Power Play (Crimson Romance) Page 3

  They were all polite questions, perfectly reasonable, though they came swift and sure from all corners of the room.

  Lila could afford to take pity on the girl, remembering how she had been subject to a similarly well-mannered interrogation upon joining the Wives and Girlfriends. The women were curious, and added to that the superstar status of Cahal Wallace, Victoria was sure to attract some attention.

  Lila remained in the background, sipping on the soft drink that the Monahan’s maid had given to her. From her distant vantage point, she couldn’t see the newcomer. She could just make out the clear confident answers that the new arrival made to the questions the other Wives were throwing at her.

  How closed-mouthed Cahal had been the previous day. He had virtually forbidden her remarriage yet he had had a girlfriend tucked up his sleeve. A year ago, she would not have believed him capable of such casual deception. She was a great deal wiser today.

  Finally, the other women’s inquiries being exhausted, Cathy Monahan was able to perform her function as hostess and introduce the other women to the newcomer.

  As Lila’s name was spoken, she stepped forward, her hand outstretched. Instead of reaching out her own hand, Victoria Brantford gasped and took a step backward.

  After an embarrassed moment, Lila dropped her hand to her side. She could feel her cheeks heating. The other woman had obviously shunned her and she had no idea why.

  There was a prolonged moment of silence in the room, broken only by one of the wives’ nervous laughter.

  “Uh — do you two know each other?” one of the women asked.

  Their hostess moved in to dispel the discomfort. “Well, of course they must know each other. Victoria’s father is one of the owners of the Chicago team.”

  As there was no way to deny it, Lila nodded. The question that continued to haunt her was how did Victoria Brantford know her, when she was perfectly certain that she had never met the other woman before in her life?

  It was Victoria who provided the answer to the question in Cathy Monahan’s cornflower eyes.

  “Of course I know all about her,” the blonde woman said in a high, tight voice. “She’s still married to my boyfriend.”

  One by one, all heads turned toward the woman seated in the corner of the room.

  Ignoring the rest, Lila’s eyes met Victoria Brantford’s gray-green stare. “I’ve never met you,” she said. “How do you know who I am?”

  The reply was not the expected one.

  “From the pictures,” the blonde woman responded, her voice only slightly less taut. “There must be dozens of photographs around his house, all over the place. Your wedding photos. Your high school prom. I’ve seen them all.”

  And, apparently, had memorized them all.

  Lila was torn between being angry at Cahal for still having the photographs up and daring to show them to his new girlfriend, and being saddened at the thought that he had still lived in that house in Chicago, the one they had picked out together, surrounded by all of their memories.

  “After seeing those photographs,” Victoria continued, “I could never mistake you.”

  It was impossible to tell if there was real venom behind that high unnatural voice, so different from the smooth tones that she had used to answer those initial questions from the Wives.

  “Maybe I should leave,” Lila said, getting to her feet. She gave her hostess an appealing glance. “Surely, there can’t be enough room in the club for a girlfriend and an ex-wife.”

  Ethan’s wife was indignant. “I don’t see why not! It might never have happened before but there is a first time for everything. It’s not as if we were men and incapable of behaving rationally about such things.”

  This comment earned a few welcomed chuckles.

  “I do not see why Lila should leave,” Nadia Ivanov added. “She’s not just Cahal Wallace’s wife, or ex-wife, but she is also going out with Jarrett.”

  Jack. Lila had almost forgotten him in the turmoil of the past few minutes. Jack had been enthusiastic about her joining the Wives. Perhaps he envisioned them next season posing for the yearly calendar the team put out, the one that included pictures of the players with their families.

  There were, somewhere in the distant past of Chicago, pictures of she and Cahal posed for a similar calendar. A younger Cahal and a naïve Lila, smiling into the camera for the benefit of nameless fans.

  Without thinking, she turned toward Cahal’s girlfriend. “Did he tell you to come here tonight? Did you mention to Cahal that you intended to come?”

  Cathy broke in. “I called her, Lila. I asked her to come.”

  Looking guilty, Victoria waved off her hostess’s assistance. “The answer is no on both counts. Cahal never mentioned the Wives and I didn’t tell him that I meant to come.” She paused before rushing on. “It’s just that in Chicago, I could never join. Not when all the women knew you, his wife. I couldn’t step into your shadow there. I thought, coming here, I would have the chance of a new start. People would only know me here.”

  Almost against her better judgment, Lila found herself feeling sorry for the other woman. It was true that she had been an active part of the Chicago club for many years and she had left many friends behind in that city. She could see why Victoria Brantford might have been eager to join the Toronto chapter, to shake off the ghost of her partner’s ex-wife. Clearly, she had not expected to actually confront that ghost tonight.

  “I should go,” Lila again suggested, feeling guilty for being there when the other woman was so obviously disturbed by her presence.

  The other women made their protests but she refused to be swayed.

  “I’m tired anyways,” Lila insisted, “and I promised myself an early night. It was nice meeting you, Victoria.”

  The blonde woman seemed pleased by this gesture of goodwill. “It was nice meeting you too, Lila. I feel like I know you already.”

  Lila was taken aback. She hated thinking of Cahal discussing her with another woman, even a rather pleasant one like Miss Brantford. Would he appreciate her speaking about him to Jack? Somehow she thought not.

  “Maybe,” Victoria went on, “you can show me around Toronto sometime. I’ve never been here before and I know that you have lived in the city for most of your life.”

  Lila was forced to admit that that was true and that she did indeed have the time to show a newcomer around the city. Having exchanged phone numbers and said her good-byes, Lila left the Monahans’ house, fervently hoping that Victoria Brantford would not take her up on her reluctant offer of hospitality.

  Chapter Three

  She received the telephone call from her attorney the next day while she was cataloguing the week’s new releases, a task that was interrupted by the rest of the staff coming over to swipe one of the books for their own personal consumption before they went on the shelves. It was one of the perks of the job, of which Lila herself was apt to take advantage on occasion.

  The early hour of the call — it was just past nine — seemed ominous and Lila prepared herself for the worst. A delay with the filing of the paperwork perhaps. A lost document that would have to be re-signed.

  The lawyer cut through her vague greetings. “There’s a problem with the divorce motion. Can you come to my office this afternoon?”

  The library was in the north of the city and her lawyer’s office was in the downtown core. She calculated the voyage, weighing it against the time owing to her from several late nights she’d spent doing inventory last month.

  “I could leave work early.” She paused, unsure. “If it’s important.”

  She could almost hear the lawyer’s amused smile. “It is important.” Or else, his tone said, he wouldn’t be calling.

  Lila confirmed the appointment for three o’clock and hung up the phone. In a daze for the rest of the day, she allowed all four copies of the latest novel in her favorite mystery series to be handed over to her coworkers, leaving none for the shelves, which meant she would be f
ending off indignant inquiries about the book for the next two weeks.

  The tall office building housing her lawyer’s firm always made her feel nervous. She had a good lawyer, recommended to her by one of the wives she’d known in Chicago, originally a Toronto native, who had been through two messy divorces. Lila hadn’t expected hers to be messy, but still wanted the best. The law firm Cahal had retained was housed in the office tower across the street.

  Adam Billings, her lawyer, came straight to the point. “Your husband wants you to submit to a pregnancy test.”

  “What?”

  This was the last thing Lila expected and she’d spent the entire day coming up with frightening possibilities.

  He pushed a sheet of paper across the desk, the top of it stamped “copy” in hard to miss blue ink. He waited while she read over it.

  When she was finished, Lila looked up with wide angry eyes. “You must be joking.”

  “I assure you that I am not,” Billings replied, “and neither is your husband.”

  Lila gave him a cool stare. “Well, write that lawyer back and tell him that there is no possibility that I could be pregnant. I haven’t seen Cahal in nearly a year, much less gone to bed with him. This is crazy.”

  “It doesn’t have to be your husband whom this request is aimed at,” the lawyer advised her. “Frequently, in situations such as these, it is almost certainly not the husband.”

  She didn’t like where the conversation was heading. “What does that mean?”

  “I believe that your husband wants to ensure that when a divorce goes through that you are not pregnant with your current boyfriend’s child and, shall we say, attempting to pass it off as Mr. Wallace’s.” There was a hint of admiration in the man’s tone. “Your husband’s lawyer may be wise to ensure that this test is conducted now. In terms of child support, the legal assumption is that any child conceived during the course of a marriage is presumed to be the child of the two spouses. It would be much more difficult to have a paternity test conducted after a baby was born if the facts were not established now.”

  Not quite understanding, Lila was silent for a moment. When she spoke again, her words were noticeably subdued.

  “Are you saying that my husband thinks I’m trying to pin him down for child support for a non-existent child?”

  Adam Billings raised his eyebrows. “Are you saying that there is no chance of pregnancy?”

  “I’ve just told you! I haven’t slept with Cahal in a year. I saw him for the first time yesterday. He said — ”

  She broke off as she remembered exactly what her husband had said.

  The lawyer wasn’t interested in what Cahal said. “What about your boyfriend?” He glanced down at the pages before him for the name. “Jarrett. Has he recently raised the possibility of having a child? These things have a way of getting out. Could that be why your husband is making the request now?”

  Lila shook her head. “Jack and I have only been dating for a short time. I haven’t slept with him or Cahal. Or anyone else. There is absolutely no chance that I could be pregnant.”

  She knew where her lawyer stood in the next sentence. “If there is no pregnancy, there is no harm in taking a pregnancy test,” he added. “At a doctor’s office, of course. A home pregnancy test simply would not suffice.”

  The letter was still lying on the desk between them. “What about that? Couldn’t you just write back to the lawyer and explain that there is no chance of pregnancy?”

  A small smile came to the man’s mouth at her suggestion. “I’m afraid that the other lawyer wouldn’t take your word for it.”

  “But we’re taking their word that the chance of pregnancy exists,” Lila pointed out peevishly. “Well, what will they do if I refuse?”

  The answer was prompt. “Your husband will take you to court for an order requiring you to submit to the test and provide the results to his lawyer. Based on the information in this letter, the order would be granted.”

  “That letter is garbage.” She picked it up and began to quote. “‘It has come to my client’s attention that a possibility exists that Mrs. Wallace may be pregnant. My client wishes to confirm the same.’ That’s complete nonsense.”

  The lawyer picked up his own copy of the letter, doing so as if the paper was contaminated by the ugliness of the situation. “It says here that Mr. Wallace was in Toronto two months ago.”

  “But that’s all it says! I never saw him!”

  “Now, Lila, there is no need to get worked up … ”

  The irate expression on her face made him trail off.

  “I never saw him,” she repeated. “He telephoned my home several times. He might even have come by. I asked my doorman and he remembered someone looking like Cahal but he’s not a hockey fan and he couldn’t be sure.”

  “There are specific dates and times mentioned in the letter,” the lawyer continued.

  “I hope you’re playing devil’s advocate,” Lila said, “and it’s not a case where you don’t believe what I’m telling you.”

  Her lawyer looked uncomfortable for the first time since she’d met him. “It’s not my tendency to distrust my clients. Of course neither myself nor your husband’s lawyer was present during any of these occasions. You must understand my difficulty. If the other party makes this an issue, even if merely to raise the possibility, and we have no evidence to reply, the judge can easily make an order in your husband’s favor and you will be obliged to attend a doctor’s office to take the pregnancy test.”

  “I have a reply,” she insisted. “I’m denying it. I’ll bet you anything that his story will change if he was to testify before a judge, under oath. Then he won’t be able to make these vague allegations that we slept together after we were separated.”

  “If there is a child,” Billings remarked, “it would delay the divorce proceedings.”

  Lila stared at him. “But you said that a divorce would be a mere formality, that no matter how long the financial issues dragged out I could still obtain a divorce after a year of living separate and apart.”

  “There is one significant exception,” the lawyer admitted, “but I didn’t mention it at the time because it wasn’t relevant.”

  “What’s the exception?”

  He was blunt. “A child. No court in this country will grant a divorce if there are no provisions in place for the children of the marriage.”

  Despite herself, Lila was drawn into the ridiculous discussion of an outcome she knew to be impossible. “How long could it take to make these provisions?”

  “As long as it takes to work out the financial issues, often even longer. Custody and access can be highly contested. The system tries to make it easy for couples who have no children to obtain a relatively quick divorce and to deal with the other outstanding issues later. One spouse merely has to prove it is a hardship for them to continue to be married for one reason or another. Usually, one of the spouses wishes to remarry.”

  “What if someone with a child wants to remarry?”

  “Well, the law makes the children the priority. If the parties can agree to deal with the issues of custody and child support and so on beforehand then there is no obstacle to obtaining a divorce. But when the parties are contesting these issues then neither spouse may obtain a divorce until some stability is in place for the children.”

  Lila admitted that it made sense to put the children ahead of the parents.

  “But Cahal could drag those things out forever, just as he’s dragging out the financial issues.”

  The lawyer frowned. “Mr. Wallace does seem to have taken an immovable position on the financial issues.”

  Lila said, “I don’t care if I walk out of the marriage without a penny.”

  “We’ve been over this before,” Billings pointed out, a hint of impatience creeping into his professional manner. “My advice is straightforward and it is that you are mistaken to give up on your claims for a portion of Mr. Wallace’s earnings during your years
of marriage. During the years you were his wife, you missed out on opportunities to establish a career of your own due to the demands of his job.”

  She waved him into silence. They had been over this before and Lila had agreed to keep her options open. If it wasn’t for the fact that she’d put her own inheritance from her grandparents’ estate into joint accounts, investments and even the house in Chicago, she would have just walked away. She’d already made an offer through her lawyer to take only what she’d received from her grandparents in exchange for ending the financial wrangling, which Cahal had refused. No reason, just stark refusal.

  If she contested the pregnancy test then he would drag her into court and that would take precious time. And how would she explain it all to Jack, who expected a deeper commitment — and a sexual relationship — as soon as the divorce came through?

  Lila put a hand over her eyes. “I’ll take the test as soon as possible. Just tell me where and when.”

  The lawyer looked relieved. “I will discuss the arrangements with Mr. Wallace’s lawyer and my secretary will call you with the necessary information.”

  • • •

  She seethed all the way home, working herself into a state of high tension. She tried to relax, to think of her dinner with Jack that evening, but she thought instead of Victoria Brantford cuddling up to Cahal while they laughed over her predicament and the blinding anger returned. Her husband was sinking to new depths by the day.

  Out of curiosity, Lila read the sports section of the local newspapers that morning, going out of her way to purchase both major publications. Both focused on Cahal Wallace’s spectacular victory of the previous night. Both carried photographs. One showed him in his new headshot with his new team, unmasked and smiling into the camera. In it he looked handsome and slightly goofy, grinning in a way people only did for posed official pictures. The other newspaper had a close-up shot from last night’s game and it showed a Cahal she’d never known, his face taut and grim, his eyes narrowed as he stared out between the thin metal barriers of his black goaltender’s mask. He looked intimidating and almost inhuman.