Dirty Money

by Michelle Love

  She told him about the strange scene the night of the wedding; Dan screaming silently into the empty coffee house.

  Isaac frowned. “That’s messed up.”

  “Right? A part of me is so glad that Sarah’s going to live in the city with you and your very helpful security team. Although I’ll miss her, I’m happy that she’ll be away from him.”

  Isaac considered in silence. “Do you think it’s worth trying to pay him off? Getting him to leave? Would that work?”

  “I don’t think money is his end game.”

  Isaac looked over to Sarah. She looked so happy, so much more than in recent months. Isaac turned back to Molly. “I’ll have him followed. If he comes anywhere near her, I’ll deal with it.”

  Molly nodded unhappily. “Please,” she said in a low voice,” I don’t want any more violence but keep her safe. Whatever it takes.”

  It was when the party was in full swing when Caroline Jewell showed up. Sarah rolled her eyes but told Molly not to bother when she offered to throw her out. “I honestly don’t give a crap about her anymore. She made her own bed.”

  It was a quarter hour before Caroline made her way over to Sarah. She raked her red-rimmed eyes up and down Sarah’s body.

  “I try and try but I cannot see what everyone sees in you. Your billionaire, Dan, Finn – have you got a magnetic vagina? Do you fuck in seventy different positions?”

  Sarah suddenly noticed Isaac behind Caroline with a grim look on his face. She grinned at him then looked back at Caroline.

  “Eighty and yes, in fact, I do have a magnetic vagina.”

  Behind Caroline, Isaac grinned. Caroline narrowed her eyes at Sarah, clearly trying to figure out why she wasn’t rising to the bait.

  “You gone soft, Bailey?”

  Sarah sighed. “I don’t want to fight anymore, Caroline. Not with you, not with anyone. You got handed the poisoned chalice, Caroline. Finn didn’t love you, he told me that a long time ago. But you didn’t love him either, did you? You made each other unhappy; I had nothing to do with that. Let’s just call it quits.”

  Caroline smirked, running a hand over the growing bump in her belly. “Well, at least I have this to look forward too.” She met Sarah’s gaze. “Shame about you though. Can’t give your free ride a son and heir? Wow, that’s got to impact the prenup.”

  “What the fuck are you talking about?” Sarah had paled and now Isaac stepped between the two women.

  “It’s time for you to leave, Caroline.”

  Shamelessly, Caroline grinned up at him. “What about you? Surely you want kids, Mr. Billionaire?”

  Isaac’s face was hard. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I’ve never even considered it.”

  “Really?”

  Isaac took hold of Caroline’s arm and propelled her towards the door. Caroline dug her heels in. “Tell her, Isaac.” Isaac ignored her so Caroline raised her voice above the noise of the party. “Tell her! Tell your barren wife about your son!”

  Her screech brought a halt to the party chatter. Isaac was looking at Caroline in abject horror. “What the hell are you talking about?” he asked in a low voice. Caroline looked directly at a frozen Sarah.

  “Your son, Isaac. The one you abandoned when you met Sarah.”

  Sarah gasped - a broken-hearted sound.

  Isaac closed his eyes. The room was utterly silent for a moment before Sarah finally spoke, her voice broken. “Isaac?”

  Before Isaac could answer her, Caroline, laughing, clapped her hands together. “You know what I’ve always loved? Reunions.”

  Isaac stepped towards her but Caroline darted to the door and pushed it open. “You can come in now.”

  Sarah’s heart was failing, her breath coming in short, shocked gasps. A blonde woman stepped into the coffee house carrying a baby boy, not older than a year. He had dark brown curls and wide, curious green eyes. There was no doubt whose son he was.

  Sarah looked, finally, at her husband, tried to formulate the questions she had whirling through her mind but nothing would come out. He’d said it had been years…and not once had he ever mentioned his child. His child.

  Isaac, barely acknowledging the blonde woman, turned to Sarah, desperation in his eyes. “Sarah…” He reached for her but she pushed his hands away.

  Finally, she spoke, a low growl filled with hurt, betrayal, pain. “You bastard. Get away from me.”

  She stumbled backward and pushed her way through the party guests, all standing around in awkward silence. Sarah almost threw herself into the back room and locked the door behind her. So many feelings swirled in her that she couldn’t process them all. Instead, she just concentrated on the one realization that was breaking her heart.

  Isaac was a liar.

  In the coffee house, Molly finally sprang into action. She pushed Isaac towards the blonde woman and his child. “You go. You deal with that, I’ll see to Sarah. Go.”

  Dumbly, pain etched on his face, Isaac obeyed, leading the blonde woman outside. Molly hesitated for a moment before turning on Caroline.

  “You fucking bitch,” she said, not caring what other people thought, “you low down piece of human scum. You couldn’t do it, could you, you couldn’t let her be happy. What the hell is wrong with you?”

  Caroline smirked and Molly stepped towards her. Mike darted forward and locked his arms around his wife. “You,” he snarled at Caroline, “get out of here and don’t come back.”

  Caroline glanced around the room, her smile fading when she saw the hatred on the faces of Sarah’s loved ones and friends. Her chin lifted.

  “Bitch got what she deserved – at least for now.”

  The moment Caroline was gone, Molly darted to the kitchen. “Sarah? Sweetheart?”

  No answer. She turned to look at Mike. “Call Finn,” she said of her absent brother, “I’ll go around the back.”

  People were starting to drift out now, embarrassed by the way the party had ended. Molly pushed her way through them to the street outside. Isaac and the woman and child were nowhere to be seen. Molly went around the back of the Varsity to the back door and stopped. It was open. She instantly knew what she would find when she went into the back room.

  Sarah was gone.

  Sarah had run out into the rain, sobbing, blind with pain. She kept walking, not caring that she was soaked to the skin, not paying any attention to where she was going. She felt her reason, her peace of mind, her sanity slipping. A darkness came over her. If I keep walking, I can just disappear and then there won’t be any pain…

  After a few minutes, she heard a car approach from behind. Please, please don’t be Isaac, she prayed. She turned to face the car as it pulled alongside her, the window whirring down.

  “You’re soaked.” Dan got out of the car and pulled his jacket off. He wrapped it around her and she let him steer her into the passenger seat. He said nothing more as he drove to her home – their old home. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and opened the door. The house echoed with emptiness.

  Dan grabbed a blanket from the dryer and wrapped it around her. “Go upstairs and get out of those clothes. There’s a robe hanging in the bathroom. We’ll dry your clothes down here. I’ll make you some hot chocolate and we’ll sit and talk – like we used to, remember?”

  Like an automaton, she obeyed, almost catatonic with grief and shock. She barely registered that it was Dan looking after her, Dan being kind. She trudged upstairs, stripped down to her underwear and pulled the robe around herself. It smelled of pine soap.

  Dan met her at the bottom of the stairs. Now she tried focusing on his face, dragging her mind back from Isaac – god, even thinking his name was painful. Dan was smiling, his eyes kind, holding a mug of steaming chocolate.

  She let him tuck her into the corner of the couch, hand her the drink. The warm sweetness felt good in her hollow stomach. Dan sat opposite, not crowding her, not touching her. She wondered why he didn’t ask her what had happened then she remembered.
Caroline must have called him to gloat.

  “Did you know she was going to do that?”

  Dan shook his head. “She called me after. When I saw you on the road, I knew I had to help. You looked so lost.”

  Sarah looked away from him, sipped her drink. How strange it was being back here, with Dan. It was as if the last few years had melted away. Except for the platinum wedding ring that shone on her finger.

  She was married. To Isaac, the man she loved, the man who had lied to her about something monumental, something so extraordinarily important, she couldn’t see past that lie.

  “I don’t know what to do.”

  Dan raised his eyebrows. “About what?”

  She gave a short laugh. “About anything. Everything I was so sure about this morning has gone. Ended. I was so sure…” Her face crumpled and she turned away from him. He watched her shoulders shaking for a moment, then got up, sat down next to her and took her in his arms.

  “Ssh. It’s all right, baby girl.” He tightened his arms. She sobbed quietly into his chest and then took a deep breath in.

  “I’m sorry, Dan. I don’t mean to burden you with all of this. It’s not your job to listen to my problems anymore.”

  He smiled down at her. “We’ll always be family, Sarah, of course, it’s my job. It’s the least I could do after what I put you through.” He brushed her hair away from her face, swept the tears from her cheeks with his big thumbs. He gazed down at her and smiled. Sarah leaned against him for a moment. Dan bent his head and, for a second, she thought he was going to kiss her. Panic streamed through her. Please no, I don’t want this. She let out a breath when Dan merely brushed his lips against her forehead.

  “Okay now?” His voice was soft.

  “Yes. Thank you.”

  She pulled away from him and grabbed a tissue. Dan moved away again, sat back in his chair.

  “Tell me what you need, Sarah. Anything. I’m here now. Let me look after you.”

  A wave of exhaustion flooded over her. She looked out of the window. It was only early evening but the sky was dark with rain clouds. Her head swam and she closed her eyes.

  “Are you okay?”

  So tired. So tired. “I think I…” Her voice drifted away. She felt him drape a blanket over her, settle her head on a pillow. From outside, she thought she heard a car roaring away down the dirt road to her house. Dan’s voice echoed in her ears.

  “Sleep, darling. You’ve had a terrible day. Just rest, baby girl, rest.”

  His voice sounded a million miles away…finally, Sarah let go and let the darkness come.

  Isaac drove until he was almost at her house and then killed the lights. He sat in the car for a moment, arguing with himself. This is so fucked up. He dropped his head into his hands but after a beat, got out of the car and walked the half mile or so to Sarah’s old house. When one of the coffee house regulars had told him that he saw Dan pick her up and drive off in the direction of the house, his heart had clenched with every emotion. There were no lights on at the front of the house but he could see light spilling out from the back door. The muscles in Isaac’s jaw clenched. He walked slowly around the side of the house but stopped when he saw the light in the living room. Dan was there, with Sarah. He couldn’t see her face but from Dan’s reaction, she was talking to him. About you, schmuck, he told himself. Isaac swallowed down the anger in him but couldn’t tear his eyes away. God…what he would give to turn back the clock, to tell Sarah about the kid right at the start. When Clare had told him she was pregnant, he had been straight with her. He would pay generously for the child’s support, give him a substantial trust fund – give Clare money for herself – but he didn’t want to be a part of her or the child’s life. When he saw the child – Billy - today, all he could think was – you should be Sarah’s child – Sarah’s and mine. The look on Sarah’s face when she realized the truth he would never forget. He’d broken her heart, her fragile trust. He gazed at her through the window, her back to him, the dark hair tangled down her back, the slumped shoulders telling him she was crying. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…

  Then Dan seemed to look straight at him. Isaac’s stomach lurched as he watched Sarah’s ex-husband smirk, reach out and stroke Sarah’s cheek tenderly, possessively. Isaac wanted to beat the shit out of him right there but the next moment his heart cracked open as Sarah lay down and Dan followed her, covering her body with his. Isaac lurched away from the scene but not before he saw Dan’s hands in her hair, his mouth against her skin. Isaac stumbled back to his car and sped back into town, blinded by pain. He stopped the car outside the Varsity and let the grief take over. He sobbed into his hands, not caring if anyone saw him

  Dan could have laughed out loud. The dumb billionaire had been sneaking around outside the window, watching them, and then the drug kicked in and Sarah had passed out into his arms. What it must have looked like! He’d played it up, kissing her, hiding the fact she was out cold. The anguish on Isaac’s face. Dan smiled. He listened to the faint sound of Isaac’s car starting and speeding away. Sarah was limp in his arms. He picked her up, kissing her gently and carried her up to his bed.

  For a time, he just sat with her, watching her then he returned to the living room. He picked up Sarah’s half empty mug of hot chocolate and took it into the kitchen. He washed it carefully, making sure the residue of the drug was gone. Ketamine. He smiled to himself. Everything had gone perfectly. It had been such a finely balanced plan but one he knew that if they pulled it off, it would feel victorious. It did. He grabbed his cell phone and texted Caroline. You did well. I won’t forget it.

  A second later. What now?

  So impatient but Dan grinned. Now I give you your greatest wish.

  He couldn’t wait for the next part.

  Caroline let the drape fall back over the window. She’d heard his car screech to a halt outside the Varsity. She watched Isaac Quinn sob and smiled. Enjoy your misery, you bastard. She rubbed her belly. The baby hadn’t been part of her plan but now it was coming. Caroline Jewell wasn’t used to feeling like this for someone else. Her baby. Dan’s baby. And the added bonus of the look on that bitch’s face when she’d announced her beloved husband’s love child to the whole coffee shop. The look on Quinn’s face. It had been almost as if she could hear his heart breaking. Caroline went into the kitchen and grabbed the bowl of popcorn from the microwave. She put a kernel in her mouth, rolling her tongue around the salt, feeling the nausea of pregnancy fade. Walking back into the living room, she pulled the curtain back again, sat down on the sill and watched as Isaac Quinn wept for his lost love.

  The incessant beeping of her cell phone broke through the heavy veil of sleep. Sarah, eyes closed, pawed about the bed trying to locate it and closed her hand around her purse. She opened her eyes and stared up at the familiar ceiling. For a second, she was discombobulated then she remembered and the pain flooded back.

  To distract herself, she flicked her phone on. Big mistake. Every text was from either Isaac begging her to talk to him or Molly, frantic, asking her if she was okay. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and pulled the robe on over her underwear.

  Sarah went downstairs and into the kitchen. Her eyes were wary when she saw Dan sitting at the table, reading the paper. He looked up and smiled.

  “Hey, look who’s up.” He stood and kissed her cheek. “How are you feeling?”

  She gave him a small smile. “Better. Dan, I don’t understand what…what time is it?” She looked out of the window at the dusk.

  He laughed and glanced at his watch. “It’s nearly nine p.m. Wednesday.”

  She sat down with a bump, astonished. “Wednesday?”

  He smiled and got up to pour her some coffee. “You were exhausted and I think you caught a virus. You threw up a few times. You didn’t want me to call a doctor so I just stayed here and looked after you.”

  She sipped the hot coffee. “Thank you, that was very kind. I don’t remember any of this.”


  She didn’t see the smirk on Dan’s face; when she looked up, his expression was one of concern.

  She tried to smile at him. “Dan, this is wrong…I shouldn’t be here. Of all places, I shouldn’t be here. I need to talk to Isaac. Need to sort this out one way or another.”

  Dan nodded. “As you wish.” She studied him, trying to gauge whether he was being genuine or not. He smiled at her. “Can I ask one favor?”

  “Of course.”

  He took a deep breath in. “Get well first, get strong. Spend the next couple of days with me. We’ll just talk things out. End things between us the way I should have handled it two years ago. I need closure, Sarah. Then go back and try and sort out what you want.”

  Sarah was bemused. This Dan…she’d never seen him like this. His wild swings in personality should concern her, she knew, but at this particular moment, she’d take this conciliatory, friendly version. It was one less battle to fight.

  “Okay,” she said slowly. “Deal. But I need to phone Isaac at least. And Molly. She’s probably going crazy. God…my clothes.”

  Dan smiled. “There’s some boxes with your stuff that you must have forgotten in your haste to get away from me – I mean – the house. They’re in the guest room.”

  She stood. “I guess I’ll go shower.” She hesitated before leaving the kitchen. “Thanks, Dan. I mean it, thanks for being…a friend.”

  He raised his coffee mug to her and she smiled.

  Upstairs, she found her clothes in the guest room – and saw that the bed was rumpled. So Dan had slept here. Sarah let out a huge sigh of relief. Thank God. She had been so out of it that she didn’t know how she got to bed – and if he had slept beside her. She was touched he hadn’t crossed that line.