Secret Sauce

by Jill Sanders

  “I’ve been thinking about it all weekend.” She sighed and rested her head back. “Tommy’s father is a pretty high-powered man. But I ran into him in Boston, and I don’t believe he even cares to acknowledge his existence.”

  “Is his father Brandon Hughes?” Trent asked, already knowing the answer.

  Marina didn’t seem surprised that he knew. Nodding her head, she continued. “Yes. My sister Caterina and he had an affair when he and his wife were separated. But he has yet to acknowledge that Tommy is his. At one point he demanded a blood test, which I ended up paying for.”

  “What were the results?” He watched her eyes flare, but she sighed and they went back to looking tired.

  “He’s Tommy’s father. My sister is a screw up. Has been since puberty. But she’s no lair, at least not when it comes to things like this. Brandon insisted on more tests, claiming that he was being framed. He even tried to have Trina arrested.” She shook her head. “My sister was—is—still probably going through addiction. I think the smartest thing she’s ever done was leaving that kid with me.” He watched as a tear escaped her closed eye. Gently, he leaned in and brushed it aside.

  “He has a good aunt. No one could contest that he’s well taken care of and loved.”

  She nodded her head and looked at him. “Brandon did mention that my sister had something of his and that if I see her again to tell her he needs it back.” She frowned.

  “Something? Did he say what it was?” She shook her head and he made a note to pass that information on to Ethan.

  “What about ex-boyfriends? Someone from your work?”

  She looked at him, a slight frown on her lips. “You mean like a stalker?” When he nodded. “I might have pissed a few people off in my line of work, but I don’t think anyone knows who I really am. I’m very careful with my identity.”

  “How did Hughes find you?”

  She frowned. “I think he’s had me followed for a while. There’s a thin bald man that I’ve seen around a few times.”

  He tried to control his anger. “Someone has been following you and you’re just now telling me?” He took a deep breath.

  She nodded and shrugged her shoulders. “I’m very careful.”

  “Yes, so you’ve said.” He stood up and started pacing in the small space. “Okay,” he said after a few moments of silence, “new rules. You don’t go anywhere alone, at least for the next few weeks. Tommy doesn’t go anywhere alone. I’ll move some more of my stuff over here—”

  “Now wait just a moment.” She stood and stopped him from pacing by stepping in front of him. “I won’t sit here and be dictated to like I have no say in my life. I have a job to do, and I can’t go around dragging someone along with me. I’ve never let Tommy go anywhere by himself, and I’m not about to start.” She pushed a finger into his chest, and he felt his respect for her growing for standing up for herself. “Besides, maybe I don’t want you moving in. Last time I let someone move in with me it didn’t turn out so great.” She crossed her arms over her chest and frowned at him.

  He pulled her close and kissed her until he felt all the tension leave her body. Pulling back a little, he rested his head on hers. “I don’t want anything bad to happen to you two. Please, let’s just try it my way for a while.”

  She sighed and rested her hand over his heart. “Fine. I guess I can reschedule some of my appointments and see if Julie could tag along with me.”

  He ran his hand through her hair. “Thanks. How about using those organization skills and making some more room in this place for some of my things?”

  She looked up at him and laughed.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Over the next few days, Marina stayed very busy. She’d had a lot of work to catch up on since her trip to Boston, not to mention taking the whole weekend off with Tommy and Trent.

  She sat at her small desk and tried not to sigh, thinking of how wonderful the weekend had been. Maybe she was fooling herself into believing Trent felt the same way, but she couldn’t deny how much fun Tommy had had with him. He would make a wonderful father.

  She looked up at her small mirror and frowned. What was she doing? She’d never really thought about having kids before. Especially after she had started watching Tommy full-time. But now an image of kids popped into her head. Tommy with a little boy and girl who had crystal blue eyes and medium dark hair with a slight curl in it.

  She caught herself smiling at her reflection and forced herself to get back to work. She had a midday appointment to check out a new restaurant on the East Side in over an hour and had already convinced Julie to tag along with her.

  It had been hard to do, but she had finally told her neighbor what it was she did for a living. Julie had been happily surprised and excited.

  When her new cell phone rang, she picked it up, happy for the detraction.

  “You bitch. How dare you give my name to the police. They interviewed me and my husband like we were common criminals.” Silvia Hughes voice was calm and demanding at the same time.

  “I'm sure...” She started to say, only to be interrupted.

  “Stay away from us. We won't pay you or your sister a dime and as for that brat, you can keep him, he's not my husbands and you'll never get anything from us.”

  She heard the click and looked down at her cell phone and frowned. How had the woman gotten her new number that quickly? Then she remembered how much money the senator had and tossed her phone down in disgust.

  Less than fifteen minutes later, there was a knock at her door and Julie walked in wearing one of her best outfits.

  “Are you ready for our undercover mission?” she asked, looking like she would jump out of her skin.

  “Undercover?” Marina had a hard time shaking herself from the bad mood.

  “Sure, it’s kind of like being a spy, isn’t it?”

  Mari had never thought of it like that before. “I suppose it is.” She smiled. “Well, now I have a perfect partner.” She stood up and stretched and grabbed her purse and coat.

  They made their way outside and hailed a cab to take them across town.

  “How long have you been doing this?” Julie asked in the cab.

  “This job? I guess it’s been seven years now.”

  “I had no clue I was friends with someone famous.” She patted her leg as Marina laughed.

  Lunch was very pleasant and Marina felt that having Julie along made the meal go more smoothly. In the cab ride home, she questioned Julie on her thoughts about the meal, staff, and the restaurant in general. Julie provided a few insights that she would have never thought about, such as how the waitstaff had not only been kind, but how they had all looked happy to be doing their job.

  “It shows that they have a manager or boss who really cares about them. I worked at a restaurant one time where our manager treated us all like his minions. Everyone walked around trying to figure out how to piss him off all day long. It really showed to our customers and the place ended up closing down less than a year later.”

  They stopped by a grocery store on the way back and decided to walk home instead of taking a cab. As they walked the aisles, Julie with her cart and Marina with hers, they chatted about Trent.

  “So, is he officially”—her friend air-quoted—“moving in with you?”

  Marina laughed. “No, not officially. I think it’s just until this whole scare blows over. Besides, my place is too small for the three of us. You should see his place.” She cringed and remembered how it had looked the last time she’d seen it. “He’s having it remodeled right now, and I think he just wants to make sure we’re okay.”

  Julie sighed and leaned against the refrigerator door. “He is great with Tommy, isn’t he?”

  Marina nodded and watched as her friend opened the glass door. When the reflection of a large black man showed in the glass, she felt the hair on her neck stand up. She’d seen the man outside of the restaurant across town. It couldn’t be the same man, could it? She turned h
er head slightly to get a better look at him, but he was gone. The rest of their shopping trip, her mind was preoccupied with trying to get a good glimpse of the man, who was obviously not shopping. She kept asking herself why the senator would hire another man to watch her. Then she wondered if it was Silvia who had hired this one.

  The huge man had a small basket in his rather large hands, but so far, the only item he carried was a small case of AA batteries. He’d followed them down almost every aisle in the store. When both of their carts were almost full, they walked up to check out and she wonder how they were going to carry everything the few blocks back to their building.

  As they checked out she noticed that the man wasn’t far behind. She juggled her bags until she could carry her cell phone in her right hand. Julie talked to her like nothing was wrong, and Marina wanted it that way.

  When they were less than a block from their building, her phone rang. Glancing down, she saw Trent’s face on her screen and sighed with relief.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi, where are you?”

  “Just coming up to the building now.”

  “From which direction?”

  “We’ve been to the market.”

  “Hang tight, I’ll come and help.” She heard a click and less than a minute later, she watched as he jogged towards her.

  When she turned to hand him some bags, she noticed the man was still following them. Gripping Trent’s arm, she whispered, “I think that man in the green pants and blue jacket a few yards behind me has been following us.”

  She watched as Trent tensed and looked over her shoulder. Then he laughed and waved towards the man. “Yeah, he has. That’s Javan.”

  She watched in amazement as the man walked quickly towards them. “Hey,” he said in a very thick Jamaican accent. “I’m sorry if I scared you.”

  Marina watched as Trent shook his hand warmly. “Marina, this is Javan. He’s going to be watching you, making sure nothing happens.”

  “Hello.” She felt herself relax a little. Then her mind sharpened and she realized what Trent had just said. He’d actually hired someone to follow her and watch her. Like a babysitter. She tried not to glare at the man, since she didn’t want to make a scene in the middle of her block.

  “Here, let me help you with those,” Javan said, grabbing a few bags from Julie, since Trent had already grabbed most of Marina’s. Marina watched Julie blush and hand over her bags to the large man.

  “This is my neighbor, Julie,” she said, making the quick introductions.

  “I know.” He nodded and smiled at her friend.

  “Of course,” she said, looking over at Trent with a glare.

  She watched Javan help Julie into her apartment down the hallway as Trent unlocked her door with the set of keys she’d given him.

  When she walked into the kitchen, he had set the bags down and was frowning at them.

  “I don’t know where you expect to put all this in this small kitchen. But I’m sure you have your ways.” He turned and smiled at her.

  She stood just inside the doorway, her arms crossed over her chest. “I can’t believe you hired someone to babysit me.” She felt like tapping her toe, but stopped herself from doing so.

  His eyebrows shot up. “Babysit?”

  “That man!” She motioned towards her closed door.

  Trent laughed. “Javan is no babysitter. He’s a lethal weapon in at least a dozen countries.” He leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest, mimicking her stance.

  Marina paled. “He’s a killer?” She looked towards the doorway. “I left Julie alone…”

  Trent quickly walked across the room and took her shoulders in his hands, forcing her to turn and look at him. “He’s a protector. I mentioned to a good buddy of mine who runs a security service about our scare, and he sent Javan to help out for a while. No harm done.”

  She sighed and closed her eyes.

  “He’ll be watching Tommy as well.”

  She looked up at Trent and sighed again. “I suppose it couldn’t hurt for a while.”

  Over the next few weeks, everything seemed to run smoothly. The new building had passed its final inspection and was just awaiting his occupancy certificate. He’d hired most of his new staff and was eagerly awaiting opening week, which was quickly approaching.

  He was living full-time at Marina’s and was thoroughly enjoying his time with her and Tommy. He had yet to talk to her about what he really did, but part of him still wondered if she had known all along. Even Manhattan Nights was getting back into the full swing of things. It had been almost six months since Marina’s review had been published and now customers were crowding back into the restaurant.

  His apartment was being redecorated with Marina’s help. He had asked her to organize his stuff and to help with the placement of the new furniture he’d bought.

  He was standing in the back room of Manhattan Nights one Sunday night when he heard a commotion up front.

  When he walked out front, he found several people arguing, and he headed towards the growing crowd. It didn’t take long for him to realize what the situation was; he’d seen it a million times. Someone was drunk, and everyone was trying to convince them to go home and sleep it off. It took almost ten minutes of his time to pour the older gentlemen into a cab with his kids and grandkids.

  When he was done, Trent walked back into the restaurant and bumped into a familiar body. When he grabbed her shoulders, his first response was to pull her closer, but then he remembered where he was and what he was wearing.

  “Marina?” He saw the surprise on her face and then watched recognition and, finally, anger cross those dark eyes of hers.

  “Is it true?” He could see her shaking. Her jacket was miss-buttoned and her hair looked like she’d run all the way here from her place.

  Not wanting to cause another scene, he pulled her along until finally he closed the door to his office behind them.

  “Marina,” he started, but before he could think of something to say, she walked towards him and shoved a finger into his chest.

  “You’re the owner of Manhattan Nights? A restaurant I reviewed in this article?” It was then that he noticed that she was carrying a clipping of the newspaper. She’d wadded it up and was waving her fist around.

  “I can explain,” he started, but again no words would come out of his mouth.

  “You knew,” she said in a low voice, and he could see that she’d pieced it all together.

  “Yes.”

  “You’ve been using me.”

  “No.” He started to walk towards her, but she jumped back.

  “How did you know? Is it true?” She waved the paper in front of him and he was even more confused.

  “Is what true?”

  “That you hired someone to hunt me down so you could seek your revenge on the person who caused your precious restaurant to fail?”

  “No!” He walked closer to her and took the paper from her hands. Fear shot through him when he saw the deep red writing over a clipping of her article about Manhattan Nights.

  He’s found you. He lied to you. He’s using you.

  “It’s not true.” He looked up into her eyes, begging her to give him a chance to explain.

  “Did you think I would change my mind?”

  “No. I thought you were on the take,” he blurted out and instantly regretted his words. “Wait.” He grabbed her arm as she tried to walk past him. “That’s not what I think now.”

  She pushed his hand off her arm and glared at him. “You used me. That day in the coffee shop. You already knew who I was?”

  He nodded.

  “And you continued to keep it from me this whole time?”

  He nodded again, and then felt something break as he watched her turn towards the door. When she reached for the handle, she turned and looked back at him. “Don’t bother coming back to my place.” She turned and walked out and for the first time in his life, he felt true panic setting in.
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  The rest of the night, he worked in a daze. Finally, one of his employees mentioned to him that he looked like shit, so he left early. Heading back to his place was one of the loneliest things he’d ever done. Just a few months ago, he was happy walking across the street alone, walking in to his apartment alone. Now, however, it felt empty. He felt empty.

  He stood in his doorway and looked at his place. The new furnishings were wonderful; Marina’s organization skills had made everything look better and cleaner somehow.

  When he walked into the kitchen, he remembered how she’d looked in the blue dress with the skirt hiked up and her hair loose in his hands. Closing his eyes, he thought about never seeing her again and his heart broke.

  Then he remembered Tommy’s face when he’d seen the bald eagles at the zoo and it broke a little more. He wanted them back. No, he needed them back. But he needed a plan first. He had to prove to them that it hadn’t all been a lie. His future depended on it.

  When he finally gotten up the nerve to show up at her door, the place was empty and a “For Rent” sign hung in the window. He knocked on Julie’s door, but there was no answer. There was only one thing he could think of to do to get her attention, and he knew just the man to set it all up.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Marina was covered in sweat and dust. It had taken her three days to find the right place and now, as she lugged the last box up the stairs at her new place, she told herself that everything was going to be all right. Of course, she was lying to herself.

  Tommy was still asking about Trent. When was he going to be coming around? Was he going to be moving in with them? Why wasn’t he coming to see them? Was he mad at them?

  So many questions, she still didn’t know what to say to him. Should she tell him that Trent had lied to them? Broken her heart? Every evening she lay in her bed and reached over to his side. When she found it empty, she would cry herself back to sleep.

  Why? Why had he done this? She’d thought he was the one, the one man she could finally feel free and safe enough with to dream about settling down. Now, she was having to rip herself and Tommy out of their little home and into another apartment just to escape the feeling that Trent would walk in the door at any moment.