by Emerson Rose
“In a few minutes.”
“Okay, bye.” He turns and runs out of the room because Cannon doesn’t walk anywhere.
I return Lydia to Ash forty-five minutes later still sleeping like a little log. I didn’t have the heart to wake Stella even though she made me promise. I’ll let Ash make that call.
I return to my office to shut down my computers and clean up for the night. My phone is where I left it on the desk. A little red number 1 still sits on the message button telling me that I need to read the text from Allison, but I don’t. Instead, I delete it without reading it, and then I delete her phone number and block her. There, now I am completely done with Ms. Allison Green. Now I can go back to my quiet routine-driven life surrounded by people I trust.
When I crawl into bed later, I find myself wishing there were a delete and block option for my memories, too. I may be able to cut off communication with her, but my heart won’t allow me to forget her. I hate my damn heart.
Twenty-Four
Allison
Later Malibu
It’s Sunday morning when I open my eyes and squint from the bright Malibu sun pouring into the room. It’s not beautiful today, not the sky, not the sun, or the ocean waves. Nothing is the same without Ridge. I reach out and find his side of the bed cold and empty like I knew it would be. I’m still in the nightmare. I’m not going to wake up and find Ridge lying next to me. If he doesn’t answer his phone this morning, we are flying to Montana. Anger blinds him, and I plan on giving him his sight back with the truth.
I slide my phone off the nightstand and make the call. No answer. I don’t waste a second calling the airline to book our tickets to Montana. They’re expensive, so expensive I worry we might not be able to pay for a flight from Montana to New York when we get there. One thing at a time, Allison—focus on getting to Ridge and setting him straight and then worry about how to get home.
This isn’t how I usually operate. I plan things down to the second, but Ridge’s disappearing act has thrown a wrench into our plans. I get out of bed more determined than ever and toss my suitcase on the bed and open it. David walks past my door and stops, backing up when he sees me packing.
“So we’re leaving?”
“Yes, we’re going to Montana. Ridge isn’t answering my calls, and I need to talk to him. Our flight leaves at one. We need to be at the airport at eleven.” I continue to pack as I speak. We have plenty of time, but I’m focused, and I need to keep the momentum of my plan moving forward.
“Okay, I’ll go pack,” he says with disappointment in his voice.
I stop packing. “I’m sorry, David. I hate to cut things so short, but I have to fix this thing with Ridge right away.”
“It’s cool. Two days in Malibu is better than none.” He shrugs his shoulders, and I walk to the door to hug him.
“Thank you for understanding.”
“Love you, too.” He pats my back awkwardly, and I release him. Teenage boys aren’t into hugging, but I don’t care. He needs to know I love him and sometimes a hug is the only way to show it.
“Okay, get showered and packed. We can eat breakfast, and I’ll call an Uber to take us to the airport.”
“Okay, can I go say goodbye to Jack?”
“Yes, we should have time.”
An hour later after I’ve showered and packed, I roll my suitcase to the door. My phone rings from the bedroom, and I rush back to answer it praying it’s Ridge.
It’s not.
When I see Caroline’s name on the screen, my heart jumps. I’m disappointed, but if it’s not him, I’m glad it’s her. I’ve wanted to speak to her and find out what she said to Ridge, but we have strict rules about calling management on the weekends. Apparently, management has no qualms about calling employees, though.
“Hello.”
“Allison, why haven’t you answered my texts? I sent two of them twenty-four hours ago,” she hisses.
“I’m on vacation, Caroline. And frankly, I wasn’t sure what to say.”
“Say you’ll send me the photographs you have of Mr. Noble, it’s simple. And I need you back in the office first thing tomorrow morning if you want to keep your job. I know nothing is wrong with your aunt. You’re vacationing in Malibu with your new beau. I have eyes everywhere, Allison. You can’t hide from me or lie to me so don’t bother trying anymore.”
My vision blurs with rage. How dare she spy on me and threaten to fire me. I’ve been a perfect employee for years. I’ve never missed a day of work, and I have never asked for time off other than my usual week of vacation until now.
“I’m not giving you the pictures. I will be back in the office tomorrow morning. I apologize for lying about my aunt, but I think you know why I needed to get out of town.”
“Allison, you need to think long and hard about those photographs. Do you want to be stuck in the same position here at Realm forever? And if you’re planning on working for another magazine in New York, you can forget it. I’ll blackball your name so fast you won’t know what hit you.”
She has all the power, and she knows it. She can keep me stuck in my position forever, that’s fine. I’m willing to give up a promotion for Ridge. I can’t risk losing my job—the pile of bills on my kitchen table can attest to that. I have David to think about, he is my priority, and if I lose this job and Caroline makes it impossible for me to find work, we’re screwed.
“I’m sorry, Caroline. I can’t give you the photographs, and if that means staying in my position, so be it. I will be back tomorrow. Now if that’s all, I need to get to the airport.” She sighs an irritated sigh and hangs up.
Damn it. She had me so frazzled I forgot to ask her what she said to Ridge that has him so upset. And now I can’t even go to Montana to find out without getting fired. If I’m not at Realm bright and early tomorrow morning, we will be homeless in a matter of weeks.
I sit down on the edge of the bed and collect myself for a moment before calling the airline and changing our flight. It will take months to save up enough to fly to Montana and talk to Ridge. I can’t wait that long. Why won’t he just answer his fucking phone?
I flop face down onto the mattress and scream as loud as I can. I have never been more frustrated in my life.
“You okay up there, Ally Cat?” David calls from downstairs.
“No!” I yell back. He climbs the stairs and sits on the edge of the bed opposite me.
“What’s up?”
I roll over onto my back and pull my hair. “What is up is my boss is a total bitch, and the man I love is being a ridiculous baby not answering his phone.”
“Oh,” he says stunned. I never lose my shit in front of him, and I can count on one hand how many times I’ve cursed in front of him.
“I’m sorry, this isn’t for you to worry about. I’m just really frustrated, and I have no control over what’s happening.”
“What is happening? I’m not a baby anymore, Ally. I can handle adult stuff.”
He’s probably right, but I feel guilty dumping my problems on him, he doesn’t deserve that.
“Long story short my boss wants me to give her some pictures I took of Ridge, and I think she spoke to Ridge yesterday, but I have no idea what she said.”
“And Ridge still won’t answer his phone?”
“No.”
“You can try him from my phone. He doesn’t have my number, does he?”
“It’s the same area code, but it can’t hurt to try.” He slides his phone from his back pocket and enters the code to open it before handing it over. I dial Ridge’s number and hold my breath while it rings.
He answers on the fourth ring. “Hello?”
“Ridge, thank God you answered. I need to talk to you about…” The line goes dead before I can get another word out. “No! Dammit, dammit!”
“What?”
“He hung up on me. I had one chance, and I blew it. Now he knows your number, and he will never answer it again.” Hot tears spring to my eyes, but I qu
ickly swipe them away when they fall down my face. I will not cry in front of my brother about a man. Not now, not ever.
I take a deep breath and blow it out before I stand up and straighten my clothes. “Let’s go home, David. I’ve had enough of Malibu.”
Twenty-Five
Ridge
I Don’t Want To Talk
I can’t believe the audacity of that woman calling me from her brother’s phone number. I was suspicious when I saw the same area code as hers, but as the head of security, I can’t dismiss a call when I’m working. It could have been anyone.
After blocking his number, I make my way downstairs for my daily meeting with Ash in a foul mood. I wasn’t in the best spirits, to begin with, but now I’m pissed.
“Good morning. I forgot to ask you last night, how was your vacation? Not long enough from the looks of you,” Ash says when I enter his office.
“I’d rather not talk about it.”
“Stella thinks something happened between you and Allison, that true?”
I love Stella but damn it if she isn’t nosey. “I’d rather not talk about it,” I repeat.
“Well, when you’re ready, I’m here.”
“I appreciate that, Ash. Your wife said the same thing last night. I’m not going to want to talk about it, though. Ever.”
“Well, all righty then, cowboy, I’m not one to press, but let me warn ya, my wife is relentless. If you keep moping around like this, she’ll call Allison herself. You know she will.”
I groan and scrub my face with my hand. He’s right. She will, no doubt about it. “I guess I’ll have to put on a fake smile then and make her think I’m just peachy,” I say with a giant fake-ass smile.
He wrinkles up his nose which consequently reminds me of Lydia when she has gas pains. I would laugh if I weren’t so pissed. He shakes his head. “I don’t think that’s gonna work, but you can give it a shot if you want.”
“I want.”
“Okay then, we should get to work then.”
“Thank you.”
We hash out plans for our upcoming NPDES inspection of our water system here on the ranch, and for the rest of my day, my mind is occupied by something other than Allison.
On Tuesday morning, I’m dragging. It’s easy to avoid thoughts of Allison when I’m working during the day, but as soon as I come into my apartment, the memories of our time spent together come flooding back with a vengeance. Everywhere I look she is there—cuddled up on the couch with her head on my lap while we watch Netflix—cooking steak and twice baked potatoes in the kitchen with my arms wrapped around her waist trying to distract her—straddling me in bed with her hands on my chest and her dark hair veiling us while she rides me to climax. It’s maddening, and it’s making me crazy. I can’t sleep, I have no appetite, and I don’t want to be in my apartment.
When I’m showered and have had three cups of coffee, I drag my ass downstairs to Ash’s office. Stella is standing next to him holding Lydia with a look of dread on her face. Her pretty features are all wrinkled up with worry when she looks up at me.
“Morning.”
“Morning, Ridge. I uh, I better check on Cannon and make sure he’s doing his math. I’ll see you for lunch?” she asks Ash.
“Of course, I’ll be in the office today, though, if you need me sooner.”
“I’m sure we’ll be fine.” She scoots past me and out the door without saying goodbye, definitely not like Stella. I don’t like that vibe—she’s nervous like she can’t wait to get out of here.
“What’s with her?” I ask hitching my thumb toward the door.
“Have a seat, Ridge.” Now I’m very nervous. In all the years I’ve worked for Ash, he’s never spoken to me in that tone—authoritative yet sympathetic as if he’s about to give me terrible news.
“What’s going on?”
“I think I know why you came home from your vacation so soon.”
“You do?”
“Yes. Did you and Allison have a falling out?”
I want to roll my eyes, but I don’t out of respect for him. “A falling out is a mild way to put it, but yes, I suppose so. Why do you ask?”
“Because you’re on the cover of Realm Magazine this morning, and there is a three-page piece on your life after Livi Fox,” he says turning his computer screen so I can see the latest butchering of my personal life. There I am, a photograph that Allison took of me sitting at my desk hard at work one night when she was trying to coax me out of my office and into bed. It didn’t seem unusual at the time, she took pictures of me doing everything—taking pictures was her thing—and when we were together, I was her favorite subject.
What a complete and utter fool I was to think she was taking them because she had feelings for me and loved me when it was all done to further her career. The picture could have been more damning. I guess I should be grateful she chose this one. She has nudes of me getting in and out of the shower and selfies of us in bed together.
It’s the caption that makes my blood boil—The Noble Hermit – Find Out Where Ridge Noble Has Been Hiding Out All These Years and Why.
Just like five years ago, they’re trying to use my last name in clever ways to attract more readers. I feel like I’ve stepped into a time machine and gone back five years to the days following my acquittal.
“What’s the article say?” I ask not sure I want to know, but knowing I need to so I can begin damage control. I learned to be quite a pro at damage control the first time around.
Ash sighs and pushes the mouse in my direction on the desk so that I can read for myself.
Ridge Noble, the man accused of raping world renowned pop star, Livi Fox, dropped off the radar years ago and hadn’t been seen since. Until now. Realm’s photojournalist, Allison Green, happened upon him working for none other than Ash Pride as his personal assistant and head of security.
Mr. Noble has been keeping the Pride family “safe” for five years. Ms. Green, who has been dating Mr. Noble for two months now, states that he helps supervise Mr. Pride’s young children and is regularly left in charge of them. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want an accused rapist taking care of my children.
The words begin to blur together on the screen when rage encompasses my brain, my bones, my blood, and my soul. I want to take Allison’s pretty little neck and snap it in two for doing this to me, to us, all of us. Part of me has been denying that she could hand over the pictures and the personal details of my life. That part just got a healthy dose of reality.
“That back-stabbing bitch,” I say falling back against my chair. “How can anyone be so fucking conniving? I was going to ask her to fucking marry me, Ash, marry me! I wanted to spend the rest of my life with that monster!” I shove my hands into my hair and pull it trying to rid my mind of the words in the article.
And the pictures that accompanied it—thankfully, they weren’t the ones of us in bed—but they were personal just the same. There is one of me drinking coffee and reading the paper at the kitchen table, another of me playing basketball with Cannon that first day we met, and me rocking Lydia in her nursery. They’re painting me as a child-molesting pedophile for Christ’s sake!
“I was found not fucking guilty! Why can’t they focus on that instead of trying to make me a fucking pedophile? What is wrong with the world?” I yell.
Ash stands up and rounds his desk. He leans on the edge of it and reaches out to place a hand on my shoulder. “We are prepared to sue the magazine and Allison for defamation of character, yours and ours if you truly believe Allison is responsible for this, Ridge. We aren’t going to hang you out to dry. You have us in your corner this time.”
“Well, who else could it be? She’s the only one who knows where I am and what I’ve been doing here. And she took those fucking pictures. It had to be her.”
“Okay, I just wanted to check with you first. I’m going to call my lawyer right now and get the ball rolling. Things move fast when you put a lot of money behind th
em, and I intend to put a lot of money behind this. They essentially told the world that Stella and I are bad parents who hire perverts to care for our kids. That shit will not slide. Even if you decide not to go forward for yourself, and I don’t know why you wouldn’t, we are filing a lawsuit ourselves.”
I nod my head. I’m speechless. In less than ten minutes, I’ve gone from feeling rage toward Allison to shocked and grateful for Ash and Stella’s support. I didn’t have that last time. I dealt with the fallout alone. The only good thing that came out of that ordeal was being so broke after the trial I had to come home to Montana where Ash hired me and made me part of his family.
I don’t know what to do. I can’t work, I can’t even concentrate on one thought for more than a few seconds before my mind jumps to something else. How could she? Why? How much money did she get? What kind of promotion is worth ruining a man’s life? What’s going to happen to David when she goes down for this? Because she will go down for this, of that, I am sure. Ash is a great guy until you mess with somebody he loves, then he turns into a warrior, fiercely protecting his own. I watched him do it in person when his piece-of-shit father tried to ruin his relationship with Stella by bringing Cannon’s mother back into his life. He nearly pummeled him to death right in the foyer.
“What can I do?” I ask looking up at Ash already weary and drained, and it’s only eight-thirty in the morning.
“I have a suggestion, but I don’t think you’re going to like it,” he says.
“I think the like-it-or-not ship has sailed. What do you want me to do?”
“I think you should call Allison and confirm with her that she was the one who provided Realm with the photographs and the information. I know it seems pretty straightforward, and they name her in the article, but, Ridge, she didn’t seem like the type of person who would do this. Stella and I are good judges of character, and we saw how she was with you. She could be a victim in all of this, too. Please, just call her and ask for her side of the story. I’m going to be honest with you, if you don’t call, I will. I think it will be more effective if you do it, but I’m having a hard time believing this is all her doing. She deserves the chance to defend herself. If she’s guilty, so be it, I’ll go after her with guns blazing, but if she’s not, she might need help as much as you do.”