Playing for Keeps (19 page)

"How?"

Chance lifted a brow. "Do you really want to know?"

"No. Go on."

"After a couple of years she started drinking and her health deteriorated. By then it was too late. My brother threatened to expose me. Just think of how it would look if people discover that I'm not only a baby snatcher, but we fabricated a child's life. And I don't want Tiffany exposed to the ugliness people like to read about. If I wasn't who I am now, I would fight for her, but I don't want her used to sell papers and online views." He paused. "Are you laughing at me?"

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to, I just can't get over the fact that you stole a baby. I never would have guessed."

"Quiet, do you want them to hear us?"

Stacy covered her mouth and shook her head.

" I told you, it's not something I'm proud of." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I shouldn't have told you."

Stacy took his hand. "I'm glad you did. It's just a bigger problem than I thought. Does Tiffany know?"

Chance widened his eyes. "Do you think I'd tell her a story like that?"

"What does she think?"

"She knows she's adopted. But Maris won't give up custody. It will be a fight to get her to relinquish her rights. And a court case could destroy her."

Stacy rested her head on his shoulder and groaned. "The last thing I want is to be involved in another court case."

"I know."

"But I think I know someone I can talk to."

"You'll help me?"

Stacy looked at him surprised. "Of course I'll help you."

"You don't know what's at stake.
Courting Danger
has not been released yet and even when it is, if my reputation is ruined it may--"

"I know how things work. We're going to be strategic and figure out something."

Leon came into the hallway. "I was wondering what was taking you two so long."

"We're talking," Chance said.

"Mom needs you."

"Fine."

"I'll be all right," Stacy said.

Chance nodded then left her. Stacy went into the kitchen to put on some tea. Leon followed her and sat down.

"I guess you both belong to the land of make believe," he said. "Making money while the rest of us do real work."

"Were you weaned too early or something?"

"What?"

"I've never heard such a big baby in my whole life."

"Excuse me?"

"This is the way the world works. You need us and we need you. The head and the heart. It's all one."

"My work matters more."

"Yes, and what do people do after surgery? How best do they heal? By watching a funny movie, or reading a book, or looking at a painting, or talking with friends?"

"People worship people who don't matter. Why do we worship someone just because they're famous?"

"Not everyone does," Stacy said not surprised by the jealousy she heard in Leon's tone. She'd heard the same in Marshall's voice. "It only seems that way. There are actors and writers you've never heard of but millions of others have. There are doctors and scientists I don't know about but millions of lives have been affected by them. Does it matter who's popular as long as you live with joy? As long as you make your life matter? I don't write so that people know me, and most don't, but I make a lot of money entertaining people and making them happy. Your brother does the same. But I'm assuming that's not the same with you. You probably didn't become a doctor because you had a passion for it. You did it for status and prestige and that's why it irks you that your brother gets what you think you should. Because, if you truly loved your work, nothing else would matter."

He stood and closed the distance between them. "You don't know anything about me."

"I'm right, aren't I? You hate your schedule. You hate your patients. You hate your career and if you could do it all over again you'd chose something else. What you hate the most is that you feel stuck because you feel that you should be happy because people are impressed by what you do, but it's not enough. You sacrificed so much and you're still not happy. Am I close?"

Leon's eyes hardened. "Are you in the market to make my brother husband number two?"

"My relationship with your brother has nothing to do with you."

"That's where you're wrong. Look, you may have my brother by the balls, but I've got him where it counts." He tapped his chest. "Right here, and there's nothing you can do about it. You'll never last without me. If I want you to disappear, you'll be gone. You're a sad, pathetic bitter divorcee and you have nothing to say considering you hang out with whores," he said grabbing her butt and squeezing it hard.

"Take your hand off me," she said in a cool, clipped tone.

"You think I don't know who that woman was you brought here, bitch?"

Stacy looked into his eyes and saw Marshall's gaze again and knew how dangerous Leon was. But this time she didn't care. She saw red and launched at him like a wildcat. She scratched his face, and kicked him. She couldn't remember much of the rest, just that moments later someone was pulling her away. She saw three other faces staring at her in shock. She only recognized Maris.

"What are you doing?" Chance said, grabbing her around the waist.

"She just came at me," Leon said in a shaky voice, grabbing the side of his face where Stacy had struck him. "What the hell is wrong with her?"

Chance glared at her. "Have you lost your mind? You know how I feel about violence. After what I shared with you. What our father put us through, how could you do this in my sister's house?"

"But he--"

"I don't care. There's no excuse for violence. Ever. I don't care if you break things, smash things, spit on things, but you touch another human being in anger and you've gone too far."

Stacy saw Leon grin and knew she couldn't let him win. "Chance, I--"

"I don't want to hear it. Apologize now."

She pulled away from him. "No."

He stared at her for a moment, unsure. "What do you mean 'no'?"

"I will not apologize to him. Ever."

"Take a deep breath. I understand you're angry, but you're going to apologize then we'll get to the bottom of things."

"No."

"Do you see those scratch marks on my brother's face? Do you want me to tell you about the time our stepfather used a fork to peel away my skin when I did something wrong?"

Stacy looked down at her hands, she saw her engagement ring smeared with his brother's blood. She knew how things looked. She knew that, in an instant, Chance was no longer the man she loved, but judge and jury who'd just convicted her--finding her guilty. She now understood why he hadn't introduced her to his family. He didn't love her enough. "I am not your stepfather," she said in a tired, hollow voice, all fight gone.

"I know that, but what I'm saying is that anger must always be controlled. It's dangerous otherwise."

"You're right," she said, twisting off her ring.

Chance covered her hand before she could pull the ring off completely. "What are you doing?"

"Letting him win."

"Stacy, I don't know what happened, but I'm sure it was all a misunderstanding." His hand closed around hers and he softened his tone. "My brother would never hurt a woman. He can be coarse and foul I know, but he'd never touch one. We both made a promise. Even now he helps battered women for free."

Tears shone in her eyes. "I'm not going to apologize."

Chance's voice dropped to a whisper, cracking with pain. "Just do it for me. We can talk about--"

"No, there's nothing more to say." She set the engagement ring on the counter, pushed past him, then raced out of the house and jumped into her car. She drove a few blocks away then parked her car and just screamed. She screamed until her voice was hoarse. She screamed while hot tears spilled down her cheeks. She screamed her rage. She screamed her pain. She screamed her sorrow. Why did she always have to lose? Why couldn't Chance have just listened to her? Why couldn't he have loved her enough to have given her the benefit of the doubt? She just wanted to be heard. She wanted to be believed. She had risked so much for him and he'd left her empty and she had no Julia to run to. She was truly alone and she had no one to blame but herself.

***

"I'm really sorry about that," Leon said once they were alone.

Chance nodded. "I know."

Leon's gaze dropped to the ring left sitting on the counter. "So what's that about?"

Chance snatched the ring up and shoved it in his pocket. Stacy was gone. She'd really left him, leaving their future behind. "A mistake."

Tiffany came into the kitchen rubbing her eyes. "Did Aunt Stacy leave?"

He nodded, unable to speak, the room suddenly feeling smaller, the air thin.

"Go back to bed," Leon said.

Tiffany didn't move. She lightly touched Chance's hand. "Are you okay?"

Chance nodded again, keenly aware of how quickly his chest rose and fell. He couldn't afford a panic attack now. He had to stay strong for her.

"Go to bed," Leon said again, this time his tone held a level of command. After she'd gone, he looked at Chance with concern. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"I'm fine," he wheezed, reminding himself of the kid who'd suffered childhood asthma and disappeared into the movies when his stepfather scared him. He watched his brother leave the kitchen then fell into a chair. This was the man Stacy didn't want to marry. She only wanted Chance Jamison--the successful actor and producer. The man who took her to plays and wined and dined her. Not Terrell Paige--the man with a complicated family life, a man who suffered major panic attacks. A man who abhorred violence. Chance wouldn't care. Chance was perfect, easy-going, understanding, unafraid. He'd thought his dream had finally come true, that he wouldn't be lonely anymore. But he'd been wrong.

***

In the other room, Leon had to hide a smile.

"What trouble have you been making?" his Gran said with a knowing look.

Leon wiped the smile from his face. "Nothing. I didn't do anything." He kissed her on the cheek. "I'd better get going," he said then left. Getting rid of Stacy had been easier than he'd thought.
Who's the great one now, bro?
He may have the career and the fans, but now his love life was in the toilet. Exactly where it should be. Stacy learned that she couldn't match him either. That she may be smart, but not as smart as he was. She was just a woman and he knew how to handle them. He'd tried to be soft, but the ones he liked wanted it rough. His brother would soon learn the truth too. That women couldn't be trusted and only fools gave their hearts away. Tonight he'd seen that their love was as fake as the crap they created. They got a real dose of reality and couldn't handle it. Now they would know how the rest of the world felt. How it felt to be a real person with a job. He could still see Chance's face--horrified, shocked, hurt. He should get an Emmy for that role. He couldn't smile now. He couldn't be the star of the show. But most of all, he couldn't outshine him.

Stacy walked into the living room feeling like a wrung-out dishrag. Houdini greeted her and she fell to her knees and hugged him, pressing her cheek against his soft fur. "You're the only one who's stayed by my side." She looked at him and he licked her face, his tail wagging.

Laurice came up to her and said, "You have a visitor. But first I think there's something you should know about--"

"Who's here?" Stacy cut in. She glanced at her watch. "It's nearly ten."

"She told me you were expecting her."

"I'm not expecting anybody--"

Rania came around the corner. "That's too bad because we need to talk."

"Not now. I have a lot of things I have to do. We can talk later." She went into her bedroom.

"I think you should listen to what Laurice has to say," Rania said, standing in the doorway.

"I can listen to it later. Right now I just need some time alone."

"But I think it might help--"

Stacy pounded the bed. "I don't care! Do you hear me? I don't care. I don't want to listen, I don't want to talk. I just want to be left alone."

"Have you forgotten the oath?" Rania said after a few moments.

"I know it by heart."

"Then why are you settling?"

"I'm not settling. The Black--" She lowered her voice when Rania gave her a look of sensor and realized she feared Laurice could overhear. "I mean this society has given me all that I wanted. I'm the one who screwed up."

"How?"

"I lost my temper when I shouldn't have."

"So just apologize."

"I can't."

"So you're settling. You're settling for what you can get instead of going out and fighting for what you want. If you truly loved Chance, you'd talk to him. You'd both figure this out together."

"I guess I don't really love him then, huh? Which is great, since he certainly doesn't love me."

"How do you know that?"

"What are you even doing here? How did you know...look can we do this another time?"

"You're avoiding the question."

"If you'd seen the look on Chance's face you'd know."

"Did you see him clearly or did you see him through the eyes of anger?"

Stacy clenched her fist remembering Chance's dark look when he asked her to apologize. "I saw him clearly for the first time."

Rania nodded. "Then you're right. You don't love him and you don't love yourself, either."

"Now wait a minute. I've done everything this club has asked of me. I've worn the stockings and felt better than I ever have. I've gotten over my divorce, I'm writing again and I'm successful. That's a woman who loves herself."

"It's an illusion of one."

"I don't need a man to make me happy."

"I never said that."

"It's implied."

"No, I'm saying you're settling because you don't think you're worthy of having it all. Why can't you strive to have a great career
and
someone to share it with? You think that you have to be alone to be a successful woman. You've given yourself only one option."