by J. E. Taylor
Sitting stoically on the edge of the bed with his head hung low enough so she couldn’t see his eyes, he pointed toward the bag sitting by the door. “You have to go.”
She couldn’t leave him like this, she didn’t want to leave him at all and a fresh set of tears sprung in her eyes. She stepped closer.
“Don’t,” he said.
“I never meant to hurt you.” She took another step toward him.
He raised his head, glaring at her. “If you come near me, I will hurt you, and I mean it.”
She froze at the hateful look on his face. “I don’t want to lose you.”
“You should have thought of that before you slept with him.”
She took another step toward him. “Tom, please.”
He grabbed her arms and pulled her to him so they were eye to eye. “I don’t need you anymore,” he hissed and stripped off the towel. “I don’t want you anymore.” He kissed her roughly, threw her on the bed and climbed on top of her. “And I don’t love you anymore.” The last sentence came out as a low growl from his throat and he ripped his pants off and plunged inside her letting the fury get the best of him. “I don’t want you, Jessie,” he growled pinning her wrists to the bed. He watched as she cried underneath his thrusts until he finally climaxed and fell on her. “I don’t want you,” he whispered, lying through his teeth, and he began to cry. “God damn you, Jessie.” He wrapped his arms around her and held her until he stopped shaking.
Tom pulled away and wiped his eyes. “I called a car for you. They’re taking you to the house in Maine.”
“Tom.”
“I can’t, Jess.” He looked at her, the fury was gone, pain replacing it. “No matter how much I love you, I can’t get past this,” he said. “It’s over.”
“You have to promise me you will protect Emily if anything happens to me,” she said, her voice shaking.
He closed his eyes and nodded. He felt the bed move and she got up to get dressed. He finally opened his eyes when she turned toward him.
“I’m sorry.”
He nodded. “Good-bye, Jessie.”
“You know I love you,” she whispered and picked up her bag.
He shook his head and smiled sadly. “No, you don’t love me, Jess. You love him and always have. I just happened to be the one who made you feel safe for a while.”
Chapter 72
Chris paced back and forth in his apartment. Her pain coming through in waves, but she was blocking the mental connection, not letting him get to her mind.
“Damnit,” he muttered and walked out onto the balcony, looking over at the Plaza Hotel. “I should have never let her leave here.”
He looked at the package that was delivered today and opened it, pulling the script out. Laughing at the title, Chris poured himself a drink and sat in the early evening sunset, flipping open to the first page. He began to read what would eventually become his legacy.
As the moon shone over Manhattan, Chris closed the script and looked out at the night sky. He could barely see the stars over the city glare and sighed, missing the crystal clear view he had in Maine. He looked back at the script.
“Chris, I guess I did a good job of erasing you from that place,” he whispered. “But I also erased any redeeming quality whatsoever in me.” He closed his eyes and struggled with his ego and thought about what Jessica had said the other day when he told her he could shut down the production.
He picked up the phone and called his lawyer.
“Sam, can you get an injunction against them so they don’t use the underground complex?” he asked after he explained the situation, and he smiled at the answer.
“Can I pick it up and deliver it personally in the morning? They’re doing a casting call here in New York,” he explained. “Thanks Sam, I’ll meet you at the courthouse at ten.”
Chris debated whether to go out for a walk and decided against it, with his level of exhaustion, who knew what trouble he’d find. Instead, he crawled into bed and drifted to sleep at the same time Jessica did.
Chapter 73
The morning came faster than he wanted and he begrudgingly hit the buzzer, clinging to the dream of making love to her again. Chris climbed out of bed and slipped into the shower.
Picking out his best power suit, he donned a black Armani with a white shirt, opting to pass on a tie. He didn’t need a tie to make his point. His black Forzieri wing tips still sat where he tossed them yesterday and he slid them on. Diamond-studded cufflinks completed the ensemble and he stood back appraising his reflection; money and power, that’s exactly what he wanted to project.
He picked up his wallet and headed out the door for the courthouse.
Sam Trueman represented the Aris family for as long as Chris could remember and he had been appalled with what happened five years ago. Sam never once doubted that he was Christopher Aris and took him at his word when he said he had no clue of what went on in the complex and he felt a twinge of guilt. Sam was a good man and he had completely snowed him.
He smiled as Sam trotted down the steps and handed him the papers. “Thanks, Sam.”
“I understand why you’re so upset, but you have to understand the buzz the movie is already causing. Even though we buried your identity pretty well, it could be dredged up again if someone were a gifted detective,” Sam pointed out. “You may end up in the cross fire again along with the survivors.”
“Tom Whitman has agreed to play Ty, so they’re already in the cross hairs,” he said.
Sam’s jaw dropped for a fraction of a second. “Do you want me to come with you?”
Chris took a deep breath. “I think I can handle this one, but thank you.” He folded up the papers, slipping them into his jacket pocket.
He hailed a cab and gave the address of the studio on the Avenue of America’s where the casting call was. He walked past the security guards with a friendly nod and bypassed the line of actors and actresses waiting to read for the parts, marching right into the rehearsal room.
He approached the table where the producer and director sat with Tom and the writer Sharon Young, keeping his expression neutral, unreadable. Wide eyes and slack jaws followed him across the room and he reached into his pocket and slammed the injunction on the table in front of the producer. “You can’t use the complex,” he said and leaned on the table projecting anger he didn’t feel.
“Son of a bitch,” Tom growled.
Chris turned his attention to Tom. “I’m sorry, who are you?” He straightened, scanning Tom as if he had never seen him before.
Tom sat speechless, staring at Chris.
“Who the hell are you?” the director asked.
“Christopher Aris,” he barked.
“You look just like him,” Sharon gasped, staring from behind a nose bandage and two black eyes courtesy of Jessica and her amazing right hook.
Chris turned his attention on her. “Who?”
“Ty,” she whispered reverently.
He narrowed his eyes, inspecting her like a lab experiment gone wrong. “He was my brother; it would be safe to assume we look alike.” He swung his attention back to the producer who was looking over the paperwork and going paler by the minute. “I’m not pleased that this movie is being made. What my brothers did was deplorable and I will not allow you to film in the complex.” He turned to leave.
“I know who you are,” Tom snapped and stood, his hands balled in fists.
Chris turned around in surprise. “I’m sorry; I still don’t know who you are.”
Tom shoved the table aside and advanced on Chris.
Chris moved into the karate-ready stance. “I have to warn you, I am a second degree black belt,” he said, causing Tom to hesitate.
“Son of a bitch.” Tom glared and stepped back.
“Very well, then,” Chris said and he put his arms back down with a nod. He looked back at the producer. “If you fight the injunction, I’ll tie you up in court for years.”
With that, Chris walke
d out of the room.
Chapter 74
Sharon fanned herself with the script. “Wow,” she said and Tom turned his anger on her.
“Wow?” He glared at her. “All you can say is wow.”
“What the hell crawled up your ass today?” she snapped at him. “That man is smooth, sexy and one of the richest men on earth.” She looked back at the door. “He went underground after he sold Aris Industries. I couldn’t even find him.”
Tom laughed and turned back toward the door. He shook his head because he couldn’t say a word without them thinking he had truly lost it. “Goddamnit,” he said and took a seat at the table.
“What is wrong?” John asked. “You’ve been nasty all morning.”
“It’s personal.”
“Trouble in paradise?” Sharon smiled.
Tom glared at her. “Jessica and I broke up,” he said and ignored the shock on all three faces sitting next to him. “So anything having to do with the Aris’s and this movie is on my shit list right now.” He took a deep breath. “Keep going,” he demanded and John called the next actress in to read, handing copies of the head shot to the three of them.
Chapter 75
Chris kept in character until his apartment door latched behind him and then he started laughing. He went to the mirror in the bathroom. “Jessie?”
His laughter died in his throat when she appeared. Her rumpled hair matched the ripped sweatshirt she wore and the skin surrounding her eyes looked red, angry and puffy.
“What?”
“Are you okay?” He glanced at the bathroom décor. She was back in Maine.
She shook her head.
“You need me?”
She hesitated and then looked up at him slightly shaking her head. “I don’t know.”
“You throw a hell of a punch,” he smiled and her brow crinkled. “I ran into that reporter today.”
“Where?” she asked and opened his mind to her.
“I served an injunction at the casting call.”
Jessica started to cry. “She was there?”
Chris nodded. “Yeah Jess, she did write the script.”
“He didn’t tell me.”
“Why would he need to? It’s legit.”
“Stop defending him,” she started to shake. “He kicked me out last night, he said it’s over.”
“That’s why he lost his cool.”
“Wouldn’t you?”
“No, not in front of a reporter.” He had expected some level of anger, but it wasn’t like Tom to make a scene and draw that kind of attention, especially in full view of a reporter like Sharon Young.
Tears brimmed, cascading down her cheeks.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“No. I need some time.”
“Well, I’m coming to Maine anyway. You have a pen?” he asked and smiled a little as her eyebrows rose. “I’m giving you my cell phone number, Jess. I haven’t given that out to anyone for something like twenty years, so it’s a big deal.”
She reached into the drawer, grabbing a lipstick. She wrote the numbers on the bottom of the mirror as he read them off.
“Call if you need to talk.”
She scanned him for a moment. “What are you wearing?”
“Armani.” He smiled. “Call if you need me.”
“Thanks.”
“Anytime,” he said to her and turned away from the mirror.
“Tom’s a fool.” He wondered if Tom would be able to stay away from her for very long once his anger subsided. “I give it a month at best,” Chris muttered under his breath. He would forgive her anything just to be with her and couldn’t imagine anyone else not being able to do the same.
He threw open the closet and grabbed both suitcases throwing the contents of his drawers in them. He wasn’t planning on coming back any time soon, not if he got everything he wanted and he flipped open his laptop and sent an inquiry to a realty firm in the general area that he remembered Jessica talking about yesterday. If he played his cards right, he might just be able to give her the one other thing in the world that she said she wanted. He already gave her Emily and another incredible miracle that she wouldn’t know about for at least a month. He smiled thinking of the one thing she wished for silently that he made happen. He no longer had any remnants of healing power, he had used the last of that to turn that trick as he made love to her yesterday, completely reversing the surgery she had thirteen years ago. Too bad it won’t be Tom’s. His grin widened.
Folding up the portfolio, he dropped the script inside and zipped it closed. With his suitcases, camera gear, and the portfolio in hand, he headed off to Maine. As he drove onto the highway, he checked his voicemail. The weekly report from his investment banker indicated his investments were doing well. Little did Jessica know, she was the heir to his entire fortune and had been since the day he sold the company. If anything happened to him, she would be a multibillionaire.
He pulled into his home in York Harbor a little before five and brought his suitcases inside. He slid back into the car and ten minutes later, he pulled into her driveway still in his Armani suit. He rang the doorbell and slowly took off his sunglasses when she opened the door.
Jessica’s mouth fell. “Oh man, Sharon must have been drooling over you,” she said before she could catch herself.
He grinned. “Just a wee bit.” He stepped inside. “I know you said you didn’t want to see me yet, but I needed to make sure you were really all right.”
She closed the door behind him and walked into the living room with him following. “I’m afraid I’m a bit underdressed compared to you.” She looked down at her sweatpants and torn sweatshirt.
“You’re still beautiful to me.”
She let out a little laugh and glanced back at him. “Tom called me this afternoon on his way to the airport. He was a little ballistic and said that if I saw you to tell you that you are a fucking asshole. The best goddamn actor he ever saw, but a fucking asshole just the same.” She looked him up and down. “What the hell did you do?”
He grinned. “I waltzed into the casting room and served the injunction in person. I pretended I didn’t know who Tom was. I told them that if they tried to fight it I would tie them up in court for years.” He started laughing. “I wish I had it on video, it was priceless, especially the reporter, she was looking at me like I was her next meal.” Chris sighed and wiped the stray hair out of her face, his laughter winding down as their eyes locked. “If you let me in your life, I’ll never leave you.” He watched as the tears filled her eyes. “I haven’t been with anyone since I fell in love with you, even when I was down there.”
“Five years?”
He nodded. “Tom is an idiot to let you go.”
“He hates you and I slept with you. Imagine how you’d feel if I slept with Frank after all he put us through.”
Her question struck him silent. He blinked and took a step back, tilting his head as he dug deep for the answer. “It wouldn’t matter. Nothing you could do would stop me from loving you.”
“But would you ever trust me again, would you be able to get past it?” she challenged.
That was more difficult for him to answer. “I don’t know,” he said honestly and looked out the window at the open water. “But eventually I would because the alternative of not having you in my life isn’t a choice I’d be able to live with.”
“He can’t,” she said. “He will never get over it.”
“Then he doesn’t love you like I do.”
Jessica gaped at him and shook her head a little, walking out onto the balcony.
Chris followed her outside. “You have no clue how hard it was to stay away for the last five years.” He closed his eyes and listened to the ocean, letting the quiet settle between them. “Did you ever think we were meant to be, Jess?” He opened his eyes.
She turned on him. “You’re playing the fate card?” She laughed. “You think it was fate that made our paths cross? It was God’s p
lan? Come on, Ty. You kidnapped me. I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and here we are. There is no such thing as fate.” She shook her head. “How do I know you’re not just acting with me?”
“You don’t,” he said. “Just like I don’t know if you’re playing me or not.” He put his hands on her shoulders. “We’re both very good at games, but you wouldn’t risk your marriage and I wouldn’t risk my freedom just for a roll in the hay.”
He leaned in and kissed her. “Besides, you can’t fake what that does to both of us.” He smiled, pulling away.
Her legs felt like rubber and her heart kicked into high gear, all from his kiss. “I can’t do this right now,” she said breathlessly and slid past him back inside. “You said I had to say no. I’m saying no right now, because if Tom walked through that door.” she hesitated and looked at him, “I don’t know what I’d do. So until I can give you an answer...” she trailed off.
Chris nodded. “Okay. I’ll go.” He started to leave.
“Thank you,” she said, giving him pause.
“For leaving?” He looked back at her.
“No for coming.”
He smiled and walked out of the house, leaving her with his words and the feel of his lips on hers.
Chapter 76
Jessica woke the next morning and went for a jog on the beach. She kept going over everything that happened in the last few weeks, how her life unraveled so quickly and completely. She missed Tom. For the last five years he had been her rock, the one that made her feel safe and secure, and now he was gone, all because she couldn’t say no to Chris.
He was a completely different story. Chris made her feel alive; his intensity alone was enough to make her swoon any time he was in the same room, let alone when he touched her. Even the slightest of grazes set her skin on fire. They had a connection that was undeniable and she began to wonder if Eric and Chris were right about fate.
