She didn’t put her hands on her ears but did barely catch a photo frame on the small table several feet from the door. She closed her eyes and found her phone, keeping it handy.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Oliver worked to keep from biting his tongue when he saw a man in black uniform approach him from the side.
“I’m not in the fucking mood, so fuck off,” Oliver wasn’t surprised at how quickly or how easily it was to revert to military when he was this angry and allowed the pent up anger through, long legs striding into the parking lot where he knew the SUV was parked.
“Sir, your father has sent me to contact you,” he came to an abrupt halt when the fury filled man spun on him, feet planted and glaring at him.
“I’ll find him in the next week or less.” He turned to leave.
“He wants to speak with you, Mr. Kensington. I’m to take you to him.”
“I don’t need a fucking driver and I’m not in the mood to hear him tell me how right he was about my marriage,” he began walking again, aware of the man hastily keeping up with him. “It’ll take me a week to dissolve this bad idea and head back.”
“Sir, your father is in a downtown hotel and would like to speak with you.”
“Look, I don’t give a shit right now. I want alcohol, the more the better. Damn bitch is nothing but trouble,” he pulled keys from his pocket, snarling at the man still at his side. “Where is he? The old man?”
“I can take you there, sir.”
“I can drive myself,” Oliver pushed the words through his teeth, his hand up and clenched in front of the man’s face. “Where?”
“Follow me, please,” he said quickly after pressing the earpiece and seeming to nod at something he was told.
“Fine,” Oliver slid behind the wheel and threw some energy into slamming his door before turning the engine over and watching the man stride away. “He’s gone off to the black sedan. I’m following.”
He slipped his phone into the slot and tapped in Catherine’s number.
“We’re in a car a couple behind you, Oliver. He’s leading you into downtown Tacoma,” Catherine detailed clearly. “From the ride with Lili, it’s about fifteen minutes because of traffic. I talked to Cassidy and things are still quiet. We have a police unit standing by to take the driver as soon as you enter the suite.”
“Lili…”
“I’m here,” came the familiar voice.
“It’s almost over, baby. Almost over,” Oliver drew in a long breath, the arcing driveway of the high rise hotel coming up in front of him. “I’ve got to go.” He closed the phone and slid it into his pocket, pulling before the valet and stepping from inside. He accepted the claim tab and walked to the hotel, ignoring anyone around him until he came to the desk. “Oliver Kensington. Please let him know his son is here to see him.”
“A moment, please, sir,” the sharply dressed woman said, moving to the side and tapping in a room number. “Yes, sir, of course. Immediately. Room three eighteen, Mr. Kensington. Your father is expecting you.”
Oliver took a long moment to stand quietly in the elevator, the only thing he permitted inside were Hailey and Lili. Because if he didn’t find a peaceful place, he’d never be able to finish it without needing bail. His hand was up and down twice on the door of the suite, features set and jaw tense when his father appeared.
“Is the bar stocked in here?” Oliver pushed the words hard and flat between his lips, his glare shifting from the non-committal expression on his father’s face to the well made up social surprise on his mother’s.
“Fully stocked,” Senior answered slowly, watching his son closely. Glances passed between him and his wife, each studying the posture and behavior.
“We understand you’re angry, Oliver, but we didn’t want to return home without trying to mend things between us,” Gillian Kensington began quietly. “Thank you for coming over.”
Oliver kept his back to them, pouring himself a healthy glass of the amber liquid and downing it before turning to face them. He looked from one to the other, cold fury simmering just below the surface. But part of him knew they would never see it as aimed at them once he laid the groundwork.
“Give me a week and I’ll be back in New York,” he said finally, draining the remaining scotch and slamming the glass to the bar top. “How the hell was I so fucking blind? Why did you see what she was and I didn’t?”
“I don’t…” Gillian looked at her husband, a tiny smirk in her eyes. “Is there a problem, Oliver?”
“Why the fuck didn’t I see that you were right about Liliana?”
“Oh,” Senior pushed a low breath between his lips, working to manufacture a sympathetic fatherly expression. “Perhaps because you weren’t exactly seeing with your brain, Oliver. She is an attractive little piece.”
It took everything inside him to not cross the room and strike his father for the words he’d spoken about Liliana. His fingers tightened on the glass and he remained silent.
“Just simply not the sort you should marry, dear,” Gillian walked to her son, a gentle palm on his arm. “I don’t like seeing you hurting so. I’m sorry.”
“And certainly not one you father a child with,” his father added distastefully. “Is there a problem between you and Liliana?”
“Not a fucking one. I’m giving her the divorce she wants and leaving,” his head shook and he stalked the open patio doors, his hands up on either side and fingers clenched tightly around the edges. “You still have those papers you had drawn up? She’s taking whatever money you offered her. How can I be so smart in business and so stupid when it comes to a woman?”
“She’s a very devious woman, Oliver,” Gillian nodded to her husband behind her son’s back. All heads in the room were up with the smallest of cries filled the suite. She met the alert, narrowed blue eyes when he spun from the patio.
“What was that?” Oliver’s lengthy stride took him to the closed bedroom door, an icy glare offered to the man that stepped in his way. “That was Hailey. Don’t fucking get between me and my daughter because I’m in a mood to fight until I need bail money. Call him off,” he shoved the words toward his father, his hands clenched into tight balls of hard knuckles itching to strike out.
Oliver didn’t see or hear anything from his father but the well-dressed guard stepped to the side with a deferred nod. His hand opened to push the bedroom door wide, relief flowing through him but he held himself in check from rushing to rip her from the hands of the woman trying to comfort the baby.
“What’s she doing here?” Oliver kept staring at Hailey, not wanting to look at either of his parents for the moment.
“Liliana brought her over,” Gillian improvised glibly. “She said since she had your eyes, and we were willing to pay, the child could remain with us.”
“It was one of the reasons we phoned you, Oliver.”
“So she doesn’t want me or our child,” Oliver pushed the words between his lips. It amazed him how easily they fell from one lie to another.
“Oliver, I am so sorry…”
“It isn’t your fault, Mother. It’s my fault, all of it,” Oliver moved into the room, his eyes on the baby but words directed at the woman. “Has she been fed?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And she’s dry and comfortable,” he lifted the familiar travel bag from the floor and then reached for Hailey. “She misses Lili,” he said softly, the faintest hint of recognition in the wide, watery eyes. The tears slowed and a little palm rose when he held her against him.
The single word of ‘da’ echoed like an explosion in his mind.
Oliver turned from the woman who looked like she was going to protest.
“She’s simply fussy, sir, if you’ll…”
“I can care for my own daughter. I don’t know you and I don’t know how you got dragged into this, but do not come between me and my child,” he informed anyone listening without looking back. He moved into the main part of the suite, glancing from
one parent to the other. “You said Lili brought Hailey here and just left her?”
“You sound surprised at her behavior.” Senior said casually, taking a seat in the thick cushions of the arm chair across from his son.
“I guess it was just another part of the overall ploy, huh?” He looked up, a smile on his face despite the frigid chips of ice blue staring from one parent to the other. “Lili enjoyed being pregnant. She blossomed and was even more beautiful to me. So much so I thought we’d talk about breaking our agreement and have a second child before I got a vasectomy.”
“A…Oliver…you’ve never said anything about that,” Gillian saw the look of extreme displeasure on her husband’s face.
“Nothing personal, but that’s a discussion between a man and his wife, not a man and his mother,” Oliver looked to the side at his mother. “We have an environmental reason for limiting ourselves to one child, Mother. Why did you?”
“Why…well…” she shifted with a trace of indignity.
“It was because you already had your heir, wasn’t it?” He saw dislike that the topic had shifted from his life to theirs. “Maybe it’s well past time the Kensington name ended. God knows I’m not impressed with it lately. And my daughter will be brilliant enough to be president, if she chooses, which I hope to God she doesn’t but…brilliant none the less,” he held her closer, letting her snuggle into the crook of his arm, thumb in her mouth and blanket clutched tightly against her.
“I’m sure Hailey will be a brilliant Kensington child,” Senior said firmly. “Now, about your severing ties with this area…”
“I stopped by the daycare,” Oliver looked up, saw the glimmer of apprehension on each face and he had to smile. “You signed out Hailey. Why? Lili didn’t bring her here and leave her. Lili would never leave Hailey with you two. I’m personally grateful she got to know me before she met either of you. She probably would never have spoken to me and I doubt she would have seen me as good breeding material if she’d met my parents first,” he could almost hear Lili laughing in his mind.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” the older man stood up and went to the bar. “I visited my granddaughter earlier. I most certainly did not…”
“You seem to forget the cameras that are everywhere in the resort,” Oliver shook his head in disbelief. “And you’ll continue to try and lie to me. Lili did not leave Hailey here,” he repeated quietly, standing up and hooking the bag on his shoulder. “I’m filing charges against you both, everything I can think of. I’m also going to work to have you removed from any and all boards that I’m part of. I’m not proud of your behavior but I’m not ashamed to tell members of a business board why I’m having you removed. Your ethics and morals in this situation make you incredibly unstable in my professional opinion,” he looked coldly from one to the other when the cheerful voice rang through the room.
“Housekeeping!” Cassidy stepped inside with a bright grin, grey eyes quickly taking in the room.
“Get out! Get out of here!” Oliver Kensington Sr. shouted.
“Sorry…can’t happen,” Cassidy said tonelessly and stepped to the side to allow the uniforms to enter the room, her finger up and aimed at the man across the room who made an effort to reach inside his jacket. Her own gun aimed and her wink simple. “Hands where we can see them…I haven’t shot anyone in ages and I’m due. Make sure you read them their rights, please, and the prosecuting attorney and charging officer will meet you at the station.”
“Hailey!” Lili squeezed past, radar taking her to her husband and child without error. She was across the large room in four steps, the sleepy baby crushed against her even as she was gathered against Oliver.
“What the hell is this? What have you done?” The older man glared at his son, ignoring the sputtering from his wife who was being led from the room with the guard.
“I’ve begun exactly what I told you I would. Don’t ever come near us again,” Oliver said flatly, cold slivers of blue unmoving. “I won’t care about bail if you do.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Lili heard the voices. Vaguely heard the words but nothing registered in her mind but the steady breathing of the baby now cradled against her.
She knew Cassidy was busy talking to the officers as they all headed to the elevator. She knew she said something polite and sighed when she was settled in the SUV, chewing her lip as she twisted in the seat to stare at Hailey sleeping in the car seat as he drove them back to the resort.
Oliver guided them into the apartment, one hand running heavily over his neck and shoulder when she carried Hailey into the bedroom and curled on the bed with her tucked neatly close in the rumpled blankets. He tugged her shoes off after his shower, laying a blanket over her before climbing in the space left for him.
Oliver wasn’t sure what to expect in the morning. He came out of his shower to find her sitting, fully dressed and trying to feed Hailey. He sighed and dropped to his heels, taking the shaking spoon from her fingers and placing his palm beneath her chin. He felt his heart slammed into a wall.
“Lili…what’s wrong? Why are you crying?”
“I…” she swiped angrily, blinking and swiped again. “I’m okay. I am. I need to fix her bottles and make sure she has food and diapers and…”
“Stop and answer me,” he dropped a few oat circles to the tray and pulled Lili to her feet. “Why are you crying?”
“I don’t want to leave her,” she whispered anxiously.
“Alright. I’m sure that’s pretty normal. Can you take the day off? I’m sure everyone would understand…” He came to a stop when she shook her head adamantly.
“I probably…we don’t have pastry chef’s growing on trees. I mean we have people who could fill in…I have wedding cakes to prepare and…”
“Okay…so you can’t…do you want me to keep her with me today? I can work out of here or the suite, the computer and phones are…” Oliver stopped again when her head shook rapidly. “Lili…”
“No…no, don’t you see? We have to take her to the play care. We have to!” She pushed against his chest and began checking the bag, going into the kitchen and preparing bottles for travel, capping them and adding jars of food to the padded bag. “They think I don’t trust them, Oliver. I have to…I can do this. I’ll just check on her a few times during the day.”
“You could go have lunch with her, Lili,” Oliver sat down, tie open and shirt yet to be fastened and picked up feeding his little bird. “I’ll take her in, Lili. And I’ll meet you there at about four-thirty. We’ll go have dinner and a nice, quiet night. Alright?”
“Yes,” she breathed deeply and threw her arms around his shoulders, her kiss slow. “Thank you for understanding. You can take her in…” it was more a question than a statement, so Oliver nodded. “Alright. I’ll go start my cakes. Bye, sweety,” she kissed the gurgling, hand patting baby on the forehead and lifted her pack from the chair, one last look and she was out the door, racing to the kitchens.
“Be patient, Hailey. We’re a little new at this whole thing,” Oliver told her with a little chuckle, but he had his phone out, tapping in the number Cassidy had given him and checking the disposition of his father and mother.
He knocked softly on Eve Covington’s door and was gestured inside, her head bent and pen moving over papers.
“Good morning,” Eve set the pen down, glanced casually behind him. “No Lili?”
“She’ll probably be down a lot today, Eve,” he didn’t sit when she gestured, his head shaking. “Just a short visit. I dropped off Hailey but Lili…she doesn’t want you or the play care to feel responsible,” he watched the argument in the dark eyes watching him. “And we both know you do. I’ve checked with the police and prosecutor’s office. He’s out on his own recognizance. Neither of them have anything remotely like this in their history,” he ran two sets of hands through the short cropped hair.
“Lili doesn’t know?”
“I don’t want to tell he
r. Their attorney is calling it temporary insanity because their son and grandchild were taken away from New York at the same time,” he shook his head, peering out the window into the grey skies. “The video’s and conversations are the only things making that whole speech a fat lie. I’m pushing to just have them return to New York with no contact or the deal’s off and they’re arrested again for attempted kidnapping and all the charges.”
“Just having them away from you and Lili would be best, Oliver. The sooner it’s finished, the sooner Lili can return to a sense of normal. If there’s anything I can do to help, you know you only have to ask,” Eve thought about her child in the other room and smiled. “We’ve begun repeat classes on ID checks and everything. I thought I had it all covered, but a junior and senior kind of wasn’t in my thoughts when I established the procedures.”
“We’re moving out of the resort this weekend,” he shoved his hands into his pockets, sighing thickly. “I hate seeing them get away without being punished,” he ground out.
“Mandatory counseling and no contact with Lili or Hailey might be the best you can get at this point,” she met his eyes. “The longer you drag it on, the more they have to remain in the area…and eventually, a trial where Lili has to face them down as well as ignorant questions from their attorney.”
“I’m having the restitution set as high as I can if they break their word and return to Seattle for anything,” he said flatly, nodding his agreement. “I’ll get the attorney to add the counseling, thanks for the idea. It’ll chaff and that’s the best I can get, is to annoy the shit out of them.”
“I’ve seen that protective gleam in my husband’s eyes, Oliver. I know how strong it is, but it won’t help Lili or Hailey if you’re not here for them. That’s more important than retribution, no matter how good it might feel.”
WindSwept Narrows: #20 Fleur & Liliana Page 16
