by Tobin, Val
***
Cope’s intercom buzzed, and his receptionist’s voice interrupted the perusal of a report he’d been working on for the last half-hour. “Yes, Angela?” He glanced at the clock. Almost noon.
“Your mother is here to see you, Mr. Copeland.”
His mother? What was she doing here? She’d never mentioned visiting the city today. “Send her in, please.”
The door opened, and Margaret walked into the office. Face tilting every which way, she scanned the room. “Nice. Quaint. If you’d have accepted our money, it would be more sumptuous, but this is okay.” She moved to the chair in front of his desk and sat.
“Nice of you to drop by. If you’d told me you were coming to the office today, I’d have planned to take you to lunch. As it is, I’m having food delivered and working through.”
“I was in the neighborhood.”
Cope studied her expression, searching for irony, but she was serious. “You’re never in this neighborhood. What’s going on, Mother?”
“I saw disturbing footage on the news.” Margaret crossed her ankles and folded her hands over the clutch she’d set in her lap.
“What news was that?” Cope’s stomach sank. It must involve Dani, or Margaret wouldn’t be here.
“About you and that little trollop you brought to our party. I thought that was over, but apparently, I was mistaken. Reporters caught you coming out of her apartment this morning after you spent the night there. Her other lover is out on bail.”
Cope grimaced. “Henderson’s not her other lover. Yes, Dani and I are back together. I love her, and nothing you say will change that. Accept it.”
“Your father and I don’t approve. She’s not suitable for you, Bobby. Her mother is in prison, accused of murder. Her father couldn’t hold a job. She’s slept with who knows how many men—certainly she’s been intimate with Greg Henderson. You see the kind of people she surrounds herself with? You’re not like them. She’ll be trouble for you.”
“I appreciate your concern, but I know what I’m doing.”
“Darling,” Margaret stretched her hand across his desk, beseeching. “You think you’re in love, but you’re confusing that with lust. I don’t want to interfere, but I can’t stay quiet while you ruin your life. Bobby, why did you take money from her and not from us?”
Cope shook his head. “It’s complicated, Mother. Don’t worry about us. It doesn’t matter that her family aren’t billionaires or that her mother’s in jail. I love Dani. It might not work out, but I love her, and I want to give it a chance. Let it be.”
“Fine. But don’t say I didn’t warn you. You don’t know her as well as you think. You’ll see. Sorry we can’t do lunch. Another time.” Margaret stood and walked to the door. Before she left, she turned back to Cope. “I hope you don’t regret your decision to continue seeing that girl. But remember this: when she breaks your heart, I’ll be there to help you.”
When Margaret had left, Cope picked up his cell phone and sent Dani a text: Hope you’re having a good day. I love you.
***
Eyes closed, Dani sat back in the limo, gripping a bottle of water. A week had passed, and they were still on location. Vega had been and gone, the interview going smoothly. As far as Dani was concerned, he’d pulled nothing new from her memories, but he’d insisted the exercise was necessary.
Today’s shoot had been long and grueling. She slipped off her shoes and massaged her aching feet. Heels were fine for clubbing or at a restaurant, but having to spend the day in them in a mountain forest was insane.
In the movie, her character had been kidnapped and held in a mountain cabin. While they shot the interior scenes in a studio, they shot outdoor scenes on location. Weather and daylight, or lack of it, conspired to slow them down. This would be a long week.
Dani’s cell phone beeped, and she pulled it out and checked the incoming message. Cope. They were supposed to meet at a restaurant for dinner, but he was running late. Dani replied: Come to my place when you’re done. I’ll fix something and we’ll chill.
Cope returned her text with a smiley face and a promise to be at her place for 8:30 pm, giving Dani three hours to prepare. Relieved they’d be spending a quiet evening at home, but surprised by that relief, Dani relaxed. When the phone went off again, she glanced at the call display and saw Copeland. Confused—it wasn’t Cope’s ringtone playing—she answered it.
“Cope?”
“It’s Mrs. Copeland, Miss Grayson.”
Dani’s mouth went dry. “What can I do for you?”
“We need to meet.”
“Why?”
“Come to my house tomorrow after work, and we’ll talk.”
“Does Cope know you want to see me?” Dani heard a sharp intake of breath.
“You won’t want to discuss this with Bobby.”
The line went dead. Goodbye. Have a nice day, bitch. Dani’s hands shook as she put her cell phone away.
Chapter 30
The next day, Dani went home to prepare for her meeting with Margaret. To make sure Cope wouldn’t look for her, she’d told him she’d be having a late night and would call him when she got home. He asked no questions, trusting her, which gave her a stab of guilt.
Racks of clothes surrounded her, and she didn’t know what to wear. Was this a business meeting? A battle for her boyfriend? What? In the end, she selected a simple, cotton sheath dress that grazed her knees and a pair of flat sandals. Not wanting to have a record of her visit on Cope’s books, she called a cab to take her to the Copeland estate.
The drive over found her biting her lip and clenching her fists until her fingernails dug into her palms. Blessed with a wild imagination, Dani pictured various crazy scenarios, half of them ending in her death, the other half ending with her killing in self-defense. She hoped Margaret didn’t own a gun.
The sun was setting by the time she stood at the Copeland’s front door. She’d talked herself into believing that the meeting would be something positive—perhaps a surprise party for Cope. That calmed her nerves enough to generate the courage required to ring the doorbell, which echoed through the house. Dani listened for approaching footsteps. Everything remained quiet.
A flutter in her stomach pushed thoughts of celebrations and joyful occasions out of her head. Hand shaking, she pressed the doorbell again, and before the chimes faded away, the door swung open.
Margaret stood before her dressed for tennis in a white and navy collared shirt, navy skirt, and white tennis shoes. Hair pulled back in a ponytail, accentuating her Botox-smooth skin and facelift, she resembled an aging coed.
Dani took a step backward and gulped in air, heart pounding. “Mrs. Copeland. Hello.” It came out in a breathy whisper. Cope would have thought it seductive.
“Yes. Well. Come in.”
When Dani stepped inside, Margaret closed and locked the door, the sound of the deadbolt sliding into place sending a chill up Dani’s spine. Margaret scurried down the hall, Dani trotting to keep up to her. They cut through the house, rushing past closed doors until they reached a massive kitchen that opened into a sunroom at the back of the house.
Margaret led the way through a set of sliding doors and into the garden. Lights illuminated the path through the manicured lawns, and the farther they walked, the more familiar became the route. They headed toward the gazebo where Dani and Cope had had their romantic interlude the night of the Copelands’ big party.
Dani’s knees trembled. What the hell was Margaret doing?
They reached the gazebo, and Margaret moved to the screened-in window on the west side, where Cope had shown Dani the view of the ocean. The breeze made her shiver, and she stole a glance at the loveseat where they’d lost themselves in passion.
“Familiar with this place, Miss Grayson?”
“Yes.” Dani whispered.
“Scan the ceiling, along the walls. What do you see? Take a good look.”
Dani raised her eyes and made a slow turn, following
the line of the intersection of ceiling and wall. Cameras. Four of them. Who the fuck needed to film the inside of a gazebo from four different angles? The blood drained from her face and her stomach lurched.
“Care to watch the performance?” Margaret held up a phone, tapped the screen, and the video played, with sound.
Dani shivered, hands and feet growing cold. She heard their love talk, their moans and sighs. It sounded cheap and seedy floating up from the phone. She cringed when she heard herself say I don’t believe we’re doing this. What if someone finds us out here? And then Cope’s flippant response: In another few seconds, I won’t care if they film it and post it to the Internet.
“Stop this. Please.” Dani couldn’t bear to listen anymore, and she’d stopped watching the moment she realized what was on the screen. “Why would you do this?”
“Me? You’re the one whoring around in the gazebo with my son.”
“You must have spent quite a bit of time searching the video footage to find that.”
Margaret’s lips pressed into a thin line. “Not really. I watched the two of you leave. I figured he was taking you out here.”
“So you spied on us? Why?”
“I had my reasons. What I found shocked me though. Now I have this evidence, perhaps we can come to an agreement?”
A lump had formed in Dani’s throat, and she swallowed a few times, her throat clicking as she did. “What do you want?”
“What I’ve always wanted: you out of Cope’s life.”
Dani froze. “You’re blackmailing me with this? What will you do? Show it to Cope? He’s in it, Margaret.” Fuck the polite Mrs. Copeland bullshit. This woman had watched her have sex. If that didn’t put them on a first-name basis, nothing did.
“Not at all. It’s just more proof for me you’re completely wrong for him. Does the name Cassandra Wilson ring a bell?”
It didn’t. Dani shook her head.
“She remembers you. And Greg Henderson. The three of you were rather intimate after you and Henderson took her home with you from the restaurant where she worked.”
A flash image of the waitress they’d had a three-way with jumped into Dani’s head, and she swallowed around the large lump in her throat. “What relevance does she have to this conversation?”
“Henderson paid her off, but I offered her more to break her silence. This little story hasn’t gone to the press yet, but it will if you don’t agree to leave my son alone.”
“So you’re paying her to fabricate?”
“Not necessary. She filmed it with her cell phone, which means you can’t act the innocent. You should learn to be more careful whom you allow into your bed.” Margaret tapped the phone again, and another video played.
Dani recognized her own voice and Greg’s. Stomach in knots, she glanced at the screen. The three bodies in the bed tangled together, Dani in the middle, the other woman holding up an arm, taking a selfie. Nausea worked its way through Dani’s intestines, and she fought the urge to throw up.
“Turn it off.”
Margaret obliged, and the gazebo drenched in silence. Dani broke it. “I love Robert. I’d never hurt him.” Their recent fight about the investment company popped into her head. Never again. But she didn’t vocalize it. Margaret needed no extra ammunition.
“My fear isn’t that you’ll hurt him. This has little to do with his heart. I’m sure you think you love him. You’re not right for him. Don’t you see? You’re not good enough for him.” An ingratiating smile formed on her lips. It was as though she’d concluded her argument was so reasonable, Dani must surely be ready to back down now, and the time to wrap up had arrived.
“Why am I not good enough? I’ve done things in my past I’m not proud of, but I’ve worked through all that. How can you judge me when you don’t know me?”
The smile disappeared and Margaret frowned, puzzled. “What don’t you understand? You and Bobby are from different worlds. Doubtless, you’re a fun distraction—you’re loose and give him whatever he wants sexually, but the difference in class will tear you apart. He’ll want someone who can run his household and raise his children, and that won’t be you.”
Dani’s hand itched to slap the ignorant woman. “I’m sorry. Did I wake up in the 1950s? Cope isn’t sexist. He doesn’t have a problem with me working, and he’s seen me at my worst. It doesn’t bother him.”
“Perhaps. Let me put it in a way you might understand. If he continues to see you, he won’t get any more support from this family. He’ll be disinherited. We don’t want to risk anyone undesirable getting their hooks into the family assets.”
Dani opened her mouth to protest. She wanted nothing they had.
Margaret held up a hand and cut her off. “If you were to have kids, they’d inherit from him regardless of whatever contracts you might have signed. I don’t want you or your future brats to be part of this family. You’ll never be welcome here.”
Close to tears and despair, Dani had one last arrow in her quiver. “Your husband and daughter don’t agree with you. They were nice to me, accepting. Big Cope would never cut Robert off—he loves his son too much and wants him to be happy.”
“How the hell do you know what Big Cope would do? Just because you bat your eyelashes at my husband you figure he’ll side with you? He’s not that easy.” If Margaret had sneered or shouted, Dani could have told herself she’d touched a nerve, and maybe she had a chance. But Margaret’s tone was calm, conversational, and it chilled Dani.
“Consider how much you want to ruin Bobby’s life. He’d be sorry to be saddled with you, and one day, he’ll realize it. It’ll happen even sooner if this video were to fall into the hands of the tabloids. How much more can he take, Daniella? They’re already calling him ‘sugar baby’ and ‘kept man’ because of you. Do you want to completely humiliate him?”
Tears threatened now, and Dani choked them back. I’ll be damned if I let this bitch break me. “It wouldn’t be me humiliating him; it would be you.”
“No. The young lady would.”
“Because of you!” Dani’s voice pitched high, making Margaret smile.
“If Bobby were the only one to see it, what do you think he’d do then? Do you think he’d forgive you?”
“It’s in my past. Robert wouldn’t hold it against me. He’s not like that.”
“My dear, he’d know. That’s all that’s required to raise doubt, to make him wonder what kind of trashy woman he’s involved with. Who knows how many times you’ve done this?”
Dani didn’t reply. She thought it was just the once, but there were other nights when she’d awakened from a drunken stupor in bed with Greg and another person. Most of the time, it was another woman. Once, it was another man. She couldn’t remember what had happened, and what if more footage turned up?
“How did you find Cassandra?” Surely, the waitress hadn’t sought Margaret out. Then Dani understood. “You hired a private investigator.”
The smirk on Margaret’s face was answer enough. Without another word, Dani left the gazebo. She heard footsteps behind her, and then Margaret called out. “Miss Grayson.”
Heart aching, Dani turned and faced Cope’s mother.
Margaret’s dead-fish gaze locked on Dani’s. “Take the high road, Miss Grayson. Give Cope the life he deserves. Free him up to find someone suitable—someone who won’t cause him embarrassment, who won’t drag him down.”
Dani turned away, pulled her cell phone from her purse, and called for a cab as she followed the winding path back to the front of the house.
Chapter 31
Working late again. So sorry I won’t be able to see you today either.
Cope’s shoulders sagged when he read the text message from Dani. For the third day in a row, they wouldn’t be getting together. It crossed his mind she was pushing him out of her life, but then he shoved it aside. What reason would Dani have for avoiding him? If there was a problem with their relationship, she’d come to him with it. Though uneasy,
he texted back a quick No worries, my beauty. We’ll catch up tomorrow night.
Tomorrow was Friday. She’d never worked so late on a Friday they couldn’t get together. Cope turned his attention back to his work, reviewing the schedules for his drivers. He had five cars and eight drivers—all reliable men and women with martial arts training and licensed to conceal carry.
The phone rang, Copeland appearing on the call display. Cope snatched it up and said, “Hello?”
“Bobby. How are you?”
“Fine, thanks, Mother. What’s up?” Cope leaned back in his chair and stretched his legs out in front of him. Tension he hadn’t realized he held released in his shoulders, back, and legs.
“Are you busy tonight? Come for dinner. Invite Dani. We haven’t seen her since the night of the party.”
“Dani’s working late tonight.” Cope sighed, blowing frustration into the mouthpiece.
“Something wrong between you and Dani?”
To Cope, the concern in Margaret’s voice was touching. She’d been so pushy about getting him and Katherine together it was refreshing to have her include Dani in dinner plans.
“No. She’s just been busy for the last three days, and we haven’t been able to get together. I miss her.”
“Oh, what a shame. Come for dinner yourself, then. It’ll give you something to do.”
He considered his options. Nothing to do after work anyway, and it sure beat sitting at home missing Dani. Not the type to pine over a girlfriend, Cope chalked the angst up to the days he was without her during their separation. It’d been his doing. What if she was avoiding him because she was afraid to get close to him again? Stop it. She’s just working late.
“Okay, Mother. I’ll be there.”
“Wonderful.” Enthusiasm bubbled over as she made him promise to be there by seven o’clock that evening.
To Cope, she seemed a little too empathetic about Dani’s absence. Margaret didn’t approve of the relationship, and as far as he knew, nothing had changed to make her grow fond of his girlfriend. Maybe Margaret loved him enough to consider his happiness? That thought made him smile. He didn’t believe it for a minute.
