Anything But Mine (25 page)

“I don’t know what they did after lunch.”

Vince’s voice took on a stern tone. “Find out for me, and find out fast,” he said as he handed the receiver to his desk telephone to Luke. “Call Catherine now.”

Luke nervously took the receiver from Vince, and punched in the number for his wife’s cell phone. Before Catherine answered, Vince hit the speaker button, so he could hear the conversation.

“Hey, honey,” Luke said nervously, as Vince stared at him. “Just wanted to check in with you. Do you know where Jen is, by any chance?”

Not knowing that Vince was listening, but staying true to her promise to Jen to not reveal her secret, Catherine explained, “I don’t know. After lunch, we did some shopping at Saks, and then we went our separate ways. Why? Is everything okay?”

“Vince wanted me to call you because he can’t reach Jen. She hasn’t answered her phone all day, and he’s worried about her.”

Maybe he should be worried,
Catherine thought. “She mentioned that she had a lot of shopping to do for the honeymoon. And she probably just wants some time alone.”

Vince paced back and forth within his office after Luke ended his call with Catherine, wondering why the best private investigators in the city couldn’t find his fiancée. He was about to call Brad Wesley again, when his cell phone rang, and he saw Jen’s number come up on the caller i.d.

He raced to answer it, and was surprised when she said in a steely voice, “Don’t you ever do what you did to me this morning again.”

“Where are you? I have an army of private investigators trying to find you.”

Jen heard the desperation in Vince’s voice, and wasn’t sure whether she was pleased or sickened by it. “That is what you say to me after what you did to me this morning? I thought at the very least you would apologize for what you did to me.”

“It was just a little rough sex, Jennifer. You shouldn’t have struggled so hard,” Vince said, trying to regain control of the conversation.

“No, Vince, it wasn’t rough sex. It was rape.” Seething, she continued, “You should see the welts and bruises I have on both my arms. I don’t think you have any idea how much you hurt me.”

For a moment, Vince was speechless. He swallowed hard before asking, “You have bruises?”

“From where you grabbed me and dug your hands into me.” Jen looked out the window of the taxi as it drove through the streets of the Lower East Side, having persuaded the driver to just drive around Manhattan with no particular destination after promising to pay him triple the fare on the meter. “The bruises are so big, and so obvious, that I had to have my wedding dress completely re-
made
to cover them. There is absolutely no way they will heal or fade by Saturday.”

Waves of relief washed over Vince. “So you aren’t leaving me? You aren’t going to call off the wedding?”

Jen answered with a force and determination she didn’t know she had. “I will still marry you on Saturday, Vince, assuming you agree to two conditions.”

Desperate, he immediately agreed. “What are they?”

“First, you are not to blame Pablo for not knowing where I am. He is afraid of losing his job, and none of this is his fault. I purposely went out a side door when I left Mr. Glasso’s boutique this morning, and Pablo had no idea what was going on. Promise me you won’t fire him, and that he will remain my driver.”

Vince’s heart raced, as beads of sweat formed on his forehead. “Of course. I promise. What else?”

“You have to promise to respect me, Vince. That when I say no, I mean no. Don’t you ever, ever force yourself on me again. Because the next time you do, it will be the last time you ever see me or touch me. Do you understand?”

Shaken, Vince once again agreed to Jen’s terms. “Yes, I understand. And I’m very, very sorry about this morning. I promise to never force myself on you again.” When Jen didn’t respond, Vince asked, timidly, “Are you coming home?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t decided yet,” Jen said, as she ended the call, and powered off her cell phone. Looking out the window of the taxi as it traveled down Houston Street, she wondered,
what should I do?

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

T
he morning of the first Saturday of December dawned sunny and bitterly cold. Jen rose early, and tip-
toed
past the guest suites and into the kitchen for some coffee before Catherine and her sister Gina woke up. She brought her steaming mug into the living room, and looked out across Fifth Avenue towards the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Central Park, taking a sip of the sweet, creamy brew as she reflected on her last morning as a single woman.

It was good catching up with everyone at the rehearsal dinner last night,
she thought.
Especially Drew.
She sighed, and took another sip of coffee.
It was a surprise when Collette let it slip that she and Drew are talking about moving in together. But it makes it easier for me to let go, when I know he has already let go of me.

Jen turned away from the window and walked back towards the kitchen where Mary was preparing breakfast. She heard some movement from the guest suites, and knew that Gina and Catherine would join her in the kitchen soon, before Kenny, her long-
time
hair stylist, arrived to do their hair and makeup.
Even though we’ve been sleeping in separate bedrooms since the incident on Tuesday, I’m so glad Vince stayed at the St. Regis last night, and I was able to have one final night alone,
she thought
.
He was in no position to protest when I told him I would be sleeping in one of the guest suites until after the wedding.

The next few hours were a blur. Once Kenny arrived, he kept them all entertained and laughing while he fixed their hair and applied their makeup, feeding them lots of Hamptons gossip to go along with the champagne they were sipping.

“Did you hear that Daphne Warfield has hooked up with Jim Flanagan? Now, there’s a couple,” Kenny said.

“I’m surprised,” Jen replied. “She usually goes for much wealthier men.”

“She’s in her mid-
thirties
now,” Kenny said. “She’s not as young as she used to be. And besides, he’s making millions with all the farmland he’s been developing.”

“Don’t remind me,” Jen said, rolling her eyes.

Grace looked at her watch after Kenny applied the finishing touches to her makeup and said, “Jen, it’s just about time to get dressed. Do you want me to help you with your gown?”

“No,” Jen blurted out.

Grace recoiled. “Why not?”

“Umm…” Jen’s eyes darted around the room. Her stomach churned and she panicked, before calling out, “Cath? Can you help me into my gown?”
Catherine is the only one who knows my secret, the only one who knows about the bruises and what Vince did to me earlier in the week.

Turning to Grace, she said, “Mr. Glasso showed Catherine how to hook the buttons quickly, so it makes sense that she helps me. Besides, mom, I want to be able to see your face when you see me for the first time in my gown.”

There wasn’t a dry eye in the room when Jen emerged from the master suite in her lace gown. Peter and Grace both rushed to her side, hugging her tightly. “My little girl,” Peter said, choking back tears.

Grace held Jen closely, and when she released her daughter, she noticed the change in Jen’s gown for the first time. “I thought your gown was sleeveless,” she said. “When did you change the design?”

“Just last week, mom,” Jen answered. Looking at Catherine, she continued, “I checked the long range forecast for today before my final fitting, and when I saw it was going to be freezing, I decided to add the sleeves at the last minute. After all, I don’t want to be sick for the honeymoon. Does it look okay?”

“You look beautiful,” Grace replied, and everyone in the room agreed.

While they were posing for photos, there was a knock on the door, and Mary appeared with a velvet box. “Mr. Moscolo asked me to deliver this to you,” she explained.

“Thank you, Mary.” Jen opened the box, and found a platinum hair comb encrusted with pavé set diamonds, along with a note from Vince asking that she wear it as her “something new”.

“Let me help you with that,” Kenny said, as he fastened the comb at the top of the chignon at the nape of Jen’s neck, just above her veil.

Taking a deep breath, Jen studied her reflection in a nearby mirror and said, “I guess I’m ready.”

Pablo brought the limousine to a stop in front of St. Ignatius Loyola Church on Park Avenue just before 3:30. Jen smiled when she saw Pablo glance at her in the rear view mirror.
I’m so glad I was able to stop Vince from firing him earlier this week
, she thought, recalling the conversation she had with Pablo when he told her, privately, that he would always be grateful and loyal to her for intervening with Vince when his job was in jeopardy. Jen reassured him that none of what had happened was his fault, and that he couldn’t have possibly known that she slipped through a side door after her gown fitting, but Pablo insisted that that he would always be in her debt for saving his job.

Seth Jacobs, Vince’s best man, was waiting on the steps of the church, along with Jen’s brother Pete, and when they saw the limousine come to a stop, they signaled that it was okay for Jen and the rest of her bridal party to enter the church.

Pablo exited the limousine, opened the rear door, and assisted Jen out of her seat and onto the sidewalk. Shivering from the biting cold, Jen quickly climbed the stairs to the church, and slipped inside the vestibule, where she waited for her parents, Gina, and Catherine to catch up to her.

Once inside the vestibule of the church, the organist began to play, and everything seemed to move at warp speed. Pete escorted Grace down the aisle, and they were followed by Catherine and Gina.

As the guests gathered in church rose from their pews, Jen heard her father ask, “Are you ready?”

Jen’s stomach churned, and she began to tremble.
I hope I’m making the right choice,
she thought. Her father gave her a hug, and she drew strength from his embrace. “Yes,” she whispered. “I’m ready.”

As they began their slow walk down the aisle, Jen’s eyes searched for Drew, hoping against hope that he would stop the wedding and declare his love for her. Instead, as they passed his pew, she watched as he smiled a sad smile and snapped a photo with his cell phone.
If you really loved me, you would stop the wedding,
she thought, desperately trying to telegraph a message to Drew as she passed him on her way towards the altar.

Before she knew it, they had reached the end of the aisle, and Jen winced as Vince took her arm after her father gave her away. Trembling, she realized it was the first time she had allowed Vince to touch her since Tuesday.
This is it,
she thought.

The ceremony was quick, and before she knew it, Jen had promised to love, honor and cherish Vince for the rest of their lives. As Vince slipped the platinum and diamond wedding ring on her left hand, she closed her eyes and prayed.
Dear God, please give me the strength to be a good wife, and please help me not second guess my decision to marry him.

When the priest pronounced them husband and wife, and they kissed for the first time as a married couple, Jen was startled by the applause from their wedding guests, and blushed.

Vince noticed her embarrassment, and whispered in her ear, “I can’t wait to get you home later tonight.”

Luke, Drew and Collette made their way through the receiving line at the back of the church, and descended the steps onto the sidewalk outside. As they were waiting for Jen, Vince, and the rest of the bridal party to finish greeting the guests and exit the church, Collette excused herself to make a phone call. “I just want to check on my mother,” she said, before walking down the block. “I’ll just be a minute.”

“Sure,” Drew replied, before taking out his cell phone.

Luke watched as Drew scrolled through the photos of Jen he had stored on his phone. “Why are you doing this to yourself? What are you, a glutton for punishment?”

“It should have been me. Jen should have married me.” He hung his head and shook it from side to side. “How did everything go so wrong?”

Lost for words, Luke felt nothing but pity for his friend. “I don’t know what to tell you, buddy.”

“You know, Luke, it’s all my fault. I should have fought for her, and now I’m going to spend the rest of my life wishing I had. She loved me. She wanted me, but I was consumed by pride and self-
pity
. I never should have let her go. I made a last-
ditch
effort last night, but it was too late.”

Luke’s mouth hung open in shock. “You what? What did you do?”

Drew looked down the block, and saw Collette approaching them. “It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter anymore.”

“I wish things were different for you, Drew.”

“Me too,” Drew said as he ran his hands through his hair. “Me too.”

Luke and Drew watched as Jen and Vince emerged from the church. They threw rose petals at the newlyweds as they made their way down the church steps, and Drew caught Jen’s eye just before she disappeared into the back of Vince’s waiting limousine.
I’m such a fool
, he thought, bitterly.
And I’ll always be a fool for you.

The rooftop of the St. Regis looked even more beautiful than Jen had remembered, now that it was decorated with flowers, candles, and hundreds of potted trees adorned with tiny white lights surrounding the perimeter of the ballroom. “Right out of a fairy tale,” Catherine observed, when she had a moment alone with Jen.

“It’s pretty, isn’t it? My mom did a great job with the decorating.”

Catherine agreed. “How are you feeling? Are you okay? Other than when we posed for pictures, you haven’t smiled at all since we left the apartment.”

Jen nodded her head. “I’m fine,” she said, before admitting, “I’m just a little nervous about tonight, though, once we get home. I haven’t slept in our bed since Tuesday.”

“If he hurts you again, I’m just a phone call away. Remember that,” Catherine said.

“Thanks, Cath,” Jen said, as she hugged her friend. “I’m sure everything will be okay. He got what he wanted, after all.” Jen looked across the room at her husband, who was basking in congratulatory handshakes and pats on the back from his friends and colleagues.

When the band began to play “Only You,” Vince escorted Jen to the dance floor for their first dance. He firmly held her in his arms as they swayed to the music. “You are such a beautiful bride, Jennifer. I don’t think you can comprehend the depth of my love for you. I can’t wait to get you home tonight so I can show you.”