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WHEN OUR LIMOUSINE rolled to a stop in front of the Witherhouses’ mansion, I had to admit that it was nothing short of magnificent.
It was one of Manhattan’s few remaining mansions, and I knew that as long as the Witherhouses owned it, it wouldn’t be torn down to allow for new development. They were that kind of old money. Nothing would roll over them or this house while they were alive, and regardless of how I felt personally about them—they were a couple of snobs—I respected them for protecting a landmark as great at this.
“We’re here,” Tank said.
“And look at the paparazzi,” I said, glancing through my tinted window. “Oh, Maxine. If nothing else, you sure as hell know how to get yourself some attention, that’s for sure.”
“To say the least,” Alex said.
“I know you two have to pose for some pictures, but let’s keep it brief, OK?” Tank said. “After what happened to Meredith, I don’t like having you exposed in public at night for any longer than necessary.”
“We’ll be brief,” I said.
And we were.
Tank stepped out of the car and opened my door. When Alex and I got out, the crowd went wild in ways that, to this day, still stunned me. We went through the motions of being photographed, and then Alex said to Tank that he’d text him ten minutes before we were ready to leave.
“Got it,” he said. “Have fun.”
And with that, Alex and I stepped into the already packed foyer.
“Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?” Alex asked me when we moved inside.
“Let’s see,” I said as I wrapped my arm around his waist and held him close to me. “I think you mentioned it twice when I met you after Blackwell and Bernie were finished with me. And then once on the drive over here, when you put your hand between my legs—from which I still haven’t recovered. And then again just now. So? That’s four times.”
“I could go on, you know?” he said as he pressed his lips against my ear. And when he did, the stubble on his upper lip and chin just about did me in, as it always did.
“Don’t,” I said. “Even after all of these years, I still don’t think you know what that does to me. Whenever you kiss me like that, you essentially toss me into a puddle of lust.”
“Maybe I’ll take care of that later...”
“Please do—because you, my darling husband, look especially hot tonight.”
“You don’t say.”
“I do say. I mean, look at you. You know that I have this weird fetish for seeing you in either a tux or a business suit. It drives me wild.”
“Why? I’ve never understood that.”
“It’s a few things,” I said. “First, there’s the mystery of what’s behind the suit. Even though I know what’s behind it—and lust for it—it’s still a turn-on for me, and I think that it always will be. And then there’s this big alpha element of a big stud like you dressed in a tux like this. When you dress like this, it’s like masculinity and sophistication have collided. Sometimes, you remind me of James Bond—the Sean Connery version. The ‘Pussy Galore” version. And with you in this particular fitted tux? Let’s just say that you have a very happy, turned-on, and devoted wife tonight—but when aren’t I that person?”
“Well, that was quite a rundown,” he said.
“You asked for it.”
“‘Pussy Galore?’” he said.
“Have you seen the movie?”
“I’ve seen it.”
“Trust me—if you were a woman, you’d get the reference. You’d understand the heat that’s pulsing between my thighs.”
“I hope I’ll always be that person,” he said to me. And when Alex said that, there was nothing playful about it. He meant it. It came from his heart.
“I know you will,” I said. “And I hope that I will do the same for you as we grow older together. Because as far as I’m concerned, Alex, we will grow old together. We will have children and grandchildren together. We’ll see and experience things that we thought we’d never see. And we’ll see them together.”
“I love you,” he said.
“And I can only hope you know how much I love you,” I said. “So. Are you ready for tonight? Because I am. Rudman Cross is ours!”
“You’re such a business junkie,” he said.
“And that surprises who...?”
“Not me. And by the way, you know of his reputation. You know that he can be difficult. So, you’re going to have to be the one to charm him tonight, because I have nothing when it comes to your super powers of smarts and seduction.”
“You and I both know that isn’t the case. You and I are a team. So, as Blackwell said to me earlier, let’s go and win the night.”
* * *
“JENNIFER!” MAXINE WITHERHOUSE called out as Alex and I approached her and her husband, Bill, in the seemingly endless reception line. “Thank you for coming! Now the party has really begun!”
Didn’t she just say that to the couple in front of us? You need a new routine, Maxine...
It had been a good year since I’d last seen Maxine Witherhouse, and I had to admit that whoever her plastic surgeon was should have roses tossed at his or her feet, because Maxine looked terrific. She was a slight blonde in her mid-sixties, but given how vibrant and youthful she looked, one would have to question whether she’d even reached fifty.
When I approached her, we exchanged air kisses and then held each other’s hands as we assessed each other.
As usual, Maxine had chosen to wear two things—a form-fitting evening gown, and diamonds. Too many diamonds, just like she always did. They were at her throat, wrists, fingers, and ears. While looking at her, I thought that if we could somehow catapult her into the universe with this look alone, she might become one of the brightest stars in the constellation.
“You look fabulous,” I said. “That dress is to die for, Maxine.”
“Bought if off a model two weeks ago in Paris. Dior. Haut couture. It’s so gold, it makes me feel as if I should be held at Fort Knox for the night!”
“But I don’t see you in Kentucky,” I said.
“Only for the Derby!”
Well, then...
“And look at you,” she said. “Always the exclamation point in the room. And, my God, that necklace, Jennifer.” She paused for a moment, and then furrowed her brow at me. “Why do I know that necklace...?”
“Alex bought it for me. He gifted it to me today. Apparently, it once belonged to Elizabeth Taylor.”
“Liz!” she said. “Liz Taylor. Of course I’d recognize it. It recently was up for auction—I wanted it for myself. In fact, Bill tried to get it for me, but clearly he lost out to Alex. What a coincidence! Who would imagine that Alex and Bill were vying for it by telephone at the same time?”
“I believe Alex actually went to the auction in person.”
“Whatever. I’d like to say that I’m jealous, my dear, but I’m not—because it’s so you! And with that dress—all of it is just perfect in ways that make me want to faint. Oh, how you two lift a party!”
Was she already drunk? Everyone knew that Maxine loved her some cocktails, and the exuberant way she was speaking right now made me wonder if she’d already had a few too many...
“Bill,” she said to the distinguished looking gentleman at her right. “Bill, Bill, Bill—look who’s here. It’s Jennifer and Alex. They actually came!”
“Good of you to come, Jennifer,” Bill Witherhouse said as he shook my hand. He was a tall, slender man in his early sixties who had aged gracefully. “As always, you look lovely.” He looked over at Alex and extended his hand to him. “Alex, great to see you.”
“Likewise, Bill.”
“How’s business?”
“Let’s just say that Jennifer and I are busy.”
“I would imagine.”
“But are you too busy?” Maxine said in a hushed voice as she turned to me. “I mean—and please believe that I mean this in the best way possible—could it be that you haven’t conceived again, Jennifer, because you’re putting your career first, and not your child? Could that be the issue? Since hearing the news of your miscarriage a year ago, we’ve all been waiting for news of a baby Wenn. The question on everyone’s lips is, why hasn’t one come yet...”
I was so shocked, I just stared at her.
“Excuse me?” I said.
“Oh, dear,” Maxine said. “I hope I haven’t overstepped. Now you’ve gone pale. And your lips have parted, which never is a good sign. It implies shock. Oh, dear, I’ve done it again...”
It took a force of nature to compose myself, but I managed to.
“You’ve done nothing,” I said. “Alex and I will get pregnant when we’re ready. That could be this year, next year, or a few years from now. We’re still young, Maxine—and despite the loss of a child we hadn’t even planned for, one day, we will have children.”
“I think you’re upset with me,” she said. “On the very edge!”
“I’m neither,” I said as Alex reached for my hand and squeezed it in his own. “Hell, I’m not even thirty yet, so there’s plenty of time for children. We’re in no rush, but at some point, a Wenn heir will arrive. Don’t concern yourself about it.”
“Oh, I’m not concerned at all!”
“Then why the interest?”
Before she could say anything more, Alex and I wished them a good evening and a successful party, and then we moved into the crowded ballroom beyond them.
* * *
“I’M SORRY THAT HAPPENED to you, Jennifer,” Alex said with concern in his voice as we stepped deeper into the room.
“Everyone knows I miscarried because Stephen Rowe publicly spread the word,” I said as I took him by the hand and led him over to the far end of the room across from us—away from the middle of the room where people were mixing—so we could speak in relative privacy.
“And because of that, my miscarriage made the news,” I said to him. “It’s been nearly a year since that happened, so naturally, people are wondering why I haven’t conceived again yet—and thankfully, most of them are doing so in silence. Maxine always is on the lookout for a way to get a reaction out of someone. Anyone. I’m just glad that I didn’t give her what she wanted. What you don’t know, and the reason I brought you over here, is that I’ve been struggling with this for a while now. I have my good days and my bad days. Today wasn’t a good day.”
“Jennifer, we’re in this together. If you feel that whatever you’re going through will burden me, it won’t. You must know that.”
I placed my hand against the side of his cheek. “I was planning on discussing all of this with you tomorrow morning. I don’t like keeping anything from you, but you’re so busy and you work so hard, sometimes I just feel that I need to work things out on my own. Most times, I can. This one I’m no longer so sure about. What if it doesn’t happen, Alex? What if something is wrong? My doctor says that I’m fine, but we’ve been trying so hard, I’m at the point that I don’t believe her.”
“There’s in vitro. If we need to, we can try that.”
“And I’m up for that. Naturally, I am. But what if that doesn’t work?”
“Then, we’ll adopt.”
“But that would cheat you out of the rightful heir you deserve...”
“How? Jennifer, if we should happen to adopt, that child will be our child. I will not treat him or her differently. And I know the same is true for you. Either way, we’re having children—regardless of the route it takes for us to get there.”
“Now you’re going to make me cry.”
“I don’t mean to. But you’ve got to know that I’ll go to the end of the Earth when it comes to you. We might have begun our lives with your flyaway resumes, but since that day, look at what we’ve built together. Look at all that we’ve overcome together in three short years. We’re stronger than ever because of it. I’m grateful that you’re my wife. I love you more than you possibly could know. So, please, listen to me when I say this—I think you’re thinking too much about this. It’s clearly stressing you out, which is not good for you physically. And that could factor into conception.”
“Now you sound like Blackwell.”
“Have you talked to her about this?”
“Just this morning. She sensed something was off, and she wormed it out of me.”
“She’s probably seen more of what you’re going through than I have. And I’m sorry about that. I should have been being more sensitive to the situation and paying closer attention to it.”
“I can conceal a lot, Alex. This isn’t on you.”
“But why conceal anything from me?”
“Because you have so much on your plate. I didn’t want to burden you with it.”
“Don’t you see?” he said. “You’ll never be a burden to me, Jennifer.”
At that moment, he leaned in and kissed me so gently on the lips that it made me tear up. When he said that he loved me quietly in my ear, I melted into him. And as I did, he wrapped his arm around my waist, held me close to him, and allowed me to wipe the tears from my eyes before anyone could notice them. He shielded me from the rest of the room so that no one could see the emotion on my face. My husband was a gentleman of the first order—and I was one lucky woman because of it.
“Let’s talk about this tomorrow,” I said in his ear. “Not here. We’ve already said too much. We came here for a reason. We’ve got work to do.”
“We can also leave and talk about this at home. To hell with Cross—we can talk to him later. You are far more important to me than some random deal.”
“No way,” I said, taking a breath to calm my nerves. “With your help, I plan to win that man over. You’ll see. And if I don’t, this room is filled with other business possibilities that could fit neatly beneath Wenn’s umbrella. So, how about a martini? Because your wife could use one right now—and I’m pretty sure that you could, too.”
“Give me five minutes,” he said. “The bar is just over there. Do you want to come with me?”
“No, I’m good here.”
“You sure?”
“I’m sure.”
As he left my side, a part of me wanted to cry because we’d been forced to have that conversation here, but I refused to give in to those emotions. I refused to give Maxine that kind of power over me. Instead, I reached into my clutch, removed my compact, turned my back to the room, and checked my face. It was good, but I was a little shiny and in need of a bit of powder. So I quickly blotted my face before dropping the compact back into my clutch and giving myself a fresh swipe of lipstick.
Good as new, I thought as I turned around. At least on the outside...
It was at that point that I saw a real nightmare walking my way—Tootie Staunton-Miller. She was with her closeted gay husband, Addy, whom I adored, but she had me square in her sights as each of them cut through the crowd toward me—and without Alex by my side.
“Jennifer,” Tootie said in that lilting, condescending voice of hers. “Hellohoware? And I mean that. You of all people huddled in a corner? And why? What must people be thinking?”
Oh, bitch, you so don’t want to mess with me tonight, I can’t tell you. Step away from the land mine, Tootie. Because if this girl goes off, I’m taking you down with me.
“I was just freshening my makeup, Tootie,” I said to her. “And trying to be discreet about it.”
“Oh!” she said. “Quel soulagement. Without Alex anywhere near you, I thought that you might be in crisis.”
“In crisis?” I said. “Why would I be in crisis?”
She started to answer, but instead she just arched her brows and sipped her champagne as if here wasn’t the place to discuss it.
God, I can’t stand her...
“Anyway,” Tootie said. “You look gorge.”
A compliment from my arch nemesis? Say it isn’t so...
“Thank you,” I said. “And so do you, Tootie.”
Tootie, who was fiftyish, but looked fortyish, smiled tightly at me. She had blonde hair that just touched her shoulders, she wore understated jewels at her throat, wrists, and fingers, and she had chosen a lavender gown that I had to admit was sublime. Her form-fitting dress could betray more mature curves, but Tootie Staunton-Miller looked trim and terrific. As always, she also reeked of class and old money. I hadn’t seen her since Alex had warned her to start treating me with respect a few months ago, so I had to wonder how she’d behave this evening.
Not that she was off to a great start.
“Hello, Addy,” I said as I leaned forward to give him a hug. “It’s always good to see you. And it’s been so long. I’ve missed you.”
“The same always is true for me when it comes to you, Jennifer,” he said. “You’re a knockout tonight—but what else is new?” He turned to his wife and said, “Don’t you think so, Tootie?”
“Clearly, the dress is to die for. But I can’t stop staring at that necklace. It’s ‘divoon,’ as Barbara would say. In fact, it’s beyond that. Where ever did you find it, Jennifer? It’s quite... something.”
“Alex bought it for me.”
“Well, of course he did. I’m sure that particular dalliance cost far too much for your allowance to cover.”
“My what?” I said to her.
“The money that Alex gives you. You know, for frivolous things. Shoes. Handbags. Lunches out. That sort of thing.”
“I receive no money from Alex, Tootie. I earn a salary for the work I do at Wenn. Beyond that, I have complete access to our mutual finances. What’s his is mine.”
“What’s his is yours?” she snorted. “Really? With all due respect, Jennifer, that might be taking things a bit too far, don’t you think? I mean, I’m sure you two have a pre-nup. You know, just in case anything should ever go awry between you two. Not to be crass, but certainly you must know that Alex would have been a fool to have married you without one...”
“Then I guess he was a fool, because there isn’t one, Tootie. Alex and I married out of love.”
“Out of what?” she said.
“Love.”
“What an odd reason to marry...”
“Excuse me?”
She placed her free hand to her breast. “It’s just that, in my set, I can’t remember a time when I heard of anyone marrying for such a thing. I mean, for people like us—you know, those who are in the book—marrying for that reason alone has always been unthinkable. Yes, it’s nice when that happens. But where I come from, one marries up or one marries in. I must say—as do so many others, Jennifer, more than you even know—that you succeeded quite nicely at the former.”
Was this bitch for real?
She lifted her glass of champagne to her lips and studied me over the rim while she sipped. “It is remarkable how well you’ve done by marrying, Alex. Don’t you think?”
“Tootie,” Addy warned.
“Well, it’s true,” she said. “I mean, from the hog farms of Maine to the heights of Manhattan. It’s practically unheard of. In fact, it’s an unmitigated Cinderella story. You know what I think, Jennifer? I think you should turn that story into a book. Write a tell-all strategy guide for women in need. Call it, ‘How to Land a Billionaire: No Pre-nup Required’! You’d give your friend, Lisa, a run for her money on the best-seller lists.”
“That’s enough, Tootie,” said Addy.
“Why?” she said innocently. “Have I gone too far again? Have I stepped on too many sensitive toes? I was joking, for goodness sake. Is everyone really that sensitive? Just like Trump, whom I champion, I am so tired of being politically correct all of the time. I can’t stand it. But fine. If I have upset anyone, I didn’t mean to. But that is how it is in our set, Addy. You know it as well as I do. Beyond that, I also thought, that at this point, Jennifer also knew the same and that all of this was just in good fun.”
“At my expense, Tootie?”
“Not at all.”
“Why do I question that?”
Her shoulders slumped. “Well, I suppose that’s the difference between us,” she sighed. “Your people have such thin skin, while mine do not. We have the skins of rhinoceroses. I need to be mindful of that. And I’m sorry if I offended you, Jennifer—it wasn’t my intention. Perhaps it’s just the champagne. I’m already on my third glass, and we’re only thirty minutes into the party. Anyway,” she said. “Change of subject. The necklace Alex bought for you is breathtaking.”
“It is,” I said.
“You know,” she said in a voice that wasn’t as low as she thought it was, “if you weren’t married to Alex, some might think it was costume...”
She did not...
“Did I hear someone say my name?” Alex asked as he cut through the crowd. He joined us with a smile and handed me my martini, which, at that moment, I wanted to either throw in Tootie’s face—or swallow in one gulp. But I didn’t do either. I refused to let her get to me tonight, so I only took a sip.
“You might have,” Tootie said. “I was inquiring about Jennifer’s exquisite necklace. It’s beyond sublime. Whomever did you buy it from?”
“A dead celeb,” Alex said.
I felt a thrill when he said that, not only because it was funny, but also because—with all of this crowd’s pseudo decorum and manners—it was like throwing a bomb at Tootie’s feet, which I knew was intentional on his part.
“A dead what?” Tootie asked.
“A dead celeb.”
“I don’t understand.”
“It belonged to someone who was famous, and who now is resting in peace.”
“Well, heavens,” she said. “Who?”
“Elizabeth Taylor,” he said. “Burton gifted this to her in 1968. She wore it at the Academy Awards in 1970. It came up for auction recently, and I bought it for Jennifer. What do you think?
Oh, how I love you, Alex. You want your provenance, Tootie? Well, you’ve got it. Check, check, and check.
“Naturally, I think it’s remarkable,” she said. “Taylor always did have an eye for jewelry. Or at least her many husbands and suitors did, since they supplied her with much of it.”
“I think it’s beautiful,” Addy said.
“Thank you, Addy.”
“As do I,” Tootie said. “I mean, look at you tonight, Jennifer. Your red gown and those red rubies. You practically define sin! In the right magazine, you could be the poster girl for some high-end red-light district.”
She was calling me a whore? Oh, honey, no.
I was about to lay her bare when Alex shot her a withering look. Tootie caught it and lifted her glass to us. “So nice seeing you both,” she said. “I wish we could talk, but Addy and I should mix. Enjoy the party, and please be prepared for what Addy and I have spared each of you.”
“And what is that?” Alex said in an irritated voice.
“Naturally, questions.”
“Questions about what?”
“Questions about who killed Meredith Rowe. Because of her ex-husband—that cad Stephen Rowe—you two were the last to publicly be attached to her name. Everybody read about the scandal he caused at Wenn—and how you, Jennifer, and that stripper woman of his brought him down. You must know that people are going to hammer you with questions about her death tonight. You must know that right now in this room, there are whisperings of murder that have nothing to do with a mugging...”
She took Addy by the arm and then cocked her head at us before leaving.
“So good luck with that,” she said. “Because I think both of you are in for a tiresome evening of answering questions about poor, dear, dead Meredith, whom I never liked and will not miss. I’ll be thinking of you throughout the night—as will Addy. Won’t you, Addy?”
When he didn’t answer her, I saw the grim look on his face before he took her by the arm, said something in her ear—and led her away from us.
