When Empires Fall (32 page)

“My, my, Linc Vasser. Didn’t expect to run into you here.” The woman purred as she stopped before their table, her hands resting comfortably on the smooth curve of her waist, exposing the generous cleavage that spilled out of her dress.

“This is my hotel,” Linc muttered furiously, eyeing her with the deepest, darkest disdain. “What the hell are you doing here, Jorja?”

“Oh, just meeting a friend for lunch.” Jorja glanced briefly over at Lynette, scanning the girl up and down, coldly calculating. “Who’s your girl, Linc?”

“None of your goddamn business.”

“Oh, well now, that’s no way to treat an old girlfriend, honey.” Jorja smiled again, focusing back on him. “Here I was just tryin’ to be friendly.”

“Jorja Hale,” Lynette murmured, looking over at Linc curiously before turning back to the woman. “The actress.”

“Mmm, yes.” Jorja pursed her lips and disregarded Lynette as an ignorant, wide-eyed southerner as she reached out to run her right hand through Linc’s hair. He batted her hand away furiously before rising to his feet, fighting to not lose his temper and cause a scene.

“If you don’t get the fuck out of my hotel, I will have you thrown out on your goddamn ass, Jorja. So help me God, I will give your entourage of paparazzi enough pictures of you lying in the muddy snow to last for months.”

She only smiled. “I dare you to try, Linc. How do you think your customers will feel watching you lose your temper and forcefully throw a well-respected actress out of the hotel when I have done nothing wrong? And don’t forget, you wrong one of us, and you wrong all of us. Remind me, how many of your clientele are members of the Screen Actors Guild?”

“A few.” His hands clenched into fists at his sides as he glared at her. “Just get out of my face. I have enough shit going on right now without you adding to it.”

“Like that tabloid article?” She smirked, enjoying the angry flush that came over his face. “You know, I’m inclined to believe poor Win. He always was an awful liar.”

“You should know,” he said through clenched teeth. “Goodbye, Jorja.”

“See you around, honey.” Jorja blew him a kiss and smirked devilishly at Lynette before swaggering off, her hips swaying and her head held high. Linc watched her go, noting she left the restaurant instead of staying for lunch. The bitch had always been a liar.

He settled back into his chair and proceeded to rub his face with his hands in an attempt to beat back the urge to scream and shout and rage. God, that woman drove him crazy.

“Are you okay?” Lynette asked softly, unsure whether or not she should try and comfort him or just leave him alone. She had never seen him look so furious. Even when he’d been angry with his brother, he hadn’t looked nearly this livid.

Linc let his hands drop away from his face as he looked at her, remorse eating away at his gut. “I’m sorry you had to see that, Lynette. That was embarrassing for both of us.”

“I’m not embarrassed,” she insisted, trying to offer him a reassuring smile. “Just shocked, is all. It’s not every day that I get to meet a celebrity.”

“She’s scum,” Linc spat, reaching over for his second shot of sake and downing it gladly. He slapped the glass back onto the table and sneered. “Hell, she’s lower than scum.”

“She’s not as pretty in person as she is on the big screen,” Lynette mused, hoping to lighten the mood. “She wears a
lot
of makeup.”

“When you’re ugly on the inside, it takes a great deal to cover it up.” Linc leaned back as the waitress brought them platters filled with the sushi they’d ordered. “Let’s drop it. She’s not worth talking about.”

“Well, if you don’t mind me asking just one quick, tiny question?” Lynette began, lifting her set of chopsticks and passing them through her fingers anxiously.

He looked at her warily. “Okay, shoot.”

“Why did y’all break up?”

Linc sighed, gritting his teeth again as he opened his own chopsticks. “She fucked my dad. And that was the end of that.”

Lynette froze, wishing she hadn’t asked. Feeling sorry, she reached over to touch his arm gently. “I’m sorry. It wasn’t my place to ask that.”

“No, it’s better that you know.”

“So that’s why you haven’t talked to your father in so long?”

He selected a piece of spicy tuna roll, dipping it generously into a tiny bowl of soy sauce. “It’s exactly why I don’t speak to him. And he knows what he did, though I doubt he feels the least bit sorry about it. He’s always been selfish and childish enough not to realize when his actions hurt others.”

“I understand that,” Lynette said as she took a tentative bite of seared tuna. “All my father can think about is getting elected. He actually had the nerve to suggest that I marry you and have babies right away so that, come the 2016 election, he can run for president and the public can woo over his adorable grandchildren.”

Linc nearly choked on the roll he was chewing on at her words, his eyes widening.

“Excuse me?” He half laughed and half coughed as he gaped at her, wondering whether or not he had heard her right.

“Apparently, having little ones running around will ensure he wins the election. And according to him, I really shouldn’t be selfish and deny him that. Even though having babies right now would destroy my figure and consequently ruin my career.”

“Tell him to adopt a baby from Africa or something,” Linc suggested, his lips quirking into a half grin.

Lynette shook her head jadedly. “He’s impossible. And my mother is even worse. She lost her chance to be a dancer because she got pregnant with me, so now she’s made it her life’s mission to see to it that I fulfill all of her wasted dreams. Luckily for the two of us, I love ballet.”

“That’s pathetic, Lynette.” Linc frowned, reaching for her hand again. “You need to tell them that they are not in control of your life.”

“I’d rather not cause a fight.” She waved the thought away, pulling her hand from his and poking around at her food, feeling foolish. “It’s not easy for me to talk to them. I’m always steamrolled into compliance before I even get a word in.”

“Let me talk to them, then.”

She snorted out a laugh, briefly picturing him riding gallantly to her rescue and defiantly saying all the things she’d always wanted to say to her parents but never had the guts to say. “No, it’s not your problem. Besides, I love my life, my career…there’s no reason for me to stick a wrench in things when it’s all going so well.”

“It’s up to you,” he said softly, feeling sorry for her. “But if you change your mind, I’m here for you.”

“That’s sweet.” She met his eyes again as her lips curved into a smile. “But your issues are much more pressing. If you need anything, Linc, even just an ear to bend, don’t hesitate to call me. If I’m busy, just leave me a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. I want to be here for you, too.”

He grinned, the appreciation in his expression lifting her spirits.

“You have no idea just how badly I needed to hear that.”

Charlene rolled her
eyes as she stared out the window of the discreet, black town car as they cruised into the city, wishing to God she’d thought to bring a Vicodin so she could tone out her ex-husband’s pathetic whimpering. She’d had three days to spend with him and his obnoxious excuses, which were three days too many. And if his turbulent mood swings were any indication, things were only about to get worse.

“Char, please, please don’t make me go back there,” Win pleaded, shifting constantly in his seat and fidgeting, scratching his head, rubbing his face, clawing at the cloth of the black tailored pants she had insisted he wear. He was nothing short of a goddamn mess. “I don’t want to be here. Take me back to L.A.”

“No,” she spat, glaring over at him disdainfully. “You got yourself into this mess, Win. Now it’s time to face the consequences of your actions.”

“I’m sorry, Char, please,” he whined, his knuckles whitening as he clutched the edge of the leather seat. “I made a mistake, but don’t make me go back there, don’t make me do this.”

“Your
mistake
has cost this family a lot of heartache and stress. Especially our children, Win. Or do you honestly not care about them any longer?”

“I care…” He frowned as he chanced a glance out of the window. His eyes trailed over the view of New York City’s skyscrapers, shrouded in heavy, thunderous clouds, and he felt a convulsive shiver race through his body. “But why couldn’t I just go home?”

“You are clearly incapable of handling yourself without causing trouble. You’re going to have to stay here for awhile.”

“No.” Win’s eyes widened with fear, his hand jerking out to grip the door handle, seriously considering vaulting himself from the car and ending it. But when he tried the handle, he realized they had turned on the child safety locks and that he was trapped. Panicking even worse now, he reached out for his ex-wife’s hand desperately. “I’m begging you, do not make me do this.”

Charlene ripped her hand from his and glared at him maliciously. “Don’t you dare touch me.”

He stared at her silently for a long moment, his heart aching, his emotions flashing immediately from fear to misery. It had always been that way with him, his moods fleeting and rapidly changing, which had led some in the family to assume he was bipolar. He had always simply considered it to be part of his nature.

“You used to love me, Charlene,” Win murmured, anger mixing in with the despair he felt. “A long time ago, you looked at me so differently than you do now. Why did that change? Why did you turn on me?”

“This is ridiculous,” Charlene huffed, though her throat clenched uncomfortably as she looked away from him. “I’ve told you before that I only married you for your name. And I would have stayed with you happily had you not screwed every bimbo you came across, sullying both my reputation and your own. You were an awful husband and you are an even worse father. Just look at what you’re making your children go through now.”

He quieted, feeling heavy hearted and weak as he turned away from her and stared out of the window once more. He knew what he was, though sometimes he forgot until someone reminded him of the things he’d done. But when he heard it put so bluntly, so coldly, as his ex-wife and children were prone to do, well, it made him wish he were dead. At least then he wouldn’t have to live with the shame and the misery.

A few minutes later, the town car came to a stop in front of the Vasser Hotel. Win stayed where he was and waited for the driver to open the door for him. When he stepped out onto the sidewalk, he purposefully kept his head hung low and sulked all the way into the lobby, fear slipping in to stab hotly into his gut. It’d been years since he had been to the New York hotel, so long that he knew he wouldn’t recognize it. Though he knew it would always be grandiose, splendid and regal. But he held way too many bad memories of the place to ever feel comfortable there. Even the atmosphere, the smells and the sounds of it, brought back the demons and ghosts of his past.

“Stop sulking, Win. Or do you want your children to think even less of you than they already do?” Charlene barked, smacking his arm and causing him to lift his head and see his family, waiting in the lounge area of the lobby for him. He tried to smile, though he knew by the hard looks on their faces that he was in deep trouble.

Grant, Linc and Madison stood together as a solidified unit, while Marshall hovered behind them, cautiously protective. In front of them stood Kennedy, who actually smiled and waved. When she bolted towards him and flew into his arms, Win let out a startled breath and held her closely, spontaneously thankful for her.

“Hi, daddy!” Kennedy pulled away and beamed at him, not wanting to be such a downer like her siblings. “How was the flight and stuff?”

“Just fine, baby.” Win pressed a kiss to her forehead and smiled down at her, noticing then just how much she had grown and how much she looked like him. It brought a lot of regret and pain to his heart to know that he had neglected her, while at the same time he was filled with this wild hope that she could be the one saving grace left in his life. “How’s high school going?”

Kennedy’s smile faltered as her eyebrows knit together in confusion. “I graduated high school last summer. I start Princeton soon. I told you about it in the email I sent you.”

“Last summer? Did I miss your graduation?” Win asked, frantically trying to remember as Kennedy backed slowly away from him, suspicion in her eyes now.