Ella fixed a dinner of tortillas, chicken, and a few vegetables in the modest kitchen space of their little piece of heaven. It was a different take on fajitas since she didn’t have all of the typical ingredients she would’ve put into them if she was in a place where she could go to a grocery store more frequently, but it would do. She’d made them a few times in the last few weeks, and Rome liked them.
He was sitting outside on a big rock, staring out at the ocean as the tide came in and lapped his bare feet. They spent a great deal of time out there
It had been a week since Rome had called his mother. He sat in the same spot as he had before, phone in hand, assuming she’d answer on the first ring as soon as he called. He took some deep breaths and thought about what this phone call would mean.Ella was so happy here, and he could tell that she wanted to stay. He hoped that the house Bart had found for them was enough to make her happy. He’d shown her pictures, and she seemed to like it, but he knew she was nervous. The idea of having to face her father and let him know that she was alive was terrifyin
Ella was sitting on the beach, waiting for Rome to come back from the trip he’d made up the mountain to call his mom where the reception was better. The tide was rolling in. It washed over her feet, up to her skirt, but she didn’t care. Living on the beach, one couldn’t be averse to water or sand. It was going to be everywhere, anyway, and that was fine with her.The second she saw his face, she knew the call had not gone the way he’d wanted it to. His lips were pressed together in a defiant line, and his hands were fisted at his sides. She swa
“Attention, passengers. We will begin our descent into Dallas in approximately twenty minutes. The temperature there is seventy-eight degrees….” The pilot continued, giving information about where the plane was headed next, what to do if one were looking for connecting flights, etc., but Ella’s mind was on what was going to happen when she stepped off of the plane. Would they be followed, or would they make their entry into the United States undetected?It was weird not sitting next to Rome. She had for the first flight, the longest leg, but w
Rome waited for Ella to get off of the plane and followed her at a distance as far as he could, keeping an eye out for anyone suspicious. He didn’t think they’d see anyone on this side of security who might be a threat. His dad was rich but too cheap to buy a ticket to get behind the security keepers if he didn’t have to.Once they were outside, Rome took a deep breath and let Ella go from his sight. It wasn’t easy to do. He wanted to stay behind her, to make sure she got the car safely, but he had a job to do, and if the airport was under surv
Ella had waited patiently for the slow woman behind the counter at the car rental place to eventually get her the car she’d rented. While she didn’t want something too flashy, she did want something that would go fast, just in case she needed that. What she ended up with was really neither--a black SUV. Now, she could be the one who looked like she was chasing someone.When Rome told her he was taking the tram to the parking garage, every hair on the back of her neck stood on end. “What? Why?” she asked, using her Bluetooth.
Rome had to keep his head down, even though he wanted to peek out the window and see where the cars that had been following them were. “What’s going on?” he whispered to Ella as she approached the toll booth. He could see her behind the wheel without lifting his head far enough to be noticed by anyone in other vehicles.“They’re two back from us,” she said, rolling down her window and crushing a twenty dollar bill into the person’s hands. “Keep the change,” she said.
“Howdy!” Ella shouted out the window at the bewildered man next to her. “Y’all from around here?”Beside her in the passenger seat of the SUV, she felt Rome’s nervous energy. Maybe she was taking a huge gamble engaging the enemy--assuming that’s who these people were there to try to kidnap Rome and take him back to his father.
Two towns over from the exit Ella had taken somewhere in the middle of New Mexico, they found a hotel off the beaten path. It wasn’t bad, though it was nothing like what Rome was used to. It would do for one night, though.She drove the SUV around back and parked it in the shadow of the building, despite the fact that the room he’d gotten them was on the other side. This way, maybe his dad’s men wouldn’t see the vehicle, but even if they did, they wouldn’t know what room the two of them were in.
Nervous energy bubbled throughout the theater. Dressed in probably the most amazing gown she’d ever seen in her life, including her wedding dress, Ella sat next to Rome holding his hand, and waiting for his award category to come up. The long red ball gown shimmered in the dim light, its full skirt moving and flowing when she walked like butterflies’ wings. If Rome’s category didn’t come up soon, she thought she might explode with anxiety. It already seemed like they’d been waiting for half a day, even though it had only been a few hours since they’d gotten into the limo and made their way to the famous theater in Hollywood where the biggest award show of the year was always held.
It was a gamble. Attending Henry’s funeral was a risk because there would be people there who knew her as Ella Sinders, and as Juliet stood on the periphery, watching the black clad mourners gather around the casket where the pastor was speaking, she spotted the one person she most needed to avoid in the whole world--her father.Of course he was there. Even though Henry’s father had disowned him after he stabbed Rome and then killed himself, refusing to even fly his son’s body back to his native France or attend the funeral himself, Lloyd Sinders had
The fuzzy feeling in his head radiated down his entire body as Rome tried to open his eyes and found it much more difficult to do so than he’d ever experienced in his life. The realization that his arms and legs were heavy, that there were tubes protruding from various body parts, and that there was a steady beeping sound in the darkened room reminded him of what had happened as his eyes finally opened a crack.“Oh, thank goodness!” His mother’s sobbing voice was not at all what he wanted to hear upon realizing he was still alive, that Henry ha
Sitting in the hospital waiting room, Ella was doing her best to keep herself together, but she was struggling. The ambulance had arrived quickly to the scene at Capressies, where Rome lay in her arms, bleeding from the wound in his back near his lung. Henry had buried a six inch steak knife to the hilt. Whether or not it had collapsed Rome’s lung, she didn’t know. No one would tell her anything.The police had arrived a few minutes after the ambulance. While the EMTs worked to stabilize Rome, the officers had asked her a slew of questions about what had h
Not seeing Henry had become nearly impossible. Juliet had absolutely no desire to see him whatsoever, but his constant calling and insisting that she go out with him was getting old. Now that he no longer had control of Rome’s contract, she decided it was time to rip off the band-aid. She’d already told Parker that they were just going to have to be friends, a realization he hadn’t taken well, but she thought he’d get over. She wasn’t sure how Henry would react.She walked into Capressies knowing he was there already. She was purposely tw
Rome walked into the sound stage building, dreading every step he took closer to another day of pretending to chase around unicorns and annihilate them. Drew’s acting was almost as atrocious as the script. The little girl wasn’t bad to work with, but she could only be there for a few hours each day. He spent most of his time listening to Guy argue with the set construction team, hating his life, and praying that the lawyers would hurry up and process the sale of his contract from Henry to Lloyd. It had been two weeks since the Montage show, and so far, nothing had changed, even though he’d only given Lloyd one week to get it done initially. Every day, he walked past the Vinune, wrapped and stored in his living room so that if and when the sale went through, he
“Well, tell me all about it!” Fae insisted as Ella came into her room at the nursing home and settled onto the couch. She had two cups of tea ready on a silver server. Ella wondered how she’d managed that without a kitchen but figured Fae had her ways. The staff absolutely adored her, for good reason. “Did you have a nice time?”Ella smiled at her, slightly amused that she was most concerned about whether or not Ella had had a pleasant experience. She honestly couldn’t say that she had, but she’d choose her words carefully for
Walking away from his wife when she clearly wanted to talk to him wasn’t the easiest thing to do, but Rome knew it was more important for Juliet to speak to Henry at the moment. She could talk to him later--at home. Besides, he wasn’t sure he wanted to speak to her considering what he’d done. The bottom line was, they’d gotten what they wanted. Or, they would, as soon as Sinders sent him the finalized contract.He stood in the back of the gallery, speaking to actress Chrissy Indiana, not hearing a damn word she was saying, despite the fact that
Schmoozing the filthy rich wasn’t something even Juliet enjoyed (Ella despised it) but it was part of her job as owner and chief executive officer of Montage, so she put her head down and did it. So far, it had made her a lot of money. After her first show, months earlier, she didn’t think it was possible to bring in much more revenue at one event, but she’d been very wrong. Even without the Vinune, she was going to make three times more money than she had at the first show, in profits alone. She was sitting in a good position to be able to buy Henry’s entire company outright if she wanted to.