Beauty and the Boss, page 30
good.”
“Who is it?” She held up an outfit and Ellis nodded.
“The god of fashion, if you ask him. We’re being graced
with a visit from Angelo Bollio.” The doorbell made Ellis
smile in a way that made her think she was looking forward
to this. “Come out when you’re ready.” Ellis kissed her and
rubbed her back.
The bell rang again, and Ellis chuckled. Angelo wasn’t
used to being kept waiting, or maybe he was slightly
panicked. “Angelo,” Ellis said, opening the door. “What a
surprise. I’d thought you would’ve been up to your ass in
sequins and gold lamé by now.”
“Fuck you, Ellis.” Angelo walked in and stopped in the
middle of the room with his hands over his head. “The police
just left my office and think I have something to do with
what happened to you. If you fucking sent them to my
place, I’m going to sue your ass.”
“You don’t get to come to my house and curse, Angelo. I
didn’t send anyone anywhere, so cool it or get out.” Ellis
slammed the door and walked close enough to him that he
backed up. “The question you should be curious about is
why the cops would show up at all. Why is that?”
“How the hell would I know?” Angelo’s voice was almost
a nervous squeal.
“Get out of my house and pray they don’t pin any of this
on you. If they can, prison is the least of your worries,
because I’ll bury you.” She got close to him again and
jabbed her finger into the middle of his chest. It was the
only way to keep from punching his perfectly lotion-
slathered and perfumed face.
“Look.” He backed off again. “I’ve always thought you
were an asshole, so I wasn’t exactly torn up about what
happened to you. That doesn’t mean I had anything to do
with it.”
What sounded like her cell rang and stopped, so she
figured Charlotte had answered it. “Hey,” Charlotte said,
handing the phone over. She listened to whoever it was and
hung up.
“You tell me right now how you got involved, and I’ll tell
them to cut you some slack. I also promise not to sue you
for everything but your toothbrush.”
“I didn’t do anything,” he said in a whine so long she
came close to offering him some cheese to go with it.
“Not what I heard, and the only thing to remember
through all this is the most important thing of all. If you
don’t, I can pretty much guarantee it’s all you’ll be thinking
about when you’re sitting in the gutter wondering where
exactly it all went wrong.”
“What’s so important that I won’t be able to forget,
except counting my money when I sue you for defamation?”
“You wanted me on my knees so you could pick at my
bones like the vulture you are, but you need to consider who
you struck your bargain with. Jennifer and Dalton are your
partners in crime. Ask yourself if you think either of them
will lie to protect you, or if they’ll pin it on you to save their
asses?”
“You’re so fucking smug.”
“No, I’m right, and you know it.” She opened the door
and waved him out. “Now get the hell out of my house.”
“Was that really Angelo Bollio?” Charlotte asked.
“If you tell me he’s one of your favorite designers, you’re
fired,” she said, squinting at Charlotte.
“I’m a blonde, so I’d never look good in all that gold,”
Charlotte said, sticking her tongue out at her. “What did Bill
tell you, if you can share?”
“To bait that idiot with his pals to see what happened.
Hopefully it works, but I don’t have time to think about it.”
The ride to the office took thirty minutes, so the place was
buzzing with people talking about what was basically their
championship week. Everyone should’ve been on edge
about one thing, but they didn’t have a line to fuss over, so
gossip was keeping everyone busy.
Pretty much every person they met smiled at her and did
a double take because of who she was with. The gossip that
Charlotte and Sawyer were in the building must’ve spread
fast since Rueben was waiting in her office. His face was the
perfect mask of nothing, as if he didn’t know what to feel
about what he was seeing.
“Where have you been hiding?” he finally said, after
shaking himself as if he had a chill.
“Not hiding, Ruby, working.” She was going to hug him,
but if he’d been a porcupine all his quills would be up and
ready to strike, so she stopped midstride. “Let me get
Charlotte settled, and I’ll meet you in your office.”
“Why is Charlotte with you at all? Did you somehow
manage to forget that she totally ripped us off?”
“My mom didn’t do anything wrong, so don’t talk about
her like that,” Sawyer said loudly, so she went over and put
her arms around the rigid little girl.
“Rueben, I’ll meet you in your office.” Thankfully he took
the hint and left so she could deal with Sawyer, who was
now crying. “It’s okay, and I’m proud of you for taking up for
your mom like that.”
“Why doesn’t he like us?”
“You know what my mom always tells me whenever I ask
that? She says the only thing that matters is having people
who love you. Those are the people who’ll always stand by
your side because they know the truth of you by knowing
your heart. I love you, and I love your mom. You just beat
me into standing up for her, but I promise to do that for the
both of you.”
“I’m sorry I yelled.”
“I’m not. Your mom’s important, so in this case, yelling
was okay.”
“Come with me, chéri,” Amis said, opening her arms to
Sawyer. “I have a visitor who needs to talk to Ellis and your
mama, so let’s take a tour so I can show you off.”
“Who’s our visitor?” she asked, not really needing
another set of surprises.
“Do you remember the detective from that first night?”
“I do, and I’ll be happy to speak to him as long as he’s
not here to pin it on me.”
Amis’s office was actually a bigger space than hers, and
they found the detective standing in front of a large framed
picture they’d used in their marketing campaign that year.
The black-and-white photo of her and three models had a
throwback feel to it, which maybe was a sign that she loved
vintage even before Charlotte came into her life.
“Hello, Detective,” she said, holding Charlotte’s hand.
“Hopefully you have some good news for us.”
“Hi, I’m Charlotte,” Charlotte said, gently hitting her on
the arm.
“Nice to meet you, and yes, I think I’ve got good news.
After talking to you this morning, Angelo went running to
save his skin, only this time we were listening in, not that
we didn’t appreciate Tori’s help. From the conversation we
heard, we were able to pick up Jennifer and Dalton for
theft.”
“You arrested them?” The reality that it had gotten this
far was totally insane.
“Not only that, but they haven’t been able to post bond
yet. A night in that hellhole they’re in will seem like an
eternity to both of them.”
She had to sit down and was glad for Charlotte’s support.
“Did they say anything?”
“Dalton hasn’t opened his mouth, but Jennifer asked to
see you. I told her I doubted I could get that, but I’d ask.” He
sat across from them and tapped on his notebook with his
pen. “It’s a weird situation when the woman appears
unfazed but the guy’s scared shitless, but that’s the
dynamic between these two.”
“If I see her, can you hold what she says against her?”
“I can’t force you, but if you go it might provide us a
better picture. I’ve got evidence they did it, but the jury
always wants to know why. She might give that up to you if
you feed her enough rope.”
“The bitch almost took a chunk out of my lip for no
reason, so I doubt she’s interested in giving me anything if
she thinks it’ll help me.”
“You’ll never know unless you try.”
“And if she says anything, it’ll bring you one step closer,”
Charlotte said.
“When do you want me to do this?” She felt Charlotte
tighten her hold on her hand so she relaxed and smiled.
“Now is okay with me, if you’re available.”
“That’s fine, but I’d like to talk to Dalton first.”
“If you don’t mind his attorney being there, and he
agrees to it, sure. He has some fantasy that we’ve got
nothing on him so if he stays quiet he’s going home. He
hasn’t budged, so don’t get your hopes up.”
“Dalton had the perfect life before this, but I doubt his
wife will let him come within a thousand yards of the house.
There won’t be any going home in any fantasy.”
“Maybe a meeting with you will get him talking. His
cellmate’s been busy, from what I hear, getting his mind off
the rest of the world, and the only way to stop that budding
romance is if he raises some cash fast.”
She snorted. “He always claimed he’s irresistible. I guess
his charm didn’t come in handy now. Add to that his fear of
urinating in front of anyone, and this is rather entertaining.”
“Can’t blame him on that one,” the detective said and
handed over a card with the address of where she needed
to go. “I’ll meet you there.”
“Thanks for all the attention to this, Detective.” He shook
hands with her and nodded.
“I have a wife who loves your stuff, but I’m a cop, you
know. This is as close as she’ll ever get to you and your
clothing line. I’ll tell her all about it later on tonight,” he
said, and laughed.
“The show’s in a couple of days, so we’ll set her up, but
let’s see if I can design something in bright orange for my
old friends.”
* * *
Television and movies were as close as Ellis had ever
been to the inside of an official interview room having to do
with the police. She sat in the hard chair, wondering how
long the drab Formica-topped table had been in there and
how many people had spilled their guts on it. Confession
might’ve been good for the soul, but she doubted it came
easy in this place.
The door opened, and she tried to keep her expression
passive. Dalton appeared drawn and lost in the oversized
prison garb, and the large white bandage across his
forehead wasn’t helping. He dropped heavily into the chair
across from her with the help of a guard. She didn’t
recognize the other guy in the nice suit, so he must’ve been
the attorney the detective mentioned.
“Aren’t you going to gloat?” Dalton asked as he held his
hands up so the guard could remove his cuffs.
“Hostile isn’t perhaps the way to go here, Dalton,” she
said, crossing her legs and putting her hands in her lap in an
effort not to touch anything. “I didn’t put you here. I’m the
idiot who paid you a lot of money to work for me.”
“You can’t be shocked, can you?” Dalton leaned forward,
and the guy in the suit put his hand on his forearm.
“This might make me sound stupid, but actually I am
shocked. I’ve thought about this for days, and I still don’t
get it.”
“I’m not admitting to anything, but you’ve never learned
to look around you, Ellis. You were too busy being blinded by
the limelight that never seems to dim when it comes to you.
You never really noticed how those closest to you were left
out, and you weren’t about to let us in.”
“Okay.” She sighed, still not understanding how this guy
felt so entitled. “All I was looking for here was an apology.
You don’t owe me anything but that. I’m not exactly after
vengeance, Dalton, but I’m not going to throw you a lifeline
either.” She stood up and knocked on the door like the
detective told her when she was done.
“Wait. Don’t you want to know why?” Dalton yelled.
“That’s the last thing you’re going to tell me, so good
luck to you. I’m through wasting my time here, because in
reality it’s really simple. It’s the money and maybe the
fame, but that’s all it is. You were a manager and nothing
more. If you wanted the limelight you should’ve gone in to
some other line of business.” The detective was waiting
outside, and they both ignored Dalton’s screams. The only
one who seemed interested was Jennifer, who was being led
into the next room with another guy in a suit.
“So,” she said once she sat across from Jennifer. This was
actually the only person she was interested in talking to.
Dalton was a coward and Angelo an opportunist. Together
they needed a brain to pull this off, and that was Jennifer.
“Why are we here?”
“You had me arrested. Are you kidding with this?”
“I’m so glad you believe I’m so powerful that I can arrest
people at random with no cause at all. You did this, so own
it. It was a gamble, and it didn’t work out. One of the things
I didn’t understand was that contract you tried to get me to
sign. Why that farce?”
“Think of all the time and effort you would’ve saved
yourself if you’d signed it. What is it you always love saying?
There’s an easy way to do things and a hard way.”
“Jennifer, I have to say again what a bad idea this is,” the
lawyer with her said.
“And I told you to shut up. Ellis is never going to press
charges because she cares more about the why than in
seeing us go down.” Jennifer locked eyes with her and
smiled. “But what Ellis really wants to find out is who else.
How many other people right under her nose will make her
life a living hell? She knows I’m right, but that answer only
comes with her dropping the charges.”
“The one other person involved, you mean? Come on,
now. I’m not that stupid. I just want to know why drag
Charlotte and Sawyer into this? I’ve already figured out why
you were involved.” She smiled, and Jennifer seemed to
become enraged.
“You don’t know shit,” Jennifer screamed at her as her
entire body physically shook.
“I talked to the weaker link first, sweetheart,” she said,
laughing, “so you know I do. To think that I could’ve avoided
all this by a pity fuck makes me want to kick myself. The
thought of touching you makes me want to throw up, but
you’re right. Think of all the trouble it would’ve saved me.”
“What?” Jennifer spoke softly this time, but Ellis heard
the rage loud and clear. “You can’t believe that. You’re not
exactly that delusional, are you?”
“I remember that night too, so there’s no reason to be
embarrassed about it now. You did everything but lie across
my desk naked and beg me to put my hands on you. I guess
you were under the impression that I’d fuck anything that
walks, but even I have my standards.”
“Oh, my fucking God. All I wanted out of this was to bring
you down so I could cut a better deal. It’s not my fault the
stars aligned in our favor to make it easy.”
“Jennifer, you need to shut this down now,” the attorney
said more forcibly.
“I’d listen to this guy,” she said, her smile growing wider.
“You’re going to need all the help you can get when Dalton
and the others dump all this on you to get out of this place.
Whatever is coming will snowball until you can’t stop it, and
what’s sad is that you know it. You started it, and now you
can’t stop it.”
Jennifer appeared ready to kill her, given the chance,
until the last thing she said. That for some reason made her
laugh. “You don’t know anything.” Jennifer laughed harder.
“And because you don’t, I’m going to walk out of here. We’re
done, so good luck, Ellis. You’re standing on quicksand, and
that, you bitch, is a cesspool of your making.”
Jennifer got up and knocked to leave. She left without
saying another word, but Ellis couldn’t help but think about
what Jennifer had ended with. That this was something
she’d started didn’t make any sense.
