Please Remember Me (23 page)

“You’re pushy.” She pressed her lips together. Nice, I’m supposed to be nice.

“Just curious.”

Reaching around him, she pressed the emergency stop button. “You asked, I’ll answer. Do you mean the internet clip?” What did this man have to say that she hadn’t already heard?

He nodded and folded his arms. “Yeah. I’m no gentleman and I like my dirty movies when the mood strikes, but that wasn’t a run-of-the-mill skin flick. You looked like you really cared about him. Why put that on the ‘net?”

Folding her arms, she mocked his stance, but not his intentions. “Plain and simple, I did—do—care about that guy a lot, and I didn’t post that clip. Someone peeped through my windows and taped it. I didn’t find out until it was over, but I don’t see why you care.”

“You can’t shit a shitter, Jaden.” He cocked his head. “You don’t remember, but we went to high school together.”

Studying his features, she remembered the kid with shaggy black hair and vibrant blue eyes who’d always carried around a notebook for doodling and had asked her to go with him to one of the dances. She gasped. “Ron? Ron Harlan?”

He nodded. “One and the same.”

Details flew into her mind. He’d given her drawings in study hall and made it a point to tell her she looked pretty. When she’d left and begun the tutoring, he’d stopped by her father’s office to say hi and keep her up-to-date with gossip. Even as a teen, he’d always had the inside scoop. “You wanted to be a reporter. Why are you working the elevator here instead of writing comics or thought-provoking stories for the ten o’clock news?”

“Comics… I miss those.” He clicked his tongue. “I write in the evenings. I’m in charge of a horror blog called With Teeth and Claws. I reviewed your flick Vampires Unleashed. It wasn’t that good.”

She cringed. “I hated it, too.” Tapping her lip, an idea came to mind. The perfect merging of his talents and her schemes. “Can you write that blog from anywhere?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I’ll need a press officer—someone who can write a great release for a pet shelter. I can’t pay much yet, but I can guarantee a place to stay. Sound like something you’d like to do?”

His blue eyes widened. “Here in Cali?”

“Nope. In Ohio. Want in? The old office building has five floors, three of which will be the shelter. My private suite will be the top floor if all goes as planned.” She grabbed a piece of paper from her purse and jotted down some numbers. “Here’s my cell.”

A grin blossomed on his lips. “You tell me when and where and I’ll be there.”

“You mean it?”

“Sure. Blogging by night, working as a press agent by day. Might even get some time in to go back to creating those comics.”

“Good. I’ll call you next week if the plans pan out.” She stuck out her hand. “Isn’t it great to have friends in all sorts of places?”

“You bet.”

After Ron started the elevator car back up and took her to her father’s office on the top floor, she rolled her shoulders again. Why did talking to him seem so impossible? Because the man could eat nails for breakfast and shit roses in full bloom. She checked her makeup and hair in the foyer mirror, fluffing the golden strands. I can be me and do something worthwhile.

She pushed open the glass door and mustered her courage. Glynnis, the svelte secretary with piercing brown eyes and hair the unnatural colour of a fire engine, smiled. “So it is you. You’re a bit fuller than before? I assume you’re eating well out in the sticks.”

Jaden narrowed her eyes. “I’d like to speak to my father, please.” Some people deserved human kindness, but after the cutting remark, Jaden wanted nothing to do with Glynnis Martine.

The petite secretary rose from her chair. “I’ll let Rexx know you’re here. He’s not happy about the interruption. He’s very busy making popular culture come to life. But I’m sure he’ll be glad to talk to you.”

“A father should want to talk to his child, but I can take care of myself.” Instead of giving Glynnis and her father the upper hand, Jaden pushed past the secretary. “He’s probably got his flavour-of-the-month girlfriend with him.”

“Excuse me, but his flavour is Pia Reardon.”

“Oh, he’s still with her?” Jaden yanked the door open and spoke over her shoulder. “Great.”

Glynnis gasped when Jaden shut the door in her face. When she turned, her father sat on his couch with a platinum blond crouched over his lap. His-button up shirt barely covered his chest where the woman plastered ruby red lip prints over his almond skin.

“Daddy, really!”

Rexx sat up, his hands moving from Pia’s butt to her waist. His blue eyes blazed and his mouth opened and closed. “Jade! I told Glyn to let me know when you were here!”

“Jaden! We’ve missed you.” Pia rubbed her slightly protruding stomach. “Does she know our news?”

“I haven’t had time,” Rexx growled. “Give me a moment with her and then we’ll see.”

Primping, the woman stood. “I hope you’ll accept me in the family.” She stuck her hand out, and Jaden just nodded. Pia shrugged. “I’ll be back later, Rexie. Miss me when I’m gone.”

Jaden forced the bile from her throat. So her father had the right to want human contact. Yes, he was a grown man who had primal urges…but with the blonde bimbo? Sheesh. Darby Haydenweir would pass out if she wasn’t rolling over in her grave.

When Pia left the office, Jaden sucked in a long breath and spoke. “So… this is what you do with yourself when you’re—” She hooked her fingers in the air. “—working. I’ll bet you get a lot done. Are you going to make her an honest woman?”

Buttoning his shirt, Rexx stood at his full six feet. “You aren’t an angel, my dear. I see that little video of you has over seven hundred thousand hits. Nice job. I knew I could count on you to take one for the team.” He slid his arms through the suit jacket sleeves without looking her in the eye. “I hadn’t planned on the clip showing quite as much. For that, I’m sorry.”

“You masterminded it?” Her blood ran cold. “I don’t believe it.”

“I wanted a little necking, some petting. Not nudity and absolutely no drug use. Still, he was a bit below you. He’s a cop, for God’s sake. He’s nothing more than a public servant. If you wanted a man of the law, I’d call your friend Bobby or maybe Jeremy. He’s playing a cop on Daytona Homicide. He’s a much better suitor.”

Clenching her fists, Jaden stepped in front of her father. “Marlon’s a damned good cop and he lost his job on account of me.”

“Good. He’s a shit. He protected my little girl from the prying eyes of the public too well. The world’s a better place.”

Realisation washed over her like a splash of ice-cold water. “I didn’t want to believe my instincts, but it was you all along. You sent that jerk to ruin my chance of having a life of my own!”

“I did no such thing—this time.” He adjusted his collar and rolled his shoulders. “Besides, it’s nothing you haven’t done in the past. Call Joe a bad decision I regret. Bastard cost me an extra fifty K.”

“That’s it. You sent the blond fan to hunt me down and when he found me, you sent another guy, maybe the same one—I don’t know—to follow me. You allowed them to record me and for what? The magazine? Who the fuck do you think you are?”

“Your father.”

“You of all people should’ve protected me from creeps like that—not encouraged them. That was a special, private moment and you stole it from me.”

“Hank did his job and should leave you alone. If Joe’s bothering you, then I’ll have Hank take care of him.”

“What? Are you now a mob boss, too? Tell your goons to leave me alone. I’m not a celebrity any longer. I’m Jaden Haydenweir, regular citizen.”

“You’re right.” Rexx picked up his phone and spoke in low tones. After a long moment, he dropped the handset onto his desk. “Your little follower is all gone and you can call off Hutchins. His services aren’t needed. Now, what did you come here for? I know it wasn’t for a touching family reunion. My relationship with Pia hasn’t gone public yet.”

Relationship not public? Every magazine and pop culture outlet had images of Rexx and Pia Reardon. “Even if I wanted to say I missed you, I can’t. I came here for my trust money.”

“I assumed as much. You have to use it for charity. Enlighten me with your scheme, if you have one. How will that benefit the magazine? What are we going to see Miss Jaden Haydenweir, public citizen, do to get the press to pay attention?”

“Walk out of here with my head held high and go back to peace in Ohio. You can have your piece of ass and I can have my freedom.” She snorted. “I’ll leave you alone so you can make the tabloids churn.”

A flicker of emotion lit his eyes for a split second. “Is that all you think I want you for?” His voice cracked.

“No, I know it is.” She grinned. She’d got under his skin. Good. She rolled her tongue around her mouth. The furry kids needed her, and if she worked fast enough, Judi would get to see her wishes come to fruition and Marlon would be in her arms. “Why don’t we discuss the terms of my trust fund money?”

Rexx snorted. “Your mother wrote it into her will that once you turned twenty-one, you received two million dollars, but you have to use it for a philanthropic purpose. Fat lot of good that did. She also stipulated that I can’t touch it. I was her husband! I should’ve been in charge.”

“If you’re not, then who is?”

“Your Uncle Gene.”

“Fine.” Uncle Gene liked her as she was. Heck, he practiced law in jeans when he wasn’t in court. He’d help her in an instant. “I’ll give him a call and let you have your life.”

“Rexx?”

Jaden glanced over her shoulder as Pia re-entered the office, clutching her belly. “You need to feel this! The baby kicked. Our baby moved.”

Baby? Our? The handful of crackers Jaden had eaten in the car made their way up her throat. She wasn’t sure whether to be happy that her father had someone or sick because she knew what future lay in store for the baby.

“I’ll let you have your privacy, Daddy.” Jaden flicked a lock of hair from her eyes and forced a smile. “It was nice to see you.”

As she left the front office, Glynnis followed her to the elevator. “You can’t walk out on your father like that.”

Again Jaden spun on her heel. “I didn’t, but why do you care? He wants his only daughter—his only child until now—to bare her body for the sake of his magazine? I’m supposed to be a cokehead, riding around drunk in the back of a limo so he can sell glossies? Come on. I’m sorry I took this long to figure him out, but I’m not sorry I’m leaving. I deserve better!”

“She’s right.”

Jaden’s eyes widened. Her father, with his hands folded and his head down stepped into the foyer. “Glynnis, please run down to Mr Gaughan’s office. I want to see the prelims on next week’s spotlight.”

Glynnis snorted and pressed the elevator button. When Ron opened the car, she walked in, but not without a final snarky comment. “He should’ve given you up when he had the chance. Worthless brat. You’re just like Ira.”

Ron rolled his eyes and closed the door, shutting out any further comments. Jaden shuffled her feet and stared at the black carpet. She hardly knew Glynnis, so why did the woman hate her so?

“She’s right and she’s not.”

Jaden crossed her arms. “How? She’s a raving lunatic.”

Rexx sat on the desk. His shoulders sagged. A long sigh escaped his lips. “Honey, it’s complicated.” He crossed his arms. “I can’t live the lie.”

Gripping her handbag, Jaden edged to the chair in front of Glynnis’ desk. Her heart pounded behind her ribcage. “What lie? And why is she talking about someone named Ira?”

Rexx dropped into the seat next to her. “There’s so much you need to know and so many things I did wrong. It’s high time you found out the truth.” He rubbed his forehead, the creases deepening. Crinkles formed around his eyes. “An hour ago, your former boyfriend called and read me the riot act. He was completely right and I deserved his anger. And just a few moments ago, I stood there caressing Pia’s stomach, feeling the glimmer of life I helped create, and it hit me right over the head. I can’t screw up another life. I won’t.”

Folding her hands, Jaden studied her father. The cool demeanour melted. For the first time, she noticed the streaks of grey lacing the jet-black strands of hair and the thinning areas at his temples. The sparkle that once lit his eyes had diminished.

“Marlon’s got a mouth on him, but he cares about you.” He span the ring on his middle finger—his one reminder of Jaden’s mother. “I’m not even sure how to tell you. It’s a cluster-fuck my Delish people would love to get their hands on.”

“Tell me, Daddy.” Even if she didn’t want to hear it, she needed the truth.

“Here goes.” He sat up, squaring his broad shoulders and nodding. “I’m not your father.”

She slumped in her seat. “Yes, you are. You’re my dad as much as you are to Pia’s baby.” Not her… Things didn’t make sense. Tears pricked her eyes. “What are you saying?” She clenched her fists. Her words came out in a scream. “Who, then? Who do I belong to?”

He sighed again and his voice cracked. “Your mother never wanted you to find out. She wanted me to keep the secret because Ira Lambert was such a jackass. He beat the living hell out of your mom because he could. He slept around on her and refused to believe you were his. When I met your mom, she’d just finished making the movie Mirabella and had broken things off with Ira. She wasn’t looking for a relationship, but the moment I saw her, I dropped to my knees and professed my undying love. She was so beautiful and full of life.” He paused and scrubbed his palm over his mouth. “She was pregnant with you when we married. I didn’t care. I wanted a little girl to spoil.”

Thoughts raced through her mind. Ira Lambert? The photographer from back in the Hamptons? No wonder she’d screwed up her life—it was in her genes. Maybe that was how she’d allowed things to go to hell with Marlon…

And now she was in the same predicament—pregnant and alone.

“When you were five and your momma got sick, I got so angry. The damage from Ira’s beatings took their toll on her body. I knew it wasn’t your fault, but my anger won out against my common sense.” Rexx pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m sorry. No one knew about the discrepancy until Glynnis found the adoption papers. Ira never wanted you and your mother insisted I adopt you. I did in a heartbeat, but every time I looked at you after she passed, I saw him. I’d lost her despite my best attempts to save her. In my anger, I took it out on you.”