13. Josephine

13

JOSEPHINE

T he woman pushing her phone into my face doesn't appreciate my refusal to answer her question. She huffs out a breath and rephrases. "Come on, Miss Hansen. As the newest star to feature in a Luca Brisco production, surely there's something on your mind about the actresses landing in the hospital?"

"She said no comment," Luca reiterates for me as Jett makes his way down the stairs. It's way too early for him to be awake, but I could say the same for the woman pestering me for a quote. "Please leave. This is private property and you're trespassing."

The woman stomps her foot before shouting into my closing front door. "Fine, I'm leaving. I wanted to give you the opportunity to control the narrative before word gets out that the casting couch leads to a hospital bed."

That pisses me off, causing me to yank the door back open. I wag my finger in her face. "I don't know who you think you are or what you think you know, but there's nothing inappropriate about what I'm doing or how I land any of my roles. You want a comment? Go fuck yourself."

I slam the door, padding to the kitchen, where Jett's gorgeous blue eyes stare at me half-awake with a dry bowl of cereal sitting in front of him at the table.

"Kid, go back to bed. You don't have to be up for another two hours," I tell him, smoothing down his bedhead curls.

"But Luca's awake," Jett replies with sleep coating every syllable. "Successful men beat the sun to work."

"Now, where did you hear that?" I ask. It's oddly specific.

Luca's bashful with a grin spreading across his face, holding up a single finger. "That would be my quote from the Times article. You looked me up on the internet, Jett?"

Jett nods with indifference and a yawn. "I couldn't let a stranger hang out with my mom or in our house. The internet told me everything I needed to know. You make great movies and have a ton of money. Don't give any to Collin, though. Granddad says he has to work hard for it. I'm going to work hard for mine too so one day I can get a car like yours for Mom to drive every day."

His voice trails off as he folds his arms on top of the table to rest his head on it, sleep settling back over him without a single bite of his dry cereal.

"Looks like you made quite the impression, Mr. Devlin." I smile at him and wonder how I'm going to get Jett back into bed without waking him.

"What it looks like is his mom is raising an exceptional young man. The information he read about me confirms what he already knows, thanks to you."

I push out a deep exhale because his words make me feel seen. I don't feel like the best mom most days. Most days I'm overwhelmed, drowning in the never-ending list of things to do. Cook, clean, work, Mom, adult, sister, friend, chauffeur … a myriad of jobs for one person to make life livable and then, rinse and repeat.

"Thank you, Luca. You have no idea how much that means to me. I feel so invisible most days."

He steps close to me, lowering his forehead to press against mine. "I see you, Jo."

Lingering in the moment for a second more, with a yearning for this feeling to come every day, I shift away from him, looking at Jett. "I have to get him back to bed and you were on your way out the door. I don't want to hold you up, Luca."

"How are you going to get him up the stairs?" He eyes me from head to toe.

"I may be small but I am mighty," I flex my arm to make a puny muscle before laughing. "Mighty enough to grab Collin to haul him to bed. Please, you've already done so much."

Luca narrows his gaze at me. "I can have him in bed before you get Collin in here. The sooner we get Jett back to his room, the sooner you can get some rest. I expect you in my office later, contracts signed, so we can start going over the Starlight script."

Yes. Work. Can't forget to be an adult today.

"Okay. Are you sure?" I ask him but Luca's already in motion, scooping Jett's limp sleeping body into his arms. Jett's mouth drops open as his arms fall outward. It looks like Luca's trying to handle an octopus.

I choke back laughter, not wanting to wake my son up as I show Luca to his room up the stairs at the end of the hall. I open the door, where the sight is shocking, to say the least.

"I can't believe it," I whisper, looking around the room as Luca places Jett in his bed. He draws the blanket over the sleeping boy, smiling softly as we back out of the room. Right outside the door, I tell Luca. "It's clean. His room is never tidy, but it is now."

"If he's quoting that article, right under my quote about a successful man beating the sun to work, there's another quote where I emphasize keeping a clean house to keep a clear mind."

"He's like a sponge. Jett really wants to be like you. To think, all it took was a cool car to turn on his responsibility."

"I did that interview over ten years ago and still cringe at some of the things I said in that piece. I don't want him to take everything to heart." He sighs.

"I'm just happy to see his floor. Jett does the same thing with Collin. He plays football because Collin does. He listens to everything Collin says because he's one of the best players at his school. That car knocked over this domino of growth."

"That will change." He laughs to himself. "I think once he hits the age of eleven or twelve, he'll be thinking for himself and not so easily impressed. What time does he have to be at school?"

"Eight."

"Okay. I'll have a car brought to you within the hour."

"Wait a minute. That's way too much, Luca."

"Read your contract, Jo. As lead actress, it's crucial I get you to and from set on time. Don't worry about the cost, it's part of the production budget. If you run into anyone else looking for a quote, forward them to my office. I'll take care of it. Let me take care of you." Luca winks, gives me a chaste kiss, and leaves before I have more time to protest his generosity.

As promised, there's a luxury sedan waiting outside my door within the hour. That new leather smell, remote control start, shiny clean exterior and smooth untouched steering wheel push a sigh of relief out of me as the sound of another car door slamming steals my attention.

Duke.

The surprise in his blue eyes as he runs his meaty fingers through his buzzed-cut, blonde hair brings a smile to my face, but I suppress it as much as possible. With my phone in the house and Jett getting ready for school, I don't want to trigger his temper with my happiness.

"Hey, uh, I showed up this morning because I figured Jett might need a ride to school." Duke's confusion is steadily morphing into frustration.

"You figured wrong and why would you even think to show up here? Unannounced and the day after you terminated your rights? After everything that happened yesterday? What's going on Duke? What do you want?" I ask him, taking a step back to keep the car between us.

He grunts. "You're really going to make me say it out loud?"

"I don't know what you're going to say, Duke. So yes, you have to use your words. What do you want?" I repeat.

"I'm his father. I mean, I want to keep being his father. I want to take my boy to school. I figured with the damage to your cars, you'd need someone to take him."

"What damage, Duke? Don't you see this shiny new Beemer here? I borrowed it from Monique so thanks, but we're fine."

"You didn't borrow that from Monique. Her car is—" He stops speaking, most likely to avoid incriminating himself.

"Her car is what? In need of repair like her ankle?"

"She deserved that shit. She should learn to keep her hands and feet to herself. I'm not in the mood for games, Fee. Josephine, call Jett out here, and let me take him to school. You can even ride with us if you keep quiet."

"You want to be a father again and you're even willing to be in a car with me for over an hour to take Jett to school. Let's not play this game, Duke. What do you really want? You'd be surprised what I'd agree to if you're honest with me."

I'm not agreeing to do anything for him or with him. As far as Jett is concerned, he's never going to be left with Duke ever again.

"Fine, fine," he sighs, running his fingers through his hair again. "I looked up your guy, Devlin. Seems like he's the real deal and you might have a decent opportunity going here. I want to help out, like before."

I nearly choke on laughter. "Like before? You were actively trying to help out less. So much less that you thought terminating your rights was the best option. Leave, Duke. Please don't make me call the police."

My blood is boiling at his audacity, steering me into the house. But I forget about keeping my distance from him. As I walk by, Duke grips me by the arm.

"Listen to me?—"

"Let go!" I shrink away from him but can't shake him free.

"I'll let go when I'm damn well finished with you. You keep fucking that pretty boy movie exec and we're going to be a happy family again. I won't have to move to Arizona or anything. I'll be around to help you manage your upcoming stardom. Don't you see how much I'm helping you? Didn't that reporter boost your publicity?"

"Let me go." I take a deep breath before hiking my leg, ready to kick him with every ounce of strength I have, but he finally does what I ask and releases my arm.

"You fucking miserable?—"

"Leave. I didn't ask for your help with my career. I asked you to be a father to our son and your response to that was to end the relationship between you and Jett. Let it fucking end, Duke. I'm sick of this back and forth. It's bad enough you damaged all of our cars."

"You don't have any proof of that," he says, folding his arms across his chest.

"Why are you doing this?" I ask myself, taking a step away from him to put some distance between us.

"I told you. I made a fucking mistake. How many times do you need to make me say that, Fee?"

"The only mistake made is you calling me, Fee. Stop it. We're not close. We're not friends. I'm happy you filed those papers because Jett doesn't need you and neither do I. Now get the hell off my property before I call the police."

Duke growls with anger. "Who do you think you're talking to?"

He snarls and reaches to grab me again. This time I back away but manage to trip over my feet, landing with a thud. The front door opens in time for Jett to come out and see me on the ground.

His face flashes red as he charges toward Duke. "Leave my Mom alone, you shit."

Jett swings his little fists at Duke, but that only angers him more. Duke grabs Jett by both wrists to stop him. My hope is for Collin to rush out and intervene, but the hand gripping Duke by the shoulder is the last one I expect.

From where I sit on the ground, Luca pulling Duke backward makes Luca look like an angel. His salt and pepper hair doesn't have a strand out of place as the sun shines behind Luca as he shoves Duke away from us after he releases Jett.

"You like putting your hands on people. Grab me!" Luca barks.

Duke swings a wild punch, but Luca tucks his arms into his side and dodges the blow. He dips to his left to hit Duke across the chin before shoving him away from us once again.

"Come on, asshole! Hit me! Grab me," Luca yells at Duke.

"This is MY family!" Duke stammers, grabbing his mouth and holding up a hand to tell Luca to back down.

"Wrong," Luca replies, coming to me where Jett's shaking with anger in my arms. "As long as I'm around, Jett and Josephine are under my protection. If you come near them again, you're going to regret it, Duke."

"No, you're the one who's going to regret this. Just watch." Duke snarls with finality as he gets into his car to drive off.

Luca kneels down to look at me and Jett. "Are you two okay?"

"I'm okay," I mumble, but Jett is still red with anger.

"It's not fair. I can't—" Jett stammers and trips over his words. "I hate him. You keep letting him come around and do this bad stuff to you."

That throws me for a loop and my heart breaks as Jett storms off back inside the house.