First and Ten Read online

  “No, we knew you’d cave, but no books or phone at the dinner table.”

  “Phone’s turned off and on the charger.” She gave a half smile as she rolled off the bed, stretched, and set her book to the side. “You did teach me a few things and I follow the rules.”

  Tuesdays had been their family night once her father moved them to the burbs. She hadn’t thought about that until now.

  “You need the break, Birdie. And an hour with your mother and I won’t kill you.”

  “A family dinner,” Dani faked her groan of pain. “Will there be talking?”

  “It is customary.”

  “You know, if we didn’t live in the sticks maybe I could join in more often. Right now the commute steals my study time.”

  “The guy should be here in twenty minutes or so.” He stood and walked toward the door.

  “I’ll meet you at the table.”

  “Thank you for joining us.” He gave her a smile before yelling down the hall. “Birdie is going to leave the room.”

  Twenty minutes later, Dani had washed her face and put on a comfy but suitable sweater and jeans.

  “The princess has come down from her castle,” her mother chimed as Dani came to sit at the table in their dining room. The normal table, as Dani thought of it, was out. With eight chairs instead of the extended one they use for formal dinner parties. “And in something washed this decade.”

  Dani sniffed at the sweater and was hit with a hint of lavender. “The cuisine is fine and I had no other choice.”

  Her mother’s nose crinkled for a moment before she burst into a fit of laughter.

  “It wasn’t that funny,” Dani said as she plopped down in the chair across from her mother, then righted her posture.

  “I just remember teaching you at Hop Sings table manners.” Her mother had been a computer programmer after college. Her ideas of eating out and fine dining had evolved from keeping your ketchup on the wrapper of your hamburger to learning utensils that aren’t even put out in ninety-five percent of the restaurants in the world. Now she was the model Dani worked from for her older clients. The casual dinner still had her mother in a sweater set and a pencil skirt. With rich auburn hair she currently had cut tight, but still feminine, she rolled her blue eyes at Dani.

  “Are you going to summer school again this year?” her father asked.

  “I thought I’d do this crazy thing and graduate for a change.” She spooned the rice on her plate. “You know, mix it up to confuse the kids and all.”

  “Any chance we were going to be notified?” her mother asked with a hint of hurt in her voice.

  After the high school graduation blowout to end all blowouts, until she graduated from undergrad and then there was a new level of party. Each of the parties for Dani and her siblings’ accomplishments had turned into the social engagements of the season. All of this wouldn’t have bothered her if the cost of said party equaled one year’s tuition easily.

  “Depends? You want a ticket to graduation because I did get a set,” Dani confessed.

  “We need to celebrate the occasion,” her mother said while delicately removing an egg roll and placing it on her plate. “What do you think, Bill? Here or in the city?”

  “How about Rainbow Beach?” Dani suggested.

  “Stop joking,” her mother chided. “Bill?”

  “What’s wrong with Rainbow?” her father asked. “We had fun there when Dani was a kid.”

  “Our friends would never attend and besides, I’m sure it’s…well.”

  “Dirty?” Dani suggested. “Mom, I’d rather spend the day with you guys, Tawny, and Jericho.”

  “Is it money or stock options you’re after?” her dad asked.

  “Gold bars, minions.” Dani pointed at her dad with her chopsticks. “I know you use them to infiltrate companies and get you the lowdown.”

  “As all successful totalitarians do.”

  Dani returned the sarcastic smirk to her father. “Look, it’s not like my graduation was some big secret. I’ve just been busy and Esme and I have been swamped with our final project.”

  “Gwendolyn Carmichael hasn’t told me anything about Esme graduating,” her mother scoffed. “What is going on with you two?”

  “Esme isn’t graduating. She’s just in my class.”

  “Then I am the only mother being kept out of the loop.”

  “Oh, Bonnie,” her father said as he patted her mom’s hand. “Don’t be a fool. Plenty of mothers don’t know what their kids are doing. Of course those are the ones strung out on drugs or prostituting themselves. Want to catch us up, Birdie?”

  “I lace my pot with LSD and have moved up from 103rd to 111th when I walk the stroll.”

  “You do get a better class of John there, right?” her dad said with all seriousness that had her mother ready to burst with annoyance. He looked at her mother then back to her. “Your mother would really like to throw you a party. Is there a compromise we can come to?”

  “Maybe,” Dani said as she picked up a piece of chicken and popped it in her mouth, she needed to decide how much she wanted to involve her parents in her life. They were both looking at her as she held her hand in front of her mouth and chewed. “How about I invite a handful of friends and clients to a dinner party? It can be here and we can have it after graduation. I think my section is at eleven. I’m sure Louise will have enough time to make something wonderful and we can have an earlier dinner.”

  “How many courses?”

  “Surprise me.” Dani smiled at her mother. “Just keep it under a semester’s tuition or I’ll puke.”

  “Vomit,” her dad corrected. “Remember we’re in polite society.”

  “Of course. How gauche.”

  “Why am I the bad guy for trying to civilize the two of you?” her mother asked. “If it was up to your dad we’d still be in that duplex.”

  “Thank goodness I have you to spend the money.”

  “I swear, you can take the kid out of South Shore.” Her mother’s hands flew up. “Now look at me acting as bad as you two.”

  “That’s not fair,” Dani said. “Tawny and Jericho are just as bad, but we clean up and act like we have home training when you take us out in public.”

  Her mother pointed at Dani. “You need to thank me for your little business.”

  “I do.”

  Bonnie got up, went into the kitchen, and came back with a fancy notebook and pen. “Now, let’s talk guests. How many are we planning for and who are they? I can still get invitations in the mail. Can’t I? When’s graduation?”

  “You have two weeks.”

  “Danika,” her mother exclaimed. “We could—”

  “She wants something small, Bonnie, please honor her wishes on this one.”

  “But—”

  “Bonnie. Don’t worry, one of them will be getting married soon I’m sure.”

  “Tawny’s going to want some green, eco-friendly thing with twelve people,” her mother groaned. “I’d be surprised if Tawny even married a man. And Dani—”

  “Dani what?” Dani asked.

  “Well, you’ve never been the most social of butterflies.”

  “It’s hard going to school and working.”

  Her mother set down her pen that had been scratching notes the whole time they’d been talking. “I can’t believe none of your clients have tried to date you? I’ve noticed the most eligible bachelors in the city seem styled.”

  “I learned my lesson when it comes to dating clients,” Dani said as the memory of Mason’s betrayal came at her again. I just don’t see you as a sexual being, Danika. If I did you’d be an escort. I pay you to dress me. He never complained when she undressed him. Tamping down the flashback, she looked her mother straight on. “I’m seeing someone. We’re both very busy so we’re not putting a label on it, but…well…put me down for a plus one at the dinner party.”

  “Who is he?” her mother asked, picking up her pen to jot down a nugget of informat
ion.

  “I’ll invite him personally, thank you very much.”

  “Are you being pragmatic?” her dad asked.

  “Mom’s started a second page in her little notebook there.” Dani pointed with her chopsticks. “Fifty bucks says it’s a list of wedding venues.”

  Her mother blushed bright red. “Jesus, Bonnie, for all we know they’ve gone on three dates.”

  “I want full custody,” Rome told his attorney who had been just star struck enough to give Jerome his personal cell.

  “That’s going to be hard,” Stanton Meeks replied. “Judges aren’t big on taking kids from their mothers.”

  “She defrauded the system.”

  “Come again?”

  “She took assistance. I would have paid if she had approached me sooner. There was no reason for my son to ever be on food stamps. I didn’t block her number or play hide and go ditch the child support with her.”

  “Too minor. Do you have signs of abuse, neglect, drug addiction? That’s what you need to get your son full time.” Noises from behind Stanton sounded like he was moving through a busy part of the city. “Why the sudden change? Weren’t you going to ease into getting to know him? Set up a schedule and play nice with Candace?”

  “She brought him to the practice facility today,” Rome said. “I just spent three hours with the kid. He wore my ass out and I loved every minute of it.”

  Rome had already paid and checked into the hotel room on his meal break earlier in the day. No reason to head all the way back in town to his house since it was available to him. He kicked off his shoes and stretched out on the bed. After playing with DeMonte, he was electrified with excitement. The kid wasn’t a bad ass or some little punk either.

  “I don’t think Candace is the one who’s raising DeMonte,” Rome surmised. “There’s no way. I mean, the kid does call her mama, but other than that he looked as confused by her being around as he did me. Even a little scared at times.”

  “How much do you want your son?” Stanton asked. “Deep down, right now you’re on a high. Sleep on it, run it past your agent, think about the logistics of having a three-year-old full time with your schedule. Aren’t you about to go into mini-camp soon?”

  Planning. Damn, he needed Dani and her spreadsheet mind. Mini-camp was a lockdown event. “Let’s say I call you tomorrow and say use both barrels.”

  “I’ve got a set of private investigators on retainer. I assume cost is not an issue?”

  “Assume all you want. Don’t let my contract dictate your spending. I want my son, but if I have no place to raise him I’ll be as delinquent as Candace.”

  “Were you raised in the expensive part of Omaha?”

  Jerome got the point, but he also wasn’t a fool and writing this guy a blank check. “I know there’s more to raising a kid than money, but I’m sure Candace has a dollar amount I could drop on her and get full custody. If you charge more than that, what’s the point of having a lawyer?”

  “I hear you. Maybe in our investigation we could find the magic number from her.”

  “Please do. I know my schedule isn’t the easiest to work with, but at least I’m playing in the city where I live. And not being a rookie helps too.”

  “That’s a bonus. Plus, how many more years are you going to be in the league anyway?”

  Rome tapped his knuckles on the nightstand. “Hey, we don’t talk that way.”

  “Sorry, I didn’t know the protocol.” Stanton let out a sigh. “I’ll get on this first thing in the morning. Rome, I’m glad you got to see your son for real now.”

  They hung up and Rome stretched out on the king size bed. It wasn’t as nice without Dani there beside him and he tried to call a little before ten, only to go straight to voicemail again. Not surprising since she probably wouldn’t turn her phone back on until after midnight. Damn her and her rules. She’d get his text in the morning and he hoped she wasn’t completely pissed off at him. How could she be? He got time with DeMonte. Real time. Although Candace tried to make it a bad situation with her under the breath grumbles, he wasn’t going to have it.

  He didn’t understand what she thought she would get out of the exchange. If anything, it made him more determined to have DeMonte in his life. By the end of the night, when he wrapped his tiny arms around his neck to say goodbye, Rome almost cried when DeMonte said, “Bye, Daddy.”

  At least he had more pictures and they were with him, not a random picture forwarded by Candace followed by a demand for funds. His hand twitched as he thought about Dani again. What did they have? And what could they have if he had a child fulltime. He could be throwing away a chance at happiness for a child he barely knew. But the connection between DeMonte and him was unmistakable. Candi could see it too. In his heart, Rome believed Danika wouldn’t make him choose between her or his son, but their limited time together reared its ugly head. He needed more time with Dani. One on one. Not just once a week. The time had come to ratchet up his relationship.

  Danika blindly reached for her phone as it sat dormant on her nightstand. If it wasn’t for Jerome standing her up the night before she might consider not turning on her phone at all. Laying on her side, she struggled to open her eyes. The family dinner turned into a late night session of catching up until Dani finally pulled the ‘I have a final tomorrow card’ and was released.

  Her phone powered on as a little cartoon character greeted her with a hundred percent sign on his belly. Once fully on, the pings started. A handful of voicemails, texts, emails, and social media posts. Nothing she couldn’t handle and only one she really cared about. Rome’s voicemail.

  “Dani, I’m so sorry, I wish I could have caught you before you turned off your phone, but Candace showed up with DeMonte and…well…I have a chance for dinner with him.” Dani swallowed the pang of jealousy. The little time she had with Rome and Candace chose that night of all nights to let him see his son. There was a long pause and Dani thought he was done until he said, “I don’t know what this means but, Dani, I need to do this. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

  He did send a few texts, including one with a picture of him and DeMonte. Side by side, there was no doubt Jerome was the father. Same coloring, nose, and eyes. They were both smiling. It was a selfie so at least she knew Candace hadn’t taken it. Frick, the jealousy. Her test wasn’t for a few hours so she gathered a notebook and started jotting down notes about call backs. Marco was having problems locating a dress she’d seen in the pictures from the spring fashion shows. She was going to have to call the designer directly.

  She walked downstairs and wandered in the pantry. Looking at the shelves of food, she remembered having a room about this size. If there was a window across from the door it could have been her nursery. Her mother had been learning to navigate in the social circles and training her kids, but Dani had always preferred her father’s method. Although William Albright wore a custom tailored suit to the office and functions, he didn’t see a need to flaunt his fortune in everyday life. It was her mother’s urging that had them moving out of a neighborhood, which if she was honest, wasn’t the safest place for a multimillionaire to live. Once her father started gracing magazine covers, they had to move. Retrieving a box of fruitie-Os from the shelf, she went in search of a bowl and spoon.

  “Morning, Dani,” Ilsa said as Dani rounded the corner. Ilsa had been with them for over fifteen-years. Her chestnut hair was bound back in her signature tight bun. Dani tried to get her to take it down once, but she would have none of that. At least she stopped wearing the maid uniform, except on formal occasions. That was her dad’s influence. Being waited on was bad enough. Mix that with uniformed staff and he put down his foot. Not that Ilsa didn’t come up with an outfit that might as well be a uniform: khakis, light yellow polo, and sneakers. “I’m going to be making breakfast if you’d want something more substantial.”

  Dani placed the box of cereal on the marble island in the middle of the kitchen. “How do you make all orders sound like s
uggestions?”

  “I have no idea what you’re saying.” Ilsa held a small smile as she whisked eggs in a bowl. “I know you have a big test today.”

  “And how do you know more than my parents do about me?”

  “Now why would you think that?” Ilsa’s nonchalance continued. “Will Mr. Speed be joining us for the graduation dinner?”

  “Okay, that’s just creepy.” Dani sat on a leather barstool and saddled up to the island. “No one knows about him.”

  “Ha, please, you’ve made the local tabloids. Currently you’re unnamed, but I knew it was you. It shouldn’t take long before they figure it out. The last thing they want to do is name you and it end up being a random girl.”

  “I’m on Chi-Town Down and Dirty?” Dani felt the color fade from her face and nausea set in.

  “Since Tawny settled down and Jericho went to school in New York, you’re under the microscope. I know they’ve been dying to get their hands on you.”

  “I’m a nobody.”

  “You’re an Albright. That’s more than enough and Jerome Speed was their favorite Grizzly for years. Not so much lately. You know celebrity gossip is my guilty pleasure.” Ilsa set down the bowl and looked directly at Dani. “What do you want in your omelet?”

  Dani’s phone started pinging with messages and she dropped her head to the counter. “This isn’t happening.”

  “I’ll stick with the usual. Denver style.”

  “Will you look at my messages?” Dani asked as her phone buzzed across the top of the marble. Pings echoed throughout the empty kitchen.

  Ilsa picked up the phone and held it out to Dani. “It’s locked.” Dani lifted her head just long enough to enter her code. “The first message says OMG how could he do that to you?”

  “What?” Dani asked and took the phone back to see Esme’s message. It was then Ilsa’s phone tinged.

  “Oh, I think I have the answer to that.”

  “Of course you do,” Dani said.

  “I set my phone alerts to this family and a few other people I like to keep track of.”