Lawful Wife (Eternal Bachelors Club) (14 page)

When she reached the table, her mother lifted her head from the paper and looked at her. Sabrina didn’t have to look at what she’d been reading; she could see it in her mother’s confused facial expression.

“Surely, that’s a mistake,” her mother said, looking at her with pleading eyes.

Sabrina felt Holly rush to her side and was glad to know she wasn’t alone, though she had no idea how to explain the situation to her parents.

“It’s all a lie,” she managed to say, her voice dry as sandpaper. She pointed to the article. “One of Daniel’s enemies is trying to cause trouble.”

Her father shook his head. “Trouble? I’d say that’s trouble!” His cheeks started to turn red.

“Then it’s not true what they say here about you and Daniel, that you’re his . . . uh . . . escort?” her mother asked, her voice sounding like she wanted to believe any explanation, as long as it meant that her daughter wasn’t what the article accused her of.

Frantically, Sabrina shook her head. “No, Mom, it’s all a lie. It’s all fabricated.”

Her mother closed her eyes and nodded to herself. “Good, then—”

“Fabricated? No newspaper prints a story like this without some sort of proof!” her father interrupted. “They must have a source for all this!”

“Their source lied. I’m not what they say I am!” Sabrina protested, leaning closer, hoping to convince her father of the truth.

“Then if it’s a lie, why haven’t you sued them yet?” He pointed to the date on the top right corner of the paper. “This was published five days ago.”

“It’s a misunderstanding. They got the wrong person. A lawsuit takes time. It’s complicated.” How could she tell her father that part of the evidence the paper had—Daniel’s credit card statements—wouldn’t help to discredit the reporter’s source?

“Complicated? Goddamn it, Sabrina! It’s in the paper! It’s in black and white! If you’re not suing immediately for defamation, everybody will believe it’s true!” Her father’s face turned even redder as if he were about to burst an artery. “Why would they publish something like this if there’s not an ounce of truth to it?”

“But it’s not true!” Helplessness spread over her. She knew how it looked to her parents, and the fact that she had no explanation she could give them, made things even worse. “Please, you have to trust me when I tell you that the story is false.”

Her father shook his head. “How can I trust you when you can’t tell me why they would say something like this about you? And why you’re not doing anything about it.” His mouth set into a grim line. “You leave me no choice but to believe what’s in the paper.”

Sabrina sniffed. “Please—”

But he cut her off. “How could you do this to me? How could you besmudge my good name like this?”

Her mother shot up from her chair. “Who are you gonna believe, your daughter or some slimy gossip columnist?”

“Selling her body like a common—”

“Don’t say it!” her mother warned, her voice cold as ice.

Tears shot to Sabrina’s eyes. “I’m not—“ She pointed to the paper. “—that. Please, Dad, you have to believe me.”

She felt Holly move next to her, putting her arm around Sabrina’s waist to support her, while her mother did the same on the other side.

“It’s all lies,” Holly insisted.

“Stay out of this!” her father snapped. “You’re probably not any better than her!”

Holly’s gasp was drowned out by Raffaela’s voice coming from the door. “What is going on here?”

Sabrina’s father pointed at Sabrina. “She’s a call girl! And your son is just another one of her clients!” He pointed to the newspaper that now lay on the table. “It’s right there in the paper. Everybody knows! My name is being dragged through the mud!”

Her mother let go of Sabrina and leaned toward him, her chest heaving. “For fuck’s sake, George! If anybody ever dragged your name through the mud, then it’s you!”

“Shut it, Ilene! This is not about me! This is about your tramp of a daughter!”

“She’s your daughter too, and she’s not a tramp!”

“Believe what you want to believe! But I’m not going to be a part of this charade any longer!” He stormed out of the kitchen.

“Dad! Please! Don’t leave!” Sabrina called after him, but he didn’t even turn his head, as if he hadn’t heard her.

A sob tore from her chest and a moment later she found herself pressed against Holly’s chest and let her tears run freely. She barely heard the quiet words Raffaela and her mother exchanged.

Then the sound of footsteps came from the hallway and Daniel’s voice drifted to her. “What happened?”

Holly released her from her hold, and Daniel pulled her into his arms. “Sabrina, baby, what’s wrong?” He held her tightly, stroking her back, but she was unable to speak, her tears choking her.

“Her father saw the article in the
New York Times
,” Raffaela explained. “Sabrina tried to explain to him that it’s all a misunderstanding, but he wouldn’t listen.”

Daniel pressed kisses on top of her head. “I’m so sorry, baby. I’ll fix this, I promise.”

Sabrina lifted her head. In the periphery she saw Tim standing near the door, looking at her with pity in his eyes.

“Oh, Daniel, what are we gonna do?”

“I’ll take care of it.”

Just then, heavy footsteps came running down the stairs and a moment later, the front door was slammed. This couldn’t be happening! But it was. When she heard the engine of a sports car rev up an instant later, she knew it: her father was leaving.

“He’s not going to walk me down the aisle.” She sobbed uncontrollably.

Daniel pressed her tighter to him. “I’ll talk to him. I’ll explain everything.”

“But he’s leaving!”

“Tim, take my car, follow him!” He tossed his keys to his friend. “Find out where he’s going and keep me posted. I have to stay with Sabrina right now.”

“It’s no use,” Sabrina murmured. Her father would fly home, thinking the worst of her, and he would refuse to speak to her.

Four days before her wedding, the cracks in her perfect world were starting to widen. What else would happen to bring her entire house of cards down?

20

Daniel brushed over Sabrina’s hair as he rocked her in his arms. He’d brought her to their bedroom to grant Sabrina some peace and quiet. It was buzzing in the house now; the workers had arrived to build a platform in the garden, where the ceremony would take place, and others were busy finalizing the construction of the tent.

Tim had managed to catch up with Sabrina’s father, who hadn’t driven very far. He’d stopped in East Hampton, and according to Tim, he was still there, sitting in a coffee shop, brooding over a cup of coffee. Tim had not approached him. Later, once he’d calmed down a little, Daniel would have a word with him and convince him that the article was a lie, and that his daughter was a decent woman.

“How about I take you out for brunch? Just you and me. Nobody else,” Daniel now asked Sabrina. “You need a little break from all this.”

Sabrina lifted her head and sniffed. “What are we gonna do about my dad?”

Daniel softly stroked her cheek. “He’ll come around. I’ll take care of it. Promise. Now, you need a change of scenery.”

He lifted her off his lap.

“I must look horrible.” She wiped her face with her hands.

“You look beautiful as always,” he said, though he didn’t like to see the red puffiness around her eyes.

“Let me just freshen up a little.”

“I’ll wait for you downstairs.”

When he reached the foot of the stairs, he leaned against the wall and stared at his shoes, contemplating his next actions.

“How is she?”

He looked up and stared at Holly, who’d approached without him noticing. “A little better. I’m taking her out for brunch at the country club, just the two of us.”

“Good idea.” Holly looked over her shoulder and leaned closer. “I’ve got news.”

From above, he heard footsteps. Sabrina was walking down the stairs.

Holly glanced up, then whispered to him, “Tell you later,” and hurried away.

When Sabrina reached him, her handbag slung over her shoulder and a cardigan draped over her arm, he greeted her with a smile. The last few days had taken their toll on her, and what they both needed was to spend time with each other on their own.

He took her hand. “I know a great place where we can relax a little.”

Though she nodded and smiled, she’d clearly forced the smile for his sake. It broke his heart a little right there. Her father had accused her of terrible things, and he knew that it wouldn’t be something she would be able to put behind her very easily. But Daniel would do everything in his power to make her father apologize to her and beg her to be allowed to walk her down the aisle on her wedding day.

In the car, Sabrina barely spoke, and he didn’t press her. He knew her well enough that when she was hurt, she retreated into herself. She wasn’t the kind of person to show everybody that she was hurt. She simply withdrew into her shell, just like she did now. Trying to force her to come back out when she wasn’t ready to talk would be of no use. So he merely put his right hand over hers and held it while they were driving along the highway with the top of his convertible down.

When he pulled the car to a stop in front of the Maidstone Country Club and pulled into an empty parking spot, he let go of her hand.

“They serve a wonderful brunch here.”

Sabrina gave him a grateful smile. “It’s beautiful.”

Daniel escorted her into the club house, through the elaborate entrance hall, and steered her toward the dining room, where a man wearing a beige summer suit stood at a podium, greeting the guests.

“Mr. Sinclair, so nice to see you,” the man greeted him with a tight smile. It appeared the Maitre d’ had read the article in the
New York Times
. He hadn’t thought of how widely read the
New York Times
was among the residents of the Hamptons.

“Good morning, Eric,” Daniel said evenly. “Two for brunch please. Maybe—”

“—somewhere quiet in the garden?” Eric suggested.

It appeared that the Maitre d’ wanted to seat Daniel as far away as possible from the other respectable guests. Had Daniel not been with Sabrina, he would have taken exception to the man’s presumption and insisted on being seated in the middle of the dining room, but in Sabrina’s current vulnerable state, he wanted as little attention as possible. At least at the club where his entire family were members, nobody would dare make a scene. It was the reason he’d brought Sabrina here rather than taking her to one of the popular restaurants in Montauk or East Hampton, where they would possibly not receive such courtesy.

When Eric seated them in a quiet area in the garden, away from the main dining room, and immediately sent the waiter to them to take their drinks order, Daniel finally breathed a sigh of relief. He could feel Sabrina doing the same.

“Thank you. I just needed to get away from it all.” She looked at him and smiled, but her eyes were clouded with a sadness that made his gut clench.

“I hate to see you like this.” He took her hand and pressed a kiss onto its back. “Tell me what I can do.”

She looked into the distance where several men were playing tennis. “I wish there were something you could do. But there isn’t. It’s all a mess.”

“It will all work out in the end. Trust me.”

“It won’t change what my father thinks of me.”

“It will, once they’ve retracted the story and issued an apology.”

She whirled her head to him. “Even if they retract the story, because you’re threatening to sue them, people will still think it’s true.”

“They won’t if we can give the newspaper a story that will expose their previous story as a totally fabricated lie.”

Sabrina dropped her lids. “It’ll be too late. The wedding is in four days.”

“Please, trust me—”

“Daniel,” a male voice suddenly came from behind him.

He whirled his head around and saw Brian Caldwell stopping next to his and Sabrina’s table. He was surprised to see his business associate here.

“When I called your house they told me I could find you here. So I figured, I’d talk to you in person.”

Daniel stood up. “Brian, how are you? May I introduce my fiancée, Sabrina Parker?”

Brian nodded curtly, then his eyes darted back to Daniel. “Listen, I’m gonna make this short. My father wanted to send a letter to your lawyers and notify you, but I told him I’d rather tell you face to face. I think I owe you that much.”

A knot formed in Daniel’s gut. Whenever a business partner started the conversation like this, it never ended well. He glanced briefly at Sabrina and noticed that she was watching them intently.

“Can’t this wait?”

Brian shook his head, regret evident in his eyes. “I’m really sorry. But you know that Caldwell’s is a family company and has a certain reputation. My father has built the business from the ground up and done so without ever compromising his integrity. That’s what we’re built on. Our family values.”

“What is your point?” Daniel interrupted.

Brian sighed. “My point is, we can’t go through with the business deal. If we associate ourselves with you, it will . . . uh . . . taint our reputation.”

“You want to toss a multi-million dollar deal out the window because your reputation might be
tainted
in the process?”

Brian chanced a look in Sabrina’s direction as if his words needed any further explanation. “We can’t afford a scandal like this. You must understand.”

“Oh, I understand,” Daniel responded coolly, but inside he was fuming.

Brian and his father were backing out of the business deal they’d been working out for the last couple of months, because they didn’t want to be associated with a man whom they believed was marrying an escort.

He watched as Brian turned and left hastily, as if even a second longer in his and Sabrina’s company would implicate him in the same scandal.

21

Sabrina looked up at Daniel, who was still standing. “I’m ruining your life.”

He pulled the chair next to her back and sat down, leaning toward her. Her chest hurt, and she knew it wasn’t a physical pain though it felt like one. It hurt because she realized she had to take action now, before everything got even worse. She had no choice but to save what could still be saved.