It was my turn to smirk at him. “Yes. She had a matinee yesterday. Then we went home and ate in.”
“Lucky bastard,” he muttered.
I finished scrolling through the email on my computer and leaned back in my chair. “I’m still not sure how she’ll deal with everything, after the last time we were there. She was scared. Things got a little violent.”
“Have you taken her since then like Dad suggested? She needs to see that’s not what happens every time.”
Rubbing the muscles in the back of my neck, I took my glasses off and dropped them on the desk. “No, I didn’t want to freak her out.”
“You need to take her.”
Everyone had the grand idea that I should take Elena with me to collect another debt. That it would show her what she needed to know and suddenly she’d understand what we did and why, and be able to accept it. Like it was the best thing for her.
But what if it wasn’t the best thing—for either of us?
“Ever considered not doing it?”
“Not doing what?”
“You know I never wanted this.”
Miller leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs. “It’s part of who we are,” he said simply.
Was it though? Maybe Miller and Dad were right. It might be in our blood—without it, I never would have been able to open one restaurant much less three—but there was this small part of me that just wished . . .
“Yeah. Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
“Of course I am. Embrace it. No one will ever fuck with Elena now. She’s yours, which means everyone will leave her alone so they don’t have to deal with us.”
He had a point. Elena would be safe from all of the bullshit she’d dealt with in the past. “You’re right. I have a drop on Tuesday. I’ll take her with me.”
Miller shrugged. “There’s got to be something to the theory. Mom’s kept Dad all these years without kicking his ass to the curb.”
My phone buzzed on the desk. “Speaking of Dad.”
“His ears must be ringing. I’ve got a meeting with Max Taran. Fucker better have his shit together. I’m not helping his ass this time.”
It always amazed me how different Miller became when dealing with clients. He was cold, calculating. There were no second chances with Miller. Either you paid him the money or left with at least one broken bone, if not more. You’d never though that side existed when you spoke with him, but it was there, lingering just under the surface.
“We’ll talk later,” I said, picking up the phone.
Miller waved and closed the door behind him.
I swiped my finger across the screen. “Hello?”
“Ashton, have you seen your brother. He’s not answering his phone.”
I chuckled. “Idiot probably has it on silent again. He just left to deal with Max Taran.”
“Good. I wasn’t sure if he’d remember.” I heard yelling in the background. “Your mother wants me to tell you she can’t wait to see Elena again.”
“I saw the show again on Sunday. I had no idea she was that good.”
“You two looked awful cozy together on Saturday night,” he accused.
The thought of how she’d stayed by my side brought a smile to my face. “She’s moving in with me.”
Dad didn’t pull any punches. “Have you taken her on a collection or loan yet?”
“Dad, she’s already seen it. Hell, she’s been in the middle of it.”
“As a client—not from the other side of the fence.”
I sighed. “Miller said the same thing. That she needs to know because it’s part of who we are.”
“And he’s right. You can’t expect her to understand your life if you don’t show it to her.”
The question from earlier came smashing back into me.
Is this really my life?
“Why did you want me to do this?”
Silence.
I could picture him staring at the phone. His brows would be drawn down and a frown on his face. “Because I knew you could. Miller never wanted anything but to be part of the business and, call me selfish, but I wanted you to be there too. I knew you could do both. Now you have the restaurants on top of what you do for the family. Besides, you wouldn’t have met Elena if it weren’t for all of this.”
He had a point. Without any of this, Elena wouldn’t be sleeping in my bed every night, so I had something to be thankful for, besides the financial aspect.
Dad and I talked a little longer before he hung up. Our conversation gave me a lot to think about as I sat at my desk, going over the books.
How in the hell had I managed to get this far behind? Oh right—I’d been wining and dining Elena in the hope that if and when she left her husband she might want to stay with me. The books were up to date, and so were the orders. Mainly, it was a lot of calls to return for catering and the dreaded filling. Not to mention meeting with the new distributor. Damn, Joanne needed to come back from vacation before the paperwork got worse. Then I could go back to what I loved.
The last two nights I’d watched Elena up on that stage, a part of me was a little jealous. She was getting to be everything she always wanted to be. Not that I wasn’t successful, but over the years I’d found myself moving further and further from what I loved about running a restaurant. Spending all of my time collecting debts for my dad had got me to where I was, and now so much of the money loaned was my own that I knew I couldn’t really step away until I figured out a way to bring my dad back in to take over. Either way, I was going to start making being a chef and the other things I wanted to do in the restaurant a priority.
Picking up the phone, I began to dial the first number when a knock sounded on my door. Pierre opened it, followed by another man.
“Ben is here to meet with you about liquor distribution.”
I stood and reached out a hand, which he took in a polite handshake. “Nice to meet you, would you like to take a seat?”
“Thank you. I hope I have a quick solution to your problem.”
“I hope so.”
We took our seats and began to discuss his facilities and supplies when yelling and banging caught my attention. I dropped the pen in my hand and darted from the office toward the front, hoping no one was hurt. The second I stepped through the doors, a hand landed on my shoulder, twisting me and throwing me up against the wall.
“Ashton Hawes?”
A cop stood next to me, at least a dozen more throughout the restaurant, tearing the place up.
Just fucking great.
What in the hell were they looking for in the restaurant? Nothing here would be worth their time. I would never taint this business.
“That’s me.” My voice was muffled against the hard surface of the wall.
“Mr. Hawes, we’re bringing you in for questioning in the kidnapping of Mrs. Elena Tolley.”
I tried to swing around to get a good look at his face, but the officers held tight until the cuffs were snapped into place. It never occurred to me to ask about the cuffs if I was only being questioned.
“What the fuck are you talking about? Elena’s down at the theater practicing for the new Sondheim show.”
“We’ll send a car over.”
It took two of them but eventually they had me moving, marching me across the restaurant, toward the door. Most of my staff had looks of disbelief on their faces: mouths open, eyes rounded. Fuck, I’d have to come up with an explanation for them and hoped they didn’t run for the hills. And the customers. This shit could ruin my business. I needed to get it cleared up—fast.
“Dustin, call my father and tell him what happened.”
“You got it, Ashton,” he answered and I was extremely grateful he didn’t have some ridiculous remark to go with it.
The cops pushed through the front door and helped me into the backseat; not easy with my hands locked behind my back. One reason I never used metal cuffs in all of my games, they were way too uncomfortable. Although, I tr
ied to get more information out of the officers, none of them were budging. It wasn’t until we walked through the front doors of the station that so much became clear.
Tolley.
The lousy piece of shit sat at one of the desks. When he looked up, his eyes still black and blue, he gave me a cold smirk. The bastard had orchestrated all of this. Would Elena take his side? A small part of me worried that might be the case, except the rest of my brain pushed it away. Not the new Elena. That worthless son of a bitch was in for a rude awakening when she got here.
Tolley jumped from his chair, playing the victim so well. “That bastard stole my wife.” Two of the cops restrained him, offering him comfort. Thoughts of shaking off the cops’ grip and finishing what I’d started a few weeks ago was more than a little appealing but, unfortunately, if I wanted to walk out of there sooner rather than later, I needed to keep my hands to myself and be on my best behavior.
Grinding my teeth, I didn’t fight the officers as they led me into an interview room, closing the door behind me, two cops still inside. On the far wall, I could see myself in the two-way mirror. They sat me down in the chair and moved the cuffs from the back to the front. A few minutes later the door opened and in walked another cop, dressed in a suit. He took the seat across from me as the other two left.
“Mr. Hawes,” he said opening the folder in front of him. “Where is Mrs. Tolley?”
My natural instinct was to tell this guy to shove it up his ass and get me a phone to call my lawyer. It was what Dad had drilled into our heads from the time we were little.
Not this time.
I hadn’t kidnapped anyone, and the sooner they found Elena, the sooner they would let my ass go.
“Like I told the gentlemen who brought me in, Elena’s at the Canterbury Theater downtown. She’s got a part in the one of the new productions.”
“Damn, you’re making my life easy.” He shook his head, a shit-eating grin on his face.
Arrogant bastard thought he had me. I leaned back in the chair and waited for all of it to play out in front of me. As long as the idiot didn’t figure out the real reason why Elena was currently in my care, I would be walking out of there in no time.
“Want to tell me why you kidnapped Mrs. Tolley in the first place?” he asked, not looking up from his paper, waiting to write down whatever I said for later.
“I didn’t.” It happened to be the only answer he would get out of me, until either Elena or my lawyer showed up.
“You told us exactly where to find her, and yet you say you didn’t kidnap her.”
“Exactly.”
The door swung opened and Arthur, my father’s lawyer, stepped through. “That’s enough of the questions. I’m Mr. Colburn, Mr. Hawes’s attorney. From what I understand, he’s given you the information to prove he is innocent. At this time, he will not answer any more questions until you stop treating him like the accused and instead realize that he’s actually the victim.”
The detective clenched his jaw, but made no attempt to correct Arthur, instead, leaving the room, the door crashing into its frame as he slammed it behind him.
Arthur took the chair next to me. “What the fuck happened, Ashton? Your father is ready to storm the place.”
“I take it Dad’s here?”
“You could say that. I’m not the only lawyer he brought. Now do you want to tell me what the fuck happened so I can go out there and calm him down, before he makes any of this worse on either of you?”
“The soon-to-be ex-husband of the woman I’m seeing claims I kidnapped her.”
“Elena?”
I nodded, curious as to how Arthur knew that.
“Don’t look surprised. Your father told me all about her. Now let me go out there and calm him down.”
Before he had a chance to stand, screaming could be heard from the main lobby and it happened to be the only voice I wanted to hear.
CHAPTER 27
Elena
“From the top,” Alan called from somewhere near the back. “Vince, remember where we made the changes to the blocking.”
We’d been rehearsing the same number for the last three days when Alan decided that the scene didn’t work and we needed to start from scratch. My feet were sore from all the dancing, not to mention my throat was scratchy. At some point Alan would need to give up and give us a break.
The intro to the music started and I counted the beats. I was the first to come in. I heard my cue and started to sing. Suddenly, the door was flung open, the heavy metal handle crashing against the wall and startling everyone in the room. Six police officers ran through the door, guns drawn.
Alan jumped from his seat and into the aisle, his hands raised. “I’m not sure what’s happened, but I think you have the wrong place.”
The one in the front took a step forward, calling out, “Elena Tolley?” and all heads, excluding those of the police officers, snapped in my direction.
“I’m Elena Tolley,” my voice squeaked out.
He holstered his gun and came toward me. “You’ll have to come with us, ma’am.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and stood stock-still. “I’m not going anywhere with anyone until someone explains what is going on.”
“Ma’am, we have Ashton Hawes in custody. He is being questioned regarding your disappearance. Kidnapping,” he clarified.
My eyes practically popped out of my head. “You what?” I yelled.
Alan ran up onto the stage. “You arrested Ashton?” he asked, a bit more calmly than me.
Why in the hell would they think that Ashton kidnapped me? I was only clueless for a fleeting moment because the answer slapped me in the face.
Dominic.
Asshole was still finding ways to ruin my life.
“Officer, I can assure you Ashton did not kidnap me. I’m with him of my own free will.”
The officers looked at me like I was crazy, probably thinking I was suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. The ridiculous thing about it was that the jerk parading around their station, most likely with his head held high, had caused me more damage than anyone could imagine.
“Are you sure you’re okay, ma’am?”
“I promise, I’m fine.” I knew I could fix this whole mess when I got to the station. Taking a deep breath, I tried to force myself to relax. “Give me a second to grab my things and I’ll come with you.” I gave a curt nod and headed off stage.
Alan followed me to the back dressing rooms. “Do you want me to come with you?”
I shook my head. “No, I needed to stand up to my soon-to-be ex-husband sooner or later.” I lay my arm on his. “Keep working. I’ll fix this mess and be back tomorrow.”
He pulled me into a hug. “I’m glad he sent you to me. Take care of him tonight—he’s going to be pissed.”
“I will.”
I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and ran around to come out of the audience door instead of the stage door. The officers were still there waiting. “Let’s go,” I said, leading the way to the doors.
We walked out to find the place surrounded by even more cars. Members of EMS came running up to me with a stretcher.
“Are you all right, ma’am?” one of them asked, reaching out to take my hand and lead me to the ambulance.
I snatched my arm out of his reach. “I’m fine. I wasn’t kidnapped, simply being tortured by my estranged husband.” I looked around at all of them, standing there. “Now will someone please take me to the station so we can clear this all up?”
“Sorry, Mrs. Tolley,” one of the officers from inside said as he approached. “Please, come with me and we’ll take you there.”
I followed him to one of the unmarked cars. Taking my hand, he helped me in, before climbing into the driver’s seat and starting the engine. The entire drive over my blood boiled, all of the things I ever wanted to say to the arrogant jerk running through my head. There would be no holding back this time. The minute the cop stopped in front of the station and op
ened my door, I pushed past him and took the steps two at a time. I pushed open the door and was searching for someone to talk to about getting Ashton released when his voice slithered over me.
“Elena, my lovely wife.”
My head snapped in his direction. His words were meant for the ears of the detectives.
I knew better.
Hatred burned bright in his eyes and when he stepped in front of me and took my hands like he was making sure I was okay, I felt his fingers tighten, squeezing my hands uncomfortably, a sly smile playing at the edges of his mouth. I tried to pull out of his grasp but he was stronger and pulled me to him, keeping me close so that my front was pressed against his. His arms wrapped tightly around my waist, over my own arms, preventing me from moving, and with his chin resting on my shoulder, his mouth dropped to my ear.
“If you think for one second I’m letting you divorce me, you have another think coming. Now smile, say thank you, and get your fat ass in the fucking car.”
Some of my old insecurities rose up but I pushed them back as best I could. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Malcolm being held back by Miller. He gave me a nod and I let it fly.
Pushing free, I spoke to Dominic, my voice raised so everyone around could hear. “Get your goddamn hands off me. I’m not your lovely wife, as you conveniently choose to put it, considering we’re surrounded by police officers. I’m your soon-to-be ex-wife because you don’t know how to treat a woman.” I jabbed my finger into his chest, working myself into a fine rage. “You’ve spent every day of the last five years tearing me down. I thought I was worthless; that no one would ever want me. You made me think that I was only worthy of being a fucktoy to you. Your problem is that I found someone else; a man who treats me better than you could ever imagine. A man who makes me come over and over again as I scream his name.”
I smirked when I realized we were completely surrounded by officers. “And you have just trapped yourself by falsely accusing a man of kidnapping. A man I’m choosing to be with over you. You’re an idiot. I hope you enjoy jail. I’m taking Ashton home to bed,” I finished.
My knees went weak at the realization of everything that had just come out of my mouth, but, thankfully, during my rant, Miller had come up behind me and wrapped an arm around my waist. The police closed in on Dominic, who looked much more uncomfortable now than when I walked in.
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