“It was a mistake. I know it now.”
“You know how Gina is. Even with that lowlife Marcus Rance she did all she could for that man.”
“Yeah, she looked out for him all right, even though he didn’t deserve it.”
“But that’s her. That was her brother and she was helping her brother.”
“And that’s why I couldn’t bring myself to allow another brother into her life. When those results came back, she was fighting for her life.”
“I remember.”
“It was crazy then. I didn’t know who to trust then. I wasn’t about to let somebody else come into her life, I just wasn’t going to let that happen. Especially the way this family had presented themselves to me. They came, not asking to meet Gina, but promising not to expose their connection to Gina if I paid them off. And that sister, the one who came to Gina this morning, was right there in the thick of it. She might have been pushing it more so than her mother was.”
“What about the boy? Was he in on it too?”
“No. At least there was no indication that he was.”
“But you wasn’t risking it.”
“I wasn’t. That’s right. I wasn’t taking any chances.”
LaLa nodded. “I kind of don’t blame you,” she admitted.
Dutch looked at her, at this woman he loved. She was a friend indeed. He pulled her back against him, and put his arm around her. She leaned against him. “Thanks,” he said. “I needed to hear that.”
“But I understand Gina’s point too,” LaLa said, never afraid to speak the truth with Dutch. “She’s not the kind of person who can know she has a brother out there and do nothing about it. She’s not built that way.”
Dutch nodded. He knew that was the truth too.
“So we’ll never know if he killed that clerk or not, then, hun?”
“According to the sister he was innocent as the driven snow. But I did send one of my attorneys down there to check it out.”
“So what did the attorney find out?”
“That the boy might have been innocent, but he was at the scene of the crime, with the criminals who committed the crime, he was guilty in the eyes of the law. He told the young man that very thing. He suggested the kid plead guilty and hope to get life without parole, rather than Death.”
“Wow. That’s a heavy duty suggestion.”
“Yep. Gina seems to think that’s what caused the kid to kill himself. He lost his hope.”
LaLa shook her head. “This is a mess, Dutch,” she said. “There’s no two ways about it. This is a mess.” And then she stood up. “I’d better go and see my girl. She has got to be hurting.”
Dutch stood up too, wiping away his tear. “She is. That’s why I’m so grateful you’re here. To be with Gina.”
“And you, too, Dutch. You can’t beat yourself up about this. What’s done is done. You need to concentrate on getting your wife back.”
“Don’t worry, I will. I’ll win her trust again.”
LaLa smiled, but Dutch could see that it was a weak smile.
“What about you?” he asked. “What in the world brings you to Newark?”
“I told you. I just needed to get away for a few hours, that’s all. I hope to be back in DC by daybreak. Just felt a need to get away.”
Dutch continued to stare at her. He knew her too well. “What happened?” he asked her.
“Nothing happened. I wanted to get away for. . .”
“Is it Crader?”
LaLa’s discomfort began to manifest itself. “He hasn’t done anything wrong, if that’s what you mean. He’s not cheating on me or anything like that.”
“But?”
LaLa hesitated. Then she spoke. “But he seems so distant. And I know the office of president can do that to you, but not like this. I saw you hold that office and you was very much so involved with Gina’s life, and Walter’s life. But Crader he . . . It’s as if he barely spend any time with us at all. It’s as if that job is now his mistress. He’s never been good at balancing things, and he’s even worse at it now.”
Dutch thought about that. “So what’s the answer?” he asked her.
“I don’t think I’ll really know until after he leaves office and all he’ll have is Nikki and I.”
“And your fear is that you and Nikki won’t be enough.”
LaLa frowned. And then nodded. “That’s my fear, yes. And I hate even bringing up my nothing problems compared to yours.”
“Nonsense,” Dutch said, putting his arm around her. “Gina and I love you and Crader as if you two were our flesh and blood. I’m glad you came to us.”
They stopped embracing. “And don’t worry, Dutch,” LaLa said. “Gina will be back. I know she will. She just need a little time to herself probably.”
Dutch smiled weakly and rubbed LaLa’s arm. And then silence ensued as they both thought separately about their own problems, about each other’s problems, and then about each other. And their closeness. And the fact that Dutch was rubbing her arm and she had her arm around him. His cologne. Her perfume. Their genuine love for each other. And they both knew they had better shift gears.
LaLa began heading for the exit. “I’d better get over to Gina’s,” she said.
Dutch escorted her to the front door. “I need to get some sleep anyway. I’m due in Vegas tomorrow.”
LaLa looked back at him as she walked toward the door. “Vegas?” she asked.
“A three-day business trip unfortunately. Seems a group of investors want me to consider more overseas markets for Harber Industries.”
“Sounds like more money to me.”
“Me too. That’s why I’m going.”
LaLa laughed. At the door, instead of kissing on the mouth the way they usually did, they both opted for a hug only.
“Get some rest, Dutch, and don’t worry. Gina will be home by morning. I’m sure of it.”
Dutch smiled, told her not to worry too much about Crader either, and then she was gone. When he closed the door, only to be met by the sound of silence in his home once again, he knew LaLa was extremely optimistic. Especially since he knew that Gina coming back home, did not automatically translate into Gina coming back to him.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
They had progressed to fucking. That was the only condition Reyza Golan put on helping Jade. He’d get her out of there, and get her in touch with the right connections to fulfill her desire to rid her father of his wife, but if, and only if, she’d let him fuck her every session. No more oral sex. That wasn’t enough for him anymore. He wanted to fuck.
And Jade, if it meant getting what she wanted, was more than willing to accommodate him.
On the morning that Dutch walked into the office of the facility director, they were half-naked in Golan’s office, doing their thing. It was the day after Dutch and LaLa had had their conversation. Gina did come back home the next morning, as Dutch had ordered her to, but only on the condition that he moved into one of the guest houses. Which, as he predicted, meant that she was back, but not back with him. But at least his family was home.
But his business obligations didn’t stop just because he had personal problems. He still had trips to make. And after a series of meetings with investors over a two-day period, meetings that were held at the PaLargio Hotel and Casino on the Vegas Strip, Dutch rented a car and hit the road. He drove the three-plus hours to California, not only to clear his head, but mainly to visit yet another failure in his life: his daughter.
When he was told, by Dr. Forbes, that she was at that very moment in a one-on-one therapy session with Dr. Golan, Dutch somehow knew this was his chance to see just what that psychiatrist was really up to. Golan’s glowing reports aside, Dutch was willing to bet the farm that there was some subterfuge going on there. He didn’t know to what extent, but something was wrong between those two.
“Without notifying him,” Dutch said to Forbes, “take me to his office.”
They were in Forbes’ office, and
he didn’t see the point of any unannounced visits now. “Perhaps it would be better if you met with them after their session,” he suggested.
Dutch, however, would have none of it. “Take me to his office,” he said. “Do not knock. Do not announce me. I want to go in.”
“But, sir, what you’re asking is highly unusual.”
But Dutch gave Forbes such a chilling look that he said no more and began walking from around his desk. As quickly as he had forgotten whom he was talking to, he remembered. “Yes, sir,” he said as he walked.
They took the elevator upstairs, across the hall, and then into Dr. Golan’s secretary’s office. When she saw that Dutch was with the director, she immediately stood up from her seat. “Is he in?” Forbes asked her.
“He’s in a session, yes, sir,” she replied.
“With Jade?”
“Yes, sir.”
“That’s fine then,” Forbes said as he and Dutch walked on up to the office door. Forbes, remembering that Dutch wanted the visit to be completely unannounced, didn’t bother to knock. But when he turned the knob to walk on in, the door was locked, which surprised him.
“Is that normal?” Dutch asked him.
“No,” Forbes said, his curiosity piqued too now. He looked at the secretary. “Is this door always locked?” he asked her.
The secretary, who couldn’t stand Golan, was more than happy to answer. “Only when Jade Harber is in therapy,” she replied.
Forbes looked at Dutch, and then he pulled out his master key.
Inside the office, Jade, naked from the waist down, was riding Reyza hard. He had his pants and boxers down along his ankles as he slid her slender body back and forward along his rod. His head was leaned back and his eyes were closed and he was nearing his climax. Jade was staring at him as she did him, as she couldn’t wait to get it over with. Having sex with him was like watching a bad movie. It felt endless and a major waste of her time. She preferred oral, because he came a lot faster then. But if fucking him was going to help her get out of that place and get the connections she needed to do what she had to do to get rid of Gina Harber once and for all, she was going to fuck him every chance she got.
And she was fulfilling her obligation marvelously, Reyza thought, as he began sliding her faster and faster with no regard to how she felt about it. He, in fact, didn’t even look at her as he fucked her.
But just when he thought he was in nirvana, his office door was opened and Luther Forbes and Dutch Harber walked in.
As soon as he opened his eyes and saw them, he jumped from his seat and dropped Jade to the floor. Jade scrambled to get up, and he scrambled to pull up his trousers. But it was like shooting the moon. They were already busted.
Forbes was outraged, but Dutch wasn’t. He didn’t know what to feel. There was his daughter, half-naked and about as cured as a wild boar could be cured of wildness, and he knew it was all so useless. She didn’t want to do it right. She wasn’t interested in doing the work and getting herself better. She wanted to play games with her life. She wanted to pretend and scheme and plot to get by in her life. And she could go down that road if she wanted to. She could chose manipulation and lies and deceit all she cared to. But not with him.
Jade tried to run to her father, to explain that it wasn’t her fault, that Golan had put her up to it, but he didn’t want to hear it. Nobody made Jade do anything she didn’t want to do. Including him.
He walked away. He could hear her calling his name, and crying the way she could turn it on and off like a faucet, but she could cry a river as far as he was concern.
He didn’t look back.
On the plane ride back to Newark, Dutch felt so alone and disappointed with the way his life was headed that he began to wonder where it had all gone so off track. That decision he made to sleep with Sam Redding all those years ago led to the birth of Jade. He didn’t even know she existed until she was a grown woman, and he was upset that Sam had kept that information from him. Now, it all came full circle when he kept the same kind of information from Gina. Although he was trying to justify his behavior, and pretend he was looking out for her best interest, it amounted to the same thing: a betrayal. He had betrayed his wife. She should have been told, if not while she was fighting for her life, certainly after she was recovered. But he kept it to himself. Now the truth was eating him alive.
His cell phone began to ring. When he saw that it was Gina’s number, his heart soared. And he answered right away. “Hello?” he said.
“Hey.”
“Everything okay?”
“Such as it is, yes. Your son wants to talk to you.”
That wasn’t exactly what he had wanted to hear, but he was always thrilled to speak with his boy. “Put him on,” he said. And she did.
“Hey, Daddy.”
“Hey, Champ.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m on my plane, high up in the sky.”
“Up in the clouds?”
“That’s right. So what’s up?”
“Auntie LaLa was here this morning.”
“Was she?”
“Yes, sir. But she’s gone now. She has to go back home to Nikki. When I woke up, she was here. I was so surprised to see her here.”
“Yes, it is surprising.”
“Tomorrow night is movie night,” Walt said, which, Dutch knew, was probably the main reason why he wanted to talk. “Mommy promised me last time that you would be here. She said you won’t be too busy and she said you’ll stay the whole time this time. You’re coming, aren’t you?”
Dutch smiled. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Yes, son,” he gladly said, “tell your mother I will definitely be there.
It was an uplifting thing. The idea that he could spend time with his family.
Early the next morning, Dutch made his way from the guesthouse to the main house to have breakfast with his son.
“Daddy!” Little Walt yelled as soon as his father walked through the backdoor. Then he jumped from his seat at the kitchen table where he was having breakfast with his Nanny, and ran to him.
Dutch was so happy to pick up his son, and smell him again, and hold him again that he nearly squeezed him too hard. “There’s my boy!” he said as he hoisted him up.
“Where have you been?”
“I was out of town, remember? I spoke with you yesterday from the plane.”
“But I thought you was coming home last night.”
“I did get back last night. But it was late at night.”
“Tonight is movie night.”
“I know. Aren’t you excited?”
“I can’t wait,” Walter said, and Dutch couldn’t agree with him more.
Walt looked at Nanny. “I get to stay up late on movie night.”
Nanny smiled. “Aren’t you the lucky one.”
“Mommy says I’m not lucky, I’m blessed.”
Nanny nodded her head. “And that you are, young man.”
“Daddy, you’re gonna be there too, aren’t you?”
“You know I am.”
“Mommy says you won’t be too busy.”
“And Mommy’s right.”
“Good. It’ll be me, you, and Mommy.”
“The three musketeers.”
“What’s that?” Walter asked.
“A famous book written by a famous black man.”
“The three . . .”
“Musketeers.”
The chef, a young woman named Tammy, walked over to the center island. “What would you like to have, sir?” she asked him.
“Just coffee for me, Tam,” Dutch said as he sat in Walter’s seat at the kitchen table, and sat Walter on his lap.
“Finished your breakfast?” Dutch asked, although it was obvious he’d barely touched it.
“Almost,” Walter said. “You smell good, Daddy. Like Mommy. You smell like Mommy.”
Just the mention of Gina had Dutch feeling homesick already. “And how does Mommy smell?” he asked his so
n.
“Mommy smells real sweet,” Walter said.
Dutch remembered just how sweet she smelled. Top to bottom. And that wonderful place between her legs. “Have you seen her this morning yet?” he asked his son.
“No, sir. She’s not a breakfast person like us.”
Dutch laughed. “No truer words have ever been spoken, young man.”
“Open up, Daddy,” Walter said, with a helping of oatmeal on his spoon. Dutch opened his mouth and allowed his son to feed him.
“Now your turn,” Dutch said, and Walter took a bite too.
Dutch looked at his Rolex. Gina was running late. “I’d better go and get her up,” he said and stood up, sitting Walter back in the chair.
“Can I go up too?”
“Not right now, son. Finish your breakfast.”
“But Daddy, please.”
“Walter,” Dutch said in that stern voice Walter knew so well.
Walt scrunched up his face. “Yes, sir,” he said, and Dutch headed up the backstairs.
Dutch had been out of town for three days and could hardly wait to see Gina again. And when he opened the door of their bedroom, and saw her lying in bed with the covers exposing a part of her bare ass, his penis began to throb. She was fast asleep, looking so beautiful, he thought, and Dutch missed lying beside her.
He walked up to the bed. Although he desperately wanted to rub her the way he usually did, he, instead, pulled the covers over her exposed parts and shook her shoulder.
“Gina?” he said. “Gina?” She began to stir. “Wake up, darling. Time to get up.”
Gina heard Dutch’s soothing voice. Then she felt his strong hand on her shoulder. She opened her eyes. When she saw him, her heart sank. She loved him, but she was still trying to forgive him.
“Good morning,” he said to her.
He was fully dressed, in a sharp blue suit, and although he was smiling, she could see the weariness in his deep green eyes.
“Good morning.”
“Better get on up, kido.”
“What time is it?”
For the Love of Gina: The President's Girlfriend Page 13
