Jessica remained standing near Fletcher’s doorstep, tears streaming down her face.
“I said let’s go!” Bliss yelled through the window.
Somehow, Jessica found her way back to the car and stumbled inside. She wasn’t sure she was emotionally stable enough to drive, but started the car up nonetheless.
As they pulled away from Fletcher’s house, Bliss clapped her hands and started to cackle.
“Did you see their faces? Oh my God! I wish I had taken a picture. What do you bet Fletcher will be knocking on my door tomorrow morning, begging me to take her back? It might even happen tonight. And that will be the end of Fletcher’s little custody stunt.”
Jessica charged across Sunset Boulevard and made a hard right at the first street, stopping in front of a parking structure at the edge of the UCLA campus. She reached across Bliss and threw open the passenger door.
“Get out!”
“What?”
“I can’t believe what you just did!” Jessica shouted. “Get out of my car! You’re an evil, selfish witch. Paul is right. I’ve been nothing but your doormat. And now I’m done. Get out!”
“You can’t leave me here. How am I going to get home?”
“Call Uber.”
When Bliss didn’t move, Jessica threw the car in park, jumped out and ran around to the passenger side.
“Either get out or I’ll drag you out,” she demanded.
Their commotion had attracted the attention of a man who had just walked out of the parking structure wearing a backpack. “Is everything okay, ladies?”
Jessica didn’t budge. “It will be when she gets out of my car.”
When Bliss still didn’t move, Jessica leaned inside to unhook Bliss’ seatbelt, then grabbed her by the arm and jerked her out of the car. Bliss lost her footing and stumbled to the pavement.
“Have you lost your mind?” Bliss yelled up at her.
“No, but you apparently have!”
Jessica strolled around to the driver’s side and hopped back into her car. She saw Bliss’ purse lying on the floor and started to keep going. But even as disgusted as she was with Bliss, she didn’t want to leave her totally stranded.
Rolling down the window, Jessica hurled Bliss’ purse to the pavement, just missing her head.
CHAPTER 54
I wake up to the sound of my cell phone blaring like a smoke alarm. The clock on my nightstand flashes 11:17 p.m. I want to ignore it and go back to sleep, but a call this late is cause for concern.
I reach for my cell and I’m surprised to see Fletcher’s name on the screen.
I sit up in bed, trying not to wake Jefferson. “Hello,” I whisper.
Fletcher speaks so fast, his words sound like gibberish.
“I can’t understand anything you just said, Fletcher. Please start over and speak slowly.”
When I finally make sense of what he’s saying, I have to stifle a laugh.
“And just what do you expect me to do? You got what you wanted. Full custody of your daughter.”
“I never wanted custody of her. I don’t know how to take care of a kid!”
“You have Mia to help you.”
“She’s mad as hell and locked herself in one of the guest bedrooms. This kid is screaming at the top of her lungs and I have no idea what to do about it.”
“And neither do I. Call your mother or Gabriella. I’m sure they can help you out. Better yet, call your family law attorney. After all, this was Darlene’s bright idea. Let her deal with it.”
“What am I going to do with her in the morning? I have a record company to run.”
“You should’ve thought of that before you put your little plan into motion. This is not a problem I can help you with. I’m going back to sleep.”
I hang up the phone.
“What’s going on?” Jefferson is barely awake.
“Bliss just dumped her child on Fletcher’s doorstep and left.” I can’t help but laugh. “And he’s freaking out. Mia wants nothing to do with the kid.”
“Those are some weird ass people.”
I lie back down, resting my head on Jefferson’s shoulder.
“So what’s he gonna do?”
“If I were a betting woman, I’d say he’ll be returning Harmony to her mother bright and early tomorrow morning.”
“Why’d he file for custody if he didn’t want her?”
“So he could get her to reduce her child support demand. He expected Bliss to fight his custody petition, not hand over her daughter the way she did.”
“It wasn’t right what that chick did to him, but your rich ex-boyfriend should stop playing games and just take care of his kid. With all the dough he’s got, I don’t see why he’s sweating her.”
“He tried. He offered her fifteen grand a month.”
“And she turned it down?”
“Yep. She wants eighty-three grand a month.”
“Maybe he needs to send her greedy ass a message from the streets.”
“Jefferson, cut it out.”
“I’m serious. If that girl turned down fifteen grand a month, she’s a straight up gold digger. You reap what you sow.”
That’s definitely the truth.
“I suspect Girlie Cortez crafted this little scheme. And actually, it was pretty brilliant. They’re playing Fletcher like a piano.”
“All of ’em are crazy,” Jefferson says groggily, as I snuggle closer to him. “That kid would be better off in foster care.”
CHAPTER 55
Mia had always prided herself on having everything under control. But Bliss and her bastard baby had turned her world upside down and sideways. Mia hadn’t figured out yet how she was going to resolve this little catastrophe, but she had no doubt that she would.
She missed sleeping next to Fletcher last night and regretted acting so childish after that poor excuse for a mother dumped her baby on their doorstep.
Who does that?
That alone was proof that Bliss was nothing short of nuts. Maybe she’d suggest that Fletcher have Bliss tested. Mia wouldn’t be at all surprised to learn the woman was bi-polar. For now, though, Mia had a much bigger problem. If the information about Bliss selling her body for sex was true—and Mia had no reason to believe it wasn’t—Fletcher would easily win full custody of his daughter. But Mia had no intention of raising Bliss’ child or anybody else’s. She wasn’t even certain she even wanted kids of her own.
Mia hadn’t expected Fletcher to bond with the child so quickly. She could hear him now, cooing over her. She made her way to the kitchen where she found him holding Harmony in one hand, as he checked the temperature of the bottle he was warming with the other.
“Wow. Look at you. You’re turning out to be quite the little papa.”
“I had no choice.” His voice left the rest of the sentence unspoken. Since you refused to help out.
“Gabriella brought a bunch of stuff over and gave me a crash course on taking care of a three month old. I also called my mother. By the way, she’s flying in this weekend to help us out for a month or so.”
That news sent a shock of dread straight down Mia’s spine.
Being under the same roof as Gilda McClain was almost as bad as having this pint-size intruder in her house. The high-and-mighty Gilda treated her son like God and pretended as if Mia didn’t exist.
Fletcher insisted that it was all in her head, but Mia knew better. Fletcher wasn’t the first white guy she’d dated. She knew when a mother preferred that her son have a woman of a lighter hue.
Mia had asked Gilda for a list of people she wanted to invite to the wedding, stressing that Fletcher was picking up all the expenses. Gilda promised to get her a list, but that was weeks ago. Who turns down a trip to France? Anyone who didn’t want her snooty friends to know she was a
bout to welcome an African-American daughter-in-law into the family.
Mia checked the clock on the microwave. It was after eight. Fletcher should have been headed to the office by now.
“Why are you still here?”
“Working from home today.” He looked down at Harmony. “Hey, sweetie, you happy Daddy’s staying home today?”
The baby seemed to coo her excitement.
Fletcher grinned. “Sounds like Harmony’s pretty happy about that.”
If Mia was absolutely forced to raise this child, the first thing she planned to do was talk Fletcher into changing her name. Anyone who saw the name Harmony on a school application would assume she was a black kid from South Central.
Mia inhaled. She loved Fletcher and couldn’t imagine not having him in her life. So she would do what she had to do. No matter how much it pained her.
“Let me hold her.” She eased the child from Fletcher’s arms into hers.
Harmony squirmed, then smiled up at her.
“She’s such a friendly baby.” Fletcher’s face glowed with pride. “She likes you.”
Yeah, whatever.
Mia wasn’t quite sure she could pull this off. But there was a lot at stake if she didn’t. She had to focus on the real prize. The life of luxury she would live as Mrs. Fletcher McClain.
The doorbell rang and Fletcher set the bottle he was holding on the kitchen counter. “I’ll get it.”
“Who are you expecting this early?”
Fletcher ignored Mia’s question as he headed toward the front door. He returned seconds later with a woman who was a dead giveaway for Kim Kardashian, ass and all.
“Hey, Mia, meet Carina, our new live-in nanny. She’s an exchange student from Romania. Fortunately for us, she takes most of her classes online, so she’ll be available to care for Harmony as much as we need her.”
The news shook Mia so hard she almost dropped the baby.
“Nice to meet you.” Carina’s accent was barely understandable.
Mia appraised the woman as she shook her hand. Carina had apparently failed the dress code class during nanny school. She was showing way too much cleavage. Mia pegged her to be around thirty, a little old for a nanny career.
“Honey,” Mia said, with as much sweetness as she could muster, “you hired a nanny without consulting me first?”
“This was an emergency situation and you weren’t speaking to me, remember? No worries though. Carina came highly recommended by the wife of one of my golfing buddies. The family she had previously worked for moved to New York.” He motioned Carina over. “Come meet Harmony.”
“She’s beautiful.” Carina took Harmony into her arms.
“That’s because she’s my daughter,” Fletcher boasted.
Mia thought she might just throw up.
“I’m giving Carina the guest room on the west end of the house.” He turned to the nanny. “That way you’ll have more privacy.”
First Bliss’ baby, then Fletcher’s mother, now this Carina chick. There was no way Mia could afford to have a woman this attractive under her roof 24/7. She wasn’t stupid, Carina would soon look around at all they had and start imagining herself as Fletcher’s wife. Mia had to resort to fight-or-flight mode and she was more than willing to fight for what was hers.
Getting Carina out of her house was the first task she needed to tackle. To do so, Mia was about to transform herself into the perfect stepmother, thereby eliminating the need to have Carina around. It would probably mean going to a part-time schedule at her law firm. At least until she could find a nanny who looked like a grandmother instead of a video vixen. Mia didn’t care all that much about her job anyway. She’d plan to quit practicing all together as soon as she married Fletcher.
The second task on her to-do list would require a bit more ingenuity. Bliss needed to pay for disrupting their lives. And Mia intended to make sure that she did.
CHAPTER 56
Even as a kid, Special had never been one to easily throw in the towel. The best investigators mapped out their plan, then watched and waited. Persistence was the name of this game. That’s why she refused to give up on learning the identity of Bliss’ Mystery Baby Daddy.
It was just after seven and based on the way Bliss was dressed, it was likely that she was headed off to meet another target. Bliss rarely dressed this scandalous. But tonight she was wearing black leggings and a midriff top that left little to the imagination. Her hair looked freshly done and she’d spent over two hours in the nail salon.
Special assumed Bliss was not off to meet Martin Zinzer. For one, the prominent lawyer had a wife and family, which likely made it difficult for evening romps. But more importantly, Special was pretty certain that their little talk had scared him straight. He’d probably swear off out-of-wedlock sex for life. When Special informed him that Bliss had extorted one, perhaps two, wealthy men for child support, he’d almost swallowed his tongue. If Bliss had gone after Zinzer, his idyllic life would have been shattered. Hopefully, he’d learned his lesson.
After the nail salon, Special followed Bliss to a vitamin shop, then to a shopping complex off Sepulveda and Rosecrans, where Bliss entered Salt Creek Grille in Manhattan Beach. Special took a seat in an adjacent booth, pulled out her iPad and pretended to be reading the L.A. Times.
A short time later, a good-looking man in his forties entered the restaurant and sat down across from Bliss. The girl only dealt with fine-ass men.
The man did not look happy to see her. In fact, he looked pretty irate.
“I don’t have a lot of time. What do you want?”
“Wow, I don’t even get a greeting. We used to be so close.”
“What do you want?”
“I need more money.”
The man’s nostrils flared. “I’ve given you more than enough to take care of that kid. And now you have the audacity to ask for more?”
“Jonas is a growing boy. I underestimated how much money I’d need to raise him.”
OMG! So this is the mysterious father of baby Jonas. Special studied his face. He definitely wasn’t famous. He looked like a regular guy who had expensive taste in suits.
“I don’t have it.”
“Bull.”
“Exactly how much are you looking for?”
Special shook her head. Big mistake, dude. Just tell her you don’t have it and leave.
“Five hundred grand.”
“Are you insane? I bought you that townhouse and gave you a million dollars.”
Special couldn’t believe it. Maybe she should consider this line of work. This heffa got a free townhouse, a million dollars, was getting twelve grand a month from Dr. Franco and was still trying to jack Fletcher McClain and this dude? This girl belonged on both American Greed and The Jerry Springer Show.
The man just stared at her, his dark eyes spewing hatred. “Like I said, I’m done. I’m not paying you another dime.”
“Then I guess I’ll have to have a little conversation with your wife about her long-lost stepson.”
“I don’t care. Do it. I’m sick of you.”
Bliss’ face contorted.
“And after I tell your wife, I’ll go after you in court. Jonas is entitled to far more than you’ve given me. I don’t understand why you’re being so stingy.” She slid a piece of paper across the table. “Here’s my bank account information. Wire the money to me or I’m going to make a call. And stop it with the phony protests. We both know you’re not hurting for money.”
“Over my dead body,” he hissed. “Or better yet, over yours.” The man stood up and stalked toward the door.
Special was having such a good time looking at Bliss’ broken face that she temporarily stopped thinking like an investigator. The man was climbing behind the wheel of his car when she came back to her senses and race-walked out of the re
staurant. She needed to get the man’s license plate number. Eli had a cop friend who could run the plates for her. She was dying to know who he was.
By the time she reached the front of the restaurant, the black Jaguar was pulling into the street, too far away to read his license plate number.
“Shoot!”
As she was about to walk back into the restaurant, Bliss brushed by, not even noticing her. She climbed into her Audi and sped off.
Special wondered if Bliss really would be brazen enough to tell the man’s wife that she had a three-year-old stepson she knew nothing about.
“Girlfriend,” Special mumbled to herself, “you’re playing with fire and eventually you’re going to get burned.”
CHAPTER 57
The computer screen glared like a hot, dangerous fire. And for the most part, that’s exactly what it was. Jessica was about to open a door of no return. Despite the risks, despite her fears, she sucked in a long, deep breath and started typing.
The software she’d installed on Paul’s computer had performed precisely as promised. She logged into her Webwatcher account with her iPhone and obtained the password to the folder where Paul kept his documents. For the last thirty minutes or so, she’d been painstakingly opening sub-folders and documents. So far, she’d only found documents related to his business dealings. It only made sense that he would password protect those documents. After another few minutes, she was beginning to feel like an idiot. Her husband was not fooling around. Bliss was absolutely right. Paul’s only mistress was his work.
There was only one folder left to review. She was about to shut off the computer, but decided she might as well finish her snooping. At first, the folder labeled Archives seemed to show nothing of interest to her. But then she caught sight of several American Express card statements. The account number was neither their personal account nor Paul’s business account.
Jessica held her breath. This was it. She’d seen this scene played out in movies a dozen times. The credit card statements would reveal trips to hotels she had never visited, expensive dinners she never enjoyed and gifts of flowers and jewelry that had not been purchased for her. She slowly perused the statements, but found nothing of the sort. She found no charges for flowers or gifts, but she did see charges to several restaurants. She was certain that on some of the dates listed, Paul had taken her to those places.
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