Chapter Forty-Seven
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
NOW
A FEW HOURS LATER, a knock at the front door echoes down the hallway into the foyer, halting my conversation with Nick, Alex, and Lara, his new girlfriend (sorry, just his friend who’s a girl). We exchange glances, unsure who that could be because anyone who was invited is already here. Another knock sounds as Finn appears from the kitchen to answer it.
“Sorry to bother you, Mr. Sheffield,” I hear a gruff voice say. As Nick and I inch down the hall, I see Scott, head of building security, over Finn’s shoulder. “We have a small problem.”
“Is it Greta down the hall again?” Michaela asks from behind me and joins Finn at the door.
“Her name is Gladys.” Finn sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. This war my sister has going on with the neighbor is getting out of hand. Michaela swears up and down that the feud isn’t her fault, that Gladys is just a crotchety old woman with a vendetta against her for some unknown reason. I’m not sure I believe that, but Finn doesn’t seem to know the real reason, either.
“No.” Scott chuckles. “It’s not Mrs. Perry.”
“What’s going on, Scott?” Finn asks, trying to move the conversation along.
“There’s a girl here asking for Mr. Davis.” Scott beckons someone forward from down the hall. There’s a slight delay before another security guard escorts a young girl down the hall. “Do any of you recognize her?”
Upon first glance, I swear I’ve met her before, but that’s impossible. She can’t be more than fourteen or fifteen years old. Her brown eyes meet mine, and there’s a tug of familiarity between us. Do we know each other? I don’t think so, but she looks so familiar.
“Is everything okay?” Nina suddenly appears.
“Everything’s fine, Dee,” Nick says, trying to usher her back to the living room.
“Why do you look so concerned, Scott?” She blatantly ignores her husband, stepping closer to the door.
“Not concerned, ma’am. Just curious if anyone knows this young lady.”
“What’s going on?” I hear Kai ask when he and Eileen join us. Looks like we’re moving the party to the foyer. Moments later, Ophelia runs down the hallway, chased by Elizabeth, and the little girl runs straight into the legs of her father.
Elizabeth looks around, noticing the obvious tension in the room. Her eyes roam over each of us before landing on the girl standing in the doorway. Security still holds back the young brunette, waiting for someone to tell them what to do. “Everything okay?” she asks me in a hushed tone, but I shrug. Right now, I know about as much as she does.
“Michaela,” Nina says and places a hand on my sister’s arm. “Can you take Leia? Keep her busy.”
Michaela huffs. I know she’s annoyed that Nina wants her to take care of the kids. She wants to be in on the conversation, but she does she’s told. She takes Ophelia by the hand and leads her toward the kitchen with a promise of ice cream, much to the dismay of her mother. That kid has already had enough candy and cookies to power a freight train. The last thing she needed was more sugar. I feel sorry for Kai and Eileen when they have to deal with her later.
Nina turns back to security when they’re gone. “Explain now.”
“Go ahead and tell them what you told us,” Scott instructs the girl. The girl swallows hard, her eyes roaming over the group of strangers before her. When they land on me, she looks down at her shoes. “Don’t be shy, go ahead.”
“Hey, sweetie.” Nina steps forward, placing a gentle hand on the girl’s shoulder. “You’re okay. We just want to know what you’re looking for.”
“My dad,” the girl whispers, and I barely hear her over the sound of the music.
“And who’s your dad?”
Her eyes shoot up to mine. “Josh Davis.”
The world slows down. What did she just say? Did she just say my name? She can’t be serious. This has to be some kind of joke. A sick one, but a joke nonetheless.
“Take her upstairs to the office.” Nina directs Eileen. “Now, before the others see her.”
“Is this some Godfather shit?” the young girl asks.
Nick chuckles. “No…Well, kind of.”
Eileen shoots him a glare before wrapping her arm around the girl’s shoulders. “C’mon, I’ll show you the way.”
She doesn’t budge, instead, she looks at me for some kind of approval—her brown eyes wide with fear.
I don’t know why I say it, but I offer her an encouraging smile and say, “It’s okay. We’ll be right there.”
Eileen leads her away from the scene, security following closely behind.
“Can’t we ever just have a normal holiday?” Kai asks.
“Where would the fun be in that?” Finn chuckles, walking down the hallway toward the stairs.
I know it was meant to be a joke, but if someone walked in, they probably would think this is a scene from your favorite mobster show— Godfather, Goodfellas, Scarface, Once Upon a Time in America …take your pick. Eileen sits on the far edge of the couch, and Kai stands nearby, his arms crossed over his chest, leaning against the wall. Nick sits on the other end of the sofa. He keeps a close eye on his wife, who sits in the black leather armchair across the coffee table from the girl. Finn and I stand off to the side near the window while Elizabeth stands near the door. Occasionally, her eyes meet mine, and she offers a small smile, but the hesitation in brown her eyes doesn’t go unnoticed.
We just figured our shit out, and now this happens. What. The. Fuck? Isn’t that how life works, though? Out of the frying pan and into the fire.
Scott stands in the doorway, just in case. The young girl stares back at us from her place on the pristine white suede couch between Nick and Eileen. She sticks out like a sore thumb, dressed in high-waisted jeans and a white tank top with a green checkered flannel, especially compared to the rest of us who are dressed for the holiday. Her long brown hair ghosts across her back, landing just below her shoulder blades, and she switches between sitting on her hands and playing with a stray piece that hangs over her shoulder.
“What’s your name, sweetie?” Nina asks. Her velvety voice wraps around the room like a warm blanket. If there’s one thing Nina knows how to do, it’s put you at ease in a stressful situation…Well, when she wants to. Again, one of those superpowers that comes from years of training at the hands of someone like Brina Villa.
“Brie,” the girl says.
“Okay, Brie.” Nina’s reddish-brown lips pull into a soft smile. “What makes you think Josh is your dad?” Her green eyes pierce through me briefly as Brie begins to dig into her bag, and I notice Scott flinch, but Nina shakes her head at him, never taking her focus off the girl. Brie slides a piece of paper and an envelope across the table, and Nina examines them. The paper looks like some kind of official document, but I can’t quite make out what it is from this angle. She looks over her shoulder at me. “Do you know a Juliet Sinclaire?”
Juliet Sinclaire .
Holy shit.
My eyes raise to meet Elizabeth, her features set in stone, waiting for my reply. This cannot be happening. We just got over this shit.
“How old are you?” I ask, turning back to Brie.
“I just turned fifteen.” Brie chews on her bottom lip.
“Shit.” I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose. If Brie was born in December fifteen years ago, that would make it 2010. That would mean Juliet had to get pregnant in November, October, September…June…May…March. And that’s when…Shit.
The timing adds up perfectly. I don’t need to see the paper in Nina’s hands, I know what it is. It’s a birth certificate.
A fucking birth certificate with my name on it.
“That mean something?” Kai asks me.
I nod. “I met Juliet on spring break in Daytona almost sixteen years ago. We uh—we spent the week together, and you can guess what happened.”
“Dammit, Josh,” Finn mumbles. I glare at him. He’s one to talk. He had his own fling that week.
“Why now?” Kai steps away from the wall. “Why are you showing up now? And where is your mother, shouldn’t she be with you?”
Brie shrugs. “I just found out. She’s never told me much. I didn’t know you were some old, rich guy.”
“Far from.” I chuckle.
“We’ll need to do a paternity test,” Nina says to no one in particular, continuing to stare at the birth certificate. Her eyes linger on the envelope for a moment before she looks up at me. Do I even want to know what that is? “Your name on a piece of paper doesn’t mean anything.”
“But the timing—”
“Still isn’t solid evidence. She could’ve been with more than you that week.”
While that’s a fair statement, considering the circumstances, I know it isn’t true, but I don’t want to cause a fight in front of everyone—especially Brie—so I nod in understanding.
Elizabeth’s stoic features chip away at the filling in the pit in my stomach that had been closed just over a week ago. She’s trying to digest what’s going on, what this means for us…She rips her gaze away from the carpet to look at Nina, a silent exchange passing between them.
I hate when they do that because it usually means I’m not going to like what comes next.
Nina sighs and tears away from her sister. “We’ll get it figured out, but for now, we have a holiday to finish celebrating.”
“I’m sure you’re hungry too, huh?” Eileen asks Brie, and the teenager offers a small smile. “C’mon, let’s get you something to eat. I think there’s a few of the mini tree pizzas left.”
“Mini tree pizzas?” Brie questions, following Eileen toward the door.
“Joshua Davis,” Nina hisses when the office door closes behind them. “ Che cazzo sta succedendo?” I don’t know what that means, but I can take one guess, and it’s not good.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Nina look this pissed. Her green eyes burn with such intensity, but the control she has over her emotions right now is incredible. She’s ready to strangle me after everything that has already happened and now this…her patience is running ice thin. Nick touches her hand trying to calm her, but she pulls it from his grasp. Shit.
“I have no idea. I don’t—”
“Well, you better get one.” Her words drip with venom. “Fast.”
Brie looks around the guest room in amazement, letting her duffel bag fall from her shoulder onto the green velvet ottoman at the foot of the bed. Michaela told me to put her in the guest room at the end of the hall, next to Mom and Dad. The room wasn’t exactly ready for a guest, but we weren’t expecting anyone else. There were a few boxes in the corner that Michaela still needed to go through from the move, and the dresser was covered in random shit: a few books, some design samples, and random knickknacks. Brie’s right hand fingers the cream duvet, and she chews on the thumbnail of her left. Her head moves in sync with her eyes taking in every inch of the space—the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook the city below us, the fireplace behind a plate of glass, the California King that takes up most of the back wall, the ensuite bathroom, and the walk-in closet. Finally, she looks at me. “I feel like I’m going to break something if I breathe the wrong way. It’s so…perfect.”
“Don’t say that too loud. Michaela hates the fact someone is going to be in here, and it hasn’t been prepped.” I chuckle.
Eileen had introduced Brie to the rest of the family and when I finally came downstairs to rejoin them, Mom had already pulled Brie into her clutches. She led her around the kitchen filling her plate with a little bit of everything leftover from Christmas dinner. No one said anything, not even Michaela—I had a sneaky suspicion Finn warned her against it—and tiptoeing around the subject made it all the more awkward. Honestly, I kind of wish they had just come out and said whatever was on their mind, like ripping off a band-aid. It might sting a little at first, but at least you get it over with.
“Make yourself comfortable, Brie,” I say, watching her continue to take in her new surroundings like she had been all evening. She had the same look of wonder and awe that I’d seen cross my family’s face multiple times since we’d joined the Villa clan.
“But not too comfortable.”
I pull my lips between my teeth, shoving my hands into my pockets as I rock back on my heels. What am I supposed to say? I don’t even know how long this is going to last. I need to get in touch with Juliet and figure out what all of this means. Am I supposed to start taking Brie on weekends? Are we going to be splitting custody? Or does she still want sole custody? Will I have to pay child support?
“It’s okay. I get it,” Brie sighs. “Some random girl crashes your family Christmas and—”
“I don’t want you to get the wrong idea of me, Brie, but you have to understand this is weird for me. I had no idea your mother got pregnant. I haven’t spoken to her in years. Had I known—”
“What, you would’ve done the noble thing and taken responsibility? Maybe even married her to uphold her reputation? This isn’t the old days; you don’t have to do that shit anymore.”
“Language.”
“Like you’ve never heard it before?” She rolls her eyes.
Oh God, is this what it’s like to deal with a teenager?
“That’s not the point,” I say. “You’re fifteen, you shouldn’t—”
“Exactly. I’m old enough to use words like that.” Brie stops me when I try to fight her on it further. “Oh, trust me.” Brie scoffs. “I’ve said way worse.”
I take a deep breath but let it go. I’m not here to fight with her. I’m here to try and figure out what is going on, and the best way to do that is to get ahold of Juliet. “When you get a minute, can you give me your mother’s number?”
“Why?” I don’t miss the way Brie’s eyes light up.
“I want to speak with her about all of this. There are a lot of things we need to figure out. The sooner I can get ahold of her, the sooner we can figure out how long you’ll be staying.”
And the sooner I can put any doubts Elizabeth may have behind us.
Walking into the bedroom is like déjà vu. Elizabeth sits on the ottoman against the floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the East side of Manhattan. She has shed her clothes from the day and changed into a white nightgown that looks delicious against her tanned skin.
“A kid, Josh?” Elizabeth asks before I can say anything. She turns from the window, her lips set into a straight line. I’ve been dreading this conversation since Brie uttered my name at the front door. “How are we supposed to—”
“I didn’t know!” I sigh, falling onto the edge of the bed, and rub my eyes.
“Awesome, this is just fan-freaking-tastic.”
“Sugar, you can’t be mad at me for something I didn’t even know about until a few hours ago.”
“Is this what she wanted to tell you?” She asks, but I don’t have an answer. The truth is, I don’t know what she wanted to tell me last year, but I can only assume it had something to do with this. Why didn’t she show up to the cafe last July? “Josh,” Elizabeth says quietly, drawing my gaze to her. “I’m not going to get mad, okay? But, you have to tell me the truth. What happened when you went to Wichita?”
Is she implying that I lied about not seeing Juliet last year?
“Elizabeth, I haven’t seen Juliet since twenty-ten. I told you, she never showed up last year. I swear to you—”
“She knew our address, for godsakes. How would she get that unless—”
“I don’t know!” I dig my fingers into my hair, standing from the bed and tugging on the strands. “I don’t know. And I know that’s not a good enough answer, but it’s the truth. I have no idea how she found our address or how Brie found Michaela’s. The whole thing makes no sense.”
“I will not be made a fool of, Joshua Davis.” Elizabeth takes a deep breath, her hands clenching the edge of the ottoman. “This has to be what she wanted to tell you. This is why she wrote that letter. She wants to—”
“Elizabeth, stop.”
I cross the room and kneel in front of her. Taking her hands in mine, I try to gain her attention. “Look at me,” I beg, but she still refuses. I grip her chin finally turning her gaze toward mine. “It’s all going to be okay, Sugar. We’ll figure it out.”
“What if Brie is your daughter?”
“Then we find a way to deal with it. Together.” A sigh of relief escapes me when Elizabeth slumps forward resting her forehead on my shoulder. I tighten my arms around her, kissing her temple. “I love you.”
“You better.”