Alaina Ariosa turned on her most imperious expression. “Do you have this is a smaller size? What are you trying to do? Clothe all of the elephants in the city?”
“Elephants, madam?” Leeann’s smile grew distinctively brittle. “The smallest size this dress comes in is a two.” Leeann’s dark gaze swept Alaina Ariosa from head to toe. “Have you tried the two?”
Alaina snatched the size two dress off the rack and wiggled it around a bit. Then she dumped it right there on the floor between herself and Leeann. “I can already tell it’s going to be swimming on me.”
Eleni wanted to facepalm right there. Although actually what she wanted to do was leave. She just wanted to walk away from what was about to become an epic fit. Nobody suggested to Alaina Ariosa that she could not fit into a size zero. Of course, that was why their house was filled to bursting with dresses that would never in a million years fit Alaina’s size seven body. The Ariosa women were petite, but not that petite.
“Shall I place these in a dressing room for you?” Leeann took another stab at being polite.
Alaina immediately rebuffed the store clerk’s efforts. “No. I’ll just take them home and try them on.”
“Then I will take them to the register so we can ring up your purchase and put these in a lovely hanging bag to keep them safe from the rain.” Leeann reached for the dresses in Eleni’s arms.
Eleni’s blood turned to ice in her veins. Surely Leeann hadn’t just suggested that Alaina Ariosa had to pay for the dresses? This was about to get really, really ugly. Eleni cleared her throat, but Alaina put up one hand to shush her daughter and propped the other on her hip. Alaina looked like a middle school girl about to kick some butt. Unfortunately, this was where her maturity level was hovering these days too.
“Are you new or something?” Alaina snarled at Leeann. “Don’t you know who I am?”
“Actually, I know exactly who you are, Alaina Ariosa.” Leeann’s tone was still pleasant. It was actually kind of impressive. “I’m the manager here at Orville’s. We have been told by our corporate offices that you are no longer to have any form of credit within the store. Your purchases will be made using cash money or not at all. Any attempts to leave the store with unpaid merchandise will result in a phone call to the police. We will report the theft and press charges accordingly.”
“What?” Alaina’s mouth actually fell open in shock. “You cannot be serious! I’m Alaina Ariosa! My daughter Embry is married to Joseph Orville, Junior!”
“Yes, that is true.” Leeann folded her hands in front of her.
The store manager seemed pretty damn self-possessed, but Eleni could see the telltale tremble in her fingertips. She was nervous, but maybe the store employees had wanted to do this for so long now that this was how she managed to keep it together.
Alaina turned to Eleni. “Call your sister.”
“Now?” Eleni glanced at Leeann the store manager. This was getting embarrassing. Why couldn’t her mother just dump the merchandise and leave in a huff? Why did she have to win the argument? “Mom, let’s just go.”
“No! Call your sister! I want to talk to that loser of a husband of hers!”
Leeann sighed. There was something distinctive in her expression that suggested to Eleni that she knew something they did not. This wasn’t good. Or maybe it was. But Eleni had a bad feeling as she pulled out her phone and found Embry’s number in her contacts.
It only took three rings for her sister to pick up. “Embry?”
“Eleni?”
The background noise was loud. Eleni could hardly hear. She pressed a finger to her opposite ear and stepped a little distance away from where Alaina was now explaining to Leeann how she was about to get fired from her job at Orvilles because basically Alaina owned the place and Leeann must just not realize it.
Eleni had no interest in listening to that tirade anyway. Putting a few racks of designer clothing between her and the dramatic showdown, Eleni tried to hear her sister’s voice.
“Embry, where are you?”
“Italy!”
“What?”
There was a pause and a flurry of speaking on the other end of the line. “We’re at the airport. Edward King and his fiancée, Diana, are picking us up to take us to the new villa! Oh Eleni, it’s so beautiful!”
“Wait. Italy. Just for vacation?” Eleni had a bad feeling about this. A really bad feeling. “Tell me you’re on vacation.”
“Nope. We’re here permanently. Joseph is getting his work Visa. It’s a long story.” Embry sounded happier than Eleni had ever heard her. “And I should warn you that Mom is going to get cut off. My in-laws sold the store.”
“No.”
The gravity of what Embry was suggesting was so absolutely unbelievable that for a moment Eleni was sure this whole thing was a joke. Then her thoughts began to spin and Eleni realized that this had been going on for weeks now right under her nose, and even more importantly, under Alaina’s nose.
“Eleni!” Alaina’s shrill shout pretty much silenced the entire store, but then that was actually what Alaina intended. She was expecting to win the argument and she wanted as many people to witness her victory as possible.
People stared. It was embarrassing. Eleni felt her cheeks flare red hot. Her Hispanic heritage had at least rendered her complexion dark enough to hide the fact that she was blushing horribly, but it wasn’t going to save her from what was coming.
The store was packed with Dallas holiday shoppers. They were five days out from Christmas. Santa was taking photos with little kids in the back corner of the store. Elves were helping mothers purchase photo packages of their kiddos. And right now every single one of those people was staring right at Alaina Ariosa and waiting to see what she would do next.
“Is that your sister?” Alaina snapped her fingers at Eleni to demand the phone. “Let me talk to her.”
“Wait!” Embry’s tone turned urgent. “Are you in the store right now?”
Eleni sighed. “Yeah. Mom wants to talk to you. Apparently her credit has been suspended.”
“Indefinitely,” Embry agreed. “Let me talk to her.”
This was a surprising development. Eleni actually felt herself take a mental step back in shock as she realized that her little sister was not only growing up but trying desperately to establish some kind of independence from Mother. If only Eleni could do the same thing.
“Give. Me. The. Phone!” Alaina shrieked.
Eleni handed it over without another word. Her heart was beating frantically. Her palms were clammy. She felt as though she were about to throw up. She wanted to run, but there was no place left to go. She was it for her mother. Alaina had been ostracized by her social circles. She had burned the last bridge that she had with her friend Tisha Olivares-King. The two women had always been a bit of a pariah in Dallas social circles, but they’d been an interesting one that the matrons of Dallas seemed to tolerate just for entertainment purposes.
Now, not so much.
“What are you talking about?” Alaina shouted into Eleni’s phone. “You didn’t ask me if you could go to Italy!”
Eleni pinched the bridge of her nose and exhaled a sigh. People were whispering to each other. Alaina’s voice carried with such imposing volume that it actually managed to drown out the merry tune about the girl who wanted a hippo for Christmas.
Leeann edged closer to Eleni. “Did your sister tell you what happened?”
“Yeah.”
“They sold the store. It was kept on the down-low.”
“I’m sure that was intentional,” Eleni agreed. “I appreciate you at least being polite.”
Leeann pursed her lips. “You really shouldn’t have to put up with this.”
“One would think.”
Alaina suddenly threw Eleni’s phone across the store with such force that it hit a Christmas tree. The thing shivered and rocked before toppling to the ground in a hail of silver ornaments. They shattered on the tile and industrial-grade c
arpet. The tree shuddered as it came to rest on the floor. The scene was surrounded by tinsel strung about like the remains of a party.
“Ms. Ariosa,” Leeann said loudly. “Please excuse yourself and leave the store. Now.”
“I will do no such thing!” Alaina snatched the dresses she had already determined to take for herself and marched toward the door. “Eleni, come with me now!”
Eleni didn’t move. She was staring at the destroyed Christmas tree and trying to decide if her phone could have survived such an experience. She needed the phone. It wasn’t even paid off yet.
“Eleni!” Alaina got close to the exits, but Leeann had already signaled for security. There were now four enormous men with their arms crossed imposingly over their chests blocking the exit. “Eleni, get over here now! We are leaving!”
“Not with that merchandise,” Leeann called after Alaina. “Leave the dresses and you may go.”
“They. Are. Mine!”
“Not until you pay for them.” Leeann snapped her fingers. “Chelsea, call the police. Tell them we have a shoplifter.”
“Oh, you wouldn’t dare!” Alaina was spinning in circles as though she were searching for someone to help her. There was nobody left though. She had alienated just about everyone in the city at one point or another. And trying to blatantly walk off with over five thousand dollars in merchandise wasn’t exactly making her a sympathetic character in this melodrama. “Eleni, get over here!”
Eleni ignored her mother. She was already kneeling beside the ruined tree. Sifting carefully through the wreckage, Eleni tried to find her phone. It took a moment, but Eleni finally spotted it underneath a smaller pile of tinsel and mangled greenery. Carefully extracting the smartphone, Eleni exhaled a sigh of relief when she realized that the case had done its job. The phone was not destroyed. It was going to be fine. Eleni didn’t have to try and purchase a new one at some ridiculously inflated price.
“Eleni!”
The insistent shouting from Alaina finally pushed Eleni beyond limits. She got to her feet and glared at her mother across the crowded and eerily silent department store. No doubt this would make the evening news. “What, Mother? What do you want? You can’t have the dresses. Someone is telling you no. Get. Over. It!”
“You buy them,” Alaina insisted suddenly.
Eleni nearly sucked in a gasp so hard that she was pretty sure it made her lightheaded. “You must be kidding! I can’t afford that! I can’t even afford to shop here for myself! I’m a teacher, not an heiress!”
“Buy them.”
“No.”
“Eleni, don’t challenge me!”
Eleni actually laughed. She could not help it. Her mother was demanding the impossible, but then that was what Alaina Ariosa did, was it not? “I don’t even have that kind of money in the bank. I don’t have it on a credit card. I don’t have it! Buy the dresses yourself or drop them. Or you can go to jail for all I care.”
Eleni was suddenly done. Very done. Her sister had deserted her. Rightfully so, but still. Her mother was a shrew. And Eleni was on her Christmas break from her teaching job and horribly aware that her mother was basically ruining the vacation with her childish behavior.
Hmm. Eleni taught second grade. Not even her students acted like this. But if they had, Eleni would have intentionally ignored the behavior and made certain they knew that it would not get them what they wanted. So perhaps if Alaina Ariosa was going to act like a spoiled child, then Eleni would treat her like one.
“Leeann,” Eleni told the store manager. “Thank you for your time and trouble. Please feel free to handle my mother as you see fit. I’m going home.” Then Eleni turned to her mother and pointed right at her. “And don’t you dare call and demand I come and bail you out. You’re on your own.”
And with those final words, Eleni turned on her heel and headed for the back entrance of the store. Thank goodness they had come here in her car. Now it was time to go home and curl up with a good book so she could enjoy the last bits of her Christmas vacation.
Chapter Two
“Oh. My. God! Did you hear about what happened at Orville’s Department Store yesterday?”
Orion King rolled his eyes and tried to quell the urge to throw his drink on the nearest Dallas society matron. Holiday parties were already hell on earth. At least that was how he felt about them. When the only thing that anyone wanted to talk about was the horribly bad behavior of a woman who was a former member of their high society ranks, the parties went from barely tolerable social requirements to intolerable torture in a heartbeat.
Deliberately turning his back on the gaggle of women in their sparkly, holiday-themed outfits, Orion moseyed through the rooms of the expansive home in search of a quiet corner to hide in. Unfortunately for him, there did not seem to be any corners that might be considered quiet in this nearly eight-thousand-square-foot home.
“There you are!” Tansy Dunlop appeared by Orion’s side and looped her arm through his. “Grandmama thought you might have slipped out to the pool for some fresh air.”
More like Tansy’s grandmama wanted Orion to drag Tansy out to the pool for some privacy and a little hanky-panky that would end with Orion popping the big question. That seemed to be the way the wind was blowing in Dallas lately. Unfortunately for Orion, Tansy was more than five years younger than he was, in search of a husband who could bring her money and social status, and not shy about making sure Orion knew that this was all he meant to her.
Orion cast about for an explanation for his moving about in the shadows of the house. “I was just over here having a look at your grandmother’s art.”
“Oh, yes. She does love her art.” Tansy sounded annoyed. “You would not believe how much money she wastes on that crap.”
“As opposed to what?” Orion wondered out loud. “Wasting it on clothes and jewelry?”
“Jewelry is never a wasteful purchase,” Tansy argued. “You can always sell it, and generally speaking, it appreciates instead of depreciates. Like real estate. You know?”
Sometimes Tansy seemed like an empty-headed moron. At other times, Orion became aware that the young woman possessed knowledge that only worked toward one thing. The pursuit of money. When it came to that fact of existence, Tansy was an expert.
“Speaking of selling things in order to get through the lean times.” Tansy’s eyes were sparkling with mischief. She had stylishly cut dark hair and heavily made up dark eyes. Her eyelashes had to be fake because they looked like caterpillars crawling on her face, which was a direct contrast to the nearly nonexistent eyebrows that had been carefully penned above her eye sockets.
Then Orion realized what she had just said. “Wait a freaking second here. I do not want to hear about Alaina Ariosa’s shoplifting arrest at Orville’s Department Store yesterday.”
“You’re no fun!” Tansy actually pouted. Pouted. The woman puffed up her lips and let them turn down in an expression reminiscent of a little kid. That lasted only a few moments though, then her expression turned sly. “Or are you just tired of hearing the part where she was screaming at her daughter to buy the stuff for her and poor little Eleni Ariosa couldn’t even afford a few dresses.”
Orion clenched his teeth so hard that he heard his jaw creak. It was not a good thing. He was starting to have a really hard time holding it together when people starting this social posturing bullshit. He was tired of it. He was—he was just tired.
No. Orion could not give into the desire to just walk away from Tansy. He needed to stop doing that. If nobody ever called these people on their behavior it would never change. Right? Besides, what did he have to lose? “So if you were in the store with your mother and she demanded that you drop about five grand on a bunch of dresses for her, nothing for you, what would you say?” Orion prodded. “Would you eagerly whip out your bank card and spend five grand on your mother?”
“Since my mother has five grand and I’m not some poor teacher, I wouldn’t have a problem with it at all.�
� Tansy snorted and gave a dismissive wave of her hand. “It’s not such a big deal. Seriously. I think the whole thing is stupid. It’s just five grand.”
Just five grand. Orion processed that for a moment. This was exactly what was wrong with everyone these days. “So basically what you’re telling me,” Orion drawled. “Is that you’ve never worked for anything in your life. You don’t really intend to. You don’t see a problem with wasting five thousand dollars that you didn’t even earn on something you don’t need anyway. And you would happily just continue to spend someone else’s money for the rest of your useless life.”
Hmm. That had come out a little more derogatory than Orion had probably intended. At least initially. He was disgusted with this mentality in general. That was the problem. He worked hard. His brothers worked hard. At least in their own ways. Their mother had never lifted a finger for herself in her entire life. Tisha Olivares-King was a freeloading mooch that expected her sons to make the company successful, to pay her bills, to continue to subsidize her lifestyle, and to allow her to pretty much run them in the same way that she had run their father before his death.
Death. The word burned like acid in Orion’s gut. When Tansy grabbed his arm, he yanked it away without even thinking about it. The result nearly yanked the young woman off her feet. Tansy stumbled against the wall. Her green ruffled dress caught on a piece of window trim and ripped. The sound of the fabric being torn was horrendously loud. For just a moment it was almost as though the whole scene was frozen in place.
Then Tansy seemed to come back to life all at once. “What is wrong with you? You ripped my dress! You ripped it!”
She was smacking him, hitting his arms and swatting at him with her girlish blows that did nothing but piss him off. Tansy was short. Probably only five foot three or four. At six foot two inches tall, Orion towered over her and yet she was jumping up on her heels in order to smack him right in the face.
Billion Dollar Wolves: Boxset Bks 1-5 Page 96
