by JA Low
“Ariana’s youngest sister is a Spanish soap star,” I tell Mom, who loves Telenovelas. She watches them with Patrice.
“Would I know her?” my mother asks, leaning forward.
“Maybe?” Ariana shrugs. “Camila Blanco.”
Mom lets out a squeal, which surprises the table.
“Patrice. Patrice,” my mom screams, and our chef comes running in with a panicked look on her face.
“What is it, Marjorie?” she asks as she scans the table to make sure everything is right.
“Ariana’s sister is Camila Blanco.”
Patrice starts squealing too.
What the hell is happening?
Then Patrice starts speaking in Spanish to Ariana, and I have no idea what they’re saying. Ariana’s face breaks out in a smile as she nods at whatever Patrice is asking her. Now, I’m cursing for not taking Spanish lessons seriously at school, as I only catch bits and pieces of the conversation.
Once everyone has settled down, we get back to eating our dinner until we hear a commotion outside, which has Stirling and I looking at each other with concern. Then moments later, Stanford pushes open the doors and strides into the dining room as if he owns it.
“Oh, Stanford, you came.” My mom rises and pulls my brother into a hug.
Audrey and I give each other a ‘what the fuck look,’ neither one of us knowing we were having a surprise guest today.
“Come, come…” Mom fusses over my brother.
I know it hurts her that he’s chosen our father through all of this, but I guess he’s still her son. Stanford turns, then stills when he sees Ariana sitting beside me. I reach out under the table and grip her hand tightly.
“What’s she doing here?” Stanford sneers in Ariana’s direction.
I’m seconds away from launching myself at him for daring to look at Ariana like that, but she squeezes my hand tightly, keeping me in place.
“Oh, sweetie, that’s Ariana. Rhys’ partner,” Mom explains, not understanding the magnitude of what’s happening.
“I know who she is, Mom,” Stanford snarls. “She used to work for me.” His eyes narrow on her.
“Oh, really. Well, isn’t that a small world,” Mom tries to placate an aggressive Stanford.
“I told you not to touch her,” Stanford growls.
Mom looks between the two of us, and sudden realization hits her that maybe her family is more fractured than she originally thought.
“She was never yours,” I reply.
“You always did like my sloppy seconds,” Stanford spits out.
Mom gasps and looks frantically between the two of us.
My chair slides back with a scrape, and I stand. Stanford takes a couple of tentative steps back, and Stirling jumps up and stands between us.
“What the hell, Sandy,” Audrey yells at him.
Stanford looks over at our sister, and I can see his face soften a little.
“How dare you speak about my friend like that.” Audrey glares at him. “I know for a fact she would never touch you.” My sister’s reaction surprises my brother. “I also know your creeper vibes are one of the reasons Ariana left Dad’s firm.” Stanford has no recourse for my sister’s points.
“Please, can we just sit down and have something to eat,” Mom tries to interject.
“I’m not hungry anymore.” I glare at my brother.
“Please, he’s family,” Mom pleads with me.
“Family?” I give a sadistic laugh. “Ha. Stanford and our father don’t know the real meaning of family.” My chest is heaving in anger. “Did our dear brother here tell you how he was fucking my wife during our marriage?” My mother clasps her pearls at my confession, then she looks over at Stanford, and her eyes are filled with disappointment.
“Dad did, too,” he adds before realizing what he’s just said. As if those words make it all okay.
Mom stills, her face pales. “What did you say?”
“Mom.” I look over at her. The same blue eyes meet mine, but they are swirling with hurt and anger.
“Tell me it’s not true, sweetheart?” Mom looks at me.
“It’s true, Mom.”
Tears well in her eyes as she slowly sits back down in her chair. She just keeps shaking her head, then she directs a question to my brother. “What happened to you?”
“She set me up. It was all a setup. It wasn’t me.” He tries to deflect the situation, but Mom shakes her head with utter disdain for my brother.
“I think it’s best you leave, Stanford.”
Stanford’s face pales at my mother’s request. “Mom, I’m sorry, okay? I’m really, really, sorry,” Stanford pleads.
“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to.” She looks up at him. “Why would you ever do that to your brother?” She shakes her head in disbelief and closes her eyes for a brief second.
“She drugged me. She raped me, Mom.”
Stirling reaches out and grabs my arm, knowing I’m seconds away from punching him the fuck out.
“Please, Sandy. Just go.”
And with that, my brother turns on his heel and leaves the dining room.
My mother breaks down and makes her excuses to leave as Patrice wraps a consoling arm around her shoulder.
“Well, that didn’t go so well,” Audrey states, taking a sip of her champagne.
“I’m sorry about all that,” I apologize to Ariana.
“You have nothing to be sorry for. Your brother is a dick.”
“Thanks for sticking with me through all this drama,” I tell her.
“Nowhere else I would rather be.”
I then bend down and kiss her.
“Ew,” Audrey hollers from the dining table as a bread roll hits me on the temple, which makes us all laugh, breaking through some of the tension in the room.
32
Rhys
“Jackson, please tell me you have some information?” Picking up my phone, I’m about to head up to Connecticut for Chloe and Noah’s wedding this weekend. Ariana went up last night for bridesmaid’s stuff, and I’m heading up later today to Anderson’s place to chill with the rest of the guys. It’s great of them to invite me.
“I’ve got something!” He sounds excited.
My heart begins to race, thinking of the possibility that this could all be over.
“The Romano family is paid and squared away. Your father is safe now.” That’s a relief. As much as I hate him, I don’t want to see him swimming with the fishes anytime soon. “We asked them if they knew who Madison Barlow was.” My heart is thundering, my hands begin to sweat, waiting for the next piece of information. “We showed them a picture of her, of her ex who worked for the law office, and a photo of her brother.” Jackson’s voice turns serious for a moment.
“What?” A sense of foreboding hits me in the chest.
“They recognize her and her brother.”
My stomach sinks.
Fuck.
Raking my hand through my hair, I ask, “Who is she?”
“Her name is Madlina Ivanov.”
Hang on. What the hell? Madison isn’t even her real name?
It takes me a couple of moments to compute what is going on.
“And it’s not her brother who’s in jail. It’s her husband.” Her husband? “His name is Michail Ivanov, and he’s a brigadier in the Bratva, so he’s lower level. He was picked up for unpaid fines, and that’s why he’s in jail.” I just shake my head in confusion, not being able to vocalize anything. “From what I’ve found out, his forte is extortion and blackmail. His brother, Oleg, is a hacker and hacks into people’s accounts to get the dirt on them.”
“What does that have to do with me?” Confused by the situation because I haven’t wronged anyone.
“From what we gather from hacking into Oleg’s computer, there was an article in a magazine about you being one of New York’s most eligible bachelors. We found more information regarding you, your family, your businesses, etc.”
&
nbsp; How the hell did I get sucked in by these people?
“What’s their plan?”
“They’re hoping to shake you down enough that you just pay them what they want,” Jackson explains.
“They aren’t after my business?”
“No. These people want cash, but I don’t think they’re going to be fussy if they can get their hands on some luxury homes, too.”
Well, shit!
“Okay, how do we stop them?”
Will this nightmare ever end?
“Luckily, I know some people in the NYPD who are incredibly interested in these people. I’ve forwarded the details of what’s happened to a contact of mine, and they’re going to be in touch,” Jackson replies.
“How long do you think this will take?”
“This will be over soon. They need to get all their ducks in a row before pulling the trigger on the investigation,” Jackson explains the next course of action.
“Am I in danger?” Because if Madison is part of the Russian mafia, then I can’t imagine I’m safe. I mean, I’ve seen movies.
“Yes. As far as they’re concerned, you know nothing, and that’s how we are going to keep it,” he reassures me.
“When’s your next meeting with Madison?” Jackson asks.
“Next week. We will have mediation.”
“Right. Well, I’ll make sure we have everything in place before that meeting. I’ll let them know about the sense of urgency,” Jackson tells me.
Okay. This is good. This is something.
“So, go have fun this weekend at Chloe and Noah’s wedding, and don’t worry about what you’ve heard. I promise you this will all be over soon.”
I guess I need to hold tight. There is light at the end of a really long tunnel. I click ‘end call’ and hang my head in my hands, taking a couple of deep breaths to try and center myself.
“You okay?” Stirling’s voice makes me jump. I clutch at my chest as my heart practically jumps out of it. “Rhys?” Stirling looks at me with concern.
“Yeah, just got off the phone with Jackson. It’s all going to be over soon.”
“Really?” He sounds surprised. “That’s awesome. Did they find something they can use on Madison?”
I nod my head. “She’s in on it all.” Stirling’s eyes widen with surprise. “She planned it all.”
“How?” he questions. I explain to him everything Jackson told me while he listens intently. “Wow.” He shakes his head in astonishment. “That is fucked-up.” I nod my head in agreement. “Do you think they’re going to be able to catch them? Are you safe?”
“Jackson said that he’s speaking to NYPD and that I’m perfectly safe. That they will have this all under control.” I shrug my shoulders because I have to have faith in Jackson and his team that they know what they’re doing. I don’t have much of a choice.
“Maybe you need to go back to London for a bit,” Stirling suggests.
“I’m not leaving Ariana.”
“Take her with you,” he adds.
“I can’t uproot her life like that. Not after she’s just started her own business. I can’t do that to her,” I explain to my friend.
“I understand. I’m just worried about you, that’s all,” he confesses.
“Thanks, man. I need to trust Jackson.”
He nods his head. “But you promise me… first sign of shit going south, you get the hell out of New York.” His eyes narrow on me. “With or without Ariana.”
That thought makes my stomach turn. I’m not leaving Ariana behind, and I would never ask her to drop everything for me either.
“I’ll think about it,” I tell my best friend honestly.
33
Ariana
Chloe and Noah’s Wedding
I’ve headed to Connecticut a couple of days earlier for bridesmaid duties for Chloe’s wedding. Rhys is coming up today after work, and he’s staying with Anderson, where the other guys are also staying. I’m happy that the boys have accepted Rhys into the fold. Even if Logan is a little wary of the Stone Group’s biggest competitor now being in his inner circle. All my friends love Rhys, which is a blessing because there’s nothing worse than your girlfriends not getting along with your man.
The guys are coming over later to Chloe’s house for the wedding rehearsal tonight.
“You’re getting married tomorrow.” Stella walks in with a bottle of champagne in her hand and waves it in the air.
“I know.” Chloe squeals, rushing to her and pulling her into a hug. “We are going to be family soon.” It’s sad knowing that both Chloe and Noah don’t have any family coming tomorrow, each one of them having tragedy in their lives. That’s why our friendship is so tight. They each created their own family. Thankfully, this weekend is going to go a lot smoother than the last time we were all together before Chloe’s wedding.
“Least it’s better than the last one.” Emma chuckles.
Typical Emma saying exactly what we were all thinking but would never dare say. We all stop and glare at Emma.
“What? It is?” Emma looks genuinely confused at why we would be shooting daggers her way.
“Ems is right.” Chloe laughs, which puts us all at ease. “Last time I was preparing to get married, my fiancé was screwing my pregnant best friend.”
Then Chloe’s face falls, and she remembers that Tracey is no longer with us. Even though it was a horrible messed-up situation, I know Chloe loved Tracey and would have wished for things to have turned out differently.
“Good one.” I elbow Emma.
“Sorry.” Emma genuinely apologizes for bringing the mood down a notch.
“Please.” Chloe waves her words away. “I’ve had way too much therapy to let the past bring me down about this weekend.” She grins widely.
“Okay, let’s grab some drinks and hang out by the fire,” Lenna remarks, grabbing a second bottle of champagne. Looking out the large glass windows, the first flurries of snow begin to fall ever so gently. I hope the weather stays like this for Chloe and Noah’s winter wonderland-themed wedding tomorrow, and the Stormageddon that’s predicted next week does not come a couple of days early. I don’t think getting married in a blizzard is exactly what either of them had envisioned.
We all take a seat by the fire. Construction of the clear tents over the aisle has been completed as well as the fairy lights that have been strung up around it. Looking out through the windows, it’s beautiful. Magical. Romantic. There’s a second tent set up for the reception off to the side. It’s a small intimate affair this weekend, neither one of them wanting it to be a media circus. They simply want to celebrate with the people closest to them.
“How are you doing?” Stella asks, taking a seat beside me on the oversized cream sofa while the other girls are fussing about with drinks.
“Good.”
“Just good?” she pushes.
“I’m busy, too,” I add with a grin which makes Stella roll her eyes at me.
“How are things with Rhys?”
“They’re really good, but it’s hard to plan a future when there’s a heap of craziness hanging over our heads.” Letting out a long sigh, I continue, “Honestly, designing your home has helped me so much. Focused me on something else other than what’s troubling us both.”
Stella reaches her hand out and gives mine a squeeze. “You’ve created the most amazing house for us, Ari. I don’t know how we can ever repay you.”
“It was so much fun. I didn’t realize how much crap I was being given at my old job until I started letting my mind wander and tapped into my creative ideas.”
“Any more news about Rhys’ ex?” Stella asks.
I shake my head in answer. “Apparently, things are a little more complicated now that a hardcore criminal element is involved. Jackson needs to tread more gently because they don’t operate in the same arena as the government or law enforcement.”
“Things have to get better.” Stella tries to give me a pep talk. “There’s a ligh
t at the end of the tunnel at some point.” I know she’s right, but at this moment, I’m not sure if this nightmare will ever end.
It’s not long until the boys arrive with the food to change the mood. We are all a little buzzed from a couple of bottles of champagne and maybe a couple of shots we all drank.
“Hey, gorgeous.” Rhys bends down and kisses my cheek, surprising me, and making me jump.
“Hey, you made it.” Turning around on the sofa, I look at him.
“I did.” He grins at me. “I wouldn’t miss tonight for anything.”
My heart swells at his words. Then, he walks around the sofa and sits beside me, so I reach out and kiss him.
I’ve missed him. Urgh, I can’t believe I’m one of those girls who is like ‘I miss my man’ and you’re like ‘it’s not even twenty-four hours, Britney. God, chill.’ Well, unfortunately, that’s me right now.
“Your cheeks are all flushed. Have you had a little too much to drink?” He raises a brow in my direction.
“Ssh… maybe.” Holding my finger up to my lips, he chuckles.
“God, I love you.” He pulls me to him, and we lose ourselves again in our kiss until someone clears their throat, forcing us apart.
“Welcome everyone, to the wedding of Chloe and Noah Stone,” Camryn Starr, the owner of Starr & Skye events, the wedding planner, states. “Tonight, we will be doing a quick walkthrough of what’s happening tomorrow, just so you know how everything will be,” she explains. “So, boys, you go with my partner, Kimberly, and ladies, you’re with me.”
Rhys stays by my side on the sofa while Chloe and Camryn talk about the logistics of tomorrow.
Turning my attention back to Rhys, while everyone else is distracted, I ask, “Did you hear from Jackson?”
“Yeah. I did.”
“All good?” Concern begins to weave across my body at his tight-lipped answer.
“It’s complicated, but I think everything might be over with next week.” He grins.
