JOSS: A Standalone Romance (Gray Wolf Security)

by Glenna Sinclair

  There was so much about all of these people I didn’t know.

  Several more weeks passed and the nursery remained a storeroom. I thought about it sometimes and drew a few pictures of what I imagined it should look like. I used to like to design rooms when I was a kid. My mom would take me to her jobs, make me sit quietly in the kitchen doing my homework while she went about her work. Sometimes I would explore the massive houses, mansions that were just as, if not more, impressive as Nicolas’ house. Then I would draw what I saw, moving furniture around, changing the colors or the patterns on the wallpaper. It was a hobby I never fully developed, but it was soothing as I continued to look toward a future that seemed to have no anchor, no direction.

  Kelly found it amusing I was on the front of the tabloids.

  “I always knew one of us would be labeled a slut in the national gossip rags. I just never thought it would be you.”

  “You’re welcome to it.”

  But then she grew concerned, her tone much too serious for the Kelly I knew.

  “Are you okay, kid? He’s not treating you badly, is he?”

  “Constance is here. She’s taking care of me.”

  “That’s good. But she can’t be around all the time, can she?”

  Kelly knew me too well. It took all I had not to cry over the phone, to beg her to come and protect me from my own stupid decisions.

  I was losing hope with every day that passed. Nicolas was gone so often on this movie that I hardly ever saw him. The lawyers still called once a week, but Nicolas was rarely here to answer. It was like he’d decided that he wasn’t going to deal with his legal troubles anymore. Or he’d resigned himself to his fate. And that wasn’t good enough for me.

  I had to do something.

  One afternoon, I went into Nicolas’ office and began to search through his drawers. I wasn’t sure what it was I was looking for, but I had to know more. There was still a bag of Xanax in my nightstand upstairs. The memory of the other drugs still hovered heavy over me. I knew in my heart that Nicolas wasn’t guilty of what they were accusing him of, but I also knew there had to be a simple explanation for it all, for the drugs, the stories, the witness. There had to be something.

  So I searched his drawers. And found nothing.

  Well, not nothing. There were pictures of him and Aurora. Pictures from their wedding, of them on a tropical island, which was probably their honeymoon. There were pictures of them smiling at each other, of them kissing. Pictures in which they appeared deliriously happy. Every one of them was like a knife through my heart. They were together, in a box, inside his desk drawer. That meant something. That meant that he still got them out and looked at them from time to time. There was nothing else in the house that even suggested that Aurora had ever lived there. I’d noticed a little at a time, all the things that were missing. None of her clothes in his closet, none of her toiletries in his bathroom. The collection of figurines she’d so proudly displayed in the living room, the gold trimmed china in the dining room. It was all gone. All, except these pictures.

  When I came across a picture of Nicolas and Aurora with an older woman who was clearly Aurora’s mother—they had the same patrician noses and platinum blond hair—it reminded me of how Nicolas told me he turned to Aurora’s mother for help when her drug addiction began to spiral out of control. But at the press conference just after Nicolas’ arrest, she suggested that Nicolas had gotten her daughter addicted to the drugs himself. She insisted that Nicolas was responsible for Aurora’s death.

  It was the words of a grieving mother. As were her attempts to get the district attorney to press charges—something he still hadn’t committed to. According to the district attorney’s office, the case was still under investigation.

  Aurora’s mother, Virginia, was the driving force in all of this. I wondered if she knew about the babies. I wondered if it would change things, if she knew that Nicolas was trying to do the right thing for Aurora’s children. Would she stop pushing the matter if she knew that she was about to be a grandmother? If I told her, would it change things?

  There was only one way to find out.

  ***

  I found Virginia Davis’ address on an old Christmas card shoved in the back of a drawer in Nicolas’ office. That was the easy part. The hard part was sneaking out of the house in Constance’s old Ford Focus without Adam or any of the other bodyguards any the wiser.

  I told Adam I was going upstairs to take a nap. Then, I snuck down the backstairs and slipped Constance’s keys out of her purse while she was in the garden yelling at the gardener for tracking mud on the carpet in the back hallway. I was out the back gate before anyone even noticed I was gone. It was a lucky escape. I was hoping my luck would hold a while longer.

  Virginia’s house was on the other side of the hills from Nicolas’. I nearly got lost a couple of times trying to find it. Thank goodness for Google Maps! My heart was pounding in my chest as I pulled up to the front of the house. Unlike Nicolas, she didn’t see the need for fences and gates. But, again, there were no paparazzi sitting outside her house, either.

  I didn’t know what to say as I sat in the car in front of her house. I honestly hadn’t been sure I’d make it this far, but I was here now. I took a deep breath and climbed out of the car, running my hands slowly over my hips to smooth my dress down. The babies kicked almost as if they knew what I was up to and they wanted to put in their two cents worth. I wondered what they might have said if they really knew. Would they want their grandmother in their lives? Of course they would. What kid didn’t want a grandma to spoil them with gifts?

  I walked to the door and rang the bell, my heart in my throat now. I wasn’t sure how I was going to speak, let alone what I was going to say. All these stupid lines played through my head—I’m your daughter’s surrogate. Want to meet your grandkids? Drop the charges against Nicolas and I’ll make sure you see your grandkids whenever you want. It was stupid, really.

  “Can I help you?” a tall, slender man asked as he moved up behind me.

  “I’m here to see Virginia Davis.”

  “That’s my stepmother,” he said, pushing open the door and gesturing for me to proceed him inside. “Does she know you?”

  “No. But I knew her daughter. Aurora.”

  The man gestured for me to lead the way down a narrow hall that cut off the entryway to the right.

  “Do I know you?” he asked as we walked. “You look familiar.”

  The pictures from the tabloids flashed through my mind, but I didn’t say anything. He touched my shoulder to direct me to the left. We walked for a full minute before we came to a door that opened onto a long, brick patio. Virginia Davis was sitting out there, reading a book at a large, comfortable outdoor dining table. There was a glass of wine on the table in front of her and a plate of fruit that looked incredible to my always hungry baby bump.

  The babies moved again. I touched my belly, silently urging them to settle down.

  “Daniel,” Virginia said, as she put her book down and watched us walk toward her. “I didn’t realize you were bringing company.”

  “She came on her own. She was at the front door when I arrived.”

  “Oh.” Virginia looked me over for a moment, then her eyes narrowed. “You’re that girl from the tabloids. The one who was in a romantic clutch with Nicolas’ bodyguard.”

  “We’re not involved,” I said quickly. “The paparazzi got it wrong.”

  “Didn’t look wrong to me,” Daniel said, shooting me a look that I didn’t appreciate. I touched my belly again, trying to remind myself I was there to do a good thing.

  “Well, whatever it was, you are that girl?”

  Virginia was watching me with more than curiosity in her eyes. There was judgment there as well. A part of me wanted to run as fast and as far as I could, but I again reminded myself I was there for a reason. And that reason was a good one.

  “I am.”

  “Then you’re a friend of Nicolas?” />
  “That’s why I came to see you. I wanted to talk to you about Nicolas.”

  Her eyes dropped to my belly. “Well, if it has anything to do with your condition, I don’t want to hear it.”

  “Oh, come on, Virgi,” the man, Daniel, said. “Give her a chance. She came all this way.”

  “It’s important,” I said.

  Virginia studied me for a long second. “Alright. I’ll listen to what you have to say.”

  Daniel came over and pulled a chair out for me. I smiled at him gratefully. My back was aching from being on my feet a little more than I should have been. The bigger my belly got, the more punishment my back took. Some days, I just wasn’t sure my body would be able to take much more of this.

  I settled in the chair and smiled gratefully at Daniel. He inclined his head slightly and moved around the table, taking a seat to Virginia’s left. She never bothered to get up, let alone greet me properly. She just stared at me, waiting for me to say whatever it was I had to say.

  I suddenly had no idea what I was going to say.

  “How do you know Nicolas?” Daniel asked.

  “Aurora introduced us.” I touched the top of my belly again. “Actually, their lawyer introduced us.”

  “He has his lawyer pimping for him now?” Virginia asked.

  “It’s not like that,” I said, my face reddening at the implication.

  Daniel made a gesture, and Virginia sat back, her face puckered like she had just swallowed something bitter.

  I looked down at my belly, telling myself that this was the best thing for everyone. She would stop this crusade against Nicolas if she knew that he was about to become a father to her daughter’s children, wouldn’t she? She’d have to.

  “Did he hurt you? Do you need money?” Daniel asked.

  “No, of course not.”

  They certainly had a dark idea of who Nicolas was, didn’t they?

  I took a deep breath and just blurted it out. “I’m a surrogate. Aurora contracted with me to carry her and Nicolas’ baby.”

  “Surrogate? That’s a new term for it,” Virginia said.

  Daniel again made a face that caused her to stop talking.

  “Aurora and Nicolas wanted to have a family, but Aurora had decided she couldn’t carry a child to term. So she started looking for a surrogate. My mom is friends with the maid who works in their house and told me, so I went to the lawyer and filled out some paperwork. A couple of weeks later, Aurora and I met and she decided that I was the one.”

  “You?” Virginia looked me over with something new in her eye. “Even if Aurora did want a surrogate—which I don’t believe because there was no reason why she couldn’t carry her own children—why would she want you? She could have asked a friend to do it, someone she could trust. Why a stranger?”

  “She said she didn’t want someone she knew because she was afraid there would be issues after the baby came.”

  “That’s plausible,” Daniel said.

  “Aurora wouldn’t have been able to see far enough past her own nose to think something like that,” Virginia said. “She was too self-centered.”

  I must have gasped because Virginia stared down her nose at me for an instant. “Don’t be so naive, girl,” she said. “I know who my daughter was.”

  I stared down at my hands, beginning to wonder if this was really the great idea I’d thought it was. Maybe I should go. Maybe this was not something I should be doing. I mean, if Nicolas had wanted her to know, he would have told her himself, right? Since he hadn’t…maybe that meant something.

  “Go on, child,” Virginia said. “My daughter hired you to be a surrogate, and…”

  “The doctor implanted embryos from Aurora’s eggs and Nicolas’ sperm ten days before she died.”

  The color washed out of Virginia’s face. She stared at me as though she expected my head to explode or something. After a minute, I couldn’t meet her gaze any longer. I dropped my eyes to my belly, tears beginning to well in my throat.

  “The baby you’re carrying belongs to my Aurora?”

  “Twins.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “I’m carrying twins,” I said, after clearing my throat twice.

  “Shit,” Daniel said.

  Virginia shook her head. “I’m supposed to believe you’re pregnant with twins, and they’re biologically my daughter’s babies?”

  “Yes.”

  She shook her head again, the movement almost like the comforting rock some small children engage in when they are deeply upset. Then, she stood and charged toward me. I thought she was going to give me a hug or touch my belly. Instead, she grabbed my arm hard enough that I would find bruises later that night and dragged me out of the chair I was sitting in.

  “Get out of my house!”

  She started to pull me toward the door from which I’d come, her grip so much stronger than I would have imagined. I tried to pull away, but I was at an odd angle and would have fallen if I did. Daniel came around the table and moved up behind Virginia, blocking her path.

  “Get out of the way, Daniel!”

  “You need to calm down, Virginia. Can’t you see you’re frightening the girl?”

  “She’s a lying bitch! I’d be surprised if she’s even pregnant.”

  I didn’t know what to do. I was shaking, and I just wanted to get out of there. This was obviously not what I’d expected to happen when I came over here today. I just wanted her to drop her crusade against Nicolas. I hadn’t imagined she wouldn’t believe me.

  Daniel set his hands on her shoulders and whispered something I couldn’t hear against her ear. After a minute, Virginia let go of me, glaring at me as she waved her hands and walked away.

  “You okay?” Daniel asked, lifting the arm that was still in the brace even three weeks later. “She didn’t hurt you?”

  “I’m fine.” I pulled away from him and walked in the direction Virginia was trying to drag me, anxious to get out of that house before she came back.

  “You have to understand, Aurora was her only child. She’s devastated by her loss.”

  “Yeah, well, I knew that. That’s why I came here.”

  “To do what?”

  “To convince her to let Nicolas alone. He’s struggling enough, trying to prepare for these babies and salvage his career.”

  “He should have thought of that before he flew to New York that night.”

  I spun on my heel and confronted him. “Just because he was there doesn’t mean he had anything to do with her death. She could have taken those pills herself.”

  “I know she did.”

  I stared at him. “You what?”

  “I know that Aurora died of an overdose. I know she was addicted, and she took too much that night, but she wouldn’t have taken it if Nicolas hadn’t shown up and argued with her.”

  “If you know he’s innocent—”

  “I didn’t say he was innocent. I said he didn’t drug her. There’s a difference.”

  “A huge difference.”

  Daniel looked at me, his green eyes piercing in the dim light of the hallway. “Aurora had her problems, but none of them were insurmountable until she met Nicolas.”

  “What did he do to her that drove her to drugs?”

  Daniel shrugged. “What does any star-crossed lover do to hurt his love? He loved her too much.”

  “And for that, he deserves to be prosecuted?”

  “Virginia needs to work out her grief in her own way. This thing…it will blow over.”

  “Not soon enough.”

  His eyes fell to my belly. “Those are really Aurora’s?”

  “Yes.”

  He stared at my belly for a long minute. It made me self-conscious, as I slid my hands over it and tried to protect the babies as well as I could. Then he nodded as though he’d made a decision.

  “I’ll talk to her, but I can’t make any promises.”

  “I wasn’t looking for any.”

  I drove back h
ome and slipped the keys in Constance’s purse while she was in the laundry room checking on the weeks towel load. No one seemed to have realized I’d gone. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.

  I was hoping, though, that things would be smooth sailing from here on out though.

  Chapter 22

  Thanksgiving snuck up on us. One minute it was the end of May. School was ending and I was looking forward to summer. The next, my mom was dead, I was pregnant, and everything I thought I knew was turned upside down. And now it was Thanksgiving and I was twenty-eight weeks pregnant with another woman’s babies.

  I insisted on helping Constance in the kitchen. I wasn’t much of a cook, but I could chop vegetables and wash pots and pans like a pro. She seemed to enjoy my company, laughing as I sang along to the Tejano radio station she always played.

  “It smells like heaven in here,” Nicolas said as he moved up behind Constance and tried to steal a piece of turkey.

  She slapped his hand. “Stay out of my kitchen. We’ll call you when it’s ready.”

  He groaned even as he shot me a wink. “I’ll be looking forward to it.”

  “He seems happy today,” I said, as I watched Nicolas disappear around the corner.

  “It’s Thanksgiving. Everyone’s happy on Thanksgiving.”

  I shrugged. It seemed as good an explanation as any.

  I carried the china into the dining room and set the table, struggling to make sure everything was exactly as it should be. My mother taught me how to do this when I was barely tall enough to see over the table so that I could help when she served at formal affairs. I knew how it should look, but I wanted this to be perfect.

  The babies were due in February. That meant this was my only chance to spend Thanksgiving with Nicolas. I wanted it to be special. I wanted him to remember it next year when he was struggling to have a meal with two nine-month-old babies. I wanted him to think of me fondly as he watched his kids grow up and they shared many, many holidays together.