Trapped Read online

  “Okay,” I said. “I’m not beating around the bush. I want you to go to your lawyer and sign papers that would terminate any rights that you have to this child. I want you to do this tomorrow.”

  Nottingham chuckled, but I saw fear in his eyes. I read his eyes well – he knew that I knew. But he was still going to try to bluff.

  “I’ll do no such thing,” he said. “I was going to ask you to drop your contesting of my rightful paternity of this child.”

  “Okay,” I said. “I’ll do that, but, before I do, I think that I might make a phone call to the SEC. An anonymous phone call that will indicate that you, Blake Nottingham, have been engaging in a pattern of insider trading. And, while they’re at it, I’m quite sure that they will be looking for every other evidence of the fraud that I’m quite sure that you’re engaging in.”

  “Insider trading?” Nottingham said. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “I’m talking about ten different incidents where you either bought stock right before the FDA announced the approval of a new drug or dumped stock right before bad news hit. Now, don’t try to bullshit me, Blake. I have evidence that you did this, and, as you know, an anonymous tip is all that is necessary to get the SEC sniffing around you like Duke the bloodhound on the Beverly Hillbillies. And don’t think that you’re too rich to go to prison – if Bernie Madoff and Martha Stewart weren’t too wealthy to go to prison, then you won’t be either.”

  Nottingham narrowed his eyes. I could see hatred in those eyes, and, as he took a sip of his Saki, I thought that he would come across the table and strangle me with his bare hands.

  Finally he said, “okay. I’ll have my attorney draw up papers tomorrow that will terminate my rights to your little brat. But know this. If I ever find out that you went ahead and called the SEC, I’ll be down at the prosecutors office immediately, and your father and Nick will be in prison in no time. What they did was even worse than what you’re accusing me of. Fair warning.”

  I nodded my head, my heart soaring. “Goes without saying, Blake. Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.”

  At that, I got up. “I’m not hungry. Besides, I’m not supposed to eat sushi. I’ll call my attorney tomorrow. If there are not papers filed by your attorney by the end of the day tomorrow, I’ll be calling the SEC.”

  He snorted. “It would be just like you to throw your dad and Nick under the bus like that, wouldn’t it? To call the SEC, even though you know what will happen if you do?”

  “Do you want to take that chance?” I asked.

  “No,” he said. “It’s not worth it. Have a nice life, Dalilah.”

  I walked out of the restaurant, relieved.

  He blinked first.

  Hopefully.

  The next day, I waited, with bated breath, for the news that Nottingham’s attorney filed the necessary papers. Truth be told, I was scared. I didn’t know if Nottingham would take the chance that I wouldn’t go through with calling the SEC, even if he continued to force the paternity issue, just because there was no way that I would take the chance that Nottingham would go the prosecutor’s office.

  He probably knew that. Would he go back on his word?

  I paced around Luke’s studio all that day.

  “Sit down, Dalilah,” Luke said. “You’re making me nervous. It’s going to be okay. Nottingham won’t take the chance that he’s going to go to prison. He has to know that, between you and him, you have more reason to bring him down then he does you. You have more at stake, therefore, he’s going to calculate that you’re going to be more willing than him to do all you can to fight.”

  “I know that,” I said. “I’m looking at it the same way. But if he calls my bluff, and still fights me, what do I do? I have this information on him, but what good does it do if it ends up with my dad and Nick being prosecuted?”

  “Dalilah,” Luke said. “If Nottingham thinks that there is even a slight chance that you could bring him down, he’ll do what you want. So, relax.”

  At that, he brought me down on his lap, and raised my hair up so that he could kiss my neck. “Mmmmm,” he said, rubbing my belly. “It won’t be long until I can feel Olivia start kicking.”

  I turned around, and kissed him. He breathed in deep, his cock getting hard. He rubbed my back, under my shirt, and kissed me passionately.

  As I started to lift up his shirt, though, the phone rang.

  It was my attorney.

  “Hello,” I said, eagerly.

  “Dalilah?” Marissa said. “I’m glad that I caught you.”

  “Yes,” I said. “Do you have news for me?”

  “I do,” she said. “Good news. Nottingham’s attorney has filed a motion with the court to ask the court to terminate his rights to the unborn child. Congratulations!”

  I screamed when she told me that. “Luke, Luke, Luke!” I said. “He did it! He filed the papers!”

  Luke started laughing, and he picked me up.

  “Oh, I’m so sorry, Marissa, I just told my boyfriend about this. He and I are over the moon now!”

  She laughed. “Well, this certainly has made this case easier. Now it’s just a matter of property division.”

  “No,” I said. “I don’t want any property from him. I just want this done. Please put this on the uncontested docket, and we’ll get this over with.”

  “You got it,” she said. “I’ll call you back with the date.”

  I hung up, and Luke and I started dancing around the room. “Oh, my god, Luke, our long nightmare is almost over. I just can’t believe it. I just can’t believe it.”

  He kissed me. “Believe it,” he said. “Our long nightmare might be coming to an end, but our dream is just beginning.”

  It was. Our dream was just beginning.

  Chapter

  One Week Later

  “Okay, Luke,” I said. “It’s show time.”

  He smiled. “Show time part deux, huh? Let’s hope that this show has a longer lasting impact than the last one did.”

  “It will,” I said, walking around the little gallery that was owned by the co-op. The Thiessen Gallery, according to Henry Jacobs in his latest column, was one to watch. He wrote a glowing profile of all the artists in the co-op prior to the show, and the tickets to the fund-raiser were sold out.

  JJ said that was the first time that they had ever sold all the tickets. “It’s going to be an excellent show,” she said.

  Of course it was going to be. There were going to be hundreds of people there, from hipsters to businessmen who were interested in commissioning some hot new artists. Because the tickets were all sold, the co-op was able to invest in a better menu, better alcohol and better live entertainment.

  It was going to be fun night.

  And it was a fun night. A very fun night. It was more relaxed then the Matthew Jane affair, and a little more boisterous. The co-op hired a small jazz band to play music, and the alcohol and hors d’oeuvres were consumed freely. I even saw Henry Jacobs smile and laugh as he made his way around the crowd.

  “Looks like it’s a hit,” I said to Luke, taking his arm. I was happy, very happy, because Nottingham and I had just finalized our divorce several days prior. I was a single woman, again, and I hoped that Luke and I would soon be engaged once more.

  “I hope that it is,” he said. “I have to provide for that little baby there, so it would certainly be helpful if my art career can finally achieve lift-off.”

  “Not to mention my career,” I said. My father gave me the money to buy into the co-op, and I was going to be moving into my own studio within a matter of days.

  “Oh, I’m not worried about that,” he said. “You’re awesome. You’re going to be on top in no time at all.”

  I laughed. “We’ll see, Luke. We’ll see.”

  And, at that, I felt, for the very first time, Olivia kick. I put my hand on my stomach, and tears came to my eyes.

  “What is it, Dalilah?” Luke asked, looking concerned.
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  I shook my head. “Olivia. She just kicked.” I started laughing. “Here, feel.”

  He did, putting his hand on my stomach. He felt it, and he started laughing, too. “Wow,” he said. “That’s amazing.” He continued to feel, as Olivia kicked several more times. “Are we sure that’s a girl? It feels like some kind of NFL kicker in there.”

  “Hey,” I said. “Maybe when Olivia is older, she’ll be able to play in the NFL. You never know.”

  Luke laughed. “True that,” he said. “True that.”

  all in all, the show was an overwhelming hit. Every artist sold at least three paintings, and the revenue from the party was enough that the co-op, as a whole, made a nice profit off of the evening. Luke actually sold five of his paintings at $5,000 apiece, so he was more than happy to have at least made back his initial investment in the co-op.

  But what really was the icing on the cake was the review that Henry Jacobs wrote about the evening. He focused on Luke’s work, and he wrote about it in glowing terms. Henry concluded that Luke was the artist to watch, and he predicted a bright future.

  And, in the coming weeks, that prophecy finally started to come true. After the show, and Henry Jacobs’ review, Luke was finally in demand. People were lining up to give him commissioned work, and, suddenly, Luke’s income was more than either of us could have ever dreamed.

  “We can finally get a place of our own,” Luke had said. We were still staying at Serena’s, because she was okay with us being there until we could actually find a better place. Which meant that I chose not to go back to my old apartment, and the sub-lessor was able to stay. My old place was way too small for the three of us, so Luke was hoping that he could afford a larger place, perhaps a brownstone of his own in the same neighborhood as Serena.

  I would have thought that was a pipe dream, but Luke’s commissions were truly astounding. The first client who hired him offered him $50,000 for a commissioned painting, and everyone else who lined up behind this client offered Luke the same or even more. Luke had the aura of an up and coming artist, thanks to Henry Jacobs, and he was very much in demand.

  I had to laugh at the irony of it all. Henry Jacobs, the same guy who destroyed me, ended up being our savior. And I knew that, once I started heavily producing, he would be on my side as well. And Nottingham, my ultimate nemesis, was still responsible for Luke’s great career. Because, without that Matthew Jane showing, Henry Jacobs never would have known about Luke.

  It was crazy how things work out sometimes.

  Turns out that my machinations were fruitful after all.

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  Books by Annie Jocoby

  Beautiful Illusions

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  Deeper Illusions

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  End of Illusions

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  Broken

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  Saving Scotty

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  Ever After

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  Fearless

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  Secrets and Lies

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  Please note that Fearless, Secrets and Lies and Trapped is related to these above books, as the main character, Dalilah, is the daughter of Iris and Ryan, who are the hero and the heroine of the Illusions books.