Many Shades of Gray (34 page)

“I would have lost all my respect for you but I would have done it.”

“And now, Harold, have you lost all respect for me?”

“I think you’re going about everything all wrong. You’ve always wanted a family, a wife to love you, kids. Now you have it, you have it all and you’re throwing it all away. You’ve been trying so hard to not live your father’s life but you’re repeating every mistake he ever made. It wasn’t the family secret that destroyed your parents’ marriage. I’ve told you that a million times. It was his deceit, his arrogance, his mistrust of your mother, him trying to manipulate things behind the scenes.”

“My parents slept around.”

“Do you think that happened in the beginning?” Harold shook his head slowly. “That took awhile, a lot of years, a lot of hurt. They both hacked away at that marriage until they had nothing left but you. Is that what you want, Simon?”

“You know that’s not what I want. This whole thing got out of control. If Janice had just listened to me when I asked her not to go to Tommy’s…”

“You’re trying to place some of the blame for this mess on your wife?”

“God, I don’t know.” Simone ran his fingers through his hair. “Don’t worry, Harold, I know this is all my doing. Eric is being so damn stubborn. I’ve offered him ten times what he paid for those damn stores. And that was another mistake. Now he knows they have to be important.”

“What’s he doing now?”

“He’s trying to buy up more independent stores and I’m trying to stop him. It’s a real mess. I’m spending too much time on this.”

“Messes sometimes take awhile to clean up. Are you heading directly home?”

“I have to make a stop before I get home.”

“More jewelry? You’ve been to the jeweler every day this month.”

Simon paused and studied Harold. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but am I spending my money or yours?”

“You’re going about this the wrong way. That’s all that I meant by my observation.”

“I would be buying jewelry for my wife anyway, so you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Simon was tired of snapping at Harold. He loved Harold but lately he seemed to have appointed himself to be Simon’s conscience, and that Simon didn’t need. Every time he saw his wife his own guilt screamed out at him.

Since she was doing nothing but working, Simon had decided he might as well put in time at the office. He hated the idea of not snuggling with her in the early morning. At least he got to have lunch with her. When she worked, generally she didn’t care about food. She didn’t care about anything but the characters in her book. Now it was different, she cared about having a healthy baby and she cared about him. She had a standing request for the staff to interrupt her for lunch. There was no emergency that was going to keep Simon from leaving the office to go home and have lunch with his wife. That time was special for both of them.

He remembered how it used to be when she’d tried to hide how happy she was to see him. Now she didn’t. Whenever he interrupted her she never acted annoyed. She would give him a huge smile, get up from her computer for a hug and a kiss and a few minutes of conversation. But eventually she would kiss him and usher him back out the door.

And every time it happened he wanted to call her publisher and tell him to give her more time. But he knew Janice would be suspicious. She would know without a doubt that he’d meddled and he was trying his best not to interfere any more than he already had.

* * *

Simon handed the sapphire and diamond bracelet to the clerk, who was beaming. Why shouldn’t he be? That was another thing Harold was right about. Every day for a month he’d either had something sent to the mansion or he stopped in the store himself. Over two million dollars in jewels. He looked at the glass cases and the remaining items, thinking the entire store would not be enough to get him out of the mess he’d gotten himself into if Janice discovered what he’d done.

* * *

“You’re late.”

“Just a little. I got you something,” Simon said, bringing the bag from behind his back and smiling. She wasn’t reaching for the bag and he wondered why.

“Something wrong, baby?”

“Why are you bringing me so many presents?”

“I always give you presents,” he answered defensively. “What are you complaining about?”

“I’m not complaining.” Janice smiled, shrugging her shoulder. “I guess I’m just tired and maybe a bit cranky.”

“Are you almost done?”

“Almost. I will be in a couple of days.” She moved so that her back was to her husband, knowing that he would massage her shoulders.

“Don’t you want your present?” Simon asked, moving to rub her shoulders.

“Maybe later. Right now I’m on present overload.”

A lump formed in his throat. He’d thought the jewels made her happy. They didn’t. “If you could have anything in the world that you wished for, what would it be?” he asked as he kneaded her kinked muscles.

“I have it.”

“What exactly do you have?”

“You,” Janice answered without missing a beat. “I thought I was happy with the way things were before. I really did, our fights, everything, not caring, not trusting. This is so much better,” she said, grabbing his hand and bringing it to her lips. “I wouldn’t trade what we have for anything.”

“How about the bookstores? Are you missing helping?”

“I am, but I know that the work I’ve done has helped and I know that Tommy is not going to see the stores close. He’s passionate about that and regardless of everything else, he can be pretty amazing.”

“Pretty amazing?” Simon rubbed his teeth across his lips. “You sound as though you’re proud of him.”

“Honey, you don’t have anything to be worried about. Haven’t I proven that to you? It’s you I love.”

Simon wondered for a moment about that. Yes, she’d married him and yes, she was having his baby and yes, she wasn’t seeing Tommy anymore, but that was because he had pulled strings and had practically imprisoned her in the mansion. Sure, she’d set the ground rules and had shut herself in her office typing all day, but it was because of his manipulations that she’d done it. He sighed.

“Simon, do you still doubt me?”

“I want to make you happy so much that I guess it worries me when I bring you home a gift and you won’t open it.” Simon smiled, trying to lighten the moment.

“Give it to me.”

For a moment he wondered at her statement but she was smiling. It was he who was sensitive over her choice of words. He handed her the package, cursing Harold silently. If it had not been for him, he would not be thinking these thoughts.

“I was wondering when you’re done with your book if you would like to come with me to Italy? I have some business there and if you’re going to be done in a couple of days I could arrange it.”

“I didn’t know you had to go to Italy.”

“Well, I’ve been putting it off. I didn’t want to leave you alone.”

Janice smiled up at him. “I’m not worried anymore about your abandoning me, not when you tell me where you’re going and when you’re coming home.”

“Don’t you want to go with me? Have you grown tired of me already?” He looked away.

“Is something wrong?”

“I’m beginning to feel neglected. I know you have to hide yourself away like this when you write but I miss you. I just want some time alone with you.”

“You’re going to Italy for business. I don’t want to sit around in a hotel room all day.”

“I promise we’ll get to see and do whatever you want. Don’t worry.”

Simon realized that he was still manipulating things. Janice would be done with her book in a couple of days, and she would find out what was going on, what he’d done. He needed more time. A couple of weeks.

He watched her unwrap the box and smile at the bracelet. “It’s beautiful,” she said.

“I thought you would like it.”

“I do and I like the identical one you bought me a year ago.”

Simon’s mouth opened and he blinked. “I already bought you that bracelet?”

“Yes, and it’s time to stop buying jewelry. At least for a while,” she amended. “I would like to do some shopping, but for the baby, not for me.”

“Then I’ll buy—”

“No, Simon, I want us to shop together. I want us to pick out the crib and everything else together. I’ve been waiting to finish this book. I’ve had my heart set on turning one of the bedrooms into a nursery. I guess that’s why I didn’t seem so excited about going to Italy. It’s not because of you; it’s just that I wanted to make baby plans. I’ve been shutting myself away so that that could happen, that’s all.”

“We’ll do it as soon as we come home, okay?” Simon pulled her into his arms. Another thing to feel guilty about. His wife had been working like a demon in order to shop for the baby, their baby, and he was still manipulating, taking that pleasure away from her. But that he could make up for. They could buy all Italian furniture for the baby and have it shipped home. That would make her happy. The bracelet sure hadn’t done it. If he was repeating his gifts to her, he was definitely overdoing it. He was also going to have a talk with the jeweler. The damn man should have told him that he’d already bought that piece.

* * *

The End. Janice typed the words on the bottom of her manuscript, printed it and shoved it into the envelope. For the first time in a month she re-plugged her phone and called Michelle, her agent.

“Okay, I’m sticking this in the mail and then I’m going to Italy with Simon for a couple of weeks. Hopefully nothing will come up. I don’t think I have the energy right now to do edits.”

“It should be fine. I don’t know what happened, why out of the blue they moved up your deadline, but I guess it must have been an important reason.”

“Don’t worry about it. We both know that there could be a dozen reasons why they did or there could be none. I’m glad. It gives me more time before the baby is born. I’ve been goofing off for the past few months anyway. This made me stretch my brain having to produce and it just goes to show that no matter what or who I’m married to, I have rules to follow just like everyone else.”

Michelle laughed and Janice wondered about that. There had been something, some little clue in Michelle’s words, but she wasn’t going to go looking for trouble. She didn’t want to think that her own agent would think that she’d gotten preferential treatment because of Simon. It was true that she had, but still, she didn’t want her agent thinking it. She wanted Michelle to believe in her talent, not her husband’s money.

For the first time in a month she was finished with work before noon and now she felt like celebrating. She wanted to see what she’d missed in the month she’d been in exile.

She punched in the number for Simon’s office. “I’m done,” she began. “I have it in an envelope and ready to mail. I called Michelle to tell her. She sounded a bit odd, like there was something happening, some reason for my deadline being pulled up. What do you think?”

“About what?”

“I don’t know. You know how paranoid writers can be. Do you think for some reason the publisher doesn’t think I can deliver? Maybe my last book didn’t do well.”

“Baby, your last book was number one. What are you talking about?”

“I don’t know. Forget it. Listen, I was thinking about going shopping since I’ve finished so early. I feel like celebrating.”

“Wait for me. I’ll come home and we’ll celebrate together.”

God, his world was caving in on him. Something would have to give or he would be buried alive under the avalanche of his lies.

* * *

The two weeks in Italy were reminiscent of their honeymoon. Simon treasured each day, yet in the pit of his stomach he was aware that his house of cards would soon cave in on him. The moment they landed back in New York Simon felt the pressure. The fact that Harold was waiting for them at the mansion would have been a tip off, even if the acid churning inside of him hadn’t been.

They barely had time to enter before Harold rushed toward them, gave Janice a kiss on the cheek and Simon an urgent look. “Let me talk to Harold a moment, baby,” Simon said, frowning in Harold’s direction. “I see business is already taking over our lives.” He kissed his wife and stood for a moment watching her ascend the stairs before turning tiredly toward Harold. “Is it really that important?” he asked.

“Simon, Tommy Strong has been to the mansion. I understand from your staff that he’s been trying to reach Janice. He’s called and left messages for her. I’m surprised she hasn’t gotten any of them. Doesn’t she check her voicemail?”

Simon was silent.

“I suppose you told her not to.”

“She has a new number. I told her that we were both getting new phones, that we had to protect the baby, that people would attempt to harm her or the baby because of me.”

“God,” Harold hissed, disgusted.

“Don’t you think I know what I’ve done? I’m fighting for my life here. I’m thinking of moving to Italy.”

“What about your in-laws? They will want to see their daughter and the baby.”