Johnson Family 1: Unforgettable (25 page)

He dropped into the chair at the desk in his hotel room and stared in frustration at the computer screen. The travel options to Seattle were depressing. With no available outgoing flights until tomorrow afternoon, he was about ready to swim from Hawaii to the mainland.

The phone rang and he almost jumped out of his skin. He lunged for it where it lay on a side table, but it wasn’t Ivy. It was Brenda. She’d texted him earlier today when the news hit.

“Well?” he asked. He’d charged her with getting him out of his obligation at the resort.

“Lucas, they’re not happy about this, particularly in light of what’s recently happened.”

The hosts wanted him to stay put at the resort and finish the week with the other speakers. The scandal about him and the heiress to the Johnson fortune made him an overnight celebrity, and having him at the week long couple’s retreat had turned out to be an unexpected coup they wanted to milk for publicity.

“I don’t care, Brenda.”

He suspected she wasn’t working as hard as she could. When she’d called him, she’d been way too excited about the press coverage and told him that bad publicity was better than no publicity at all. To which he’d replied she only said that because it wasn’t her life, and by the way, she was out of her damn mind.

“At least consider waiting until the end of the week,” Brenda said. “You can talk to Ivy and Katie on the phone, can’t you?”

“She won’t answer the phone,” Lucas explained with barely contained impatience. He didn’t go into further detail about his concern that Ivy might think he had something to do with the leak. “And frankly, I don’t want to be here while they’re going through this mess.”

He couldn’t get the picture of Ivy’s driver, Lloyd, carrying his daughter through a throng of reporters and photographers out of his head. It made him sick to his stomach and it made him angry. She was just a kid. What was wrong with those people?

“I’ll do the best I can,” Brenda said. “But—”

“No buts, Brenda. Figure it out. You’ve done it before. Whether you get me out of this or not, I’m on a flight to Seattle tomorrow. I need to get to my daughter and my w—” He’d almost said wife, because that’s how he thought of her now—with permanence, part of his future. Katie was his daughter, Ivy was his wife,
they
were his family.

“I need to get to my daughter and her mother,” he said. “I need them to know that I didn’t have any part in this, and I’m not some asshole who used them for publicity and violated their trust. That’s not me. I’m not that guy. My job is to protect them and keep them safe. Because I’m a goddamn dragon slayer.”

Chapter Twenty-seven

Numb, Ivy sat in her mother’s sitting room listening to the family spokesperson, Hudson Lynch, run through scenarios. Hudson paced as his assistant took notes, and her mother nodded or shook her head depending on her agreement or disagreement with his ideas.

More details about her relationship with Winston had trickled into the media overnight. They liberally bandied about words such as “Full Moon cover up.” One of Winston’s exes had already surfaced to corroborate the rumors that Ivy and Winston had had a fake marriage. Some journalists even charged them with making a mockery of marriage.

Out on the campaign trail, reporters questioned Senator Somerset’s integrity. Opponents on the left and right pointed out his hypocrisy and called for him to refrain from running for office. According to them, if he could force his son into a fake marriage to win an election, what wouldn’t he do?

“Ivy?” Her gaze shifted to her mother, whose eyes were filled with concern. “What do you think?”

“I’m sorry, Mother, I wasn’t paying attention,” she admitted. She made a decision right then, based on an idea that had taken root in her mind. She addressed Hudson. “I’m glad you’re here, but I don’t want to do a press release or send out a finely crafted message to your media contacts. I want to face the press myself.”

“With all due respect, Ms. Johnson, you should let us handle this.” Hudson looked at Ivy’s mother for concurrence.

“They’re going to try to rip you to shreds, dear.” Constance looked her steadily in the eyes. “Are you sure?”

“They’ve already started,” Hudson said. “Some of the headlines make reference to what happened fourteen years ago. The name-calling, it’s—it’s not pretty…” His voice trailed off politely rather than repeat the headlines.

Not that Ivy hadn’t seen them herself. She knew the names they called her and that made her more determined than ever to face her detractors.

She kept her eyes on her mother, because she, more than anyone, had to be convinced. “Mother, I can handle it.”

“I don’t advise—”

Constance lifted her hand and Hudson fell silent. “What were you thinking?” she asked Ivy.

“A press conference,” Ivy answered. The thought had come to her out of the blue. “Where I could explain what happened—just enough details to satisfy their curiosity, but more than that. I want to look them in the eyes and tell them to leave my daughter alone. That’s the most important part. I don’t want them hounding her.”

Constance took her hand and squeezed it between her thinner fingers. “I believe you’re doing the right thing. The more you hide, the more they’ll seek their own truth. You have to be the one to craft the message.” She turned to Hudson. “You heard my daughter. She’s going to speak for herself. Draft a statement right away for her approval.”

Hudson didn’t look pleased and opened his mouth to speak again, but the sound of raised voices at the front of the house interrupted him. Ivy’s heart tripped over the next beat. One of those voices sounded like Lucas.

“I’ll be right back.”

She rushed out on unsteady legs to see Trenton and Lucas up in each other’s face, practically nose to nose. Trenton had taken the day off and was dressed casually in a pair of jeans and T-shirt. Lucas wore a rumpled dress shirt and slacks. He looked like he’d slept in his clothes.

“What’s going on?” Ivy asked.

They both turned in her direction. Lucas started toward her, but Trenton put a restraining hand on his shoulder. Lucas knocked it off and both men shoved each other.

“Stop it!” Ivy said. “Both of you.”

“Say the word and he’s out of here,” Trenton said. His right hand curled into a fist.

“I didn’t go to the tabloids, Ivy,” Lucas said.

“It sure is coincidental that for eight years no one has known the truth, but you come into our lives and her business is all over the news.”

Lucas’s jaw clenched, the only indication he’d heard Trenton speak. He ignored her brother and spoke directly to her. “Somebody else went to the tabloids. Not me.” He trapped her with his earnest gaze.

Ivy wanted to believe him. She’d tossed and turned all night, second-guessing herself and wondering if her brothers could have been right after all.

“How do you explain the photos?” she asked. That was the most damning evidence of all. Even if the release of the story could be deemed a coincidence, the press had photos of Katie and Lucas from the father and daughter dance. That’s how the paparazzi had been able to identify her at school.

“I don’t have an answer,” Lucas said, “but I swear to you, I didn’t give anyone pictures of me and Katie.”

Trenton snorted in disgust.

“Trenton.” Constance had entered the foyer without Ivy noticing. “Please join me in the sitting room.”

After a short hesitation, Trenton sent one last scathing look at Lucas and walked away with his mother.

“How’d you get onto the property?” Ivy asked.

“I climbed the fence. It wasn’t easy because I’m not as young as I used to be.” His smile disappeared when she didn’t smile back. “God, Ivy, you have to know I wouldn’t do this. It’s killing me that you’re looking at me with such distrust.”

She didn’t know what to think. She hadn’t thought him capable of such a betrayal, but the circumstantial evidence made him look like the guilty party. He certainly had plenty to gain from the publicity. In addition to selling the story, his book sales would probably skyrocket.

“I’ve been wrong before,” she said, “and this media circus doesn’t only affect me. It affects Katie, too. They terrified her, Lucas. She was shaking like a leaf in my arms because she thought they wanted to hurt her.”

“Do you really think I’d be capable of doing this to our daughter? To you? I would rather cut off my right arm than hurt either one of you. You and Katie mean the world to me.” He swallowed hard. “I admit I didn’t want a family at first, but I’m happier now than I’ve ever been, and it’s because of the two of you. I wouldn’t jeopardize that, and I wouldn’t risk your happiness to make a few bucks.”

He was saying all the right things.

“You have to believe me, Ivy. If I have to find out myself who did this to you—to us—I will. Don’t shut me out.”

He took one step toward her, and when she didn’t move, he took another, then another, until he was standing right in front of her and she could smell his cologne. The familiar scent weakened her. The wall she’d erected for self-preservation crumbled, and she started shaking. That’s when he pulled her into the security of his arms.

She’d had to be strong for Katie and put on a brave face for her family, but with Lucas she could just be.

“They’re saying such awful things,” she said, her voice quivering. Tears sprang to her eyes.

She’d stopped reading the headlines. They’d been too painful:

“Fourteen Years Later the Billionaire Heiress is at it Again”

“Sex, Lies, and Paternity Tests—A Day in the Life of Ivy Johnson”

“Who’s Really the Daddy?”
That particular article had gone so far as to suggest Lucas get a DNA test to confirm Katie’s paternity.

“We’ll get through this, you’ll see,” Lucas said. He massaged the back of her neck with his thumb.

She swiped at the tears on her cheeks. “I shouldn’t have doubted you. I just…”

“It’s okay. I’m here, and we’ll be fine. Katie will be fine.” He pressed soft kisses to her eyelids. She buried her face in his neck and soaked up the comforting warmth of his embrace.

Footsteps sounded on the tile, and Ivy turned to see Trenton coming toward them with his cell phone in hand. “I just talked to Cyrus. He knows who did it.”

“Who?” Ivy asked.

“It was a woman.”

“A woman?” Lucas asked sharply. Ivy looked at him. By the tone of his voice, he sounded almost as if he’d guessed who the culprit was.

“What woman?” Ivy asked.

“Your babysitter,” Trenton answered. “Janelle sold you out.”

Chapter Twenty-eight

The press conference went better than expected. Ivy and Lucas presented a united front to the media. They confirmed that he was indeed Katie’s father and praised Winston’s role in her life. At the end they asked the reporters and paparazzi to stay away from their daughter and her school.

Josiah Somerset also spoke and admitted he didn’t understand his son’s preferences, that he himself couldn’t pretend that a lot of his friends were gay. Soft chuckles rippled through the crowd at his admission. He wrapped up by telling everyone, in a trembling voice that reflected his pain, that Winston was his only son, and his political and religious leanings didn’t mean he loved him any less.

Ivy let the attorneys deal with Nanny Services on Call, the company she’d used to vet and hire Janelle. The young woman had signed a confidentiality agreement and violated it when she sold personal information to the tabloids.

She’d liked Janelle and was devastated to learn that she’d been the one to betray them. Ivy ransacked her brain to figure out if she’d mistreated Janelle in any way, trying to find an explanation for the young woman’s actions, but she found none. The only conclusion she drew was that Janelle had been motivated by greed. Plain and simple.

****

Ivy heard Lucas enter the bedroom and looked up from a text she was writing to Trenton. “Is she okay?” she asked, referring to Katie. He’d tucked her in.

Lucas nodded. He dropped his jacket on the mattress. “Yes. Wasn’t it you who told me kids are amazingly resilient?”

She smiled. “I believe so.”

In truth, Katie had already recovered from the incident at her school. It helped having Lucas there the past few days. He showered her with attention and his presence had been a tremendous boost to her spirits.

He strolled over to the chaise lounge and sat down beside her.

Ivy finished her text and hit send. She cast a glance at him. “Are you all right?”

Could he be second-guessing getting involved with her? So much had happened. They’d spent the last few days at her mother’s house and had agreed to let Hudson send a short statement to the media outlets since they’d already had a chance to tell their side of the story. Her brothers had come around, too. They’d both apologized to him and finally accepted he meant the family no harm.

“I’m all right.” He cupped her face and stroked her cheek with his thumb.

“I hate that you were so exposed and had to have your life dissected in this way.”

He shrugged. “I was already in the public eye to some degree, though not to this extent,” he contended.

“You didn’t sign up for this.”