Billionaires, Bad Boys, and Alpha Males (127 page)

“Great, now he’s going to be drunk on top
of everything else,” her mother said, shaking her head in annoyance.

Red opened the fridge and grabbed a beer,
exchanging a look with Nicole.

“Sorry you and Dad had such a tough drive
here,” Nicole said as she opened the oven and pulled out the chicken.

“Oh, it’s fine.
 
Just happy to spend time with both of
you,” her mom replied, without even the hint of a smile.
 
“Now what can I do to help?”

“Well, I need to add some milk and butter
to those potatoes.”

Her mother took the cover off the mashed
potatoes and looked inside, sniffing.
 
Then she grabbed a spoon from the counter and dipped it in, tasting
them.
 
“Maybe a little more salt and
pepper, too.”

Nicole shrugged.
 
“Okay, then.
 
Whatever you’d like to add.”

She could hear her father and Red
speaking in muted tones so as not to disturb the womenfolk.

In a way, it gave her some comfort to
know that at least her dad would likely be friendly tonight.

With her mom assisting in her own,
inimitable way (which meant lots of comments about what to do better next
time), they were finally able to get dinner on the table.

Everyone settled down to eat at the tiny
table where Nicole and Danielle usually just left their mail and did their
nails from time to time.
 
Nicole
couldn’t even remember the last time she’d actually eaten a meal at this table
with other people.

“It smells wonderful,” Red told her, as
she served him a plate of chicken, gravy, mashed potatoes and corn.

“It sure does,” her father agreed,
seemingly content now that he had his beer and was about to fill his belly.

Suddenly her mother’s cell was
ringing.
 
She looked at it and
without even apologizing, answered in a loud, obnoxious voice.
 
“HELLO?”
 
Pause.
 
“Oh, yes.
 
Yes, I meant to send that to you, I just
didn’t get a chance yet.
 
I’ll put
it in the mail tomorrow afternoon when I get home…Well, we’re having dinner in
Brooklyn with Nicole and Red.”

Everyone sat and listened to her talk,
not quite knowing what else to do.

Her mother was listening intently now,
and her eyes narrowed.
 
“You
what…you read that today?
 
Really?
 
That can’t be true.”
 
She glanced at Nicole and her lips
tightened.
 
“Okay.
 
Well…thanks for telling me.
 
Yes.
 
Yes, I know.
 
I’ll call you tomorrow.”
 
She got off the phone and put it away.

“That was a little rude, Mom,” Nicole
told her.
 

“I had to take that call, it was Karen.”

“So?”

“I couldn’t ignore her.”
 
Her mother started to pick at her plate
of food.
 
“I can’t help but ask…is
it true you quit your job this past week?”

Nicole sat back in her chair.
 
“I was going to tell you, I just didn’t
want to get into a whole thing about it tonight.”

“When were you going to tell me?”

“I don’t know.
 
I’ve had other stuff on my mind.”

“I’m sure you have.
 
But instead I had to find out from
Karen, because they’ve just written a new thing about you in the tabloids.
 
This is how I find out about my daughter
now.”

Nicole put a hand on her forehead.
 
“Mom, can we please not do this right
now?”

Red placed his hand on her leg and gave a
comforting squeeze.
 
“Barb, those
tabloids are best ignored.
 
Most of
what they print are lies, and I’ve learned just to ignore them.”

“You’ve clearly grown accustomed to
living your life under a microscope,” her mother said.
 
“I don’t begrudge you that.
 
But our family is different.
 
We’re just regular, normal people.”

“Red is a normal person too, Mom.”

Her mother put up a hand.
 
“I’m not trying to start a fight,
Nicole.
 
I was just shocked to hear
you quit your job.
 
Did something
happen?
 
Were you being treated
unfairly?”

Nicole sighed.
 
“No, it’s not that.
 
But you know Red…he’s no longer with the
company.”

Her mother eyed her.
 
“You mean he was fired.”

She saw Red smirk a little.

“He was let go because of some really
difficult circumstances in the global economy.”

“Well, I suppose it’s all too
sophisticated for a bumpkin like me, but I recall reading that he was fired by
his board of directors.
 
Do I have
that right?” her mother said, looking at Red.

“Yeah, that’s very much true,” Red agreed,
sounding totally at ease with her questions.

Nicole’s mother looked at her.
 
“And now you quit, to what purpose?”

“Red’s starting a new company and I want
to work there with him.”

“You’ll be working together?”

“Yes.”

Her mother shook her head.
 
“Nicole, really.
 
I’m sorry, but how much of this am I
supposed to just sit back and shut my mouth about?
 
I want to be supportive—“

“Then be supportive.
 
It’s easy.”

“Well I can’t support something I know is
wrong.
 
These tabloids are going to
absolutely destroy you, honey.
 
Can’t you see what’s happening?
 
And now you’re going to become his secretary at a new company, living
off his wealth, completely beholden to him in every way—“

“Mom, this is not a conversation I’m
going to have right now.”

“Barb,” her father began.

“I don’t know how I’m supposed to simply
shut up when it comes to my only daughter’s emotional well-being.
 
Red, you must see what kind of position
you’ve put our family in—“

Red tried to speak, but Nicole stood up.

“It’s not just your family anymore,
Mom.
 
Red and I have our own family
to think about now.”

“Two immature people trying to get
married and fight the world do not make a family make.”

“Three people.
 
There’s going to be three of us,” Nicole
said, holding up three fingers.
 
“I’m pregnant, so you better figure out a way to get with the program,
because Red is going to be around for a long, long time.”

In the stunned silence that followed
Nicole’s outburst, there came the sound of keys rattling in the lock.
 
And then into the apartment came
Danielle and Kane Wright, laughing and talking.
 
They turned and saw everyone sitting at
the table.

“Sorry to intrude,” Kane said.
 
He was dressed in his typical dapper
suit, his hair perfectly coiffed.

“We thought you’d be done by now for
sure,” Danielle said.
 
“I mean, you
told me you guys were eating between six-thirty and seven.”

Nicole just laughed.
 
This night could not possibly get any
worse, she decided.
 
“It’s fine,”
she said.
 
“Please, come in, make
yourselves at home.”

Red glared across the table at the man
who’d stolen his company.
 
He didn’t
say a word.

Kane smiled affably back at him.
 
“Anyway, it’s great to see you both
again.”

***

“Thank god that’s over with,” Nicole
said, as she stood at the window and watched her mother and father drive
off.
 
They’d insisted on staying at
a Motel 6 all the way back on the highway, even though Red had offered to get
them a room at a really nice Holiday Inn just a couple of miles down the road.

“It could have been worse,” Red told her,
putting his hands on her hips and kissing the back of her neck as she continued
staring outside.

“Not really.”

“That’s true, it couldn’t really have
been any worse.
 
But it seemed like
the right thing to say just now.”

She turned and put her arms around his
shoulders.
 
“I’m sorry I freaked out
and told them about the pregnancy.”

“The good thing was, your mother really
didn’t have much to say after that.
 
I think you actually stumped her.”

“True.”
 

They kissed for a long time.
 
Red’s lips pressed greedily against
hers, and he cupped a hand over her breast.

“Thank god Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum
took off,” Red said, after they broke off.

“Don’t call Danielle that,” she said,
secretly kind of glad he’d said it.

“Don’t worry, she’s Tweedle Dee.
 
He’s Tweedle Dum.”

Nicole laughed.
 
“That’s messed up.”

“Tweedle Dum is the insulting name.
 
Tweedle Dee is harmless.”

Kane and Danielle had departed soon after
stopping in.
 
They’d gone out to
“hit the local bars” together, offering to meet up with Red and Danielle later
on if they’d wanted.

Nicole had politely declined, saying how
tired they both were and that they still had a long drive back to Connecticut
ahead of them.
 

“Do you think Kane Wright is really okay
hanging out in Brooklyn at the local dive bars?” she said.
 
“I thought he was more into the trendy
Manhattan Michelin restaurants. Nobu and places like that.”

“I have no idea what Kane Wright actually
enjoys.
 
The guy doesn’t have a
genuine bone in his body.
 
He’s
probably doing whatever he can to make Danielle think he’s a regular,
down-to-earth guy.”

“Sort of like you’re doing with me.”

“No, I am a regular, down-to-earth guy
but sometimes I pretend to be a rich businessman.”

“Sure.”

“Can we get out of here now?” he asked,
taking her by the hand.

They cleaned up the mess from dinner and
left the apartment, heading to Red’s car.
 

Nicole felt happy again, even though the
night had been a complete and utter train wreck.
 
She’d unburdened herself by telling her
parents the happy truth.
 
What was
there to hide, anyway?
 
Nicole wasn’t
about to be ashamed of the fact that she’d gotten pregnant out of wedlock.

The important thing was that she and Red
were in love and going to be married.
 
They were starting their own family and Nicole didn’t intend to let
anyone make her feel ashamed about it.

Red drove through the streets of
Brooklyn, heading for the highway to take them to Connecticut.
 
He was driving much slower, Nicole
realized.
 

“Someone took the lead out of your foot,”
she said, smiling as he slowed to a full stop at a stop sign.
 
The old Red would have done a rolling
stop and then darted out the moment he saw the coast was clear.
 

“It’s funny how light my foot feels now,”
he said, leaning forward and looking both ways before continuing on.
 
“Maybe when the kid graduates high school
I can have the led weight reinserted.”

“I’m glad we were together tonight,” she
said, after a time.
 
“Now we’ve both
met each other’s crazy parents and dealt with the insanity up close and
personal.
 
Did it make you have any
doubts about going through with this whole wedding fatherhood package deal?”

Red glanced at her.
 
“No.
 
It did make me have doubts about whether
I want your mother giving a toast at our wedding, though.”

Nicole giggled.
 
“I’m going to sneak a couple Valium in
her drink and knock her out so she can’t say a peep during the reception.”

When they got on the highway, Nicole
looked at Red.
 
The way he’d been
with her all night being so patient, so loving—she felt like he’d become
a new person.
 
She loved him for
trying to be who she needed right now, but part of her worried that he’d also
resent her for forcing him to change too much, too fast.