IF I WERE YOUR WOMAN (12 page)

Damn him, damn, him, damn, him!
Laney entered the elevator and pushed the down button. “I’ll figure out who you were talking to, Ashton
…
so help me God,” she whispered with grim promise as the elevator doors shut.

~ ~ ~

“Houston, we’ve got a problem.” Later that evening, JoJo made the announcement on a dramatic gasp as he flounced through the front door at Olivia.

Laney studied JoJo’s grim expression. “JoJo, is everything okay?”

“No,” JoJo answered with one hand pressed to his forehead and the other on his hip. “Oh, love, I’m so upset I can’t even speak!”

“What’s wrong?” Laney asked as a note of apprehension filled her voice.

Alex placed a kiss against Laney’s cheek. “How are you?”

“I’m fine.” Laney took a step back, noticing the troubled expression on Alex’s face. “Whatever it is involves Raphael, doesn’t it?”

Alex glanced up the staircase. “Is Ray here?”

“Yes,” Laney answered.

Alex nodded. “Is there somewhere the three of us can talk privately?”

Laney led them from the foyer into the main salon. She shut the door, but didn’t bother to sit. She focused her gaze on JoJo. “Whatever is going on has nothing to do with the article coming out in The Star. Does it?”

Alex paced back and forth, his face stoic. He spoke in a flat voice. “A couple of hours ago, JoJo got a call from one of his contacts at Universal Entertainment. It appears in addition to the article, Evangeline is making a few discreet inquiries about Les Croisés and more specifically about Ray.”   

“JoJo,” Laney drawled softly, “are you absolutely certain about this?”

JoJo offered a dramatic sigh. “It’s one hundred percent confirmed. I’m so sorry I had to be the bearer of bad news at a time like this.” 

Laney was determined to get to the bottom of the situation. “Does your source have a name?”

“Well, he does, but I rather not say. I don’t want Evangeline to
…
you know
…
find out.” JoJo darted his eyes around the room in five different directions. “Even though it’s the twenty-first century, not everyone is evolved. I do hope you understand?”

Laney nodded. “I understand completely.”

“Laney,” Alex said in a measure tone, “you need to know Evangeline is asking the kind of questions for a surprise attack down the road. I’m a firm believer that the best offense is a good defense.”

Deep in concentration, Laney focused at the wall. After a long pause, she finally asked, “
If
Evangeline found out something, what do you think she’d do with the information?”

JoJo snorted. “Blackmail. I won’t put it past that bleach-blond hussy.”

Everything in Laney rejected the idea of coincidence. A cold chill raced down her spine. It was bad enough Raphael had to go through the ordeal of cancer. There was absolutely no way she’d stand by and allow someone to harm him at a time he couldn’t defend himself. She went on to share with Alex and JoJo the earlier incidents today at the hospital and how she felt Ashton and Evangeline where somehow connected.

Laney settled her gaze on Alex. “Do you truly feel Evangeline would stoop to the level of blackmail?”

Alex nodded stiffly. “I’d be crazy if I didn’t.”

“I don’t think Raphael and Les Croisés are the real targets,” Laney concluded.

Alex gave Laney a quick, sharp look. “Laney, people use blackmail to try and exhort celebrities every day of the week.”

Laney smiled. “You’re missing an important piece of the puzzle here, detective.”

Alex frowned. “In what way?”

“We all know Evangeline wants Les Croisés to sign a renewal option, right?”

Alex and JoJo nodded simultaneously.

“I don’t think she wants them to do so for the good of Universal Entertainment. That doesn’t make any sense.” Laney was glad she saw the troubled expression
on Alex’s face
. At least he was as suspicious as she was. She went on to explain her theory. “No one would go through the trouble Evangeline is going through to retain an artist if she didn’t somehow have a personal stake in it.”

Alex thought about Laney’s statement and finally said, “So you think blackmail is secondary—”

“To something she’s involved in personally. And Universal Entertainment is a means to the end.” Laney lifted her chin. “So what can we do?”

“
We
can’t do anything,” Alex said pointedly. “
I’ll
handle Evangeline.”

Laney offered Alex a shrewd look. “You’d be passing up a great chance to figure this out, if you don’t allow me to help you.”

“Laney,” Alex warned, “Ray would kill me and half of America if he ever found out I let you get involved with anything that could possibly put you in danger.”

The room became graveyard silent.

Finally, JoJo snapped his finger in front of Laney’s face. When she didn’t flinch, he slapped his hand against his forehead. “Oh, Christ, Alex. I knew we shouldn’t have told her. The stress has become too much for her!” His eyes settled on Laney again. “Boo, are you okay?”

Laney glanced at Alex. “And you’re certain I can’t be of some assistance?”

Alex sighed wearily. “Laney, for the last time, the answer is no. I understand you want to help Ray, but stay out of this. Please?”

Laney folded her arms over her chest. Alex was too protective to let her help. JoJo was even worst. She hadn’t thoroughly thought out all the details of what she’d plan to do, but she would. After all, figuring out the unknown was how she made her living. Plus, whatever she decided to do didn’t mean she needed Alex and JoJo’s assistance. 

Alex issued a stern warning. “Laney, do I have your word I won’t hear anymore from you about this?”

Laney’s angelic expression appeared. To her way of thinking, not talking about it wasn’t the same as not doing it. “Yes, Alex. I promise not to utter another word to you on this subject.”

“D
arling, you trust me, right?” Laney posed the question the moment Raphael walked out the bathroom with nothing but a towel tucked at his waist. She called on ever measure of restraint she could muster to ignore the droplets of water on his skin, which sparkled like diamonds. Smiling, she tilted her head back, moving closer to feel the heat of his lean body.

Ray tightened his fingers on her hip as her whispered words flowed over him like warm honey. Did she even have to ask that question? From the day he’d walked through the doors of Olivia, everything she’d done had been on his behalf. As far as he was concerned, there was nothing she could ever do to betray him.  “You know I do.”

After Alex and JoJo left, Laney contemplated not sharing with Raphael the conversation she’d had with them. Her reason was simple. Tomorrow he began his third round of chemo. From the day she’d returned to Olivia, Raphael prepared himself for each week of treatment both mentally and emotionally. The last thing she wanted to do was interfere with that process.  How could she burden him with the knowledge that Ashton might have tipped off Evangeline as to his whereabouts? She analyzed that very question for over an hour and always came to the same conclusion.

How could she
not
tell him?

Laney shared with Raphael the incident with the reporters at the hospital and everything she’d discussed with Alex and JoJo. “Let me help you with this.”

“Oh,
hell
no!” Ray’s tone was unyielding. “Red, there’s no way I’ll ever let you tangle with Evangeline. No way!” Laney’s undaunted stance coupled with the surfacing of her calm expression made him groan.  

There was absolutely, positively, without question, no way on earth he’d ever let her go up against a pack of music industry vultures on his behalf no matter what the circumstances were. Hell, on his best day, he was half-scared to deal with them himself. He noticed the way Laney had lifted her chin up, her lips pursed. He sighed with frustration because he saw a fight in the making. She wasn’t about to back down. And neither was he.

“Raphael, whether you want to admit it or not, you need me.” 

“Yes, I need you.” Ray gently cupped her chin, his fingertips tracing along the smoothness of her jaw. “But not at the expense of you getting involved in this situation. I’ll figure something out.”

Laney stared at Ray, her green eyes dark. “What if Evangeline somehow manages to find out you have cancer and uses the information against you?”

Ray’s face was like stone. Recently, Alex told him the hospital investigation in California proved his medical records hadn’t been breeched. At least he was safe on that front. However, he knew how the paparazzi operated. If they wanted information, they’d kill their own mother to get it. Still, Laney’s theory that Ashton recognized him and shared his whereabouts with Evangeline was a probability he couldn’t ignore. “Whether she finds out or not, I’ll handle it. Understand me?”

Ray looked down at Laney’s determined expression with both exasperation and amusement. The researcher in her made her
inquisitive, which led to her methodically investigating whatever seized her interest. She didn’t rush to do anything. Nor did she poke her nose into every detail that came her way, unless it drew her interest. 

“You do know we’re dealing with another party in all of this besides Evangeline, don’t you?”

“Ashton,” he replied shortly. “Don’t remind me.” Ray had a flashback to the day he confronted him at Laney’s office. He was still angry. And what made him even angrier was that he hadn’t taken care of him when he had the chance. “You need to be on your P’s and Q’s with player.

“Raphael, I don’t concern myself with Ashton. I remember my mother telling me he acted the same way with her when they worked together. ”

“You should be concerned,” Ray roared.  “He’s a racist. I don’t see why you continue to work around him.”

“I took that job for one reason and one reason only. I wanted to continue the research my mother began. Achieving that goal far outweighs my hate for racism.”

Ray let that conversation drop. He already knew what he planned to do concerning Evangeline and Ashton. “I don’t want you to get involved in this. Hear me?”

“Now see here—”

“No, you see here. Red, I’m going to tell you this only once. I got this. And if I find out you’re sticking your nose into this mess with Evangeline and Ashton, I’ll drag your pretty freckled-face behind into a room and tie you up until it’s over with. Got it?” 

Laney offered a sweet smile in return and batted her eyelashes. “Hmmm, so you think my behind is pretty?”

“Very pretty.” Ray watched the way she looked at him with narrow-eyed intensity. “Girl, don’t bat those eyes at me either. It won’t make me change my mind. Not on this one.”

Why would someone want to invade his privacy? It was bad enough he had to fight cancer, but he certainly didn’t need to wage war against someone who wanted to use his illness against him for their own selfish gain. She was prepared to do whatever was necessary to protect him. Laney rested her head on his chest, rubbing her cheek against the hairless spot between each nipple. “I’m not going to let you do this alone, darling.” The tiny bud was mere inches away from her mouth and she took advantage of the irresistible urge to know what it tastes like. Her tongue darted out and moved along the flat circle with exquisite gentleness and precise slowness.

Ray shuddered. His arm tightened around her waist, but his gaze was grim, his decision steadfast and unmovable. “The best way you can help me is by staying out of this drama with Evangeline.”

Laney lifted her head and crossed her arms, offering an indisputable fact. “Okay, exactly what
will
you do if Evangeline tries to blackmail you into signing the contract renewal?”

“Red, you been watching too much Perry Mason.” Ray lifted his brow. “Isn’t it close to your bedtime?”

“Changing the subject won’t work, Raphael.”

“Baby, that’s not what I’m doing,” he lied.

She reached up and tapped his forehead with her knuckles.

Surprised, he took a step back. “Have you lost your mind?”

“No, but apparently you’ve lost yours. Raphael, right now you can’t fight Evangeline, but I can.”

Ray wasn’t sure which stunned him most, the conviction in the voice of this slightly-built, delicate creature, which carried enough force to hurl him across the room, or his momentary lapse of sanity to even consider her request. “
Mon ange
…
”

He ran his hands up the length of her arms and over her shoulders with the ache to do more if he could as he felt the delicacy of her bones. Her willingness to fight for him when he couldn’t do it himself had him so turned on, he wanted to not only tell her in words, but show her with his body how much it meant. For a brief moment, he wanted to try. God, how he wanted to try. In his heart of hearts, he knew now wasn’t the time. When they did make love, he wanted nothing between them. One day, his physical limitations would no longer exist. One day, he could take his time and pleased her the way she deserved. One day, the fight with cancer would be over, which was two months away.