I rocked, unsure what to say next. I pressed my leg next to Stone’s, so we touched. “We came to our cousin’s wedding as a family.”
A man with dark hair then came over and pressed his hand on my shoulder as he said, “Miss Steel, let me handle everything.”
He wore a gray business suit and was probably a wedding guest, but I asked, “Who are you?”
“Frank Rubio. I’m Mr. Donovan’s attorney, and now Stone’s.”
Good. For the first time, I could breathe again. He pointed to the rest of the Steels and said, “I need you to go to your family so I can represent your brother and clear everything up.”
My feet felt like stones strapped to my ankles. I slowly backed away as the lawyer spoke to the officer.
Olivia was the first to greet me and she tugged me over to the others. “Emily, come back here.”
My face was wrinkled, and I knew I’d cry any second. “I don’t understand, Olivia.”
She hugged me and brought me into the group. “Frank is a great attorney. He’s handled criminal stuff for the family before. He helped your cousin Joseph with his assault charges, when he protected Mary from her ex. Tell Frank everything but let him handle the legalese.”
The faces of my cousins surrounded me, but honestly, I couldn’t breathe here. This was my fault. I squeezed Olivia’s hand. “I need to go to my room. It was broken into.”
Jason raised his hand like we were still in school. “I’ll go with you.”
“Okay.” I nodded. At least Jason didn’t make my heart race, and I could use the help.
My room door and the frame were splintered where the lock had been forced open. I held my useless security card in my hand and pushed the door open. We entered cautiously and I curled my hands around my stomach as I made my way to the closet. My heart was beating fast when I opened it to check the safe.
The lock was broken. Every cent of my money was gone, my future plans destroyed. My throat constricted and I couldn’t quite breathe but I called out to Jason. “My … money … is gone.”
His eyes widened. “You kept money in here?”
I ran my hands through my hair and rocked back and forth. “I didn’t want to wear a crossbody bag to the wedding. I put it in the safe.”
His phone beeped. He glanced at it quickly, then looked at me. “I have to ask. Do you know if you still have the will?”
How did Jason know? I winced, but I had no reason not to trust him. I showed him the empty safe and said, “I … no. That’s gone, too.”
Olivia knocked and came in through the open door. “What will?”
“My father’s. It gave Lana custody of me. And, it left us money.” Tears fell from my eyes and I rushed to hug my cousin. She held me while I cried. Then, I remembered and snapped my fingers. “Stone took pictures on his phone.”
“I’ll bet that’s why Lana accused him and ruined the wedding.” Olivia held my hands and waited until I stopped crying, then pointed to the door. “Let’s go tell Frank that Lana had a motive to destroy the wedding.”
“What is that exactly, though?” I asked, trying to catch my breath. I walked with her down the stairs, and she directed me to my brother’s new lawyer.
I told him that someone had broken into my room safe and stolen all my money. “I had a copy of my father’s will there, too. Whoever stole my money also took the papers. But Stone’s phone has pictures of it.”
Frank called out to one of the cops, “Officer, my client here said money was taken from her safe.” He then whispered to me, “Don’t talk about Stone to them.” I nodded and he added, “Go wait with your family. Thank you.”
I stepped back, but I heard Frank tell my brother, “Stone, open your phone for me.”
An officer came to talk to me, and I explained about my three thousand dollars and the will I had in my possession.
Once the officer left, I turned around and my heart, for one moment, skidded to a normal rhythm as my gaze fixed on the one person I needed right now.
For just a second, it felt like we were alone as he came toward me. Even as I heard my brother with the officers and the clink of the cuffs, my world sprang into color. “Jesse.”
He hugged me and part of me wanted to just stay in his arms and forget everything else. He asked, “Are you okay?”
I held him like an anchor and said, “I … no … I don’t know. My money’s gone. And my brother …”
“It will be okay.” His words sounded reassuring in my ears, but I’d never been one to hope. “So what are you going to do?”
I turned around and saw my brother with the officers and his lawyer. I lifted my chin and said, “Stone saved my life. I’m not abandoning him now.”
“Of course.” Jesse held my waist then asked, “Is there anything I can do?”
I pointed to my brother and his lawyer. “Some lawyer named Frank Rubio is helping him. I’m supposed to be patient.”
He kissed my cheek and said, “Rubio’s great. He helped my cousin take over his father’s company.”
His phone beeped. I turned and crossed my arms. “I’m not looking for a corporate raider. She accused him of assault.”
Jesse let me go and stared down at his phone, then said, “Look, my parents are texting me. I have to answer them.”
“Go,” I said and nodded. “We’ll talk later. I need to be with my family right now.”
“Of course,” he said. “I’ll find you in a few minutes.”
I wasn’t sure what would happen next, but I had to help in whatever way I could.
Stone, his lawyer and the officers were in deep conversation and my skin practically burned with worry and frustration.
I needed a release, so I decided to sneak out to the lobby.
Jesse wasn’t there, but as I twirled around to look for him, I saw my stepmother sitting in a corner with Cleo.
She’d ruined my life. I refused to be intimidated by her any longer, and my heels clicked on the floor as I made my way over and stared down my nose at them. “Lana. Cleo.”
Lana was cool as a cucumber. She raised her eyebrows like we were in the dining room at home and I was serving her again. “Oh, there you are, Em. Are you okay?”
I glanced at Cleo, who gave me her usual evil stare. But there was no one sitting at Lana’s left. I swallowed and asked, “Where’s Coco?”
Lana shrugged like her own daughter no longer mattered. “She’s betrayed me.”
Was she sent to hide my money? “Where is she?”
“I don’t know,” Lana said, and her almost-black eyes made my soul freeze.
I widened my stance. “Drop the charges against my brother, Lana.”
She sat back in her chair and almost chuckled at me as she said, “Don’t be ridiculous. You shouldn’t be near him, anyway. You need to come home with me.”
I swallowed again. It was like even the air around me was out to stomp on my dreams. My voice squeaked and I said, “You … you kicked me out. And, I’m an adult.”
She stood and towered over me. My entire shadow disappeared. “You’re my responsibility.”
“No. Not anymore.” I said and turned away.
I expected tears, but they didn’t come. My face was numb. I ran. I couldn’t be here. As I returned to the ballroom, Jason found me first.
I glanced at my brother. He seemed stressed.
I turned to my friend and asked, “Jason, where’s Coco?”
His gaze narrowed but he waved for me to join him and said, “Come.”
We went up the stairs toward the rooms again, but down a different hall. Jason opened his door and slipped inside. I followed and he closed the door behind me. Then, I saw my blonde stepsister come out of the closet. I hugged her as I asked, “Coco, what are you doing here?”
“Did you ever read the will I gave you?” She asked as we sat on the bed.
I tilted my head and said, “I’m eighteen, so she gets the money.”
“No.” Coco let out a sigh then whispered like
it was a secret, “My mother loses half a million if you don’t live with her right up until you go to college.”
I massaged the back of my head and my adrenaline went into overdrive as I tried to think. “But she kicked me out.”
Coco said quietly, “A few hours before the wedding, her lawyer told her she’d made a mistake and she should get you to move back home.”
This was on me, then. She had accused Stone to somehow force me to move back in with her. I swallowed and jumped off the bed. If I had caused this, then I had to be the one to fix everything.
I waved goodbye and sprinted out of the hotel room.
I had to save Stone. He was my brother and I’d not let anyone ruin his future. My stepmother was still in the lobby. I slid to a fast stop in front of her and said, “Lana.”
“Emily.” She didn’t move at all.
I beat my hand against my chest. I had no other choice, so I quickly asked, “If I agree to move back in with you, will you drop the charges against my brother?”
She stood again, and the darkness covered my soul as she curled her lips in that smirk of hers. “When you return home … then, yes.”
I held out my hand to shake hers and said, “You have yourself a deal.”
She stared at my fingers until I lowered my arm then waved for me to leave her. “Go and tell the other Steels you’re leaving with me, willingly. Our flight’s at five. Be on it.”
Right. I’d tell everyone goodbye, leave and Stone would be free. This was my only choice. He had a brilliant future ahead of him that he’d worked hard to achieve. I’d not let Lana take that from him, even if it meant I lost everything.
Chapter 14
Jesse
My parents never texted me. They never sought me out. We never talked about anything more than how my father wished he was still my age, or my mom was off to her board meetings.
The text itself was odd, too. It didn’t give a reason for summoning me. Half of me wanted to be in the ballroom to hold Em’s hand, but I continued forward. If something had happened to our rooms, then maybe they wanted to be the ones to tell me. I knocked on the door of our suite to announce myself then waited for them to unlock it.
When they did, I found myself face to face with a brunette I’d never expected to see again. My eyes widened as I stared into my ex’s brown eyes. “Helen?”
My mother sipped her coffee at the table and watched me as Helen put her hands on her hips and said, “Surprise.”
My chest was hollow. The life I’d discovered here was good, and it made me ache for more—not to go back to this dark cloud anymore.
“Now is not a good time.” I sidestepped Helen and asked, “Mother, did you invite her?”
She didn’t meet my gaze, just stared into her coffee, as she said, “No, but your father thought you were getting too attached to that Steel girl.”
“Attached” meant I was weak, according to my father. I’d heard him at the golf course, discussing in detail how real men never fall in love. But I wasn’t him. And I’d not pretend I was, for his entertainment, anymore. I heard him in the bedroom and opened the door. He closed his laptop at the makeshift desk he’d created for himself, and I told him, “Father, Emily is going to go to Austen with me.”
He stood and fixed his belt buckle. “That doesn’t mean you need to give up on all others in your life, boy.”
“You don’t get to live your life through me anymore,” I said, and closed the door.
My mother was stony silent as she read her text messages and paid no attention to me.
No one in my family had ever tried to understand me. I stormed toward the door but stopped beside Helen, the former cheerleader, and said, “Helen, look, you and I aren’t ever going to be together again.”
She tossed her hair, like that was somehow cute, when it only made her seem empty, and she said, “You really did fall for a virgin.”
I shrugged and turned my back on them all. This was it for me. I opened the door to my room and said to Helen, “It doesn’t matter who I am with. What matters is that you need to stop texting me, and never show up uninvited again. My life is my own, from this day forward.”
I didn’t wait for a response. I closed the door and quickly packed my small bag.
A few minutes later, I came back into the living room, carrying my bag. I walked past my mother, who kept her face glued to the screen and not to me. It was how I’d remember her, always.
I left the suite and ran down the stairs, but when I made it to the lobby, I didn’t see Em anywhere. She was probably still in the ballroom. I called, and the phone rang several times. When it clicked, I hoped it was her and said, “Em?”, but I only got her voice mail.
I set out to find her, but as I crossed the room, the dark-haired girl—the one Em had said was her stepsister—showed up and stood in my way. I blinked and asked, “Cleo, right?”
She nodded and said, “Look, Jesse, I wanted to give you a heads up. My stepsister has always been delusional. I know she’s been following you around like a puppy, but it’s time we take care of her.”
My stomach twisted. “After the years of abuse she suffered in your family’s house, she deserves better.”
Cleo gave me a stare like I was the crazy one and said, “You don’t really know her, and you shouldn’t believe her lies.”
Her words were as pointless as this conversation. I glanced around the room and asked, “Where is she?”
“She’s gone,” she said.
I ignored whatever else she might say and returned to the ballroom. I called Em’s number again.
I didn’t see her in there, but I saw the blond guy she’d talked to before. I headed over to him and asked, “Jason, where’s Em?”
Her phone went to voicemail again. I clicked it off as Jason said, “She’s not here.”
“Her stepsister told me she was gone. She’s not answering her phone.”
He held up his hand and said, “I just heard a phone ringing. Call again.”
I swallowed and hit the green button to dial her again. “Okay.”
This time, I heard the ring. Jason circled behind Em’s family and went to a table. He held up the phone and asked, “Is this it?”
My skin grew cold. “She left it here. Where is she? ”
Jason tapped his cheek and said, “She was just talking to her brother. They’re about to free him, so just wait a moment. Maybe he knows where she went.”
Good thinking. Jason seemed to really care about her family, and her. We saw the officers, Frank, and Em’s brother walking towards the entrance, talking. Stone wasn’t wearing cuffs anymore. The officers left, and Frank went over to the bride and groom to fill them in.
As Em’s brother and the woman he was dancing with earlier came closer, I called out, “Stone, where’s Em?”
We’d never been formally introduced. He skidded to a stop and asked, “She’s not with you?”
“No.” I took her phone from Jason and waved it in front of her brother. “She left her phone on a table. And, her stepsister told me she left.”
Stone came closer, still holding on tightly to the woman’s hand. His eyes grew larger as he said, “She just came over and said goodbye to me. I thought she was going to find you.”
“She didn’t come to me.” I didn’t blink. “I told her I’d be right back. I needed to see my parents and then when I came back down, she was nowhere.”
Stone’s face turned pale. “Oh, God. I hope she didn’t go back to Lana to set me free. Lana stood to lose a fortune if Em left home before she went to college, but I never would have thought she’d stoop to getting me arrested so Em would return to her.”
Emily’s stepmother had been in the lobby when we came in. Then, she wasn’t. Now Em was gone.
Had Em willingly gone back to Pittsburgh with her?
Jason grabbed my arm and said, “I have an idea. Coco will tell us what she knows. She’s in my room.”
Stone nodded and said, “This is Vane
ssa. She helped me find Emily before.”
Stone’s girlfriend was welcome to join us. The four of us headed to the ballroom door. Em had mentioned to me that Coco was the nicer stepsister, but I asked, “Do you trust Coco?”
Stone answered. “She was the one that gave us the will. Now Lana’s missing and so is Emily. Coco will know if there’s a connection.”
When we got upstairs, Jason unlocked the door to his room. No one was there, but he called out, “We need help, Coco.”
The blonde sister stepped out of the closet and asked, “What can I do?”
“Do you know where your mother is?” I asked. “Or Em?”
Coco ducked back into the closet for a minute and came out holding her phone. She said, “My mother called the airlines earlier for tickets. Let me turn on my location and check my phone tracker app.”
Jason added quickly, “We’ll protect you, Coco. You’re eighteen, so you can choose where you live now.”
I moved my bag over my shoulder and asked, “You think she’s at the airport?”
She turned her phone toward the three of us and said, “Yeah. She’s there. See the blue dot?”
The Napa Valley Airport, terminal three. Hopefully Em hadn’t gone with her stepmother, but who knew? I tapped her brother’s arm and said, “Let’s go.”
Coco came with us, and the five of us headed out. She said, “My mother needs to get Em back in the house or she loses out on half her money. She was furious about the loophole.”
We all headed down the front steps and flagged a limo driver who was waiting there. He confirmed he’d seen Em leave with Lana a little while earlier. We asked him to take us to the airport, and step on it.
My stomach was in knots. The driver was fast though, and the second we made it to the airport, I left my bag in the car and raced into the terminal. I checked the departures screen, then ran up to the first agent I saw and said, “I’d like a ticket for whatever gets me near the flight to Pittsburgh on Gate Three.”
She pointed to the screen behind me and said, “That’s already boarding.”
I nodded and tapped the counter between us. “I think my girlfriend was tricked into getting onto that flight. She thinks her brother is in trouble, and she’s trying to help him, but he’s fine.”
Cinder by Ashes Page 10
