The Stars Trilogy (29 page)

“You have too much faith in my convincing powers,” she said cheekily.

“You got Knox to say yes and he’s a vicious shark. Gabby is just a little piranha.”

“Ha-ha. Never underestimate a desperate scorned woman.” Immediately, she regretted saying that. She had no business judging Gabrielle. She didn’t know what happened in their marriage. “Sorry. Uncalled for.”

“Don’t be. You are absolutely right.”

How sad. How many women would have to go through a nasty divorce with you?
she wanted to ask but didn’t. He was trusting her with a very personal matter in his life. She should not overstep her boundaries. Not yet anyway.

Fifteen minutes later, he squeezed smoothly into one of the vacant spaces in the restricted underground parking area of the Beverly-Wilshire Hotel.

Valets rushed to assist them out of the car but Dare’s bodyguard beat them to it. Cruz opened the door for her.

“Ready?” Dare asked her.

Ready? Was he nuts? She was to convince his current wife to stop delaying their divorce proceedings. She, who was secretly gunning to be his fourth wife?

Bizarre. Absolutely bizarre!

Chapter Thirteen 

You know what, I’d be in the US next month with my family. We’re staying with our relatives in Cali.

LA is so huge and I don’t know where to see you. I wish I could see you again. That would be like heaven! You know, I’m always in the US and it’s strange how I never saw you again. There wasn’t just any opportunity ‘coz my Dad was always busy and my Mom was also busy shopping and my brother was always busy with his own thing and nobody would want to go with me looking for you.  It’s hard to find you. I wonder how the paparazzi find you at all. There was a time I came so close to seeing you when we went to the season opening of the Major League in LA 'coz they said you’d be throwing the ball.  But you didn’t show up and it was Ben Afleck who threw the ball. I cried, you know:( Was soooo disappointed. My bro was pissed ‘coz we lined up early for the tickets and he hated lining up. But  I’ll find a way to see you again. I’m so excited! Mwah mwah!...”

THE MEETING WILL TAKE PLACE at the penthouse suite.

Celine walked flanked by Cruz and Dare toward an entrance to the hotel reserved only for VIPs. They came into a mini-lobby. A tall, handsome man dressed in a black power suit rose from a cluster of armchairs and met them half-way.

“Dare,” the man addressed Dare, extending his hand,

Dare shook hands with him. “Boyd. Where is she?”

“She’s already up there, waiting with her lawyer.”

“Let’s go.”

They boarded a private lift.

The man called Boyd was eying her, a hint of puzzlement in his eyes. Celine smiled at him. Thankfully, Dare made the introductions.

“Boyd, this is Celine, my new secretary. Celine, Clayton Boyd, my divorce lawyer. ”

Boyd extended his hand to her politely. “Pleased to meet you, Celine. Please call me, Clay.”

She smiled again at the lawyer who was now looking at her with a pleasant expression but somewhat speculating eyes.

The lift stopped at the 14th floor. They alighted into the foyer leading to the penthouse suite.

She had stayed in this very suite a few times with her parents in one of their vacations here in the US but the penthouse had been recently renovated, she’d read in the hotel’s website. It looked so much better now, the interior modernized and streamlined to suit the more minimalist trend of the current decade. She was excited to explore the place.

But she forgot her opulent surroundings when she saw Dare’s current wife.

She had only seen Gabrielle Lopez in the pages of those glossy fashion magazines, but in person, the supermodel was mesmerizing – long, honey-blond hair, big, green eyes, tall, statuesque body the likes that only supermodels possessed.

Gabrielle rose dramatically from the armchair she was sitting on and walked up to Dare with a dazzling smile on her face. In her six-inch, black Louboutin stilettos, she was as tall as Dare.

God, they looked painfully beautiful together, Celine thought, feeling intimidated by their combined extra-ordinary good looks.

The third Mrs. Montgomery wound her arms around her husband’s neck and kissed him on the lips. Obviously, Gabrielle wasn’t ready to give up her Missus title yet. “Oh, I’ve missed you so much, Dare!”

“Gabby, let’s get on with it, shall we?” Dare said impassively and walked past his wife.

Gabrielle was left standing there, a stricken look on her symmetrically perfect features.

Celine felt some sympathy for Gabrielle. That was outright rejection if she saw one. She wondered why Dare was divorcing this gorgeous woman who didn’t seem to have any physical flaw at all. But she should not question it. The circumstances were working greatly in her favor.

The supermodel finally noticed her.

“And who are you?” Gabrielle asked, her eyes assessing her like a predator scenting competition in its prey.

Hmm, this one has keen intuition. Rightly so. It’s probably true what they say. A jealous woman is sharper than the FBI.

But she was here for a special job and she would perform to the best of her ability. “I’m his new secretary. Celine.” She extended her hand toward the woman.

Gabrielle ignored her offered handshake. “Secretary,” she repeated with the faintest derision but it was not lost to her. “How convenient for you.”

She played dumb. “No, for him.”

Gabrielle abandoned small talk. “Oh, let’s cut the crap, you Asian wannabe. Don’t pretend you don’t want him. I can smell it all over you. You’re waiting for your turn.”

Asian wannabe?! Celine was tempted to give the tall woman a mean Pacman uppercut for her racial slur but she kept calm. She wasn’t about to lose her temper over this bitchy giraffe, no matter how gorgeous she was. So, she just smiled.

“Oh, playing it cool, aren’t we?”

Gabrielle circled her like a panther, her eyes raking her from head to toe. The supermodel towered over her, stunning in her animal-printed, flowing designer dress, Roberto Cavalli by the looks of it, and Celine felt like a lack-luster little moth beside a magnificent feline.

Gabrielle seemed to have sensed her self-doubt. “Dream on, darling. Dare likes to play and experiment with various generic brands but he goes back to his favorite designer.”

That’s it, bitch!
“And what is that?” Celine challenged. She refused to be defeated by her insecurities. She was also beautiful in her own right even if she was not as tall and not as well-endowed as Gabrielle. Why, Dare was divorcing this spiteful woman. Despite being so beautiful and famous, Gabrielle was getting the boot. That should reassure her that beauty wasn’t everything and it was always in the eye of the beholder.

Gabrielle smiled confidently and put her hands on her hips in a classic cover girl pose. “What do you think?”

She gave the giraffe a good once-over, too. Boy, that was a lot to cover. “Hmm, let me see...Tall, skinny, blond with very expensive plastics, wherever they are,” she said, cool as cucumber.

Gabrielle’s eyes widened and couldn’t speak in her shock.

Hah, don’t push it, babe. I can bitch slap better than anybody. Just ask my frenemies back home.

“You’re right. He does prefer your type and he likes to collect lots of designers, too. Why, he can’t tell you apart from the others. But I guess he’s just living up to his reputation. Supermodel Serial Killer, right? You’re what, Chanel No. 5?” she added for good measure.

Gabrielle’s beautiful face turned livid. “You bitch!” she hissed. “How dare you!”

“Tsk tsk. Temper, temper. Ruins your perfection.”

“Who the hell do you think you are talking to me like that? I’m his wife!”

“Correction, soon to be ex-wife. And you’d better be nice to me, Gabrielle.”

The model gaped at her in incredulity. “My God, you have a lot of unbelievable gall!”

“Not only that, I am also here to negotiate your divorce settlement.”

“What?!”

“I believe they are waiting for us.” She gestured to the gentlemen sitting now at the elegant dining table in one part of the spacious suite.

Gabrielle gave her a look that would wilt diamond before turning to march toward the dining area.

She quietly followed her.

She met Dare’s eyes. He touched the chair beside him to his right. She went to sit there. Boyd was sitting on his left side.

Gabrielle was now seated beside her lawyer and was spearing her with blade-sharp eyes.

Okay. It’s show time.

Dare vowed to never ever marry again. He didn’t want to ever sit down with any future wife of his with their respective lawyers and talk about monetary settlements. Fuck his conservative business associates who didn’t want him investing in their old-money empires because he was a womanizing,
nouveau       riche,
bachelor. He would be a womanizer all his life. In ten years, he would be labeled by the rags as a dirty old man for his penchant for women young enough to be his daughters. So be it. His friend George could use company in that department. Ole Hugh Hefner would definitely welcome him into his elite club of men pushing 100 and still rockin’ and rollin’ with bunnies in their twenties.

“Okay, so, let’s hear it, Gab,” he said in a bored tone. This had dragged on for ages and he was sick of it. Not even Alana had given him this kind of headache when they parted ways.

Gabrielle didn’t speak. She was looking at Celine with dagger eyes.
Okay now, Gabby, let’s see how you fare with my smartass secretary,
he thought with perverse anticipation.

Slater Levitt, Gabrielle’s highly-paid shyster started the nasty ball rolling. The two had been successful so far in their tag team effort to put him on the defensive. They both knew his Achilles’ Heel on this one. For the first time in his unsavory reputation, he didn’t want more bad press. “Mrs. Montgomery wants to renegotiate her settlement.”

Not again!
“I thought we had an agreement already?”

“There are some adjustments that we want to make, with your kind consideration, of course, Mr. Montgomery. Just a tiny one.”

Tiny in Gabrielle’s vocabulary was one million dollars, minimum. He willed himself to extend his patience. Just for today. No more. “How tiny?”

“Due to the extent of your wealth, Mr. Montgomery, it is just fitting and fair for Gabby to receive what is due her as your wife of two years.”

Fitting and fair sounded odd to him in this discussion. “Name it, Levitt.”

“Ten million dollars in cash plus the condo and cars.”

“Out of the question,” he said flatly.

“Counselor Levitt,” Celine came in, smooth as honey.

Okay, take it away, baby.
Dare sat back to watch the action.

“Counselor, my name is Celine and I will be negotiating in behalf of Mr. Montgomery, with all due respect of course, to Counselor Boyd.”

Nice, sweetheart.
Levitt looked at him for confirmation. He nodded.

Dare glanced at Boyd beside him. His poor lawyer’s mouth was agape. “It’s okay, Boyd. She knows what she’s doing,” he whispered to him.

“But Dare...” Boyd whispered back, worried. “Are you sure...?”

“Shhh.”

“Okay now, gentlemen, Ms. Lopez...” Celine continued.

“Mrs. Montgomery. We are not yet officially divorced,” Gabrielle corrected her.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Mrs. Montgomery,” Celine smiled at Gabby patronizingly and Dare was reminded of a no-nonsense judge presiding in a courtroom. Celine had this aura at times that was too old for her age, a stark contrast to her usual sassy disposition. He hadn’t known her long enough to tell the differences in her disposition and yet...he was getting to know her way quicker than he could figure out his feelings toward her.

“Okay, since the original prenup has already been revised and amended many times, let’s just do a recap of the settlement you’ve both agreed on last meeting. It states that in the event of divorce, Mrs. Montgomery gets 1.5 million dollars from Mr. Montgomery for every year that they were married, in this case 2 years, so that’s three million dollars in cash. She also gets 1 million dollars if he will be the one to ask for a divorce, which he did. In addition to that, Mr. Montgomery is signing over to her name the penthouse unit where she is staying now at the Sky View Tower worth 10 million dollars at current market value, and 2 cars worth 100 grand max each. She can choose to convert the properties in cash of course.”