Chapter Ten #2
She wasn’t sure if he was in boyfriend mode or lawyer mode. Somehow it seemed like both. Maybe, she realized, he was always in both.
Already feeling she’d blown it all out of proportion, she sat in the parlor.
“You said he sort of bulled his way in. You didn’t let him in, agree to let him come in?”
“No! I told him right off—when I got past the shock of him at the door—he wasn’t welcome here.”
“Those words?”
“Yes. But he sort of nudged me—”
“He put his hands on you?”
“Sort of. I mean he gave me a little nudge and came in. He started talking about the house, and he wanted me to put Pye away somewhere. He’s allergic. I said no.”
When she realized the words tumbled out of her too fast, she paused, breathed in, breathed out while Trey watched her. While he took her hand.
“Take your time.”
“He … said I should offer him a drink. I said no, and I told him, again, to leave.”
“Did he?”
“No. Trey.”
“Sonya, we have good, strict laws regarding trespass in Maine. And if he put that bruise on your arm, that’s criminal trespass. Tell me the rest.”
She did, and watched the rage inch closer to the surface when she told him Brandon grabbed her arm. She hoped to lighten it up with the ghostly assist, but it didn’t seem to work.
“He ran to his car, Trey. Sneezing. ‘You’ll regret this,’” she added, deepening her voice, adding the sneezes with three mocking achoos.
Before she could laugh, Trey nodded.
“And that’s a threat. Criminal trespass, assault, harassment, and verbal threat. Do you have his contact information?”
“I guess, unless he’s changed it.”
“I need it.”
“Why?”
“For the arrest warrant.”
For a moment she could only gape at him.
“Oh, Trey, I don’t want you to do that.”
“Yes, you do.” He held up a hand before she could argue. “First. Do you want him coming back here?”
“No, absolutely no. But I honestly don’t think he will after this.”
“Let’s make sure. Next, do you want him, since he has his own company now, to trash yours with clients the way he tried to do with Ryder?”
“I—” She started to say he wouldn’t do that, then realized, of course he would. “No, I don’t.”
“Then let Doyle Law Offices handle this for you. This is what I do, Sonya. Let me do what I do. You’re going to file a police report.”
“Oh Jesus.”
“He knows where your mother lives, too, Sonya.”
That hit exactly where he’d aimed. Hadn’t she already considered he might harass her mother?
“All right.” She shoved at her hair. Then shoved at it again. “I’m going to tell her about this. I don’t want him bothering her, so all right. What comes next?”
“We call the cops. You file charges for criminal trespass, assault, and the verbal threat. I’ll help you file for a protection against harassment order.
You’ll get it. He pushed his way into your home—what the law calls your dwelling place—without your consent, and after you’d denied him that consent.
He ignored your demands to leave, he physically and verbally assaulted you. ”
“Holy shit. Well, God! A trial?”
“If he’s smart, or gets a decent lawyer, he’ll plead it down from a Class D misdemeanor, where he could do a year in jail and shell out a max of two thousand.”
When her mouth simply dropped open, Trey gave her hand a quick squeeze.
“If he pleads down to Class E, he’d pay a fine and likely get probation instead of jail time.”
It all left her a little dumbstruck. “I need to ask you one thing before I do all this.”
“Go ahead.”
“Do you want me to do all this because we’re together? Is this personal?”
He leaned over, brushed his lips over hers. “Of course it’s personal. And if I had a complete stranger come into my office, sit down, and tell me all this, I’d advise exactly the same.”
She blew out a breath. “Okay, let’s call the cops.”
An hour later when Cleo came in, she rushed straight to Sonya.
“I passed a police car on Manor Road. Are you okay? What happened?”
“I’m fine, and I’ll tell you. I really need some air.”
“We’ll go out on the deck. Trey, I left groceries in the car.”
“I’ll take care of it. I have some calls to make.”
In the kitchen, Sonya stopped for a Coke. Offered one to Cleo. “And my day was going so well.”
“What the hell happened? Dobbs?”
“No. I bet she enjoyed some of it, though. Brandon. Let’s go out. Come on, Yoda, Pye, Mooks. Let’s all go out.”
“What did that slimy, limp-dicked bastard do now?”
“He came here,” Sonya said as she led the way outside.
Cleo stopped in her tracks.
“Here? To the manor? What the hell is wrong with him? What did he want? You didn’t let him in!”
“Last question first.” Exhausted from it all, Sonya dropped into a chair on the deck. “No, I didn’t, but he came in anyway. I don’t know what’s wrong with him, but he somehow thought he could talk me into hooking up with him again, personally and professionally.”
“I need details. You must’ve called Trey. Did he kick the asshole out?”
“No, I did, with some help from Clover and Jack. And Yoda and Pye. He just showed up at the door, Cleo.”
As she told the story yet again, Cleo pushed up to pace and curse, curse and pace.
It occurred to Sonya that Trey kept his rage locked down, and Cleo let hers bust free. And she loved them both madly.
“He thinks he’s slick, slicker than spit. A polecat’s asshole’s more appealing. He put those bruises on you, and deserves a beatdown, good and proper.”
Cleo threw her hands up. “Oh, why wasn’t I here? I swear I’d’ve given him one.”
“I guess he’s going to get one, in the legal sense, because arguing with Trey on this kind of thing’s like trying to bust up a boulder with a handful of overcooked angel hair.”
Cleo stopped pacing. “What kind of beatdown?”
“Charges for criminal trespass—which up here is—Jesus, I think he said a Class D misdemeanor. Physical and verbal assault. And I’m getting a protection order.”
Rolling her shoulders back, Cleo gave one sharp nod. “That sounds fine. I’d rather have some of his blood on me, but that sounds fine. I’m sorry I wasn’t here.”
“I wasn’t alone.”
Nodding, Cleo finally sat, and she took Sonya’s hand. “I’m grateful for that, and they sure sent him off with his nasty tail between his spindly legs. Next time, don’t open the door until you know who it is.”
“As both Trey and the deputy reminded me.”
“You need to tell Winter.”
“I will. She’ll be getting off work soon, and I want to wait until she’s home.”
“You’re worn out.”
“Dealing with him’s exhausting. Jesus, Cleo, Jesus Christ, it’s been a year since I caught him with Tracie and kicked him out, broke the engagement. How can he not be over it?”
“I’ll tell you how I see it. He had these tendencies. He had them wrapped up tight, but they were there. You look back, you can see them.”
“Yeah.” Demoralizing, Sonya thought. And that was exhausting, too. “Hindsight’s a good way to feel like a moron.”
“You’re not and you weren’t. He romanced you, Son, and he was damn good at it. But he’s a cake-and-eat-it sort, so he romanced Tracie, your own cousin, on the side. And maybe she wasn’t the only one.”
Sonya opened her mouth, closed it. Then just put her head in her hands. “Well, hell, that’s one I hadn’t thought of. And now do.”
“Doesn’t matter. Cheating’s cheating. He played her, he played you, and when you booted him, he figured he’d talk you back. He couldn’t because you’re not a moron. Because you have self-respect and goddamn morals.
“I think that snapped something in him. He couldn’t get his way with you, ends up with a broken engagement—which embarrassed him, made him look like what he is. A loser. Couldn’t have that, so he did all he could to dump it on you. That didn’t work either, not really.”
“He pushed me out of By Design.”
Lion’s eyes fired as Cleo shot out a finger. “No, he did not! You made a choice, the right one. But knowing what happened, Matt and Laine lost a lot of respect for him. They couldn’t fire him over cheating on you, but he knew, had to know, they looked at him differently. Thought less of him.
“Couldn’t have that,” Cleo continued, “so he sabotaged your work and worse. I bet he popped a cork when you resigned. But what happened? You started your own, and you did just fine. I’m betting that burned his conceited ass.”
Wound up, Cleo circled both arms. “Then, holy hell, you get a whopping inheritance. Now the woman who dumped him’s rich, with a big, beautiful house, her own company.
It’s burning and snapping and burning some more.
But Ryder? You getting the Ryder Sports account over him?
Woo! More, he gets canned because he went at you, lied right out loud. ”
“To sum it up,” Sonya said when Cleo paused for breath, “I’m the reason for everything that hasn’t gone his way since last summer.”
“That’s how his tiny dick and massive ego see it. Add jealous, because to him, you landed in a sea of roses, and he wants in. And you, being just another weak-minded female? He can talk you into it.”
“Squeeze what he has out of my inheritance, steal some of the shine from Visual Art before he dumps me. That’s the core, right? He needs to dump me. Get me back, get what he can, then break my heart and dump me.”
“I’ve got a good feeling when you and the Doyles get through with him, he’s going to give that up and go hunting for another ego boost and payday.”
“It was never me.” Not quite as exhausted, and no longer demoralized, Sonya sat back. “It’s not me now either. I was just, well, a kind of mark, right? I checked off enough boxes for him, that’s all. Is it crazy that makes me feel better about it all?”
“No, it is not.”
“Good, because it really does. First there’s Trey with his quietly simmering rage and wall of legal logic, now you with your loudly boiling rage and sensible psych evaluation. And to backtrack, my ghost and pet defense. I definitely feel better about all of it.”
“Good, and when you tell Winter, you’ll have a mama’s fury and comfort.”