Chapter 39
The knock on the hotel suite door prompts me to stand up as Rick goes over to check the peephole and open the door. Catalina’s arrival had already been announced when reception downstairs called just some minutes ago, and I instructed them to send her up.
Asher and I only arrived in New York this morning with Rick in tow and plan to stay just the night as we have a full schedule of recordings in LA this week.
After several series of discussions with the guys, especially reprimanding Haze, who’s already made plans to renovate Terra Sands to fit all of us without my consent, it was decided that we would be moving back to my place as soon as we’ve finished recording the album.
While I already made my decision even before our yacht adventure, I was still pissed off with Haze for going behind my back and starting discussions with building engineers about taking my home apart. Just for ego’s sake, I’ll let him grovel for a few more days until I ‘officially’ forgive him.
Starting this new chapter with the guys also means I will no longer need Catalina. Plus, I’m pretty upset with her lacing my teas over the years, which I still have not addressed her about it, and maybe I won’t either. I don’t see the need to start an argument with her about it since I’m already letting her go. The guys also were never keen on her, and I don’t think they would have been happy living under the same roof with a self-proclaimed witch who secretly laces people’s food and drinks with barbituates!
“Rick and I will step outside the suite,” Asher announces and leans over to leave a peck on my cheek as we both move to greet Catalina. “If you need anything, we’re only a step outside.”
I nod nervously and watch him make his way to the entrance. Other than Oliver Jones, I’ve never had to fire anyone before, so I’m not sure how it’s done. I’ve practiced this discussion in my head a million times on the flight, but now, as I see Catalina enter the suite, I’m unsure if anything I prepared is the correct way to do it.
She walks up and gives me a warm hug. I ask her if she wants anything to drink and she points at the small bottles of mineral water on the silver tray on the coffee table. I open one, pour it into a glass, and hand it to her.
We both sit on the couch, and I turn my body to face her.
“How have you been?” I ask, keeping whatever nervous vibes I have hidden.
“I’m good. Missing Terra Sands, of course. And you?” she eyes me closely. “But I’m guessing this visit isn’t a friendly call or to ask me to return, is it?”
Always cutting to the chase.
She’s always been direct with me and has had this no-frills approach to how she carries herself.
I look at the two manilla files on the table. One is for her, and the other was the report Haze had Rick conducted on Catalina’s legal history.
There isn’t anything for me to be super worried about. The woman has been living with me since I was 14 years old. Anything I need to know about her, I already do. But she never talks about her past, so while I knew she was a widow, she never disclosed that she became one ten days before she started employment with me.
Nor did she ever mention that her husband had been the victim of a fatal robbery on his way home from work. The robbery doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. We’re both from Brownsville, Brooklyn’s most notorious neighborhood with alarming crime rates, which puts Downtown LA’s crime rates to shame. But had I known this, I would have given Catalina time to mourn, not stick her on a plane to travel with me, touring across America and Europe as soon as she was hired.
“Catalina, you’ve been with me for over a decade. You’ve seen me through some of the best and worst moments of my life. You stuck by me through treacherous times, even when you knew you could have endangered yourself being associated with me. Wonderful people don’t come along that often in my life, but you did, and I’m thankful for it.”
I pick up the manilla file closest to me.
“I want you to know how much I appreciate and love you. That’s why I did this.”
I hand it to her, and she takes it, confused, and opens it up.
“I don’t understand. What is this?” She asks, looking through all the documents.
“I bought you a house. It’s all yours. The deeds are in your name.”
“In Plainview?”
“Isn’t that where you told me you’re staying on Long Island with your sister?” I look at her, a little confused. “Of course, I don’t have her exact address, but the real estate agent said it’s a lovely area to live, and I thought you might want to retire near her.”
“Retire?” she looks at me shocked.
“Catalina, you’re only a few years away from official retirement age. Take it a little earlier and enjoy it with your loved ones.”
“And you?”
“I’ll return to Terra Sands after we finish the album.”
“With them?” she castes me a frown filled with disappointment.
“Well, if you must know, yes. We’re very much committed.”
“You’re delusional,” she states and looks the other way in defiance.
“Excuse me?”
I knew this might not go well, but this is going south pretty fast.
“I’ve always been loyal to you.”
“Well, yes,” I’m hesitant to mention the barbituates. It’s not an additional discussion I want to add to this already difficult one.
“I’ve never walked away from you. Despite everything.”
“No, and I appreciate that. That’s why I wanted to do something special and worthwhile.”
“So you bought me a house without consulting me.”
Well, at the time, I had never really seen it that way. I thought I was doing something nice for her.
“Not many employers would buy their staff newly renovated homes,” I say defensively and quickly change my tone. “It’s all in your name. If you don’t like it, you can sell it and do what you want with the money.”
My gaze eyes the file in her hands, “It’s a cozy two-bedroom home, fully furnished, and a large yard worth half a million dollars. I’ve never done anything like this before for anyone. I thought you’d like the gesture. Plus, I’ve arranged for you to continue getting a full salary for the next twenty-four months.”
“You’re firing me.” She says bluntly.
“I’m giving you early retirement with a beautiful home to retire to.”
“I lived with you at Terra Sands for years. How am I supposed to just live on my own?”
“I don’t know, you just will. And you’ll have your sister nearby. I bet she’d love having you closer.”
She purses her lips firmly together, forming a tight, straight line conveying her genuine emotions.
“So you’re just exchanging me for a bunch of men who abandoned you and left you traumatized.”
“They didn’t abandon me. And it wasn’t them who traumatized me. You know that.”
“Have you seen this house?” she waves the file at me.
“Umm, no. You know that security is a bit tight for me at the moment. Things are a little tough now, which is also why I need you to stay away from LA and me.”
“I’m a little disappointed in you, Eden. We were living fine before those men arrived on our doorstep.”
“My doorstep,” I correct her. “And maybe I just needed that extra push in my life. I deserve to have love in my life, and the love I have for these men runs deep.”
She looks at me with a skeptical grin. I really wish she would just take what I’m giving her and leave. My mind is made up, and the decision is made.
“So much that you’d gamble your life for them!”
“Absolutely! Love possesses the extraordinary ability to transform individuals. It makes people want to protect their loved ones regardless of the risks involved!”
“That’s careless stupidity,” she scowls. “You know what he is capable of. I’ve kept you safe all these years, and now you just want to throw your safety in the wind!”
I can feel my blood boil, and this was the last thing I wanted to feel when I decided to let her go.
“You’ve kept me drugged all these years, Catalina. Do we really need to go there?”
“So, you’re going to believe them over me.”
“They showed me proof.”
“It was planted to frame me.”
I cock my head at her. “Was it?”
“They’ve been in your life for five minutes, and you choose them over me.”
“You were never a choice to choose over. You were my loyal employee. They are my boyfriends.”
“I meant, you chose to believe them over me. How do you know he wasn’t hired to hunt you?”
My eyebrows shoot up with crazy skepticism spreading across my face. She’s got out all the guns now, but she’s shooting blanks.
“And achieve what? Terrorize me into falling in love with them? That makes no sense.”
Catalina’s expression shifts, her features relaxing as if releasing tension. Her gaze softens slightly, and she gives me a subtle sigh, indicating her readiness to move on.
“Will I be able to collect my belongings at Terra Sands?”
“Yes, of course,” I say with a warm smile, making a mental reminder to go through all consumables and dump them before I move in with the guys. “You have access to the property before they begin renovating it.”
“When will that be?”
“Next week.”
“You’re rushing into this.”
“It feels right.”
“I should go,” she resigns from her argument, takes the file, and gets up. “I assume this is mine?”
“Please enjoy your retirement, Catalina,” I stand up to join her. “Regardless of what you think, you’ll always be an important person to me, but we need to go our separate ways.”
Rather than reply, she takes one final look at me. Mumbles something under her breath, which I don’t catch, smiles, and turns towards the door. She doesn’t turn to either of the two men waiting outside in the hotel hallway. Asher says something to Rick, then slips inside and strides over to where I am.
“Alright, babe?” he asks, concern all over his face.
“You heard?”
“Vaguely, only when your voices got a little argumentative. Technically hers, since you maintained your calm as much as possible under the circumstances.”
I lean over for a hug, and he welcomes me in his embrace. I rest the side of my face against his chest.
“Did you confront her about the barbituates?”
I adjust to face him while still maintaining our arms around each other.
“I did. She claims you guys framed her.”
He looks straight at me but says nothing. We discussed earlier that she might deny it even if she admitted it to Callum. I omitted to tell her he told me about their discussion because she would have used his past drug history against him.
“It doesn’t matter,” I add to Asher’s silence. “Escalating the issue will only prolong the inevitable and we have enough on our plate. She wants to pick up her stuff at Terra Sands, and I told her she has a week to do so.”
“You handled it as well as possible. How do you feel about it?”
“A little sad. At the same time, if the whole drugging issue had not been discovered, maybe it would have been harder to let her go. I thought I suffered from narcolepsy and needed her to nurse me when I was passed out. Despite all that, I think I gave her the best possible route to leave.”
“You did more than any employer would have done in this kind of situation. I think she was a little more attached to the job than a caretaker would be.”
“We’d been through a lot together.”
“Technically, you’ve been through a lot. You paid her to help you through it.”
I smile warmly at him.
“Why are you always my voice of reason?”
His hand moves to take a possessive hold of my jaw, his thumb tracing the full curve of my lips.
“Maybe because my logical thinking balances out your occasional chaos.”
I raise a brow in question.
“You saying I’m a mess?”
“A beautiful chaos that keeps my life interesting,” he grins, his thumb now playfully tapping my lower lip. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
He leans in, closing the remaining space between us with a confident ease. His eyes, warm and inviting, lock onto mine, and a subtle smile plays on his lips. The possessive hold on my jaw eases into a gentle caress as he tilts his head ever so slightly. I can feel the soft warmth of his breath as he inches closer, and then, with a perfect blend of tenderness and longing, his lips meet mine in a kiss that speaks of unspoken understanding and a shared history written in every subtle movement.