Secret Love - Brenda Jackson [61]
“What it means, Uncle dearest, is that the woman you’ve chosen to live the rest of your life with is a woman who happens to bring countless hours of joy to millions of people with her acting abilities, not to mention her heart-stopping beauty.”
“So?” Jake asked, still not understanding where Clayton was coming from and most importantly, just where he was going with this. For some reason, Clayton’s attorney mind was at work. “What’s the big deal, Clayton?”
Clayton took another sip of his coffee before answering. “The big deal may not be just the media. Oh, I think they’ll cause you some problems at first, but I see a bigger problem that neither you nor Diamond have thought about.”
Jake leaned back in his chair and stretched his legs out in front of him, crossing them at the ankle. “Which is?”
Clayton met his uncle’s stare. “Her fans. Her very devoted fans. They can be just as bad with invading your privacy as the media.”
Jake frowned as he leaned forward. “Diamond always had fans. So I’m asking you again, what’s the big deal?”
Clayton sat up straight in his chair. “The big deal is that those same fans will probably want to latch on to you because now you’re an extension of Diamond. Not only will you have the media to worry about, but you’ll have to deal with Diamond’s adoring fans, as well.”
Not all of them are adoring, Jake thought, remembering the young man who had forced his way into Diamond’s home a few weeks ago. He sighed as he sank back onto his chair. “Is there any reason you’re telling me this?” he asked coolly, narrowing his eyes to slits. He had a feeling he was not going to care for Clayton’s answer.
“The word is out, Jake. I don’t have the slightest idea which one of our family members was so overjoyed at the thought of Diamond becoming a Madaris that they shared the news with friends—who evidently thought nothing of leaking it to the press. Take your pick as to who the culprit might be. You have several of your talkative kinfolk to choose from. But the fact remains that someone did, and news of your marriage to Diamond made the front page in the newspapers this morning across the country.”
Jake shrugged. He and Diamond knew that news of their marriage was bound to leak out once he had told his family. Like he had warned her, there were some Madarises who didn’t know how to keep secrets. “So it made the front page. That’s all?”
“No.”
“No?”
“No. The sheriff called to let you know that he stopped a convoy of reporters and fans who were headed out this way. He told them that Whispering Pines was private property and if they set foot on it uninvited, they could be arrested.”
Clayton chuckled. “Let me rephrase that. He told them that they would be arrested.”
Jake nodded. He would definitely have to remember Sheriff McCoy at reelection time. He got up and moved over to the sink to pour out his coffee. He’d suddenly lost the taste for it. “Sounds like everything’s under control then.”
“Not quite.”
Jake turned from the sink and met Clayton’s gaze. “What else is there?”
When Clayton didn’t answer right away, Jake walked back over to the table. “I asked, what else is there?”
Clayton took a deep breath before handing Jake the high-tech digital phone recorder. “You need to get your phone number changed as soon as possible. This call came in early this morning. I thought I’d better save it. It’s up to you as to what you do with it, although I’d be glad to offer suggestions.”
Jake frowned as he took the tape player from Clayton. He pushed the button and a husky, somewhat muffled, male voice filled with anger began talking. “If you’re the Jacob Madaris who married Diamond, you’ll be sorry. I stood by and let her make a mistake by marrying that race-car driver but I won’t risk her being hurt. Get out of her life and leave her alone, or you’ll pay a price that could cost you your life.”
The message ended, and Jake turned off the tape player.
“Well?” Clayton asked as he strained to watch the emotions that crossed Jake’s face. There weren’t any. Like Dex he was an expert at hiding them.
“Well,