Page 72 of Storm in a D Cup

Silence again. Then, a soft moan. My heart lurched. ‘Let’s go home, Jules… I’ll produce your movie for you – star in it for free – anything you want. Imissyou…’

I strained my ears as he softly murmured something back. It was practically a done deal. No man would turn down the chance to live in a Hollywood mansion while his movie was being funded by his lover. The movie was what Julian desired more than life itself. And Genie Stacie’s presence would make sure it raked in the big bucks.

Another long silence ensued, followed by more soft moans. What the hell…?

And then just like that, the door opened and Genie Stacie sashayed out, sending me a satisfied smirk. I watched her go up to the next floor as Julian appeared on the threshold, a grim expression on his face.

‘I need to talk to you, Erica,’ was all he said.

Talk…? Oh God. This was it, the end. Thedefinitiveending to us. This was how he was going to get rid of me to marry Genie Stacie once and for all. The engagement party, the secrecy. It had all been just a matter of time! And now, here it was, thetalkI’d dreaded since he told me he loved me eight years ago. He wanted to leave me for greener (or blonder) pastures, and I was weighing him down. He wanted to pursue his career as an author because he believed in it – a career that he couldn’t pursue exclusively from an old Tuscan farmhouse. We’d fared pretty well, if you considered all we’d been through.

Gulping, I nodded and followed him inside, every part of me shaking.

He sat at his desk, like a doctor about to give me a horrible diagnosis. So I braced myself, huffed and looked him straight in the eye. Maybe if he saw how much I loved him he’d change his mind?

He was rubbing his hands, the way he always did before facing a problem. Correction – before getting rid of a problem. I squared my shoulders, ignoring the pricks at the backs of my eyeballs. This was it. The end of an era.

‘Erica…’

Erica. He hardly ever called me Erica. Mostly it was sweetie or honey. Babe in our best moments. And now we were back to Erica.

Look me in the eye when you kill me,I silently willed him.

Julian looked up from his hands on his desk as if he’d heard me and for a moment I thought I’d actually said it out loud. He plowed a hand through his thick hair, his eyes searching mine. ‘I have to tell you something…’

I could only nod to indicate for him to go on, because my throat was too tight.

He looked at me for a moment longer before he huffed. ‘I’m so sorry, Erica, but… Genie Stacie and I…’

I closed my eyes and swallowed. Here it came. The end of our marriage.

‘Joey is my daughter.’

17

Family Strangers

There was a loudwooshin the room. My breath, rushing out of my lungs like a raging river emptying itself into the sea. I waited for my lungs to refill, but nothing was happening. My body had literally stalled, as had my mind. Joey, Genie Stacie’s daughter, was also… Julian’s…? No. It couldn’t be. Despite the similarities that had kept creeping into my unconscious when I lay quietly in bed, I’d ignored them. Pushed them deep down into one of my darkest corners so that I would never have to consciously deal with it. Because this utter proof that he didn’t need me anymore, if not even to make him a baby, just couldn’t be true. But Julian’s face was saying otherwise.

‘Your… daughter…?’ I heard myself rasp, while most of me was still clinging to endless possibilities.

His lips tightened and he nodded. ‘I’ll have to take a paternity test, but Joey’s birthdate matches the time I was seeing Genie Stacie.’

But I didn’t need a paternity test to know the truth. In the cold light of day, where there was nowhere to hide the facts, the rock-hard evidence was Joey’s face minus the make-up, a lovely female version of Julian’s features. Joey had his eyes, hair, even his teeth. How had I not had the courage to face this before? To see it with my eyes as well as my instinct? How hadJuliannever seen it before? And more so, how had all the showbiz rags missed it?

The thought kept roiling around and around in my brain, looking for a place to rest and settle.Julian has a daughter of his own. From another woman. And I, his wife, couldn’t give him what he’d wanted after months of trying.

And now I wondered why my rival had stayed away all these years. If she wanted him as much as she appeared to, why was she only staking her claim on him now, after almost eighteen years?

As far as Joey was concerned, and with my maternal instincts, I knew that she was extremely vulnerable under thatWho gives a shit?exterior. And a part of me, on some level, was relieved for her. Relieved that Julian could have a say in changing that poor girl’s life and offer her his unconditional love. But the other part of me wondered, what about his family? What about Maddy, Warren and me,ourfamily? What would all this mean for us? How would Warren and Maddy take it? And what about Julian and I? What aboutus?

And then it all came to me in a rush, adding up and slotting into place, piece by painful piece. The engagement, the secret groom and all the hush hush about everything. Every mysterious, wandering piece finally fit to shape the most grotesque picture for me. He was slowly, secretly replanning his new life. Which indicated only one thing.

‘Youknewabout Joey…’

He stopped and looked me straight in the eye. ‘Yes,’ he finally whispered.

Something at the bottom of my stomach flopped, like a dying fish. Or maybe it was merely me, slowly starting to die inside. ‘For how long?’

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