CHAPTER TWELVE.

That is one blackhearted b.i.t.c.h." Gin fumed as she pulled out a chair at the kitchen table and set her morning coffee down. "I could sense her lack of pulse from a hundred yards. She's like Lurch with a ponytail."

Marsha studied her from over the rim of her cup. "Maybe you didn't notice, but she's a blackhearted, no-pulse butch with a capital B. Maybe the Rayner women like 'em strong and tall."

Gin shot her a venomous look. Sometimes the jibes about her height wore thin, and she was in no mood for smug, six-foot brunettes today. "The family resemblance is amazing. You both look eerily alike, in a good-twin-evil-twin kind of way."

"Yeah, the s.e.xy twin and the Lurch twin. I don't know what Janie ever saw in Dan, but since she was the one who introduced us I can't complain."

"I'd rather not think about Dan being with two Rayner sisters." Gin wrinkled her nose. "Eew, that's practically incest."

"And when did you become Judge Judy?" Marsha sniffed.

"When I saw that b.i.t.c.h get out of her car." Gin shook her head, still in disbelief at all she'd witnessed since Dan's a 139 a arrival. How the h.e.l.l did someone warm and sweet like Solley end up with that monster?

"I told you to come to the fi lm shoot with me. But no, you had to torture yourself."

"I'm not the type who runs away," Gin said pointedly.

"Really? Last time we talked I thought you were going to run away from Solley as fast as you could. You were going to take no chances, remember? Next thing, there's p.o.r.nography all over the papers. What's up with that?"

Gin sagged back in her chair with a loud sigh. Staring up at the rotating ceiling fan, she said fl atly, "Nothing's going on, Marsh. It was just a summer fl ing. I can't believe it made the front page of the entertainment section."

"Yeah, real s.h.i.tty luck. But you have to admit it's pretty funny."

"Are you nuts? There's nothing funny about this situation."

Gin scowled. Sometimes she wondered about her best friend's mindset.

"I was talking about Kelly Rose," Marsha huffed, like Gin had missed the whole point. "She's the one who dragged Sniper down here to take steamy pictures, and it totally backfi red."

She sipped her latte with satisfaction. "Way to go, Kelly. Not just a dumb blonde, but a national idiot, too."

"You're no help at all."

"When did you fall hook, line, and sinker for Solley, by the way?"

Gin avoided her eyes. "Is it that obvious?"

Marsha shrugged. "I put it down to the parenting gene.

Maybe we fall for people we can raise a family with. Maybe it's as basic as that. I mean, that's how it works in the natural world." She looked impressed with her own theory.

"Do you think this has f.u.c.ked up Solley's chances for custody?" Gin asked.

"Royally," Marsha replied confi dently. "It's just the a 140 a opening Dan was waiting for. Solley's going to have to suck up big time if she wants to see her kids."

Gin laid her head on her arms on the table top. She recalled her insistence to Solley about wanting only the best for her and the kids. Hollow words now. Solley had worried that their attraction would f.u.c.k things up for her, and she was right. I've ruined it all, me and my media circus.

"The thing about Lurch," Marsha continued, warming to her nemesis cousin's new nickname, "is she's very shrewd and manipulative. That's why she's such a good businesswoman.

You know Ego FX? That's her company."

Gin raised her head. She recognized the name. Ego FX was a small, studio-supported business with a good reputation for special effects software. She stared past Marsha, strangely aware of cogs and wheels starting to spin.

Rising, she said, "I have some things to organize. Catch you later, Marsha."

She stepped out onto the veranda and absorbed the bay views for several long seconds. She felt so at peace in this little cove-it was her karmic cradle-and she just knew the pieces of her life would come together here. First, however, she had some important things to take care of. She hadn't met with her accountant for almost a year. It was time they had a conversation.

Dan was silent throughout the drive to the restaurant.

She'd insisted they have breakfast alone so that they could "talk." Solley wondered what on earth she had to say that took such staging.

When they'd fi nally settled into their booth and placed their order, Dan said, "Solley, I want to discuss our future."

"Didn't we do that yesterday?"

a 141 a "Not really. I wanted to tell you some more about the deal I'm considering." When Solley didn't respond like a cheerleader, she said, "I thought it mattered to you that the kids would still be close by when they're with me."

"Of course. I don't want them disappearing for half the year to G.o.d knows where."

Dan shifted uncomfortably. "Well, that's the outside option now that Trixie and I are no longer together. Though I suppose I could still pick up business back east." She paused as their food arrived. "But I'm going to concentrate on getting this deal signed. Like I said, it suits everyone if I stay here."

Solley smeared her pancake stack with whipped b.u.t.ter.

"Yes, it'll be great if the kids don't have to pay for our separation by being dragged from one school to the next every six months. That would be appalling." She ladled on some more guilt, since it obviously hadn't occurred to Dan to think about the consequences of her actions. "Imagine how far behind they'd be by the time they reached high school."

"That's exactly what I was thinking, so I'm making this deal my priority." Dan's eyes burned into hers. "I've raised half a million, but I need twice that amount. The total output is going to be approximately a million for me, but it will start to pay back a percentage almost immediately."

Solley was confused. Dan didn't usually talk money with her. A germ of suspicion formed in her mind and she asked, "Are you planning to extend the mortgage on our house?"

Dan's faint, unapologetic smile said it had already been done. She was the one who took care of their material life as a couple. Solley concentrated on being the mother and homemaker.

"I have something else in mind to raise the rest of the capital." Dan shifted again, and Solley could feel the crunch a 142 a coming. From the leaden feeling in her stomach, she knew she wasn't going to like whatever Dan was hatching.

"If we were to stay together for the kids' sake, we could turn a blind eye to each other's...adventures outside the relationship. I mean, after last night we've proven we can do that."

"You're suggesting we have an open relationship?" Solley asked dryly. "Only this time it's not one-sided. We both see other people?"

"Why not? I can accept that we've evolved toward nonmonogamy over the years. You could continue to see the Karate Kid, if that's what you want, but we'd stay together for the children's sake."

Solley was stunned. This wasn't what she'd hoped to hear.

Dan had behaved as if their relationship was unoffi cially "open"

practically since Solley had come home from the hospital with the twins. Sometimes she'd felt that her heart lived on an arid prairie, so "open" was their life together that tumbleweed blew through it. But she didn't want their relationship to be exclusive; she simply didn't want it at all.

Dan continued, oblivious to Solley's stiff shoulders and the scornful reply that hovered on her lips. "Of course, for this to work out the way we both want I need the extra cash." Her eyes glittered cold, bright blue. "So, considering the traumatic experience our kids have been put through over the past two weeks, I thought we should consult a lawyer."

"You're going to make this a custody issue? A few sc.r.a.pes on a summer vacation? The judge will laugh at you."

Dan bestowed a patronizing smile on her. "No, I'm going to discuss what amount would be an appropriate settlement for Ms. Ito's role in the physical endangerment and psychological trauma of our children."

a 143 a Shocked, Solley said, "They're not traumatized, they're thrilled. This is crazy."

"No, this is a lawsuit." Dan grinned like a hyena with a brand new carca.s.s to pull apart. "Don't get yourself worked up on Ito's behalf. She can afford it."

"That's not the point."

"I had a feeling you wouldn't go for it. You've never been able to see the fi nancial opportunities lurking within life's stinky moments. You just don't have the smarts or the b.a.l.l.s to take advantage."

"If you mean there are some things I won't sink to, then yes, you're right."

Dan held up a hand with patient amus.e.m.e.nt. "Okay.

Here's plan B. Tell Ito I'm going to sue her but if she were to cough up the investment I need, not only would she and her movie have no more adverse publicity, but the kids would stay here. And, of course, you two could see each other."

Solley could see she truly believed she was being magnanimous. "That's blackmail."

"No, it's business. I need the money and you've provided a means of getting it." She played her proud parent ace card.

"I'm trying to do the right thing by us here, Sol. I want my company to grow from strength to strength, so we're fi nancially secure. I want my kids to go to the best colleges, and drive preppie cars, and have gap years in Europe."

"Bulls.h.i.t," Solley snapped. "Don't give me that c.r.a.p about how much you care for the kids. You don't give a d.a.m.n about anyone but yourself and your f.u.c.king deal. You just use everybody. You're a jerk."

"I'm the jerk who writes the checks," Dan corrected in a patronizing tone. "It's just as well one of us is thinking about the future."

"Gin loves the kids and they love her back."

"That's exactly what I'm talking about. And she seems a 144 a to care for you. So she can pay up and keep you and the kids close, or be sued and named in a bitter custody battle...not good publicity on the eve of a ma.s.sive launch of a family movie. She's not stupid. I'm sure she'll do the smart thing."

"It's blackmail, any way you look at it. You can go to h.e.l.l."

"G.o.d, you're dense. The money we need is a piddling amount to her. She probably spends that every year on shoes."

"I'll tell you what I'm going to do," Solley said. "I'm going to sue for full custody as the biological mother."

"No, you're not. After this week's little fi asco any good lawyer will be able to paint you as the unfi t mother you are.

Unable to care for your kids because you're so wrapped up in some macha stunt queen." Dan got to her feet. "Think about it carefully, Solley. But be quick. Those pictures of you and Ito are already plastered all over the Internet and not on the most discerning of sites, either, catch my drift? That's not going to look good at a custody hearing, now, is it?" With that, she swooped angrily from the restaurant.

Solley couldn't believe Dan would use her family this way, as a lever to blackmail a person whose only mistake was to care about them. But I can believe she stuck me with the bill.

And I've no way home. b.i.t.c.h!

"Play daddy with my kids and f.u.c.k my wife?" Dan ground out between tight lips as she stalked into the kitchen. "You little p.i.s.sant, we'll see who gets f.u.c.ked."

"Did you say something?" Janie stepped out from behind the fridge door.

"Where's the home wrecker?" Dan swung her brilliant blue gaze toward the stairs.

a 145 a c.o.c.king her head and feigning a confused frown, Janie replied, "Aren't I looking at her?"

Dan shrugged off the jibe, offering her own sharp retort.

"Remind me, why did we ever date?"

"Good question." Janie poured several gla.s.ses of juice for the children. "Gin's in her room. If you're planning to cause trouble, I suggest you think about the fact that your kids are in the family room and will hear everything."

"Let me worry about what's appropriate for my family."

Dan headed for the stairs.

"Where's Solley?" Janie glanced out the open door.

"She'll be back later," Dan said tersely. "Thanks for minding the kids, by the way. I thought it was important to patch things up with your sister so we could stay together."

She lifted her gaze, and Janie noticed a pair of legs and Gin's large duffel bags at the top of the stairs.

"Going somewhere?" Dan sounded smug.

"Yes."

"Do you have a minute before you head out?"

"I do, but I was planning to spend it with the children. To say good-bye."

Gin's voice was so strained, Janie thought about intervening. Dan's height and bullying tactics didn't intimidate her, but she wanted to avoid a scene. There was enough stress in the house.

"Gin has to get to the airport," she said weakly.

"We can take a quick walk." Gin picked up the bags and started down the stairs.

Retreating, Dan said, "I'll wait on the veranda."

After she'd exited the kitchen, Janie met Gin's eyes. "I wish you would stay."

"It's better for everyone if I don't. It sounds like Dan is attempting to keep their family together."

a 146 a "I wonder how long that'll last." Janie hesitated. "You don't have to talk to her. All she wants to do is make you feel bad."

Gin dropped the bags beside the door with a rueful smile.