Chapter 217

“Actually … I was talking about Emma’s baby.” Giovanni leans back with a wolfish grin and satisfied glint in his eye. The clatter of cutlery as Marissa drops her fork and gapes at me with open-mouthed shock. I realize she’s not the only one, Arrick’s girlfriend is practically bug-eyed gawping my way and no one is holding cutlery now except me.

“Fuck’s sake…” Jake snaps, raising a hand to pinch his brow, his elbow hitting the table to hold his arm up. He knows the shit is about to hit the fan and he’s waiting on it.

“Dad, you’re an asshole.” Arrick cuts in, instantly, and Marissa erupts.

“What the actual fuck?! Since fucking when?!” She throws her napkin down on top of her food, glaring

at him then me, focusing on one after the other with sheer fury across her pouted mouth. She doesn’t look quite so attractive now and yet all I can do is lower my head and stare at my lap to try to control the surge of complete

tension running through me. Giovanni certainly knows how to ruin a dinner.

“Arrick. Please take Gloria to the front room and I’ll have your plates sent through … Giovanni. I suggest you go eat in your office!” Sylvana snaps, taking control, and stands up. She puts a hand on Marissa’s shoulder, sharply sitting her down, since Marissa has risen from her seat in anger.

“How did you find out?” Jake glares at Giovanni furiously. The waves of rage can almost be seen rippling across the table. Everyone turns to look at the older man sitting smugly, sipping his glass of wine, as though he’s completely unaware of the scene he’s just caused.

“You underestimate me, Jacob. Two women at this table with a pregnancy glow and drinking fresh orange instead of my $2000 a bottle Chardonnay. You forget I’m a father who knows when a lady is carrying, and I’m fully aware you set up a viewing for the Wilson house, he’s my golfing partner after all. I’m just disappointed that you felt you could tell your mother and brother who are the only two who did not react to this news and yet still hadn’t told me.” He slides up, lifting his glass, and walks coolly toward the door while Jake visually throws daggers into his back. All I can think of is how keen eyed Senior Carrero is. He really is a smart cookie after all. I can’t help but be a little impressed with his scarily keen observations.

I want the ground to open and devour me. The seething hatred emanating my way from Demon Bitch is making my skin prickle and inner-Teen-Emma rage, looming inside. Arrick and his girlfriend are practically high tailing it out of the room and Sylvana is glaring at everyone with a sheer angry momma bear look. This is not how I envisioned this would go. I had no idea we’d even be telling Marissa about the baby just yet, so, I guess in a way Giovanni has done us a favor.

“So, this is why you keep fucking stalling and pissing me about?!” Marissa spits with venom across the table as Sylvana moves toward her. I’m not sure what her intentions are but gone is the kind maternal expression, now she’s angry mamma ready to tackle a crazy pregnant woman down if she dares get up.

“Shut up, Marissa, and calm the fuck down.” Jake glares at her. I catch the simmering of something between them; fury on his part and possibly the same from her. I wonder if this was how the meetings in LA went in the past.

“Mamma. I think the three of us need to do this without you here.” Jake turns to Sylvana and the flash of stubborn flick across her attractive face. She lifts her chin for a moment as she narrows her gaze on him and then sighs in defeat.

“Behave like adults. I’ll be dealing with your father.” She turns, walks around the table, and leaves, picking up Arrick and Gloria’s plates in passing, ushering the last of her house staff with her, including the poor girl who was caught like a deer in headlamps in the corner and pulling the door closed behind them.

We’re left, just the three of us, fused together with heightened emotion emanating across the dining room, air filled with the stifling atmosphere and a moment of deafening silence. I look to Jake for any sign of how to act or what to say and notice he’s looking down at the table pushing around his wine glass, steadying his anger with slow even breaths. He’s thinking about what he wants to say before he erupts too. I know this version of him, I’ve seen it in boardroom meetings, when someone is pushing his buttons and he’s about to go all ‘Alpha Boss’ mode and take them down. I shiver in anticipation and suddenly I don’t want to be in here and doing this. I want to be upstairs or anywhere else but here between these two.

“Well?” Marissa snaps impatiently.

“Marissa, yes, Emma is pregnant. It wasn’t planned but I’m happy, we’re happy about it. It doesn’t concern you in the slightest.” Jake’s steady even tone is laced with aggression. He’s trying so hard to get control of this conversation before it erupts again.

“How the fuck does this not concern me exactly?! Everything I have asked for with our baby, Jake, every request has been fucking denied me and now I know why! You’re setting up happy families with her and my child is being tossed aside like it doesn’t fucking matter!” She spits and slams her palms onto the table wildly, setting cups and glasses rattling unsteadily. I jump with the impact and Jake immediately brings a hand to my lap to comfort me.

“This is recent, Marissa. It has nothing to do with any of that. Your demands are ridiculous, parenting classes, running to LA every time you click your fingers. We’re not in a relationship and I don’t want to spend more time than necessary with you.” Jake growls back at her, tempers rising, and I grasp his fingers to urge him to calm down. Jake’s so much better than this. He deals with negotiations and hard-headed business tycoons daily. He shouldn’t lower himself to her standards. He squeezes back and I throw him a supportive subtle smile. He takes a calming breath and sits back, lifting his wine taking slow deliberate sips, giving himself a moment.

“So, tell me, Jake … You say you’re happy? Funny … Because I can remember the word abortion coming up when I told you that you were going to be a father! You said you didn’t even want kids! Yet here you are now playing Mr. Daddy-to-be of the year; buying her a fucking house!” Marissa is sitting back with arms crossed across her cleavage, every word like venom on her tongue, glaring at me and not him, with highly intoxicated hatred.

“Why wouldn’t I feel differently? You came to me after one drunk night, that I can’t even fucking remember, and told me there was a baby. I am in love with Emma, had been for so long and your appearance almost screwed up the chance I had with her.” Jake stands up and walks off toward the unit behind us, grabbing the bottle of wine, he walks back filling his glass to the top. “When Emma found out she was pregnant it was different. It changed everything Marissa, because I love her, because I want a life with her, because she’s my world.” He picks it up and downs the whole thing in one go.

Oh, this is not good.

Jake drinking is Jake sliding into more impulsive, more aggressive mode, where he can be unpredictable and harder to control. I throw him a wary look and when he goes to top it up again, I swipe his glass away quickly, giving him a pleading ‘please don’t’ glance. He frowns at me and sighs before planking the bottle on the table, sitting down instead. I inhale heavily, trying to relax as much as I can, while this crap is going on.

“So where does that leave me?! Our baby?!” She spits.

“Same place it already is. Visitation, access. I’m just not jumping through hoops for you. There’s no reason to be a part of your life before the baby is here. I don’t need a relationship with you because to be honest it would always be like this; it has always been like this.” Jake waves a hand between them, gesturing each other, locking his green no-nonsense focus on her, and willing her to back down the way I’ve seen him make many a man crumble.

“Fuck no! … You want to see your baby then you sure as hell accept that I’ll be here and in your life. No relationship with me, then no fucking visitation!” She slaps her hand on the table again and I can’t contain it anymore.

“Is that what it’s all been about? Having him in any way on your terms? Whether he wants it or not?” I sound angry, maybe even as venomous as her, but I don’t care. I’m seeing through her bullshit. This isn’t about the baby, this is about being close to him, having control over him like he’s her possession; needing to bow to her will in some way. It’s about forcing Jake to have her in his life.

“Is that what your jealous little head tells you? That I want him? That I’m trying to take him from you?” Marissa laughs nastily. “Sweetie, please, he’s the one who fucked me senseless that night and got me pregnant. He’s the one who was all over me asking for me to go home with him. If I wanted Jake back, I only need to ask.” She smirks but I only narrow my eyes and frown. Even I know that’s wrong, Jake isn’t someone who lets what he wants slip away. He’s someone who goes after it and if he wanted her all along then I wouldn’t be sitting beside him now. I saw her texts telling him she still loves him, and he never bothered to reply to her. The woman is deranged if she believes what she’s saying.

“Marissa. I haven’t wanted you in any way since I was about fifteen and even back then I’m pretty damn sure it wasn’t even real love.” Jake sighs, even he’s exhausted with this conversation, and I can feel the vibes coming from him. He wants her to leave, as do I, since he doesn’t see this going anywhere.

“He’s never wanted you, Marissa. I know him better than you ever will,” I say flatly, focusing on my hands and the napkin I’ve been twisting the life out of, instead of those vicious dark eyes emanating all sorts of hate my way.

“You know your fucking boyfriend cheated on you, right? With me … about four weeks ago,” Marissa spits at me across the table, shoving her plate out of the way, knocking over some empty water glasses.

“If you mean he kissed you then yes, he told me.” I glare back at her, lifting my chin defiantly. I lock my gaze onto those dark brown almost black dangerous eyes glaring back at me. My face completely devoid of emotion, even though it feels like a punch in the stomach to say it, just like it used to do. There’s a look in her eyes of surprise, at me knowing about the kiss, before she narrows them viciously.

“Kiss? Ha fucking ha! He had his tongue down my throat and his hand up my fucking dress almost making me cum, inches away from fucking me if I hadn’t stopped it. He wanted me just as much as he did the night, he stuck a baby inside me.” She tosses her hair back over her shoulder and I jump when the table is slammed by Jake’s palm disrupting everything, scaring the hell out of me.