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AS TANK DROVE US TO Henri’s building on Fifth, which he owned, including the penthouse on the top two floors, where he lived and entertained, I prepared myself for all that was to come.
If questions were asked about the child I’d lost, I was prepared to tell the truth. Rowe might have leaked the news, but that didn’t mean that I couldn’t manage the fallout. I had nothing to be ashamed of—I did nothing to cause my baby’s death. If anything, I’d tried my damnedest to save it, even though at the time I didn’t know that it was already gone.
When the car slowed to a stop alongside Henri’s building, I saw a line of well-dressed people moving inside as a crowd of paparazzi snapped their photographs.
“Are you ready for this?” Alex asked.
“I am. But I need you to know that I’m prepared to be honest. If people ask if it’s true that we lost our child—which they will, as will the press—I’m going to tell them that it is, in fact, true. We lost our child in the crash. And then I’m going to tell them that I’m fine, and that my doctor sees absolutely no reason why we can’t try again soon, and be successful when that time comes. I plan to be brief and on point, but I’m ready to go there. That said, I need to make sure that you are comfortable with that.”
“I don’t see another way,” he said. “Meeting this head on is, in fact, the smartest way. Otherwise, if we don’t answer truthfully, speculation will just build and run wild. The only way to put an end to this is to come clean, but with a clear message that we want a child, and that there will be a new Wenn sooner rather than later.”
“I love you,” I said to him.
“I love you more than you could ever imagine, Jennifer.”
“So, let me ask you. Are you ready for this?”
“We’re a team. I’m ready if you’re ready.”
“Then let’s do this, because I’m more than ready. Tank? Let’s go.”
“You’ve got it.”
Tank stepped out of the car and opened my door for me. Immediately, flashes of light began to pop as the crowd of reporters and the paparazzi standing along the sidelines realized that it was Alex and I who had arrived. And when they did, I could feel an electrical burst of excitement sizzle through the night air.
I held out my hand to Tank and stepped onto the sidewalk as elegantly as I could given how limited I was with my arm in its sling. And almost at once, I was sheathed in an unimaginable display of light as Alex emerged from the car and stood alongside me while our photographs were taken. I felt him put his arm around my waist as questions were hurled at us—was it true? Were we pregnant and had I lost the child? To get this over with and to shut them up, I raised my hand and answered their questions while the partygoers moving inside stopped to look at us.
And listen.
“As you can imagine, this is a private and painful time for Alex and me, but yes, we were pregnant and I did lose the child in the crash. We are devastated by the loss, but each of us is resolved to move forward and to honor our child’s life by living our lives to the fullest—by being grateful that we’re allowed to do so, and also by trying for another child soon. My doctor has already assured me that that will be no issue. Despite how it looks with my shoulder, which is healing well, I’m in excellent physical shape, and we look forward to sharing the good news with all of you when the time comes. We’d like to thank everyone for their concern and support, and we hope, that going forward, that everyone will understand that this is a difficult subject for both Alex and me to talk about, so we won’t be saying anything more on the matter. Thank you for your support. And thank you for understanding.”
Not that they understood a damned thing, because as we made our way into Henri’s building, the questions kept coming in earnest. I managed to ignore all but one of them before we disappeared inside: “Mrs. Wenn, who leaked the news? We understand it was delivered to multiple people via an anonymous text.”
I turned to the reporter who’d asked that question, and hesitated before I spoke. If I told the truth, Rowe would sue me for libel. So, I chose a workaround. “We know for a fact who leaked the news,” I said. “And we also know that he did it out of spite.”
“So, it’s a man?”
“It is,” I said. “And if you think quickly enough on your feet—if you consider where Alex is now when it comes to his position at Wenn, the company his father founded—you might just figure out who that man is for yourself.”
“Are you saying that it was Stephen Rowe?”
Quick on their feet, indeed... I looked at the reporter who’d asked the question, and my only response was a lifted chin—and a tight smile.
* * *
“JESUS, I’M GLAD THAT I married you,” Alex said as we followed Tank through the crowd and moved toward Henri’s private elevator. “That was brilliant.”
“I’m not the one who said his name—the reporter did. And because I didn’t say his name, Rowe’s got nothing on me. Let the world speculate. Let the press ask Stephen himself if he sent out that text. Since he left before us, he’s probably already in here somewhere, and the press know it. I’m betting that some enterprising journalistic soul will seek him out and ask him if he’s behind the bad news. And how will he answer? Naturally, with a lie. But if it comes off as a lie, things won’t go well for him. I have a feeling that tonight is going to be very uncomfortable for Mr. Rowe.”
Tank stood beside the elevator waiting for us. Earlier, when we were shopping, Blackwell told me that Henri himself had called that morning to say that we could use his private elevator if we wanted. He knew that this was our first time out in public since arriving back home, and he’d said that he wanted to make our entrance as easy and as seamless as possible.
“Would you like me to stay?” Tank asked.
“We’ll be fine now,” Alex said. “But thank you, Tank. I’ll call you when we’re ready to leave.”
Once we stepped into the elevator and the doors had slid shut behind us, I turned to Alex. “All eyes out for Epifania,” I said. “We need to find her, and talk with her to see if she knows anything and is willing to help us. And then I want to go home because I certainly don’t want to mingle with this crowd. Henri will understand.”
“Whatever you want.”
“What I don’t want is all the gossip and the looks that are about to come our way. But they’re inevitable, aren’t they? Rowe made sure of that. Crashing on that island cemented it. We’ve caused a stir before, but nothing like what’s about to come.” I straightened his bow tie for him. “But what can we do? Nothing. Are you ready?”
“I’ve got you on my arm,” he said. “That makes me ready. How about yourself?”
“I’ve got the best-looking man in this joint—what woman wouldn’t be ready?”
We shared a kiss when the elevator started to slow and then the doors slid open—not that anyone could see us. The elevator was tucked away from the fray in a small alcove hidden beyond the massive entertaining space.
Unnoticed, Alex and I stood there for a moment. We were in shadow, but beyond us, the gigantic, mahogany-paneled space that Henri had crafted with such decadent care was teeming with the wealthy well-dressed. Off to our left, an orchestra was playing. All around us was the grayish din of people talking. To our right would be the bar. I needed just one more martini to make it through this, so Alex and I went for a drink, knowing full well that when we stepped into the room, the rubbernecking would begin.
In our case, it began in earnest, because coming straight toward us was Tootie Staunton-Miller with her closeted gay husband, Addy, whom I adored in ways that I would never adore Tootie. I caught his eye as they sailed toward us, and we exchanged a wink and a smile because he and I had always had a solid connection, but then it was all about Tootie, who took charge of the moment—and ruled it.
There she is, I thought as I watched her close the distance between us. Evil incarnate.
She was wearing a form-fitting, bright-yellow evening dress that, even at her age, showed off her slender figure. The woman had to be somewhere in her mid-sixties, but I had to give it to her—she was nothing if not fit and well preserved. And also a pure pocket of social poison. The woman hadn’t liked me from the day we first met, and nothing had changed since then.
And because of that, I kind of enjoyed toying with her.
“Alex!” she said as she came toward him with outstretched arms. “Sweet, sweet, Alex! Alive and well. Alive and here! And still breathing despite the impossible odds that were against you on that awful island with those horrible hippie people. I can’t believe it, but my eyes tell the truth. Give Tootie a kiss.”
“Hello, Tootie,” Alex said as air kisses were exchanged—though not because of Alex. Alex would have embraced Tootie if she’d let him, but that would never happen in this world. She had been whipped into shape by God knows how many people, and because of that, she would allow no one to mess with what I had to admit was perfection. Her face had been pulled a few good inches—there was no doubt about that. But Tootie was smart. She hadn’t gone too far.
“What a time of it you’ve had,” she said. “It’s a miracle that you’re here. A miracle!”
“I have my wife to thank for that, Tootie. Jennifer took a bullet for me. She saved not only my life, but the lives of our friends and family who were on that island with us.”
“I read all about it,” Addy said to me. “Jennifer, you’re a hero. I don’t know a more impressive person, and I mean that.”
“Thank you, Addy. And I’d do it again in a second. After two weeks on the island, we were all at a point that something drastic had to be done. I played just a small part in our getting out. Everyone had a role.”
“How modest of you,” Tootie said. “You know, Jennifer, it seems as if trouble follows you everywhere.”
And so it begins...
“Hello, Tootie,” I said, extending my hand to her. “I have to say that I’m surprised that you actually saw me standing next to Alex this time. In the past, it often has seemed as if you don’t notice me at all. I wonder why that is?”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“Don’t you?”
“I don’t. And besides, who couldn’t see you given your dress, those diamonds, and particularly that sling of yours?” she said after taking my hand for an instant and then dropping it. “You know, darling, I have to ask since everyone will be talking about it, if they already aren’t. Why that sling? Is it meant to draw attention to your injury?”
“It’s actually meant to enhance the gown in ways that a standard cloth sling wouldn’t have. Think of it as a piece of Swarovski fun. Everyone knows that I was hurt. This is my way of owning it.”
“Is that what it is?”
“What else could it be?”
“Well, I’d never go so far to say that you are rooting for a vote of sympathy by drawing attention to your, uh, bullet wound, but I’m certain that others would.”
“Others will always talk, Tootie. Certainly you must know that by now.”
“I eschew gossip.”
“Even when you’re the center of it?”
“Even when I’m the what?”
“Never mind. By the way, you look fresher than you did the last time I saw you. You’ve got a glow about you.”
“And I just heard tonight that you were cheated of your own.”
“Tootie,” Addy said.
“Oh, come on,” she said. “Obviously we’ve heard the news. Addy and I learned about your loss from some odd, anonymous text that came with a rather revealing document this evening. A miscarriage. I’m terribly sorry for each of you. I can’t imagine it—I really can’t. The idea that you might not be able to get pregnant again and give Alex the son he needs. I mean, from what we heard, you lost the child in the crash. What if there are issues now? How will you conceive? And if you can’t, how will you two overcome?”
“Tootie,” Addie said again, this time with a clear warning tone.
“I’m just concerned,” she said.
“Then don’t be,” I countered. “I’m as healthy as a horse—”
“Well, there’s an image...”
Oh, bitch, you are so going down.
“We’re very sorry for your loss, Jennifer and Alex,” Addy said. “But we also know that you probably would rather not discuss it, so we’ll respect that going forward.” He put his hand on his wife’s arm. “Isn’t that right, Tootie?”
“What I find interesting,” Tootie said, “is that the last time we spoke, which was here, I wondered aloud when you two were going to have a child. Alex said that you both were going to wait for a few years and enjoy your, uh, marriage before settling down and having a family. But you didn’t. You were likely pregnant when I saw you that night. You know, when you were drinking martinis...”
“I probably was pregnant then, but that doesn’t mean that I knew about it, Tootie—which I didn’t.”
“Yes, yes—early days and all that. But still, you were both so set on not having children, I naturally thought ‘birth control.’” When she said that, she actually spoke in a whisper, as if there was something wrong with using contraception.
“I remember that night,” I said. “I believe you called me a brood mare for the Wenn empire.”
“I said what?”
“You said exactly that.”
“I would never be so grotesque.”
“I’m afraid you were,” Addy said.
“Well,” Tootie said as her face flushed. “I must have had a cocktail or something, because I certainly don’t remember saying anything that gauche. That doesn’t sound like me at all. I mean, I just wouldn’t go there.”
“But you did.”
“And maybe you’d like something to drink now,” Addy said. “We’ve only been here for twenty minutes or so, and you’ve had nothing to settle your nerves. So, how about if we leave Jennifer and Alex to themselves and get you something to drink?”
“So I will become less of a monster?” she asked. “So I won’t say such horrid things as ‘brood mare’?”
Lady, you so don’t need a drink to keep you from being you, I thought, but I said, “I think a cocktail would look great on you, Tootie. Just be careful not to overdo it. I’d hate to see you on Page Six looking, you know...questionable.”
“I’ve never been on Page Six. My set doesn’t do the Six. But I see that you’ve been on it several times.”
“So I have. By the way, are you having any luck with your memoire?”
“With my what?”
“The last time we spoke, you brought up this memoire of yours that you were never going to write, but that people were urging you to write. I offered you Wenn Publishing and said that we could get your book into airport kiosks. You remember? I said that we could set up signings at airports all over the country. It was to be a straight-to-paperback kind of thing because, if you remember, you pointed out that Wenn’s stock was falling at that point. Which it isn’t at this point.”
“I wonder how much of Wenn’s recent success has to do with Stephen Rowe,” she said. “No offense, Alex, but the stock is up...”
“It’s up because of the SlimPhone,” Alex said. “And because of the rounds of interviews I did about the phone before we got on that plane to Singapore. Not to be immodest, Tootie, but it was those interviews—and the strong sales of our phone—that lifted our stock, and that continue to lift it. I can assure you that Stephen Rowe had nothing to do with it.”
“And there’s that tension again,” Tootie said. “Why do I always sense tension whenever we talk these days, Alex? It never was that way before.”
“Before what?” he said.
“Well, you know.”
“Actually, I don’t. Tootie, I think it’s about time that I took a hard line with you. Jennifer is my wife. She’s the love of my life. She means everything to me. It’s clear to all of us here that, for whatever reason, you don’t like her. But I’m here to tell you this—going forward, if you come over to speak to me, you will treat my wife with respect. If you can’t, then please don’t come forward. This stops now. Jennifer and I will find other ways to speak to Addy because he has been nothing but supportive of our relationship, our marriage, and our loss. I’m shutting this down now, because frankly? You continue to go too far.”
“But your mother and I were best friends,” she said.
“My mother is dead. And I never loved her.”
“You never loved her? What a terrible thing to say.”
“But you know that it’s true. You’ve always known.”
“Alex, let’s not walk away like this. You must know that I only have your best interests at heart.”
“If that was true—if you really did—you’d be happy for me. You’d recognize that with Jennifer in my life, I’m the happiest I’ve been in years. Now,” he said, glancing up at Addy, who was looking at him keenly with a sense of respect, “I hope you both have a fine evening. As for us, we’re going to get a drink. Sooner rather than later. I suggest you do the same. Goodnight.”
