… you think he sees what I see?” I asked. I didn’t know how that could possibly give me hope, but it did.
“I think you underestimate how he can read people,” Franz nodded.
“I want him to be alright…” I said lowly.
“I know, girl.”
“I want him to be happy.”
“I know that, too.”
“I wanted him to be happy with me,” I said, barely above a whisper.
It was then that Franz turned his body to me while I dropped my gaze into my lap. I couldn’t help it. Derek had repulsed me with his cocky, nonchalant attitude before showing me how wonderfully he could love a child. Then, he showed me his sensual side; one that lusted after everything I was before turning around and accepting me into the rhythm of his life. He drew me in with those ice cold eyes and kept me around with the tease of his touch; then he chained me forever to the floor with the way he loved every part of his daughter.
And yet, Gracie was the one with him, and I was here with Franz.
“I know,” Franz whispered before he covered my hands in his. “I know.”
I heard a faint buzzing sound coming from my purse and I grabbed it before pulling it onto the bed. I spilled most of the contents out before I realized my entire body was shaking, and all the while Franz just sat there and watched while I moved the contents of my purse around on the bed to find my phone.
But when I found it, and I saw Derek’s name pop up on my screen, the blood drained from my face.
“He sent me a message,” I whispered to no one in particular.
“What does it say?” Franz asked.
I opened the message and snickered before I shook my head. I darted my eyes over to Franz who was eyeing me with an insatiable curiosity, and all I did was hold the phone up to him before that same sparkle in my eye popped up behind his.
“Just hang tight. I know something’s not right,” Franz read aloud.
“You can say it now,” I smirked.
“Say what?”
“‘I told ya so’.”
“Girl, if there’s anythin’ ya learn about me, it’s this: I don’t never rub my intelligence in other people’s faces.”
I threw my head back and laughed for the first time since this entire whirlwind of a journey started almost a month ago, and after I was done laughing I let out a massive sigh.
“So, I’m just supposed to hang out?” I asked.
“While ya strike me as the kinda girl that don’t take orders from anyone, I’d say just this once… listen to what the man’s sayin’.”
And then, just before I went to rebut with a few suggestions, the number for the Nanny Agency popped up onto my phone.
“Hello?” I answered as Franz looked at me curiously.
“Hey Madeline,” Eleanor said.
“Hey there,” I breathed.
“I hear a change in dynamic happened with Mr. Blake.”
“Yeah, it’s been an interesting couple of hours,” I said.
“Well, there’s been a change in the contract…” she trailed off.
“Let me guess, don’t come back in until next week and, even then, it’s only Tuesdays and Thursdays.”
“Well, sort of. Yes for what you said, but he’s requested to have you on-call for Sundays, and he also said he’s not changing your pay.”
The phone slipped from my hand and into my lap as I stared at the wall in shock. Derek was still gonna pay me six figures just for working for him three days a week!?
Something was definitely not right.
As my mind suddenly kicked into overdrive and began to whirl, Franz had picked up my phone and put it on speaker.
“Madeline? Are you still there?” Eleanor asked.
“Yeah,” I breathed. “Just… are you sure?”
“Don’t worry, the billing department double-checked with him before we emailed him the final agreement. He signed, which gave us permission to officially notify you.”
I was stunned. On the one hand, I did have the power to rebut with a different agreement. Just because Derek signed it on his end didn’t mean I couldn’t negotiate; but once I agreed to the terms, Eleanor would sign the document as the third-party provider and it would be etched in stone. Was this a test? Was this to see if I would be honest about how to pay me? Maybe Gracie had done something to prove a point?
“Madeline, are you alright with those terms? And if you say no, I’ll probably order a doctor to come see you wherever you are right now. Which reminds me: since you aren’t a live-in any longer, I’ll need an updated address for where you are staying.”
But all I could do was sit and stare at the wall in silence.
“You… do have a place you’re staying, right?” she asked.
“Yes’m,” Franz chimed in, “lemme give ya my address real quick.”
I didn’t listen as Franz rattled off his address. All I could do was think back to the moment I saw my suitcases outside Derek’s door. I thought his body seemed tense while he stared out the windows, and what I thought was shame with a bit of frustration could have actually been him lost in thought. I mean, I’d never seen him get lost in his thoughts, so maybe that’s what that looked like for him.
Maybe?
“Madeline?”
Eleanor’s voice ripped me from my thoughts before I took the phone Franz was holding out for me.
“I still need your verbal approval or denial.”
“I agree to the terms,” I choked out.
“I’ll let Mr. Blake know.”
“Thanks, Eleanor,” I breathed.
“And Madeline?”
“Yes?”
“Take care of yourself.”
And with that, Eleanor ended the call and it was just Franz and me again.
“Well,” Franz groaned as he stood up from the bed, “I don’t know ‘bout you, but it’s time to go grocery shopping.”
“Alright,” I sighed, “let me know when you’re ready and we’ll head out.”
“Well, I’m ready, so let’s he
ad out,” he smiled.
“You’re going out in your robe?” I giggled.
“Girl, you on my side of town. They don’t care what you look like ‘round here. They only care ‘bout how you treat others.”
“Plus, I don’t wanna get my work clothes dirty. Gonna need them for the early shift in the mornin’. Gotta be in by four!”
“Well, then we better get a move on so you can eat and get some rest,” I said before I stuffed everything back into my purse.
“I’ll buy the groceries, you get whatever else you want, and I’ll help ya cook.”
“I thought my rent was cooking the meals?” I asked.
“Well, I like to help sometimes; that bother you?”
And I couldn’t help but smile at the kind man standing in the middle of my temporary room who was draped in his red-and-white striped robe and his house slippers.
“Not one bit,” I smiled.
“Good, ‘cause ya don’t have a choice.”
And I laughed for the second time in almost a month as we slowly made our way out the door and onto the street.
21
It’s been two weeks since Gracie’s been back in town, and not much has changed: Madeline is only at the house twice a week and I relish those moments. I’m usually gone to work before she gets in, and staying late after she heads home, but when I finally enter my home, I can smell her. Her apple-blossom shampoo and her fruity-scented body spray permeates the house, and sometimes I sit down in a spot on the couch that she has been sitting in that day and her smell will waft up my nostrils.
I found that I missed her, and it was hard hiding that from Gracie.
I was sitting at lunch and sipping on my water. I had dodged a lunch date with Gracie and Clara in order to meet two very different people. The first was my lawyer, who was helping me finalize a custody plan into which I intended to throw a great deal of money, and the second was the P.I. who had originally informed me that Gracie was back in town. He was doing good work, and I needed him to help me figure out what Gracie’s aim was.
I needed to know why she was all-of-a-sudden back in town and so willing to play family.
My usual was put down in front of me but I found myself turning my nose up at it: a medium-rare steak with garlic broccoli and whipped potatoes. There wasn’t a better steak in this town than the ones at this little hole-in-the-wall place. Plus, I knew that if I was going to stay out of Gracie’s prying eyes, I had to choose places I knew she wasn’t too familiar with. She knew all my usual upscale hangouts because, well, I used to take her to all of them.
This, of course, meant I now had to avoid them.
“Mr. Blake.”
Rosa, the long-legged snake with the beady eyes of a shark, sat down in front of me before she held up her hand, and before I could bat my eyes good a glass of crimson wine was set before her.
“So, let’s cut to the chase,” she began, “I have an agreement drawn up that says you get full custody of your surprise daughter under the argument that abandoning her on your doorstep is the first step in proving she is an unfit mother. The issue here is that setting a child on your doorstep, especially after she returns, doesn’t make her an unfit mother in the eyes of the court, no matter how much money you throw at it. I will need to fill in a few holes on my end, but if your P.I. can get me concrete proof that she truly is an unfit parent, the courts will have no problems giving you custody of Clara. You’ve done well, staying out of the public eye for the past few years, so your indiscretions in your twenties should be overlooked.”
I was a wild man in my twenties: dating, hook ups, sex parties, staying out late and missing important meetings in the morning. That’s what you do as a twenty-six year old who had the kind of money I did back then: I made more money than I knew how to spend, and that included buying my own island.
Yes, I own my own private island off the coast of the Scottish Hebrides.
“Is there anything else?” I murmured.
She took a sip of her wine and kept her eyes connected with mine. She was studying me as she always did, with great intention and deliberate notice. She was the most ruthless lawyer in the New York City arena, and I kept her on speed dial in case anything went south with any of the businesses I flipped. There wasn’t a contract issue she couldn’t talk her way around, no matter the wording in the official document.
“I want this iron-clad. Gracie’s manipulating me somehow, and she’s using her own daughter to do it. That girl is-”
I clenched my jaw and picked up my water. Taking a big gulp helped to ease the knot in my throat, but I knew she’d seen the flicker of vulnerability in my eyes. That’s the thing about working with a shark: they prey on anything, whether they are in control or backed into a corner.
A drop of blood all tastes the same, no matter the situation or consequence.
“I don’t play when it comes to children,” she murmured lowly.
It prompted me to turn my gaze towards her. The tone of her voice and the way her eyes iced over… it was as if I had hit a nerve I didn’t understand I was toeing around.
“I’ll pay whatever necessary,” I bit out bluntly.
“I know you will,” she shot back.
“I’ll let you know when my P.I. contacts me.”
“No need.”
Both of us panned our gazes up as Chris Waterback came into view. He used to be the head detective in the Special Victims Unit of the New York police force, but when he retired, he lost his wife to cancer and started up his own private investigation firm. He was the news headline for weeks, talking about how he couldn’t cope with his wife’s death and how he couldn’t handle his retirement alone.
They ripped him to shreds until he started to consult with the exact same police department, making double what he had been making, doing exactly the same job. The man was a genius, and I admired someone who could raise their head high after being mutilated like that and spit in their face while taking their money.
He reminded me vaguely of myself.
He pulled a chair over and turned it around before straddling the entire seat. Then he slapped a manila envelope onto the counter as Rosa and I both looked at it blankly.
“I can’t appreciate theatrics until I know why they’re occurring,” Rosa murmured.
I grabbed the envelope and opened it up. I slid out picture after picture of Gracie in front of a doctor’s office whose name I recognized immediately, and at first I was confused… until I flipped to the very last pictures and saw Gracie, without my daughter, kissing some man in a white coat outside of the building.
“Tuesdays and Thursdays when your nanny is at the house, she goes here,” he pointed, “Every Tuesday and Thursday like clockwork.”
“That’s the doctor’s office she told me she had her health appointments transferred to,” I said.
“I just snapped these pictures because I figured I’d come back and tell ya she was cheating or something. She goes there, meets him outside, ‘macks for a while, then goes in. I assumed she was just… doin’ the doctor that was caring for her.”
“But…?” Rosa asked.
If you could pique Rosa’s interest, then you knew you had a story on your hands.
“She told you she had cancer, so I wanted to just double-check and make sure. I did some digging, made some phone calls, and made a trip to the hospital where she gave birth. I even schmoozed a nurse who let me have a peek at her files.”
“You dog, you,” Rose smirked.
“Not that kinda schmooze, hun.”
“What did you find?” I interrupted.
“I found the official record of Clara’s birth; and she did have her uterus removed. There was a tumor that was growin’ alongside Clara the entire time. Issue is, Gracie told you the hCG levels of her pregnancy were keepin’ the tumor at bay. Not true: the hCG levels in her body were prompting it to grow. When she had Clara, they removed her uterus at her request. The tumor was benign.”
I white-knuckl
ed the pictures in front of me as my vision began to fade to black. That bitch strolled up into my home, held my daughter in her arms, and told me she had been dying of cancer. For the love of fuck, she ripped off a wig.
What was she doing? Shaving her head?
“No treatment for it, no nothin’,” Chris said.
“I’ve been giving her checks for her treatment because she doesn’t have health insurance and I can’t legally cover her unless we’re married. Where the hell is that money going? I check my bank accounts regularly, and they are being cashed at that doctor’s office!”
“This is where you get two for the price of one, Rosa,” Chris said as he turned his head towards the woman. “You get to give this man his daughter and put away a doctor for embezzlement.”
“He’s cashing the checks for appointments and treatments not happenin’, and then taking that cashed money for himself.” Rosa smirked at this.
She always loves a good story.
“Is that embezzlement if the treatments aren’t even taking place?”
“It is when you have me in court,” Rosa said as she fingered the pictures lightly.
“How long has she been seeing this doctor?” she asked.
“That man is Dr. Timothy Raul, and I did some serious diggin’ into him.”
And that was when he turned his head slowly towards me and asked me a very pointed question.
“How long were you and Gracie together before she got pregnant?”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Just… how long?”
My heart rate was skyrocketing and I couldn’t see straight.
“Uh… a little over a year. Why?”
I felt myself beginning to sweat. My curiosity had turned to anger; my anger was morphing into panic. Madeline wasn’t at the house, which meant this disgusting human being was currently feeding my daughter from the bosom another man was probably suckling on twice a week.
The thought made me want to puke.
But nothing that was running through my head could’ve ever prepared me for the next document he slid out of the manila envelope.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Blake,” Chris murmured as he slid it over.
Filthy Desires: A Romantic Suspense Collection Page 46