Love's Protector: A Maverick's Shield Novel (28 page)

Jason gave her a half smile.
“The ones of you being there when Carly was killed.”

Angela looked away but seemed unconcerned.
“Oh really? What makes you think I was there?”

“We have a witness that placed you there.”

She smiled again. “And what witness is this?”

“You think I’m gonna tell you who it is so you and Beatrice can have them killed as well?” He put his index finger up. “You know, there’s no statute of limitations on murder so you’re looking at twenty years at the very least.”

“I have no idea who you’re talking about. I wasn’t anywhere near Carly when she died.”

“No, but you were across the street from her house that day. I know because the witness not only placed you there, they also knew what kind of car you drove and even described the fuzzy dice you have hanging in you glove compartment. You know the ones with your name on them?”

Her expression turned blank. “What do you want?”

“I want the truth Angela. I know you’re hiding something because judging by all the horrible things you had to say about Carly, I’m not being led to believe that you were as good a friend to her as you claimed. I ran a background check on you and not only do I have that witness, I have proof that you owned that car. It may not be enough to have you put in prison but it’s definitely enough to ruin your life so I suggest you spill it. Trust me
when I tell you I’m extremely good at my job and I’ll find what I need to bust your ass.”

“We were friends. I only said those things because she’d changed. She turned into a different person. She wasn’t the Carly that I knew anymore. Believe me, she was my best friend. I loved her.”

“You’ll have to excuse me if I find that a little hard to believe because I can’t imagine anyone wanting to be friends with the woman who stole her man right from up under her.”

Both Angela and Amour looked at Jason in surprise but Amour was the one who spoke. “What?”

He turned to her. “Your mother mentioned Pierce and Angela’s relationship in the letters she wrote to him. You didn’t know about that because you didn’t want to read them and I knew that wasn’t something you would’ve cared to know about.” Amour didn’t respond to what Jason had just told her but he could tell she’d understood why he kept it from her.

Angela stood straight up. “She wasn’t supposed to know about that.”

“Well she did,” Jason said. “Why did you lie, Angela?”

“Because, I loved him and she didn’t even care! I hated her! Everything was perfectly fine until she showed up! It was bad enough that she had the attention of almost every man in this place at the time, she had to have
mine too!”

“Actually he didn’t belong to either one of you, he was Beatrice’s. She was his wife and neither one of you seemed to care anything about that.”

“He didn’t love her. That was and still is a marriage of convince. He knocked her up when she was nineteen and he knew back then that if he wanted to succeed in politics he had to marry her and raise his family the “right” way so he’d look good in public.” She laughed softly. “He still doesn’t want her because he still doesn’t
love
her.”

“But he did love Carly. Is that what the problem was?”

“Of course, she was competition. Up until she came along I didn’t have any. I was his main woman, not any of those other ones.”

“Other ones?”

“Oh yes sweetheart. The Eleganti was full of whores. You ought to know that Jason you’re a member here. Pierce definitely had his pick of the litter but they usually didn’t last that long. Once I told Beatrice about them, she would just pay them off and they’d go away.”

Jason scowled. “So now you’re gonna tell me that you and Beatrice were friends?”

“Actually yes, she didn’t know about me and Pierce so I decided to use that to my advantage by making sure those whores didn’t stick around that long.”

“Did you tell her about Carly?” Angela nodded. “So let me guess, the two of you weren’t all that happy about Pierce being in love with her so you decided to get rid of her. Am I right?”

“No! I had nothing to do with her death. That was all Beatrice. Pierce had promised her that he would stop seeing Carly once she’d found out about their affair.”

“I take it Pierce didn’t keep his promise.”

“Not at all. He kept on sleeping with that bitch. I don’t know why because she was nothing but a slut!”

Jason turned to Amour to make sure she was okay and she was surprisingly keeping her cool. “Well if that’s not the pot calling the kettle black. You were sleeping with the same married man that she was.”

“Whatever! She didn’t even love him. She was just using him.”

“You still haven’t told me what you were doing at her house that day.”

“I went there to watch.”

“Watch what exactly? Your
plan unfold?”

“I told you I had nothing to do with her death. I hated her but I didn’t want her dead. I only told Beatrice that they were still seeing each other. After that, she told me that she was going to Carly’s house that day to confront her and to see if she could pay her off like she did the others. I just wanted to make sure she was holding up her end of the bargain. When I saw her running out of Carly’s house in tears I knew she’d screwed the whole thing up so I left, that’s it. I haven’t talked to her since.”

Jason rubbed his knuckled against his chin. “You seem to still be angry at her.”

“As a matter of fact I am. Because of her stupidity, she’s completely exposed Pierce and now he might lose his seat over this.”

“Don’t tell me you’re still hung up on him after all these years.”

Angela smiled. “We’re still together.”

Jason glanced away briefly and then looked at her again. “You are one incredibly stupid woman. This man has been stringing you along for years. You wasted all of your youth chasing after a man that doesn’t want you. For god’s sake Angela, he loved Carly back then and he’s still married to Beatrice. You’ll never have him.”

“He does love me!  I wouldn’t have had to chase after him if Carly hadn’t come here flipping her blonde hair around and winking her blue eyes at him! Maybe if she’d stayed where she was, I would’ve been the one in that house not her! She already had a man that loved her at home anyway, but I guess she didn’t care about him either.”

“You leave my father out of this!” Amour said angrily.

Angela smiled. “Poor Ted. He was so infatuated with Carly he had blinders on the whole time they were together. I’ve never known a man to accept so much crap from a woman. He turned a blind eye to everything. The men constantly coming on to her at work; her being in love with someone else; going out on private dates with Pierce while he was at work all day.” She looked Amour directly in the eye.
“Right down to having to raise a kid.”

Every muscle in Jason’s body became tense because he knew exactly what this conversation was going to lead to. He tried to quickly change the subject but Amour spoke before he was able to.

“He didn’t find raising his daughter to be a problem. Maybe that’s how your father must’ve treated you but mine loved me.”

Angela remained quiet for a short while before speaking again. “Oh, he never told you. I guess he must’ve been protecting you.
How cute.”

Jason took a couple steps towards her. “Shut the hell up Angela!”

She smiled and turned to Jason. “Well, well, well, looks like I’m not the only one keeping secrets. You knew about this and didn’t even tell her.” She waved her finger. “Tisk, tisk, tisk…You have been a very naughty boyfriend have you?”

Jason spoke through gritted teeth. “Angela, I swear to god!”

Amour turned to face him. “What is she talking about Jason?”

“You know she’s crazy Amour, don’t even listen to her.”

Amour’s face turned red and he could tell she was very angry. “Stop treating me like a child and tell me what the hell the two of you are talking about! If my mother did something illegal I want to know. I’m not the fragile doll you apparently think that I am!”

He held her hands. “I didn’t say you were Amour.”

Angela raked her fingers through her hair. “If you don’t tell her, I will and believe me, nothing would give me more pleasure.”

Amour snatched her hands away from Jason and turned to Angela. “What…the…hell…are…you…talking…about?

“I gotta hand it to Ted. He’s a very good and noble man. As I said, there aren’t many men who would be willing to put up with Carly’s crap and also raise
her
child.”

All the blood instantly drained from Amour’s face and Jason knew she’d understood exactly what Angela was saying. She slowly turned to him.
Her expression completely blank. “Jason…”

Fuck!
He could kill Angela right where she stood. He decided at that point that he could at least be the one to give it to her straight. He wasn’t going to give Angela anymore satisfaction. “It’s true sweetheart. Ted is not your biological father, Pierce is.”

She brought her fingers to her lips as shook filled her face. “No…that’s not true.” Her breathing began to accelerate and she’d looked as if she was about to pass out. “No…”

“That’s what Adam Romero gave me when I went to see him. It was a paternity test. The modern way of doing it was in its infancy back then so the results of your mother’s test were only around ninety percent but that was more than enough to prove paternity in the eighties.” She said nothing. “Amour?” He tried to touch her but she jerked away from him and ran out of Angela’s office. Jason was so angry his blood started to boil. He turned to Angela and looked her straight in the eye. “I will make damn sure that you suffer for this and that’s not a threat, that’s a promise bitch!” Then just like that, he turned around and walked out.

The tears ran down Amour’s face like a faucet as she sat on a small bench outside of the Eleganti. She couldn’t stop them no matter how hard she tried. How could this be happening? What she’d just heard couldn’t possibly be true. The man who raised her all of her life, who’s been there for her through childhood, the awkward teenaged years, taught her to ride a bike, drive, father daughter dances and countless other things was not her father? “No…he would’ve told me…” She murmured. Would he have? Would she even be able to trust her father anymore? If ever she needed a cigarette the time was then but that probably wouldn’t even help. She just wanted to crawl inside of a hole and die. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine the world she lived in prior to coming to Los Angeles. Home in Nebraska, in her own house, in her own bed with a book and her father was still…her father. A strong cool breeze blew over her face pushing her tears to the sides of her cheeks as she just sat there, wishing it would just take her away.

“Amour?” Jason said from beside her. She stared at the ground but said nothing. “Look, I know you’re angry at me.” He sat down on the bench next to her and she flinched when he tried to touch her. “I know you wish I would’ve told you but I couldn’t. I’m sorry.”

She continued to look at the ground. “When did you find out?”

“It doesn’t really matter Amour.”

She looked up at him with an angry expression. “It matters to me!”

“Okay.” He rubbed his temples before speaking. “Adam Romero gave it to me when I went to see him last week.”

“You’ve know about this all this time?”

“Yeah, and I feel like shit for keeping it from you but in all fairness Amour, it was not my place to tell you. Believe me, the last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt you. I told Ted…”

“You talked to my father about this?” she interrupted.

“Yes and he didn’t want me to tell you either. He felt that it would be better if you found out from him.”

She wiped the tears from her eyes and breathed in deeply. She didn’t feel like crying anymore. She was much too pissed to continue to do so. “Take me home! I’m booking a flight home for tomorrow.”

Amour sat at Jason’s computer to once again attempting to change her flight information. She couldn’t under any circumstances stay here now. The one person here that she’d trusted the most turned out not to be
so trustworthy after all. How could he keep something so detrimental to her life from her? If he kept this from her, she could imagine what else he was hiding.
Asshole.
She guessed she deserved it for falling for someone she’d only known for a little over two weeks. And what about her father? What else was
he
hiding? This was all just a little too much for her right now. Instead of booking a flight back to Nebraska, she needed to book one to some remote island and stay there until she was ready to go back home. She began to imagine what it would be like to escape to a place like that when Jason placed his hand on her shoulder interrupting her thoughts. She wanted to slap it off of her but at the same time; it put her at ease despite her anger towards him.

His one hand on her turned into two hands on either side which then turned into his arms wrapping around her shoulders and pressing his cheek to hers. The stubble on his face coupled with the scent of his cologne made it hard for her to resist his touch. He softly kissed her cheek. “I’m sorry I hurt you but that was your father’s place to tell you that; whichever one decided to that is, not mine.”

She closed her eyes. “I know, but I’m still angry. I can’t help it. I have to leave Jason.”

“I understand but can you at least stay for Chandra’s funeral?”

Damn it!
She’d almost completely forgotten about Chandra and she felt like shit for doing so. She owed it to her and Mack to attend the services out of respect alone. “Of course I will.”

“What about us?” he asked mildly.

She stared at the computer screen. “I don’t know what we are Jason. So I can’t answer that.”

He took his arms from around her and straightened his body. “Chandra’s funeral is Saturday.”

Before she could respond to what he’d said, he turned around, walked into his bedroom and shut the door. He was obviously upset by her answer to his question. She supposed his frustration was warranted. He did express his need for her to stay when they’d made love on the couch that night.

Please don’t leave me…
His words played over and over in her mind. The way he’d touched her and passion behind the words he’d spoken told her that she’d fixed something in him that had been broken. But even so, why should she be the one giving her all to this relationship…or…whatever it was?
What about us?
How the hell would
she
know? He never once discussed “us” with her at any given time since she’d been there. Hell, he hadn’t even acknowledged the fact that they’d slept together. The answer she’d given him was all she had and she had every right leave him high and dry after he’d lied to her. Well, he didn’t exactly lie; he just didn’t tell her a very important piece of information that could change life as she knew it. So screw him! He had no right to make her feel guilty for leaving. She was
not
the one that was wrong in this situation and that was a fact. Then why did she still feel like crap?

* * *

Jake’s was surprisingly crowded for a Thursday night so the five of them had to wait a little while for a table. Jason couldn’t bring himself to speak to Amour since the conversation they had at the apartment. He hoped that understood his choice to remain silent on the subject, but he could tell she was still uncomfortable with it because not only did he barely speak to her; she also barely spoke to him. As they all started to fill the back booth the waitress had shown them to, Jason chose to sit across from Amour rather than next to her. He figured that would be the best thing to do.

“How are you holding up man?” he asked Mack.

Mack looked as if he also wanted to crawl into a hole. “I’m good.”

Jason didn’t press the issue. He knew it wouldn’t be a good idea to do so. Instead he just patted Mack on the back and let it go. Soon after, Shyla joined them at the booth. She had the day off so she decided to have lunch with all of them. When she sat, she called one of the waitresses by her first name and the woman walked over to them. After she’d taken all of their orders and had gone, an awkward silence filled the area.

Shyla unsurprisingly decided to speak first. “How have you been Amour?”

“Not that great.”

“I know it’s been a lot going on the past few days but your mom’s killer is behind bars now so you should be happy about that at least.”

Before Amour could respond, Alex drew everyone’s attention to the television that was hanging on the wall. “Check that shit out!”

There, as clear as day was Pierce Harrington having what looked like a press conference on TV. Everyone’s eyes were glued to the television and the listed in.

Good afternoon everyone. I am here today to address the recent events that have come to pass over the past week. As you know, I have been involved in a scandal involving several people including my wife, Beatrice Harrington. I am aware of her involvement in the case that prompted the Los Angeles Police Department and the District attorney’s office to investigate.

Due to the large amount of press it has received, I am sure many of you have heard the details regarding this case already so I will not provide them at this moment. Though I cannot justify what my wife has done twenty-seven years ago or what she has done recently, I can assure the good people who are directly involved in this incident that Mrs. Harrington has been for the past thirty years evaluated for mental disease and was unaware of her actions at the time they occurred. Her mental illness was in fact brought on by my stubbornness, pride and inability to be the husband and father that she expected of me. The rumors that you have been hearing regarding me are very much true. I have in fact been unfaithful to my wife on several occasions over the past thirty years with several prostitutes and the young woman in question who shall remain anonymous is in fact my daughter. I take full responsibility for my actions and the actions of my wife in this matter. You will continue to have my deepest regrets and apologies for the pain and hurt I have cause all those who were affected by my actions. I’m here to tell you today that I feel that I can no longer appropriately represent my family or the great citizens of the state of California and I will be stepping down from my seat in the United States Senate and also will not be pursuing any other positions in public office. Thank you very much.

After Pierce had walked off camera, everyone’s mouths flew open at the table but no one said a word. Amour took a huge gulp of her beer. “Well, I guess the shit has hit the fan now.” Everyone but Jason looked at her wondering what the heck she was talking about. She raised her bottle in a toast. “Here’s to my dear old dad, he sure knows how to make an announcement.” Everyone still said nothing. “Oh that’s right, you guys don’t know. I just found out that Pierce Harrington is my real father. I’m the “daughter” he was referring to.”
She stood up from the booth. “I’m going to the bathroom.”

Shyla scooted out from the booth as well. “I’ll go with you.”

Amour shrugged her shoulders. “Whatever.”

When the two of them had gone, the guys just sat there staring off in space trying to find something to say to break the obvious awkwardness in the room.

“What the fuck was that all about? Is this true Jason?” Jax asked.

Jason did not want to discuss it any further but he knew he was going to owe them an explanation eventually. “Yeah, it’s true.”

Alex sipped his water. “Am I to assume that because the two of you are barely looking at each other that you already knew about this ahead of time but neglected to tell her about it?”

That dammed Alex was so perceptive. Sometimes too perceptive. “Yeah.” Jason finished off his beer and sat the bottle down on the table. “In my defense, I didn’t tell her because I felt that it was her father’s job to do that.” They all remained quiet but continued to look at him. “What?”

“Then how did she find out?” Mack asked.

“That Angela chick. She told her when we went to question her about her being at Carly’s house that day.” They all looked confused. Jason took a short breath. “She was banging Pierce Harrington too.”

By the time Shyla and Amour had returned, Jason had explained everything in full to the guys. When the girls slid back into the booth, Mack reached over and grabbed Amour’s hand. “Are you going to talk to Harrington?”

“Yeah, I guess. Although I have no idea what I’m going to say to him. Whatever it is, I have to do fast because I won’t be here for much longer.”

Shyla’s eyes widened. “You’re leaving?”

She looked at Jason before answering Shyla’s question but he didn’t say anything. “Yes.”

“Aww…I’m gonna miss you girl. Are you coming back?”

“Probably not.”

“Well that sucks!”

Alex gave Jason a look telling him to that he needed to fix this but remained quiet. The ability to read people was in fact something he admired about Alex but now, it was really starting to irritate him. “You shouldn’t leave.”

She looked up at him.
“Why not?”

When he didn’t respond to her, Alex gave him that “look” again.
“Because I want you to stay.”

Her lips parted and she looked as though she were contemplating on what to say.
“Really?”

“Yes.”

She smiled. “Maybe I will then, I’ll have to think about it.”

It wasn’t a yes, but it wasn’t a no either so he accepted it. “Great.”

“Aww…” Shyla said as she made a heart shape out of her hands.

Jax’s cell rang and he excused himself from the table while the others finished up their meals and drinks. When he returned about ten minutes later, he had a huge grin on his face. “Hey you guys! Good news. Cheryl said that Harrington’s gonna be at one of his field offices later today to formally say goodbye to his staff. She said we are more than welcome to come by and talk to him especially now that he will no longer be
Senator
Harrington.”

Jason held Amour’s hand. “It’s up to you honey.”

“I’ll go. I don’t care.”

Jax slid his cell back in his pocket.
“Alright.”