He gestured toward a nearby loveseat, and I sat down, refusing to look at him.
“Ina is my wife in name only,” he began. “We met on the first season of Code Grey, about five years ago. She was an extra.”
“I don’t need to hear the romantic story of how you met,” I bit back at him.
“Yes, you do. It’s not romantic.”
“Fine. Whatever. Go on, then.”
“Ina is from Corvenia. She came over here six years ago on a temporary refugee visa, hoping to get permanent asylum. Well, actually, that’s not entirely accurate. She was trafficked over here as part of a sex slave ring. She escaped, and that’s when she was given temporary refugee status.”
“Oh my god,” I said softly.
Corvenia was a small country in far-eastern Europe. It had been under the control of the Soviet Union up until the very early nineties, and it gained its independence after the fall of the Iron Curtain like so many other places in the region. Things hadn’t improved much since the country’s claim of independence, though, as the country was run by a fascist government. It was subsequently rife with poverty, violence, and civil war between opposing factions in the north and east regions. Certain cities in the southwest of the country were okay to visit, but they were still known for sex tourism, illegal drug trades, and gangland activity, so overall, Corvenia didn’t exactly have a good reputation.
“She was working whatever jobs she could get while she waited for her permanent visa to come through. Waitress, retail worker, extra on TV and film sets. Like I said, I met her on the set of Code Grey. More specifically, I saw her crying behind a trailer one day and went and talked to her. She wouldn’t tell me much at first, but I finally got it out of her. Someone in Immigration had screwed up. Lost some of her papers. Instead of fixing the issue, they were simply going to deport her back to Corvenia in just three months. It was easier that way, I guess.”
“Jesus.”
“If she went back, she would’ve faced either death or more forced prostitution, because the people who ran the sex ring she escaped from would’ve more than likely found her again. And stacked on top of that, she would’ve faced persecution for simply being who she was.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“You know how the Corvenian government feels about LGBT people?”
I nodded. Many gay Corvenian people had applied for asylum in other countries after being persecuted for their sexuality. Some had even been killed before they could get out of the country because of all the ant-LGBT propaganda the government liked to spread.
“Well, I’m not Ina’s type,” Jacob continued. “Ina only likes women.”
“Oh. I see.”
“Anyway, I couldn’t let something like that happen to her. So I asked her to marry me.”
“Wait…you’re saying this was a green card marriage?”
He nodded. “Yes. If I married her, she’d be able to stay in the country and become a naturalized citizen once enough time had passed.”
I shook my head slowly. “Jacob, do you have any idea how illegal that is?”
He frowned. “Of course I do. I know I could go to prison if Immigration ever found out what we did. But letting them send her back to an almost certain death was even worse.”
“I can imagine it was a very hard decision,” I said softly.
He nodded. “Way I saw it, both choices were wrong. I had to choose the one that was less wrong. And I did. I made my choice, and I’ve been living with it ever since.”
I was silent for a long time, trying to wrap my head around everything he’d just told me.
“So how does it work?” I finally asked.
“She has to live at the same address as me, in case Immigration come sniffing around. And they do, from time to time. She lives out in the guesthouse, but her address is still the same, so if they ever asked any of the staff here, they’d be able to confirm that she does live here.”
“And how long will this go on for?”
“We got married five years ago. That’s enough time for her to become fully naturalized to the point where even if we divorce, she’ll still be allowed to remain here in the US. So we’re actually in the process of filing for divorce right now.”
I twisted my hands in my lap, still not entirely understanding everything. “How does absolutely no one know about this?”
“A few trusted people do. My staff know. My manager and agent know. They helped me figure it all out. They didn’t want them to send her back any more than I did. But they figured that if the media knew about Ina, she’d be dragged through the mud and her history would be examined in great detail. We didn’t want that for her, and we also didn’t want to attract attention from people who might—correctly—realize it was just a green card marriage.”
“So you just hid it?”
“Yep.”
“But with the Immigration officials, when they interview you every so often to check up on your relationship to ensure that it’s ‘real’….aren’t they bothered by your reputation? I mean, it’s always in all the magazines that you’re a player, a ladies man, et cetera. Surely they can tell the marriage is fake based on that alone.”
“We tell them it’s all part of cultivating my media image, and that none of it’s actually real. And my staff here at the house can easily confirm that I’ve never actually brought another woman back here. Except you, now that you’re here.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Wait…you’ve never had a woman here before?”
“No. Of course, I’ve been with other women over the years. After all, the relationship between Ina and me is purely platonic. But I take them to hotels or go to their houses. I’ve never brought anyone back here. Not till you.”
“Oh.”
“I’m so sorry I kept this from you, Nora. But I wanted to wait until we knew each other better before I unloaded this mess on you, especially with all the shit you’ve got going on in your own life right now ‘cause of that asshole James. I was going to tell you, though. Please believe that,” he said. “I know how much you’ve trusted me. You made that pretty clear yesterday afternoon when you asked me to film us. And I trust you too. I wouldn’t have told you the truth about the Ina situation if I didn’t, because that truth could bury me if it got into the wrong hands. But I feel like I know you pretty damn well already, and I don’t think you’ll tell anyone and land me in prison forever, even though you so easily could. You essentially have my life in your hands, Nora, and I trust you with it. Does that mean anything to you at all?”
I hesitated. He had a point. I’d previously felt comfortable enough with him and placed my trust in him enough to do certain things like yesterday’s impromptu dirty film session, and there was a reason for that—my gut had told me that deep down, he was a good person who wouldn’t screw me over. And he was a good person. He’d done something highly, highly illegal with this marriage to Ina, but he’d done it for what he thought were the right reasons. He’d done it to save someone.
To add to that, he was right about his life basically being in my hands right now. If I wanted, I could go straight to Immigration and tell them everything. He’d go away for a long time if I did that, but he’d been willing to risk that just to tell me the truth. If he hadn’t cared about me or trusted me at all, he could’ve just lied about who Ina was—he could’ve told me she was simply a friend who rented the guesthouse, or made up any other number of lies.
But he didn’t.
He told me the truth.
Was that enough, though? This was a pretty darn messed up situation, all in all. After all, it wasn’t every day that the guy I was seeing informed me that he was legally married to another woman, no matter what the circumstances were.
“Nora,” Jacob said softly, grabbing my hand. “I understand how hard this must be for you, and your head is probably spinning. But please just answer this. Is it too much for you? Or is it something you think you can deal with?”
I bit my lower
lip, and then I slowly shook my head and gave him my answer. “No.”
Chapter Nineteen
Jacob
My heart sank as Nora shook her head.
“No,” she said. But then she went on. “It’s not too much for me. But we definitely need to talk about this some more. Figure out how the hell this is going to work from now on.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. I knew I’d just unloaded a world of crap on her, but once she saw Ina, there was no way I could’ve kept the whole truth about my life from her for another moment. I had to tell her, had to let her know that there was a massive roadblock in the way of our fledgling relationship, namely my marriage.
“I know,” I replied. “And we can discuss that. But please don’t leave. This thing with James could get dangerous, so I want you and Oscar to stay here. Hell, I’ll go stay in a hotel if I need to. Just please stay. I need to know you’re safe.”
She shook her head. “You don’t need to stay in a hotel, Jacob,” she said softly. “I really do appreciate what you’ve done; letting Oscar and me into your home like this. I realize you obviously don’t like having women here, but—”
I cut her off. “Nora, I would’ve had you here either way. I want you here either way. You’re not like any of the others.”
“Well, you’ve still kinda saved us. Seems like you have a thing for saving people.”
“I guess I do. I just don’t see why I should have all this stuff and not help people when I can. I know someone like my mom would’ve loved some help back in the day.”
“I think she’d be extremely proud of you,” Nora said, looking right in my eyes. “Even if you’ve done something incredibly wrong, you’ve done it for the right reasons. Even the way we met….you took me on that freaking awful date, all because you thought you were doing the right thing. You thought I was this terrible, evil dog thief, and you were trying to help James by getting Oscar back from my clutches.”
I chuckled. “Yeah.”
“So this thing with Ina—it’s the same thing. You were just so desperate to help her. What you’ve done is illegal as all hell, but I get it. I really do. I think I would’ve made the same choice as you if it came down to it.”
I nodded, and I was silent for a moment. “So you want to talk about how this is going to work,” I finally said. “Can I tell you how I feel first?”
“Go ahead.”
“I want you, Nora. All the way. I want to be with you, I want to wake up next to you, I want to take care of you. I know we’ve only just begun, but there’s no one else right now. Only you. And I don’t want there to be anyone else. I want you and only you.”
I took a deep breath and then continued. “But I understand you’re probably still very skeeved out by the fact that I’m married, even if it’s on paper only. So if you want to wait until Ina and I are officially divorced, I’ll wait for you. I’ll wait as long as it takes, and there won’t be anyone else in between. I won’t touch you, no matter how much I want to. I’ll wait. I promise.”
Nora was quiet for a long moment, and then she finally spoke up again. “Divorces can take up to a year, Jacob. I don’t need to wait that long, because I understand the situation. But if this is going to work, I want something. Total honesty from now on. I don’t want anything else kept from me.”
“Done,” I said, looking at my feet.
“Why do you suddenly look uncomfortable? There’s something else, isn’t there?” she asked, her eyes flashing in suspicion.
I nodded. “Yes. And it’s probably worse.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Worse than you having a secret wife?”
“I think so. I think it’s my fault your house got broken into,” I said. I’d nearly come clean about this yesterday, but then we’d been interrupted by Angie calling, and the moment hadn’t come again for me to admit my wrongdoing to her.
She wrinkled her nose. “Huh? How?”
“I went to visit James the other day. I think he thought you sent me.”
She jumped up, eyes flashing. “You went to see James?”
I filled her in on the childish petty revenge plan I’d enacted to piss him off, and how I’d gone several steps too far by blowing up his date and then punching him. Twice.
“You beat him up?” she asked, her eyes incredulous and wide.
“He called you a cunt.”
“So you felt the need to defend my honor by punching him in the face?”
I shrugged and looked at her with a shamefaced expression. “I’m sorry. It was fucking stupid. And it’s my fault he came after you and trashed your house.”
She sat down again and sighed. “No, it’s not,” she said quietly.
“It is,” I insisted.
“Not really. Maybe you provoked him a bit, but it’s his fault. No one forced him to break into my place and trash it. And he’s still been messaging me on Facebook from a bunch of fake profiles over the last few weeks, and occasionally I’ve lost my temper and replied, telling him to fuck off. I’ve probably provoked him just as much. But no more. Now that he’s done this, I’m never replying to him ever again, and I’m taking out a restraining order.”
“I hope they sort it out soon.”
“Yeah. Work’s starting up again tomorrow, and I’m going to the police afterwards to start sorting stuff out, with all the paperwork and so on. There’s a station not far from the studio.”
“Good. Speaking of work, how are we handling ‘us’ there? Are we telling anyone?”
Nora shook her head. “I’d rather we kept things quiet for now. I don’t want people to think I’m unprofessional and sleeping with the talent. Even though I guess I am.”
“Fair enough.”
She leaned back. “So are there any other bombshells you want to drop on me in the name of honesty?” she asked.
I shook my head. “No, I don’t think so,” I said. “Oh wait…shit, there is something, actually.”
“Really? There’s more?”
“Yes, really. I completely forgot about this, because I got more than a little distracted by walking in on you stark naked the other night. But there was something else I wanted to tell you. It’s about your parents.”
Nora’s eyebrows arched up. “Oh?”
“When we were there, I walked in on them late at night in the kitchen, and it sounded like they were talking about you and some sort of big secret.”
I filled her in on what they’d said, as best as I could remember, and she frowned. “Are you sure they were talking about me?”
“Yes. I mean, they never said your name, but I’m about ninety-nine percent sure.”
“I don’t know if you noticed this about my mother, but she’s a bit of a gossip,” Nora replied after mulling things over for a moment. “Honestly, they were probably talking about the neighbor or something.”
“I don’t think so,” I said. “It sounded pretty serious.”
She shrugged. “Well, I’ll ask, but I bet it’s just something silly and minor. Like I said, my mother is a big gossip,” she said. “And what big secret could my parents even have, anyway? Mom’s only so gossipy because their life is just so normal and peaceful, and she needs something to entertain herself with. I doubt they’re hiding that they’re secretly CIA agents or something.”
“I guess. Well, I just wanted to let you know.”
“Yeah, I know. Thanks,” she replied.
I paused, and then I spoke up again. “So that’s it. Everything is out in the open now.”
“Yeah, I suppose it is.”
“So…are we okay? Are we gonna get through all of this?” I asked.
Nora smiled and reached over to squeeze my hand. “Yes,” she said softly. “I think we’re going to be okay.”
Chapter Twenty
Jacob
“And…cut!”
Bonnie shouted over at the crew, waving her hand, and then she approached me and one of the actors playing a teammate of Walter Simmons. “That was perfect,” she said
. “Jacob, I don’t know what the hell it is you’ve been doing differently over this last week, but you’re blowing everyone else’s performance out of the water. No offense, Anders,” she added to the other actor.
“You can thank your accuracy consultant,” I said with a grin, gesturing toward Nora, who was watching from the sidelines near a lighting operator.
“Nora gave you acting tips?” Bonnie said with a confused frown.
I shook my head and chuckled. “No. When we got rained out the other week, she took me up north to meet Walter’s family. Talking to them really helped me capture his true essence and make my performances more authentic, I think.”
“Oh, I see. Terrific idea. I don’t know why we didn’t think of doing that,” she said. Then she frowned. “But that’s strange; I never received any receipts for gas or a hotel.”
“Uh, I covered it, don’t worry,” I said hastily. I didn’t want to stupidly blow our cover and admit that we’d stayed at Nora’s parents’ house during that little trip, because that would make it all too obvious that there was something going on between us.
And boy, there was something going on between us, all right.
Nora and Oscar were still staying at my place—it’d been about a week or so now—and things were just as hot and heavy as always. Nora was surprisingly filthy in bed, not like one of those limp starfish women who lay on their backs waiting for the guy to do all the work, and we hadn’t been able to keep our hands off each other. It wasn’t just the sex, either. I was serious about her; I cared about her more than anything and anyone else. She was understanding, she was kind, she was wonderful. She was it for me.
“Okay, let’s start on the final quarter scene for this game,” Bonnie said, waving her hands at various people.
Halfway during the filming for this game scene, I saw Nora talking to Bonnie, and filming was cut as Nora then headed onto the field to show another one of the actors exactly where he needed to aim for in his kick. Then she trudged over to me, and I tried my best to keep a serious expression plastered on my face.
Wrong (Hollywood Bad Boys) Page 12
