Six
Julianne breathed in the familiar scent of Nicholas DiMarco as she hugged him tightly. “I knew you’d come,” she whispered against his neck. His hands gently patted her back. Nice hands. Normal hands. Nothing like the oversized mitts Will was always holding up in front of her face.
Nicky gently gripped her shoulders and took a step back. “Of course I came, Jules. I had to make sure my best girl and her baby were okay. Carly shared the wonderful news that Owen is getting better by the hour. All of our prayers have been answered.”
She looked over Nicky’s shoulder at Carly, who was giving Will another of those empathetic shrugs. The gesture annoyed her. Carly never understood Julianne’s relationship with Nicky. Her best friend couldn’t seem to grasp that Nicky was more than a childhood crush—in spite of any lasting sexual fantasies. Sure, Julianne had spent much of her life dreaming about Nicky as her soul mate, but she was well aware that his devotion lay elsewhere. That’s what made him so safe.
Brushing her hands over his shoulders, Julianne adjusted the clerical collar on his starched black shirt. “Oh, Nicky, it’s so wonderful! My baby is going to be okay!”
Will cleared his throat loudly behind her. Wincing, she grabbed Nicky’s hand and turned to face him. The inscrutable behemoth linebacker from yesterday was back, looking none too happy that she’d referred to Owen as her baby. “Nicky, this is Will Connelly . . . Owen’s father.” The humiliation of the situation seemed to be choking her, and she struggled with the introduction she’d never envisioned making. “Will, this is Nicky. Father Nicholas DiMarco, Vatican Emissary to the Holy See.”
Nicky dropped her hand to reach for Will’s. She held her breath as Will’s hand seemed to swallow the priest’s more gentle one, nearly crushing it in his grip. “We’re all so glad you’re finally in the picture, Will.”
Julianne tried not to cringe. Years of diplomatic training and that was what came out of Nicky’s mouth? She could feel Will’s stare piercing through her, but she didn’t dare look at him. Fear and shame that Will might say something about that night kept her eyes focused on the fountain in the center of the courtyard. Anywhere but on either man’s face. “I would’ve liked to have been part of the picture much sooner, Father, but your best girl seemed to have other ideas.” The tone of his voice indicated that whatever accord they’d reached a few minutes ago might be slipping away, and Julianne felt helpless to stop it. He had every right to be angry and, once again, guilt churned through her stomach.
Nicky laughed. “Ah, yes, our Julianne is passionate in her stubbornness, isn’t she?” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders as he proceeded to regale Will with a story from their childhood, a time when she refused to reveal where she’d hidden something or other, but Julianne wasn’t listening. Apparently Will wasn’t, either, because she still felt his eyes boring into her.
Hitching a quick breath, Julianne scrambled to figure a way out of this awkward encounter. Her world was completely tilted on its axis. Owen was recovering. Carly hadn’t deserted her and now Nicky was here to lend his support. She should be ecstatic that everything had fallen into place. Instead, she felt light-headed and confused. And Will stood three feet from her like a ticking time bomb ready to explode. She just hoped that when he did, she could contain the damage.
“But all’s well that ends well,” Nicky was saying. “It’s her penchant for drama that makes her a fabulous designer, and her passionate nature will make her a devoted mother, so you needn’t worry. She’ll be a fierce advocate for her son’s well-being.”
If Julianne had eaten anything at all today, Nicky would probably be wearing it on his shoes right now.
“I hope you’ve forgiven her for her lies of omission, Will.”
“We’ve come to an understanding.”
She finally chanced a look at Will. His square jaw stuck out slightly and his eyes were like emeralds, hard as stone and glinting at her.
“In fact,” he went on to say, that glare never leaving her face, “you’re just in time. Since you’re such a good friend of the family, I’m sure you’d like to perform our marriage ceremony.”
Ka boom!
Stunned, Julianne tried to force a protest past the lump in her throat, but all that came out was a gasping sound. Carly and Nicky were both speaking, but she couldn’t make out what they were saying as she struggled to breathe. Married? No way had she agreed to that!
Will’s hand was tapping her back as she choked on her angry rebuttal. She gasped again and Will scooped her up in his arms. He carried her over to a bench, where he sat down with her in his lap, his palm still kneading between her shoulders as he calmly told her to breathe.
Breathe? What she really wanted to do was kick him, only she was too busy choking.
Carly knelt before her, a bottle of water in her hand. “Take small sips. Slowly.”
The water helped to unlock the muscles in Julianne’s throat and enabled her to take several gulping breaths. As her breathing returned to normal, she relaxed into the crook of Will’s arm. He continued to rub her back. The instinct to sink into his caress was overwhelming and Julianne began to wonder if he’d cast some spell over her, just like the night at Chase Jordan’s wedding.
Wedding!
She blinked back the tears that had formed in her eyes while she’d been gasping for air and stiffened her spine. Will’s fingers tightened their grip on her back, as if they sensed she’d returned to full mental capacity.
Slowly, she turned her head and shot a death glare over her shoulder at him. “I’m sorry, I thought you said we were getting married?”
The muscles in his face remained impassive, but triumph briefly flared in his eyes. “I did. And we are. As soon as it can be arranged. It comes under the provision of anything I want, according to our little agreement.”
Julianne’s stomach lurched again and she felt her pulse ricocheting at the base of her neck. This man was infuriating! She dug her elbow to his belly only to be met with the definition of Abs of Steel. The pressure on her back became more firm.
Don’t even think about it, his eyes warned her.
“Jules?”
She looked ahead at Carly. Her friend’s face was full of anguish as she glanced between Julianne and Will. “Is this true? You agreed to this?”
“We were just working out the details before you two arrived,” Will lied. Julianne was too angry to find the words to refute him.
“This is wonderful news! Of course I’ll preside over a ceremony. But you understand, we won’t be able to have it in a church.”
Nicky’s words shook her to the core. She was getting married. To someone she didn’t love. Even worse, to someone who didn’t love her. Yet Nicky sounded . . . happy.
“Julianne, sweetie.” Carly’s voice permeated the storm of emotions fogging up her brain. “Is this what you want?”
“It’s what’s happening.” Will’s tone was final.
“Shut up, Will.” Carly had obviously learned a thing or two being married to a football player because her tone was just as lethal as Will’s. She took one of Julianne’s hands in her own. “I’m talking to Jules.”
Frequently throughout these past two days, Julianne thought her friend had been on Will’s side. But when she’d needed her most, Carly was there. With her. She swallowed to keep the tears at bay, relieved to know she could still count on her friend. But Carly’s question weighed heavy in her heart. It didn’t matter what Julianne wanted; her wants had been sacrificed when she’d committed the egregious sin against Will by trying to deny him his son. The guilt of that offense was eating her alive. Julianne owed Will and apparently, he’d found his pound of flesh. If she was going to agree to this—and she still wasn’t sure she could—she’d do so for the sake of her son, another innocent victim in all of her deceit.
That didn’t mean she was giving in to Will without a fight. Her son’s father might be holding all the cards right now, but she had some ground rules she intended to lay down before any wedding—even a fake one to pacify Will’s enormous ego—took place.
She squeezed Carly’s hand. “I’m good. Would you both mind going to check on Owen while we finish”—she wanted to say negotiating, but she didn’t want Carly to worry—“working out the logistics?”
Carly hesitated a minute before standing and releasing her hand. Nicky stood, too, giving Julianne a gentle squeeze on the shoulder. “This is for the best. You’ll see.” Neither his words nor his gesture pacified her. Instead they left her feeling as if he were placating her. Again.
Julianne attempted to jump off Will’s lap, but he held her there. “Wait until they’ve gone inside before you start spitting nails at me,” he breathed into her ear.
As soon as Carly and Nicky entered the hospital, she wrenched herself free of his grasp and scrambled for the chair Nicky had vacated, rushing to get her point across before he could raise a hand to stop her. “First things first, this is a marriage in name only.” She wrapped her arms around her as a cool breeze blew through the courtyard. Her body instantly missed the warm heat of Will’s, and she shivered involuntarily. “There’ll be no touching like that again.”
Will’s mouth tightened into a straight line before he spoke. “True that, Princess. From now on, even the Heimlich maneuver is off-limits. Like I said before, my only interest in this relationship is one with my son.”
His words were a vicious reality check. Julianne tried to get a handle on the roller coaster of emotions she felt about Will. One minute she hated him. The next, her body was shuddering over the loss of contact with his. She needed to keep her wits about her. To set up barriers to ensure she survived any and all close encounters with him.
“I’m not doing your laundry or cooking your food. I’ll take care of Owen and myself. You can spend as much time with him as you want, but I’m not pretending we’re one big happy family.”
She thought she heard him grind his teeth. “I don’t care what happens inside the house, but when we are out in the town, no one knows this is a sham.”
“Oh, come on! They’ll all know it’s a sham when Owen and I pop up out of nowhere.”
“I don’t care! My son will not go through what I did as a child living in that town!”
Julianne felt a moment of fear. Where was he taking them? What would Owen be exposed to?
She felt a measure of distress, too, for the man sitting next to her. He’d obviously had a tough childhood growing up without a father. One that left scars. She didn’t want that for her son. Maybe he was right to want her to pretend. But marriage?
Sighing, she rested her head in her hand. “Will, this is crazy. I know you’re angry with me for . . . lots of things.” It wasn’t hard to admit she was guilty on so many levels. And she empathized with his desire for Owen to live a respectable life, but she suspected her calling out Nicky’s name while they were making love was the trigger for this unorthodox marriage proposal. “But a marriage just doesn’t make any sense.”
He arched an eyebrow at her. “Actually, it makes perfect sense. It’s the only scenario that gives Owen exactly what he needs.” His tone turned lethal. “Unless you and the priest had other plans? Shall I call him back out here to discuss it?”
Julianne lunged from the bench to grab at Will as he started to rise. “Absolutely not!” She couldn’t let Nicky ever know what she’d done. It was mortifying enough that Will knew.
His next words were ruthless. “I’m taking Owen to North Carolina as soon as he’s able. If you want to come with us, you’ll come as my wife. The other option is you get back on the bus to crazy town and wait for a custody battle that will air all your dirty laundry.”
Julianne’s whole body trembled. She’d brought this mess on herself with her behavior and lies. If Will’s intent was to punish her, he’d hit the bull’s-eye.
But Owen was hers and she wouldn’t give him up no matter how hard Will bullied her. He’d said it was only three months until the season started. By then, Owen would be completely recovered, and that was all that was important. She could do anything for the sake of her son. Even spend a few months married to a Neanderthal.
“For crying out loud, we don’t know anything about one another,” she whispered.
“So do a Google search on me.” He stood up, towering over her. She couldn’t see his face with the sun shining behind his head, but she felt the derision rolling off him landing like heavy rain in her lap. “Roscoe can draw up a prenup and send it over tonight. We can have a civil ceremony as soon as I get a license. I’ll make the arrangements. Don’t bother with one of your gowns, though. This isn’t going to be a party.”
• • •
Later that evening, Julianne sat on the hard sofa in the waiting area, her bare feet tucked beneath her. Sebastian, Nicky, and Stephen were seated around the table, debating the prenup forms Will had sent over. His lawyers had worked quickly. Still, they’d have to wait forty-eight hours for a marriage license, even with her brother pulling strings.
“It’s a pretty straightforward agreement,” Sebastian explained to her brother. “When they dissolve the marriage, both leave with the monies they came in with. Until then, Will provides for Owen’s everyday care while Julianne provides for her own expenses. He’s establishing a trust for Owen for his education and so forth. As prenups go, it’s really standard.”
“I really don’t like the way you keep saying when they dissolve their marriage. You’re dooming it to failure before it even begins.” Nicky had been singing the same tune all day.
Sebastian refrained from commenting. Like Carly, he’d never been a big fan of Nicky. Besides, they all knew the marriage was a farce and destined to end in divorce. She and Will just hadn’t gotten around to discussing that part of their ridiculous plan.
“I really don’t like the way no one told me she’d sold the company.” Stephen had not taken that news very well.
“It is . . . was . . . my company. I didn’t need your approval to sell it.” Julianne was getting tired of this whole discussion.
Stephen turned in his chair to face her directly. “Julianne, after you pay everyone off, you won’t have that much left to live on. A couple of years, tops. Then what are you going to do?”
“I’ll worry about that later. Right now, I just need to take care of Owen.”
“That’s my point! Seriously, Julianne, you have such a Scarlett O’Hara complex.” Stephen pinched the bridge of his nose. “Will’s agreed to take care of Owen, but how are you planning to take care of yourself if you don’t have any money? Are you willing to start another design business from scratch?”
Julianne doubted she would design again at all, since she hadn’t been able to sketch anything worth producing in nearly a year. If she told Stephen that, he’d have a coronary. “I have Mom’s paintings. I could sell them if I needed to.”
Stephen’s face grew redder, if that were possible. “Your mom’s paintings? Are you kidding me?”
She never understood Stephen’s attitude about her mother’s art creations. “Nicky and I think they could sell for quite a lot.”
“You and Nicky? You two are the only ones who’d buy them!” Her brother’s voice was so loud, she was surprised security hadn’t come to investigate.
“Daria’s oil paintings are fantastic and incredibly unique. A knowledgeable collector might pay a great deal for them.” Finally, Nicky said something that made sense.
Stephen directed a frosty look at the priest. “You would say that.” He turned back to Sebastian. “As long as Owen is taken care of under this agreement, you can let her sign it. My sister is going to do what she wants. She always has.” He stood to leave.
“As long as your nephew becomes legitimate, you mean!” She and Stephen had never been close, but his contempt was more than she could emotionally handle tonight. “Heaven forbid my life interferes with your campaign!”
“For God’s sake, Julianne!” Stephen’s rant had Nicky clearing his throat. “This isn’t about me. It’s never about me. You’re my sister and I want to see you protected. Taken care of. Except you won’t let anybody do that for you. You make it impossible. I only hope Will Connelly knows what he’s getting himself into.” He pushed out a heavy breath before he leaned down to kiss her on the forehead. “Are you coming back to the town house tonight? Faith and the kids are there. They wanted to be here for your wedding.”
Julianne’s stomach clenched. She didn’t want Stephen’s family at the wedding. Truth be told, she didn’t want anyone to witness the ceremony. Especially her niece and nephew, who were too young to understand it wasn’t real. But Stephen was her half brother, one who obviously had finally decided to take his role seriously. So she kept her protests to herself. She was all in now, and there was no stopping.
She shook her head. “I’ll probably get there after everyone’s asleep. I want to feed Owen again tonight.”
He looked like he wanted to say more. Instead he nodded at Sebastian and Nicky and headed out the door.
Just as she had the day before, Julianne put a shaking hand to paper and signed the prenuptial agreement. It was the first step; in a few days, she’d be married to Will Connelly.