The Cinderella Arrangement (25 page)

What am I going to tell Jessica?

Mr. Pardini wasn’t selling the shares out of greed, as I assumed. He was following a principle they were only entitled to the amount of money and work they had put into the family’s advancement. Frankly, it seemed fair. Then I thought of Luke, who had been disappointed by his father’s will—and now his uncle was, in his eyes, giving him a meager amount for his shares.

“Well, it was nice meeting you, Natalie.”

“Yes, Mr. Pardini.” I leaned forward and shook his hand, Will watching me out of the corner of his eyes.

That was my cue to leave. I walked out of his office and wiped my hands on my jeans.

“That wasn’t so bad.”

Will scoffed as we ascended the staircase back to the room. He opened the door for me and I walked in, startled by the violent look on his face.

“What the hell am I going to tell my cousin?” 

I lifted my shoulders. “Honestly, what can you do? Your dad has all the power and his argument made sense.”

He paced the room like a caged animal. “I should be able to do more. He’s one of us. He deserves what’s owed to him. God, this family is so fucked. This will ruin us.” Will sank to the bed and stared at the floor.

An odd feeling swept through me. Why was he so upset over this? Was this really about Luke anymore?

“When I first met you, you were thrilled that Luke’s dad was dead because he was out of the running for CEO. Now, you’re getting upset because he’s not inheriting his millions?”

A pained look crossed over his face. “I feel guilty about it. He’s getting screwed over.”

“You can’t control your dad’s actions anymore than you could control the accident.”

William’s eyes were livid. “Please, don’t.”

His hands gripped the edge of the bed, whitened with panic, and I dropped my gaze.

I
swear to God
, if you ignore another one of my emails, I will call you. You’re really acting like a bitch. I’ve been nothing but nice to you. I don’t deserve to be treated like garbage—

I deleted the email before I finished it, my heart pounding with poison. It coursed through my veins, spreading a sick feeling. The phone trembled against my ear.

“I’m getting freaked out by Ben’s emails. He has never called me names.”

Jessica sighed on the other line. “I think it’s best you ignore them, like Will said.” She paused for a moment. “He’s been over here a couple times, looking for you. He still has a key, you know.”

“What? He went into our apartment?”

Will’s head jerked up from his arms and looked at me, fury etched all over his olive-skinned face. I waved him away.

“Yeah, but don’t worry. I got a locksmith to change the locks. He wanted to know where you were…and he wanted to know about Will. I’ve never seen him so agitated.”

“I don’t know what’s gotten into him. It’s weird.”

“Well, anyways. Tell Will thanks for trying. I’m sure Luke appreciates it. How are you doing?”

I shook my head. “Fine, I guess. This whole thing with Ben is stressing me out. He obviously isn’t getting the message.”

I glanced at the article splashed across the website: Will Pardini Spotted with Petite Beauty. My ears burned whenever I read the title. Underneath was a photo of us kissing at O’Hare. That was only half an hour ago.

I hated this. All of these photographs and articles would only incense Ben further. I wished it would stop.

Suddenly, the jet engine roared to life. “I’ve got to go. Plane’s taking off.”

“Okay, we’ll catch up when you come home.”

I ended the phone call, refusing to acknowledge William’s presence one foot away from me, but he would not be ignored. He tapped on the desk with his fingers. I shut my laptop and looked at him.

"What?"

“You should file a restraining order against Ben."

I laughed at him, looking up at his furious face and swallowing my laughter. "No."

"I'm serious, Natalie. He's crossed the line."

"I don't want to escalate things.”

“He escalated things by visiting your apartment without your permission.”

“Ben would never hurt me. He's not dangerous, he's just being pathetic because his heart’s been broken.”

“He's had nine months to get over his broken heart."

I bit my lip so hard that I drew blood. “Maybe I'll send him an email warning him."

He sat down across from me and gave a slight shrug. “Do what you have to do, but don't expect it to work." He grasped my hand. “I don’t have a good feeling about this guy. He reeks of desperation."

I felt a rush of affection for my dark-haired paramour. He was so concerned with my safety. It was cute and touching at the same time. I squeezed his hand and leaned over the table to kiss him.

"I guess I'm lucky that I have you to protect me,” I said, an inch away from his lips.

He smiled against my lips and he grabbed my head, deepening the kiss.

Whatever I said, I was worried about Ben. The thought of returning home without Will made my insides churn, but I really wanted to get back to see Jessica.

“You should stay with me tonight,” he said in a low voice.

My skin was tingling all over at the thought of being alone with Will in his apartment.

“I’ll come over tomorrow. I have a lot of things to do. I still haven’t finished those newsletters, and I know I’ll be too distracted at your place.”

* * *

“
D
on’t forget
—tomorrow.”

His throaty voice echoed inside my head as I bounded up the stairs to my place. I had only been away from Will for a few hours and I felt myself shaking as though I were suffering from a fever. I didn't step three feet into the apartment before Jessica threw her arms around my neck.

“Ouch—hey!”

There was nothing like coming home after a long trip, even if home was a two-bedroom shithole with wall-to-wall carpeting that was rotting away.

Jessica asked me how the trip went, what Italy was like, if Will and I were a couple. I was more curious about what had been going on here, but I didn’t want to ask her about Ben. There was just so much crap in my life, and I wanted for once, to focus on the positive things.

I sank down on the couch with my laptop sitting on my knees.

“I need to email Ben telling him to back off.”

Jessica groaned.

Ben,

I’m really sorry about these past few weeks, but as you know, I’ve been busy working abroad. I was not trying to ignore you.

It’s over. I’ve realized that I really have moved on and I don’t feel the same about you anymore. Please give me space and respect my boundaries. I don’t want to hear anymore about you visiting or calling my parents. I’ve also changed the locks on this apartment. I’m not angry with you, I’m just done.

Goodbye,

Natalie

I slid the laptop for Jessica to read and she nodded. I wanted it to be straight to the point, and I wanted him out of my life. Hopefully, he would read it and give up.

That would be too lucky.

I shut my phone off and watched TV with Jessica, gabbing about the new season of American Idol and laughing at the ridiculous auditions.

“What kind of pizza do you want?”

“Surprise me.”

Thank God for online ordering. We were settling in for a girl’s night complete with margaritas and I was in charge of getting the pizza. I was too tired to go out, so I paid for delivery.

“Now, what should we watch? Rom-com or should we nerd out on Gundam Wing?”

The anime cartoon was our favorite when we were children and it was fun to watch with the horribly dubbed voice actors. Last time we watched it, I was reduced to tears of laughter, and I really needed a laugh.

The pizza arrived and Jessica blended the margaritas, forgetting to place the top on the blender and getting green ice all over the counter. We scooped the remains into glasses and brought everything to the living room.

BAMBAMBAM.

I jerked from my seat and Jessica’s widened eyes made a hot drop of fear slip down my throat.

BAMBAMBAM.

“All right, I’m coming.”

The door was pounding so hard that the walls rattled.

“Open the fuck up!”

My heart lightened when I recognized the voice. “Will?” Relief washed over me. I was just glad it wasn’t Ben. Annoyed, I yanked open the door. “What are you doing here? I told you—”

My voice stopped at his whitened, shaking face.

“I’ve been trying to call you for over an hour. Why the fuck didn’t you pick up your phone? There’s something you have to see right now.”

I stepped back as Will entered the apartment. He waved at Jessica, who was halfway out of her seat.

His expression worried me. “Sorry, I turned it off. I didn’t want to hear it ringing with Ben’s calls. What’s wrong?”

“I need to talk to you alone.”

I nodded, sharing a scared look with Jessica as we walked into my room. Will spun around as I closed the door and took my shoulders. His lips were shaking and he couldn’t seem to keep still.

“You’re freaking me out.”

“I’m sorry,” he apologized. “Just go to your LinkedIn profile right now. Ben did something to it.”

Blood roared in my ears. “What?” I sank into my chair and grabbed my laptop. “What did he do?”

“You’ll see.”

The deadly calm tone of his voice filled me with horror. Something was wrong. I typed in the address. Enter.

My profile picture was gone. Instead there was a webcam shot of my breasts and naked torso, sitting on the same chair I was. It was me.

I scrolled downwards and saw a half a dozen more pasted crudely in my job descriptions. They were all pictures of me I sent to Ben ages ago. Private, intimate photos he was never supposed to keep. I attempted to login and was rebuffed. Sobbing, I entered a dozen different passwords, but Ben had locked me out of the account.

“That piece of shit! I cannot believe he did this! Where’s my fucking phone?”

Looking scared, Will backed away as I barged out of my room, sprinting past a bewildered Jessica, who turned around on Will.

“What did you do to her?”

Enraged, Will turned on Jessica. “I didn’t do shit. It was her psycho ex!” He grabbed me. “Natalie, forget it. He will not answer the phone!”

He was right. It went straight to voicemail. I screamed a long line of obscenities, yelling so hard my throat was raw. Will finally wrenched it out of my hands and closed the phone.

I lunged for it. “What are you doing? Give it back!”

Will’s eyes wrinkled with sympathy.

“What the fuck is going on?” Jessica demanded.

On edge, Will spun toward her and snapped. “This isn’t any of your fucking business, so stay out of it.”

“She’s screaming! I think I deserve to know—”

He gritted his teeth, ignoring Jessica. He took my hand as I collapsed to the floor, crying.

“Everyone will see: all of my old clients, my former employees, my colleagues. They will all get a notification that my profile was updated. He'll ruin me. That’s what he wants.”

Jessica marched into my bedroom before I could stop her. Will sprinted toward her and yanked her away from the computer, but not before she let out a horrified gasp.

“God fucking dammit, didn’t I tell you to mind your own business?” he roared at her.

Tears of rage filled her eyes, and she didn’t object when Will pulled her out of the room. “Natalie, I’m so sorry.”

“We need to go to his place.”

I chewed my thumb. “You have to fucking promise me you won’t hit him. He’s a lawyer.”

Will’s jaw jutted out. His eyes crackled with electricity and I knew that it would be a struggle for him not to beat the ever-loving shit out of Ben. I had half a mind to let him.

“Whatever.”

“Natalie,” Jessica said in a small voice. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“Why is that?” he snapped.

She kept her jaw rigid as she looked at Will. “You both are pissed off and you’ll do something stupid. Just call the police and let them handle it.”

“The police won’t be able to do shit. It takes days for an investigation like this.”

I nodded. “Let’s go now.”

“Natalie, it’s a really bad idea!”

“Shut up!” I screamed.

She didn’t fucking understand. Everyone in my professional life would see these photos. I would be surprised if some of them hadn’t blocked me already. Will and I tore out of the apartment, a team of violent, angry energy. Jessica begged me to stop. To think.

I slammed the car door shut and for once, I didn’t argue when Will sat behind the steering wheel. He was focused on getting to Ben’s house.

“What’s the prick’s address?”

I punched it into the GPS and Will sped off, not even waiting for the GPS to calibrate. He lived in Oakland and it would be about half an hour to get there. I pounded my cell phone over and over again, but he wouldn’t pick up.

“Don’t call him. It’s better if he doesn’t know we’re coming.”

“That son of a bitch,” I kept repeating. “I can’t believe he would do something like this. It’s just so fucking childish.”

“I could. Did you read his emails?”

My eyes narrowed at Will. “Will, when we get there, I don’t want there to be a fight.”

His fingers tightened over the steering wheel.

“I want him to grow up and take the photos down. That’s it!”

“What if he says no?”

I sputtered. “He has to. He’s a fucking lawyer. I don’t understand this at all. Ben’s not this stupid.”

“People do stupid things when they’re pissed off.”

My rage boiled all the way along the highway. I kept cycling through a list of fiery emotions: rage, disappointment, hurt, and betrayal. Did he really think plastering naked pictures of me all over LinkedIn would make him look good? He could lose his career over it. It was such a stupid thing to do.

The car screeched to a halt in front of Ben’s apartment and my chest felt like a drum. Will got out of the car, looking like he was out for blood. He bounded up the steps and pounded on the door before I could make it up there.

“Ben!”

It was weird. He was definitely inside, but he wasn’t answering the door.

“Your car is out front! Open up!”

I lost my head and slammed my body into the door, screaming as it flew open. It swung inside and I stumbled over the threshold. He left it open?

I walked inside and behind me followed a tense looking Will. His eyes darted down the unlit hall.

“Ben?”

No answer.

Swallowing hard, I walked toward the only lit room in the apartment: the kitchen. There was only the sound of the refrigerator humming and our whispers to each other.

I half-expected to see a dead body, so I was almost relieved when I saw him sitting at the kitchen table. It looked bare without all of my kitchen appliances sitting on the counters. It looked unchanged from the moment I left him over nine months ago, as if preserving it would somehow lengthen the memories he had of me.