9. Laurene
CHAPTER 9
Laurene
“Great job today,” said Arthur, my new boss, as he entered my new office.
The Lush Art Gallery needed an art curator after the previous one left town under circumstances Arthur vaguely described as “a difference of vision.” Convenient timing, really, but then again, Mama had a knack for convenient timing.
It’d only been a few days since I’d returned, and I’d already climbed the corporate ladder.
The moment I stepped into the gallery, heads turned. The hushed whispers, the polite-but-too-long stares, and the not-so-subtle glances over their shoulders
“Is that Laurene King?”
“Didn’t she leave?”
“Why is she back?”
“Did you hear she’s engaged to Reese Ashbourne now?”
My phone buzzed—twice in quick succession.
“Thank you,” I replied. I kept my voice measured, pleasant, just warm enough to hide my irritation. Reese hadn’t been answering me.
Arthur rested against the door. “Must be overwhelming, stepping into this role so quickly. ”
“It’s exhilarating, actually. Stepping back into a gallery… It feels like coming home.”
I hadn’t been here since Grandpa died. The two of us used to stroll the gallery halls for hours when I was a kid. And he loved it here; his eyes would light up, especially after the dementia hit.
My phone buzzed again.
“Popular tonight?” Arthur joked.
“Something like that,” I muttered, pulling the drawer open just enough to grab the phone. I thumbed the screen, my breath hitching as I read the notification.
New Message from Unknown Number
I tapped it open. The image loaded slowly, pixel by pixel. My stomach lurched. It was a photograph of me in this very office, taken from outside the window. The room suddenly felt too small, too hot, like the walls were pressing in on me.
It said:
Don’t get too comfortable
Do I respond? Delete it? Pretend I never saw it?
“Everything alright?”
A slow, creeping fear slides down my spine.
This person was playing with me. This person had to want money. I curled my fingers into fists, my nails pressing hard into my palms.
“Is that for me?” I eyed the folder under his arm.
I had bigger problems than that text.
Reese.
Not a text. Not an email. Nothing.
What was he doing? Was he even bothering to read the stuff I’d sent him? It was easy enough to pick Mama’s and Daddy’s brains without tipping them off. But it was just like him to ignore orders and do whatever he felt like .
Isn’t that what attracted you to him in the first place?
Arthur handed me the folder, and I skimmed it—donor lists, upcoming exhibits, dry notes from the previous curator. I snapped the folder shut and forced a smile. “Thanks. I’ll make sure to get on this tomorrow.”
“The meeting today…”
“Yes?”
Arthur’s first task for me was to come up with the spring exhibit. Instead of getting people excited, my exhibition proposal was a complete flop.
“You sparked an actual conversation in there.”
He was lying. The meeting had been brutal. Who knew suggesting a change would cause such a mess? The reaction was explosive; it was as if I had proposed tearing all the art off the walls and burning it.
“It felt like I was talking to a brick wall,” I muttered, leaning back in my chair. The meeting was filled with skeptical comments, fake nods, and complaints.
“Change is hard for some people. You’re new here, and it’ll take time for them to warm up to you again.”
“I’m here to do the job you hired me for. I’m not doing that by simply existing and hoping people like me at some point.”
“I trust you, Laurene,” Arthur said. “Let’s just focus for now on our auction coming up. Getting the most money we can is the priority.”
I reached for my phone again, scrolling through to the settings, hovering over “block number.” There was a knock on the door, and then it opened a second later.
“Wassup, stranger?”
I stiffened, frozen in place as my other ex-boyfriend walked in and wrapped his arms around me. Arthur’s brows rose, his expression carefully neutral, though his lips twitched.
“Toby.” I pushed my chair back from him. “What are you doing here?”
He looked just as I remembered: light-skinned with a buzz cut that highlighted the sharp angles of his face, his gray eyes catching the light like polished steel. His smile was too big, too bright, all teeth and audacity.
“Thought I’d check in on an old friend. That was some shit your mama pulled. Tricking the town to come to your engagement party?”
“Sad it wasn’t you?” I shot back.
His grin widened. “You missed me when you were gone, don’t lie.”
“I, uh, guess I’ll leave you two to catch up.” Arthur cleared his throat. Before I could respond, he disappeared through the door.
“Sit.”
“You’re not happy to see me.” He dropped into the seat. “That sucks, babe.”
How simple life would have been if I’d been in love with Toby and not Reese?
“What are you doing here?”
“That engagement party? I thought it was a big joke, but you’re marrying Reese for real?” The way Toby said it was like stepping into a pile of dog shit.
“Toby…”
“Relax, babe. I’m just saying, damn, this town got more men. Your mama coulda hit me back up. You, slumming it with a guy like Ashbourne? He killed your last fiancé, shit.” He scoffed, sitting up straighter.
I swallowed hard, keeping my face unreadable. “That’s not what happened.”
“People say Reese got lucky. That if it weren’t for your family, he’d be sitting in a cell.”
Jail? Mama and Daddy never said anything about jail. Reese was an Ashbourne, and their family had been here just as long. If anything, he would have gotten a slap on the wrist.
“Wasn’t that long ago people wouldn’t even let Reese in their stores. You know the old guy who used to run Fillmore’s Hardware? He used to close early if he saw Reese coming. What if he was coming for an axe to kill Harold and Pauline next?”
I swallowed.
“And the diner?” Toby went on, eyes sharp with amusement. “They used to ‘forget’ his orders. Man would sit there for an hour, just waiting for a plate that was never coming.” He laughed, shaking his head. “Shoulda seen the look on his face the first time it happened. After that, he stopped going out much. Stopped talking to people too.”
Would he have stayed for me? The thought cuts deep. I know the answer. Yes. He would have burned the whole town down for me. But I wasn’t that brave. “After that…he got real angry. Got into it with a couple of guys down at Murphy’s. Some out-of-towners running their mouths, and next thing you know, Reese is knocking teeth out.” He let out a low whistle. “Every week, he was kicking somebody’s ass. His sister got him out a few times. But it was actually your brother who bailed him out last, pulled him off a guy damn near covered in blood. Harold was gonna leave him to rot.”
Erik never mentioned this to me.
At all.
I felt something heavy settle in my stomach. “Why are you telling me this?”
Toby shrugged. “I dunno. Maybe I figured you’d wanna know what you’re getting into. Or maybe I just wanted you to see how good we were together. I always thought we’d end up back together again, at least professionally . ”
“That was college, and not a chance in hell again. You crossed a line when you hid the fact that you have a child .”
He scoffed. “I got a paternity test. The kid isn’t mine.”
Toby and I had been the perfect couple in everyone’s eyes. Till that little scandal, and Mama was quick to make me cut ties, which I was more than glad to do.
Then Reese happened.
Then Conrad a few years later .
“C’mon, Laurie. I’m the only one that has your back. You heard what they been saying lately?”
I shook my head.
“Some say Harold Ashbourne is about to cut Reese out of the will. But the company’s been bleeding money. I’d think twice before you marry Reese.”
I felt the blood drain from my face.
“But my company’s been growing, and I need someone with real expertise to crunch numbers. See the patterns. And you? You’re the best at that. Everyone knows that.”
“So, that’s why you’re here?” I finally said, coolly meeting his gaze. “Insult my fiancé, and then ask me to work for you?”
“Let’s get lunch. Just as friends. Think about it.”
Could Toby be the one behind the blackmail?
“No thanks, Toby.”
He chuckled, then he stood heading for the door. “Holler at me. This town is small, right? I can fill you in on some more details.”
Once Toby was gone I closed my eyes, leaning back in my chair. I had too much on my plate already. My family. The wedding. The note.
Reese’s family doesn’t have money? Mama said Dante was the reason we had to join forces with the Ashbournes, but was it bigger than I thought?
Was something going on in the company that Reese didn’t mention?
I barely had a chance to process my thoughts when a knock echoed through the office door. I didn’t even bother hiding the annoyance in my voice as I called out, “I told you to go?—”
The door swung open, and I froze.
Reese.
His charcoal suit fit his broad shoulders perfectly, but his white shirt was wrinkled like he’d just rolled out of bed. His shirt was unbuttoned at the top, and his dark hair was a mess, like he’d been running his fingers through it .
“Hey.” His voice was raspy. “Got a minute?”
I should not still be affected by this man. He was not a friend. He was a very reluctant partner at best, and a full-blown enemy at worst.
“Take a seat,” I replied, motioning to the seat Toby had occupied.
Reese shook his head. “Mind if we step outside?”
“Hang on, I’ll grab my stuff.” I rose and gathered my belongings. As I left, Reese grabbed my arm.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing. I’m fine.”
“You’re a terrible liar.”
The truth slipped out before I could stop it. “I got a text. From the blackmailer.”
Reese’s expression dropped.
I hesitated for only a second before reaching for my phone, and unlocking it with a quick swipe. I hesitated before showing him the text.
He grabbed my phone, his fingers brushing mine. The contact sent a shiver down my spine, but I forced myself to stay still, even as something hot coiled low in my stomach.
“They’re just trying to get in my head.”
“Tell me what you need.” His voice was lower and rougher, and I couldn’t stand my reaction to it.
“I’ve got it under control.”
“You don’t,” he murmured. “But lucky for you, we’re in this together.”
Taking my phone back, I headed out of the office. I made myself ignore how warm he was and his cologne as he caught up next to me. We were nearly out of the gallery when people rushed in. I instinctively grabbed his hand.
His skin was so incredibly hot, it sent shivers down my spine. Everything faded when I touched it—the noise, the crowd, the air.
I glanced up, meeting his gaze—darker now, intense, probing, searching.
I wanted to escape, but my body wouldn’t let me. His thumb brushed the back of my hand, just barely, and the air in my lungs turned heavy. He wordlessly pulled me close, his arm around my shoulders.
Did you forget you don’t love him anymore?
I held my breath as we passed a group of onlookers, some whispering, some nodding in approval, others clearly trying to sneak a picture.
Reese leaned in as if to kiss my temple, but his lips stopped a breath away, his voice just loud enough for only me to hear.
“Good enough?”
I forced the rise of my emotions down. “Yeah.”
Reese’s hands ran up and down my sides, his gaze lingering on me in a way that was almost tender—too tender for two people who were nothing more than a sham of a couple.
We slipped outside, the cool breeze offering a brief respite from the gallery’s intensity and him. And then I spotted it. His red Ford Mustang Boss.
“You still have that?”
He released me abruptly, putting space between us. “Some things I can’t let go of.”
I slid into the passenger seat of his car. The last time I was in here was before Conrad and I got engaged. Reese started the car, and we sped off.
“I thought you wanted to talk.” I glanced at him, his eyes fixed on the road ahead.
“You remember these drives? When we used to disappear like this?”
I remembered how I loved being the one in this spot, the girl who got bad boy Reese Ashbourne. He’s the boy they warned me about. The man I could never resist.
But that girl didn’t exist anymore.
Back then, it felt like being with him was a rebellion of my own, a chance to step outside the pristine lines I’d been groomed to follow.
Away from it all, I had time to think. Mama demanded perfection from us all. Years chasing her approval, making sure the King name endured , thinking if I just did more—smiled brighter, stood taller, won more—maybe I’d finally feel like I contributed enough.
But one day, I realized there wasn’t enough makeup, enough trophies, enough anything to fill the gap between what I was and what she wanted me to be. That realization had been like stepping off a cliff into nothingness.
The awakening was terrifying. I traded impulsive daydreams for sharp edges, na?ve rebellion for clarity.
“I doubt we’re here to just reminisce, so where are we going?” I pressed again.
“It’s Tobias Merrick.”
I twisted in my seat to look at him. “What?”
“He’s the one blackmailing us.”
“ Toby? ”
I knew Toby better than Reese did. The two of them never liked each other for some male bravado reason I couldn’t care less about. Sure, he’d made questionable investments, and his taste in cologne was, frankly, an assault. But Toby? Calculated? Manipulative?
“That’s what my gut is telling me.”
“What about the brief I sent? There’s the Sterlings, Annabelle Asher, that weird guy from our art class in high school?—”
“It’s Toby.”
“Why?” I demanded.
“Didn’t you say that’s our deal? Report everything we know. Protect each other. Or was that a lie?” Reese’s voice went icy.
“I’m just saying if this is because he stole your toy?—”
“It wasn’t just a toy, Laurene.” His voice dropped. “It was a limited-edition collectible worth seventy-five thousand dollars. That he stole from me. ”
“I know Toby,” I shot back. “If you said he was trying to get you to invest in a BBQ joint inside a strip club, I’d believe you. He’s not that smart.”
“You’re too dismissive of him. Guy’s a clown, but he’s not dumb.”
“What could he possibly gain from this?”
“Money, revenge, sex?” Reese glanced over at me, his green eyes full of conviction. “Maybe he’s mad about how you broke up with him. He’s a sleazy bastard.”
“It seems far-fetched and convenient. Let’s explore other options.”
“I spoke with my mother,” Reese began. “She mentioned that Tobias had been asking around about our family business and poking into Conrad. He showed up at the hospital when Conrad was in the coma. Sent flowers. Didn’t I get flowers?”
“You make him seem like a supervillain.”
Reese glanced at me before returning to the road. “Desperate people can do desperate things. Did he tell you that over half of his restaurants got shut down in the last year? Salmonella and lawsuits. I decided any partnerships Jennie didn’t end with him before were done.”
So, he just came to me and lied?
Who was telling the truth?
“You think he stumbled onto our affair? Held on to it for six years, not knowing if I’d ever come back?” Reese subtly flinched. “And now that I’ve returned, he can put his nefarious plan into motion?”
“Exactly.”
I frowned at him.
“I don’t want to be around you. If this keeps on, I’ll never be free of this, and I want to be free of you. I just want to live my life without this fucking cloud of bullshit hanging over me!”
His words hit me like a slap, and I fought not to let the hurt show. Focus on the goal, your inheritance , I reminded myself.
“I don’t want this,” I whispered, trembling. “I loved my life in Paris. It was mine . I just want to open my own art gallery. Being here? It’s a fucking inconvenience, but I’m doing what needs to be done. I don’t want anyone after me, and I sure as hell don’t want to be married to you. I just need us to be safe.”
“For how long?” I couldn’t ignore the pain in his sharp tone. “Until things get uncomfortable again? Until you decide it’s easier to pack your bags? Somebody else dies?”
The anger just left, leaving me all wobbly and raw; I slumped in my seat.
“Stay. Go. I don’t care what you do,” Reese said, parking in the lot of the yacht club, the marina close, and he stepped out of the car. “But I’m not going to sit here and debate when there’s a knife to our fucking throats.”
The car door slammed, the noise booming in the stillness.
You might be wrong in all of this, Laurene.