by Sara Orwig
“There are all sorts of appealing themes that would work for either a boy or girl. You’ll work that out with a decorator. Money’s no object. I’ll talk to a contractor and we’ll have a door put in the wall that opens to the bedroom next to this one if you want the nursery close to our room.”
“Of course I do! I’ll probably have a crib in here for a while.”
“Maybe,” he said, showering light kisses on her throat and muddling her concentration of their discussion. “I’ll call a contractor tomorrow and get furniture moved out of that room so when you have a decorator, it’ll be ready.”
“Jake, this just gives me the most uneasy feeling. I’ll worry every time I pass the room.”
“Scaredy-cat,” he teased. “We’ll get it ready, then close the door on it. You don’t need to see it or go into it. You can forget it’s there.”
“Then why have it?”
“To humor me,” he answered, brushing kisses lower over her breasts at the edge of the sheet. His breath was warm and her nipples were taut, desire flaring again. She was constantly amazed how easily he could get her aroused, but she was equally surprised how effortlessly she could get Jake hard and ready. Her leg was thrown over him and she could feel his arousal.
“You are so sexy,” she whispered, biting his shoulder lightly. She nuzzled his neck, while her hand slipped beneath the sheet to run over his thigh.
Inhaling deeply, Jake had moved lower with his kisses. She’d felt his hot breath on her nipple through the sheet seconds before he’d pushed the sheet away to kiss her. He’d run his tongue over her taut bud, destroying all conversation.
Staring into space now, Emily reflected on those early months. A kaleidoscope of memories flashed in her mind—Jake constantly asking if she’d hired a decorator or started on the nursery, threatening to do so himself and finally prodding her into picking out a nursery-rhyme theme with characters from the old stories and poems. When the room was finished, she remembered his pleasure—he’d even taken digital pictures of the room. Now she understood why. Those pictures had been e-mailed to Hubert Braden, to convince him that Jake had settled with a wife and they were trying to have a baby.
Did he ever intend to tell her, or was he planning on getting the inheritance and letting her think that Hubert Braden had simply named him his primary heir?
She was certain that Jake would never have admitted his deception. Every kiss was a lie.
Revolted, she shook with rage. She should have known—she knew only too well how driven Jake was, after all. She’d watched him work, seen the drive that allowed no room for failure, seen it consume his time and energy and concentration. Why had she been so naive? She’d known she was dealing with a tiger whose natural instincts were to satisfy himself above all else. Acquiring money was what Jake thrived on.
Hubert Braden probably wouldn’t approve of Jake getting a divorce. He’d seemed inordinately pleased by their marriage, and now she understood why Jake was fighting to keep her. A half a million dollars to stay was an insignificant investment for him, yet he knew it would dazzle her. She wouldn’t be able to turn him down. His declarations of affection, his request that she give them a chance to fall in love—all lies!
Tears of anger and frustration streamed down Emily’s cheeks. Never in her life had she felt so betrayed and exploited.
Jake the Snake. The nickname fit. Rage blazed in her, growing with every passing minute. She realized now why he’d wanted to marry her in the first place. He must have seen her as the naive secretary, impressed by him. He’d probably thought she’d be so blinded by his money, she’d do whatever he wanted. Jake was calculating and shrewd, and she was certain he’d thought it all out. Society women would make far more monetary demands on him than she would.
She was angry with herself for being so gullible and trusting Jake completely. How dare Jake deceive her! And why did he have to have the inheritance? Why did he want it badly enough to delude her about it? He was already a billionaire—why did he want so much more? She knew he thrived on wealth and he equated money with success. But how greedy was he?
Later, when Jake had Hubert’s money, had he planned on dumping her and keeping his child? Or would he get rid of them both? She suspected there were only two things in life Jake truly loved—himself and money. Was he scrambling to be the world’s richest man? If he had political ambitions, they had to be presidential. Jake would never settle for anything less than the highest possible office.
Well, he could keep his half million. She was getting out of this marriage. She never wanted to see Jake again.
Unable to remain still, she rushed to the closet for a suitcase. She was getting out of Jake’s life and she couldn’t go fast enough. Their marriage was over.
Packing furiously, she knew when she walked out of his life, she would leave most everything he’d given her behind. She glanced at the letter and yanked it up. She made the bed, smoothing away every wrinkle in the expensive gold-and-white satin duvet, propping elegant gold-and-white accent pillows across the bed. With care, she placed the letter in the center of the bed where Jake couldn’t miss it or its implications.
She suspected Jake would try to hold her to her promise to stay for six more months as his wife. He’d probably include sex in that bargain, too. But she didn’t want Jake’s baby anymore. Thank heaven she wasn’t pregnant.
Or was she?
Memories of their lovemaking just hours earlier rose to haunt her. She pressed a palm to her flat tummy, suddenly scared that she might already be carrying his baby. She swayed and closed her eyes, praying that she wasn’t. Surely, if she hadn’t gotten pregnant in all this time…
“Please,” she whispered. “I don’t want Jake’s baby.” They had made love for hours, all through the night. She clamped her mouth shut and prayed again that she wasn’t already carrying his baby. She was not going to be a part of Jake winning Hubert Braden’s inheritance!
As far as she was concerned, Jake broke their vows when he deceived her. She couldn’t get out of this sham marriage soon enough.
Barely aware of her tears, Emily stormed around the room, finding her cell phone. She called one of Jake’s pilots and ordered a plane to be readied in three hours. As the pilot stammered and tried to put her off, she tightened her grip on the phone.
“Look, do I have to get Jake to get a plane here for me?” she asked sharply, her patience shredding. “I want to get back to Dallas to my family as soon as possible.”
“No, ma’am. I’ll be there and ready to go to Dallas by noon,” the pilot replied.
“Thank you,” she said, and snapped her phone closed. Fury made her pack faster.
Her hands shook as she flung clothes into her suitcase. She looked at the velvet box with the diamond necklace. If she sold it, she could give the money to the church. She grabbed up the jewelry Jake had given her, tossing it into her suitcase, determined to get rid of every glittering bit of it.
Seething with anger, she showered and dressed in beige slacks and a matching shirt, then tied her hair behind her head with a silk scarf. As noon approached, she set her suitcases by the door. While she waited for the driver to come pick her up, she looked around the extravagant villa, remembering time spent with Jake in every part of the house. When he’d been with her, Jake had always been working toward a goal—as surely as if he’d been doing battle in a boardroom.
As she left the villa, she refused to look back. In minutes, she was at Jake’s airstrip where a sleek jet was ready and waiting to take her home.
Shortly after twelve, the plane lifted off the island. Still burning with fury, she gazed below at Jake’s sprawling villa and the green jewel of an island in the blue sea. When she got home, she’d get a divorce and end this sham marriage. In fact, because of the deceit, she might even be able to have their marriage annulled. She could pretend the whole thing never happened.
She had no place to go in Dallas except her parents’ house. But sooner or later, Jake would show
up and she wanted to have that confrontation in private and keep her parents out of it. Thanks to Jake she had a hefty savings account. She toyed with the idea of going to Fort Worth or Houston or even out of state and letting Jake search for her to give herself some time before she faced him. But in the end that was just postponing the inevitable.
The prospect of working in Dallas where they might occasionally cross paths didn’t appeal to her. But when she considered moving away, she felt deflated. Her family and friends were all in Dallas. While she was certain she could make new friends, she didn’t want to sever close ties. Dallas was big enough that she and Jake might never see each other.
She vowed she wouldn’t trust Jake again. He’d deceived her because she’d been gullible and trusting. Never again would she accept anything Jake said without questioning his motives. He was driven and power-grubbing. His world revolved around himself and she needed to remember that.
When she landed in midafternoon, she took a taxi to a hotel and booked a suite. Next, she went to their house to get her car, pack her things and move what she needed to the hotel.
She spent the next few hours mulling over plans. Next week she would find a lawyer and see about getting an annulment or a divorce. She wondered if she’d have a difficult time finding an attorney who would fight with Jake’s battery of brilliant, successful lawyers. And with a billion-dollar inheritance at stake, Jake would definitely fight.
Well, he had chosen the wrong woman. Her first instincts had been right. That first night when he had proposed a marriage of convenience, she should have stuck with her initial reaction—that it was preposterous and would never work. How right she had been!
Jake always trusted his instincts. She should have trusted her own.
Soon she would have to see about a job. This would mean giving up her charity work, changing her lifestyle yet again. It occurred to her that she could make Jake pay for what he’d done, but then she dismissed the notion. She just wanted him out of her life.
She’d have to give up some things if she got a job. She coordinated tutors to help students in the elementary grades with reading, math and language. She volunteered two afternoons a week at a school where she met with the tutors, talking to them briefly and answering their questions, then spending one-on-one time with anyone who needed it.
She also served on the board of a children’s shelter. But it took up a lot of her time, so that would have to go.
She could continue tutoring a child in math and science on Wednesday evenings at her father’s church. She’d become friendly with four young men who were on a high-school football team. They gave an hour one night a week to mentor elementary kids. She could continue to help them with that. Gradually she was getting to know both the younger students and their tutors, and her heart went out to all of them. The contrast between their lives and Jake’s disturbed her.
The Dallas hotel she’d checked into was on a busy highway, but she was in a suite that faced away from the highway and overlooked the pool. She charged the suite to Jake. She didn’t care if he knew.
She had a balcony with a table and chairs. The decor of her living area was beige and white and very elegant. She knew soon she’d get used to a more modest style of living and save her money, but she didn’t plan to be in the hotel long. She had enough in her savings account for a down payment on a condo. With Jake’s money, she could take her time to look for a job and a place to live.
She ordered dinner through room service and as night fell, she was surprised she hadn’t heard from Jake. He should have returned to the island by now.
At ten o’clock her cell phone rang, and she answered to hear Jake’s deep voice.
“I’m in the hotel. I’m coming up to see you,” he said with a note of steel in his voice.
“Fine,” she replied, realizing that sooner or later, she would have to talk to him and she might as well get it over with. With a click of the phone, Jake was gone. He’d found her sooner than she’d expected, but he had endless resources at his disposal. She put away her phone and stepped in front of a mirror. Her hair fell free across her shoulders. She wore a red silk blouse and matching slacks. Satisfied with her looks, she waited for his knock.
“Emily, it’s Jake,” he said in a low voice. She opened the door and he came striding into the room, as dynamic a presence as ever. His commanding gaze stabbed into her.
He was still in his suit, but his tie was gone and his shirt was unbuttoned at the throat. Locks of his black hair fell slightly on his forehead as if tangled by the wind. He towered over her. In his expensive flawless suit, he looked commanding. Pulling the letter out of his pocket, he held it out. “I suppose this is why you left.”
“Yes. I want a divorce,” she said. She tried to keep her voice civil, but her fists were clenched and she was trembling with anger again. “How could you deceive me the way you did?” she blurted out, unable to control her fury.
In agitation, she crossed the room to put some distance between them and then whirled to face him. “You married me to get Hubert’s money. Not for any other reason!” she snapped. “I hate you, Jake, for your duplicity.”
A muscle worked in his jaw, but otherwise he looked calm. “I think you’re making a mountain out of a molehill. We married because it was convenient, not for love. I never told you I loved you.”
“A molehill!” She struggled to get her voice back down. “Your greed is astounding. You’ll do anything for money! Why didn’t you just tell me what the deal was and let me decide if I wanted to get married under those circumstances?”
“You know you wouldn’t have.”
“If you think I wouldn’t have, then you know full well that you were doing something underhanded and wrong! I can’t believe how conniving you are!” She was hot with anger and her voice had risen. She hated his unshakable cool demeanor.
“All right, maybe I should have told you. But that’s over and done. Now that you know, why can’t we go on with this marriage? You’ll still get all sorts of things you never would have otherwise. And if we split up, you may never get married again. You might never have those children you want,” he stated flatly. “You’re thirty-one now,” he reminded her. “Your biological clock is ticking.”
“You needn’t remind me,” she replied stiffly, hating him with her whole being. “I don’t want my children to have a father who loves money more than anything else on earth. And last night…that was the most devious behavior of all. You led me to believe that you cared, that there was a chance for our marriage to be real. That love would come. ‘I told you that love will bloom,’ you said. ‘I want this marriage to work,’” she quoted. “‘I think this marriage has every potential for success. I don’t want to lose you.’” She glared at him. “It was lie upon lie,” she added, not caring about his excuses.
“You’re blowing this all out of proportion, Emily. And we’ve been good together. Deny that one,” he said, leveling a look at her that only increased her fury.
“What else haven’t you told me? What other big shocks lie in store?”
“That’s it,” he snapped, for the first time scowling at her. “That inheritance changes nothing between you and me.”
“It changes everything. You weren’t straightforward with me. It’s a betrayal of my trust!”
He pushed open his jacket to place his hands on his hips. He stared at her, his gray eyes glacial. “It’s ridiculous for you to waste your money staying at this hotel. Come out to the house. You can stay down the hall and we can avoid each other as much as you want, but we can talk things over and come to some agreement.”
“I’m not moving in with you,” she said. Was he listening to her at all? “I want a divorce. Or an annulment. Now I know why you fought the idea of divorce so strongly. Evidently, Hubert will cut you out of that inheritance if you divorce.”
“He hasn’t said that in so many words,” Jake said, but his face flushed, and she suspected she was exactly right.
“A
nd the nursery, Jake. I see why you wanted a nursery. I’m sure you sent pictures of it to Hubert,” she said and saw Jake’s face flush even more. For once, he couldn’t maintain his impassive gaze. “You didn’t give a fig for the nursery! You may not even care about the baby if you ever have one. You’re after money.”
“I wanted him to know we were planning a family.”
“Of course you did. The only reason you haven’t lied to him and told him I’m pregnant is because you know he’ll want to meet the baby or see pictures. Well, you married the wrong woman,” she said. “I want out of this marriage.” She raised her chin. She wondered if Jake had ever been told he was going to have to do something he didn’t want to do.
His eyes narrowed. “You promised just a little over twenty-four hours ago that you would give me another six months. You gave me your word. And I agreed to give you a half a million dollars.”
“You’re a fine one to talk about giving your word!” she cried, winding her fingers together tightly.
“You promised me, Emily. Six more months.” He rubbed the back of his neck and gave her a stormy look. “You’re giving up a half a million dollars’ worth of help for all those people you say need it so desperately.”
“I’m not letting you touch me again. I don’t want to have your baby! I don’t want to get pregnant by you. My body is mine—you can never buy it. Never!”
“Never is a hell of a long time and you have a lot to learn about negotiation,” he said imperturbably, fueling her anger.
“You don’t deserve to have me honor my promise.”
“Perhaps not,” he said, leveling a cold hard look at her. “But you won’t be able to live with yourself if you don’t honor what you promised. It doesn’t matter one damn bit what I did when it comes to you giving your word. You live by a code of honesty and you know you’re going to have to uphold it to feel good about yourself.”
Suspecting he was right, she frowned. “This is one time I’ll live with guilt. I’m not coming back with you. I don’t want more intimate moments with you or to help you get more money. You’re consumed with greed, Jake!”