Chapter 34

34

NIALL

A s I hung up the phone with Tallulah, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. I hadn’t liked the way she’d sounded when we’d said goodbye at all, and after giving the uneasy feeling a few minutes to subside, I got up and strode over to my closet.

Despite my insanely early meeting tomorrow, I was going over there. Something was wrong and I couldn’t ignore the nagging feeling that it was something big. I’d gotten to know Tallulah pretty well and she wasn’t one to turn molehills into mountains.

Whenever she’d sounded distressed in the past, it’d been because she’d had good reason. In this case, I didn’t think it was sudden doubt about our relationship again and I already knew about her past, so it couldn’t have been that either.

Which meant this was something different. Something new that had happened between when she’d picked up my phone call and when we’d ended it, which was puzzling.

Striding into my closet, I put on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, then grabbed a suit in case I ended up staying over there. I would have to leave before sunrise to make it to my office in time for the meeting, but I had to be there for it.

Jake and I were meeting with property developers in China via video conference and I couldn’t exactly meet with them while sitting in bed. Blowing out a deep breath, I grabbed a few toiletries as well, tossing my toothbrush and razor into a bag before heading out.

When I got to the guest house, I knocked quietly on the door, calling out to her but not hearing any sound coming from inside. I pushed the door open, setting down my things and looking around the darkened interior to see a lamp on in the living room.

“Tallulah?” I called softly again, not wanting to wake her if she was asleep. Following the light, I was a little surprised to find her on the couch, looking pale and withdrawn with a blanket pulled over her and a cup of tea in her hand as she stared into the middle distance. “Baby? What’s wrong?”

She blinked her eyes back into focus, moving her gaze slowly to mine as if she hadn’t even realized I was there. “Niall? What are you doing here? I thought you had an early meeting.”

“I do, but I knew something was off while we were talking, so I figured I’d come check on you.” I strode across the room and sat down on the couch with her, turning so I was facing her and putting her feet in my lap. “What happened?”

“My mom tried to call me while we were on the phone,” she explained listlessly, sighing as she took a sip of her tea and winced. “Ew. That’s cold now.”

I took the cup from her and set it down on the coffee table, catching her hand and squeezing it, willing her to look into my eyes. It took her a moment, but finally, she glanced up at me, her hazels filled with worry, hurt, and confusion.

“She didn’t leave a voicemail or anything, so I don’t know why she called, but it wouldn’t have been for anything good.”

“Do you want to talk to her?” I asked cautiously, knowing I had to tread lightly when it came to this.

Tallulah sighed and gave her head a little shake. “No, not really. They chose Carter over me and that’s all there is to it.”

I frowned, breathing in deep in an attempt to remain calm. Whenever we spoke about these people, I felt like I would turn into the freaking Hulk. “Do you think they might’ve reached out because they’ve realized how wrong it was to have chosen someone else’s child over their own?”

“I wish I thought that, but I don’t.” She averted her gaze, fidgeting with the blanket and seeming completely dejected as she shook her head. “If they were any other people, I might’ve thought it was possible they’d finally come to their senses, but not my parents. In their eyes, I was the one in the wrong. They made it perfectly clear that I was their greatest disappointment and an embarrassment to the family name. They told me they would never forgive me for the way I humiliated them and that they’d have been better off never having children at all than to have had one like me.”

I felt the blood draining from my face, and I blinked hard as I stared back at her. I honestly didn’t even know what to say to that, but I was suddenly more thankful for my own mother than I’d ever been. I also really couldn’t believe that any parent would ever say that to their child, let alone follow it up by years of not actually speaking to said child after.

It was despicable, and it made me want to be sick and bash their heads in all at the same time, but ultimately, this wasn’t about me. “God, they sound awful. Don’t worry about that call, okay? You’re free of them now and I love you. They’ll get what’s coming to them at some point.”

She sighed but let me take her hands when I reached for them, her expression contemplative when she finally looked into my eyes again. “Why do you think they called?”

I shrugged. “No idea, but the more important question is why you think they called.”

Profound sadness filled her gaze as it hooked on mine. “I think the timing is suspicious. It’s been years, and yet, not a couple weeks after you paid off the debt, I suddenly get a call from them. I think Carter found out it’s been paid off and he told them to call to find out how it was possible.”

“You think they want money ?” I spat out the last word, my features scrunching up as the situation took on a whole new level of disgusting. “After everything they did to you, would they stoop so low as to try to get money out of you now?”

She nodded, her expression miserable. “My parents probably wouldn’t take anything from me, but Carter? You bet he would. If he thinks he could get even another dollar out of me, he’d fight to the death for it and he’d use my parents to do it.”

I inhaled deeply through my nostrils, determined to get rid of the dick once and for all, but first, I had to take care of my girl. Tightening my grip on her hands, I scooted forward to get up. “He won’t touch you, Tallulah. You have my word. He won’t get so much as a penny out of you. Come with me. Let’s go to bed and put on a movie. It’s getting late and you look like you’ve been through the emotional wringer these last couple hours.”

She nodded, wordlessly following me to her bedroom. When we got there, I tucked her in and let her choose the movie, crawling in with her and holding her until she fell asleep. As soon as I was sure it wouldn’t wake her, I got out of bed and headed back downstairs to call Jake.

His brother worked for the police force and I wanted some more information on this Carter guy. If Tallulah was right, he wasn’t done with her yet and I wasn’t about to let him use her parents to get to her.

Over my dead goddamn body.

“Niall?” Jake said when he picked up, his tone urgent and alert. “What is it? What’s wrong? It’s really late, man.”

“I know,” I said. “I’m sorry, but I need your help. It’s not a life-threatening emergency or anything, but I need contact details for Tallulah’s ex-husband as well as anything else Darren can dig up on him. Do you think he could do that for me?”

“Dig up some info? Sure. Easy. Let me call him. I’ll get right back to you. Is Tallulah okay? What happened?”

“Her mom tried to call her. Long story short, she thinks the ex put her parents up to reaching out after he learned that the debt had been paid off. If she’s right, Carter and I need to have a little chat. He needs to know that if he ever even thinks her name again, we’re going to have a problem.”

Jake snorted. “Fucking dickhead. Of course, he’d come after her for money if he thinks she’s somehow fallen into a pot of the stuff. Guys like that always seem to think they’re entitled to everything the woman’s got or will ever have. I’ll call Darren and get back to you in a few.”

“Thanks, bud,” I said, exhaling and tossing the phone down on the couch next to me.

I sat down. Silently fuming, I stayed up waiting until Jake texted me Carter’s phone number, and I grinned when I saw the digits on my screen. I felt like I’d just found a pot of gold, and while I knew I had no right to do this, I hit dial anyway. If Tallulah’s parents were going to cause trouble for us, I at least wanted to get Carter out of the way.

As I listened to the phone ring and ring in my ear, I wondered if he’d even pick up, and I was pleasantly surprised when he did. Even if it was a couple hours earlier in California than it was here, it was still late, but I wanted to have this over and done with.

“Hullo?” he grunted. “Who is this?”

“Is this Carter Gibson?”

“Yeah?” he drawled, sounding irritated. “Who are you?”

“Niall Morrisson,” I said, my tone clipped. “I’d like to make it very, very clear to you that if Tallulah or I ever hear anything from you or ever see you anywhere near us, you’ll have hell to pay. Google my name. You’ll learn that my reputation precedes me and that I have the resources to make it happen.”

“Are you threatening me? Who the fuck even are you?” He scoffed. “Tallulah is my wife. I’ll?—”

“ Ex wife,” I said, speaking over him. “I’m not threatening you, Carter. I’m simply warning you. However, if you should choose to refuse to heed the warning, you can absolutely consider it a threat. I can and will make your life incredibly difficult and I wouldn’t even break a sweat.”

The guy scoffed again. “She has debt that?—”

“If you’re talking about the debt you put her in before the divorce, that’s been paid off,” I said. “You also still don’t seem to have realized that this is not a negotiation or a debate. I have the ability to get you into a mess of financial trouble if I see fit, and I won’t hesitate to do it if you keep pulling strings with her parents. Take my advice, Mr. Gibson. Put all this behind you and forget Tallulah’s name. Don’t think about her, don’t contact her, and don’t get others to do your bidding, or you and I will speak again, and next time, I won’t be nearly as patient.”

He finally fell silent, letting me know that he’d obviously realized I meant business. The thing about me was that I always did. There was a reason people didn’t mess with me, either professionally or otherwise. I liked to think I was a nice guy. I’d certainly gotten a lot nicer since I’d met Tallulah, but ultimately, I didn’t like playing games and I didn’t appreciate being crossed.

It was as simple as that, and either my tone of voice had convinced him of that, or he’d looked me up while we’d been on the phone. There was a whole slew of features about me on the internet that some might not have thought of as complimentary, but I didn’t mind being written about as being cold, ruthless, or mean-spirited.

I was all those things. When I had to be. I was unafraid of standing up, speaking out, or making things happen.

Carter spoke then, drawing me out of my thoughts of what he might’ve been reading about me. “Fine. No alimony, then.”

“Alimony?” I heard the incredulity ringing from my tone and snorted. “That’s the debt you were talking about, alimony?”

“We were married,” he said dully. “If she suddenly has money to pay it all off, at least half that money should be mine.”

“Clearly, you don’t know very much about divorce law or how life works, but she doesn’t owe you anything, buddy. Do we understand each other?”

“Yes, sir,” he muttered dejectedly. “She won’t hear from me.”

“Excellent. Do make sure you back off, Mr. Gibson. Don’t forget what we talked about tonight. I’m not in the habit of warning people about the same thing twice.”

With that, I hung up the phone and instantly felt better. I got to go to bed with Tallulah tonight, and together, we could move on. I could propose to her and she would never have to worry about her past catching up to her ever again.

While part of me wished her parents would realize what a coward they’d sided with over their daughter and apologize, I knew better than to believe it would ever happen. It was devastating how badly a single missed call had affected her, but she was part of my family now, whether or not she decided to marry me, and I would always protect her.

Always choose her. Until death did us part.