Chapter 14
Fourteen
Ella
By the time I’m finished with work, I’m no longer shaking with outrage and indignation. But I am worried about Tommy. How can I help him, when he keeps making shitty decisions? He’s gone way beyond my pay grade as far as sisterly advice and support.
It especially grates on my nerves that he thinks he’s entitled to Kingston and Sebastian’s money, simply because I’m dating them.
The audacity, for fuck’s sake.
I’ve been thinking I’ll go to the university to practice my music for a bit, so I change out of my maid uniform and into jeans and a t-shirt. It’s not the dressiest ensemble, but it beats wearing my work clothes. I check my phone. There’s a text from Sebastian. Meet me for lunch?
Grinning, I write back, Sounds great. I’m at Dorado Terrace .
The Bistro is close to you. Sound okay?
Yum. I’m five minutes away.
I’ll be there in 15.
The Bistro is just around the corner from where I’m standing, so I amble over there and get a table outside.
This is a place I’d never have dreamed coming to, three months ago—it’s way out of my price range.
The sun is pleasantly warm, but the tables are shaded by a vine-covered pergola.
Lattice threaded with more grapevines separates the tables so diners have a semblance of privacy. I love it immediately.
When I sit down, Kingston texts that he’s setting up the bodyguard situation, and he wants to make sure I’m not going anywhere alone in the meantime.
I’m meeting Bash for lunch, I text. I’m staying in a public area.
I can imagine Kingston’s concerned scowl as his response pops up. Please be careful .
I will , I say.
I want to tell him and Sebastian that they’re overreacting. But after last Saturday…nope.
After ordering a lemonade, I settle into my seat and open up the book app on my phone to read while I wait for Sebastian.
A male voice comes from the table behind me.
I can’t see the guy because we’re separated by the vine-covered lattice.
But a sinking sensation of dread fills my gut.
The voice is familiar and I have a visceral, uncomfortable reaction to it.
A woman responds to the man’s words, and then he speaks again, and I place the voice—Joel.
“The staff are getting suspicious,” he says.
“Fire them,” the woman says. “Bring in new ones, or don’t. I don’t care.”
“We can’t keep doing this…he’s not going to hire me back.”
Holy crap. My mind is whirling. Are they talking about Kingston, and Tyler Analytics? Are they up to something? I’m already holding my phone because I was reading, so I click over to the voice recording app and hit Start .
I missed some of what they said, but they’re still talking.
The woman says, “He must be feeling the pressure by now. Your position isn’t being covered. There was the cyber attack. There’s simply too much work for one man to do.”
Joel’s response is unintelligible, but maybe my phone will pick it up better than my ears.
“Then again, he is the most stubborn son of a bitch I ever met,” the woman says. “Your grandmother even said so.”
“Well, I don’t know how long we can keep doing this for,” Joel says.
“However long we need to.”
A server carrying a tray walks past my table and toward theirs. The conversation comes to an abrupt halt while they accept their drinks.
I throw some cash on the table for my lemonade and hurry away, making sure to keep the lattice screen between Joel’s table and me.
As soon as I’m safely beyond the restaurant, I text Sebastian. Meet me at Kingston’s instead. I need to talk to you guys about Joel .
Kingston
For once, I’m home before Ella is. It’s the middle of the day, on a Friday, but I’ve been working such long hours, including the weekends, that I don’t feel guilty in the slightest.
It’s been a long time since I had a spare moment to myself, even to exercise, so I throw on some swim trunks and go out to the balcony. There, I swim laps back and forth, enjoying the stretch and pull of my muscles and the perfect temperature and sunlight.
After a while, the sound of someone’s voice breaks my concentration.
“Yo, King,” Sebastian says from the side of the pool.
Ella’s standing next to him.
“Hey,” I say, “do you two want to join me?”
Ella shakes her head. “We need to talk.”
It sounds ominous, although she doesn’t look upset with me…
I don’t think. Fuck, I wouldn’t blame her if she was.
I’ve been a dick, never around as much as I should be, allowing my best friend to carry most of the responsibility of keeping our relationship going.
I mean, he certainly doesn’t fucking mind, but I should be just as present and available for our little girl.
“Sure,” I say, climbing out of the pool and grabbing a towel from where I set it on a chair.
I don’t miss the way Ella’s eyes track my movements.
“Like what you see, little girl?” I ask.
She nods, then steps forward and reaches for the towel. “Can I?”
I hand it to her, bemused. “Go for it.”
She rubs the cloth over me, her touch light but efficient. Before she can finish, I trap her arms at her sides and embrace her.
“Daddy, you’re all wet,” she complains.
“You will be, too,” I say, squeezing her ass.
“Hey,” Bash says. “Ella wanted to tell us something.”
“Right,” she says, wriggling out of my grasp and looking proud of herself for managing to escape.
Amused, I grin. There’s not a chance in hell she could actually escape on her own, without my cooperation.
“Let’s go inside,” she says, “so Kingston can put on a shirt.”
I’m tempted to tease her some more, but there’s a new, serious expression on her face, so I follow her and Sebastian into the living room.
“Be right back,” I say, hurrying to the bedroom, where I find a pair of sweats and a t-shirt to put on.
Ella groans at the sight of my sweatpants. “I don’t think that’s better than going shirtless.”
Okay, so I’m not wearing boxers, but sweats aren’t that revealing.
“Just tell us what you want to talk about,” I say, sitting down with them in the living room.
“It’s more what I overheard,” she says, pulling her phone from her bag and tapping the screen. “Listen.”
I recognize Rayanne’s voice immediately.
He must be feeling the pressure by now. Your position isn’t being covered. There was the cyber attack. There’s simply too much work for one man to do.
The second voice is Joel’s, although I can’t make out the exact words he says.
Rayanne responds, Then again, he is the most stubborn son of a bitch I ever met. Your grandmother even said so.
Well, I don’t know how long we can keep doing this for.
However long we need to .
I’m here with your drinks , another voice says, and the recording ends.
I sit back, stunned. “So they’re behind all of this.”
“They never explicitly say so,” Sebastian says, scowling at Ella’s phone, “but reading between the lines…they talk about everything that’s happened, and then Joel says he doesn’t know how long they can keep doing this for. So it sure sounds to me like they’re behind everything.”
“What happened before the recording starts?” I ask Ella.
“It started off with Joel saying something about the staff getting suspicious. She said to fire them. He said ‘he won’t hire me back.’”
I wonder what their staff is getting suspicious about. Is she talking about the staff at Perdure Pharma, her husband’s company? What could Perdure have to do with Tyler Analytics? Nothing that I can think of.
“There’s more,” Ella says. “It might not have anything to do with anything…but Joel knew I had a keyboard in my apartment…but he’d never been there. And what if Bryan wasn’t the only one who was watching me?”
That’s fucking creepy, but it tracks…Joel did film her during sex without her permission, so this is only another step along the same path.
Ella shivers, wrapping her arms around herself, and Sebastian and I are at her sides in an instant.
“It’s okay,” she says. “It’s gross and invasive, but it’s over. I’m okay guys, really.”
“But maybe we’re not okay.” Bash sounds angry. “When is this going to fucking end?”
Everything seems like it’s flying out of control, like we’re on a runaway train and at the moment it’s hurtling through empty streets…but sooner or later, it’s going to crash into a building.
“I hate everything about this situation,” I say. “Ella, can you send me the recording? I want to share it with the police detective.”
“Sure,” she says, tapping on her screen.
A second later, my phone buzzes with a notification. Snatching it up, I find Detective Baldwin’s phone number in my contacts. I go straight to voicemail, so I leave him a message to call me as soon as possible.
I’m not sure what else to say after I hang up.
Ella
Kingston still hasn’t heard back from the detective in the morning. As I’m pulling my hair into a ponytail, to get ready for my cleaning shift at Dorado Terrace, I’m distracted by the sound of the penthouse’s buzzer.
It’s only seven a.m. Looking over at Kingston, who’s already completely dressed, I ask, “Are we expecting someone?”
“It’s Ironwood,” Kingston says, striding to the other room and pushing the intercom. He says a few words to the Ironwood people.
Going over to the bed, I nudge Sebastian, who’s still sleeping. He growls at me and rolls over.
“I think you’re taking too many lessons from Schrodinger,” I say with a smile. Instead of nudging him again, I smooth a hand over his whiskered cheek and run a finger over his lips.
“Ella,” he breathes.
“Good morning, Daddy,” I say. “The personal security people are here.”
He sits up, his hazel eyes flying open. “Right. Let me get dressed.”
I go out into the living room to wait with Kingston, who holds my hand as we watch the elevator. In less than a minute, the doors are opening, and three huge, muscular men and one muscular woman step into the entryway.
“Hello,” Kingston says, letting go of me and stepping forward, hand outstretched. “I’m Kingston Tyler. This is Ella Marchand. Thank you for coming.”