His Temporary Wife (The Brides of Sunflower Falls #2)

Chapter 21

twenty-one

Tony resisted the urge to roll his eyes or do anything else that would piss off the federal investigators. He and Damien were sitting on this side of the camera for the group meeting that had been set up an hour ago with them and the state prosecutors and investigators, while his father and Zach sat on the other side, out of sight.

The lead federal investigator continued droning on about jurisdiction and precedence and other legal stuff he paid Damien good money to explain in plain English to him after the fact.

Zach pulled out his phone from his pocket, looked at the screen, and frowned. He got up and left the room. Desperately curious about what was going on since this meeting was beyond boring as the various investigators and prosecutors were having a pissing match about who got to prosecute Robert first, Tony moved to follow Zach.

However, Damien still had the quick reflexes that had once made him a star football player, and his attorney gripped his arm until he settled back down.

Eventually, it was agreed that with Robert in federal custody, and the fact jury selection at the state level hadn’t even been scheduled yet, the state charges would be deferred until a later date. Tony and Damien were released from the call as he wouldn’t be needed as a witness any time soon.

Tony closed the videoconferencing program and sat back in his seat. Looked at Damien. “We’re really all good?”

Damien nodded. “Looks like. Not sure what prompted them to call a meeting on a Sunday since we were due in court tomorrow, but whatever it was, that wrapped up faster than I expected and we don’t have to head to the courthouse tomorrow. I’m sure there will still be a couple of court calls while the state takes care of deferring the trial in favor of the feds, but you shouldn’t be needed for those. You can get back to your regularly scheduled life.”

His regularly scheduled life. He didn’t know what that was anymore. A year ago, he’d been happily living the bachelor life here in Los Angeles. Now? He’d found the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with and they were expecting a baby, but he still wasn’t sure what their life together would look like. They’d agreed they wanted to figure it out, but they hadn’t discussed any of the medium-sized details, let alone specifics like where they’d be living.

He looked over at his father who’d stood up to look out the windows of the office. “Dad? Is there anything outstanding I need to do to finalize the close of the production?”

“No. Emerson and I got everything shelved for now. With all the publicity surrounding what happened, and everyone moving on to different projects, we’d probably have to spend another year rescheduling and recasting for anyone who wanted out.”

Their head of operations was nothing if not efficient. “I’ll reach out to everyone now and thank them for the work they did.”

His father nodded. “None of the other projects are at an urgent stage. In fact, we’ve got a rare moment of calm.”

There was a contemplative tone to his father’s words that had Tony looking at him closer. “What’s up, Dad?”

“With the baby on the way…you’ve got an opportunity now that I didn’t have when you were first born.”

Tony frowned. “I’m not following.”

His dad came over and sat back down. “I’ve been thinking about this since we found out about the baby…”

“Which was only yesterday.”

“Anthony Michael.”

He held up his hands. “Sorry.”

“Thank you. As I was saying, I’ve been thinking about this and between the current production schedule’s point of calm and you being released from this case for the time being, you have an opportunity I didn’t. You can be there for your child.”

Tony frowned again. “Dad, you were always there for me.”

“I don’t think this is a conversation I need to be a part of.” Damien stood up from his chair.

His dad shook his head. “Sit down. You’re Anthony’s legal counsel. You need to be a part of this.”

Confused, Tony looked over at Damien who shrugged. He looked back to his dad. “I’m not following.”

“Wherever you and Melody decide to live, you’ve got the opportunity to truly be present for your child’s early years. If you want to be. I wanted to be around more when you were younger, and I was very blessed that your mother and I were able to trade projects, but more often than not it was one of my projects. I was always working. ”

“You were there when I needed you, Dad. And I got to spend a lot of time around you when we were on set.”

“Around me. Not with me. Frankly, I’ve always given thanks you turned out as well as you did and that you still like me considering what a workaholic I was. Am.”

“Dad, I never got the impression that you didn’t want me around. Believe me. I had plenty of friends whose parents obviously couldn’t have cared less what my friends were doing. The time that you were present with me, you were present.”

His dad let out a long breath. Nodded. “Good. Good.” He was silent for a minute, maybe longer. “To cut to the chase, I want to buy you out of the production company.”

Blinking, Tony didn’t know how to respond. The production company had been something for him and his dad to do together. A shared interest. After this heart-to-heart and to have his dad say that he wanted to buy out Tony?

His dad leaned forward, looked him straight in the eye. “This is not to cut you out. This is to give you the opportunity to truly be with your child with no other responsibilities pulling you away. Be there for every midnight wake up call. See their first tooth come in. Catch them when they take their first stumbling steps. I missed all those. And I regret not being there for every single one of them.”

Hearing what his father was truly saying, Tony sat back in his chair. This was something else he and Melody hadn’t had a chance yet to discuss. He’d assumed they would get a nanny while they were both working. But if he was the stay-at-home parent?

Before he could respond, though, the door to the office opened and Zach escorted his mother and Melody in. Melody’s face was red and a little puffy. He stood up. Looking closer, her eyes appeared suspiciously pink. Frowning, he looked over at Zach who shook his head.

“Melody? Everything okay?”

She came over and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his chest. He realized she’d started crying. Alarmed, he looked at his mother as he hugged Melody to him. “What happened?”

His mother’s lips were firm. “Everyone’s okay. I think Melody should be the one to tell you.”

“She’s crying. She isn’t okay.”

Melody said something, but it was muffled against his chest. Damien, his parents, and Zach all left the room. He maneuvered Melody over to the small couch along one wall. He gave thanks for his decorator who had an unhealthy obsession with couches and loveseats.

When they were seated, he brushed the hair that had fallen out of her top knot from her face. “What was that?”

“I said I’ll be okay. Apparently I just need to cry it out today.”

Shifting so that they were seated comfortably, but she could still burrow into his embrace if needed, he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “What do you need to cry out?” A sudden thought hit him, but since his mom said everyone was okay, he didn’t say it out loud so he wouldn’t worry Melody. But he moved his one hand down so that it pressed against where Peanut was growing.

Melody shuddered against him. “I’d left Vicky and Derek to go get something for Ana. For dog sitting Button. On my way back, my dad approached me.”

Confused, he looked down at her. She was tracing designs on his stomach. “Your dad? Isn’t he in New York?”

“Nope. Mom called me this morning. I’m not sure how, but he’d found out I’d come to California. I have even less of an idea how he got the money to come out here on short notice, but he found out where you live and parked outside this morning. He followed us when we left, and when I was alone, he came up to me and demanded that I give him money.”

“He what?”

“He tried to blackmail me.”

“How?”

“I don’t know? By trying to make up a story about me seducing you and getting pregnant on purpose to entrap you? Not that it was going to work, but that’s how his mind works. How he’s actually Stef’s brother, I don’t understand.”

Tony pulled her one hand up to kiss it and realized bruises covered her knuckles. He very lightly rubbed his thumb against the discoloration. “Melody? What happened?”

“He grabbed me and pushed me up against a wall. I wasn’t having it, so I punched him. And, damn it, I just realized I lost the present I bought for Ana. I must have dropped it when I punched him.”

Holding back the laughter that wanted to escape at the thought of Melody dropping a bag in order to punch her father instead of beating him with the bag, he pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “We’ll order a new one for her.”

Melody wrinkled her nose. “I don’t think they had any left.”

He pulled her in even tighter, not wanting her any farther from him than necessary. “We’ll find something. I promise.” Soft silence enveloped them. In the distance, he could periodically hear his mother’s softer tones and his father’s harder ones. The closed door helped to muffle whatever was being said, so they remained in their own world. Soaking in the feeling of Melody next to him, safe, he let the conversation with his dad tumble through his mind.

“My dad…”

“My dad…”

They spoke at the same time, and he paused. When her head tilted back, he leaned back enough to meet her gaze and nodded at her. “You first. Your dad?”

She swallowed and burrowed back into him. “My dad got arrested. We were in an alley between a couple stores, and one of them had a security camera set up. It captured everything. They were the ones who called the cops. My dad tried to say that I was the one who attacked him, and I had tried to mug him.”

“What?”

She nodded against his chest. “I shouldn’t be surprised. I really shouldn’t be. I’ve known what he’s like since I was a kid. He only pretends to treat me like a loved child when it’s convenient for him. If it wasn’t for that video, I think the cops would have arrested me, too, since I was obviously hitting him and he had more damage. And I may have threatened to hit him more in front of witnesses.”

Growling, he hugged her again. “I’ll hit him more. You have houses to build.”

Her laugh was watery, but it was a laugh. “Yeah, I probably should wear gloves or something to the meetings tomorrow. That or blame the bruises on not watching what I was hitting with the hammer.”

It was his turn to laugh. “Just say that you were knocking down a wall. With your bare hands. They’ll love that. Isn’t demolition day a prime feature of any home improvement show?”

“Everyone loves demo day. There’s something intensely satisfying about ripping out avocado green shag carpeting that’s older than you are.”

“There you go. A sentiment that everyone can understand.”

She hummed and resumed tracing patterns on his stomach. Then she poked his belly button. “What were you going to say?”

“When?”

“You said ‘my dad’, too. What about Leo?”

Taking hold of her hand, he pressed a gentle kiss against her bruised knuckles. “I’m sorry your dad couldn’t have been like my dad.”

“I had Stef. And you’re avoiding my question.”

He pressed another kiss to the knuckles and then held her hand to his heart. “No. Just stating that as a preface to what I’m about to tell you.”

She shifted to look up at him. Narrowed her eyes. “What’s going on?”

“First, they’ve released me, for now, as a witness in Robert’s trial. The state is deferring prosecution as the feds are claiming priority or something.”

She blinked, then grinned. “Congratulations. I think? Does this mean you can go back to work?”

“That’s what Damien said. But then my dad made an offer.”

Her voice softened. “What kind of offer?”

He brushed a lock of hair back behind her ear. “To buy me out of the production company.”

Her brow furrowed. “What?”

Wanting her closer, but still in a position so they could look each other in the face, he took hold of her one knee and shifted her until she straddled his lap.

Melody crossed her arms against her chest even as she settled her ass against him. “You’re not planning on trying to distract me, are you?”

Holding her hips in his hands and massaging the muscles there, he shook his head. “This is my favorite position to have you in whether or not we’re wearing clothes. I just want a better view of you as we talk about this.”

She leaned in and kissed the tip of his nose, making him grin at her. “Sounds serious.”

“It is. A good serious, I hope.”

“Okay. Why does your dad want to buy you out of the production company?”

“So I can be a full-time parent, at least for a few years. He said that he missed doing things with me as a small kid even though we were always traveling with him when he was on location. And later when Mom began working again and was on location, he was the one who was my primary caregiver.”

“Leo doesn’t seem like he was a neglectful parent. What I’ve seen of the two of you? I’d say you actually like him. Because I sure as hell don’t like my dad. Not sure if I ever have. I used to love him, but I don’t know that I ever liked him.”

She looked so contemplative, he hated to interrupt her thought processes. But he wanted to finish this conversation before one of his parents or Damien decided they needed to interrupt for whatever reason. “I’ve always liked Dad in addition to loving him, and enjoyed working with him. Which is why I was surprised. But the more he talked about missing the small things with me because he was a workaholic, and I can’t argue that point, the more I realized I wanted them with you.” He moved one of his hands over her stomach. “With Peanut. And whoever else we decide to add to the family. ”

She moved her hands to cup his over her stomach. “You want to be a stay-at-home parent? Are you sure? We could get a nanny. Or something. You’re the rich one. What’s the fancy term for nanny?”

He laughed. “Au pair? Yeah, that’s what I was thinking, too. But I really like the idea. I think we should try it. If it’s not what’s right for our family, we look into getting a nanny. Or an au pair. Whatever.”

She looked down at their joined hands. Even though she was sitting on his lap, he had to strain to hear her next question. “Where would you be this stay-at-home parent?”

Understanding she needed reassurance, he moved his other hand to cup her neck and bring her face to his so he could kiss her. When the kiss began to blaze, he broke away. “Sunflower Falls. We’ll keep this house because I don’t want to be crashing at my parents when we come out here for visits or when you have meetings with Triple H. But I like the idea of moving to a small town.”

She snorted. “Why?”

He rubbed her jaw. “Where else could I find a Harry? Or a Nancy?” He pressed another kiss to her lips. “Or you. Wherever you want to live is where I want to be. You’re my home, Melody Nikki Keller. You have been since the day we met. I’m only sorry I couldn’t be that for you, too.”

Tears filled her eyes again. She cupped his face and kissed him. “You are. You’re my home. I just…couldn’t accept it. I never thought anyone could be my home. But you are.”

“Even though I lied about my name, and didn’t tell you before we got married?”

She found a patch of looser skin on his waist and squeezed. “Yes. Do you want to know why? ”

“Please, my oh so glorious wife to whom I will always tell the truth from now on.”

She snorted again and shook her head. “That. You’re genuinely remorseful. My father has never regretted or been truly remorseful for a thing he’s done that’s hurt someone in his entire life. That’s what I realized today. You hid who you really were for as long as you could. But you hid it for a specific reason, which was in service to finding justice for others. And when you finally told me, you recognized the harm you did.”

He cupped her face again. “I’m so sorry, Melody. I hated hiding it from you, but I didn’t know what else to do.”

“I understand. I do. And we will go to couples therapy to discuss it because I also don’t want this poisoning our future. But you’ve shown me that who you are at your core is not someone who hides and manipulates in order to get your own way. You try to protect and champion others. You’ll always be there for me. You’re my home. My safe harbor.”

“I love you, Melody.”

The glow that filled her smile, her eyes, had him imagining every milestone of their life together. To be gifted the honor of being her safe harbor was something he would treasure and nurture for the rest of his life.

She leaned down, but paused with her lips a breath from his. “I love you, Anthony Michael Dewitt aka Tony Caputo.”

The feeling of everything inside him locking into place in a way it never had before, had him gripping her close as they kissed. Sealing their commitment. Life with her would be an adventure he couldn’t wait to start.