Struck By You: Players (13 page)

Then I thought about Mason. Could he have done something or said something to him?

     I pulled over just a few blocks away from my condo and called Mason.

He sounded groggy when he picked up the phone – it was three a.m. after all.

“What did you do?” I accused.

“Riley? Is that you?”

“Yes, what did you say to Paul?” I asked.

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t act stupid, tell me the truth: did you talk to him?”

“No, I have no reason to speak to him. Why, what did he do to you?”

“Well, he’s very angry with me at the moment and I’m trying to figure out why. I was hoping you could elaborate.”

“I swear to you I have not spoken to the man.”

“Alright, I’ll talk to you later then,” I said.

“Want me to come over?”

“No, I want to be alone tonight,” I said and hung up.

I didn’t see Mason on Thursday either because he said he had a meeting with some lawyers.

I was scheduled to work at the bar on Thursday. I was ready to confront Paul and ask what his problem was but he never showed up to work, which was very strange.

I called him at home and at his cell a few times throughout the night but he never picked up. So after work, I drove to his house.

“What do you want?” he said as soon as he opened the door. He was wearing jeans and a dirty white t-shirt. He hadn’t shaved and reeked of alcohol.

“Can I come in?”

He sighed and opened the door wider.

“Would you like a drink?” he asked, showing me an almost empty bottle of whiskey.

“No thanks.”

“Suit yourself,” he said, taking a swig from the bottle.

“Okay you’re scaring Paul, what the hell is going on?”

     He walked to his living room where he had a pile of documents laid out on the coffee table and he sat down. “I’m being bought out,” he said.

“What?”

“Yup. You see, I needed investors to open the bar. So I asked Carl Evans and Eric Hudgens to come on board. It was supposed to be an even 30% split between them while I owned the other 40%. Eric had a last-minute change of heart for some reason and found a third investor, splitting his share in half with him so I wouldn’t miss the deadline with the bank. That investor was none other than Don Hayes, your boyfriend’s now deceased father.”

“Who’s buying you out, Paul?”

“Carl and Eric already sold their shares. Did you know your boyfriend is now the new CEO of Hayes Associates?”

Well fuck me.
Mason never told me what happened at that meeting and I never thought to ask.

“Judging by the look in your face you had no idea, did you?” he said. “Just as clueless as you are about him,” he added.

“Is he doing this?” I asked. I could barely speak out the words.

He smiled at me. “Wouldn’t that be poetic?” he said. “No, his brother is. Probably why it was so easy to buy out Carl and Eric. Well Eric was never too thrilled about being part-owner of a strip club. He probably jumped at the chance of selling.”

“What the hell does Tanner want with the bar?”

He sighed. “He doesn’t give a fuck about the bar. This is a personal vendetta against me for banning him. Once he buys out Mason, he owns me, and who knows what he’ll do after that,” he said.

“Why can’t you buy him out?” I asked.

“Because, Riley, I have all my money wrapped up in the club, every cent” he said and drank out of the almost empty whiskey bottle.

“This is absurd.”

     “Yes it is. But you see, what Tanner and Mason want, they get. It’s that simple,” he said nodding at me.

“What the hell are you talking about?” I retorted.

“Your boyfriend and his brother are quite the pair,” he said smiling wry.

“He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Oh that’s right, you don’t do relationships,” he pointed out.

 “Get on with it, Paul.”

“Those two started a secret society during their college days. Word has it, they recruited only a small group of the elite and privileged. They had parties every weekend where each member was required to bring at least two girls with them, minimum. After hours of drinking and drugs behind locked doors, Tanner and Mason were in charge of selecting the top three, and the rest were sent home. You can imagine what happened next.”

I felt sick to my stomach.

“Anyway,” he continued, “turns out the university and authorities caught wind of their little venture. They were nearly expelled but Carl and dear old dead dad saved the day and paid everyone off.” He shook his head. “Rumor has it, they’re still quite active with the practice”

“How do you know this?” I asked.

“Because I hear stories from those who know those two fucks,” he replied.

I got up and suddenly felt like I needed to vomit.

“There are no accidental meetings with those two. Chances are, if you ran into them, it’s because they sought you out. Whether they ran into you at the mall, or a bar, or on the street, they are master philanderers and they will go great lengths to get the girls they want.”

“Now,” he continued, “you are the reason I’m in this predicament. Therefore I’m firing you.”

“What? How is this my fault?” I asked.

“Truth is Riley, I should have fired you a long time ago. The only reason the patrons like you is because you end up taking many of them home and word gets around.” He shrugged. “You are no different than your boyfriend as far as I’m concerned.”

I ran out of his house and left as fast as I could. I was so ashamed, disgusted, angry, and heartbroken, all at the same time.

Chapter 17
Mason

           
B
y Sunday night I was going crazy. She wasn’t home, she wasn’t returning my calls or my texts, I was lost and out of my mind. I knew it had something to do with my lunatic brother buying out Paul’s bar.

After he sprung the news to me on Thursday, I tried to find ways and loopholes around the contracts to null and void the hostile takeover. But there wasn’t. He just needed my shares and he would own 60%, then he could do whatever he wanted.

     Monday morning, I dropped everything and went to the spa and see if I could talk to her. I was greeted by her sister at the doors and invited me to her office.

“She does not want to see you, and I’ve cancelled your contract Mr. Hayes,” she said as soon as she closed the door behind her.

“Do you have any idea why I haven’t been able to speak to her or get in touch with her? This buyout issue has nothing to do with me, it’s my brother, and I’m trying to figure out what to do here.”

“Mason, we all have skeletons in the closet and they all come out at some point,” she said.

     “What are you talking about?”

“I need you to leave the premises now please,” she said, opening her office door.

     “Is she here?” I asked.

“No, she’s taking a leave of absence.”

“Serena, I need to talk to her, please.”

She shook her head. “Goodbye Mr. Hayes.”

I left the spa and I had that awful heavy chest feeling again. I was trying to make sense of what Serena had said and the only conclusion I could come up with was that someone had been talking shit about me to her.  So my next stop was my brother’s office.

I bypassed his executive assistant and marched into his office. He was in the middle of a phone conversation when I grabbed him by the lapel of his sport jacket and pushed against the wall.

“What the fuck did you say to her?”

“Who?”

“Riley, my girlfriend, what did you say to her?”

“I haven’t seen her since the funeral, get off me,” he said pushing me back.

“She knows something Tanner, she won’t see me, won’t talk to me. And this fucking takeover probably fucked up things even more.”

“You should have been upfront with her,” he said.

“Tanner, if I find out you told her something I’ll fucking kill you, I swear.”

“I’m telling you right now bro, I have not spoken to her,” he said looking me in the eye.

“Christ, then who? You’re the only that knows about us.”

“I don’t know and I don’t really care. What I am concerned about is the fact that you have not come back to me with a price. I need your shares. Remember, the deadline is tonight at midnight. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do,” he said opening the door to his office.

I didn’t know any of her friends and I’d ran out of places where I could find her. Tried calling, and my texts were now bouncing back which meant she had blocked my number. Suddenly everything I had done in the past was coming back to haunt me. I was a fool for thinking I could have a normal life. For thinking I could love someone the way I love her and have her love me back for who I am and not who I was.

     I drove around the city for a while and went back to work. The public announcement of my official takeover was supposed to happen on Tuesday and I had several meetings in the afternoon, as well as interviews with the media. I had to do my best to keep my shit together.

I stayed late after work, not because I had to, but because I didn’t want to go back home to my empty life. I was still trying to make a decision with the shares but my mind was so clouded, I just didn’t care anymore.

     “Are you sure there’s nothing I can do for you Mr. Hayes?” asked my assistant coming into my office. Not sure what arrangement she had with my father but she leaned over my desk, her blouse opened nearly halfway revealing her black lace bra.

I sat there staring at her. The gorgeous brunette had done everything in her power today to get my attention and was now practically throwing herself to me. My father was right indeed.

“Yeah, you can actually. Go home,” I said going back to the documents I was reading.

She cleared her throat and started buttoning up her blouse. “I’m sorry Mr. Hayes. Your father had certain expectations,” she spoke softly.

“I’m not my father,” I replied. “But let me ask you something. What’s the worst thing you’ve heard about me or my brother?” I asked looking into her big brown eyes.

She smiled nervously. “I’m not sure I follow Mr. Hayes. About what exactly?”

“What do you know about me, aside from working for me?” I said “And don’t hold back, I won’t fire you if I don’t like what I hear.”

     She took a deep breath and looked at me with fear in her eyes. “Just stories mainly. Your sex life mostly. Orgies, stalking, the games, objectifying women mainly,” she said.

“I see.” I swallowed. “Where did you hear this?”

“Friends mostly. They warned me when I told them I was working for your dad. I quickly learned that I had to do certain things to keep my job. They told me to expect worse from you.”

I began to feel nauseous. “Thank you, I will see you tomorrow,” I said, checking my phone again to see if she called back. But she didn’t.

It was nearly seven p.m. and suddenly I realized there was one place and one more person that could help me find her.

I got to The Palace about half an hour later. There was no line and Paul hadn’t removed me from the VIP list yet, so I had no trouble getting in.

     I went directly to the main bar but she wasn’t working tonight, so I asked one of the bouncers if they had seen Paul. He told me Paul was around but he would page him for me.

“What are you doing here Mason?” he asked when I had my back turned.

“Hey Paul, can we talk privately somewhere?”

     “Follow me,” he said, taking me upstairs to his office.
He closed the door and offered me a seat. “What can I do for you?” he began. “You want to buy my 40%, is that it?”

“I’m not here for that actually. I need to know how Riley is.”

     His eyes went dark and sat back in his chair. “I have no idea – she no longer works for me,” he said smiling.

“She quit?”

“No, I fired her,” he began. “Conflict of interest. After all, she’s the reason why this is all happening, isn’t it Mason?”

“I don’t follow.”

     “You can’t tell me you didn’t become the least bit jealous when you found out she was with me. You and your brother schemed this whole fucking thing and now here we are,” he said. “So take it, it’s yours, and you can have her too.”

“Paul, this was not my idea, I’m not my brother and I haven’t agreed on anything. In fact I haven’t even signed the documents over because I don’t know what to do. He doesn’t care for your club, he’s having a hissy fit over you banning him and embarrassing him and he gets even,” I said. “And yes, I was insanely jealous when I found out about the two of you, but I’m not vindictive. I care for her, more than you can possibly imagine, and now she won’t see or speak to me and I’m going insane trying to figure out what happened. All I can think of is that someone told her stories about me that are simply untrue.”

“What is untrue? Your little secret society parties? You two are sick fucks that are beyond professional help. You sought her out didn’t you? And went to extremes to get her. You probably followed her just like you do with all your conquests.”

“You told her that?” I was completely flabbergasted.