There was a long pause and finally she responded with three question marks.
A twist in my gut told me that my co-worker had lied about me being fired in a fit of jealousy.
Women are so petty, I thought grimly.
Not if you tell the baby’s father, the little voice in my head reminded me. He wouldn’t want the mother of his child working until she dropped…would he?
I couldn’t imagine that Julian would expect me to work at all but that reignited the doubts I had from the get go. I didn’t want to force him to stay married to me for the sake of our baby. Did I think he should help out financially, yes but to remain in a union with a stranger was not something I could entertain—for either of us.
Is he a stranger? Was he ever?
I couldn’t do that right then. I couldn’t talk myself in circles or I’d end up laying on my worn mattress staring at the ceiling. I had to keep going, keep facing the life I knew.
Sooner or later, I was going to have to tell Christine I was pregnant too. I doubted she would fire me, being a professional mother herself but I didn’t anticipate that she would rejoice at the news either.
So, things were back to normal then…
I gathered the laundry which was overflowing and packed it into a hamper which had lost one handle. There was a laundromat two blocks down. I could toss in a couple loads and come back to finish cleaning while they washed. Time was something I was going to have to learn to manage better also. I forced myself not to get overwhelmed. There would be plenty of time for that when the baby came.
Digging around my change jar for some laundry money, I grabbed my keys and wallet to usher everything onto the landing outside the door. As I closed the door behind me, the front door at the bottom of the stairs opened and a stunningly coiffed woman appeared against the glass.
I didn’t pay her much mind as I struggled with the basket and soap. Why did they need to make such big bottles for laundry soap? As if the weight of the laundry wasn’t bad enough.
“Excuse me,” the woman drawled, meeting me halfway up the stairs. Her cold grey eyes raked over me and her nose rose slightly into the air as if she smelled something on me which offended her—not that would have been surprising.
I stared at her impatiently, waiting for her to ask whatever was on her mind.
“I’m looking for Kennedy Christensen.”
I froze, realizing instantly that this over-dressed woman had something to do with Julian.
He sent his lawyer after me already? I thought with a twinge of bitterness and betrayal. There I was considering that we might have future together, a shot as a married couple, despite the circumstances and he’d unleashed the dogs the second he’d walked out the door.
I swallowed my disappointment and addressed her.
“That’s me,” I sighed, pausing to lean up against the wall, bracing the laundry basket with my hip. A phony smile touched her lips and on closer inspection, I could see that she wasn’t nearly as attractive as I’d initially thought her to be but immaculately placed make-up and an expensive pantsuit did wonders for her beauty. Her blonde hair was pinned stylishly up into a loose crown over her head.
“I’m Eloise Sinclair, Julian’s sister. Is there somewhere we can talk privately?”
I blinked, momentarily taken off guard by the introduction. I hadn’t expected a family visit. Moreover, I could not see a hair of resemblance between this woman and Julian. My sixth sense warned me that something wasn’t right but I also didn’t take her for a serial killer. Then again, did serial killers ever really look like serial killers? I shoved the ridiculous thought aside and nodded.
“Uh…yeah,” I mumbled, turning back toward my apartment. “My place is right here.”
I was suddenly mortified to have her inside the unit when I hadn’t done much to make sense of the mess inside but I couldn’t very well turn her away, could I?
I opened the door and instantly breathed out an apology.
“I’m just cleaning up,” I told her quickly. “Don’t mind the mess.”
I didn’t want this woman to think her brother had married a slob. When I turned back to look at her, the smirk on her face was anything but friendly.
“What mess would that be, Kennedy? The one where you trapped my brother into marriage as a way to get out of living in squalor?”
At first, her words didn’t compute and I stood, staring at her, my keys still dangling in one hand. The laundry hamper had fallen over without anything to support it and a thick silence grew denser with each second. I couldn’t take my eyes off the mound of laundry. I knew my anxiety had nothing to do with the fallen clothes.
“Oh good, you don’t deny it,” Eloise said, exhaling. “I was worried you were going to claim to love him or some bull.”
“I didn’t trap him!” I protested. I was furious to feel tears spring to my eyes because I certainly didn’t want this icy bitch to see me cry. Her smile broadened but somehow still lacked warmth or mirth. The more I stared at her, the less I could see any resemblance to Julian. Maybe she was lying. Maybe she wasn’t related to him at all.
“I’m sure you have your version of what happened, dear but I really don’t care what they are. I’m here for one reason and one reason only—to get that sham of a marriage annulled. You have no rights to Bryant Land Holdings or any of my brother’s properties, I hope you understand that. We have the best lawyers in the country and we will bury you in litigation until you’re a hundred years old with one foot in the grave.”
“I-I don’t want any of Julian’s money,” I choked, my head swimming. “That- it didn’t happen like that!”
“It doesn’t matter, sweetie. You need to file for an annulment or a divorce. I imagine you probably consummated the marriage, knowing my brother. He can’t keep it in his pants, you know?”
I knew she was saying it to hurt me but I couldn’t reconcile the Julian I knew with the man she was trying to depict him as.
“Oh, stop with the deer in headlights look, Kennedy. You’re acting as if I killed your dog. I know you only did this for money and to show that I’m not completely heartless, I’m leaving you with this check for $5000. There is a hold on it, however. It will be released when you file those papers and send them to Julian.”
Five grand. That could pay for a lot of baby stuff, more than I could hope to get on my own but I didn’t agree to it eagerly like Eloise clearly expected. It felt tawdry, cheap like I was being bought off even though that’s what I knew she meant by offering it in the first place.
But God, it was five grand.
I shook my head and watched as her face registered shock.
“I don’t want the money,” I told her. The words burned the insides of my mouth to say because I did want it—but not like that.
“What? You think you’re going to get more? I knew I had you all figured out.” She leered at me. “Fine, ten grand but not a penny more.”
The mere thought of what ten thousand dollars could do for us…
I shoved it as far out of my mind as I could.
“I don’t want it.” I tried not to let my eyes shift toward the piece of paper in her hand. Her face contorted into a look of hideous rage but before she could counter with anything, I spok
e again.
“I will file the papers,” I told her. “But Julian could just as easily file them and I would sign them.”
I didn’t understand why Julian didn’t just send them along. I had already told him that I would. There was no need for this degrading encounter, this ultimate test of my pride and dignity. Unless Julian didn’t know she was there…
“My brother is an idiot, Kennedy. I don’t imagine you two did a lot of talking but if you had, you’d realize he only thinks with his lower head. That said, he’s taken pity on you. I mean, look around you. He’s dumb but he’s not a monster.”
I wondered if Eloise held that title.
Her sooty eyes narrowed as if seeing my surroundings for the first time and her lips curled into an unbecoming sneer.
My stomach flipped at her assessment and I wondered how much truth was in her statement.
Is that what Julian is—an oversexed billionaire with a charitable heart?
It made sense when I thought about it. It was true—we hadn’t done too much deep talking. I didn’t even know he had a sister. Our connection had seemed more fluid than sex but how could I say that when I knew nothing about the man? There was no reason for someone like Julian to remain married to me. I couldn’t offer him anything he didn’t already have a thousand times over no matter how much I wanted to believe he and I had something I’d never known. I was nothing special, had nothing he wanted…
Except maybe a baby but that was certainly no cause to keep him on the hook. He could have his choice of baby mamas.
Idly, I considered telling Eloise about the baby but I instantly dismissed the idea. If I hadn’t told Julian, I certainly wasn’t about to tell his judging, cold sister. Who knew what she might ask of me if she learned about the baby? Who knew what she would do? It was clear she wasn’t scrupulous but was she dangerous?
I remembered my earlier thoughts about serial killers and wondered if my instinct had been trying to warn me about the danger she posed.
No, I needed more time to process more surprises. I hoped that I was at capacity now. I couldn’t deal with another rich person showing up on my doorstep that week.
“I’ll send him the paperwork,” I told her. I paused because I knew how the next part was going to sound. There was just no way to avoid saying it.
“But I don’t have money to do it.”
“I had a feeling you’d say something like that,” Eloise snickered, reaching into her oversized purse and withdrawing a manila envelope. “So I took the liberty of having them drawn up on your behalf. You can thank me later.”
She tossed it on the coffee table and was already moving toward the door. I got the impression that she was overwhelmed by the lack of designer products in my apartment.
“Like I said, Kennedy, the minute my brother receives those papers, I will release the money.”
She had tossed the check on the scarred coffee table and I opened my mouth to protest it again.
“I don’t want the money, Eloise. Take it with you.”
Why was she making me say it over and over? Maybe because she was a sadist. It was the only explanation I could think of.
She paused and turned back to me from the still-open doorway.
“Then burn it but there is one final thing I need from you before I go.”
I stared at her, not really wanting to hear another word out of her mouth but something told me I didn’t have much of a choice in the matter.
“Before I tell you, I want you to think about how many lives you’ll be ruining if you don’t agree. I have no idea if you’re a moral person, Kennedy but I think I see a glimmer of intelligence in those eyes of yours so consider my words carefully.”
I held my breath, sensing that she had waited for the biggest bombshell to secure her departure.
“You cannot contact my brother again. Not by text or Facebook or tweet. Send off that paperwork and forget he existed. If you think you’ll be able to squeeze more money out of him, you’d be wrong because I will not hesitate to unleash my lawyers on you.”
There was such a finality to her words that I had no doubt she was telling the truth. Now was the time to tell her about the baby, to tell her that I couldn’t cut him out, that my baby deserved to know his father but my lips remained glued together.
You’re excess baggage, you and your baby. She doesn’t care about Julian’s child any more than she cares about you. She may not even care about Julian.
I stood in stony silence.
“I’m waiting on an answer, Kennedy,” she sighed. “Yes or no?”
I swallowed the lump in my throat and lowered my eyes.
“I won’t contact Julian again,” I promised.
“I’m holding you to it,” Eloise chirped. “Because as I said, the repercussions will be swift and merciless. If you think you live in a shithole now, wait until I put you in debt so deep, your great-great-grandkids will be paying it off.”
She seemed content with her dramatic finale and swept her lean frame out the door without bothering to close it behind her.
I couldn’t bring myself to slam it behind her either, despite my inherent desire to make the walls shake. I only sank onto the futon, staring at the empty threshold, wondering why I had agreed to her terms.
But it didn’t take me long to figure out my reasoning.
I believed everything she said.
11
Julian
Five days after I returned from Indiana, I was tired of waiting to hear from Kennedy. I had given her the space I thought she needed but five days was too long. I decided to fire her off a text.
There was no response although I kept my phone nearby the entire day. I tried not to overthink it. Maybe she’d found another job or maybe she was still sick, although I hoped not. That would be far too long for anyone to be so sick and she had seemed perfectly fine when I left her.
Still, I couldn’t help but worry about her now. She was a part of me, in my soul, clinging there despite the distance between us.
I had gone to New York that afternoon to deal with head office matters on the east coast but my mind was anywhere but on business.
My Spidey senses were tingling like I could feel something brewing beneath the surface but I had no idea what it was.
Around noon, I found myself trolling her social media accounts. On a whim, I requested her friendship and waited for notification that she had accepted. I really didn’t want to come on too strong but my nerves were becoming tatters with anticipation.
I was close enough to Indiana that I could do a straight shot to her apartment after my business was concluded in New York City but I reasoned that would be borderline stalkerish. I didn’t want to go that route.
Still, I did press my nose out the window of the plane when I thought we might be passing over her state and I instantly felt foolish. What a crazy hold that woman had on me.
Maybe it was the time that passed or the freshness of Kennedy’s skin on my memory but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I wanted to make it work between us. We could always get divorced later if we found we hated one another. It was backwards, yes but I’d known couples get together in some weird circumstances and stay together. Why couldn’t Kennedy and I be one of those couples?
Because she might not want it, my inner voice reminded me.
I was tired when I got back to Bryant Island but I was relieved to find myself alone in the house. Terry had made himself scarce since ratting me out to Eloise and I was grateful it was just me and the house staff, most of whom had retired for the night. It was after eleven o’clock when I got in and Kennedy still had not texted me.
I decided to call her.
To my surprise, the number wasn’t in service.
I disconnected the call and tried it again. Had I taken it down wrong? I couldn’t have—I programmed my number into her phone and texted myself so I’d have hers.
&nbs
p; Grabbing my laptop, I set it on the cherrywood table top of the informal dining room and poured myself a stiff scotch before sitting at it. I checked my social media accounts. There, I found more unsettling information. Not only had Kennedy not accepted me on her networks, her profiles seemed to have vanished.
She blocked me!
My stomach shifted uncomfortably. It made no sense that she would just cut me out like that, not when we had such a pressing matter in our faces.
Slowly, I rose from my chair and downed the rest of my drink in one swallow, trying to make sense of what was happening.
Had I misread our encounter? Did she construe something I said as a dismissal? She had been the one to ask me to leave and I’d respected it, hoping that the time apart would make her long for me as much as I did her.
Was I completely wrong?
The nausea in the pit of my stomach was growing.
Something is wrong, something is wrong, something is wrong…
The words echoed in my head like a chant.
There was only one thing left to do and that was go back to Indiana in the morning and speak with her face-to-face, no matter how out of line it seemed. One way or another, we needed to deal with the aftermath of what we did in Vegas.
“Oh! Mr. Bryant, I didn’t realize you were home,” Brittany said turning the corner into the dining room. “Can I fix you something to eat?”
I was not hungry but I hadn’t eaten anything since lunch so I nodded.
“Something light,” I told my housekeeper. “Don’t go through too much trouble.”
“It’s never any trouble for you, Mr. Bryant. Also, you have a phone message.”
I blinked.
“A phone message? On the landline?”
She chuckled.
“I thought it was strange too but some people are just old school I suppose.”
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d picked up a message on the landline. I didn’t even know the house phone number. Everything either went through the work phones or was forwarded to my cell. It seemed to me we only kept that line around in case of a household emergency.
Accidental Soulmates: A Vegas Accidental Marriage Romance Page 8
