Power Play (Crimson Romance) Page 4

  The man behind the black mask could have done this easily and without a qualm, probably lying between his teeth to his own lawyer and maybe even willing to perjure himself if it came to that. He was determined, she knew that from watching him climb the ranks of the hockey world until he’d emerged on top, and he’d decided to turn some of that power against her.

  He’d chosen a sensitive topic. For years, she’d wanted a child and he’d said later when his career was more established. Then when it became clear that he was a success, he’d flatly refused to consider having a family, telling her that he wasn’t ready. Knowing his background and the pain caused by his parents’ divorce, Lila had tried to be patient. By the time she saw the separation looming, she’d come to recognize his excuses as hollow.

  It eased her rage to dream of a future baby for a little while, not the specter Cahal’s ludicrous request had raised but a planned and wanted child who would have two stable parents to look after it. After an hour of daydreaming and a long hot bath, she was ready to tell her boyfriend about the last chapter in her divorce saga. She expected him to be angry as she was at the inconvenience but once he understood that Cahal’s tactic would not hamper their own relationship she hoped his anger would also pass.

  She’d expected anger, she hadn’t anticipated Jack’s explosive fury. Even in the middle of the dinner rush, with the music and conversation of the restaurant cloaking all but the most strident voices, many of the other diners noticed his fist banging against the tabletop and turned to stare.

  “It’s no big deal,” Lila told him, minimizing her own reaction for his benefit. “I’ll just take the test and put the issue to rest.”

  She watched with some alarm as he finished the contents of his beer mug in one thirsty swallow.

  “Then why’s he asking for it?”

  It took her a minute to understand that this was an accusation and another to realize that she should have had the conversation in private.

  Lila reached across the table to touch his hand. “Jack, it’s not true. There’s absolutely no way I could be pregnant.”

  He knew that they’d never been lovers so that left Cahal to absolve, something her boyfriend was finding hard to do.

  He left her hand where it was, making no move to grasp it. “You said that he tried to contact you a couple months ago. Did you really manage to avoid him as you told me or did he get hold of you somehow? Because I find it hard to believe a persistent guy like Wallace would just give up.”

  Her smile was crooked. She knew how relentless Cahal could be.

  “He didn’t just give up, he had to head back to Chicago. I’m sure he would have tried again next time he was in town.”

  The discussion would have been better suited to his cozy apartment where she could have soothed some of his frown lines with kisses. She was disappointed when the waitress came and Jack ordered another beer.

  “What do you think he had to say?”

  “Cahal?” she replied with perfect honesty. “I don’t know.”

  After the separation she’d given him no chance to explain anything, afraid he could talk his way out of the worst crimes.

  Jack drank his second beer.

  “He wants you back.”

  The suggestion was funny. “Probably,” she admitted. “I was the perfect wife and the perfect little fool. Besides, I know how to cook his steaks.”

  He didn’t smile. “He’s in love with you, Lila.”

  “Probably,” she said again. “Once upon a time.”

  The bottom of his mug hit the table with unnecessary violence. “No, not once upon a time. Now.”

  She sighed. That was the problem with anticipating an argument, she’d been expecting a different one.

  “Cahal is not in love with me, Jack. He has a girlfriend.” This piece of information caught his attention. “I met her yesterday at Wives. Her name is Victoria Brantford and she came up from Chicago to be with him. Obviously it’s not a casual affair.”

  There was no reason for that fact to hurt as it did, it was both unreasonable and unfair.

  Her boyfriend leaned back into the plush upholstery of their booth, again the comfortable and casual man she’d known for the past several months. “What’s the girlfriend like?”

  She was on easy ground. “Blonde and beautiful. She’s much too nice for Cahal, of course.”

  It was a relief to see him laugh. This time when she reached out, his fingers twined naturally with hers. For the rest of the meal she spoke about work and their plans for taking a vacation together to celebrate her divorce.

  “What happens if I get traded?”

  The interruption showed he’d been following a very different line of thought while she babbled about their vacation, afraid of a silence that food could not fill.

  “Are you being traded?” Lila posed the question with false calm.

  “Not that I know of,” he said, “but it’s not exactly unusual. It’s no secret that Clark and Green are trying to put together a championship team and they’re willing to spend the money to get the talent they need.”

  Back-up defensemen didn’t come under the heading of talent and for Jack Jarrett’s modest salary the powers that be would end up getting another Jack Jarrett. Despite his limited role on the team and occasional appearances on the ice Jack was nonetheless a popular player in Toronto, the kind of gritty scrappy player fans took a liking to for no apparent reason. As far as she could tell, he was the last player in danger of being traded away to another team. It was the ‘talented’ players who had to always be looking around them, wondering if this was their last game with that particular team.

  “You’re not going anywhere, Jack. Toronto loves you.”

  The praise won her a sheepish grin. “I did get a lot of good press about that fight with Amys, didn’t I?”

  “You pulverized him,” Lila, who didn’t watch hockey, said. She’d tried watching again after she started seeing Jack but found the tension too difficult to withstand. Even without being on the screen, Cahal’s presence was always in the background. Any spectacular save invited a comparison to the premier goaltender in the league and the little segments in between periods, used to update fans on other games that day, often featured him in the highlights. Her husband was not merely talented, he was also quotable and photogenic.

  They left the restaurant with their arms wrapped around each other. Across the parking lot, a man shouted Jack’s name and he smiled and waved before putting Lila into his car.

  “See?” she murmured when he came around to the driver’s side. “Everyone in this city loves you.”

  He flashed her a glance of mingled fondness and mockery.

  “Everyone?”

  Lila straightened. “Jack.”

  He switched on the ignition. “It’s all right,” he said. “I’m not pushing.”

  She found herself wondering why he didn’t push. Many men might have and Cahal certainly would. She pushed the thought of her husband firmly away. Jack was not like Cahal, fortunately, and she didn’t want him to be any different. A contented man with a solid family background and any amount of loyalty and patience. He was exactly what she needed.

  Chapter Four

  Adam Billings’ secretary called a few days later, but it wasn’t to set up the appointment for the pregnancy test. Lila listened to the young woman’s conciliatory tone for several minutes, her annoyance rising with each one.

  One of the library volunteers entered the staff room and Lila turned her back to the teenaged girl.

  “I don’t understand why we need this meeting,” she said, her irritation no less evident. “I’ve already agreed to the request.”

  She couldn’t tell how much the young woman knew of the case from her calm professional voice.

  “Mr. Billings realizes that this is an inconvenience, Mrs. Wallace … ” The woman’s voice trailed off, expecting agreement.

  Lila did not fail her. There was no point in arguing with the lawyer’s und
erlings, they always retreated behind the mantra of what Mr. Billings wanted, their only goal to ensure that this was attained.

  “I can be there,” Lila sighed. “Tomorrow at ten o’clock? That’s fine.”

  The summons ensured she spent the rest of the day in a now-familiar fog of uncertainty and worry. After the latest volley from Cahal’s camp, she wondered what he could have planned. She knew she wouldn’t like the solution.

  • • •

  The meeting took place at the office building across the street. The sprawling space housing the law firm might have been cloned from Adam Billings’ office. Decorated in muted tones and natural wood, the boardroom oozed expensive understatement.

  Cahal and his lawyer were already seated at one end of the enormous table and Lila wondered if they were expected to join them or take seats at the other end, some distance away. Her lawyer appeared to know the protocol, going straight to the occupied side of the room. He shook hands first with the other lawyer, showing wary cordiality, then pumped Cahal’s hand.

  “Mr. Wallace, I’m glad to meet you. Do you think you can take us all the way to the finals this year?”

  Cahal’s smile was the polite one often seen in television clips, given to reporters who knew little about sports.

  “I intend to give it my best.”

  Adam Billings’ reaction was fatuous. “Good man,” he approved. “I’ve always said that you’re just the man Toronto needs between the pipes.”

  Cahal thanked him and the other man missed the look he sent Lila, a glance that invited her to share his amusement over the lawyer’s effusiveness.

  “Hello, darling.”

  Knowing that he was entertaining himself with the intimate look and endearment, Lila nodded stiffly in response.

  “Let’s get down to the matter at hand.” Unlike his client, Cahal’s white-haired lawyer was all business. “Mr. Wallace is interested in negotiating a reconciliation. To that end, he is suggesting marriage counseling and renewed cohabitation. He is prepared to cover Mrs. Wallace’s legal costs in their entirety in the event that the reconciliation is unsuccessful.”

  Lila was silent, waiting for her attorney to speak, but for once Billings’ glib tongue failed him. His stunned expression irritated her, though it was better than facing her husband’s smile.

  The other lawyer went on. “Of course you realize, Mr. Billings, that it is our duty as lawyers to present our clients with all reasonable options and opportunities for reconciliation if there is a chance of one.”

  As her lawyer would not speak, Lila took the lead. “Sir, there is no chance of reconciliation. We’re wasting our time having this meeting.”

  She glared at Cahal, aware that the lawyer would simply carry out his client’s instructions. At the prices he was paying, the lawyer would be only too happy to do so. Though Billings’ fees were more reasonable — he hadn’t been practicing nearly as long as Cahal’s attorney — she spent a significant percentage of her salary on legal fees and feared the monthly bills which arrived in her mail with frightening regularity.

  “I don’t know,” her lawyer was saying. “Perhaps you should give the idea some thought. You don’t have to make up your mind right now.”

  Lawyerly caution was not a part of her makeup. Lila stirred in her chair. “I’ve made up my mind.”

  The other attorney raised a pair of bushy white eyebrows. “Am I to take it, Billings, that your client is refusing our offer out of hand? Because that’s the kind of thing a judge will take into account when it comes to allocating costs.”

  Costs was one legal term Lila understood; Adam had drilled the concept into her head many times. If one party was unreasonable or merely unsuccessful at any part of the divorce proceedings then they could be compelled to bear not only their own legal costs but also to pay the legal fees for the other side.

  Billings spoke to her in an urgent undertone. “We should discuss this in private, Lila.”

  Her husband’s lawyer was helpful. “There are several rooms you may use that are presently vacant.”

  Cahal’s raspy voice cut through his lawyer’s. “If we’re discussing things in private then it should be Lila and I having the discussion. A reconciliation is a private affair.”

  Her lawyer’s expression was pleading. “Okay,” she said, accustomed to taking his advice. After all, it was why she paid him. “I’ll give it a try. Adam, come and get me in a half hour.”

  It was fortunate that she wore a watch, she didn’t quite trust her lawyer to stick to the allocated time. He was already punching in numbers on his wireless device, no doubt checking his email.

  A secretary posted just outside of the door showed them to a smaller room that was bare of any furniture save for a round table and four chairs. A bottle of imported water and several glasses stood on a tray in the center of the table and she occupied her hands by pouring herself a glass.

  Lila leaned her hip against the edge of the table and scrutinized her husband over the rim of the glass.

  “What are you up to, Cahal?”

  He stood with his back to the door, blocking it as he would a hockey net. There was a glimmer of laughter in those long-lashed gray eyes.

  “Darling, you insult me.”

  “No,” she denied, “you insult me by pretending to want a reconciliation eleven months after our separation and one month before we should be divorced. Not to mention the stupidity of that pregnancy test.”

  “Have you taken it yet?”

  “No,” Lila admitted. “Instead you sprang this meeting on me. What sort of tactic is this?”

  He seemed intent on answering all of her questions with ones of his own. “What makes you think it’s a tactic?”

  She rolled her eyes to the discreet fluorescent lights overhead. “You make a living anticipating the next move and always being ahead of it.”

  “This is not a sport.” For the moment, he sounded grimly serious.

  Lila pulled out a chair and sat down. “Well, if you’re not going to come clean then I’m happy to wait here until Adam comes to get me.”

  “Adam,” he repeated the name with a sneer. “On a first name basis with your counsel, are you?”

  As this was self-evident, she did not reply but glanced at her wrist.

  He came away from the door. “All right, I’ll tell you what’s going on.”

  “I knew it was a tactic,” Lila murmured, unable to account for the rush of disappointment. “What is the point of this one? Trying to make yourself look good before the judge we’re going in front of next month or just continuing in your ongoing attempt to bankrupt me?”

  The long stare to which he subjected her made her regret her unthinking words. They’d exchanged financial statements some months ago so he had a fair idea about her financial situation but he didn’t know of the mounting legal bills she owed to Adam’s firm or the move she’d recently made to a smaller apartment in a slightly seedy part of the city. It was a bachelor apartment, combining living and sleeping quarters into an uncomfortably tiny space, and she was still too ashamed to take Jack there.

  “Why haven’t you taken any of the support I’ve offered?”

  She adopted his approach and countered with a query. “Is this really how you want to spend your half hour, by going over the same tired ground?”

  He shook his head. “No, you’re right. Let’s discuss this offer. I want a reconciliation because of personal reasons that have nothing to do with you.”

  The statement stung. “I think it has something to do with me,” she responded. “My lawyer explained to me that any reconciliation attempt we made, beyond a certain length of time, may delay my ability to obtain a divorce.”

  He was frowning. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

  Lila gestured to the chair across from her. “Why don’t you explain it? I have to admit that I’m curious.”

  He sat down and leaned his long arms across the table, fixing her with a piercing stare.

  “It�
��s a woman.”

  She laughed. “Isn’t it always?”

  The strong talented hands folded into loose fists.

  “Her name is Victoria Brantford and her father’s a big shot in the States. The family owns a chain of department stores along with a partial share of the Chicago franchise and Victoria’s used to getting what she wants.”

  “And you’re what she wants this time?” Lila asked the question.

  Cahal grimaced. “She’s not my type but I made the mistake of accepting her invitation to some society affair involving the owners of the team and I took her out to dinner a few times afterwards. I thought coming to Toronto that she would get the idea. No luck. She followed me from Chicago.”

  Lila’s throat tightened. She didn’t doubt his version of events for a moment. Women always followed him; that was the curse of his looks and talent.

  “The daughter of an owner of your team must be hard to shake.”

  He reached for a clean glass and filled it. “It’s even harder when everyone knows you’re separated from your wife.”

  “So you don’t want to be separated any longer,” Lila concluded. “I get it. You want me to pretend that we’ve reconciled so you can stop running from this woman. You know, she didn’t seem scary.”

  His head snapped up. “You’ve met Victoria?”

  “Last week.” She explained about the meeting at Cathy Monahan’s home.

  “And Victoria described herself as my girlfriend?”

  Lila nodded. “She was very convincing and didn’t seem at all dangerous.”

  “I didn’t say she was dangerous,” he said. “Only determined.”

  “That kind of determination can be dangerous.”

  He stood up with a movement that reminded her vividly of his profession. It amazed her that she could have forgotten. For seven years, she’d unsuccessfully tried to ignore what her husband did at work, trying to pretend that he went to an office instead of a hockey arena, that he rubbed elbows with middle managers instead of admiring reporters and fervent fans.