Chapter 37

37

JACK

My father drops what he thinks is the security footage bombshell. Aston practically vibrates with anticipation.

Then, it all becomes crystal clear. She views me as the competition for the money she anticipates she’ll get when her “Sugar Daddy” croaks—yes, she’s called him that. This means Ella is automatically on her hit list. She’ll do anything to come between my father and me, especially when it comes to the inheritance.

My father continues, “Smedley revealed that Ella, or Jasmin, was one of our resort employees. I have reason to believe that she scoped you out and created a scheme to?—”

I hold up my hands for him to stop. Doubt tries to pierce what I thought Ella and I had, but maybe it’s just one-sided. Perhaps, like Aston, she is after my money and hides it better. Could I have been blinded? My heart pounds. No, but she nearly was by a nasty lawyer who answered his hotel room door naked.

I turn away from the video. “Tell Smedley that US indecent exposure laws apply at Jewel Island. Anyway, I first saw Ella when I visited the resort the year after Mom died. She was a guest and I’m aware of her employment there later on.”

The door to her room opens. “I saw you running on the beach the next year,” she says, voice small but giving me a little hope that we can salvage this.

“She was just biding her time and living there illegally. We saw her sneaking into suites, stealing room service food, and showering in the cabana storage building with the hose the workers use to clean the chaise lounges,” Aston says with disdain.

I narrow my eyes and I want nothing more than to protect Ella from these monsters.

Aston explains, “We visited the resort, and Yvonne at the front desk mentioned the Jewel Suite had recently been occupied.”

I raise my eyebrows. I hope my hunch is right and my phone beeps with a message from Carlos soon. “Interesting that you’re so practiced when it comes to video footage, Aston. Maybe you’d like to explain the party the other night.”

She shrugs like she’s above being caught but not framing someone.

I say, “Another year passed and Ella found me stuck in the sand with the Commando.”

My father’s eyes dart my way.

“Joy ride,” I say by way of answer to what he’s surely wondering about what I was doing out there with it. “And one of the best nights of my life.”

“She made you into a common criminal, sneaking into the pool after hours,” Aston says.

I hate that she saw us because kissing Ella for the first time was special and I want it to be our memory alone. Like a wick burning down to a stick of dynamite, my anger sizzles hotter.

“That was none of your business and technically, I own a share of the resort so I can use whatever pool I want, whenever I want. This also begs the question, did you have permission to view the security footage?”

Aston sniffs.

My father lets out a long breath. “What you’re saying is that your relationship with Ella isn’t fake.”

My brow furrows. “No, not at all.” Not for me.

“But—” Ella starts.

“The period of time when those recordings were made, I wasn’t in a good place. She wasn’t available. I waited.” Deep down, that’s the truth even though I was operating as I’d always done, but there was a reason I’d hide from the puck bunnies and it was a woman with big brown eyes and long flowing hair.

“What about all the other women?” Aston asks in a gotcha tone.

Gazing into Ella’s eyes, I say, “None of them were her.”

She lets out a long breath as if she doesn’t know what to believe. I don’t blame her, especially not after seeing the video from the club the other night. My phone dings. Carlos sends a thumbs-up along with several video captures from another request I made of him.

“This is a problem that needs fixing, Jack,” my father says.

“I agree. Thankfully, I anticipated this. I obtained the shift records for Ella Hibbert, er Jasmin Bower, along with all the corresponding security videos.”

“So did we,” Aston says as if she masterminded this.

“Then you saw that there are also videos of her going out of her way for guests, above and beyond.” I cite a few examples from the clips Carlos sent, but even though Ella showed outstanding hospitality, all that time, she was afraid of Slater, living a lie, and sleeping under tables and on the beach. It crushes me to think that she suffered when there was so much right at her fingertips, including the vacant Jewel Suite.

Bark Wahlburger yips as if he, too, knows hard times. I give our good boy a reassuring pet, not prepared to lose my dog or my woman.

Ella says, “Sir, all of this about my time at Jewel Island is true and I’m sorry for being dishonest.”

Her story is hers to tell, but if my father only knew, that thing called a heart in his chest would understand why she made the choices she did. Other than a few missing dinner rolls that guests left outside after their room service meal delivery, no harm was done.

He says, “This doesn’t change the fact that I’d prefer you marry Duchess Lucia von Fritsch of Denmark.”

My lips purse and then I exhale, hoping that the next time I breathe in, it’ll bring me patience. “We’ve discussed this at length. I said no. You once told me that’s a complete sentence.”

He grunts. “In the meantime, we can’t have you gallivanting and cavorting with common puck bunnies or puck princesses.”

Aston pouts. “Let him have some fun. He’s so young, why bother getting married?”

“We’re the same age. Are you trying to keep me from marriage altogether?” There’s no holding back the accusation in my tone.

She sniffs and gives her head a bobble as if neither confirming nor denying.

I send up a quick prayer and then ask for grace to unravel this. “Ella was using a pseudonym at the resort while working there. I will take responsibility for any consequences as a result.”

“Jack, you can’t do that for me.”

“I want to. I also want to tell the truth.”

Aston’s head snaps up from her phone. I grab it from her hands, making sure it’s not recording .

Bark Wahlburger steps between us as if ready to sic if she tries to take it back.

“My attraction to Ella was real from the beginning. I developed feelings for her, but they were clouded by the crossroads I found myself in career-wise. I acted impulsively. Asked her to wear my jersey to the game. I also scored. Those were some great plays.”

“But you lost,” Dad says.

“She was there, and I never wanted another day to pass without her. I proposed an engagement, not clear on where pretend, fantasy, and reality began or ended.”

I turn to her, hoping she believes me when I say the rest. “When I proposed to her on the beach, it was real and so has every moment since.”

“Then what about the party the other night?” she asks.

“I can’t prove that I was set up, but I have reason to believe it was Aston’s doing.”

My wicked stepmother glares at me.

“Ella, I hope you take me at my word because you are the only one that matters to me. Nothing happened at Club Luna after the game.”

The fact that she cares so much gives me hope. Carlos getting security footage from the resort was a cinch because I have clearance, but even if he can’t from the club, I will find a way to prove my loyalty to Ella.

“I have to get to the airstrip,” my father says, apparently tired of the quibbling.

“Where are we going? Monaco, please say Monaco,” Aston says excitedly.

My father scrubs his hand down his face. “Evergreen Gardens.”

Aston wrinkles her nose because that’s the cemetery where Mom is buried .

“Son, we’re not done with this conversation.”

I’m about to tell him that we are done when my phone lights up like a Christmas tree. It’s Carlos again. I scan the text and then another video appears of the dimly lit Club Luna at the same time someone bangs on the door.