Текст книги "Directing Disaster"
Автор книги: Kate Kane
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Текущая страница: 4 (всего у книги 11 страниц)
Chapter 11
The prosecution rests
The prosecution had spent six weeks presenting their case. Ben and Sal planned to wrap up the defense in just a few days. The prosecution had put forth that Senator Eric Harold had discovered that the child his wife carried belonged to another man. That he killed her and intended to kill the child, because divorcing her would ruin the family values platform, upon which he hoped to move to the national political level.
But Ben knew the child was indeed not Eric Harold’s but not because of an affair. Because of an accident Eric Harold had as a teenager, he was sterile. But Eric and Amelia Harold wanted kids and had gone to a fertility clinic not just out of state, but out of the country; and after several tries and several thousand dollars of Eric’s father’s money, they had finally conceived. Eric was thrilled at the thought of being a father. They’d carefully chosen a sperm donor whose physical characteristics were much like Eric’s own. If Amelia hadn’t been killed, no one would have ever suspected the child wasn’t Eric’s. They’d gone to all of this trouble because of Eric Harold’s political career. Tanner had been investigating, and Ben was sure that he could present enough evidence to shed reasonable doubt. In fact he thought he could point to another viable suspect, whom the police had completely over looked.
The prosecution rested at eleven o’clock; and rather than have the defense start and then break for lunch, the judge called for a recess until one o’clock. Ben called Jess.
“Hey, Ben. I just picked Joey up at Johnson County Executive. Can we meet you for lunch?”
“Sure, meet me at Papa’s. It’s the one place the reporters can’t get to me and I know I can get in and out. Papa will be overjoyed to see Joey. Once we tell him it’s Joey anyway. Mama’s about the only one who can tell them apart.”
Jess shook her head and looked at Joey. How on earth could anyone not tell them apart?
Joey parked and Jess started to get out of the Escalade. “Toots, sit, I’ll get the door,” Joey said as he opened his door. As he opened her door, he said, “A lady should never open her own door, Toots. It’s a rule.”
Fine, it was a rule. She’d try to remember. “Joey, where’d you get the scrubs?”
He put his hand in the small of her back. “It doesn’t matter. It’s something Pauli and I used to do when we were kids. We’d change clothes and see how many people we could fool. Mama was never fooled, and usually Ben caught on, but to the rest of the world, we are interchangeable. If I’m going to be Pauli, I need to look the part.”
Joey opened the carved wooden door, and they walked into the family restaurant. Enzo, the bartender, waved to them. Calling him Pauli as they walked toward the Board Room, the private dining room where the Bellini family and their guests dined. Joey waved back to Enzo and leaned down to whisper to Jess, “See? I’m Pauli.”
Ben was already at a table in the corner when they walked in. Jess looked at Joey. “Can I have a couple of minutes alone with Ben?”
“Sure, Toots. I’ll go back to the kitchen and say hello to Papa and Tony.”
Ben stood as Jess came to the table. He held a chair for her as she sat.
She’d spent half the night trying to decide what to do. “Look, Ben, I might have been wrong. I can see being apart isn’t good for either you or mom.”
“Is she all right?”
“She misses you, I think. But yes, she’s fine.”
He looked at her. There was something she wasn’t saying. “Jess, what is it I can see there’s something else.”
She shook her head. He was in trial mode and with her stalker, she wasn’t playing her “A” game. Mom had said not to tell the boys, she hadn’t said a word about not telling Ben.
“Okay, here’s the thing, she’s fine, she’s not sick. She’s tired.” She looked at her watch. “I think she’s at the doctor right now.”
“At the doctor? What for? You said she’s not sick.”
Jess took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “She’s not sick. She’s pregnant.”
He looked at her. He shook his head. “She’s pregnant? How long has she known this? And why am I hearing it from you?”
“She went to lunch with Mick McGuire yesterday and fainted. He had an ambulance take her to Shawnee Mission. That’s how she found out. She’s going to tell you. She told me last night, break or no break you have a right to know.”
He threw his napkin on the table. “What doctor? Where is she?”
“Ben, I don’t know.”
He glared at her.
She shook her head and held up her hands. “Really, I don’t know.”
He pulled out his phone and she reached toward his hand. “If you call her now, she’ll know I told you. She really wants to do it herself. Can you just wait until tonight? I know she’ll call you tonight. She wants to tell Jake and Jamie tonight.”
“You want me to wait while Mickey McGuire tries to hustle in on my fiancée? My pregnant fiancée. I won’t tell her I know.”
Jess shook her head. “Are you kidding? She’s going to hear it in your voice if you call her now. Maybe you should send her a text.”
She was directing him again, but it didn’t make her wrong. It was just that Bellini men didn’t take direction well. Except for Pauli. He was jumping through hoops for Jess.
He quickly tapped out a text message. “Missing you call you tonite?”
God, he was going to be a father. What if Lane was angry with him? What if she responded that he didn’t need to call? Oh Hell. What had he done?
Ben went back to court, praying that his phone would buzz with a text from Lane.
He called his first witness, a doctor from the fertility clinic in Canada. They presented the evidence of the dates that Amelia Harold had gone to the clinic. They had chosen that clinic because Amelia had family in the area, and from the outside her trips appeared to be made to visit an elderly grandparent.
The prosecution cross examined. Ben’s jury consultant kept a close eye on the jury. By the body language, the consultant was sure that at least two of the female jurors had sympathy for Eric even before the prosecution had rested.
Ben called his second witness. His phone was in his brief case. After the prosecution had completed cross examination of the second witness, the judge had recessed until tomorrow morning. Thank God.
He packed his briefcase and pulled out his phone. Lane had texted back. “Me too. Dinner?”
It was four o’clock and he told Sal he had to leave. How many roses meant I love you and I’m glad we’re having a baby? He used his phone to go to the website. Fifteen meant I’m really sorry, well that was a start. Forgetting all about the news crews, he called her office as he walked out of the courtroom. Meg picked up.
“Is she in a meeting?”
“No, she just stepped out for a minute.” Code for she’d gone to the bathroom.
“Will you tell her I called? Tell her I love her and ask her to call me. Court’s in recess for the day. I’m on my cell.” He walked out of the courthouse ignoring the reporters who were calling his name.
He had just gotten to his car when his phone rang. He knew by the ring tone it was Lane. He pushed the button to talk. “Red. I love you.”
She smiled. He’d done it again. His text had come while she was at the obstetrician thinking about him and about the life she had growing inside her. Over the last three years, he frequently called her at the exact moment she was thinking about him. He’d told her he had ESP where she was concerned. She ran her finger over the necklace she wore.
“I never doubted it for a minute.” She closed the door to her office to keep prying ears out. “Ben, where are you?” She couldn’t wait to tell him the news but she wanted to see his face when she told him.
“I just left the courthouse. I’m about to get into my Navigator. Do you need me?”
“Yes,” she said quietly. “How soon can you be home?”
“I can be home in 30 minutes. Your house or mine?”
That was a good question. Their houses were only a few blocks apart. Jess was probably at her house, but Jess had said Ben’s brother Joey was flying in and Joey might be at Ben’s.
“My house. I’ll meet you at my house in 30 minutes.” She started packing up her laptop and opened her office door. She was amazed that Meg didn’t fall through.
“I’m taking the rest of the day off. I’m on my cell. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Sure, she was confused about why Ben had picked that fight. But she’d told him to let her know when he was finished with his break. She loved him. She knew he loved her. She didn’t know what the break was about, and honestly, right now it didn’t matter. She was pregnant. He was her best friend, he was her fiancé and he was the father of her baby. She trusted him.
Chapter 12
Confessions
Lane arrived at home to find the house empty. There were a couple of suspicious cars lurking near the house, but she suspected they were the paparazzi Jess had warned her about.
She changed into her Levi’s 501 button fly jeans, rubbing her tummy before she buttoned them. She pulled on a light weight, long sleeved sweater and went into the kitchen to make some herbal tea.
She heard the garage door open, and turned to see Ben. He crossed the distance in three long strides, set the roses he carried on the counter and swept her into his arms. He kissed her, she kissed him and as always when their tongues mingled, she moaned. Which was always enough to give him a huge erection, and today was no different. He picked her up and carried her to her bedroom, kissing her every step of the way. Lane made no objection, running her hands along his hair line at the back of his neck. Murmuring that she loved him.
He put her on the bed and lay down next to her. Between kisses, he confessed. “My God, I love you so much. I’ve missed you. I’m so sorry. The roses were to tell you how sorry I am. I’ve been so stupid. I was worried when Rochelle and Lila had come out of the woodwork, I was afraid that you’d get hurt, and I just wanted to keep you safe. Staying away was the only way I could think of. I’ve been miserable without you.”
She put her fingers on his lips to quiet him. “Before you say anything else, there’s something I have to tell you.” She removed her fingers from his lips and kissed him. She took his hand and laid it on her abdomen. “I love you. Ben, have you ever thought about having kids?”
God this was torture. He knew. Jess had told him, but he couldn’t let Lane know he knew. But until this morning, he’d never thought about having kids of his own. “We have three kids.” He kissed her. “Do you want more kids? What I think is if you want a dozen, we’ll have a dozen.”
She laughed. “Well, probably not a dozen, but I think at least one more.” She kissed him and leaned to whisper in his ear. “I’m pregnant.”
He smothered her with kisses. “So, now we do have to get married. Jess is here, let’s call Father Palmert. We already have the license. We can do this tonight.”
They had gotten their marriage license weeks before and it was good for six months. He wasn’t planning on giving her any time to think about it, no time for anyone to change their plans. No time for crazy ex-girlfriends or crazy women who wanted to be girlfriends to interfere or for basketball buddies to get in the way. No kid of his was going to be born outside the bonds of matrimony.
“How long have you known,” he asked tracing his fingers along her abdomen.
She told him the story of how she’d fainted the day before, how the doctor had thought Mick was her fiancé and had told him she was pregnant before she even knew.
He leaned up on one elbow and looked into her eyes. “Mickey knew you were pregnant before I did?”
“Ben, I didn’t tell him. It was a misunderstanding. He knew before I did. Believe me, my preference would have been for you to be the second to know.”
“The second?”
She laughed. “Well, I thought I would be first.” And she kissed him. He was so cute.
“God, I want to make love to you.” He rubbed her abdomen. “Is it safe?” He wasn’t going to do anything to risk hurting either her or the baby.
She laughed. “Safe except for the possibility of Jess or Jamie coming home and catching us.” She kissed him. “But I’m willing to take the risk if you are.”
At Jess’s insistence, Ben had asked permission from her kids before he proposed. Jamie, the youngest, had told him it was okay as long as he didn’t think he was going to spend the night. He’d had a similar conversation with Jake a month or so earlier. Of course, once they told the boys that Lane was pregnant, it would be clear that ship had sailed.
He kissed her. “I’m a little worried about him finding out that you’re pregnant before we’re married.” Just after he’d proposed, he had told Lane that Jamie had put him on notice that he wasn’t allowed to spend the night. So on the three occasions they’d had sex, they’d either gone to his house or waited until Jamie, who was the only one still living at home, was gone.
He’d had the sex talk with both Jake and Jamie years ago. He’d told them there are three basic rules. Rule 1: No means no and stop means stop no matter how much you think stopping is going to kill you. Rule 2: Never have sex with a woman who is too incapacitated to say either no or stop. Rule 3: always, always, always use protection.
A pregnant Lane would tell the boys immediately that he’d broken one of his own rules.
Chapter 13
a merry chase
Jess and Joey had lunch in the Board Room at Bellini’s. Ben was right, it was the one place where the press couldn’t get to them. Joey hadn’t told Tony or Papa that he wasn’t Pauli. That was clear to Jess, and no one seemed to be surprised to find Pauli and Jess sitting in the Board Room having lunch in the middle of the week.
Joey knew that at this moment, the Bellinis had a singular goal and it was to keep Jess safe. If the paparazzi were descending on Kansas, then it was just a matter of time before the lunatic fan knew where she was too.
He’d used his lock picks to get into her condo, pulled his gun and gone through every room. He’d found a note on the guestroom bed and had seen the note on her bed. He’d put them both in his pocket before he’d used his picks to open the bathroom door.
He’d called Ben on the short flight to St. Louis last night and read both notes to him. It was obvious from the missives that these weren’t the first fan letters this nut job had sent. In fact, between venting in one note that Kit Hart was just evil and selfish; and then spewing flowery prose to Kate Hart in the other, Jess’s fan had made reference to his previous letters. What confused Joey was that the nut case seemed to hate Kit Hart but love Kate Hart. And wasn’t Jess going to be playing both of the sisters in this film?
For Joey, that spelled extreme crazy. Not only was the guy writing love/hate letters to fictional characters, he’d fixated on Jess and seemed unable to tell fact from fiction. The idiot seemed to think that Jess was the two fictional women. Both of them, as if she herself were two different people. It was scary enough that she was the object of a fan’s affection, but she was also the object of his hate and that was terrifying.
Joey had a unique perspective. After all, he’d spent his whole life as an identical twin. He knew first hand that some people had trouble thinking of twins as individuals. But he and Pauli were two completely different people. Sure, he and Pauli had traded places on more than one occasion; especially when they were still in high school. Sophomore year, Pauli was struggling in Advanced Algebra and Joey had not only done all of his homework, they’d traded places for all of the tests. Joey had tutored his brother and by the end of the year, Pauli was at least doing his own homework. Joey wasn’t going to give up their “A” though and he continued to take the tests through finals week. Pauli wanted to be a doctor and Joey was going to make sure it happened. In fact, both Joey and Pauli had taken the MSAT weeks apart. Both used Pauli’s ID. Joey’s score got Pauli into med school.
Before he’d left Vegas this morning, Joey had called his brother, Pauli, who was doing his residency in St. Louis. “Bro. Stay in St. Louis. I’m you in Kansas City.”
Jess still didn’t understand why no one else seemed able to see the difference between Joey and Pauli, but she was glad he’d stopped calling her Toots and was behaving more like Pauli than like an extra from The Godfather. What was she thinking? Pauli fawning over her was annoying all on its own.
She wasn’t sure how long he planned to walk around in scrubs and what was he wearing on his feet? The shoes were all wrong. Pauli wore athletic shoes, that was true, but Jess could swear the Nike’s Joey was wearing had diamonds in the logo. Who would do that?
He’d taken the keys to her mother’s Escalade and driven by her mother’s house. He was hunting for paparazzi. He wanted to lure them out into the open, where he could pose and let them know he was Dr. Paolo Raffaele Bellini and that he was dating Jess. The more photos the paparazzi got of him in his Pauli clothes the better. Then he could get out of these stupid scrubs, back into his suit, fly back to Vegas and get on with his life. And no one in Vegas would know he was mixed up in this mess.
Of course, he wasn’t sure who was going to protect Jess when he went home, and clearly someone needed to keep an eye on things. She was a little spitfire and who knew what kind of trouble she’d get into on her own.
She was a good actress though. They didn’t even like each other and she’d let him hold doors for her and hold her hand as they’d wandered into and out of some stores on the Plaza.
They’d gotten back in the SUV, and he’d driven them to Ben’s. Once inside she’d looked at him. “I’m not sure what you think you know, but your brother and I are not a couple. Do you hear me?” She said, as she followed him through the house. He was carrying a garment bag, so he could change out of the scrubs and into his own clothes. She was so mad she followed him right into the guest room. He’d put the garment bag on the bed and stood listening. He was six feet four inches tall, she was five feet four inches tall in her bare feet and he wasn’t sure whether that was the truth or publicity propaganda. She seemed shorter to him. He’d looked her up online earlier today and read the whole publicity spread.
Jessica Anne Parker, whose Screen Actors Guild card said Jessica Anne Lane. She was 20 years old, born February 14, and was America’s sweetheart as she prepared to take on the dual roles of Kate and Kit Hart. She was five feet four inches tall, so she always wore shoes with at least five inch heels. She’d been a student at UCLA and had some bit parts in TV shows and movies before getting the call for the audition. Interviewers seemed obsessed with her eyelashes. They were real, she’d told all of them. He’d seen a clip of her tugging on them to prove the point. Having seen them up close and personal, he had to admit, they were the longest thickest eyelashes he’d ever seen. The interview must have been done yesterday, before she’d gone to her condo and had the melt down, because she was wearing the same little red dress and shoes she had on when he’d found her holed up in the bathroom.
He’d watched a couple of her other interviews on the internet. She seemed to be poised and intelligent, with a sharp wit, as she answered questions. She bantered with the interviewers when they asked about her personal life and whether or not she had a boyfriend.
She had always denied having a boyfriend, but that wasn’t the story Pauli had been telling Joey ad-nauseam. For the last month, it had been Jess Parker this, Jess Parker that, Jess Parker has the biggest bluest eyes. Joey had never seen his brother so enamored with a woman. He wondered if the attraction might be that Jess wasn’t falling all over Pauli the way women usually did.
All of the Bellini brothers were tall, with dark hair and whiskey colored eyes. They all worked out. They had rock hard biceps and six pack abs. Hell, their muscles had muscles. They had million watt smiles that could stop traffic. Women normally fell all over them, but Jess Parker didn’t seem to notice. Maybe it was because she’d been in Hollywood, where drop dead gorgeous men were a dime a dozen; or maybe it was because she’d spent the last three years around the eldest Bellini, who had set the standard for the rest of them. Maybe she was just immune to the Bellini charm. Whatever the reason, she didn’t cut him any slack. Pauli, he meant, she didn’t cut Pauli any slack.
She still stood in the bedroom, haranguing him about telling the paparazzi that she and Pauli were a couple. For inferring that her SAG card would soon say Bellini because their relationship was so serious that she’d soon be using Pauli’s last name. The truth was her Screen Actors Guild card bore the name Jessica Lane. There were already Sarah Jessica Parker and Jessica Parker Kennedy and she had felt another Jessica anything Parker was too confusing.
She wasn’t yelling. It seemed to Joey that the angrier she got, the quieter her voice became. He had to lean in to hear what she was saying, but there was no mistaking the body language. She stood toe to toe with him, fists on her hips, except when she was poking him in the chest. God it hurt every time she poked that huge bruise she’d given him, but she was so cute when she was mad. Suddenly, he practically doubled over when the heel of her right hand landed in his solar plexus knocking the wind out of him.
“You big dumb Pisano. You aren’t even listening to me,” she said as she turned and left the room closing the door behind her.
As he stood, bent at the waist, his hands on his knees, struggling to catch his breath, he wondered why he’d had to go to L.A. yesterday to save her. Seemed to him between the paint ball gun yesterday and the punch she’d just delivered that she could take care of herself in a pinch.
She walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. No soda. Oh right, Ben had the fridge in the in the garage for sodas. She went into the garage and got a Diet Dr. Pepper. She was back in the kitchen getting a glass of ice when Joey came in. He was wearing what must be the Bellini casual uniform. He had on a black long sleeved silk T-shirt tucked into a pair of khaki slacks. He was wearing Berluti loafers. Geeze there were only two places in the United States to get Berluti’s; Miami or New York. He’d pushed his sleeves up, apparently so he could showcase the muscles in his forearms.
He smiled at her. “You sure know how to throw a punch, Toots.”
She raised an eyebrow and glared at him. “Jess. My name is Jess.” She inclined her head toward the lake behind Ben’s house. “There are three of them out there with telephoto lenses.” She walked over to him and ran her hand down his arm. She smiled. “Whatever your plan was, I guess it’s working.” She stood on her tip toes and kissed him, before leaning in and whispering, “Now what, wise guy?”
She’d spent the day with this infuriating and controlling man. Ben had accused her of trying to direct her family like actors on a stage. Had he even met his brother Joey? She’d followed his direction all day. “Smile like you’re glad to be here with me.” “Hold my hand.” “Now laugh because I just said something funny.” She’d been doing improv all day and she needed a break, but with the paparazzi camped outside Ben’s house with telephoto lenses she wasn’t going to get one any time soon. She still had to act like the happy girlfriend. And she had no idea why.
He picked her up, sat her on the island and moved her legs apart so he could stand closer. He looked into her eyes. Before leaning down and kissing her. He told himself it was so the paparazzi could get their candid shots and move on. She grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him closer. She leaned into him and whispered into his ear. “Take it easy big guy. It’s called acting.” She leaned back and looked onto his eyes. Where had she seen those eyes before?
Her cell phone buzzed.
“Jams. What’s up?”
“You coming home for dinner? Mom and Ben have made up and Mom wants everyone home.”
Still looking in Joey’s eyes, she responded, “Okay. On our way.”
