Chapter Six #4
Ryan went to visit Annie without Callie’s knowledge.
He didn’t want her to know what he was doing.
He needed information, and he knew Annie would give it to him.
He wanted to know more about the Night Service.
He had already spoken to Edward, who told him what he knew, but that was mostly limited to how he made appointments and the girls he met.
Annie knew more. She had the names of the people running the organization, the location of the office, who their VIP clients were, and whether others were like his father.
Ryan’s next stop was the Night Service office.
He wasn’t sure whether anyone would be there or would speak with him without an appointment, but he and Marco decided to go.
The office was in one of the larger buildings in the city center.
Annie had told him the two running the service were Madame Ashford and Mr. Wilson.
When they entered, the office looked like any other reception area.
A beautiful woman sat behind a desk and greeted them with a smile.
“Are you here to interview?” she asked, admiring them both.
“No,” Ryan said quickly. “I’d like to speak with Madame Ashford and Mr. Wilson.”
“Do you have an appointment?” the woman asked, a hint of disappointment in her tone.
“No,” Ryan admitted.
“Madame Ashford’s day is very full,” the woman began, but Ryan interrupted.
“Tell her Mr. Grant would like to speak to her.”
The woman nodded and picked up the phone on her desk.
Ryan could hear her say that Mr. Grant was there.
She turned back to Ryan and Marco, confirmed that Madame would see them, and asked them to wait in the boardroom.
She led them there and closed the door. They had only to wait a moment before the door opened and an older woman, in her early sixties, entered with a man of similar age.
“You’re not Lawrence Grant,” she said angrily upon seeing him.
“I never said I was,” Ryan replied. “I’m Ryan Grant.”
“The son,” Mr. Wilson replied, unnecessarily.
“What can we do for you, Mr. Grant?” Madame said, still annoyed.
“I know you and my father are behind Damian’s accident,” Ryan said. He waited, but neither responded.
“We object to your allegation,” Madame replied at last, though it was clear she was nervous.
“If this was an attempt to cover up what my father did, it stops now,” Ryan continued.
“Your father is a very loyal customer,” Mr. Wilson said. “There isn’t much we wouldn’t do for him.”
It was a threat, and Ryan knew it. He was getting angry. How could anyone protect someone like his father? But he realized they had profited greatly from his father’s sick abuse of the women.
“All the girls signed a nondisclosure agreement,” Mr. Wilson continued. “Including your girlfriend. If they breach it, we will come after them.”
“You have no legal basis for those bogus contracts,” Ryan objected.
“Who said anything about taking legal action?” Mr. Wilson replied, staring him down.
“Stay away from them,” Ryan warned. “Or we will go to the police about everything. What my father did is already bad enough, but you two are running a prostitution ring and allowing these women to be raped and beaten. Annie almost died! It was attempted murder, and you are an accessory.”
“You’d send your own father to prison?” Mr. Wilson laughed.
“Him and the two of you as well,” Ryan replied. “I have evidence not only from Callie but also from Annie. Stay away from all of them, or you will be arrested.”
“Do you honestly think you can come in here and threaten us?” Mr. Wilson said.
“You arrogant shit. You are responsible for us losing our top three assets. And now you are here, threatening us! It’s only because of who your father is that we don’t come after you.
But now I’m thinking we would be doing him a favor if we did. ”
“Try it. I’m not bluffing,” Ryan warned.
“Neither are we,” Mr. Wilson said, then walked to the desk, opened the drawer, and pulled out a gun. Marco stepped quickly between Ryan and Mr. Wilson.
“I’ll let you walk out now,” Mr. Wilson said. “But if your father says you don’t matter to him, we will come after you. If you come back here to threaten us, or if we hear you’ve gone to the police, you will never see us coming.”
“Ryan, let’s go,” Marco said, leading Ryan to the door and positioning himself between Ryan and Mr. Wilson.
“You just made my job a lot harder,” Marco said as they sat in Ryan’s office.
“I’m sorry,” Ryan said.
He was furious with himself. Edward had warned him that these people were dangerous.
He thought he could scare them and threaten them.
But they didn’t care about the law. He could threaten them with legal action or criminal charges all he wanted.
Of course, they would just laugh at him.
If he became too much of a headache, they would take him out like they tried to with Damian.
He was certain his father wouldn’t care.
In fact, with him out of the way, it would give Lawrence an opportunity to make his return.
“I’ll call Nathan, we’ll figure it out,” Marco offered.
Ryan nodded in agreement, and Marco left to strategize the new protective measures they would implement.
It would be complicated. He needed to protect Callie, Damian, and Amanda without scaring the hell out of them.
He sent a message to Callie, hoping she was still in the office.
He didn’t want her to go home alone, even if it was only a short walk.
Callie confirmed she was just packing up and would meet him.
A moment later, she knocked on the door.
“Where have you been all day?” she asked as she went to him for an embrace.
“I had meetings out of the office,” Ryan replied. “Can you do me a favor? Can you promise you won’t be out alone? Make sure Marco or I am with you.”
“Are you still worried about the Night Service?” Callie asked.
“Please just be careful,” Ryan replied. “And don’t go out alone.”
“OK,” Callie agreed, pulling him close again. “If it means you can’t leave my side, that works for me.”
He kissed her, trying to hide his worry, simply wanting her close in that moment. He didn’t want to admit what he'd done or how stupid he was.
It was nice to have Ryan so attentive, but after a week without a single minute to herself, Callie was starting to feel suffocated.
Damian was still resting, and each time she asked if she could go over, he made an excuse to turn her down.
She was worried about him, so she messaged Amanda to ask if Damian wasn’t improving.
Amanda assured her he was. Callie began to take his avoidance personally and voiced her concern to Ryan.
Ryan seemed to agree. It did feel like Damian was avoiding them.
Callie found it hard to see him. She still desired him deeply, and she knew he desired her.
But Damian hadn’t so much as hugged her in weeks, and Callie knew things had changed between them and likely wouldn’t go back to the way they had been.
Ryan appeared at her desk at lunch, leaning over the low partition.
“We have a party invitation for this weekend,” he said, though his tone suggested he wasn’t happy about it.
“From Edward?” Callie asked.
“No,” Ryan replied. “It’s from Amanda. She’s planning her father’s birthday party.”
“Oh,” Callie said.
She knew why Ryan didn’t sound happy. This was a family event, and Ryan’s mother would definitely be there. If they went, it would be the first time she’d seen Ryan’s mother since they confronted Lawrence.
“She’s planning the party with my mother,” Ryan continued. “At Queen’s Isle.”
“And we should go?” Callie challenged.
“We are both invited,” Ryan confirmed. “I’d really like you to come, but if you don’t want to, I’d understand.”
“Can I think about it?”
“Of course,” Ryan said.