She shrugged. “No sense in denying it. I saw that picture in your room and figured I was about to get attacked or something, so I felt it was best to disappear rather than give you the high kick that I keep in reserve for just those occasions.”
He laughed, in spite of the seriousness of her statement. “Wow. I do not want to see that move. At least, not used on me.” He got up and added another set of weights to the bar and laid back down. Before he started lifting again he said, “I know it seems nuts. But I promise you … I’m not a stalker or a lunatic. I just …” He shook his head, as if he couldn’t express what he was thinking. “I don’t know. I can’t really explain it. I saw you here, and I just felt this connection. It was weird.”
“Sounds like a stalker to me.” She was only half-kidding.
“I know, it really does, now that I hear it out loud. Geez, I hope I’m not a stalker.” He lifted the bar, more slowly now, the additional weight and his fatigue causing him to strain a little.
“There’s probably a list of questions to ask potential stalkers, and if you can answer yes to more than three of them, it means you are one,” Kiki said.
“Like … what?” he grunted out.
“Hmmm. Let’s see … okay … have you ever tried to find out where your target lives?”
“No.”
“Have you considered sneaking around to take pictures of your target?” She gave him a hard look. This one was obviously going to be hard to deny.
He put the bar up on the supports and rested his hands on his chest, breathing heavily. “Okay, I admit, I did take the picture. But it was because I’d seen you somewhere before and I wanted to try and jog my memory later about who you might be. Then the more I looked at it, the more I thought how beautiful you are. And Sebastian caught me looking at it and asked to see it. He proposed the idea of painting it for me. He said, ‘Why not make it into something you can really enjoy?’”
“Wow, he’s a good salesman.”
“Yeah. Like I said - he’s not just an artist. He’s a businessman. When he was finished I was just stunned. He told me before he started that I didn’t have to buy it if I didn’t like it … that it would only be a vague representation of you. But once I saw it, I knew I had to have it. It captured the mystery of you perfectly.”
“So maybe I have two stalkers.”
Brent smiled. “No. I never told him who you were.”
“He had to have recognized me at the gallery.”
“Maybe, but he’s discreet. He wouldn’t say anything to anyone about his subjects.”
“Okay, so about that stalker list…”
Brent stood up and wiped his face. He was only a few feet away, but it felt like only two inches. His presence was overwhelming in a way that excited Kiki and made her nervous at the same time. She wasn’t sure if she liked it or not, and prayed in her head that it had nothing to do with the craziness of thinking he was obsessing over her. Obsession was never a good thing, even if for a few moments it might make a girl feel desired.
“Go ahead. I’m confident in my sanity. Ask away.”
“Do you have a strong desire to sneak into your target’s home and take something of hers to keep and admire several times a day?”
“Like what kind of thing?” He smiled deviously. “Like panties?”
“Seriously?” she acted all miffed that he wasn’t taking it seriously, but she was secretly glad he could joke about it since that made her feel like he couldn’t be nuts.
He started laughing silently. “I’m sorry, I’m just joking. Okay, no. I have no desire to sneak into your house and take a memento.”
“Do you get jealous when you think of other people talking to me?”
“It depends who it is.”
“Stop.”
“No, this one is the truth.” He walked over and looked her right in the eye, talking softer now and more seriously. “I like you, Kiki. You’re all full of spit and vinegar. Go out with me. I promise, I won’t do anything freaky.”
Kiki bit her lip, unsure of what to say. She like him, despite the fact that he’d had her painted. His explanation made sense, and she could easily verify it with Sebastian if she wanted to. Maybe Elizabeth had his number. What the hell. “Okay. I’ll go out with you one time. But no crazy stuff. No popcorn at your house, or … whatever.”
“Oh. I was going to cook for you. Would you prefer to go to a restaurant?”
“I’d prefer neither.”
He looked taken aback. “Okay. Care to fill me in on your plan?”
“No plan. I’m looking for something a little more … creative. Anyone can do dinner at a restaurant and a movie.”
He nodded his head at her appreciatively. “A challenge, eh? I like it. I can work with this.”
“Good. So I’ll see you around.” She turned to go join her friends.
“Wait a minute, not so fast. When are we going on this mystery date? Are you available Friday?”
“No.” She actually didn’t have plans, but she felt like being ornery.
“Saturday?”
“Nope.”
He play-frowned at her. “Sunday? Come on, Kiki. How am I going to meet your challenge if you won’t fit me into your schedule?”
“Fine. Sunday. Afternoon. One o’clock.”
He nodded his head. “You’re on. Better bring your game face.”
“Oh, I will. Trust me.” She left him standing in the free-weights as she struggled to keep the smile off her face. This is going to be fun.
Chapter 33
“SO, I WAS STANDING THERE, and all of a sudden Kiki says, ‘I need some popcorn’.”
“No she didn’t!” gasped Aimee.
“Yes, I did,” said Kiki, walking up to join them on the treadmill to Elizabeth’s left. Aimee was on Elizabeth’s right. “I thought I saw some sparks fly, so I decided to fan the flames a little. So what happened after I left?”
“Well, we talked for a long time about art and galleries and the business aspect of selling creative goods. Then he gave me a personal tour of the paintings in the show.”
“Wow, that’s cool,” said Aimee.
“Yeah, but that was only the beginning,” said Elizabeth, unable to keep the smile from appearing. Just thinking about it made her go warm again - this kind of heat being different than the treadmill warm she was already feeling.
“Ooooh, do tell,” said Kiki, pressing buttons on her machine to get it going faster.
“Well, when he got to the end, he kind of got this crazy look in his eye and told me he wanted to paint me.”
“Paint you?” said Aimee. “Oh my god, how romantic can you get?!”
“Seriously. I’m jealous,” said Kiki.
“Well, at the time I wasn’t sure if he was romantic or crazy, but I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. I followed him to his warehouse, and he started painting me.”
“Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod,” said Aimee. “What happened next? Did you guys get all crazy and cover each other in paint and make love in his studio?”
Elizabeth frowned at her playfully. “Not exactly.”
Aimee pouted. “Bummer.”
“What did happen? I’m betting something good,” said Kiki.
“Well, I got up on this stage he has set up and laid down…”
“And …?” asked Aimee, excited all over again.
“And I fell asleep.”
“What?! What kind of story is that? You’re not supposed to fall asleep at the sexy part,” insisted Aimee.
“That is kinda lame,” agreed Kiki, smiling.
“Well, I couldn’t help it! It was warm, and I was tired … and I had that stupid champagne.”
“The perfect storm,” said Kiki.
“Exactly. I woke up later with drool on my face and a cramp in my arm.”
“What did Sebastian do?”
“Nothing. He painted. He wouldn’t let me see it when he was done. He turned it to face the wall and told me I couldn’t look
until it was finished.”
“Was he mad you fell asleep?” asked Aimee.
“No, I don’t think so. He looked exhausted. I didn’t leave until about three in the morning. He was kind of distracted, actually. He gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and told me he’d call.”
“Damn. I want to see that painting,” said Kiki. “He does good work.”
“Me too,” said Aimee. “Has he called yet?”
“No. But it’s been less than a day, so I’m not worried about it.”
“Do you want him to call?” asked Kiki.
Elizabeth didn’t even have to think about it. “Yes. I do, actually. I’m a little surprised by that, but whatever. It’s out of my hands. I just have to wait and see if he feels the same way.”
“No, you don’t, Lizzie. This is the age of women’s empowerment,” said Aimee. “Call him if you want to go out again.”
“Well, it’s not ‘again’ since we technically haven’t gone out yet. And I know I could call him, but I kind of want him to call me. Sometimes, for me, empowerment is letting go of the power.”
“I hear ya, sister,” said Kiki. “I like to control my world. Letting go of that control is torture.”
Elizabeth switched off her machine and walked slowly until it stopped. “I have a lot of work to do with this divorce accounting, so I’d better get going. Aimee, will you email me a link to the service and your username and password?”
“Yes. And, Elizabeth … I really want to thank you for doing this for me. I’m going to bake you a mountain of things so I can express my gratitude, since I can’t afford to pay you much.”
Elizabeth waved her concerns away. “No, don’t even worry about it. Feel free to bake me some things, but don’t feel like you owe me. Friends help each other out when they need it. Your friendship is all the thanks I need.” She smiled so Aimee would know she meant it.
“That is so sweet. I feel exactly the same way about you guys.”
“Oh, I meant to ask you … are we doing the book club meeting this Friday?” asked Elizabeth, calculating how much time she’d have to set aside to read the next book before then.
“Oh, I hope so. I have some treats planned for Betty.”
“I wonder what hideous color the booties will be this week,” said Kiki, getting off her treadmill and standing next to Elizabeth.
Elizabeth play-slapped her on the arm and laughed. “That’s not nice. Maybe someday she’ll make booties for your babies.”
“Pfft. First of all, I’m never having any of those messy creatures, and second of all, if I did, they wouldn’t be caught outside the house in anything that looked like that.”
Elizabeth decided it was wiser to let Kiki’s argument go than to try and convince her otherwise. The booties were kind of ugly, but they were the type of gift you cherished because they were made by someone special.
Elizabeth left the girls and went home. She glanced at her phone and saw that there were no messages and no missed calls. She sighed, thinking about how much it sucked to have to wait by the phone. The idea of calling Sebastian was tempting, but in the end she decided it just wasn’t her style. If he wants to see me again, he knows my number. I put it into his phone myself.
She made herself a snack and by the time she was done eating it, an email had popped up with Aimee’s username and password. Elizabeth logged in and said to her computer, “Okay, Jack the Jerk … let’s see what you’ve been up to behind my friend’s back …”
Six solid hours later, she stood up and swung herself side to side, cracking her back and trying to work the kinks out. The stuff she’d found would probably fill an entire legal file at her cousin’s office.
Marcus had sent over a computer dossier of Jack’s assets discovered during a public records search that went nationwide, along with tracers showing bank transactions not only domestically but internationally. Elizabeth didn’t want to know how her cousin had gotten that information. That data plus the things she had found were going to make quite a case for Aimee.
Jack, the devious bastard, had been very, very busy behind Aimee’s back. Elizabeth smiled when she thought about how her cousin was going to make mincemeat of him in court. Marcus was not going to be happy at all about what she’d found. Well, he’d be happy to have the ammo, but mad to see what Aimee had suffered without even realizing the extent of it. Marcus hated it when women were taken advantage of.
She spent the next thirty minutes on the phone with her cousin, giving him details, including the final estimate of Jack’s net worth. Marcus told her to put it all together in a report for his team to look at the next day, and thanked her profusely for working so fast.
“Have I told you lately how amazing you are, Lizzie?”
“Last week.”
“Well, that was entirely too long ago. You are my precious angel, and no one deserves you. No one but me.”
“Well, I hope that’s not true. It sounds lonely.”
“Well, okay. There is a man out there somewhere for you. But he’s going to be damn special, and he’s going to have to work really hard to convince me he’s good enough.”
Elizabeth’s mind wandered to visions of Sebastian, wondering if he was up to the task.
“Well, I can tell I’ve lost you. I have to go anyway. Duty calls. Toodles, lovie!”
“Toodles, Marky Mark.”
She disconnected and then went upstairs to take a shower. She couldn’t wait to tell her friend the good news and the bad news: that Jack had over two million dollars in assets, and that he’d hidden three quarters of it from his wife.
Chapter 34
AIMEE SAT IN STUNNED SILENCE, listening to Marcus and Elizabeth outlining the web of deceit that Jack had woven around her life over the past several years.
“And this is what we found without serving any discovery requests on him. Once we have an order from the court, we can subpoena his partnership returns on his business, bank and brokerage account records we might not know about, and lots of other things. This is just the beginning of the nightmare,” said Marcus.
“I don’t know what to say,” said Aimee, fighting tears. She felt like the world’s biggest fool. Even Joe’s earlier phone call arranging their next date for that evening wasn’t making the pain go away completely.
“You don’t need to say anything yet. I have a suggestion, if you’re ready to hear it,” said Marcus.
“Yes. Please. Go ahead,” she said, sniffling a little and wiping her nose with the tissue Elizabeth had handed her.
“We know he has at least two million in hard assets we can prove right now. I’ll bet when it’s all said and done we’ll probably find another half a mil in the business and some other assets we haven’t yet uncovered … maybe more.”
“You mean besides the boat, the dock at that marina, and the condo downtown I had no idea even existed?”
“Yes. So let’s assume we’re dealing with two point five million in assets. You’re entitled to half of that. I suggest we contact him and offer him a settlement of one million.”
“He’ll never say yes to that,” Aimee deadpanned.
“Don’t be so sure. He’s stupid, but without his law license, he’s not going to be able to hang on to the few assets he’ll have left. So he’s not that stupid.”
“What do you mean?” whispered Aimee. She knew how much Jack valued his ability to practice law. Marcus was talking crazy now, in Jack’s world.
“We have reason to believe that he’s done some unethical things with some clients. Some of these assets were previously in the names of people he has listed as clients. Attorneys aren’t supposed to have outside financial dealings like that. He knows it. I know it. We all know it. Not to mention the fact that his partners probably wouldn’t appreciate him accepting payment in this form and putting the reputation of the firm in jeopardy.”
“Do you mean … you’re going to blackmail him?” Aimee nearly squeaked at the b-word.
“No. I’m simply going t
o put together a package of the evidence that we’ve uncovered and suggest he do what’s in his best interests - which is to pay you your half, or rather, less than your half. I will cite the case law and statutes for him so he can make an informed decision. He’ll come to his own conclusions about what the court would think of what I found. I won’t have to spell that out to him. If he’s not completely insane, he’ll go for it.”
“Or try to kill me,” said Aimee, joking.
“If you really think it’s possible that he’d try to harm you, you need to tell me,” said Marcus.
“No, not at all. I was only kidding.”
“Okay then. With your approval, I will approach him about a settlement.”
Aimee hesitated for a moment, worrying about how Jack was going to flip his lid over this approach, but in the end decided to just do it. He deserved to feel the pain of the law after all he’d done. “Go ahead. You have my consent.”
“Oh, and one other thing. Jack has already stated in the documents he’s filed with the court that the birth of his child must be figured into his expenses, thereby lowering your support amount. I have moved the court to order a paternity test. If he wants to claim the child, he’s going to have to prove it’s his.”
“I’m sure it is,” said Aimee sadly. He was finally having the baby he’d always wanted. Just not with her.
“Stranger things have happened. At the very least it’ll get his goat. And I like to keep the other side a little off balance. Maybe we’ll get lucky and he’ll lose his cool in front of the judge and show his true colors.”
Aimee looked at Elizabeth. “You weren’t kidding. Your cousin is hardcore.”
Elizabeth smiled. “That’s my Marky Mark.”
“Okay, you can bring your other friend in. The confidential part of this meeting is over.”
Elizabeth got up to let Kiki in.
Aimee asked Marcus, “Do you really think he’ll settle?”
“Yes, I really do. The evidence of his deceit is overwhelming. And you have the extraordinary good luck to have pulled Judge Halsey for your case. She does not like cheating husbands one bit. She had one of her own, once.”