Jase and I spent the remainder of the day, before we went to pick up the kids, wrapped up in each other. Naked bliss. Connected intimately. Every time he touched me, his hands carved affection into my skin—mentally, he caressed my spirit. He made sure to make love to me every time we were close, not just when we had sex. The more time I spent with him, the more lost in him I became. The feeling of total abandon I felt in his arms was magical and more than I could have ever asked for. I never thought I’d love a man the way I did Ryan, but that was only because I didn’t know Jase existed.
~~~
“Have you seen the paper or the news today?” Hart’s voice came through the speakerphone loud and clear.
“No, why?” Jase asked.
For Hart to call this early in the morning and ask that question, whatever he saw wasn’t good, and I dreaded hearing his response.
“You didn’t tell me there was a paper contract about Gianna’s arrangement.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Angry didn’t even begin to describe his tone or the look on his face.
“Holland leaked it to the press. I’m assuming it was Holland. Surely, none of the other men would have done it. It’s on the front page. You and Gianna need to lay low and stay out of sight.”
“Gianna’s name isn’t on it. And how could the group writing an agreement about paying for someone’s time be misconstrued.”
“Her name might not be on it, but the press knows it involves her. They’ve already put pictures of her with each guy together. Jase, she’s in expensive clothes on the arms of some of the city’s most powerful men, and the press doesn’t hesitate to mention she was living in The Village before she moved her four kids in with you.”
“She didn’t do anything illegal, Hart. And one of those kids is mine.”
My heart could’ve opened up and swallowed him. I loved the way he treated all the kids, but Derrick was special. He was still waiting for full custody of him, but he had another couple of days left in his wait. I hoped like hell this wouldn’t change any of that. He’d never forgive me if he lost him.
“And she didn’t ask to move in here. I practically had to force her to.”
“Well, let’s not tell the press that. The whole situation looks bad from the outside.”
“That’s bullshit. You know I love her, Hart. You know I don’t live with women—or hell, even date them. I refuse to allow her to be treated like or talked about as though she’s any less than exactly what I feel.”
“Get ready, Jase. It’s going to get ugly. You’re going to need to make a statement, but I want to try to reach Holland’s lawyer before that happens. It might be hard to do on the weekend.”
“What does he have to gain from this? His name is on there just like everyone else’s. Why would he want the public to think he’d hired a prostitute?” Jase was bewildered as much as I was, but I kept my mouth shut and just listened.
“Think about it, Jase. Would you rather someone believe you hired a prostitute that looked and carried herself like Gianna? Or would you rather the public think you raped a woman with three kids who lived in poverty? If the press and the public, in general, believe she was a high-end hooker, they’re not only going to be less sympathetic toward her, but they won’t believe she was raped.”
“She tested positive for Rohypnol!”
“Yeah, but she didn’t press charges and hasn’t come forward. And don’t forget, Jase, she went out with Holland several times, and they talked on the phone regularly. The public as a whole believes women ask for it—they will not have sympathy for her unless she’s honest about her situation, Emmy’s illness, and what actually happened.”
“Fuck!” he roared. Even from across the bar I could feel the change in the air.
“I’ll call you back after I reach his attorney, but you two need to get prepared to either wage war or defend yourselves.”
Jase disconnected the call, and I sat in stunned silence. I had no clue what to do. Part of me just wanted to run and hide, but I knew I had to fight. I sensed him moving but didn’t take my eyes off the counter as I contemplated what this was going to mean for him. For me. For us.
Standing behind me, he caged me in with his arms. “Talk to me, love. What are you thinking?”
I leaned back into him and closed my eyes before I spoke. “I’m scared.”
“Of?”
“What this is going to do to you. How it’s going to affect me. I’m terrified it’s going to change us.”
“How do you think it’s going to change us?” His cage went from a box around me to a protective ring enclosing me, hugging me.
The tears had started before I got the first word out. “I don’t want to lose you.”
He let go of me to spin me around on the stool to face him. I hid in my hands, not wanting him to see me cry. “Gia, I’m in this for the long haul. We haven’t talked about it, and I’m sure it would seem sudden to outsiders, but you’re my best friend. I love you. If I thought I could talk you into taking my last name, we’d be at the courthouse Monday morning. But I want to do this right. I don’t want you to question us or my loyalty to you. If I’d known then what I know now, I never would have let my friends into your life. I knew what I wanted the day I met you…I just didn’t have a clue how to get it.”
He wiped the tears from my face as I looked up at him like a lost child.
“I’m in my thirties and have never had a serious relationship. I don’t know what I’m doing. All I know is I want to wake up next to you every morning. I want to tuck those kids in bed at night. I want them to call me daddy and you to share my name.” He sighed. “Regardless of what happens, you and I are in this together.”
I was shocked by his revelation, and of all the things I honed in on, it wasn’t that he wanted to tuck my kids in bed or for them to all call him daddy…it was sharing his last name. “You want to marry me?” It wasn’t a proposal, and I shouldn’t have taken it as one, but the romantic in me couldn’t help but swoon.
He took a step back and dropped his hands to his sides. “Are you kidding me? Surely you know that?”
Jase laughed as I shook my head and the tears fell again.
“Let’s go to Vegas.” His eyes sparkled as the kitchen lights bounced off them, the gray showing just a hint of blue. “Today. We’ll get Allison to watch the kids.”
“You want to elope?” My eyes widened and my brows rose.
“Absolutely. Just the two of us. We can come back Monday.”
“Is that a proposal?” I laughed at his eagerness.
“No,” he said as he got down on one knee. “This is.” He took my hands before he continued. “Gia, I never imagined I’d meet a woman like you, much less fall in love and have a ready-made family, but from the moment I stumbled into your world, I knew you fit me perfectly. I never want to live a day without you or the kids. Will you marry me?”
At a complete loss for words, I stood there like a daft duck, not responding, not moving. My mouth hung open when I finally had the wherewithal to nod my acceptance.
“Yes?” he asked as he stood and kissed my knuckles.
“Yes, Jase. A thousand times, yes.” The smile adorning my face was so robust my cheeks almost closed my eyes. Between that and the tears, I couldn’t see him before me, but I could feel his energy and his arms as they embraced me, and his lips on mine as he took them.
When he finally let me go, I was out of breath, completely turned on, and dumbfounded.
I was engaged to Jase Lane.
“Let me call Allison and Hart. You go start packing.” I turned to leave and follow his instructions when he grabbed my hand. “The first thing we’re doing when we get there is picking out a ring.”
“You don’t have to do that. But you’re going to regardless of what I say, aren’t you?” It was more of a rhetorical question, but he nodded in answer anyway. “I love you, Jase.”
“I love you too, babe. Go get the kids’ stuff packed, and I’l
l meet you downstairs.”
Somehow, he managed to take a horrible day and make it wonderful. I giggled, wondering how he’d ever top this, and if he’d always try to fix everything by outrageous displays of love.
I overheard Jase talking to Hart, who was apparently unhappy with our choice, although I couldn’t tell if it was our choice to get married or the decision to be out publicly. Just as I finished packing all four kids’ bags, he called out to me to meet him downstairs. I dragged the bags to the kitchen and left them to find him.
As much as I’d hoped to find him naked and waiting for me, he was packing a bag and had another out for me to fill with my own things.
“Allison’s going to pick the kids up in a bit. Where are they?”
“Up in your man cave watching cartoons.”
“Have you told them anything?” He stopped what he was doing to come to me, kissing me softly before allowing me to answer.
“Not a word. I wanted to do it together.”
And that’s what we did. Jase and I turned the TV off when we got upstairs and got the kids’ attention. The twins and Emmy were ecstatic, but Derrick was distant. I nudged Jase and indicated his need to see about his little boy. I continued answering questions from my little ones, who were over the moon, while I listened to Jase console his son. My heart tore into pieces when Derrick’s tears took over, and he choked on his words, asking if he would get to stay or have to go away since he wasn’t part of our family.
“Buddy, come Tuesday morning I hope that all changes.” He cuddled Derrick in his lap and continued to talk to him father to son. “Unless something happens on Tuesday, all the paperwork will be final, and you’ll legally become mine. You and me—we’re a team, right?”
Derrick gave him a high five and seemed to be back to his normal self. He’d adjusted far faster and better than I ever dreamed he would when Miss Pearl died. Every once in a while, I’d catch him wrapped up in her blanket or staring at her picture, but when I’d sat with him or given him a hug, he just gave me a meek smile and told me he missed her. We all did. He’d never survive losing Jase.
“So here’s the plan.” I loved hearing him talk to them in daddy mode. His voice changed, his face lit up, and he was the coach of their team. I was relegated to waterboy. “Miss Allison is going to come pick you guys up in a little while, and you’re going to stay with her. Mommy and I are going to fly to Las Vegas and get married, and we’ll be home in a couple of days.”
They clamored around us with hugs and kisses. Emmy was happy, but the moment the doorbell rang and Jase tried to untangle himself from her, the deluge of tears started. She struggled to be away from either of us. She’d been doing much better healthwise, but those same issues are the reason she was so clingy. And Jase catered to her when she wasn’t feeling well. I was waiting for the day she started creating symptoms to manipulate him. She hadn’t done it yet, but she would soon.
With three happy children and one in tears, Allison pulled out of the driveway after giving me a huge hug and telling me how happy she was for both of us. It felt genuine. I liked thinking I had a friend. Even if Jase was paying her, I trusted her with my children, and I would trust her around my husband. I wished she had someone to love her the way Jase loved me.
I stood on the curb and waved until I couldn’t see them anymore. As the last of the car disappeared, I was thrown over Jase’s shoulder and hauled back into the house where he proceeded to show me one more time just how much he loved me before we left for Vegas.
~~~
Being married again was surreal. I never thought I could top the day Ryan and I wed, until I had the twins, and then Emmy. But after Ryan died, I assumed that was it for me; there wouldn’t be a happily-ever-after, no white knight riding in and sweeping me off my feet, and no man would ever want me or the skeletons from my closet. Jase surpassed any romantic fantasy I ever had, and it was as if he couldn’t see the negatives in my past and only the good in my present and future. I didn’t know what we’d face when we got home, but united, we were inseparable.
As the plane touched down, I held my husband’s hand and wondered what was going through his head. We’d had a blissful couple of days, but we’d just made a monumental commitment, and none of the people who meant the most to him were a part of it. I’d never even met his parents. None of his friends were there—not that Holland would have been a consideration, but I hoped he didn’t regret doing this on a whim down the road.
He watched me with a lazy grin as I contemplated our choice, knowing it was exactly what I would’ve wanted if given the chance, but I didn’t hold the clout in society Jase did, and I didn’t have the connections—family or friends—he did, either. Actually, I had none of those now that Holland and I weren’t talking and Jase’s other friends seemed to have mysteriously gone MIA since all this started. He hadn’t mentioned it, but he had to have noticed.
“What are you thinking about?” The tone of his voice, the way he spoke to me, was so vastly different than how he talked to anyone else. It was something he reserved solely for me, and it melted my heart.
“Just hoping you don’t regret our decision.”
“I’m never going to regret marrying you, Gia.” The feel of his thumb grazing the top of my hand comforted me.
“No, silly, the way we went about it. Not having your friends or family there.”
He laughed a deep, rumbling melody that shook the seats. “Are you kidding? No man ever wants to go through the hassle and ordeal of a large wedding. I don’t care who they are. They do it to pacify one of two women, their fiancée or their mother. My mother will get over it, and if you decide you want a big ceremony, we can do it whenever you want. But it’s going to be because it’s important to you, not because someone else said we should.” He kissed my temple and closed the discussion.
“Have you heard from any of the guys recently?” I blurted out.
He sat up a little straighter in his seat. “No, should I have?”
“You don’t think it’s a little strange you haven’t heard from any of them for any reason in the last couple weeks?”
“Honestly, I hadn’t thought about it. My life has been a little busy with you and four kids. But now that you mention it, I haven’t heard from any of them since the cops showed up at our door.”
“Do you think they know?” It worried me that Jase wouldn’t have the backing of his lifelong friends. He loved me, and I knew that, but I never wanted him to do it at the expense of his friendships.
He worried his bottom lip for a minute before answering. His eyes seemed to grow dim and melancholy. “Likely. Holland has always been the type to rally the troops in his defense. We’ve just never been fighting against each other. I’d like to believe Max, Willum, and Drake would call me to find out what happened, or hell, at least cuss me out, but I haven’t heard from any of them. Not even a text.”
“Do you think you should call them? I haven’t heard from any of them either, Jase, and there wasn’t a day that went by for months that I didn’t hear from at least one of them. Holland and I talked every day, and when Max’s mom came into town, she always wanted to have lunch. What if he got to them and lied? What if he’s filled their heads with crap that didn’t happen or a load of excuses for why you beat him up?”
“I didn’t beat him up.”
“Seriously, Jase? I saw the dollar amount of the medical bills. You did more than rough him up a bit.”
As the plane came to a stop and people started to gather their things, the emotion on Jase’s face changed to something I didn’t recognize and hoped I never became familiar with. He lowered his voice and tucked his head next to mine before whispering so no one else could hear him. “He touched my wife. We may not have been married, but he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt how I felt about you. He knew I loved you, and he violated that. He violated you. He’s lucky I didn’t kill him and dispose of the body, because the thought crossed my mind. Mark my words, Gianna. You are mine, and goin
g forward, no one will ever lay a hand on you, much less do what he did. So, if my friends want to side with him when the truth comes out, so be it. I’ll be on the right side of the proverbial fence, and I won’t regret for one second walking away from all of them.”
He gave me a chaste kiss without allowing me to respond before he helped me up and got our carry-on bags. Hand in hand, we exited the plane. I couldn’t wait to get home and see the kids, but I wasn’t looking forward to facing reality tomorrow.
Tomorrow hit like a ton of bricks. Hart Linland called Jase early while we were getting ready for work. I hadn’t thought about going back to Faston as Jase’s wife and wasn’t looking forward to the questions, comments, or stares. I knew what people thought already—Jase putting a ring on it just confirmed it. It was a simple diamond eternity band—there was no large engagement ring. Although he tried to insist on it, I finally got him to relent with the thin band encrusted in tiny diamonds. I loved the way it sparkled on my hand and how dainty it looked on my thin fingers.
I never thought a man would get upset that a woman didn’t want a ten-thousand-dollar ring, but Jase and I argued over it for an ungodly amount of time. I couldn’t understand his need to spend money unnecessarily when it wasn’t what I wanted. He argued the only reason I didn’t want it was because of what people would say. But he was wrong; it wasn’t what I wanted because it didn’t symbolize us. I wanted the union, the eternity, the endless circle that would represent our marriage. He was my rock, and I didn’t need a diamond to prove that to anyone. Oddly enough, when it came to his ring, he didn’t want me to spend any money on it, either. He wanted a plain white gold band, but I’d insisted on platinum that matched his eyes.
I stared at my ring, admiring the way the light hit it while Jase talked to Hart, but when he left the room and closed the door behind him, I knew we had trouble. Hart hadn’t been able to get any kind of settlement arranged while we were gone. And in our absence, Holland had spoken with the press about Jase’s brutal attack on him, unarmed, over the money-grubbing-whore he’d tried to help. He and his friends had all fallen victim to a liar—me—and lost thousands of dollars trying to help my child. Hart emailed Jase clips of the various statements Holland made over the weekend and encouraged Jase to come out today with a statement of his own regarding his silence over the weekend. He had to shed some light on the situation before it wasn’t salvageable.
Fallen Woman Page 22
