Trapped (7 page)

I nodded my head. I felt like a huge burden had been lifted off my shoulders.

After the doctor and the nurses left, I clutched Luke. “Oh, Luke, I know that this is the right decision. I know it. I’m so happy. For the first time since I found out about Olivia, I’m happy.”

Luke, for his part, was grinning ear to ear. “I didn’t want to pressure you into this, but this is the decision that I was praying that you would make. Secretly praying, of course.”

“Praying?” I teased. “Since when do you pray?”

“Since now,” he said. “What made you change your mind?”

“I saw her, Luke. And I felt…the love I had for her. I dreamed it, and the feeling that I had looking at her was incomparable. I remembered feeling that I couldn’t imagine my life without her. She was beautiful in my dream – she looked like a combination of my grandmother Maggie when she was young, and you. And she was talented, already, in acting. And so intelligent. She was such a Gallagher, and also a Roberts. She was just so…us.”

Luke kissed my forehead. “So us. Well, we’ve made a decision. We’ve committed.”

I took another deep breath. “Yes. And I’ve made another decision, too. We’re going to go back. We’re going back, I’m getting a top lawyer, and we’re going to the mattresses with Nottingham. Legally. Let the chips fall where they may. I can’t have my daughter grow up with a mother who doesn’t do things the right way. I need to be the person that she can look up to, and I can’t do that if I continue to do stuff that is less than legal.”

Luke smiled big. “Now we’re talking.”

“But I’m scared, Luke. I won’t lie. I’m terrified of the outcome. I have to have some faith, though. My dream meant something. I hope my dream meant that it’s all going to be okay. I hope and pray that’s what it means.”

“Oh, since when do
you
pray?” Luke teased.

“Since now.”

I was dead serious.

Chapter 10

I had to stay in the hospital for seven days. For seven days, Luke and I brainstormed from my hospital bed. Once my decision was made to keep Olivia, it became a matter of Luke and I putting our energies into figuring it all out.

There was so much to do, so much to figure out. Not just about getting a DNA test and hiring an aggressive lawyer. But also about what Luke and I were going to do for money once we got back. Luke finally admitted to me that he was hoping that Marcella might be a good connection for him there in London, and he asked me if I minded if he had lunch with her to pick her brain. Ask her if she knew anybody in New York who might be able to connect him to the right people again.

I told him that I was fine with that, and Luke did have lunch with her one day and came back and reported that Marcella did, in fact, know other artists who lived in the Village and had formed a co-op like they had in London. The artists all had different kinds of mediums and genres, so they all helped one another. Luke also reported that the group would be a good fit for him, according to Marcella, and he had the names and numbers of some of the artists. Marcella had assured Luke that they would welcome him with open arms.

And hopefully me, too. I had gotten out of my art during my pregnancy, just because the pregnancy and Nottingham had consumed my thoughts during that time. Composing was low on my list, unfortunately. But my mind was clearing up every day, now that I made a decision on exactly what to do, and I was happy with the decision, so I was itching to get back to my canvas. Truth be told, I wasn’t happy at all about my other decisions to run and to try to blackmail Nottingham. I wasn’t happy, and my gut told me that these actions weren’t right. I ignored my gut, of course, and I shuddered to think that kind of disaster might have befallen me if I would have continued on with my previous course of action.

As for my posing nude, now that I was pregnant, I doubted very seriously that I would return to the nude modeling thing. Not that I wouldn’t be in demand – pregnant women often were very much in demand, because many artists enjoyed painting the pregnant female form. Burgeoning breasts and bellies often made for a very sensual and voluptuous portrait.

But I wanted to get away from all of that. There was something inside of me that was just now kicking in. The maternal instinct. I suddenly wanted to leave behind all of my questionable choices and do everything right. Not that posing nude was morally questionable, of course. But I felt almost embarrassed for doing it. I didn’t know why I felt embarrassed. I only knew that I did.

So, our conversations centered around the practicalities of all that Luke and I had to do when we got back to the States.

“Okay,” I said. “So, I think that I should hire Marissa Herschel. Nick highly recommends her, and I liked her a lot when I went to see her. She specializes in family law, too, and I know that she knows all the major cases that are relevant here. She might look like a little petite aunt, but her reputation is solid.”

Luke was nodding his head. “Okay. Well, I checked out this Steve Singleton guy. The one that Marissa said Nottingham has on permanent retainer. Aggressive isn’t the word, according to the online reviews of his work. There’s been a shit-ton of bar complaints against him for some of the shady stuff that he pulls, but he’s gotten out of every one. It seems that he knows just where the line is as far as ethics go, and he goes right up to it, without going over it. He’s a clever one, I can tell you that.”

“Well, he’s a bully, sounds like. Marissa might be the right person to counteract that. She’s not a bully. She obviously has a different approach to litigating her cases than Steve does, and that just might do us justice. She wins a lot of her cases, too. I’ve been doing my own research on her cases, and I’ve seen some doozies that she’s managed to pull off.”

“As long as she can hold her own against a bully, then you might be right. I would much rather have a lawyer that knows the art of finesse than a bull in a China shop.”

“Me too.”

So, it was settled. Marissa Herschel would be my attorney. But I wasn’t quite sure when I would be able to go back home. It would all depend on when my doctor assessed that I was out of the woods as far as my hormone levels and bed rest. I didn’t call her to make an appointment from my hospital bed, although I was really itching to.

Next thing was getting a DNA test. I did my research and found out that I could get an accurate DNA test from 10 weeks on. Since I was already past that point, Luke and I got online and found a lab that could do this testing as soon as I was released from the hospital. This was crucial – I wanted to have these results as soon as possible. Not just because I wasn’t 100% positive that Luke was the father, although that was a factor. I felt it in my gut that Luke was the dad, and I always had felt that way. I had no doubt that the DNA test would be affirmative in that regard.

But I couldn’t be 100% sure until we actually got the test results. So, I was anxious to get that done.

I also wanted the DNA test for a very practical reason – I wanted my ducks lined up before I set foot on United States’ soil.

On and on and on Luke and I talked,
the entire time that I laid in that hospital bed. It felt wonderful, because we were bonding again. I was starting to feel that there was a barrier between him and I ever since I was pregnant, and I worried about that. I had secretly worried that perhaps Luke wasn’t happy about the pregnancy.

But it wasn’t that at all. Luke just wasn’t happy with my ideas about handling the pregnancy and handling Nottingham. Once I decided to do things the right way, the tension had disappeared.

We were best friends again, and I still felt that spark of electricity every time he touched me. The tingle of excitement.

And my hormones were going wild. I realized, several times during that week, that I wanted him in the worst way possible. If only the doctor would give me the green light, I know that I would have ripped off his clothes and have him fuck me right there in that hospital bed. And why not? It was a private room, courtesy of the wealthy Liam.

But I knew that I couldn’t risk anything going wrong, just because I let my lust for Luke get the best of me.

Chapter 11

I finally was released from the hospital. My hormone levels were finally in check. The doctor did caution me that I might have a chance of a difficult pregnancy, so I needed to be diligent about my prenatal checkups. More diligent than most women, he cautioned.

“Of course,” I said. “I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize this pregnancy for the world at this point.”

And, the first thing that we did was arrange for the DNA test to occur right there in that same hospital. I gave some blood and Luke gave a hair sample. I had already spoken with a counselor about this occurring, so it was just a matter of giving the samples to the lab and the results would be available in just over a week.

I was nervous about that, but not really. I had learned, long ago, to trust my gut. Which was why it was so embarrassing to realize that I had almost done something really stupid and against my gut instinct in trying to blackmail Nottingham instead of fighting him fair and square.

My gut was screaming that Luke was the father, and it always had been.

Liam sent a limo to pick me up on the day that I was released, as he was working that day.

While I sat in the back of the limo, I made an appointment with Marissa to come in the following week. Again, I needed my ducks in a row. With my DNA test and Marissa on retainer, I knew that I had a fighting chance.

The issue of my paying for Marissa, of course, was still up in the air. Luke insisted on using the leftover money from his show to pay the retainer. I was just as insistent that I was going to use my father’s money to pay. We needed to live on the rest of Luke’s money, which was just over $50,000 by then, after he took out money for his taxes and he had paid for most of the expenses that we incurred while staying with Liam.

Little did I know that this soon wouldn’t even be as much of an issue.

When Luke and I arrived at Liam’s,
to my surprise, Neil and the other Pixxallators was sitting in the kitchen with their instruments in hand. Liam grinned and came up to me, putting his arm around me. “Lass, you’re home. You’re looking well, too.”

“I feel well, thanks so much,” I said. Then I looked at the boys and back to Liam questioningly.

“Ah, well, this is a surprise for you and Luke.” Liam was smiling broadly. He looked almost mischievous.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I don’t understand.” I felt uncomfortable seeing Neil again. For his part, he looked mildly embarrassed. After all, he was pretty drunk the last time I saw him and he was so blunt about what he wanted with me.

Liam just smiled and said to the boys “hit it.”

They did, and Luke immediately recognized the song. “Hey, that’s one of mine.” He looked astonished. “I mean, I have to admit that the arrangement is slightly different then the way that I wrote it, but it sounds pretty cool nonetheless.”

My heart soared. Did this mean that the boys wanted to record one of Luke’s songs? It was a cool song, too. The lyrics rang of heartbreak and despair, and I surmised that this might have been one of the songs that Luke composed after we broke up. The arrangement was different than what I had imagined for one of Luke’s songs, too, as I had listened to Luke’s songs, and he almost a grungy sound. This arrangement was airy and light, despite the dark lyrics, and it definitely reminded me of something that would have been recorded in the early 1980s by Tears for Fears or something. Other parts of the song echoed the lush vibe of 311.

After they were done with the song, Liam just smiled at me. “Lass, I wanted to surprise you.” He turned to Luke. “I’ve been listening to your songs, mate. You’ve got a lot of talent. I also think that the Pixxallators would be perfect for at least three of your songs. Let’s talk terms.”

Luke still looked just a bit shocked. He had no idea that I had given Liam his songs. I never told him, as I was afraid that Liam wouldn’t like them, and I didn’t want Luke’s feelings to be hurt if that were the case.

Finally, Luke shook his head. “Uh, yeah, yeah, sure. I’m just surprised. I mean, I’ve thought about asking you about listening to some of my songs, but I was too embarrassed.” He looked at me and smiled. “But sounds like Dalilah didn’t have the same compunction. Lucky me.”

So, Luke and Liam went into the library, presumably to talk about drawing up a contract.

Neil, for his part, came up to me. “I’m sorry about being so rude the other night, Dalilah. It was the liquor talking, I promise you.”

“Not at all,” I said. “You guys did a great job with Luke’s song.”

“We’ve practiced some of his other ones as well. I think that they have potential. Would you like to hear them?”

“I’d love to,” I said.

So, the boys played three other songs. I was surprised at the range. One was more of a ballad, but the boys put their own special touch with it. I smiled as I listened to the lyrics, imagining that Luke wrote this song with me in mind. The other two were more up-tempo, and I could definitely hear Luke’s words in them. They were heart-felt, even with the peppier arrangements.

I loved all of them.

About an hour later, Luke and Liam came out of the library. Both men looked happy.

“Dalilah,” he said. “I have to have this agreement looked over by an attorney, of course, but it sounds like a good one. Liam has offered me $15,000 for my four songs, plus royalties if the boys decide to record them. That could really add up, although I have to admit that I’m naïve when it comes to this sort of thing. I never imagined that my songs would sell, so I never imagined that I would be in this position.” Luke then went into the intricacies of the proposed contract, talking about how much he would get every time the boys performed the songs in concert verses how much he would get from the recorded versions of the songs, and how all of that would be calculated.

I listened, interested. “So, if any one of these songs is a hit, then that could add up to a lot of money, huh?”

“It could,” he said. “But the up-front would be really helpful. That’s another $15,000 that we can put towards your legal fees.”

I sighed. “Luke, I-“

“Nope. I’m going to take care of you, Dalilah. That’s what men do. Your dad doesn’t have to get involved at all. You and I can get a place together, we’ll watch our pennies, and we’ll make this all work out. I got art, and, once you start creating, too, we’ll both be bringing in a good income. In the meantime, we have this money from Liam, assuming that I agree to these terms, plus the leftover money from my show, and some good leads from Marcella on making more money from my art. We’ll make this work, Dalilah. You and me.”

At that moment, I didn’t think that I could love a man more.