Lawful Wife (Eternal Bachelors Club) (13 page)

Jay and Xavier laughed at Wade’s words.

“Obviously Wade is in desperate need of funds, which means he’ll do anything to eliminate members from this club,” Xavier explained.

Daniel couldn’t help but join in the laughter. Their heartfelt offer to help had touched his heart, but he couldn’t accept their offer. It would mean telling them the truth, and he had no right to expose Sabrina like that, or Holly for that matter.

“Anything for you and the lovely Sabrina,” Paul said. “How is she doing?”

Daniel nodded at Paul. “Fine under the circumstances.” Then he looked back at the others. “Thanks guys, but Tim and I have got it under control. I’m confident that the paper will retract the story shortly and issue an apology. They only have fabricated evidence which they have completely misinterpreted. It’s only a matter of time until we’ve picked it apart and proven how wrong they are.”

Despite his confident words, Daniel didn’t feel as certain as he’d let on. With every passing day, it seemed more unlikely that they could ever convince the newspaper to retract the story.

He’d heard back from Elliott, his attorney, who’d reported that while he’d spoken to the legal counsel of the
New York Times
and threatened them with a law suit, they remained firm and were sticking to their guns.

And though Tim had hired a private investigator to dig into Audrey’s life to unearth any skeletons in her closet with which to pressure her to retract her accusations, it was too early to expect any results from him. Which only left Holly, who was still trying to figure out how to make a case of mistaken identity stick.

“Well, in that case, let’s get on with business,” Zach said. “We’ve prepared your resignation papers which will become effective on the day of your wedding. Are you willing to resign from the club?”

Daniel nodded. “Yes.”

Zach held a pen out to him. “Then sign here and we’ll record it in the club’s minutes.”

Daniel rose and walked to him. He took the pen and signed his name on the piece of paper.

“I must say, Daniel, I’ve never seen a man who’s signed away nearly four million dollars do it with such a happy smile on his face.”

Daniel chuckled. “Once you find the right woman, you’ll do the same.”

“I won’t give up that easily,” Zach answered. “You know how much I love a challenge.”

Behind him, the others laughed.

“Time to get the party started,” Hunter announced. “So, when’s the stripper coming?”

Daniel whirled around to Hunter, annoyance forming in his gut. “You’ve gotta be kidding me. I said no strippers.”

Hunter boxed Wade in his side. “Told you he’s totally pussy-whipped. The best stripper in the world isn’t gonna do it for him. So, you my friend, lost your bet.” He held his flat palm out to Wade. “That’s a hundred bucks, please.”

“Not so fast!” Wade protested. “Let’s wait until the stripper is here.”

“I canceled her,” Hunter confessed.

Wade grinned. “I know. That’s why I booked another one.”

Daniel rolled his eyes. It appeared that there was no way to escape the obligatory stripper at his bachelor party. Well, he could at least let his friends have some fun.

He exchanged a look with Tim, who shrugged and said, “It’s going to be as boring for you as it is for me. We might as well get drunk instead.”

Daniel laughed. “You could always call a male stripper.”

“And have the guys toss me out on my ass? No way, I’m not going to miss your bachelor party, no matter how little interest I have in a female stripper.”

“In that case, get us some drinks!”

18

“You didn’t have to go through so much trouble for us, Raffaela,” Sabrina’s mother gushed as she looked at the beautifully set dinner table. “We could have easily gone out for dinner somewhere.”

Raffaela smiled back at her and put a hand on her arm. “It’s a pleasure, Ilene. I love to cook for a large crowd.”

While Sabrina knew it was true, she also knew that Raffaela had insisted on this dinner at home in order to avoid Sabrina’s parents running into anybody in the village who might mention the
New York Times
article. The more time her father and mother spent at the Sinclair’s house, the less likely it was that they’d stumble over the news.

“Well, that’s refreshing: a woman who likes to cook,” her father threw in, tossing his ex-wife a pointed look.

It had always been a bone of contention between her parents that her mother wasn’t an enthusiastic cook.

“Well, it didn’t help that you only liked hamburgers and steaks. What’s interesting about cooking those?” Sabrina’s mother retorted.

Before her father could respond, James interrupted, “George, why don’t you sit to my right? Then we’ll have a chance to talk a little more during dinner. I’m eager to talk to you about going out on the boat.”

Sabrina threw her future father-in-law a thankful look. He winked back at her and took his seat at the head of the table.

Her father sat down next to him. Knowing that her mother didn’t want to be near him, nor have to look directly at him, she motioned to a chair at the other end of the table, facing Daniel’s father.

“Mom, why don’t you take this seat?”

Sabrina exchanged a quick look with Holly, who sat down next to Sabrina’s father to create an adequate buffer, while Sabrina and Raffaela sat down opposite them.

With Daniel and Tim having left for the bachelor party, the chairs had been spaced farther apart and the two spare chairs had been removed so that it didn’t look like somebody was missing.

“I hope you all like veal,” Raffaela announced.

“Mmm!” her husband exclaimed, then motioned to Sabrina’s father. “My wife’s veal piccata is to die for. Make sure you fill your plate quickly, or there won’t be any left.”

Raffaela actually blushed at her husband’s compliment. “Ah, James, just because you like it, doesn’t mean everybody else does.” She tossed a look to the other dinner guests. “If you don’t like veal or would rather have something vegetarian, I also made eggplant parmesan.” She pointed to a casserole dish in the middle of the table.

Sabrina’s father speared his fork into a piece of veal and lifted it onto his plate. “Veal is fine for me. I eat more than just burgers and steaks.” He smiled at Raffaela, but Sabrina hadn’t missed the backhanded comment directed at her mother.

“Well, help yourselves!” Raffaela encouraged everybody.

The clanging of dishes and cutlery bounced around the room, while everybody filled their plates with meat, vegetables, and other side dishes. Sabrina looked at Raffaela, who sat next to her, wanting to apologize for her parents’ behavior, but didn’t dare say anything in front of them. Her future mother-in-law seemed to read in her gaze what she wanted to say and smiled. “Don’t worry, Sabrina. It’s fine,” she whispered.

“We have a boat out on the dock,” James said, looking at Sabrina’s father. “Maybe you and Ilene want to go out on the water tomorrow. I think I have a couple of hours, right, darling?” He smiled at his wife.

“If you think all the work with the tent is done, then I’m sure you have time,
caro.
I think it would be a great way of showing our guests the surroundings.”

Sabrina noticed how her father glanced to the other end of the table as if trying to figure out what his ex-wife’s reaction was. Sabrina’s mother looked delighted.

“Oh that would be wonderful!” she said. “I’ve always liked boats. Of course, we could never afford our own.” She tossed a disapproving look in the direction of Sabrina’s father. “Even though we had the San Francisco Bay right at our doorstep.”

Her father grunted and shoved a piece of meat into his mouth.

“Excellent!” James exclaimed. “How about you, George, do you want to join us for an hour or two sailing up and down the coast?”

“I don’t think so. I’m not into fancy rich people’s toys.”

Sabrina gasped and dropped her fork onto her plate. “Dad!”

“What? Do you find me too ordinary for your new friends now?” He motioned to the richly decorated room around him, the elegant paintings on the walls and the expensive vases in the display cabinets. “Are you ashamed of the fact that I’m not as rich as your fiancé and his family?”

“Dad, don’t!” She felt tears rise and pushed them down.

“Don’t what? Say the truth?” He snorted and motioned to his ex-wife. “Has your mother finally managed to turn you into a mirror image of herself?”

“That’s not true!” Sabrina said, raising her voice.

“Is it not? Look at you! You’re all dolled up, wearing expensive clothes like the ones your mother always wanted to have but couldn’t afford.”

Her mother jumped up and tossed her napkin on the table. “Shut it, George! That’s enough! There’s nothing wrong with what Sabrina wears or what she wants. Nor the fact that she’s marrying into a rich family. Just because you never made anything out of yourself, doesn’t mean you can drag down your daughter with you!”

Her father pushed his chair back and rose abruptly. “You know what, Ilene? The reason I was never able to make anything out of myself is because you were hanging around my neck like a heavy chain that was dragging me down. So don’t you criticize me! You lost that right when you divorced me!” Then he looked at Raffaela. “Thanks for the food. It was excellent.”

Without another word he turned and left the room.

Sabrina couldn’t suppress the tears any longer and felt them run down her burning cheeks. “I’m so sorry.” How could her father embarrass her like this in front of her future in-laws? How could he be so cruel?

Suddenly, she felt Raffaela’s soothing arm around her shoulders. “It’s not your fault,
cara
.”

A moment later, her mother squeezed her hand. “Honey, don’t take any notice of him. At least you’re making a much better match than I did, and not even your father can take that away from you.”

19

“Is Daniel not up yet?” Raffaela asked and opened the refrigerator to search for something.

Sabrina’s father was sitting at the breakfast table, browsing through the paper, and her mother was pouring herself a second cup of coffee, but wasn’t eating anything, which probably meant that whatever outfit she’d chosen for the wedding required her to shed another pound before it fit properly.

Sabrina smiled at her soon-to-be mother-in-law. “It looks like both he and Tim had too much to drink last night. Nobody was sober enough to drive. They’re still at Zach’s house.”

Raffaela shook her head. “Oh, dear! Are you upset about that?”

“I don’t have a problem with it. I would be very upset, though, if either one of them had been driving last night.”

“Well, just a word of caution, Sabrina, and I’m speaking from personal experience,” her mother interjected from the breakfast table. “It’s a hangover here, an outing with his friends there, and suddenly your husband is never at home.” She tossed a pointed look at her ex-husband.

A grunt came from him, then a muffled comment. “Some women just don’t make it worth it for a man to stay at home.”

Sabrina exchanged a look with Raffaela, who gave her an encouraging look and stroked over Sabrina’s arm. Maybe having both her parents stay at the Sinclair’s home hadn’t been the best idea after all. She should have just told them to stay at a Bed and Breakfast.

Sabrina’s mother huffed. “Oh, go ahead, read your outdated paper, and stay out of the conversation like you always do.”

Her father lowered the paper and glared at his ex-wife. “At least an outdated paper isn’t gonna talk back to me.”

“You’re reading an old paper? I thought I’d put them all into recycling.” Raffaela asked.

Sabrina’s father shrugged. “Found it under the seat cushion.” With a sideways glance to his ex-wife he added, “Reading anything is better than having to talk to certain people.”

Sabrina felt tears well up in her eyes again. She knew that the pregnancy was causing her to be so emotional about the smallest things. But her parents’ sniping at each other didn’t help. Raffaela looked at her, pity shining in her eyes. “Just a few more days,” she whispered to Sabrina for only her to hear. A little louder, she addressed Sabrina’s father. “I’m so sorry. I guess I forgot to bring in today’s paper. I’d better get it now. James will want to read it too when he comes down.”

Raffaela left the kitchen, and Sabrina could hear her heels click on the wooden floorboards as she walked toward the foyer. Once Raffaela was out of earshot, she walked to the breakfast table.

“You both should be ashamed of yourselves, behaving like this!” she said while trying to keep her voice from getting shrill.

Her mother raised her eyebrows. “I’m not the one who started it, dear.”

Sabrina turned her face up toward the ceiling. “Why do I even bother?” Then she turned on her heels and headed back to the kitchen counter, when she saw Holly enter.

“Morning!” Holly greeted everybody cheerfully, then instantly joined Sabrina when their gazes met.

Holly put a hand on her shoulder and leaned in. “What’s going on?”

Sabrina motioned to the breakfast table. “They keep sniping at each other. It’s like I’m fourteen again, and they’re in the middle of the divorce.”

Holly rubbed Sabrina’s shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. “Sorry, sweetheart. Just try and block it out.”

Sabrina sniffed.

“What the hell?!” her father suddenly ground out.

Wondering what he and her mother were up to now, Sabrina whirled around, but her father wasn’t glaring at his ex-wife. He’d jumped up and was staring at Sabrina, his finger pointing at the newspaper.

“What is this? A joke?” His stabbed his finger at a spot on the newspaper.

Sabrina shuddered internally. No! This couldn’t be happening. This couldn’t be the paper from that day . . . .

“What are you on about, George?” her mother asked, her voice sharp.

“This!” He shoved the newspaper in front of her, pointing to a spot.

Sabrina’s legs carried her closer. And with every step, the knot in her stomach tightened as if it were a noose around her neck.