Chapter Thirteen
Stop him, Tim barked to his friends outside.
Unnecessarily, as it turned out, because they reacted as quickly as he. Tim blocked the door while Connor and Hunter intercepted Jonathan just outside the whirring perimeter of the helicopter’s spinning blades. Both men crossed their arms and pinned Jonathan with cold, hard looks that stopped him in his tracks.
Tim looked at Hailey. “You don’t need to talk to him if you don’t want to.”
He sure wouldn’t want to. If the arrogant attitude hadn’t already made him hate Jonathan, the way the guy touched his tailored suit and slicked-back hair would.
“Of course, she needs to talk to him. He’s her fiancé,” her mother squawked.
Tim ignored her, as did Hailey.
“I don’t want to, but I need to. This needs to end.” Hailey’s voice wavered, but her eyes were fierce.
You’re amazing, he wanted to say. But he couldn’t, not with her mother there.
Her mother, meanwhile, let out a sneeze so loud, his ears rang. Then she sniffed and rubbed her eyes. “I swear, someone must have let an animal in here at some point. My allergies…”
Tim rolled his eyes but held back what he was dying to say. Yes, there is an animal in here. Me.
Instead, he turned to Connor and Hunter and grunted, Let him through. Just keep an eye on the others. Any shifters out there?
Negative, Connor replied. The pilot and the bodyguards are all human.
At least there was that — Lamar was following their orders to stay the hell away from Maui.
Jonathan started to argue with Connor, insisting that the pale, portly man beside him ought to be allowed through too.
Tim looked at Hailey. “Who’s that?”
She sighed. “His lawyer.”
Tim stared. What kind of man brought a lawyer to make up with his girlfriend?
Ex-girlfriend, his inner bear growled.
“Everything is business to Jonathan,” Hailey muttered, reading his mind.
“Nothing wrong with business,” her mother sniffed.
Tim resisted the urge to shake the woman. Mothers were supposed to love their children. Guide them. Scold or praise as the situation demanded. God knew his poor mother had done a lot more scolding than praising with all the trouble he and Connor had gotten into, but she’d never held back her love. But Hailey’s mother?
Too bad she’s too old for Jonathan, his bear muttered. They’d be perfect for each other.
Connor looked toward Tim, who shook his head. No lawyer. One asshole is enough for today.
Jonathan strode forward, smoothing over his tie, obviously preparing his words. Hailey’s mother checked her hair as if angling to hook the guy herself. Hailey, meanwhile, set her stance a little wider, bracing herself.
You can do this, Tim wanted to cheer to her as he stepped away from the door. He had to allow Jonathan in, but if the bastard so much as made a move on Hailey…
“Hailey, sweetheart! I was so worried about you!” Jonathan declared the second he came through the door. “Are you all right?”
At least he bothered to use the right words, even if Tim could smell the lie. Hailey could too, and she backed away from Jonathan with her arms firmly crossed.
“I’m fine,” she snipped while her body language ordered Jonathan to back off.
Jonathan threw up his hands the way guilty men did to declare, Who, me?
Tim wanted to throttle the guy already. He was too slick. Too rich. Too sure he’d get whatever he wanted, regardless of the means.
Jonathan gave him a disdainful look, but Tim turned on his fiercest grizzly glare, and the man withered under his gaze. Jonathan looked between Hailey, her mother, and Tim, then finally aimed his question at Hailey’s mother.
“Who is this?” he demanded, not man enough to face Tim himself.
“My bodyguard,” Hailey shot back.
Right on cue, Tim turned on that blank stare that said he wasn’t listening even though he was right there. People rich enough to have security guards always fell for that.
And sure enough, Jonathan turned to Hailey and picked up his charm offensive where he’d left off. “I can’t tell you how worried I was.”
Hailey wasn’t buying one word, and it showed. “You’ve wasted your time, Jonathan. It’s over. And if you’d ever bothered to ask, you would have known it was over a long time ago.”
Jonathan tut-tutted as if Hailey were an unreasonable child. “Baby, I—”
“Don’t call me baby.” Her eyes blazed.
Jonathan tried a different tack. “Now, I realize it might not have been a great idea to surprise you like that—”
“Now you realize?” Hailey barked.
“—but I love you.” Jonathan went on without skipping a beat. “When Lamar found you—”
Hailey shoved her hands on her hips. “And how exactly did he do that?”
Jonathan stopped, looking genuinely surprised. “He doesn’t ask about my work. I don’t ask about his.”
Hailey’s eyes narrowed. “Maybe you should.”
Tim sniffed the air, using his keen bear senses. Did Jonathan know his head of security was a shifter? The air around him had the faintest whiff of shifter in it, but nothing fresh enough to cause alarm.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Jonathan asked.
“Lamar creeps me out,” Hailey said.
“He creeps out a lot of people. Kind of useful at times.” Jonathan grinned.
Tim scowled. Would Jonathan be amused to discover his head of security could turn into a wolf?
“Anyway, what counts is that we’re together again.” Jonathan held out his hand, showing those manicured fingernails again. “I want you to be mine, baby.”
“I am not a baby, and I am not yours. I never was, and I never will be.”
Tim wanted to give her a little fist pump. Hailey was being tough as anything, but she had to be near her limit. The sooner she got this over with, the better.
Jonathan’s eyes hardened, but a moment later, his voice was sticky-sweet. “Hailey, honey. I promise to make it up to you.”
When he reached inside his jacket, Tim nearly slammed him into the serving counter of the teahouse. But Jonathan saw him coming and threw his hands up. “Whoa! Take it easy. It’s just this.”
Tim kept his arms three inches from his sides, ready to pounce as Jonathan slowly pulled out a square box. His preying eyes shifted back to Hailey as he opened the box, revealing a necklace strung with huge, shiny pearls.
“Remember these, princess? They’re for you. A symbol of my love.”
A symbol of my wealth, he might as well have said.
Hailey didn’t move. Her mother clapped her hands to her chest and glowed as if to demonstrate how rich-people courtship went. “Why, Jonathan. They’re gorgeous.”
Jonathan grinned. “Pink pearls. The very best. You know what pink represents?”
Hailey looked like she couldn’t care less.
“Fame, fortune, success,” Jonathan said, answering his own prompt.
“Of course,” Hailey muttered.
Her fingers went to her throat but then fell away, and Tim remembered the single bead she usually wore. It was pink, too. Had she left it at his house?
Jonathan leaned toward Hailey and shot a pointed look at Tim. “I’d rather speak privately, honey.”
I bet you would, asshole. Tim amped up his scowl, making Jonathan eye the door.
“I’d rather not talk at all,” Hailey said. “The answer is no. The answer will always be no.”
Hailey’s mother stopped sniffling and sneezing long enough to chime in with her two cents. “Just hear Jonathan out. You owe him as much.”
“I owe him?” Hailey turned pink. “What would I possibly owe him?”
“More than you know.” Hailey’s mother shrugged, suddenly coy.
Jonathan grinned in a way that made Tim look twice. What was he so satisfied about?
“What is that supposed to mean?” Hailey demanded, looking between the two.
Tim looked, too, as a sinking feeling grew in his gut. Those two had definitely colluded on something — something beyond the deceit that had lured Hailey into that wedding in Waikiki.
“Just the biggest contract of your life,” her mother said, looking more vindictive than any mother ought to be.
Hailey narrowed her eyes. “What are you talking about? The Boundless campaign? I only got that contract when the other model dropped out at the last minute.”
Jonathan went right on smiling, and Hailey’s mother did too, letting some realization slowly sink into Hailey’s mind.
What? Tim wanted to yell. What happened?
Hailey’s mother laughed. “Dropped out? You think Joelle Parks dropped out of the Boundless job?”
Hailey’s brow furrowed. “She was forced to when that drug bust went public. No advertising agency would touch her after that. But…” Hailey trailed off, slowly turning white. “No. You didn’t.” She looked from Jonathan to her mother. “Tell me you didn’t have anything to do with that.”
“We didn’t have anything to do with that,” Jonathan said, letting his shit-eating grin grow.
Hailey backed away, covering her mouth with one trembling hand. “Oh my God. You did, didn’t you? You found out about her problem and made the story go public.”
Hailey’s mother broke out laughing. “Made the story go public? Honey, we made the story in the first place.”
Tim gaped. Hailey’s mother had arranged for drugs to be planted on some unsuspecting young woman to eliminate the competition and let her own daughter win the contract? How sick was she?
But it wasn’t all the mother. Jonathan had played a role in that as well. One glance at the two of them exchanging smug looks said it all.
Hailey looked ready to cover her ears. “You destroyed Joelle’s career for—” She slapped a hand over her mouth, and her mother filled in the rest.
“For you, Hailey. There. Now you know what to be grateful for.”
“Mother, how could you?” Hailey shrieked.
“I did what I had to do. That contract was ours.”
Hailey gestured helplessly. “Ours?”
Jonathan waved casually. “All water under the bridge.”
Tim nearly socked him. Hailey screeched. “Water under the bridge? You ruined her life!”
Jonathan shrugged. “Business. Stars come, stars go. You got your chance, and that’s all that matters. Now everyone knows your name.”
Tim formed a fist. He really was going to sock Jonathan now.
“Why does that matter?” Hailey half yelled, half cried.
“Because it makes you perfect,” Jonathan said. “Don’t you see?”
All Tim saw was a vision of Jonathan flying through the glass door of the teahouse. If he had to listen to another second of the sick bastard’s talk, he’d be ready to do just that.
“See what?” Hailey cried.
“We’re perfect. My money and connections. Your face and fame. We’ll make the Senate in no time!” Jonathan crowed.
“We’ll make the Senate?” Hailey protested.
Jonathan shrugged. “I’ll make the Senate. Just you watch. Give me a year or two after we’re married, and then I’ll be ready to make my bid for that Montana seat.”
Hailey turned her head in a desperate No, no, no! motion. “This was your plan?” She turned to her mother. “And you were in on it?”
“Baby, just think,” Jonathan said in that overly confident voice of his. “You’ll be Mrs. Jonathan Owen-Clarke, Senate wife. Maybe even First Lady someday. And with my brother in the Senate for California, we’ll be the new Kennedys. Everyone will love you.” Everyone will love me, his expression said as he added, “You’ll never have to work again.”
Hailey’s eyes bugged out. “Why would I want any of that?”
“You did say you wanted to stop modeling,” her mother pointed out.
Tim scowled. Apparently, the woman had been listening, just not admitting as much.
“I want to stop modeling, but I don’t want to stop working. Why would I want that? I want to earn money,” Hailey said. “Honest money. I want control of my own life. Can’t you see?”
Tim sure as hell could see. Jonathan wanted to control Hailey as tightly as her mother had, but Hailey was fighting back.
He stepped forward a tiny bit. This was her battle, and he was just there to support. But damn it, he’d make his support clear.
Jonathan sneered in his direction, then reapplied his smile when he looked at Hailey. A smile he probably practiced in the mirror while he imagined his illustrious political career.
“I swear, I’ll take good care of you.”
“I don’t need to be taken care of.” Hailey stomped. A moment later, her expression changed as she studied Jonathan. “Or do you mean take care of the way Lamar takes care of things for you?” Her voice dropped to a low whisper.
Jonathan’s eyes flashed ever so briefly, making Tim bristle. Yeah, Jonathan was perfectly aware of the strong-arm tactics his head of security used. But the businessman went on talking, smooth as can be.
“Baby, all I want to take care of is you.”
Hailey’s mother exploded into another sneezing fit and dabbed at her nose. “Does this place allow pets or something?”
Or something, his bear muttered.
He was sorely tempted to let his fangs out and give her and Jonathan a good scare. But Hailey would be terrified too. Worse, she’d be repulsed.
He clenched a fist hard enough for his nails to cut into his palms. Sleeping next to Hailey had given him a hint of heaven, but hell wasn’t far off. Not if she discovered he was a shifter.
A young waitress appeared from the back room. “Can I get anyone a tea?”
Jonathan slammed his fist on the table so hard, the silverware jumped. “Do I look like I want some goddamn tea?”
The waitress scurried off, and a second later, Jonathan was back to his fake smile. “Hailey—”
Tim wouldn’t have thought it was possible for Hailey’s face to pinch any tighter, but it did, and he knew why. Once upon a time, she had been that waitress. That nobody — at least in the eyes of men like Jonathan. Which meant the jerk had just nailed his own coffin shut.
Hailey looked at Tim and gave the faintest possible nod. He nodded back. Yeah, he’d had about enough too.
“I’ve said everything I need to say. Goodbye, Jonathan.” Hailey strode to the door then whirled. “And I mean goodbye.”
“You’ll regret this,” Jonathan snarled, stepping in front of her.
Tim would have tossed the asshole out the nearest window if Hailey hadn’t shoved him aside first. “Regret meeting you? Yes. But you’ll be the one regretting things soon. I’ll get a restraining order if you or any of your wacko security guys come anywhere near me, and I’ll go to the press with every detail of your sick wedding plan. I’m sure that will look good on your record when you run for office.”
Jonathan opened his mouth in horror, but Hailey flicked her eyes away from him and looked at her mother in a mix of sorrow and disgust. “I’ll call you, Mom.”
“You’ll call me?” Her mother’s eyes widened in outrage.
Hailey nodded firmly. “Sometime. Whenever I’m ready to talk to you without screaming. Goodbye.”
Then she walked out, leaving her mother and Jonathan staring as if they’d didn’t know Hailey had it in her.
Tim followed immediately. Well, he wasn’t the least bit surprised. Hailey had a hell of a lot more than a pretty face going for her. She had guts and more soul than both of those two crooks — yes, crooks — combined.
The door to the teahouse swung shut behind him, making the glass panel rattle. Of course, Hailey’s mother snatched it open a second later and called out, “Now, you listen to me…”
Hailey didn’t listen, though, and neither did Tim. Hunter and Connor were waiting outside, ready to escort Hailey’s mother and Jonathan onto the helicopter.
“Hailey!” Jonathan yelled.
“Miss Crewe?” the portly lawyer murmured as Hailey swept by.
“What a goddamn circus,” Connor muttered.
Tim rushed to catch up with Hailey, but she didn’t stop until she reached the motorcycle at the far end of the lot. There, she closed her eyes, huffing and puffing like she’d just blown a house down. A big, ugly, brick house she’d probably never dreamed of demolishing until then.
“That circus is my life,” she whispered.
Tim took her hand and kissed her gently on the knuckles. “Not any more, it isn’t.” He handed her a helmet and nodded toward the motorcycle. “Can I offer you a ride?”
Her smile was weak and weary, but it was still a smile. “Yes, please.”