I plopped into my chair and pulled Vivi on to my lap. She twined her arms around my neck, and we were just about to kiss when I heard Jayce yell, “Hey, boss! We’ve got a problem out here.”
I claimed Vivi’s mouth in a quick kiss before lifting her off my lap. “Brunch might be great for the restaurant, but not so much when it comes to you and me spending time together on Sundays. Our schedules are already crazy enough as it is, I’m not sure I like the idea of adding to it.”
“Yeah, but don’t forget that you’ve been talking to Jayce about taking over some extra duties,” she reminded me as we walked down the hallway to the dining room. “Once you get it all figured out, you’ll have more free time.”
She was right; I had been talking to Jayce about doing the liquor order each week. What she didn’t know was that I’d also spoken with my head chef about handling the produce and pantry orders and deliveries, leaving the meat, poultry, and seafood to me. Both men had been shocked because I had a habit of micro-managing, but they’d also been excited at the prospect of taking on additional responsibilities.
The transition would probably be difficult since I’d be handing over tasks I’d done myself for a decade, but it would be worth it. I had plans for that extra time, and they all involved Vivi. Thinking about it put a big-ass grin on my face, but it was wiped away when I spotted a middle-aged woman throwing a bottle of wine through the plate-glass window lining the front of the dining room.
“Holy crap,” Vivi hissed. “That’s Susannah!”
Susannah’s head jerked around, and her eyes narrowed when they landed on Vivi. “You bitch! You’re like a cat with nine lives, always landing on her feet. It doesn’t matter what I do, you just keep bouncing back. But that’s going to end today.”
She rushed forward, dodging one of my waiters and Jayce. She overturned a table in her quest to get to Vivi, sending the centerpiece, silverware, and wineglasses crashing to the floor. “Fuck, no!" I roared, shoving Vivi behind me. “If you want to get to her, you’ll have to go through me.”
“Men,” Susannah spat, coming to a halt about five feet in front of me. “You’re all so stupid when it comes to whores with big tits and blond hair.”
Vivi peeked out from behind me and argued, “I don’t know how many times I have to tell you, I never slept with your husband. Chris was my boss. All we ever did was work together. That’s it. I’m not a whore, dammit.”
It was like the woman hadn’t heard a word that Vivi said. She just went on ranting at me. “Did she work her wiles on you like she did with my husband? Suck you in with her big blue eyes and then suck you off with her hoover mouth?”
Hearing her spew that kind of shit about Vivi sickened me. “Shut up about my woman and get the fuck out of here before your mouth buys you the kind of trouble you won’t be able to handle.”
“Your woman? If you think that slut is going to be faithful, you’re even dumber than my husband was. She didn’t think twice about destroying my marriage. Didn’t care about how much it was going to hurt me.” She pounded at her chest, tears streaming down her cheeks. “And now I’m going to make her pay. It’s only fair that she feels pain after what she did to me.”
“I called 9-1-1, and the cops are on the way,” Robert called out from the bar doorway.
“Stay the fuck away from the woman I love,” I warned, my fists clenching at my sides. I hated the thought of hurting a woman, but I’d do whatever it took to protect Vivi.
“You love her?” She seemed to shrink into herself, her shoulders hunching forward as she shook her head. “You can’t. She’s only been here for a couple of weeks. And it’s not fair. I lost the man that I loved to her. She doesn’t deserve to be happy.”
Her gaze slid to the side, and I shifted to the left to block her view of Vivi again. A man I didn’t recognize climbed through the broken window. At first, I thought he was a cop responding to Robert’s call for help. But then his eyes zeroed in on Susannah, and he looked devastated. “You’re wrong. You haven’t lost me. Not yet.”
Susannah turned and stared at the man, shaking her head. “No. That isn’t true. You don’t love me.”
“That’s Chris,” Vivi whispered. She ducked under my arm and pressed against my side while we watched the drama unfolding in front of us.
“I’ve never stopped loving you, and I never will. No matter what,” Chris promised, taking a few slow steps towards Susannah.
“No. No. No.” She shook her head back and forth hard enough to give her whiplash. “If you loved me, you wouldn’t have cheated on me with her!”
“I didn’t, baby. I swear.” He took another cautious step and reached a hand out to her. “I’m so sorry that the gossip started by a disgruntled employee triggered an episode for you. I’m sorry that I didn’t recognize you were spiraling. That I didn’t get you the help you needed sooner. I hate what his lies have done to you, but I refuse to let him destroy us.”
Susannah’s hand twitched. “You didn’t cheat?”
“Never, baby.” He laced his fingers through hers. “I wouldn’t hurt you like that.”
She slumped against his chest and sobbed. Sirens blared in the distance, growing louder as they got closer. I wrapped my arms around Vivi while we waited the few minutes it took for the cops to arrive. Several cars pulled up, and I recognized a few faces. Nico, his partner Leo, and Cobi parked their cars and trucks behind the squad car with its siren on and hurried into the restaurant.
The uniformed officer stayed at the door, while Leo and Cobi headed to where Susannah and Chris stood, sandwiching them on either side. Nico stalked over to me, scanning Vivi to make sure she was okay before turning to me to ask, “I take it you got a visit from the vengeful bitch who tried to destroy your woman’s life?”
“Yeah,” I sighed, running my hand through my hair. “But it turns out the situation isn’t quite what we thought it was.”
“How so?” He jotted down some notes as Vivi and I explained what we’d overheard Chris and Susannah say to each other. When we finished, he shook his head sadly and sighed, “What a mess. And for no damn reason other than some prick decided to mouth off because your girl was better at his job than he was. It fucking sucks that he’s the only one who won’t be hurt by it all.”
Nico and I shared a measured look, and I darted my eyes towards Vivi and gave him a small shake of my head. I didn’t want her to have a part in any plans I might make for retribution against her previous co-worker. But it looked like Nico at the very least would be up for getting me the information I’d need to hunt the guy down. Nico was a damn good cop, but he was also a man who’d found his boom and would do whatever it took to protect her, their children, and grandchildren.
None of us were smiling when Cobi helped the other cop load Susannah into the back of his squad car. At Vivi’s request, Nico followed Chris to the station and left Leo behind to walk us through what would happen next.
Chapter 12
Vivian
I was horrified by the damage Susannah had managed to inflict on Mani’s restaurant in the short time she’d been here. “I feel so stupid. I never expected her to come all the way to Tennessee. I figured it would be a case of out of sight, out of mind. I knew she was out to get me because she thought I’d slept with her husband, but I didn’t expect her to fixate on me so much that she’d drive all the way here to confront me.”
Mani’s arms tightened around me, and I felt him press his lips against the top of my head. “Vivi, stop. Seriously, this isn’t your fault. I don’t blame you for anything she did.”
I kept my face buried against his chest and tried to get my tears under control. My emotions were all over the place. I was still coming down from the flood of adrenaline when I first saw Susannah. And I was angry at her for causing so much destruction to Mani’s restaurant. But I was also sad because of what I’d overheard Chris share with Cobi about Susannah’s struggles with her bipolar disorder.
“Mani is right,” Leo agreed.
“It sounds to me like you did all the right things to try to protect yourself. You deleted your social media presence, changed your phone number, and filed for an order of protection. And when all of that didn’t stop Susannah from messing with your life, you got yourself out of the situation by moving ten hours away.”
I heaved a deep sigh and looked up from Mani’s chest. “But I should’ve gotten a new restraining order when I got here, right?”
Leo shook his head. “You don’t need a new one. A valid, out of state restraining order can be enforced in any state. You’re still protected by the order issued in Florida wherever you are, and you have the certified copy to show the police if the need should arise in the future.”
“Vivi isn’t going anywhere else,” Mani growled. “She’s staying right here with me.”
“Then you should get the order registered here,” Leo recommended. “It’ll help streamline the process should we need to enforce it again in the future. And if you need to request a new order of protection here when the Florida one expires, the fact that she violated it in this county with an act of violence will make it easier to obtain. If you let me take the certified copy with me to the precinct, I can take care of it for you. It will make things easier if you run into any issues with Mrs. Sellers in the future.”
Now that I knew Chris was trying to get her the medical help she needed, I hoped even more that she wouldn’t be a problem again in the future. For her sake and mine. “What’s going to happen to Susannah now?”
“She’d better be going to jail,” Mani muttered.
“She was in cuffs when she was shoved into the back of that cop car,” I pointed out. “I’m pretty sure that means jail is exactly where she’s going.”
“Oh, she’s going to jail all right.” Leo lifted a hand and ticked off each of the charges by raising a finger. “Although the restraining order was issued in civil court, it’s a criminal offense to violate an order. She could be charged with a first-degree misdemeanor. Then there’s the fact that a case could easily be made for aggravated stalking, which is a class E felony. And then there’s the destruction of property which will add a vandalism charge.”
Holy crap, that was one heck of a list. “How much time is she looking at?”
“For violating the order, it’s a maximum of eleven months and twenty-nine days in jail and a fine of twenty-five hundred dollars.” He pointed at the broken window and bottles of wine on the floor. “My guess is that’s more than five hundred dollars in damages right there, which makes it a felony. Depending on what the total amount ends up being, we could be talking about anywhere from one to twelve years in prison, restitution to Mani for the damage to his property, and up to five thousand dollars in fines. And it only gets worse from there if it somehow ends up that the property damage was more than ten thousand dollars.”
“And the stalking?” Mani asked.
“If the prosecutor can prove it in court, aggravated stalking would be another one to six years in prison and up to a three-thousand-dollar fine.”
I did a quick tally in my head. “So we’re talking about up to nineteen years in jail and more than ten thousand dollars in fines?”
Leo nodded. “As a worst-case scenario for her, yes.”
Whoa. I hated Susannah for all of the hell she’d put me through, but I’d loved working for her husband. He’d been a great boss, and I was devastated when I’d lost my job in large part because it meant not working with him anymore. It sounded like they’d been struggling with some serious problems for a while, and that the shit that asshole had pulled pushed all of her buttons. “But they’ll take her issues into consideration, right?”
“Yeah, Nico and I will make sure the prosecutor is aware of her medical history. Odds are good they’ll do a psych eval. If it turns out that an insanity defense is valid due to her bipolar disorder, they’ll most likely offer her a plea deal with a stay in a mental health facility instead of prison as long as her victims agree.” He nodded between Mani and me. “I’m guessing you’d be agreeable?”
“I would.” My answer was instantaneous, but Mani’s took a little longer. I looked up at him and brushed my fingers over the muscle in his jaw that was flexing. “It’s the right thing to do if she’s sick and needs help.”
Pulling me closer to his side, Mani muttered, “As long as she stays away from Vivi, it’s fine by me.”
“I’m sure that would be one of the stipulations.” Leo’s confirmation eased some of the tension in Mani’s body.
We left Leo in the dining room to oversee the crime scene technicians while they finished up. The first thing we did when we got to Mani’s office was call a local glass repair service to get them to come out and take a look at the broken window. Once that was taken care of, Mani called the commercial cleaning service he used and asked them to come early today. And to bring a carpet cleaner so the wine wouldn’t stain the floor or chairs. While he was on the phone with them, I printed up a sign and taped it to the front door to let people know the restaurant was temporarily closed.
Mani was sitting in his chair, staring up at the ceiling when I walked back into his office. I climbed on his lap, straddling him, and pressed a kiss to his jaw. “Was I imagining things, or did you mention something about loving me earlier when you were protecting me from Susannah?”
Mani reached around my back and pulled me flush against his chest. One of his hands slid into my hair, and he tilted my head back to stare into my eyes. “You didn’t imagine anything.”
My lips tilted up in a satisfied smirk. “You love me?”
“You bet your sweet ass I love you.” He brushed his mouth against mine before adding, “And you love me, too.”
“I do,” I admitted softly. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to tell you how I feel, but I guess it took something drastic to give me the courage.”
Mani’s other hand slid up to cup the back of my neck. “That and me saying it first.”
“Yup, but I seem to remember a time when you told me you’d give me anything I want, and I definitely wanted you to say it first,” I teased.
His hold on me tightened. “I also promised to help you celebrate all your successes by giving you as many orgasms as you want.”
“I guess you’d better get to it, then. Because today was filled with successes. The brunch.” I undid the top button of my blouse. “Knowing the thing with Susannah should finally be over for real.” Then the next button. “You telling me you love me.” And one more. “Me saying it back.”
“You’d better stop there, or else you’re not going to be able to walk after I’m done with you,” Mani growled as he lifted my blouse over my head and quickly undid my bra.
I stood up, unzipped my skirt, and let it fall to the floor. “Walking is overrated.”
“Challenge accepted,” Mani rasped as he slid my panties down my legs.
Not only was the challenge accepted, it was met and then some. By the time the cleaners arrived ninety minutes later, Mani had to carry me over to the couch because my legs wouldn’t hold me up. Four mind-blowing orgasms tended to do that to a woman.
Epilogue 1
Mani
“I’ve got to admit; this isn’t what I expected when you invited me to your bachelor party.” Jayce tossed his empty water bottle at me. “No alcohol. No gambling. No steaks. No strippers.”
A typical bachelor party wasn’t my style. I had no interest in seeing a naked woman unless it was Vivi, I could get all the alcohol and steak I wanted any day of the week at Bryson’s, and I’d never been much of a gambler. It turned out to be a good thing since I had something specific in mind for what I wanted to do for it anyway. “A ten-hour road trip with a cop and a biker to go kick someone’s ass isn’t your idea of a good time?”
Jayce shook his head and chuckled. “Don’t go putting words in my mouth. I haven’t gotten into a fight in a long time. I have a feeling this is gonna be fun.”
“Just don’t forget; this is my fight. You
guys are with me as backup and part of my alibi,” I reminded him as we neared our final destination. It’d been a long night, with a stop about a half an hour ago to check in on Susannah to make sure she was where she was supposed to be—at home with her husband. She’d taken the plea deal the prosecutor had offered and had been released from the mental health facility last week. She was on supervised probation with an outpatient treatment program to closely monitor her bipolar disorder and ensure she stayed on her meds. But as long as we were in the area, I’d wanted to see how she was doing with my own eyes—even if only through her front window while listening in with a sound-amplifying device Nico had brought with him.
“In fact, none of us are even here,” Nico added, with a quick glance over his shoulder at Jayce and me. He was driving, and Harlen was in the passenger seat. “We’re all at Bryson’s right now—drinking a fuck-ton of your alcohol, eating a bunch of your steaks, and playing poker well past when the sun goes down again.”
The idea for my alibi had been Nico’s. When I’d asked him to get me the douchebag’s information, he’d insisted on being part of the plan. I’d tried to talk him out of it, but I stopped arguing when he told me that he didn’t want Vivi to be stuck visiting me in prison. My bachelor party had presented the perfect opportunity. We’d hit the road as soon as Bryon’s closed on Sunday night, and Leo and Cobi stayed behind to support the bachelor party story. Nico, Harlen, Jayce, and I had twenty-four hours before anyone would wonder where we were, while our women were distracted by an overnight spa trip for Vivi’s bachelorette party.
Until Mani Page 6
