by Love, Kimmy
"Isn't it? If I was your girl, Jack, I wouldn't want you to be keeping me behind closed doors."
"It's not like that."
"No? You're keeping her quite the secret."
"Yes. Yet, it got out into the press somehow, didn't it?"
"That story that was in the magazines? Yes! Shocking, isn't it? I read about it. Those journalists are vultures, aren't they?"
Hannah's face was revealing nothing, but Jack knew damned well that she was behind the story being leaked and he hated that he had to be on his best behavior in this country club for the sake of his reputation rather than putting the conniving woman in her place with a few home truths.
He sighed heavily. "I'm done here. Nice seeing you again."
"You too, Jack. You know, you should bring that mystery woman of yours here sometime. We're all dying to meet her."
"Perhaps."
Jack left the club feeling unsettled. He was sure that Hannah had something on her mind, although he had no idea what it was. Undoubtedly, she was aware that very soon Jack would inherit everything and she wanted to get as close to him as possible for when his ship came in. It sickened him to think that there were women in the world with those kind of motives when an old man was dying, but at least he had Annaya to vent to when he got in again.
"She was practically dancing on his grave already, Annie!" he fumed when he'd returned to the mansion later that evening and the two were putting Alice to bed together. "All she wants is to stick her nose in now that he's on his deathbed to try and get in on his fortune. It's disgusting."
"I can't believe anyone can behave like that," Annaya agreed, laying Alice down. "I hope you told her where to go."
"Of course I did. I have no interest in women like that. She wanted me to bring you into the club. Heavens knows why. She's plotting something."
"Oh, don't worry, Jack. I wouldn't blow your cover like that."
Annaya said it in a voice that was crossed between amusement and disdain and she raised her eyebrows at him in slight irritation. Jack knew why. Ever since she'd come to visit him in Vegas, he'd practically kept her under house arrest out of fear that her name and face would end up in the papers and throw her life into the spotlight. He saw it as protecting her, but he knew that she felt like he was ashamed of her. He laid a hand comfortingly on her shoulder.
"It's not about blowing my cover, Annie. It's about stopping the vultures from swarming all over you. Once they've got your name, they won't leave you alone. They'll follow you everywhere with cameras and microphones in your face, and Alice, too. Do you really want photographers crowding around our baby? I don't want her to be exposed to all that."
"You're right," Annie sighed, looking down tenderly at the face of her innocent newborn. "It's just, something's got to give eventually, Jack. You can't hide her forever... or me."
"I'm not hiding anything," Jack insisted again. "I'm protecting you. You know that I have nothing but respect for you. I'm proud that you're the mother of my child. Seeing Hannah again just drove it all home. You're miles above all the women I've ever known, Annie. You're special to me."
The billionaire caught her eyes earnestly and he could almost see Annaya's heart flutter. Her eyes widened with emotion when he said those words to her. But she was too strong to be swayed by sweet nothings and she took a short, sharp breath and busied herself with folding Alice's tiny little romper suits.
"Yes, well, all those things will sort themselves out in the end. You just need to decide how and when you're going to ‘present’ us, if that's what needs doing. It can be done in your own time, Jack, but it has to be done eventually. It's a very nice mansion, but I don't particularly enjoy being cooped up all the time, no matter how grand it all is."
*****
Annaya wouldn't let it show how hurt she felt every time that Jack shunned her and Alice whenever there was a chance that the wrong people would see their faces. She knew that he believed he was protecting them, but she was also convinced that there was a little shame there, also. After all, she was from a completely different world to him. In comparison to Jack she was dull, uneducated and common. For now, she was prepared to stay out of the limelight and look after Alice behind closed doors, but she couldn't see a future with Jack in which she never stepped outside unless a chauffeur dropped her off miles away from the Casali family.
"How did the meeting go today, son?"
Brandon, Jack and Annaya were eating together. It was fairly late, as Jack had had other meetings after his one in the country club and then the two new parents had put their daughter to bed before settling down for dinner. Now the dying billionaire was keen to hear what his son had been doing with himself all day.
"It went well," Jack nodded. "All the shareholders are happy with the proposals for the new developments and the profit we're turning. No problems at all."
"Good, good. That's what I like to hear." Brandon turned his attention towards Annaya to tell her more about what Jack was doing in the company. "When I go, which won't be long now, I'm afraid, Jack will be in charge of all of this." The billionaire gestured around the mansion proudly. "He's my only son. All of this will be his and then Alice's in time."
"It's a big responsibility," Annaya said carefully. She was impressed Jack was able to manage all of this grandeur and enterprise, but she wasn't sure that she ever wanted all that pressure to fall on her daughter's shoulders. What if Alice wanted to be a painter or a dancer? Annaya wouldn't want her to feel like she was bound by the duties of the Casali name, which was the one on her birth certificate.
"Oh yes," Brandon nodded, his chest puffing up proudly. "$2.3 billion of responsibility, to be precise. At first, I was worried Jack wouldn't rise to the challenge, but he's proved me wrong. I think meeting you has done him good. He's a father now."
Annaya smiled. It still felt strange to hear anybody say that out loud. She was a mother and that gorgeous man sitting across the table from her was the father.
"Being a father changes a man," Brandon said wisely. "You wouldn't believe it now, but I was once very much like Jack – wild and reckless. Although, I didn't have the status or financial freedom that Jack has now. It's harmless being a reckless youth when nobody knows who you are. In truth, I respect how difficult it has been for Jack growing up the way he has. There's a lot of pressure being a Casali. Luckily, Alice will have a mother to give her a break from all of this. You have family in California, don't you? Parents? Siblings?"
"Parents, yes. A sister."
"That's good; somewhere for my granddaughter to escape to once in a while. I wish Jack had had the same."
Annaya smiled again and looked over to Jack who was half-smiling himself to hear his father talking about his childhood. Annaya had the feeling that he didn't hear his father reminisce all that often. She was glad that Brandon had given his blessing for Alice to spend her fair share of time in the real world with Annaya and her family. Annaya would never deny her all the love and comfort of regular family life, which she wasn't sure she'd ever experience in a place as formal and expansive as this one.
After dinner, she went to check on her daughter, Jack was only a few steps behind.
"You were quiet over dinner."
"Was I?"
"Yes. Is there something wrong?"
"No, Jack. Everything's fine." Annaya looked down at Alice, who was sleeping soundly, feeling right at home, even if Annie didn't and she sighed. She turned to look at Jack with her arms folded self-consciously across her chest and she looked up at him uncertainly. "Is this ever going to work?"
"What do you mean?"
"We're so different."
"Are we?"
Annaya laughed scornfully and gestured around the impressive and grand nursery that made Alice's room back home look like a scruffy shoebox. "Aren't we?"
"It's just money, Annie. I don't think we're that different at all." Jack stepped across to the anxious woman and held her shoulders, encouraging her to look up into his earnest
eyes. "You are strong and determined and can stand on your own two feet. I like to think that I can do the same. You're vibrant and sexy and adventurous, and I'm no wallflower either. We're a lot alike."
"You're just saying that. Wouldn't you much rather have gotten a woman pregnant who would give a better impression to the press? Some private school sorority girl with rich parents?"
"Do you think I'm that shallow?"
Annaya sighed. "I don't know how I feel, Jack. Most new fathers don't hide their daughters from the world at all costs. She's not some dirty little secret, you know."
"I know that," Jack said, and Annaya could hear the hurt in his voice. "She's my world now. I'd do anything for her."
"I want you to stop worrying about the press," Annie urged gently. "I want us to spend time together without always looking over our shoulders. Some normal family time."
"Alright," Jack conceded after a brief pause and a sigh. He shrugged and his hand reached up to brush back a strand of hair tenderly from Annie's eyes. "If that's what you want. But know that you're in for a lot of attention."
Annie smiled. "We can handle it."
The Final Chapter
The country club was as luxurious as Brandon's mansion and even more full of the elite. Everywhere Annaya looked, she spotted another person who looked like they'd crawled out the pages of some glossy magazine. They were holding tennis racquets and golf clubs, but none of them looked like they'd been putting that much effort into athletic pursuits. They were all immaculately dressed in cashmere and silk and Annaya self-consciously smoothed down the material of the ludicrously expensive navy pencil skirt and white chiffon blouse that Jack had suggested she wear.
She'd felt nervous the second he'd held out an outfit for her, realizing that the clothes in her suitcase weren't good enough for his circles, but she'd swallowed back her disdain because she knew that Jack was introducing her to his circles for her sake, even though it might make life difficult for him.
In the club, Jack didn't hold her hand, but he did steer her by the shoulder through the lobby and into a bar that looked more like a library, with ornate carved chairs and elaborately upholstered furniture. Annaya could feel all eyes on her as she walked through the club, both because she was an unfamiliar face and because she was with Jack Casali. It wasn't long before the members of the club began to swarm.
"Jack! Long time, no see," one middle-aged man with a rotund stomach and a navy jacket exclaimed loudly. "And who is this lovely young woman?"
"This is Annaya Towler," Jack introduced her formally. "She's a family friend and staying with my father for a few weeks."
"Miss Towler, it's a pleasure."
The small talk lasted a few minutes and then the next nosy club member came along and then the next. Each time Jack introduced Annaya as a friend and it made her grow angrier and angrier, until by the time she came to leave, she was fuming and practically stormed towards the car that the valet had brought round, barely able to hold back her temper. Jack held open the door for her and she furiously climbed in. The billionaire climbed in besides her and gave her a questioning look.
"What's wrong with you?" he asked innocently.
"What's wrong with me?" Annaya seethed.
She couldn't believe that he was that clueless. She'd left her child at home for this and all Jack had done was introduce her as a friend. She'd been so touched and impressed that he'd been willing to finally present her to his world and claim her and Alice as his own in front of all his acquaintances, but all he'd done was save his own skin by creating a cover story for her presence at the mansion. Is that was why Alice was at the mansion? So that there'd be no questions about the baby? Is that why she was wearing such a tight skirt? So that it would hold in the last of her baby stomach? The tears prickled behind her eyes. She was so disappointed in him and embarrassed at herself for imagining a scenario in which he proudly presented her to the world.
"Forget it, Jack. It's not worth explaining."
She folded her arms defiantly over her chest and stared out the window with a clenched jaw, unwilling to let Jack see her cry. She told herself that she'd been the one to turn down a proposal and that she'd been the one to turn down his kisses and that she had no right to expect anything more from him now. They weren't a couple. They weren't an item. They were two completely different people who'd just happened to have a baby together.
She couldn't wait to get back to the mansion to pack and go home. She'd had enough of being here, where she was nothing but Jack's secret. She wasn't willing to be the person he vented to when he was angry or came to when he needed a break from his fast-paced corporate world.
And then, the one that he ignored when people were looking. She had more self-respect that that. She deserved better. Screw his fancy cars and mansions. Annaya didn't need any of it. She and her daughter were going home, where people loved them for who they were and would never try to hide them.
As soon as she was back at the mansion she stormed into the baby’s room and began throwing Alice's things into a case. Jack quickly caught up with her and watched in amazement as she packed. "Annie, talk to me," he insisted. "What is going on?"
Annaya spun on her heel with hot, furious tears in her eyes and stood her ground, lifting her chin defiantly in the presence of the billionaire. "You were meant to introduce me to people tonight, Jack," she seethed, "but all you did was call me ‘a family friend’. You didn't mention Alice at all. You're ashamed of us and you don't really want us here. Well, I've come here for your father's sake and he's met his granddaughter. Now I'm going home."
"Annie, you can't do that."
Jack went to take hold of her arm to stop her furious packing but she tore it away. "I can do whatever the hell I want, Jack. I'm not somebody you can buy."
"Enough!" Jack snapped, his own anger beginning to flare. "Enough of you insinuating that I'm shallow and conceited and ashamed of you and my daughter. I am not a bad man, Annie, and I'm mad about you."
His anger quickly melted into his passion and it was the two combined that compelled him to step across the room and press his lips down over Annaya's. All Annie's fury melted away when she felt his mouth against her lips and she let all her anger out in a low moan. All that repressed sexual tension and love for him had only helped to fuel her anger. It was bad enough feeling like he was ignoring her, but that resentment was made so much worse when she was crazy for him. Now he was kissing her and it was very clear that her passions were not unreturned. She curled her fingers around his collar and led him down the corridor into her own guest room, away from Alice, where they could be alone.
"What are we doing, Jack?" she muttered between kisses, even as her fingers frantically unbuttoned his shirt. "What are we doing?"
"Ssh..." Jack urged her. "Let's not over-think it. It feels right."
"It feels right..." Annaya repeated dreamily. It felt so right. It felt right when his fingers ran through her hair and when his lips pressed down over her mouth and her neck and her shoulders. It felt right when he tore her shirt off her body and ripped off her bra. It felt right when he sucked and bit down on her nipples and when he threw her down on the bed. It felt right when he parted her legs and when he finally entered her.
Gasping and moving her hips against his, they made love again, for the first time since Alice had been born. If anything, it felt even more intense now that they had a daughter to make the bond between them even deeper and even more special. Annaya relished every second of him inside her and their bodies moving together. This was the way it was meant to be, she knew. This was what she wanted.
*****
"This time will be different," Jack promised her. "It's the gala of the year. Anybody who is anybody will be there and I will proudly tell every single one of those boring bastards that you are the mother of my child."
Annaya smiled and prayed that it was true. She was dressed in the most phenomenal dress that she would ever wear in her life: a floor length black gown with
lace details around the shoulders and a sweetheart neckline which emphasized her breasts in a subtle, but devastating way.
She looked incredible and with her hair expertly styled on the top of her head and a sensational diamond necklace borrowed from the jewelry box of Jack's late mother.
Annaya knew that she had no reason to feel self-conscious. She looked and felt a million dollars, and she could see in Jack's eyes when he looked at her that he thought so, too. He kept finding reasons to put his hands on her shoulders or to brush back her hair as though he couldn't keep his hands off her and the memories of the night before were amazing, but confusing.
Even now, Jack was telling her that he would introduce her as Alice's mother – was that all? What did he think of her as a woman? Was there a future for them together as anything other than Alice's parents? The spark between them was only growing stronger and Annaya was hoping that an introduction to his friends and colleagues would be the final step towards breaking the final barriers and allowing them to think about a future together.
There was still a long way to go, of course, and so many things to consider. Annaya still didn't want to be away from her own parents in California, or away from Natalie, but the longer she spent at Brandon's mansion, the less uncomfortable she felt surrounded by such grandeur and the more it felt normal to her and she could imagine herself being here.
Perhaps Alice wouldn't grow up spoilt, even if her home was incredible beyond belief and her daddy a billionaire. Perhaps there was some way to make the two worlds merge in Vegas, after all, and Annaya could somehow find a way to give both the best of her and Jack to their daughter.
She worried about Jack. He was a strong man and not one to get too emotional, but she could see the strain that his father's ill health was having on him. It was partially the pressures of his new work demands that were making him seem so tired, but she was sure that it was also the knowledge that soon his father would be gone.