by Rosanna Leo
Chapter Seventeen
It had been over a week and the cops still hadn’t found Bill Patterson. When police went to his apartment, they’d found it empty. The landlord said Patterson had just picked up and left.
Not knowing the paparazzo’s whereabouts made Alex sweat at night. He could handle unpleasant confrontations, but Dana didn’t deserve to be treated with the same lack of respect.
Nevertheless, there had been no other incidents that week. Alex had shared Dana’s space and her bed, traveling to Vice whenever he needed to. She’d worked from home as well, availing herself of his drivers when she had to meet with clients. Despite Pierre’s departure, there was no shortage of staff to drive them around town. He employed a number of drivers, as many of their high rollers appreciated shuttle service from time to time, so there was always someone available to help Dana with her transportation needs.
Aside from concerns about Patterson, it had been an incredible week. Alex and Dana had coexisted beautifully, caught up in the excitement of a new relationship and unrelenting sexual hunger. Alex couldn’t get enough of her. Having her fall asleep in his arms every night was a pleasure he never wanted to deny himself again. Waking up with her was even better. There was nothing as sweet as rolling over to see her face on the pillow next to his.
She had a cute morning routine. As she slowly woke up, she mumbled and rubbed her eyes. She would stretch her legs, sliding her toes up his shin. Upon whispering his name, she would open her eyes and look at him for the first time each morning.
On their third morning together, emotion put a stranglehold on Alex.
He’d fallen in love with her.
He knew exactly when it had happened too. There had been one evening when they’d been working from home. He’d stared at the same email for some time, caught up in concerns about Patterson. For one moment, Alex had allowed himself to imagine how he’d feel if something bad happened to Dana.
The turmoil of that moment had made him realize he would always put her safety ahead of his.
That evening, he’d lured her away from her work by kissing that spot on her neck, the one she said drove her crazy with lust. He’d spent the night worshiping her from head to toe.
They made love every morning, while their bodies were still hot from the sheets and their dreams were tangled with reality.
It was bliss. It was everything he’d ever wanted.
Alex didn’t want to leave her condo. It already felt like home. He almost wished the police wouldn’t find Patterson.
But at the same time, he knew that wasn’t an option. He needed to know the man wouldn’t cause any more trouble.
Now, on a quiet Saturday morning, Dana emerged from the bedroom. She was dressed in cute little shorts and one of his t-shirts. She borrowed Alex’s shirts a lot. Every time she did, he swore his heart pumped harder.
“I like your outfit,” he said, as he checked his texts.
“This old thing?” She waved at the shirt. “I went shopping at the Markov Emporium.”
He put his phone down, walked over, and kissed her on the top of her head, fingering the sleeve of his shirt. “I wish you’d told me you’re a kleptomaniac. I would have packed more shirts.”
She gasped in mock indignance. “I don’t have a problem. I just like wearing your shirts. They smell like you.”
He crouched in front of her. “That’s a good answer.”
His cellphone buzzed on the table with a couple of incoming texts.
“Someone’s a busy man.”
“It’s probably just Trevor. He’s been on my case, reminding me I RSVP’d for an event next week. He’s been texting me the details.”
“Oh, yeah? What event?”
“A benefit for a breast cancer awareness charity. With everything going on, I forgot about it.”
The cellphone rattled on the table again.
“Boy,” said Dana, “Trevor is one persistent guy.”
“Tell me about it. He’s probably triple checking that I have a tuxedo ready to go.”
“Tuxedo? Nice.” Dana waggled her eyebrows. “What does a girl have to do to wrangle an invitation to this benefit? I know someone who might like to see you in a tuxedo.”
“Oh, yeah? Would that someone be you?”
“I’d love to go with you.”
Her dark eyes shone with such sweetness, such openness.
Only he hadn’t been open with her, not completely. His unsaid words scratched like wadded up sandpaper in his throat. She was the one person in this world who deserved his truth, even though the rest of the world seemed to think they were entitled to it.
And she was the one person who might be hurt if he kept it from her any longer.
“Dana, there’s something I need to tell you.”
Once again, the cellphone buzzed.
She giggled. “It’s Saturday. Doesn’t poor Trevor get a day off?”
Alex stared at the phone, as an undefinable dread settled in his core.
“Why don’t you check your messages and then we can talk.” She walked over to the door of her unit. “I’m just going to see if the Saturday paper has arrived yet.”
Buzz buzz buzz.
Trevor might be efficient, but there was no way this was about a tuxedo.
Dana opened her unit door and leaned over to grab her rolled up newspaper. She slid the elastic off and began to unfurl the pages.
Alex reached for his phone. The texts from Trevor screamed at him.
Trevor: We have a problem. Call me.
Trevor: Alex, it’s important. Are you there?
Trevor: Don’t come to Vice. There are reporters everywhere.
Trevor: Patterson finally surfaced. His paper ran a story about you early this morning, a bad one. You need to see it.
Trevor: Alex? We need to come up with a plan to confront these lies.
Trevor: Are you getting my messages?
One final text from Trevor contained a link to Patterson’s article. Alex clicked on it.
Hotelier Alex Markov’s secret love child…dead!
The Deans.
They’d finally talked. They’d always said they would.
Blackness swirled around Alex’s head, cloaking him in confusion and dismay. In that one second, the temperature in the room seemed to drop. His skin came alive with goosebumps, and for one moment, he thought he could see his breath in front of his face.
All his breath dissipated as soon as Dana turned around, holding up the front page of the paper.
“Alex?” Her eyes were wide with alarm. “What’s going on? The newspaper…they’ve printed some vicious lies.”
“They’re not lies.”
“But…” She dropped the newspaper. Its pages scattered on the floor. “A baby? Dead?”
He stood and walked over to her, holding out his hands. “Let me explain.”
She pulled away.
His Dana pulled away.
Shannon, his constant companion since that horrible day, laughed. You did this to me, Alex. It’s all your fault.
“Dana, please.”
She was a statue, completely unmoving. The only sign she still breathed was the moisture at the corners of her eyes.
“I was just about to tell you.”
“Really? Interesting timing.” She pointed at the newspaper. “Patterson is saying you were responsible for the death of your child.”
Alex sank into one of the living room chairs, defeated. It wasn’t often he allowed himself to visualize the stark room in the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital in Bermuda. He dared never picture the doctor’s face, his eyes so full of sympathy. He did so now and allowed the painful memories to wash over him, taking him back to that awful moment, the one that changed everything.
I’m sorry, sir. We couldn’t save her. And I’m so sorry we couldn’t save the baby.
Baby?
The doctor’s brow had creased. Shannon was pregnant. Again, you have my deepest condolences.
�
�Alex?” Dana whispered. “Tell me.”
Although it hung like a weight, he lifted his head to look at her. “I didn’t know. Shannon never told me. They figured she was four months pregnant with my child, but she never said a word. The fucking doctor was the one who told me I could have been a father.”
Moving with trepidation, Dana sat on the couch across from him. Not next to him.
He was losing her. She wouldn’t forgive him this lie of omission, not after everything she’d been through.
“Only three people knew, outside the hospital staff. Me and Shannon’s parents. I don’t even think they told Gordon. At least, he’s never mentioned it. When Shannon died, the baby died. The Deans always threatened me with exposing the truth about the baby. It’s been hanging over my head all this time. Patterson must have finally gotten to them. I knew he would.”
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
“Because I can’t take the shame.” He threw up his hands. “Don’t you get it? I should have been there, but I was passed out in our room. While Shannon bled to death, while my baby slowly died, I was pissed out of my gourd!”
Tears poured over Dana’s cheeks.
“It’s haunted me ever since. Do you have any idea how many nights I lay awake, wondering if the baby was a boy or a girl? Do you know how many nights I drank myself into a stupor, needing to forget? But I can’t forget. I see the baby everywhere. It’s little face, its tiny fingers. I’ve even created a whole fantasy world around it. I swear some days I can see its hair color, eye color. I can hear that baby laughing and crying. Only none of it’s real. Because of me, Shannon is dead. Because of me,” he said, his chest heaving, “my child is dead.”
After his outburst, neither of them spoke. Too ashamed to face her, Alex surrendered to his grief and let his aching head fall to his knees. He covered his head with his good arm and wept.
A few minutes passed but he didn’t look up. When he heard some shuffling, he finally forced himself to blink away his tears and wipe his snot and look at her.
Surely, she was getting up to walk away.
From him.
Only she hadn’t.
Dana crouched in front of him and rested a gentle hand on his arm.
“I understand if you want to call things off. I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you when I had a chance, Dana. I just couldn’t bear to think about how it might make you feel.”
“No.” She wiped her tears away. “I’m the one who’s sorry, Alex. I’m sorry for all the pain you’ve endured. And I’m so sorry that I showed you anything other than compassion just now. That headline, it came out of nowhere, and we’ve been so happy. I just wasn’t expecting to read that.”
“I know. It’s been killing me inside because I always knew this day would come. I was the only one the doctor told about the baby, but I told Shannon’s parents out of respect. It just made them angrier. I begged them not to say anything to anyone. Her death was already a circus. But they lost their grandchild that day, and they’ve never forgiven me. I’ve never forgiven myself.”
“Now you listen to me. I don’t care how Patterson twisted the truth. I know you, and I know you would never hurt another soul.”
He dared to caress her cheek, so relieved she didn’t push him away. “Now that it’s out, I can handle the world hating me, but I could never handle you hating me.”
“I don’t hate you, Alex.” She smiled through her tears. “I love you.”
“You do?”
“Yes, you silly man. I know it’s far too soon for me to even be thinking it, never mind admitting it to you. It’ll probably give my sister a heart attack, but I’m willing to deal with her because you mean the world to me. You told me I was enough for you, Alex, so here I am. Offering myself to you, if you’ll have me.”
“I’ll have you.” He stood, pulling her up with him. They embraced and he ran his hands under the t-shirt she’d commandeered, resting his forehead on hers. Her skin was so soft, so soothing. The greatest comfort he’d ever known. “And I love you too.”
She cupped his face with both her hands and kissed him with butterfly softness. But when she opened her eyes, there was a fierce determination in their depths. “We will handle this, together. Do you hear me? I’m not going anywhere.”
“I hear you.”
“And when I get my hands on that slime Bill Patterson, I’m going to scratch his fucking eyes out. I hope that man has cashed in all his Lotto tickets because he’s about to meet his maker.”
Alex laughed. God, he loved this woman, and couldn’t wait to plan a future with her. He slid a hand up to her bare breast and cradled her softness.
If Dana could forgive him, maybe it was time he learned to forgive himself.
Dana loved him.
Screw the rest of the world.
***
“I still think you should sue that bastard,” Dana declared, as they left her condo unit. “Patterson published confidential information, information given to you in confidence by a doctor. Surely, that goes against some code of ethics, even for the paparazzi.”
“I’m not sure they have a code of ethics.” Alex chuckled.
He was relaxed today. Too relaxed.
It made Dana nervous, considering they were about to visit a memorial.
Patterson’s attempt at destroying Alex’s reputation had backfired, and in spectacular fashion. The paparazzo had expected Alex’s dominion to implode once the news got out about the baby, but in truth, Alex had received nothing but messages of support from the community. He’d been inundated by words of sympathy on Twitter and Facebook. Since the day the headline broke, tourists and residents of Las Vegas had been leaving little bundles of flowers and teddy bears outside the Vice doors. Now, four days later, there was a sizable pile. Every evening, the TV news channels showed footage of new people paying their respects outside the casino.
Even the other reporters had left. On the day of the story, the press had inundated Vice, looking for comments from Alex. According to Trevor, even the reporters had given up and gone elsewhere.
The story was basically dead.
Alex and Dana had spent those four days at her condo, quietly working from home and spending time together. They’d grieved each other’s situations, talking about feelings they’d never shared with any other. Dana felt stronger each day, and Alex seemed to as well. More importantly, they both felt accepted and loved.
This morning, she awoke to find him sitting up in bed, a gentle smile playing on his lips.
“I’m ready,” he’d said.
Dana was pleased for him, even if she wasn’t quite ready to take the high road with the paparazzo. “Maybe just a little lawsuit? Something to make him sweat?”
“I just want to let it go. Patterson wanted to get a rise out of me. He didn’t get it. That’s got to be eating him up. Every last detail surrounding Shannon’s death is out there now. There’s nothing more to tell. His huge scoop blew up in his face. I’m good with that.”
In fact, the backlash against the reporter had been so intense, he’d had to go into hiding himself. That was after the police visited him and issued a stern warning about harassing Dana.
She locked her unit door. “You’re better than I am, Alex. If I ever see that scum again…”
He grasped her by the waist and spun her around, claiming her lips. “Have I ever told you how sexy you are when you’re acting badass?”
She extended her fingers like cat claws. “Does this look like acting?”
“Rawr.” Purring like a great cat, he nuzzled her neck, tickling her until she broke down and laughed.
When their laughter subsided, she stroked his face. “Are you sure about going back to Vice to see the memorial? You don’t have to.”
“Yes, I do. People were kind enough to leave flowers. It’s the least I can do.”
“I’m proud of you.”
“When everything has blown over, I want to do something to give back to the community. For so
many years, I’ve been putting all my energy into my clubs. I want to do something more, something worthwhile.”
“I’ve been thinking of doing the same thing.”
“You have?”
“Yeah. I’ve always been defined by my career, and lately I’ve been letting my lack of choices define me. I need something more in my life, an activity that will still give me fulfillment, even if I change careers one day.” Dana lowered her eyes as she contemplated the idea that had taken root in recent days. “I was thinking of putting together a benefit event, something to do with infertility awareness. I’m sure so many people struggling with it feel alone and misunderstood. I’d like to help those people.”
He grasped her hands. “Angel, I think that’s amazing.”
“Amazing enough that you might want to lend me a hand?”
“I’d like nothing more.”
Excitement fluttered in her chest. “Because between your contacts and mine, we could make a real difference.”
“Let’s do it.”
Holding hands, they headed downstairs in the elevator and toward Dana’s condo lobby. It was all Dana could do not to skip the entire way. She’d never been so eager to put a plan into action before and couldn’t stop smiling.
One of Alex’s drivers was waiting out front to take them to Vice.
As they made their way to the door, Alex stopped in his tracks. “Damn. I forgot my wallet upstairs. You go ahead and wait in the car. I’ll be right back.”
“Okay.” Dana patted him on the butt. “Don’t be long, Zeus.”
Winking, Alex disappeared back into the elevator.
Still grinning to herself, Dana rummaged through her purse to make sure she had her own wallet and approached the Vice Escalade.
“Dana Hamill?”
“Yes?” She looked up.
A man stood at the Escalade, aiming a gun at her. Next to him, Alex’s driver lay on the ground, unconscious.
“Oh, my God.”
“Get in the car,” said the man. “Now.”
