Love at First flight

by Marie Force

  “Thanks,” Rachelle said softly. “Good-bye, Juliana.”

  “Bye, hon.”

  “What did she say?” Michael asked after Juliana hung up.

  “That you and I belong together.” Juliana struggled to define the odd sensation that had come over her during the conversation with Rachelle.

  He smiled. “They say kids speak the truth.”

  “You never miss an opportunity for self-promotion, do you?” she asked with a grin.

  “I can’t afford to.” He stood up and held out a hand to her.

  “Where are we going?”

  “You’ll see.”

  They went upstairs to his room where he grabbed a heavy blanket and led her to the secluded roof deck. The lights of the city twinkled in the clear night sky as Michael drew her down next to him on the blanket. He tugged the shirt over her head and then did the same with his own.

  Her eyes fixated on the engagement ring hanging from the chain around his neck.

  “Do you think we could pretend?” he whispered, reaching up to unhook the chain. “That just for tonight you’re mine and this belongs right here?” Sliding the ring onto her finger, he kissed his way up her neck. “I want to see you wearing nothing but my ring.” He released the clasp on her bra, tossed aside the last of their clothes, and pulled the blanket up around them.

  “Let me see.” He reached for her hand and kissed each finger but spent extra time on her ring finger. “It’s so perfect on you. I bought it on Friday when you were waiting for me at Mrs. R’s. Did you know that?”

  She shook her head. “I wondered when you’d had the time.”

  “Make love with me, Juliana. Make love with me like we’re engaged and have everything in the world to look forward to.”

  She pulled him to her. “I love you, Michael. No matter what happens, I love you so much.”

  “That’s all I need.”

  The next morning Michael left Juliana sleeping in his bed. He set the alarm, locked the front door, and crossed the street to talk to the officers on her detail.

  “My girlfriend is sleeping in the house, and the alarm’s on. Stay close to her today, okay?”

  “Yes, Mr. Maguire. Don’t worry. We’re on it.”

  “Thank you,” Michael said.

  With one more anxious glance back at the house, Michael got in his car and left for work. Forced to leave her for the first time in days, his stomach churned with nerves. She promised him she would be careful, and since he couldn’t see to her safety himself, he could only hope she would be vigilant.

  As he drove, he thought about making love with her on the roof deck and then again in his bed after the chilly night air drove them inside. He reached up for the ring and discovered they had forgotten to return it to the chain, which meant it was still on her finger where it belonged. Imagining her going through her day wearing his ring made him smile.

  Trailed by two police officers, he arrived at the courthouse with minutes to spare before the meeting with Judge Stein. Michael shook hands with Tom Houlihan in the hallway outside of the judge’s chambers. The defense attorneys were huddled on the other side of the corridor.

  “Good weekend in R.I.?” Houlihan asked.

  “It was great. How was yours?”

  “I spent most of it on the phone dealing with the media’s feeding frenzy over the rock incident. Rumor has it the judge is on fire over it. This ought to be interesting.”

  Stein’s clerk called everyone in a few minutes later.

  The judge paced behind his large mahogany desk, his wiry frame all but bursting with energy. “What the hell is going on?” he asked the defense attorneys. “Are your clients out of their minds?”

  The lead defense attorney, a heavyset blonde, held up her hands. “They claim to have had no knowledge of what their cousin planned to do.”

  “Somehow I find that hard to believe.” Stein ran his fingers through what was left of his hair, his sharp blue eyes landing on Michael. “Mr. Maguire, your roommate’s injuries were minor as reported?”

  “Yes, your honor. We were very lucky. She was sitting less than a foot from where the rock landed.”

  “This is an outrage.” He turned to address the defense team. “I want you to tell your clients that I’ll tolerate no further harassment of Mr. Maguire or any other member of the prosecution team. You might want to remind them of who’ll be determining their sentence should they be convicted. Am I clear?”

  “Yes, your honor.”

  “In light of all the publicity this incident has generated, I’m sequestering the jury for the remainder of the trial. We’ll resume tomorrow at nine,” he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Mr. Maguire.”

  “Your honor?”

  “Be careful. The defendants are already facing three consecutive life sentences. I have absolutely nothing worse than that to threaten them with, and they know it.”

  Michael nodded. “Yes, sir.”

  Outside the courthouse, a swarm of reporters and cameras were waiting when Michael emerged from the meeting. They bombarded him with questions as he pushed through the crowd with Tom at his side and two police officers following close behind them.

  “Mr. Maguire, what do you have to say about the incident at your house?”

  “No comment.” He and Tom kept moving in an attempt to break free.

  “Mr. Maguire, are you worried about your personal safety?”

  “No.”

  “Mr. Maguire, can you tell us your roommate’s name and describe the nature of her injuries?”

  “Absolutely no comment.”

  “Mr. Houlihan, what did the judge have to say this morning?”

  “The trial will resume tomorrow.”

  “Mr. Maguire, is it true you recently left your pregnant fiancée?”

  Michael stopped and turned to the reporter who had asked the question. “What did you say?”

  A hush fell over the gaggle of reporters.

  “Is it true you recently left your pregnant fiancée?”

  “No. It’s not true. Where did you hear that?”

  Tom put a hand on his shoulder. “Michael, come on.”

  “Wait.” Michael struggled to control the urge to punch the reporter in the face. “Where did you hear that?”

  The young reporter shrugged. “Word on the street.”

  “Well, it’s not true, and I’d better not see that in print anywhere or hear it on the air, do you hear me?” His eyes circled the group to make sure they knew he meant all of them. “I’ll sue your asses so fast you won’t know what hit you.”

  “You can’t sue me if it’s true,” the brazen reporter replied.

  Before Michael could act on the urge to punch the guy, Tom pulled him free of the crowd.

  “What the fuck?” Michael said after they left the reporters behind. “That’s just what the jury needs to hear right about now. My credibility with them will be shot.”

  “They’re being sequestered,” Tom reminded him. “Even if it makes it into the news, they won’t hear it.”

  “Son of a bitch.”

  “Is there any chance it could be true? I’m only asking as a friend, Michael.”

  “No, it’s not true.” But then the earth seemed to tremble under his feet as he remembered the last time with Paige when they failed to use a condom. “Oh, shit,” he whispered. “Oh my God. I’ve got to go.”

  Chapter 21

  Juliana emerged from the house at ten o’clock and crossed the street to let her detail know she would be going first to Collington Street and then to her mother’s in Highlandtown. They followed her as she drove the short distance to Collington Street.

  Jeremy would’ve flown back to Florida the night before, so she planned to get the mail, do a little cleaning, and get out of there as fast as she could.

  Since the house was alarmed, they let her go in without them.

  Juliana was startled to find the alarm deactivated, which caused her heart to accelerate and anxiety
to course through her. She turned to go back for the cops.

  “Hello, Juliana,” Jeremy said on his way downstairs. “Nice of you to come home.”

  “Why are you still here?” she sputtered, tucking her left hand into her pocket and working the engagement ring off her finger. “You scared me.”

  “You scared me when you didn’t come home for three days.”

  “I told you I was away.”

  “Who were you with?”

  “We aren’t seeing each other right now. I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

  “What’s going on, Jule? Where are you living? I know it isn’t here. The place was filthy. When I wasn’t trying to figure out where you were this weekend, I was cleaning the house.”

  “I came to clean today. That’s why I’m here.”

  “Where are you living?”

  Swallowing hard, she said, “With a friend. No one you know.”

  “What friend do you have who isn’t a friend of mine, too?”

  “I’m not talking to you about this,” she said, her heart racing with anxiety.

  He studied her for a long time, a nerve in his cheek pulsing with tension. “What happened to your forehead?”

  “I banged it.”

  He picked up the letters that she had left on the kitchen table. “You’re not reading your mail?”

  “Look, Jer, I don’t know why you’re here or what you thought was going to happen when you came home this weekend, but we agreed to spend three months apart. It’s only been one. You’re not being fair.”

  “I want out of that stupid agreement.” He took a step toward her. “I haven’t been with anyone else, and I don’t want to be. That was the whole reason we were doing this, right? So the deal’s off.”

  “No, it’s not.”

  “Why are you having so much trouble looking at me, Juliana?”

  “I’m not.” She tilted her chin to make eye contact with him.

  “It’s almost like you’re guilty about something. Are you seeing someone else?”

  “I’m not having this conversation with you. We have a deal. I’m not giving in on this. I’ll talk to you in two months. Not before.”

  “Something’s going on, and I want to know what it is.”

  “We’ll talk in two months,” Juliana said, picking up her purse to leave. He had cleaned, so there was no need for her to stay.

  He took hold of her arm. “One month, Jule. I’ll do one more month. Not two.”

  She looked up at him, at that oh-so-familiar face, and knew she couldn’t deny him this. “Fine. One month from today.”

  “Meet me here.”

  “Okay.”

  “Jule? Will you let me hold you?” He held out his arms. “Just for a minute?”

  She bent her head and rested it against his chest as his arms went around her. Her hands rested on his hips, and she felt his lips brush against her hair.

  “I miss you, babe,” he whispered. “I miss you so much. I’m going crazy without you.”

  Juliana looked up at him and was startled when his lips came down on hers. When she felt his tongue nudging her mouth open, she pulled back. “Don’t, Jer,” she said, stepping out of his embrace. “I’ll see you in a month.” She bolted out the door and drove away before he could notice a police car was following her.

  Michael left the courthouse and drove to his office, trying to process the possibility that Paige could be pregnant. He’d ignored a new burst of phone calls from her over the last few days, but she’d made damned sure he wouldn’t be able to ignore her anymore. He parked the car and reached for his cell phone.

  “Hello, Michael. How good of you to finally call me back.”

  “What are you trying to pull, Paige? Do you expect me to believe you got pregnant the one time we didn’t use protection? Do you think I’m that stupid?”

  “You can believe whatever you want to, but I am pregnant. Exactly four weeks.”

  Michael took a ragged deep breath. “I don’t believe you.”

  “Well, you’d better believe it. You’re going to be a daddy, Michael, so you can forget all this business about calling off our engagement. It’s just as well I never cancelled the wedding plans. We can just proceed as planned.”

  “Yeah, in your dreams.”

  “I’m pregnant. You will marry me.”

  “I will never marry you. I don’t care if you’re having triplets. I’m not marrying you.”

  “Then you’ll never see this child. Do you understand me? Never.”

  Michael laughed. “Have you forgotten I’m a lawyer, Paige? Bring it on. By the time I’m through with you, you’ll never see this phantom kid of ours. Besides, how do I even know it’s mine?”

  “Go to hell, Michael.”

  “You’re not going to blackmail me into marrying you, and you failed to mess up my trial by leaking this to the media because the judge sequestered the jury. And you’re certainly not going to stop me from seeing my kid—the kid I highly doubt even exists. So you may as well give it up. Oh, and it’s probably safe to go ahead and cancel those wedding plans. The groom won’t be there.” He slapped his phone closed.

  “Fuck!” he cried within the confines of his car. “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” As he slammed his hand against the steering wheel in frustration, the phone rang. Expecting it to be Paige calling him back, he flipped it open and roared, “What?”

  “Michael?” Juliana said.

  Just the sound of her voice chased away the rage. “Oh, baby, I’m sorry.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing now that I’m talking to you. Are you okay?”

  “I just had a run-in with Jeremy.”

  Michael went still. “What kind of run-in? What happened?”

  She told him about finding Jeremy at their house and the conversation they’d had.

  “Why did you agree to meet him in a month?” Michael asked, despondent to hear their two remaining months had been cut in half. “You said three months.”

  “I’m sorry, Michael, but I can’t let this go on for another two months. I’ll work myself into an ulcer by then.”

  “You could’ve just told him today that it’s over between you guys. Why didn’t you?”

  “Because it’s not over. You know that. Why are you being this way?”

  He sighed. “I’m sorry. Paige is pregnant—or at least she’s claiming to be.”

  Juliana gasped. “How, I mean—”

  “Meet me at my office, will you? I’ll tell you when you get here.” He gave her directions.

  “I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

  “I’ll wait for you in the car.”

  Ten minutes later, Juliana slid into the passenger seat of Michael’s car and reached for him.

  He fell into her arms and held her close for a long time. “God, baby, I’m so glad to see you.”

  When Juliana finally pulled back to look at him, she kept her hands on his face. “How can she be pregnant?”

  “That last night, the night of the engagement party, she got in bed with me when I was asleep. I’d had a lot to drink so I thought I was dreaming and didn’t realize I wasn’t until it was too late, if you know what I mean. I found out about it today when a reporter asked me if it was true that I’d recently left my pregnant fiancée. I didn’t return Paige’s calls, so she leaked it to the media.”

  “Oh, Michael. What are you going to do?”

  He shrugged helplessly. “First of all, I don’t believe her, so I’m not going to do anything. Not now anyway. She said if I don’t marry her, I’ll never see the kid.”

  “She can’t do that!”

  “I know, honey. I told her she’s not dealing with an idiot. She’s the one who won’t see the kid if she wants to play hardball with me.”

  Juliana put her arms around him again. “I’ll never understand a woman who’d stoop to blackmailing a man into marrying her.”

  “That’s because you could never be so evil. She hasn’t cancelled an
y of the wedding plans. Can you believe that?”

  “She still thinks it’s going to happen?” Juliana asked, incredulous. “After everything?”

  “It’s not even about marrying me anymore. It’s about saving face. If she cancels the plans, she’ll have to deal with the humiliation of being dumped. She’d rather blackmail me with a fake pregnancy than be embarrassed.”

  “I’m sorry. It’s just one more thing on your already too full plate.”

  “Which is exactly why she dropped it on me in the middle of the trial.” He reached for her hand. “Where’s the ring?”

  Juliana found it in her pocket and reached around to unhook his chain to return it to its place next to the St. Christopher medal.

  Michael kissed her left hand. “I liked it better here.”

  She leaned over to press her lips to his and combed her fingers through his hair. The kiss turned hot when Michael tilted her head so he could delve deeper. For a moment they both forgot where they were and that four cops were watching them as they feasted on the comfort only the other could provide.

  Michael groaned when he finally pulled away from her. “Why couldn’t it be you who’s pregnant with my baby? I want it to be you.”

  Juliana tightened her hold on him.

  After he took a few more minutes to collect himself, Michael led her into his office where several of his co-workers stopped what they were doing to watch them walk by. He knew they were curious about the woman who had been hurt at his house, but he wished they wouldn’t stare. Outside his office, he introduced her to his assistant Angela, who handed him a stack of pink message slips. Michael asked Angela to pull the mug shots of the Red Devils. He ushered Juliana into his office and gestured for her to have a seat.

  “Nice office.”

  “Thanks.” Michael tossed the messages onto his cluttered desk and draped his suit coat over the back of his chair.

  Angela came in with the mug shots. “Here you go. Let me know if you need anything else.” She closed the door and left them alone.

  Michael sat down next to Juliana and handed her the book. “Take your time, hon. See if you recognize anyone.”

  Juliana nodded and flipped open the book. “You don’t have to sit with me. I’m sure you have work to do.”