The three hour trip passed quickly and soon they were on the ground at the Long Beach airport. Joey had a limo waiting; and Jess recognized Tito, the driver who had taken them to the airport earlier in the week.
They rode silently for a while, then Joey broke the silence. “The old man had all of your locks changed. He said the building has a doorman now and we can get the keys from him.”
“I wonder how he managed the doorman. California is pretty laid back, not like New York. It’s a small building, 12 units, but still I imagine there were some people who didn’t want a door man.”
“It’s hard to argue with the old man once his mind’s made up. He’s probably paying the doorman’s salary himself.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. Just how much money did the Bellini family have? She wondered.
Joey held his hands up. “Hey, he’d do it to keep you safe.”
The limo stopped in front of Jess’s building. Tito opened the door. Joey got out and reached back in to take Jess’s hand. He took Jess’s bag from Tito and walked with her into the building.
“The old man said he sent you some things, so the doorman will have packages along with the key.” He told her as he opened the door and walked into the lobby. He stopped in front of the desk that hadn’t been there a few days ago. “I’m Joey Bellini. This is Jessica Parker. I think you have a set of keys and some packages for us.”
“You don’t mind if I check some ID, do you?” The guard said.
“Not at all.” Joey turned to smile at Jess as he pulled out his wallet.
The guard inspected Joey’s ID and nodded. “And the lady?”
Jess reached into her purse and pulled out her wallet, dropping the plastic bag of toothbrushes on the floor. She laid her ID out for the guard as Joey bent and picked up the plastic bag she’d dropped.
The guard handed the new keys to Jess and the packages to Joey. As they walked to the elevator, Joey handed her the bag he’d retrieved. He could see that the bag contained toothbrushes, each in separate bags. He also noticed that the bags had labels reading Jamie and Ben.
“Don’t ask, because I’m not going to tell you.” Jess said as she took the bag and stuffed it back into her large purse, wondering how much he’d seen.
They rode the elevator to the top floor. Jess walked out and Joey followed her to her condo. She unlocked the door and opened it, stood in the hall and looked around. Of course, she thought, Ben would have had a cleaning crew come through.
Joey had gone into the condo first and put the packages down in the living room. “I’m supposed to make sure everything’s secure.” He said as he took her hand. “Come on, you need to see that no one’s here, everything is safe, and you’re secure.”
He left his gun in its holster, but she was sure it was there under his left arm. She held his hand as they walked through the kitchen, the dining room, the bedrooms and the bathrooms. They walked back into the living room, where they sat next to each other on the sofa. Joey pushed the bags toward her.
There were two bags from the Louboutin store in West Hollywood. She opened one bag and found a pair of deep red platform pumps with spikes. She smiled, the Dafodile. The second bag contained a replacement pair of her favorite Carlotas. She smiled as she ran her hand along the contrasting suede and patent leather. She placed both pairs on the coffee table and looked at them.
There was a third package which she just pushed aside. She was sure it was from the DNA lab, and she’d open it when she was alone. Joey pushed the package back toward her.
She looked at him. “That one’s personal.”
Fine, so he wouldn’t press. There had been something going on between them all day and he didn’t want to ruin whatever it was.
“Are you hungry?” Joey asked her. It was 3:00 in L.A., but they’d started the day on Kansas time. It had been hours since they’d had brunch.
“I could eat. But we’ll have to go out, I’m sure anything I had in the fridge has been thrown out by Ben’s cleaning crew.”
“It’s not a problem, I have Tito downstairs. Let’s go out.”
“Okay, let me change and freshen up. We’re back in L.A. and I can’t go out without a face.”
“The one you have looks good to me.”
She laughed. “It’ll look better with some powder and mascara.”
“Fine. Go change into a star.” He said laughingly.
Jess picked up the unopened package and her purse, turned and went to her bedroom. Joey pulled out his phone and dialed Ben.
“Yeah, she’s home. Everything’s secure and we’re going to go grab something to eat.”
Jess came out of the bedroom. She was wearing skinny jeans and a deep red long sleeved t-shirt. She sat on the sofa and put on her new shoes.
“Those things don’t need some break-in time?” How the hell did she walk in them anyway?
“No, Ben always gets the size right. No break-in time needed. Besides, we have a driver, there won’t be much walking involved.”
Joey made sure the condo door was locked before they made their way to the elevators. They both reached for the button. Joey turned his head and gave her a look meant to tell her, that like opening the car door, it was his job. Jess moved her hand and Joey pushed the button. He’d overheard Ben tell Lane yesterday that she didn’t have to do everything for herself any more. The Bellini men were old school in a modern world. They wanted to take care of their women. Take care of them as if, and because, they were the most cherished person on earth, not treat them as though they were helpless or insignificant. He did a mental head shake. Had he just thought of Jess Parker as his woman? He smiled. He sure had, and something about it just felt right.
What was it with him Jess wondered. Did he need to be in control of everything? She smiled. It sounded a bit like herself. This could go one of two ways. It could be a constant struggle for control or it could be a continuous dance of give and take. Dancing, that’s what she’d been doing all afternoon. Dancing around the feelings she had for him. She hadn’t had a relationship, well, ever. She dated but she didn’t date anyone for long. It was hard to keep someone at arm’s length for very long and even teenaged boys wanted a relationship to progress. Although their idea of the next level was about sex and not emotions, it didn’t matter because she wasn’t giving an inch on either count. When one of her friends thought she had some new insight and pointed out that she had daddy issues, she had responded by saying, “Some of us like our crazy.” Yes, she knew she had daddy issues and those issues were why she didn’t let a man get too close. If you didn’t let them in, they couldn’t break your heart. Joey Bellini had the potential of blasting through the wall. Hell he’d already proven there was no lock that could keep him out if he wanted in.
The elevator car arrived and they got in. They looked at each other. He smiled that Bellini smile. She blinked those eyelashes. He took a step toward her. Another step and she’d be cornered. She reached up and put her right hand on his chest. She lowered her eyelashes and looked up at him through them. “I’m sorry about hitting you in the chest with the centerpiece last night. How is it?”
He put his left hand over hers and took the last step forward. “My bruise has a bruise now, but I’ll live.”
She could feel his breath on her face as he spoke. Thank God the elevator door opened. But Joey didn’t step away. She tapped his chest with her fingers and inclined her head toward the door. Still holding her hand, he turned and they walked out of the elevator.
The guard nodded at them as they walked through the lobby. Tito opened the limo door and Joey helped Jess in before getting in himself. He gave Tito the name of a restaurant in Culver City and Tito closed the door.
He looked over at her and smiled. “I hope Chinese is okay.” Then he reached over and took her hand.