Private Lives
He shrugged. “He hasn’t admitted it. I’m just repeating gossip.”
“Isn’t that a breach of ethics? The man’s your client.”
“As I said, it’s only gossip. Besides, Austin’s parting salvo makes me think he’ll be looking for fresh representation soon.”
She would have laughed, but she was simply too disheartened. “It won’t matter. He’s in damage control mode and we’ll only know how much damage he’s controlled when Gina gets home tonight.”
“I thought they were just having lunch,” Ryan said.
“Oh, they’ll have lunch all right…and then he’ll persuade her to spend the afternoon with him to give him more opportunity to get her to rethink her attitude. Then he’ll treat her to dinner in a great restaurant. It’ll be expensive and romantic, a place to remind her of all the perks that come from sleeping with the enemy.”
As they neared her car, Elizabeth fished her keys out of her purse and chirped the remote to unlock it. But before she climbed inside, Ryan stopped her.
“May I ask you a personal question?”
“Ask anything you want, but I certainly don’t promise to answer.”
“It’s about your friendship with Gina. Anyone can see that the two of you are nothing alike. From what I learned about her after I took on the case, Gina’s made some really bad choices. Granted, Austin’s not a very reliable source, but on the stand yesterday you said the two of you have been together as foster kids since you were five years old. Tell me, why is her personal life a wreck and yours almost the exact opposite?”
“Almost?”
“Well, nobody’s perfect. So, unless you’re going to tell me something bad, my comment stands. And my question.”
“I’m not going to tell you anything, Mr. Paxton. My personal life is just that, personal. And private.” She got into the car, but he caught the door before she could close it. “What?” she demanded. Both hands on the wheel, she looked straight ahead.
“You have a reputation for avoiding publicity, for reclusiveness. Don’t you know that the more mysterious you seem, the more intriguing you are to your fans? Avoiding them just adds to your mystery. Throw a few scraps out there and they’ll back off. And it’s Ryan, not Mr. Paxton.”
“Reporters don’t want scraps, they’re hunting red meat. I have a right to avoid anyone prying into my life. Thanks for the advice, but no thanks.” She put the keys into the ignition and started the car. Getting on a first name basis with Ryan Paxton was another thing she wanted to avoid. “And my fans won’t care—because they’re children.”
“How do you communicate with them, other than your books, of course? By e-mail on the Internet? Letters? What?”
“Letters mostly.” She could just drive off, but he’d unknowingly touched on something she was not reluctant to share. “And I answer them all, each and every one.” Her fan mail came from children, innocents who wrote from the heart. Elizabeth understood that need to communicate. She knew how it felt to write a letter when you still believed there was someone out there who would listen. And she knew how it felt to wait expectantly for a reply that never came.
“Kids send you letters,” he said, considering that with a half smile. “You must get some real cute stuff.”
She thought of the eight-year-old whose letter lay even now waiting for a reply in her in basket. The child’s younger sister needed a heart transplant. Would Elizabeth please tell the child’s parents that she would like to give her sister “half of her heart?” “Sometimes they aren’t very cute.”
He still blocked her leaving, standing with his weight on one hip, his left hand resting on the door frame of her car. She didn’t wait to hear what else he had to say about her career or her personality drawbacks. Instead, she reached for the handle of the door, forcing him to move back, and closed it smartly. “Goodbye, Mr. Paxton,” she muttered to his receding outline in her rearview mirror.
Ryan stood for a minute watching Elizabeth drive away. Okay, he’d satisfied his curiosity. He’d had a conversation with her out of the courtroom. Away from her pal and soul mate, Gina. He hadn’t made up the reason for seeking her out, not exactly. He knew, if left to his own devious devices, Austin would chew Gina up and spit her out, sans any financial settlement, no matter what the court decreed. And just to ease his conscience, he was going to give Curtiss Leggett an earful about his prick of a son. He might not be as black as the two women had painted him, but he wasn’t a boy scout either. So, Ryan’s motive in talking to Liz was honorable. Sort of. He also wanted to talk, one on one, with the daughter of the man who was responsible for John Paxton’s death.
He’d watched her for a few minutes at the coffee bar before approaching her. She was easy on the eyes, as gorgeous in person as her press photo. In fact, he’d had a hard time keeping his thoughts in line when he had her on the stand in the courtroom. He admired her loyalty, too. She was as fierce as a mama tiger defending Gina. Or possibly, it was the little girl, Jesse, who stirred the fires in her breast. Beautiful breasts. He’d had no trouble imagining the feel of them in his hands as he stood talking to her, even in that severe suit with the starched blouse underneath. But he didn’t intend to get caught up in any sexual fantasies about Elizabeth Walker. He had other, more compelling reasons for getting to know her better.
Her old man was dead, killed in a house fire just a day or two after his dad’s suicide. That much was public knowledge. But information beyond that about Judge Matthew Walker was extremely hard to come by. Maybe Elizabeth was a possible source. She’d been only five when he died, but she probably had his papers, his files, a record of the cases he’d been involved in at the time of his death. If she hadn’t destroyed them. Being a foster kid, her possessions might have been lost as she’d been palmed off to one anonymous family after another.
He felt a pang of sympathy, but for only a moment before shutting it off. Unlike Elizabeth, he’d had both parents until he was fifteen, two-thirds longer than she’d had anybody. Tough luck, but she’d managed. Pretty damned good, too. He admired her accomplishments. No, he wouldn’t waste sympathy on somebody who clearly didn’t need it.
Six
“Have you got a minute, Curtiss?”
Curtiss Leggett looked up from a seemingly vacant perusal of Houston’s skyline and motioned Ryan into his office. He swiveled in his chair so that he faced forward as Ryan quietly pulled the door closed behind them, ensuring privacy. “How’d it go?”
“Hetherington awarded joint custody to Austin and Gina. They’re to share holidays and vacations. They’re to work out an amicable plan together.”
Leggett grunted. “What about child support, palimony?”
“Her request was modest. Hetherington doubled it. Austin’s hit for about four thousand a month unless the two of them can come to an agreement for less.” Ryan frowned. “I thought he would have called you by now.”
Leggett’s laugh was brief and without humor. “He knows better than to bring up the subject of that woman with me. He should never have moved in with her. I know it’s the thing to live together now, but wouldn’t you think he’d choose someone of his own class? She’s trailer trash, that’s an apt description. I’ve been after him for years to send her packing.” He drew a disgusted breath. “I never could understand what he saw in her.”
“What about Jesse?”
Leggett turned his face, avoiding Ryan’s gaze. “Another mistake. Why the hell he didn’t make her abort is another mystery to me.” Shaking his head with more disgust, he said, “The whole thing has been distasteful to me from the beginning. I’m just glad to see the end of it. Of course, I’ll talk to Hetherington about reducing the money. Four thousand’s ridiculous. What does she expect, to be kept in the style of a real ex-wife? You’ve got to have a marriage for that. Steering clear of matrimony was Austin’s only smart decision.”
Ryan felt himself doing a slow burn. He’d felt no particular affection for Gina D’Angelo while representing her ex-lover, but she seemed a decent person. She’d made some bad choices in her life, but, hell, didn’t everybody once in a while? But she wasn’t trailer trash and she didn’t deserve the treatment Leggett father and son would no doubt cook up for her.
“Something else emerged during the hearing,” he said, wishing hard that he was on the golf course. He found he couldn’t sit down. He was too close to telling this bigoted old fart where to get off. “I know you were concerned about the firm’s reputation and any scandal that might grow out of the hearing…or out of Austin’s involvement with Gina.” He paused, giving Leggett a chance to be reminded that it wasn’t only Gina who was to blame for the situation. “There is some exposure, I think.”
Leggett was in the act of reaching for an elaborate humidor where he kept his stash of Cuban cigars. He stopped now, giving Ryan a keen look. “In what way?”
“Gina and her character witness, Elizabeth Walker, made some serious accusations about Austin. Do you have any knowledge of abuse in their relationship?”
“Abuse? Not sexual? Nothing about the little girl, eh?” He barked the questions out, like bullets.
“No.” Jesus, why would he even think that? Ryan watched him lift the lid of the humidor and select a cigar, taking his time. Did he know what was coming next? “They claimed Austin was often physically abusive, that he made a habit of beating up on her. That he had an ungovernable temper and when it went out of control, Gina was the victim.”
“Preposterous.” Leggett busied himself preparing his cigar. Looking at it, not Ryan, he meticulously clipped the end, moistened it by rolling it round and round in his mouth, then he picked up a sterling silver lighter. Now, holding the cigar in his teeth, he put the flame to it and puffed energetically until the immediate area around his head and shoulders was thick with smoke. Only then did he look up at Ryan, his eyes squinting against the acrid cloud. “What kind of evidence did they have for that?”
What kind of question was that? Ryan wanted to shoot the words back at him. It was as if Leggett accepted it for the truth, but lawyerlike was seeking a way out. “They didn’t produce any evidence,” Ryan told him. “That was the reason the judge went with the joint custody thing. If they’d had a hospital report or a police report, or if they managed to come up with an actual eye witness when Austin did what they claimed, it would have been much worse for him. As it is, only Elizabeth Walker, Gina’s friend and godmother to Jesse, claims to have seen bruises. She was a sort of way station when Gina would go into seclusion.”
“Bullshit.”
“Maybe.” Ryan was beginning to have grave doubts about the character of his client. “But if Austin’s smart—and there is some grain of truth to what both women claim—he’ll need to be very careful around Gina and his daughter in the future. It wasn’t a closed hearing, Curtiss. There were some students there, law school types from Rice, I think. And the usual courtroom junkies that hang around just to watch the legal system in play. But hear this. The person who really concerns me is Lindsay Blackstone, a television personality at WBYH-TV. She heard everything. My paralegal tells me that there was a series on her show last year about the escalating violence against women from husbands and lovers. I just hope she wasn’t there doing more research for a follow-up. I don’t think so, as there was no camera, but you never can tell.”
“Goddamn it!” Leggett rose abruptly from his chair, his frown thunderous. “Why didn’t you see to it the hearing was closed, Paxton? That’s why I chose you to handle this…mess.”
“If I’d suspected what Austin was going to be accused of, I would have,” Ryan said in an even tone. Did he have to remind the old coot that he’d walked into this case blind? And whose fault was that? The first rule in defense was to come clean with your lawyer.
Leggett grunted and puffed furiously on his cigar while he thought. He then gave Ryan a sharp look. “You think anything’ll come of it?”
“Only if Austin gets stupid and hits her again.”
Ryan was out of Leggett’s office and on his way to his car when he realized what he’d revealed in his parting remark to Austin’s old man. Leggett clearly was unsurprised to hear that his son was accused of beating up on a woman. That was disgusting enough, but what was just as disgusting was the absence of any shock and sympathy on Leggett’s part for the victim. The whole thing left a bad taste in Ryan’s mouth. He wished he’d never gotten involved.
Seven
Austin lifted his wineglass and smiled into Gina’s eyes. “To peace and harmony,” he said, his voice low and sexy. “To a better understanding, and especially to a history that can’t be wiped out by asshole lawyers.”
“Present company excluded, I assume,” Gina said dryly.
He touched her glass to his and grinned wickedly. “Damn right.”
Gina tasted the pinot grigio and found it fragrant and light. At one time she would have enjoyed it, as well as the hushed, intimate atmosphere of the restaurant. Anthony’s was pricey and the place to see and be seen in Houston, but considering that they’d spent the past two days in a bitter court fight, Austin’s motive in bringing her here was pretty obvious. She should have asked him to take her home after lunch, but he’d suggested they take in the new exhibit at the museum and then they’d stopped at happy hour at a bar he liked. And now…
When the menus were placed before them, he set his glass down and rubbed his hands together. “So, let’s see what’s wonderful tonight. I’ve heard the tomato tower is great. Let’s try it. What do you say?”
She ordered without much enthusiasm and sat back to wait for the meal while Austin chatted with ease about everything except the one subject that they should discuss. “So how’s your job search coming?” he asked as soon as their salads were served.
“I’ve had a couple of interviews.” She toyed with the garden greens. “I think I would have been hired by a small firm last week, but the personnel manager was spooked by the circumstances of my leaving LJ and B.”
“Not a problem.” He poured more wine for both of them. “Have them call me. I’ll give you a recommendation that won’t quit.” He lifted his glass. “Cheers, babe.”
“It’s too late, Austin. I needed the recommendation before they notified me that someone else had been selected.” Since that had been before the hearing, she didn’t need to be a rocket scientist to understand why there’d been blank silence from Austin.
“It’s their loss, sweetheart.” He reached over and touched her cheek. “Next time.”
In spite of her suspicions, she felt a quick, familiar warmth as his hand lingered, cradling her face. Austin in this mood was dangerously seductive. And the emotion he kindled wasn’t from the wine. No, it stemmed from some deep need in herself that Austin had always been skillful in tapping. Struggling to resist it, she glanced at her watch. “I really need to get back, Austin. Liz will be wondering what happened to me.”
The easy charm disappeared at the mention of Liz’s name. He dropped his hand and his voice went flat. “Liz knows you’re with me. Forget her.” He lifted his wineglass, but found it empty and set it down with a hard thump. Refilling his glass almost emptied the bottle. Looking about with irritation, he located the waiter and with a curt gesture ordered another.
“Austin, I’m serious.” Gina covered her glass with one hand. More wine would undermine her ability to resist him. “It’s not just Liz I’m concerned about, it’s Jesse.”
“She’s asleep, for Christ sake! Or she damn well should be at this hour.”
“She is, because Liz is so conscientious about everything to do with Jesse. But I’m responsible for her even so. I hadn’t planned on having dinner with you this evening. What if Liz had plans of her own?”
“She never has plans. She’s a goddamned recluse!”
“You make her sound weird or…or antisocial, or something. She isn’t any of that. She’s the best kind of friend a person could have, especially to Jesse and me. I honestly don’t know what I’d do without her.”
“We probably wouldn’t be in this mess without her,” he said in a biting tone, then added, “And don’t forget good ol’ Louie.”
She looked again at her watch as the waiter approached with a fresh bottle of wine. “I really have to go, Austin. Stay and enjoy your meal. I’ll get a taxi.”
He stood up with a short obscenity and pulled out his wallet. Sensing trouble, the waiter backed away and stood at a discreet distance as Austin peeled off several bills and tossed them on the table. The waiter wasn’t the only one who sensed trouble. Gina recognized the signs all too well. She quickly stood, grabbing her purse. On the ride home, Austin’s irritation would grow with every mile. He’d be tense and silent, seething with rage. But tonight, thank God, she wouldn’t be going home with him.
She stole a quick look at him and felt an odd regret. For several hours today when he was so utterly focused on her, when he’d turned on the full force of his appeal, she’d come dangerously close to forgetting who he was. What he was really like. Just a moment ago, in the heat of his gaze and his touch, she’d allowed her defenses to slip. Then she’d mentioned Liz’s name. That, coupled with her reluctance to stay until he decided it was time to go, was all it took. His good humor was gone in a flash. A dash of cold water couldn’t have brought her back to earth quicker.
With a weary sigh, Gina stood quietly beside Austin while the valet brought the Porsche around. The trip would be a harrowing experience. Austin drove like a maniac when he was ticked off. She’d lost count of the many instances in their long relationship that had ended this way. She’d say something, or do something that set him off and the fat would be in the fire. Tonight, knowing she was not going to be his victim, she could almost view his behavior with humor.
They were barely seated in the Porsche when he pulled away in a wild screech of tires. He was like a teenager, she thought, hiding a smile. In fact, a kid would probably have more self-control. Jesse certainly did. Apparently she hadn’t inherited her father’s black temper, another point for which to thank God tonight.
“What?” he growled.
“Nothing.” She cleared her throat and looked straight ahead. He was pretty mad at her right now, but if he guessed she was laughing at him, his temper would really explode. “Just thinking of something funny that Jesse said,” she lied.
“Liar, liar, pants on fire.”
She gave him a startled look and saw that he was smiling slightly. Austin…laughing at himself?
“Okay, I was an idiot back there. I apologize.”
She made some incoherent sound.
“Yeah, I apologize. You’re right. You can’t impose on somebody who’s furnishing free room and board, plus baby-sitting.”
“It’s okay,” she said faintly. Wow, a touch of gratitude. This was a new twist.
“I was just disappointed that we couldn’t stay and enjoy the atmosphere. And the company.” He winked and gave her a wicked smile. “Anthony’s is a place where you bring somebody you feel special about.”
“Don’t push it, Austin. You don’t feel special about me anymore.”
“I’ll always feel special about you, babe. We’ve got history, good history.”
“And some not-so-good history,” she said dryly.
“Yeah, but I can see the error of my ways. I hate for it to end this way, both of us with regrets and wishing it could have been different. I think we can still salvage something good out of all this.”
“We’ll definitely salvage something good. That’s Jesse.”
“Yeah, which is exactly what we need to focus on, babe. We need to think about Jesse. How all this is going to affect her. I mean, if Liz and Louie are always bad-mouthing me behind my back and you’re hounding me about palimony, how’s that going to look to Jesse? She needs to feel that we still care about each other.”
“I wasn’t hounding you, Austin. I asked for a reasonable amount of child support, a thousand dollars of which is going into trust for Jesse’s education. You can set it up at LJ and B if you want. It was the judge who increased the amount, not me. And Liz and Louie don’t ever mention you to Jesse. They wouldn’t do that. They know how that can confuse and hurt a child.”
“Now you’re saying they never mention me. Hell, that’s almost as bad.”
She gave an exasperated sigh. “Austin, listen to yourself! Just exactly what in all this would make you happy?”
“That’s easy.” He signaled to exit the Interstate. “Just you and me handling our business without anybody else interfering.”
Now they’d reached the neighborhood where Liz lived. Memorial was dense with tall trees, good landscaping and upscale residences. Much of Houston proper was hot and arid with an excess of stark, towering skyscrapers and roads frequently in a state of ongoing “improvement,” but the Memorial area was quiet and understated. Even as successful as Liz was, she couldn’t have afforded living here if it weren’t for the trust fund left for her by her father.
Suddenly, instead of driving the final mile to Liz’s house, Austin pulled into the parking area of a posh condominium complex. At this late hour, no one was stirring and Austin stopped the car near a thick hedge of oleanders. He killed the engine and lowered both her window and his own with a button, then turned so that he faced her.
“Nice night, huh? Quiet and peaceful in this neighborhood, too. Hell, if I didn’t need my health club and the convenience of living five minutes from the office, I might live in Memorial myself.”
For a bittersweet moment, Gina recalled the dreams she’d had during the years of their relationship. When she discovered she was pregnant with Jesse, she had fantasized about being married to Austin, buying a house in Memorial or the University area, having the kind of life she and Liz had planned as foster children. They’d both have super careers, meet and marry two great guys, have two and a half kids each and live in the same neighborhood. Turning away, she gazed from her window at the lush bank of oleanders. How many years had passed now and only a fraction of that dream had materialized, little of it for her. Liz, of course, had a great career and her house truly surpassed their girlish expectations. Gina idly fingered the strap of her purse. She, meanwhile, was still waiting and hoping and dreaming…
In daylight, the oleanders would be bright pink. She thought how much nicer a barrier the flowers made than a conventional fence, wood or stone. Somewhere nearby there must be night-blooming jasmine as its sweet, unique scent hung heavy on the air.
“We need to talk, sweetheart.” Her heart fluttered when he touched her shoulder. Then his fingers slipped beneath her hair and began gently rubbing the taut neck muscles. “I meant what I said a minute ago. We don’t need lawyers to work out whatever’s best for Jesse.” Deep, low, husky, his voice alone was almost a caress, more intimate than a kiss. His fingers moved in a soothing, hypnotic rhythm. “We don’t need people who call themselves friends to tell us what we should do. We’re the ones with the history. And we have the power to make our own decisions.”
Power. She knew what power was all about and it was hardly a two-way street with Austin. She knew how he wielded it, how he’d manipulated her almost from the first day they’d met so that she’d been happy to give him anything he wanted. Everything, if that was the price to be paid to realize her dreams. He leaned closer, finding a spot he knew well. Heat stirred in her belly. Her breath caught in her throat. Her eyes were closing. Thank God it was dark and he couldn’t see her. But he knew what she was feeling. He knew.
“Maude is going to tell you that we need our lives to be spelled out in a document.” Still low and husky, his voice was like the stroke of his hands, compelling and hypnotic. “You’ll call her tomorrow, won’t you? Tell her you don’t need her anymore.”