33. Chapter 33
Chapter 33
One word can change a person’s day from bad to amazing. Tacos.
Two days later
Ezra was stretched out in the recliner in Magnolia’s living room—she’d bought it especially for him and had it delivered while he was in the hospital—and debating how hard it would be to get out of this dumb chair without help. As soon as he was healed, he was burning the damn thing.
Rib fractures were the absolute worst because there was nothing he could do about it. Just heal and suffer silently.
The front door opened, then closed, and he heard multiple footsteps in the foyer before Magnolia, Berlin, Mari, and Detective Flores…Camila stepped into view. She must have arrived at the same time as the other three because they’d been at his place, packing up some personal stuff for him.
“Hey,” Magnolia said, moving right to his side. “How are you feeling?”
“Eh.”
She winced and dropped a quick kiss on his forehead—his forehead . Another shitty side effect of this stupid injury. Magnolia was treating him as if he was made of glass. Little pecks on his mouth, cheek and yes, forehead.
Just kill me now , he internally groaned .
“We packed up some stuff from your condo.” Berlin put a bag down while Mari set a suitcase next to it.
“Your condo makes me sad,” Mari added. “It’s gorgeous, but…” Mari shook her head, which made Berlin devolve into laughter, as if they’d already had a conversation about his place.
He frowned, looking between the two of them. “Are you two friends now?”
“They bring out the twelve-year-old in each other.” Magnolia’s tone was dry, but he could see her fighting a smile.
Camila sat on the edge of the couch, looking exhausted but happy. “Why don’t you two make some coffee or something?” she said to Mari and Berlin, who disappeared down the hall toward the kitchen. Then she looked at Ezra, her expression softer. “Rib injuries suck.”
“Yeah. So, what do you have?” Because he didn’t think this was a social call.
“We’ve finally wrapped up everything and I just wanted to assure you that you’re one hundred percent off the hook for shooting Charles Barbier. The case has been closed as clear self-defense and the DA will not be pressing charges, blah, blah blah. I’m sure you already knew that, but I wanted it clear.”
He nodded, because yeah, he’d known. He’d already gotten a call about it. “Thanks.”
“I also wanted to let you both know that Samuel Perry is pleading guilty to the drive-by shooting, most of the threatening messages the last couple weeks and of course the attack in broad daylight with the stolen truck. Barbier was the one behind the poisoning.” Camila looked at Magnolia then. “We’ve found enough evidence at his place and after an electronic audit of all his belongings and what your parents have told us to paint a clear picture of what was going on. He’d been trying to sabotage your recent bid. He’d been working with a man named Louis Tremblay.”
“Bastard,” Magnolia muttered.
“It doesn’t seem that he was involved in any of the nasty stuff, just the corporate espionage side. When you snagged Tabitha Johnson, Charles saw everything crumbling around him. And I’m extrapolating from some of his text messages and emails. Then when he threatened to quit and you didn’t stop him, but encouraged him, according to what he ranted to your mother, he snapped. He owes a lot of really scary people money.”
“How much money?”
“Half a million.”
Magnolia blinked in surprise and even Ezra was shocked by the number.
“It was partially from bad investments and a gambling addiction. His normal bookies cut him off so he went to some people I can only tell you are really, really nasty.”
“Are they going to be a problem for us?” Ezra asked.
Camila shook her head. “I doubt it but we’ll be keeping an eye on them in case. But no, you’re not on their radar. And after the attack on your parents and you, they’re going to stay far away from you.”
Ezra knew some of that as well, since Abigail Lavigne had stopped by earlier this morning to check on both of them. She’d looked exhausted and about to break.
“So he used the threat of Perry as, like, a cover to threaten me? To…almost kill me?” Magnolia asked, shock in her voice.
Ezra gently squeezed her hand for support.
“It looks like it. We think he was behind the attempted bombing at your house, not Perry. If you were dead, that job would have likely gone away, or the bid would have been postponed. And since Austin Jameson is the next real option for the bid, your cousin knew the job would go to him. Or assumed.”
“You haven’t mentioned Jameson until now. He was outside Magnolia’s work Wednesday evening.” Which felt like a lifetime ago. “Has anyone talked to him?” Ezra asked.
Camila nodded. “I did, personally. He said he stopped by to apologize in person for his behavior at her office a few days ago. He said he tried calling but apparently her assistant has him on her ‘asshole list’ and Magnolia wasn’t returning his calls.”
Magnolia nodded in agreement.
“Was he involved in any of this? ”
“I honestly don’t think so. There’s no trail leading back to him. Just something Tremblay and your cousin cooked up. If Tremblay ended up getting the position as architect working with Jameson, he’d planned to use it to his advantage. He’s always had a certain amount of sway in suggesting which contractors to use. And one of those is—”
“Connected to one of those nasty people you were talking about?” Ezra’s tone was dry.
“Bingo. And Charles planned to leave Magnolia’s company in a big ‘screw you’ to her once she lost the contract and all those nasty people got work for their company. From what we can tell, he was killing two birds with one stone. He wanted to screw over Magnolia, who he thought was holding him back, and pay off the debts he owed all at once. In the end, this was all about money and not a little bit of misogyny. At least that’s what it looks like from my end.”
Camila shook her head in disgust as she continued. “And for the record, Jameson is cutting ties with Tremblay. He was pissed when I laid out everything for him. I think Tremblay will lose a lot of business—I don’t know enough about your industry, but I do know New Orleans. He’s going to be blacklisted.” Camila stood, clearly wrapping things up. “I just wanted to tell you both in person that there’s no threat and you can enjoy your Christmas break. Also, I’ll be at the party next week.”
“You’d better.” Magnolia pulled Camila into a big hug.
Once Camila had left, Ezra said, “I hope I’m still invited to the party. And to Christmas.”
Magnolia gave him a surprised look as she sat back down next to him, scooting her chair up to the recliner. “I wasn’t planning on letting you leave the house. If you tried, I was going to duct tape you right here.”
He laughed lightly, winced.
“Ack, sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. If anything, I should be apologizing to you. I tried to explain but I know I sounded like an asshole.”
“You had just been shot.” Fear flickered into her blue eyes for a moment, but she shook it off.
“I was…scared. Scared of losing you, but then I was losing you anyway. I don’t know where I fit into your world, or Lucas’s world, but I want to figure it out. I want to make up for lost time. I want to create a real life with you, Magnolia. I love you. I know I’ve said it, but I’m going to keep saying it.”
“I love you too,” she whispered. Tears glittered in her eyes as she leaned forward, kissed him hard.
He bit back the sting of pain as he shifted slightly, cupped the back of her head and returned her kiss with equal fervor. He’d waited almost two decades for this woman. A little pain was nothing.