17
Later, Lia would wish she’d never attended the private showing of Picasso’s early years at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, but not knowing beforehand she was going to meet Kathy Paige or see Stan Hall, she actually looked forward to the evening.
She couldn’t remember ever feeling happier. She was finally debt free, thanks to the check she’d received from Ned, and her days in the small run-down apartment that had been her home for almost a year and a half were finally over. She’d gotten a generous raise at work and, by a stroke of luck, a friend of her mother’s needed someone to sublet her townhouse for six months while she was out of the country. Lia had moved in a month earlier.
Joseph seemed more pleased than she was with the move. He’d been trying to convince her to leave the apartment since practically their first date and offered, on more than one occasion, to pay off her debt and finance the move. But she wouldn’t let him. She wanted to pay off her obligations without his help and, as she wrote out her last check, becoming debt free for the first time since parting with Ned, she felt elated.
Everything seemed to be working out in her life, and more than a little of the credit was due to the man standing in her mother’s doorway, looking incredibly handsome in a black tuxedo and holding two small boxes and a bouquet of flowers.
“What’s this?” Lia asked before stepping back so he could enter the foyer.
“This,” he said, before pausing to kiss her on his way in, “is for you.” He handed her a rectangular box wrapped in silver paper. “The flowers are for your mother, and this,” he held up a smaller box, “is for Taylor. You look sensational, by the way.”
“So do you.” She met his lips for another kiss.
“Joseph, Joseph!” Taylor called as she ran into the foyer, stopping and scrunching up her face when she saw them. “Kissing’s so gross.”
“Does that mean you’re not going to give me a kiss?” He effortlessly lifted her into his arms. “Because I’d really like one.”
“Well,” she began, wrapping her arms around his neck, “maybe just one.” She kissed him on the cheek. “You smell good.”
“Do I?” He smiled at her. “This is for you, pretty girl.”
“For me?” She took the box from his hand and quickly opened it. “Oh, Mommy, look! It’s a heart.” She scrambled out of Joseph’s arms. “Put it on me, Mommy!”
“Joseph?” Lia looked up from the heart-shaped pendant surrounded by diamonds and sapphires. “Please tell me these aren’t real.”
“I thought of her when I saw it.”
“Put it on me, Mommy! Put it on!” Taylor was jumping up and down.
“You can wear it for a little while, but this is for special occasions only.” She clasped the necklace around Taylor’s neck. “You can never wear this to school.”
“I’m going to go show Grandma.”
“Give these to her,” he said, holding out the flowers.
She took the flowers and began to leave, but then suddenly turned back and threw her arms around Joseph’s legs. “I love you.” Not giving him a chance to respond, she sprinted off in search of her grandma.
Lia touched Joseph’s cheek, a feeling of pure love swelling in her chest. “You’re amazing.”
“You haven’t even opened your box.”
“I’m serious.” She kissed him softly on the lips. “I love you. Taylor loves you.”
“I count on it. Now open your box.”
Lia gasped when she saw the diamond necklace lying in blue velvet. Besides her ring, it was the most beautiful piece of jewelry she’d ever seen. There was a large, tear-shaped diamond in the center with dozens of smaller diamonds along the sides.
“Just as I imagined,” he said after clasping it around her neck.
“Thank you for the flowers, Joseph, they’re—Oh, my!” Elaine brought a hand up to cover her mouth when she saw Lia. “It’s beautiful,” she breathed. “Let me get my camera. You both look so nice, and I don’t have any pictures of you together.”
Moments later, they were standing in the family room in front of the fireplace, Joseph’s arm around Lia as they posed for the camera. Within a week, a five-by-seven print of the picture would be displayed on the mantle behind them.
“Stop touching it,” Joseph whispered in Lia’s ear an hour later as they admired a painting at the National Gallery.
“I’m so afraid of losing it.”
“It’s insured. If you lose it, I’ll get you another.”
“I don’t want to lose this one.”
“You won’t.” He kissed her cheek as he pulled her into his side. “You’re making your neck red.”
“I’ll stop,” she said for the third time in fifteen minutes. “I promise I won’t touch it again.”
“You promise, huh?” He turned her in his arms, his hands running over her hips as he pulled her lower body into his. “And what do I get if you renege on this promise?”
“Whatever you want.” She linked her hands behind his neck. “I’m yours all night.”
“I have news for you, sweetheart.” He kissed her softly. “You’re mine all the time.”
“And are you mine all the time?”
“Definitely.”
A movement from directly behind him caught Lia’s attention, and a moment later she found herself meeting the eyes of the very beautiful Kathy Paige. She instinctively began to break loose from Joseph.
“What?” Joseph glanced back over his shoulder. “Kathy!” He dropped his hold on Lia as he turned to greet the other woman.
“I thought that was you.” Kathy touched his chest as she leaned in and kissed his cheek. “You look as handsome as ever.” She ran her hands down the lapels of his tuxedo.
“And you as beautiful.”
In the matter of a second, Lia went from feeling like the most beautiful woman in the world to a wallflower. Kathy Paige seemed too beautiful to be mingling with mere mortals at an art show. She looked like she belonged in Hollywood or New York or wherever other impossibly beautiful people hung out.
“Lia?”
She blushed when she realized they were both looking at her. “I’m sorry, I was just—you’re beautiful,” she said to Kathy before returning her brief handshake.
“Thank you,” Kathy said coolly, her eyes quickly sweeping over Lia before returning their full attention to Joseph. “How have you been, Counselor? Still working a hundred hours a week?”
“Something like that. How are you?”
She bobbed her head from side to side. “Better, much better.” She smiled then, and Lia wondered how Joseph had ever managed to stay away from the woman. She looked perfect. “I’m engaged.”
“Really?” He raised his eyebrows. “I hadn’t heard.”
“It’s been two weeks.” She held out her left hand to show off a three-carat diamond solitaire.
“Congratulations. Who’s the lucky man?”
She said a name that meant nothing to Lia, but which Joseph obviously recognized. “I hadn’t heard the two of you were dating.”
“Then you obviously haven’t been asking about me, because we’ve been living together since June.”
“I’m happy for you.”
“So how long have you and…” She paused, glancing at Lia.
“Lia,” Joseph supplied. “We’ve been together a little over a year.”
“Really.” Kathy’s eyes widened as her gaze returned to Lia. “Joseph’s actually the perfect man until you start pushing for a commitment.”
Lia didn’t think a moment could get more awkward until she saw Stan Hall walking directly towards them. Her entire body tensed up.
“Kathy, hello!” His booming voice rang out as he approached.
“Stan. Is Zurtech one of the sponsors for this exhibit?”
“No, I have a friend who—Lia?” He smiled in recognition. “Wow, you look fabulous! How’ve you been?”
“Fine.” She dropped her eyes, memories of Eric flashing through her mind.
“Lia used to work for me at Zurtech,” he told Kathy. “Is this your fiancé?” His gaze shifted to Joseph.
“Hardly. Stan, this is Joseph Craig. I doubt anyone will ever manage to get him down the aisle.”
“Someone is apparently about to. I heard he was here with his fiancée, and when I heard about your engagement, I naturally assumed…” He trailed off as he held out a hand to Joseph. “I’m Stan Hall.”
Joseph brought his eyebrows together as he returned the other man’s handshake. “Have we met? You look familiar to me.”
“Not officially, but I’ve seen you at exhibits in New York and here.”
“He outbid you on the Paikouch pieces you wanted to buy when we were at his opening the November before last,” Kathy offered absently. Her gaze was moving between Joseph and Lia.
Joseph narrowed his gaze. “You paid four hundred thousand dollars for a Paikouch. Three times what it was worth.”
Stan shrugged. “To you maybe, but I was buying for myself. I don’t care about market value. I wanted the sculpture.”
“Obviously,” Joseph said.
Lia could feel her anger growing as she listened to Joseph carrying on a conversation with the man who’d basically prostituted her. “Excuse me.” She fled towards the bathroom.
“Are you engaged?” Kathy asked as soon as Lia was gone.
“Yes.” He pulled his attention from Lia’s departing back. “I was going to call you.”
“It’s okay.” Her smile didn’t reach her eyes. “I wish you would have told me before I made a fool of myself in front of your fiancée.”
“I’m sorry.” He took her hand, seemingly unconcerned with the fact Stan Hall was listening. “I didn’t know how to tell you.”
“We’ve been over for a long time. It’s okay. I’m engaged too now, remember?”
“Yes.” He glanced back in the direction Lia had gone. “I need to go.” His eyes returned to Kathy’s. “May I call you?”
“Of course.”
“I’ll talk to you soon.” He kissed her lightly on the cheek and walked off without acknowledging Stan Hall.
Lia stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, willing herself to gain control of her emotions. She was so angry with Joseph. She didn’t even want to see him. She was just going to get an Uber and go home. As soon as she came out of the ladies’ room she saw him, leaning back against the wall, apparently waiting for her. “I’m going home.”
“Okay.” He brought his eyebrows together. “Are you okay?”
“Actually, no.” She walked past him towards the exit.
Joseph caught up with her in several strides, gripping her arm. “Are you ill, or—”
“Or.” She pulled her arm from his grasp.
“Lia?” Joseph followed her to the glass doors leading outside and again took her arm. “Would you wait for me to get your wrap? It’s cool outside.”
“Fine. Get my wrap.” She continued to stare straight ahead.
“What is wrong with you?” He stepped into her line of vision and tilted his head to the side as he met her eyes. “Are you upset with me?”
“I want to leave. Are you going to get my wrap, or should I?”
The short drive to his condo was made in complete silence. “Are you planning to share with me what I did to upset you?” he asked after following her into his foyer.
“If you haven’t figured it out on your own, there’s really no point.” She hung her wrap in the closet and walked towards the family room.
“I have no idea what I did. Don’t be like this.”
Lia stopped before the large windows overlooking Pennsylvania Avenue, her arms crossed over her chest, her back to him as she stared at the street below. “How do you want me to be? Do you want me to be okay with the fact that my fiancé—the man who’s supposed to love me more than anyone else in the world—shook hands with and chatted about the price of a sculpture with the man responsible for prostituting me?” She turned to face him, more hurt now than angry.
“Lia,” he began softly, “I wasn’t—”
“And I guess you also want me to be okay with the fact you did everything in your power not to admit to your beautiful ex-girlfriend that I was your fiancée?”
“You don’t understand.”
“You’re right, so why don’t you try to help me? Help me understand why you didn’t want her to know I’m your fiancée. Are you embarrassed of me because I’m not as beautiful as she is?”
“That’s absurd. No one is more beautiful than you.” He reached for her.
“Don’t.” She put up her hands as she took a step backwards.
“Don’t what?” He frowned. “Don’t touch you? I love you.”
“It didn’t feel like it back there.”
He moved his hands to his hips, his eyes not leaving hers. “You’re right—I didn’t want her to find out about us while I was standing there with you. I didn’t want to cause her more pain than I already have. When I ended the relationship, she was hurt. And I meant to call her and tell her about the engagement before someone else did, but I hadn’t gotten around to it, and then we ran into her and I didn’t know how she’d take it—”
“She’s engaged to someone else.” Lia crossed her arms over her chest.
“I’d already introduced you when I found that out.”
“You could have told her. You had a perfect opportunity when she asked how long we’ve been dating.”
“Please don’t read anything into this. I dated Kathy for over a year, and she was torn up when I ended it with her. She thought I was going to marry her, and the truth is, when I saw her today, I didn’t want to tell her in front of you. I knew it would hurt her.”
“And what about me? Were you concerned with hurting me?”
“I’m marrying you.” He lifted her left hand, looking pointedly at her engagement ring. “I would think that would be enough validation of my feelings.”
“So you didn’t have any regrets when you saw her? Any lingering feelings?”
“No, Lia. No regrets. No lingering feelings. I’m in love with you. Only you. And as far as this thing with Stan Hall went, I wasn’t chatting with the guy. I knew exactly who he was and what he’d done to you, but I was trying to figure out why I recognized him. And then how he could afford a sculpture worth more than he makes in a year. Plus, I didn’t want him to know I knew what he did. I still plan to expose him.”
“I don’t understand.” Lia frowned. “How could he not know you know? You must have sent Zurtech a letter when they asked me to pay back the six thousand. What reason did you give them for not paying it back?” He dropped his eyes and she instantly knew he’d sent them the money. “You paid them the six thousand?”
“Yes.”
“Why?” She was completely confused. “Why would you do that? I told you under no circumstances would I pay them back. I said they’d have to sue me to get the money, and you agreed. What changed?”
He dragged a hand down his face, pausing with it on his mouth. “I didn’t want them to know we were investigating them. I had a detective looking into their operation, trying to prove our case, and if they knew I was representing you, they may have started covering things up.”
Now she was even more confused. “But you said there wasn’t a case. You told me there wasn’t enough evidence.”
“Right.” He nodded. “And I hired a detective to, hopefully, find some.”
“And what happened with this detective? Did he find anything?”
“No. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find any more proof so I called off the investigation.”
“I’m still not sure we shouldn’t have called the police,” she said. “I mean, at least that way Stan Hall would know he was under investigation and he might have thought twice before exploiting more innocent women.”
“And you would have been humiliated in the process. Calling the police would have been a terrible idea. You would have been the only one hurt.”
“I was already hurt. Maybe I could have spared another woman the same humiliation.” She hated knowing Eric Nettles was still out there, taking advantage of innocent women.
“Most of those women were willing participants like Claudia. You were the anomaly.”
“I don’t know if that’s true,” Lia said, shaking her head. “I wish I had never let you talk me out of going to the police, because I guarantee if I had gone to the police last year when I wanted to, he wouldn’t have come up to us tonight, and for that reason alone it would have been worth the embarrassment of having to tell my story.”
“You did not want to put yourself through that. And I promise you, Stan Hall will get his.”
“How? How is he going to get his? You said there was no proof.”
“It’ll catch up to him,” he said after a long pause. “Everything does eventually.”
“Yeah, well.” She shook her head. “I’m not going to hold my breath.”
Two days later, Joseph met Kathy for dinner at a Thai restaurant in Alexandria, Virginia. After several minutes of superficial conversation, he turned the conversation to Stan Hall.
“How do you know the guy from Zurtech?”
“Stan? I’ve known him for a couple of years. He comes into my gallery. He has an extensive collection of his own. Why do you ask?”
“I don’t know. It seems kind of odd to me a man that works in marketing at Zurtech can afford to spend four hundred thousand on a sculpture.”
“Oh, that’s not his only job. He owns Tia Tacos. He and his brother, actually.” She glanced at her watch. “We’ve been here exactly twenty-eight minutes and neither of us has mentioned the fact that the other’s engaged. Pretty weird, huh?”
“I don’t know.” Joseph looked down at the scotch in his glass before meeting her eyes. “Phil’s a great guy. I’m sure he’ll make you happy.”
“He is, and he will. I hope I can make him happy too.”
“You’re an extraordinary woman. I’m sure you won’t have any problem making him happy.”
“I couldn’t make you happy.”
“You made me happy for a long time.”
She turned her lips up in a halfhearted attempt at a smile. “We had some great times together.”
“We did.” He put his elbows on the table as he leaned forward. “I’m sorry for not calling and letting you know about the engagement. I know I should have, and I meant to.”
“Joseph.” She touched his hand. “It’s okay, really. I’ve moved on and I’m happy. I love him very much and he loves me. I always had insecurities with you. With him it’s different—it feels right. Do you know what I mean?”
“I think so. I want you to be happy.”
“I know you do.” She sighed. “Is she the one? The one you can finally open up to? Share your fears, your dreams, your life?”
“Yes. She is the one,” he answered.
“I hate her,” she teased. “Actually, I’m sure half the women in the city do. What makes this Lia Merrick so special? Why is she the one?”
“It’s hard to explain. But the moment I saw her, before I even knew her name, I knew she was the woman I was going to marry. I felt it.”
Her eyes widened. “I think I really do hate her. It was really love at first sight?”
He chuckled. “Yes. And then I had to convince her. Fortunately, it worked out.”
“I’m sure it didn’t take much convincing.”
“It took four months to get her to agree to a date.”
Kathy’s eyes widened again. “That must have been a first for you. How did that make you feel?”
“Determined.”
Joseph closed the Zurtech file and leaned back in his chair, his eyes staring unfocused at his computer screen. He glanced at his watch. It was almost midnight. He picked up his cell phone and quickly sent Lia a text. Within seconds, his phone was ringing.
“You’re up late,” he said.
“I was dozing. Your text woke me. I’m on the couch.”
“I need to ask you something, and I need you to be one hundred percent confident in your response.”
“Okay?”
“Did you ever have sex with Eric Nettles in the Zurtech house?”
“What? No! Of course not. I can’t believe you would ask me that.”
“I’m sorry, but I needed to know. I didn’t tell you this earlier because I didn’t see the relevance, but the bedrooms were being video recorded.”
“Video recorded?” Lia gasped. “Why?”
“I’m not sure exactly, but before we delve deeper, I wanted to make sure there was no possibility you were on any of the videos. I’m sorry.”
“Are you opening the investigation again?”
“I think so. It’s late—let’s talk tomorrow.”
As soon as he ended the call, Joseph was calling Sam Malone. “Good, you’re up. I need you to find out if Stan Hall is on Tia Tacos’ payroll. I think you may have missed something.” He set down his phone and opened the Zurtech file, flipping through the various pages until he came to the client sheets for Alan West. His eyes scanned the information and then he was again sitting back in his chair, rubbing his chin as he stared up at the ceiling. After several minutes, he sat up and leaned over his computer, typing “money laundering” in his Internet search engine.
“Are we ready?” Joseph sat down at the conference table in Tony’s office the following afternoon, ten minutes early for a 4:00 p.m. meeting with a new client.
Tony looked up from the open file on his desk. “You tell me.”
“Mr. Craig?” Tony’s secretary poked her head into the office. “Sam Malone is here to see you. He doesn’t have an appointment, but—”
“Start the meeting without me, Tony.” Joseph was out of his chair and headed towards the door.
Kevin Stuart stepped out of his office just as Joseph passed. “Joseph, can we talk for a few minutes before the meeting?”
“No.” Joseph didn’t look at him or slow his pace. “You’re going to have to start without me. Something’s come up.”
“What?” Kevin practically ran to keep up with him. “The only reason we’re having this meeting at four is because you couldn’t make it at any other time.”
“And now I can’t make it at four.” Joseph rounded the corner and moved into his reception area. “Sam, how are you?”
The detective slowly stood up. “Good.” He shook Joseph’s hand, and then his eyes shifted to Kevin, who had moved up behind them.
“Let’s go into my office.” Joseph gestured towards the open door. “Hold my calls,” he told his secretary as he followed Malone.
“Joseph!” Kevin was on his heels. “What is going on?”
“Nothing that concerns you. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He closed the door in his face before turning to Malone. “What did you find out?”
“Stan Hall is on the board of directors for Tia Tacos and acts as an advisor.”
“An advisor?” Joseph repeated as he dropped down behind his desk. “I’m assuming he’s a paid advisor?”
“Yes.” Malone remained standing. “He was paid seven million dollars last year for his advising, according to my contact at the IRS.”
“Seven million! Jesus, Sam, how could you miss this?”
“I was concerned with Zurtech. And he wasn’t an owner. I knew his brother was the sole owner.”
“You told me when he met his wife, for Christ’s sake! Jesus, Sam. This is something you should have known in the first fucking week.”
“Probably,” Malone reluctantly agreed.
“Sit down.” Joseph leaned back in his chair. “I think your blackmail theory was right.”
“I thought you said the clients would never come back if they were being blackmailed?”
“Right—I think he was blackmailing very specific clients. And I’m sure once they were blackmailed, these clients didn’t come back.” He linked his hands behind his head as he met Malone’s eyes. “None of this has to do with marketing. Someone who is already worth millions of dollars—hell, I know he’s worth that in art alone—someone worth millions isn’t going to risk their entire reputation, or freedom for that matter, by prostituting his female employees to increase his sales numbers. It never made sense.”
“I agree. Blackmail makes more sense.”
“I read something interesting online last night,” Joseph continued. “The Mafia used to own a lot of movie theaters because it was a cash business, and the number of movie tickets sold couldn’t be verified. This was back before computers. They would claim to sell three, four, even five times more tickets than they actually did and launder their illegal cash through the theater.”
Malone nodded, a slight smile coming to his face. “And a food truck is like a movie theater. A mostly cash business, with no real proof about how much food is being sold.”
“Exactly,” Joseph said. “Stan Hall is probably blackmailing clients and funneling money through his brother’s business.”
Malone stood up and began to pace back and forth in front of the desk. “I’m going to need to put a tail on Rodriguez again—and probably get into his house, if you want proof.”
“Whatever it takes. Hire as many people as you need. I want you to find the proof. Just don’t get caught.”
After Malone left his office, Joseph’s eyes focused on his small desk calendar. It was April twenty-ninth. He reached into side drawer, took out a Fortune magazine and looked at the cover. A picture of Richard Eastman was looking back at him. He smiled and tapped it lightly on his desk.
Sorry I’m late,” Joseph said as he entered Tony’s office a few minutes later. He shook hands with the potential clients and within minutes was running the meeting. An hour later, as the elevator doors closed on the clients, he turned to Tony and Kevin. “They were sold. They’ll be calling by tomorrow morning.”
“If they do, it’s no thanks to you.” Kevin glared at him. “I’m tired of my schedule having to adapt to yours! You seem to think this entire firm revolves around you.”
“I don’t have the time or energy for you right now. I have hours of work left before I can call it a night, and I’m not going to waste any of them on you.” He turned to walk off.
“You’re a senior partner in this firm and you’re notoriously late for meetings, some that you’re supposed to run. I’m tired of covering for you.”
“Then don’t.” Joseph turned back to him. “Don’t cover for me. It’s funny that you’re the only one who ever complains about me, Kevin. I don’t hear my clients complaining, and that’s what’s ultimately important, isn’t it?”
“No. What’s ultimately important is the reputation of this firm, and you’ve jeopardized it more than once with your frat-boy behavior.”
“Fuck you! You are such a Goddamn hypocrite. You have no problem taking your share of the money I bring in to this firm, so don’t start with that holier-than-thou attitude. I’ve had about as much of your shit as I’m willing to take. And I don’t need it! I work my ass off and bring in a hell of a lot of money and business, and you’d better start remembering that and start treating me with some respect!”
“Respect?” Kevin sneered. “That would take an Oscar-winning performance, and—”
“Enough!” Tony’s eyes flew between them.
“Then tell him to get off my back!” Joseph yelled.
“Let’s take this into my office,” Tony bit out. “I think we’ve given everyone enough to gossip about for one day.”
Moments later, Tony slammed the door to his office and turned angrily on his partners. “This has got to stop,” he said, his eyes darting from Joseph to Kevin. “I am so fucking tired of listening to the bickering between the two of you. I have more important things to do than play the mediator to my partners. If you can’t figure out how to make this work then we’re going to have to figure out how to dissolve this partnership, because it’s gotten to the point where it’s starting to affect the professionalism of this office. For years I was the only one who knew the two of you couldn’t stand each other. Now every person at this firm knows, and they’re starting to talk.”