“You’re welcome,” he said as he pressed his thumb below my eye. He laughed at the black smear that was left across his skin. “Did you work in a coal mine while I was asleep?”
I looked away. His gorgeousness had temporarily made me forget my disastrous state.
He turned my face toward him. “I’m just kidding. The guest bathroom upstairs has soap, towels, a new toothbrush … use whatever you want.”
I used all of it and then went back downstairs, where Jack was taking a plastic bag from a delivery boy. “Since I don’t cook,” Jack said, closing the front door, “I ordered breakfast.”
I glanced at my watch. It wasn’t even seven, so I had time to eat and call Tony to take me across town so I could shower and change before work. But even if I didn’t have time, it would have been hard to tear myself away. Jack was smiling at me, the sun flowing through the windows made his hair look like gold, and I sensed that even a rich and handsome guy might get lonely in a big, empty house. So I followed him to the kitchen, which had cherry cabinets and black granite countertops and a double oven that still had an Electrolux sticker on it.
“I should get going,” I said when we’d finished eating. “I need to go home and change.”
“Where do you live? You haven’t told me.”
I pushed my chair back and stood up. “Central Park West,” I said.
His forehead wrinkled. “Really? That’s a nice area.”
He was probably wondering how an aspiring writer could afford my address, and part of me felt guilty for keeping the reason a secret. The other part thought it was fun to be a woman of mystery—at least for a while.
I leaned down and kissed his cheek. “Thanks for last night. Let’s do it again.”
“We will. Can I give you a lift?”
I shook my head. “I’m going to call a friend to pick me up.”
We walked to the front door. Jack opened it and circled his arms around me, and I rested my face against the soft cotton that covered his hard chest.
“Want me to wait with you until your ride comes?” he said into my hair.
“Get ready for work. You don’t want to be late … I’ve heard your boss is a jerk.”
He laughed and kissed the top of my head. I went outside, he shut the door behind me, and I sat at the bottom of eight cement steps while I called Tony.
“I’m on East Seventieth and Park,” I told him, squinting to read a street sign at the end of the block. “I’m halfway down on the right … it’s my date’s house. But don’t judge me. I slept on his couch, and I swear on twenty Bibles that nothing funny happened.”
“No judgment,” Tony replied. “And I believe you.”
I put the phone away, lifted my face to the warm morning sunshine, and closed my eyes as I rewound everything that had happened last night.
“Savannah,” someone said in the distance.
My eyes sprang open. They scanned the block—a wreath made of dried flowers on a door, a woman loading a baby into an Escalade, Kitty standing across the street in a khaki suit.
What was she doing here? Why was she giving me that befuddled look? And was that Ned coming out of the town house behind her? I gasped, glancing back at the street sign. We live in a lovely brownstone on East Seventieth, he’d said.
He and Jack were neighbors? That sort of explained why Ned had shot daggers in my direction when he saw me dancing with Jack inside Astor Hall. But did Ned think he could bar me from fraternizing with everybody, including all residents of the Upper East Side?
Ned spotted me. His face clouded over as he stormed past Kitty and across the road. I stood up, put my hands on my hips, and tapped my foot against the step, just waiting.
“Ned, take it easy,” Kitty called after him when she paused for the Escalade to go by. “Don’t jump to conclusions.”
What conclusions? I wondered as Ned’s leather loafers hit the curb. He stood in front of me with his cold green eyes fixed on my face and his lips set into a thin, tight line.
“What the hell are you doing at Jack’s house?” he asked, looking me up and down. “Your clothes are wrinkled. Is that yesterday’s outfit?”
Kitty rushed up behind him and tugged at his blazer. “Ned, don’t—”
He shrugged her off. “I asked you a question. You were here all night, weren’t you?”
His voice was loud and demanding, and professional-looking people leaving houses were glancing at me like I’d done something slimy. But I hadn’t, so I raised my chin and lifted my shoulders.
“That’s none of your business,” I said as Tony pulled up in the black sedan. “Even though you seem to want to, you can’t run my life. I’m allowed to date your neighbor.”
“My neighbor,” Ned echoed with an indignant laugh. “You know better than that.”
Tony got out of the car. “Everything okay?” he called toward me.
“Fine,” I said, waving him away. I couldn’t let him get mixed up in whatever this was. But he didn’t go back into the car. He leaned against it like a bodyguard as the doorknob clicked behind me. I turned around and saw Jack on the top step, half-dressed in gray pants and a fresh white shirt that he hadn’t buttoned all the way. A striped tie was in his hand, and he looked more confused than I felt.
“What’s going on?” Jack said, glancing between me and Ned and Kitty.
“You tell me,” Ned shot back. “Did you sleep with my sister?”
Now I was the one to laugh. “I’m your sister? Since when?” I asked, but Ned ignored me.
“Caroline?” Jack said. “Ned, you know I’d never—”
“Not Caroline, for Christ’s sake.” Ned pointed to me. “Her.”
Jack’s bright-hazel eyes turned dull and wounded, and I could have cried. He must have known he was right when he’d felt I was holding something back. He was probably sorry for telling me about his surly French teacher and the engagement ring that Angelique didn’t want.
Ned put his foot on the bottom step. “Oh,” he said, the outrage in his voice changing to snotty satisfaction, “I guess Savannah’s kept a little secret from you, Jack. Actually, it’s a big secret, and I’ll give it to you straight: She’s the product of an affair my father had with a woman in South Carolina. Savannah’s come to New York to claim her fortune and stir up trouble.”
“That’s not true,” I said. “You’re the only troublemaker here.”
“I suspect,” he went on, “she wanted to hurt me by deceiving my best friend. I have no doubt she was trying to use you. God only knows what sort of perverse plans she had.”
“I didn’t have plans of any kind,” I said. “I didn’t know Jack’s your best friend.”
Ned rolled his eyes. “What you tell me and what I believe are two very different things.”
I turned to Jack, who was frozen in his doorway. “I thought…,” he said, his voice trailing off. He cleared his throat. “You seemed so taken by everything … the house, and … I mean … was that all an act?”
“Of course not,” I said. “It was real, Jack. I wasn’t acting.”
“You had to be. Nothing I have could impress a Stone.”
I’d been wrong about being mysterious. It wasn’t fun at all. “You don’t understand. I just found out a few weeks ago that I’m Edward’s daughter. I’m not really a Stone; I—”
Ned chortled. “That’s quite a change of tune. What happened to I deserve to be here as much as you do? I guess you’re a member of my family only when it works to your benefit?”
My head snapped toward him. “Stop twisting everything.”
“You’re doing a good job of that on your own.”
I looked at Jack again. “I swear I didn’t know who you were. My intentions were completely honest.”
“Honest?” Ned cut in. “You don’t know the meaning of the word. If you did, you wouldn’t have kept your identity from Jack. Is your job at Stone News too difficult? Maybe you were ready to quit and decided to look elsewhere for your pot of gold.”
“I can handle my job just fine, and I wasn’t looking for anything of the sort,” I said through clenched teeth before turning toward Jack. “You believe me … right?”
He slowly wrapped his tie around his fingers. “After all this … I’m not sure.”
Blood drained from my head. I felt woozy and ready to explode. Ned smiled, and I was dying to punch him or kick him or claw out those pale, icy eyes.
“Are you happy now?” I shouted. “Is this what you wanted?”
He folded his arms across his blazer. “If you mean I wanted to stop a scammer from ruining my best friend’s life, then yes … I’m quite happy.”
I stared at him, breathing warm air in and out through my nose. “You’re repulsive. You’re disgusting. You’re a liar and a manipulator and a low-down dirty bastard.”
He gave me a patronizing wag of his finger. “That’s not a nice way to talk.”
“You’re making me out to be something I’m not,” I shrieked with no regard for the gawking neighbors. “You’re trying to ruin everything. You want me to lose my money, my apartment, and now you’ve—”
“I’ve what? Ruined your imaginary romance? Stop making a fool of yourself.”
That clinched it. Everything turned into a white-hot blur, and I backhanded Ned across his face. I connected with his cheekbone, which seemed to hurt me more than him. My knuckles stung, but he didn’t even flinch or blink or back up. A shocked silence filled the air until he laughed and stroked the pinkish stripe I’d left on his skin.
“You should learn to control that temper,” he said. “After all your hard work to pull off an Oscar-worthy performance, you don’t want Jack to think you aren’t a lady, do you?”
I was sure Jack had already changed his mind about that, because he didn’t defend me. He didn’t say a single word. I supposed it was easier to believe a best friend than a girl who’d hidden her true self and was screeching and assaulting people on his front steps.
I had to get out of there. I headed toward Tony, but Kitty caught my arm.
“Take the day off,” she said, and I couldn’t tell if she was mad at me for clocking her husband or she was trying to be nice.
“No,” Ned bellowed from the stairs. “If she takes today off, she can forget about ever coming back to work at Stone News.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Don’t worry, Ned. I have no plans to leave Stone News, and after this … you can be sure I never will.”
Twelve
I sat beside Tony as he whisked us away. I gazed blankly through the windshield and rubbed my sore knuckles while I listened to WCBS News radio and tapped my foot against books about the history of New York.
He leaned toward the books when we reached a red light. “Let me get those out of your way.”
“Leave them,” I said, thinking my battle with Ned had eaten up so much of my time and energy that I couldn’t go home to shower and change. “And take me right to work.”
Tony paused before pulling my seat belt across me and clicking it into place. “There’s no need to bite my head off. Now let me see your hand so I can make sure you didn’t break anything.”
I held it out and kept my eyes on the windshield while he stretched my fingers, squeezed my bones, and told me to make a fist. “You’re okay,” he said finally, and then the light turned green and he started driving again.
“How can you be sure?” I asked. “It hurts.”
“A friend of mine used to be a cage fighter. I helped him train and I was in his corner during his matches … so I can tell if bones are broken or not.”
I was quiet for a moment, thinking he deserved an apology. “I’m sorry for snapping at you, Tony. Certain people have done things this morning to put me in a nasty mood.”
He slung one arm over the back of my seat as he steered with his free hand. “So I saw. Wanna talk about it?”
I looked at him. His window was open a crack, and the breeze ruffled his auburn hair.
“Well,” I said, “now you know how Edward Stone came to be my father.”
“I also know Ned wants to make you feel inferior because of it … but you shouldn’t. Nobody can control how they’re born.”
I nodded. This was such an unfortunate truth. “I guess you’ve met Ned before.”
“I’ve driven him around … and Jackson Lucas, too. What were you doing with that guy, anyway? I wouldn’t have expected you to be interested in a slick type like him.”
I thought about Jack’s expensive suits, the way he strolled into Masa without a reservation, the sugar under my tongue. “He might come off that way … but he’s different when you get to know him.”
“And you know him after just one date?”
I sank into my seat. “I was starting to … but I’m pretty sure I won’t have another chance.”
We were both quiet as we listened to a report on the radio about a fatal hit-and-run in the Bronx. I had no right to be so dismal when there were real tragedies happening, but I needed a few minutes to feel sorry for myself.
Tony stopped at another light and gave my shoulder a light shove. “Come on, Savannah,” he said cajolingly. “Don’t be upset. I get a shady vibe from Jack, to tell you the truth. I doubt he’s any better than Ned.”
“You’re wrong … but it doesn’t matter. Ned’s spoiled everything.”
He moved his eyes around my face as he stepped on the gas. “You look tired. You should go home and let Ned shove that damn job. I would’ve told off so many of my lousy bosses over the past few years if I didn’t need a paycheck. But you don’t need one.”
I shook my head. “If I lose my job, I lose my inheritance. That’s what he and his sister want.”
Tony glanced at me. “Is that their game?”
“Yeah … and I have no choice but to play. I won’t let them disqualify me.”
“Good for you,” he said, then thought for a moment. “Well … it’s obvious that Ned’s had a lifetime supply of getting exactly what he wants. We should make sure he doesn’t get any more.”
*
Tony left me at Stone News, and I texted Tina a truncated account of all the latest developments while I was riding in a crowded elevator that stopped at almost every floor before reaching Femme. I sent the message when the doors opened into the lobby, and then I dropped my phone into my purse, headed down the corridor toward my desk, and saw Ainsley walking in my direction.
“Is that yesterday’s outfit?” she asked.
I rolled my eyes. “You sound like Ned.”
She bounced up and down in her shoes. “Do I really?”
“Oh, Good Lord. Don’t make that man your idol, Ainsley. He’s an abomination. And if it’s his success you admire, remember he didn’t get it from hard work.”
She tilted her head like she was mulling that over but quickly blew it off. “He’s been one hundred percent terrific to me. So do you need any help with your work today?”
“Tons,” I said wearily. “But I can do it myself. Thanks for asking, though.”
She shrugged and nearly skipped her way down the hall. I dragged myself to my desk, plopped in my chair, checked out the latest online edition of Femme, and chose two catchy articles that I posted on its social media sites: “Twenty Things You Can Do Instead of Sex during a Never-Ending Dry Spell” and “No, I Don’t Have My Period … You’re Just a Prick.”
Kitty popped into my cubicle. She rested her back against the wall and twisted her necklace around her fingers. It was a circle made of diamonds—an eternity ring on a thick silver chain.
“Ned was way out of line,” she said, “but so were you. You’re lucky he didn’t call the police. He could’ve had you arrested for battery, you know.”
I imagined myself being cuffed and fingerprinted and shoved into a dank cell, waiting for Tina to bail me out. “That’s true. But don’t expect me to be grateful to him.”
Kitty folded her arms across her blazer. “Savannah,” she began in a low, steady voice, “I really like you, and I wa
nt to keep helping you. But if you put your hands on my husband one more time, I won’t be your friend or even your boss. Understand?”
She sure did know how to stand by her man, even though she’d chosen the wrong one. “I do understand. I’m sorry if what I did upset you … and you’re right … I shouldn’t have hit Ned. I’ve never hit anyone before. But he drove me to it.”
“Yes,” she said with a sigh, “he did. I apologize for that.”
“You should leave the apology to your miserable husband.”
Her face fell. I felt bad, but I couldn’t pretend Ned was a great guy.
“I’m surprised he and Jack are friends,” I went on. “They’re nothing alike.”
Kitty cleared her throat and tossed her hair. “You’re wrong about that. They have a lot in common … and they were next-door neighbors growing up on Park Avenue. They were both alone a lot as kids, and they just gravitated toward each other.”
“Why were they alone?” I asked.
“Because they had career-obsessed fathers and socialite mothers who passed off their kids on high-price nannies,” she said simply.
I remembered when Ned told me that Edward had subsidized everything to ease his guilt but wouldn’t explain what that meant. Now I was pretty sure I knew. And I couldn’t imagine being passed off to anyone. Mom had always been around, and she worked at home just to keep me out of day care. I might not have had a lot growing up, but one thing I’d never gone without was her.
“Virginia was bad enough with her frigid parenting and her non-stop social life,” Kitty went on. “But from what Ned tells me, Jack’s mother was so much worse. She spent most of her time pill-popping and ignoring her son. Jack’s father cheated on her left and right, but that’s another story. She was usually zoned out in her bedroom, and Ned would come out of his apartment and find Jack sitting in the hallway by himself.”
“That’s horrible,” I said, imagining Jack as a cute blond-haired boy on the floor of an empty hallway, just hoping for someone to invite him in.
“Ned’s a little older than Jack,” Kitty went on. “And Jack got picked on a lot as a kid. Ned looked out for him … and they’ve been friends ever since.”
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