by J. E. Taylor
Marney pressed the print button and handed each of them a printout of the ultrasound. “The doctor will be in to see you in a few minutes.”
Steve stared at the printout, seeing the forms of his children. The lump in his throat grew and he blinked the sudden spring of tears away. Awe filled him and he traced the outlines with his index finger. “Our kids.”
“No wonder I popped early. I’ve got two babies inside my belly.” She ran her hand over the bump. “Merry Christmas, Steve,” she said, looking up at him.
The euphoria of the moment faded a fraction. They were heading to Charlie’s directly from the doctor’s office and all he wanted to do was hold her in his arms and stare at the ultrasound picture. He leaned in, planting a kiss on her lips. “Thank you.”
“I haven’t done anything, yet,” she answered. She wiped the goop off her stomach and slid into the burgundy velvet Christmas dress he’d bought her. When she stepped out from behind the curtain, Steve blew out a stream of air. “You look fantastic.”
“I can’t believe we’re having twins,” he said and tossed the bag of street clothes she’d worn to the doctor’s office in the trunk, pulling out the elegantly gift-wrapped Glenlivet Single Malt Scotch he’d bought for Charlie and handing it to Jennifer as he slid into the driver’s seat.
“And I can’t believe you bought him a thousand dollar bottle of booze,” Jennifer said. She filtered through her purse for the jewelry box containing a pair of earrings for Desiree.
“Yeah, well with the salary he’s paying me and the wedding gift, I couldn’t go cheap on him for Christmas.”
“Pft,” she scoffed. “What’d you get me?”
“A thousand dollar bottle of scotch,” he said and pulled into the traffic heading uptown. Jennifer smacked his arm when the dimples appeared in his cheek.
Just for one night, he wanted to pretend their lives were normal, to celebrate the news of twins and the Christmas holiday without his undercover job tainting the celebration. “Look, why don’t we pretend these are our friends and set out to have a great night?” He glanced at Jennifer. “And forget about the job for a few hours.”
She nodded. “That sounds great to me.”
When he pulled up to the front of the building, a valet attendant rushed over to the car.
“Are you here for the Wisnowski party?”
Steve nodded and handed over his keys. He was given a numbered tag that disappeared into his pocket. He escorted Jennifer into the crowded elevator where they shared a quizzical glance. The elevator stopped at the penthouse floor and everyone filtered out.
“A small party?” she whispered in Steve’s ear.
“I guess.” The place was packed.
Desiree stopped with a tray of appetizers. “You’re finally here!” She glanced at her watch. “This will wind down around seven and then I’ve got a fabulous dinner on tap.” She smiled and disappeared.
Steve glanced around at the crowd, recognizing almost everyone. The entire CW FOG staff was in attendance as well as some of the more prevalent Gaby Paper representatives. Charlie entertained a group of women by his desk, and when he caught sight of Steve and Jennifer he excused himself, filtering through the sea of people.
“How’d it go?” he asked above the noise.
“Twins,” Steve grinned.
“No shit!” Charlie pumped his hand and gave Jennifer a bear hug, shocking both of them. He leaned over in Steve’s ear before he stepped away. “Party room’s that way.” He pointed down the hall and winked.
“Where do you want me to put these?” Steve raised the gifts.
“Why don’t you go get yourself a drink and I’ll show your fiancée where she can put those, along with your coats.”
Steve glanced at Jennifer, doubt thundering through his blood.
“Want to grab me a soda?” she asked, putting her hands out for his coat and the gift-wrapped scotch.
He shed his jacket. His eyes flitted to Charlie and back to Jennifer. Handing both the scotch and his jacket over, he watched them disappear into the crowd and then turned and made his way to the bar.
* * * *
Charlie led Jennifer to a nice-sized den where a Christmas tree stood to the side of a breathtaking view of Manhattan. “You can put the gifts under the tree and your coats on the chair.”
She crossed the room and the noise of the party disappeared behind the closed door. When she glanced over her shoulder, he was standing in front of the large mahogany entry with his head tilted and his hands clasped behind his back, watching her.
Jennifer turned back to the view, setting the packages under the tree. She started to take her coat off and jumped as hands helped her. She turned and Charlie was there, peeling the coat off with a peculiar smile on his face. Laughing nervously, she tried to step around him, but there was no graceful way to do that so she looked up into his grey eyes.
“Are you serious about marrying Steve?”
The question caught her off guard and nerves jumbled in her stomach. “Yes, why?”
He took a small step back and produced a remote. “Because I’m not sure he’s the right man for you.”
“Oh, and you know what qualifies as the right man?”
Charlie smiled and pointed the remote at the television.
The screen filled with the view of her apartment, her kitchen to be specific. She looked at him and narrowed her eyes. “I know what happened, Charlie. Your girlfriend seduced Steve.” She took a step toward him, hoping to intimidate him, but he stood his ground.
“Really?” He nodded toward the television, turning up the sound.
Steve was saying he could throw something together if she was hungry. When Desiree stepped into view, Steve’s reaction to her was obvious. He licked his lips and scanned her in the same way Jennifer saw him do to her countless times. To his credit, he did say maybe they should go out. Desiree stepped closer, cornering him between the refrigerator and the kitchen sink.
She shot a glare at Charlie and stepped to leave the room.
“You need to see this,” he said.
She turned toward the television and the image of Steve said, “Um, my girlfriend.” She recognized the lust in his eyes and the familiar scan he gave Desiree. She couldn’t see what exactly was happening between them, but seconds later Desiree planted a kiss and he pulled away just as quickly, whispering, “I can’t do this.” But his words lacked conviction and he didn’t stop whatever she’d started.
The frame skipped.
On screen, Steve spun her around, his face shrouded by her hair. What he did next was clear as the Christmas tree next to her. With his back to the camera, he stripped her pants and picked her up, setting her on their kitchen counter, spreading her legs wide and burying his face between them.
Jennifer stared at the blue cast poking out from under his sweater, blinking back tears. “Why are you showing me this?” The harsh whisper came from her chest.
His hands descended on her shoulders and he stepped close behind her, moving her hair away from her neck and planting a kiss. “Because I wanted you to know what type of man you’re marrying.”
Anger burst in her veins. It was one thing to forgive him for being seduced, but a blowjob and this were worlds apart. Grinding her teeth together, she watched her husband please another woman on the screen.
Charlie’s hands began to wander and she didn’t stop him. Desiree’s moans of pleasure fueled her fury until it became unmanageable. Her heart thundered in her chest, all the memories of him proclaiming he loved her, all his lies on the job. Maybe her father was right and he was so used to pretending that her marriage was just another one of his facades.
Charlie’s fingertips grazed the inside of her thigh, settling between her legs and stroking her through her underwear. “I would never do that to you,” he whispered in her ear. His finger slid under the edge of her panties.
Her eyes stayed locked on the television, on the movement of Steve’s head insinuating the stroke
of his tongue. The knowledge of how good he was with his mouth didn’t help. The tape skipped again and the scene she saw in her vision played out on the screen, but something about the video cut struck a chord. Moments after the scene change, Steve pushed Desiree away and stepped out of range, zipping his pants in a hell of a hurry.
“No.” The word whispered from her lips and she pushed his hand away. “Charlie, no.” She stepped away and turned toward him. “I can’t, I can’t do this.”
“You don’t want me?”
Jennifer shook her head.
“You still want to marry that son of a bitch?”
She bit her lip and looked at the empty screen. For better or worse. Her vows echoed in her mind and she nodded, glancing back at Charlie.
Charlie put his hands up in the air and stepped away.
Her eyes locked on the tattoo inching from under his shirt.
“Okay.” He turned and left the room.
Jennifer’s heart went into overdrive. Was that the tattoo? She wasn’t sure, but the hint of yellow and red frazzled her beyond the bizarre encounter. Hand combing her hair and wiping her eyes, she glanced back at the screen and the anger filled the space doubt had occupied a moment ago.
How could you? She glared at her empty kitchen on the television, her mind’s eye centering on her husband in the corner with his eyes closed and his good hand threaded in Desiree’s blonde locks. She pressed the off button on the remote and the room dimmed with only lights from the Christmas tree and the downtown Manhattan skyline to accompany her. Her hand drifted over the bump in her belly and the tears came.
* * * *
“Jen?” Steve popped his head into the room, seeing her silhouette against the Manhattan sky. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
“Go away.”
He stopped halfway across the room. “Are you crying?”
“Get out of here before I say something I can’t take back!”
Ignoring her request, he set the drinks on the end table and turned her toward him. “What’s wrong?”
Jennifer wiped the tears away and tried to break out of his grasp.
“Did Charlie hurt you?”
“No, you did.” She leaned over and pressed the play button on the remote. What appeared on the screen shocked them both. It wasn’t the tape Charlie had shown her, it was her watching something on screen with Charlie stroking her.
Steve’s jaw dropped and when the camera view changed, he snapped his jaw shut. There in Technicolor was the scene in their kitchen, Desiree on her knees before him. The side view shot showed the video playing while Charlie fondled his wife.
Jennifer leaned over to turn the video off.
“Let it play.” His growl filled the room.
Jennifer glanced at Steve, recoiling at the hatred she saw in his profile. When his eyes swiveled in her direction, she took a step backwards. “Nothing happened.” She reached for the remote.
“No, let it play.” He grabbed her wrist and yanked her backwards. When it was over, Steve sat on the couch, staring at the blank screen. He wasn’t angry with her, but Charlie was a whole other hemisphere. The bastard used the video to try to get her for himself.
The confusion of layered emotions clouded his judgment and he looked back at her. “So does this mean the wedding’s off?” It was easier to fall into character than deal with what had really happened here.
“I’m carrying your children. What do you think?”
Steve looked out at the city, staring at his reflection and then at hers. “I fucked up. It happens from time to time.” He shrugged. “So you tell me. Is this what you want?” He turned toward her.
“I want the man I fell in love with,” she whispered, keeping eye contact.
He closed his eyes and nodded. Right now, he would give anything to be that man again, but he had seen too much, gone too far down the rabbit hole to come back. His eyes softened a little as he looked at her. “I’m right here.” He spread his arms out.
“Once we’re married, if you do that to me, I’ll divorce you so fast your head will spin.” Her voice shook.
“If anyone touches you after we’re married, he’s dead,” he said, his voice steady and fierce. He found the camera lens in the ceiling and looked straight into it. “You hear me, Charlie? I swear, if you ever touch her again you are a dead man.” Steve grabbed the coats and Jennifer’s hand and stormed toward the door.
It swung open and both Charlie and Desiree stepped into the room.
“I hear you, but if you hadn’t noticed, she didn’t stop me right away either.”
“Yeah, and I deserved that for being such a jackass with Desiree.”
Charlie put his arm around Desiree. “She’s a naughty minx sometimes.” He swatted her ass lightly and smiled. He pulled a gun out of his waistline and pointed it at Steve, producing a silencer in his other hand and screwing it to the end of the barrel. “I don’t take kindly to threats, Steve.”
Jennifer gasped and swiftly moved in front of him, putting herself in the path of a potential bullet. “Please don’t.”
Charlie tilted his head. “You didn’t let me finish, darling.” The barrel of the gun swung towards Desiree and Charlie pulled the trigger, killing her instantly with a bullet to the brain.
Steve blinked. His breath locked in his chest as Desiree fell to the floor, what was left of her head bouncing and splattering blood against the walls. He snapped his gaze back in Charlie’s direction once again suppressing the urge to read him his rights.
“But what I hate even more is disloyalty.” He flipped the safety on and glanced between Steve and Jennifer. “Don’t worry, I’ve got someone else lined up to keep watch over you,” he addressed Jennifer. “And she won’t be double crossing me either, or hitting on Steve for that matter.”
He walked into the room and flipped on another feed. It showed Desiree in the kitchen. She was whispering to one of the caterers and she passed a piece of paper. “He’s a cop. Well, he was a cop,” Charlie corrected himself. “Desiree was his informant.” He glanced over his shoulder.
Jennifer stared at Desiree. The breath wheezed out of her chest.
Steve leaned into her ear. “Breathe, baby,” he whispered, still watching the screen, turning her away from the dead woman in the corner. It took all his concentration not to recite the Miranda rights. If he played that hand, neither of them would walk out of the building alive.
“So she was the mole Lefty mentioned.” Steve glanced at Desiree and back to Charlie and he nodded assent.
“How can you be so calm?” Jennifer screamed at Steve, her entire frame shaking in his arms. “He just…”
“Shit happens. She deserved what she got.” Steve glared at her. Be cool baby, please, dear god, be cool or we won’t get out of here.
Steve turned toward Charlie with the same level of venom. “That was fucking stupid,” he snapped. “How many people are still out there?” He pointed at the door. “And where the hell is the dead cop?”
“It’s been taken care of. Just like she will be.”
“You have that kind of clout?” he asked. “Because, as your lawyer, I can tell you there isn’t an angle that can be used for reasonable doubt here.”
“Ever hear of the Bondino family?” Charlie shot back.
Steve stopped, letting his eyes reflect the shock he felt. He just got the mother of all Christmas gifts. “Bondino?”
“He can make this disappear like that.” Charlie snapped his fingers.
Jennifer sat on the couch. “I’m not feeling so good.”
Steve picked up the soda and handed it to her. “Here, this should help. It’s ginger ale.” Something else clicked. He needed the recording of this conversation and he glanced at Charlie. “This isn’t how I envisioned spending Christmas Eve.”
Charlie nodded and glanced at Jennifer. “Will she be okay?”
Steve recognized the doubt in his eyes. “Jennifer will be just fine. We’re getting married next week.”
He tilted his head a fraction, conveying the significance of that to Charlie.
“Even after tonight?”
“She’s carrying my kids, so yeah, even after tonight. And I was serious, Charlie.” Steve pointed at him, clenching his teeth together, his muscles tightly coiled and ready to spring. “If you ever touch her like that again, I’ll kill you.”
Charlie raised his eyebrows, clearly irked by the threat, but he backed down. “Okay.” He walked to the tree and picked up two gifts, handing them to Steve and Jennifer.
Steve looked from the package back to Charlie. He really didn’t want to exchange Christmas presents with a dead woman in the room and from the horrified expression on Jennifer’s face, she was seconds away from a full freak out. “Go ahead, open them,” Charlie prodded and grabbed the box Jennifer had set under the tree.
“I think we should...” Steve began, but the glare he received from Charlie cut him off and he reached over and squeezed Jennifer’s hand, meeting her gaze for an instant before focusing on the box in her lap.
Her hands shook and she ripped the paper off her gift. Her eyes filled with tears as she opened the deep blue box marked with the Swarovski crystal emblem. Inside was the most elegant crystal eagle he had ever seen, but it didn’t cut through the fear in his heart and he willed her to speak, to say something appropriate to the gift and not the circumstances.
“It’s b-beautiful,” she stammered and glanced up, tears still tracking down her cheeks.
Steve drew a breath of relief turning his focus from her to the box in his lap, unwrapping the paper from the heavy case and flipping the lid open. He stared at the present in his lap and picked up the Smith & Wesson .45 caliber gun, turning it over in his hands studying the scrollwork with a gold eagle inlay. The handle was a rich deep cherry, complementing the rest of the presentation. I’ll bet he killed the cop with this; he thought and put the gun back in the velvet box. He didn’t know what to say and glanced back at Charlie.
“Have you ever shot a hand gun?”
Steve nodded. “Yeah. I actually own one,” he answered. “But this… this… I can’t accept this.” He put the box on the table.
“Do you like it?” Charlie asked.