Sunset Thunder (31 page)

As Ryder drove toward home, his chest tight, his stomach sick, he remembered Joel had started a business of some sort back then. It was right before he went bankrupt. Ryder had been dating Courtney at the time and not paid much attention to Joel’s business. However, he remembered investing his money and getting a turnover.

Ryder rubbed his hands across his face. He wouldn’t know until he got home. He hoped Eliza could come through with enough to put an end to Joel.

THE NIGHT WAS an endless darkness of sobbing that didn’t concluded until the sun rose the next morning and Violet was forced to get the kids ready for Joel’s wedding.

She dragged her exhausted body away from the couch to face the day...she couldn’t go anywhere near her bed, the sheets or the smell.

It was ironic that Ryder had briefly related her bed to belonging to Joel, but she hadn’t ever felt that way about her bed. But now, after two weeks of Ryder being in her life, and in that bed, he’d stolen the comfort it had once given her and replaced it with piercing memories of his touch, his kiss, his low, sexy chuckle that made even her insides smile.

Eliza dropped the kids off early Saturday morning and they raced down the hall to shower.

Violet had prepared a kettle of tea after taking a long shower and soaking her face under a cold washcloth. She’d thought the puffiness under her eyes and the angry words passed between them the night before would pull her mother in for an entire day of reliving their regretful, pathetic, so-called lives. Of course, with the Eliza twist, always able to make a con look like a pro. However, after shutting the door her mother said, “I can’t stay long. I have an appointment.”

Violet didn’t even ask for what. She didn’t care.

“I’m sorry about last night,” Violet said immediately. “I don’t blame you.”

“It’s alright if you do. I blame myself every day.”

“I’m sorry I said those things about Corbin. I know you were protecting him. Momma, we all know you were protecting him and us the best you knew how. I didn’t mean those things. I just...”

“Love Ryder.”

Violet nodded.

She’d turned and started toward the kitchen. Eliza followed her and slipped onto a stool beside her. “Sweetheart, you should go talk to Ryder.”

“I don’t want to hurt him anymore than I already have.”

“You will hurt him more if you stay away. Violet you’ve dreamed about finding love your entire life. A love nothing like mine and your father’s and I wished it upon you. For years, watching the loveless marriage between you and Joel tore my heart. Your responsibility toward your children was incredible. Your respect, your determination, is stronger than mine ever was. You are stronger than I ever was.”

Her mother was misinterpreting the meaning of strength. “I cheated the first day of my marriage. That’s anything but strong. It’s weak.”

“Joel wasn’t a peach, Violet. I should have stopped the wedding.”

“Momma, it’s not your fault.”

“It wasn’t my resolution either. Anyway, I have to go. I have a meeting,” she said like she’d forgotten. Eliza hugged and kissed her daughter, before slipping off the chair. Eliza cupped her face and pulled her forehead to her lips. “My child, you are stubborn,” she said. As if Violet had a choice.

Eliza left and Emma entered. Her ready-to-tackle-the-day face fell when Violet looked up at her. “What happened?” Emma set her iPad on the counter. She touched Violet’s cheeks and rubbed under her swollen eyes. “Does this have something to do with Joel returning to the pavilion with a couple of black eyes?”

A couple of black eyes?
Ryder had found him again. Of course he did. This was the exact reason she had to keep her secret to herself. Her stomach fluttered thinking that Ryder protected her unconditionally, even when he didn’t know what he was protecting her against.

“It’s a long story,” Violet said, not about to get into it with the kids down the hall, her heart dying more every moment, and the smell of Ryder still lingering on her skin from her sleepless night with his suit jacket.
His suit jacket.

She glanced at the wrinkled material lying on the couch.
Why did he go and give her that reminder of him?

“I assumed Joel got what he deserved and you and Ryder retired to your suite for the night. I’m sorry Violet, I didn’t realize something had happened.”

Violet touched her arm. “Life happened. It’s fine.” It was so far from fine.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Do you want to talk about Quinn?”

Emma retracted and sat on a stool, sending her sister an inquisitive blue-eyed look. “Fair enough. I’m not going to even ask how you know about him.”

“Fair enough.”

They sat in silence until Parker and Sophia were ready to head over to the salon. Violet tagged along, dropping the kids off at the salon with Emma, and then heading up to Joel’s room.

With a heavy hand and unsure what Joel’s reaction would be, she knocked on the door. There were a lot of mistakes in her life and cheating on Joel was one she needed to resolve before she could move on.
If
she could ever move on. Joel was right about Parker and Sophia looking at him like he’d destroyed their family and Violet hadn’t corrected their opinion. She owed him a sincere apology for that night.

Joel opened the door and stared down at her with two black eyes. “You look like shit,” he greeted.

She raised an eyebrow at him. “You don’t look much better.”

He shrugged.

“Can we talk, please. No fighting, I promise.”

***

RYDER LOOKED UP as he heard the rumble of tires rolling over the driveway. He hoped it was Violet. He wanted her to trust him and find her way back to him so they could address the current situation together.

Instead, Eliza stepped out of the car with grace and sophistication, just like her daughter would.

Ryder didn’t need Eliza to tell him what he’d already discovered: Joel had committed fraud.

His phone call to Eliza that morning had confirmed it. Joel had been pulling an investment scam involving Ryder and Donald. Eliza confirmed the money Joel received to help him pay off the millions he’d stolen was from Robert Caliendo.

Caught. Busted.

Ryder was prepared to race over to Violet’s and give her the leverage they needed to put an end to Joel.

But Ryder had demanded an answer to the question he was still in the dark about: Joel’s blackmailing information. Eliza insisted they meet in person. So here they were and Ryder had never felt so impatient in his entire life.

“Eliza,” he greeted, taking her elbow in his hand and kissing her cheek.

“Ryder.”

He didn’t continue the formalities. Envisioning Violet’s pain and sadness equaling his own was killing him. “What does Joel have over Violet?”

Eliza smiled and chuckled at him.

Ryder wasn’t sure what was humorous. Her daughter was being blackmailed by Joel and every second that ticked by was another second of pain she had to endure.

“You are Donald Carlex’s son, through and through. That man was no pushover, nor was he a fool. I suspected with the tip I gave you, that you would be able to find what we needed to confront Joel.”

“Eliza, with all due respect, I don’t want to waste any more valuable time. I want the information that puts Joel away for life.”

Her smile fell. “Foolish boy.”

Ryder squared his shoulders and crossed his hands over his chest. He was no fool.

Eliza shook her head and her kind and concerned smile returned. “Oh boy, put away the big guns, I’m not here for a show.”

Ryder almost laughed at the woman.
Almost.

“You cannot turn Joel into the authorities, Ryder. He’s Parker and Sophia’s father and although his choices were bad−”

Ryder cut her off. “Illegal,” he corrected.

Eliza drew in a deep breath before continuing. “Yes, illegal but irregardless, this choice isn’t yours to make.”

“Then tell me what is going on between Violet and Joel, so I can go talk to Violet and we can figure this out together.”

“Can we go inside?”

Inside? Inside!
His patience was wearing thin, but he invited the calm and collected woman into the house.

They sat on the wicker sofas in the back sun room. A gorgeous glass edition Donald had built for Kathleen to frequent during the winter months and gaze at her gardens, even if they had been completely covered in snow. Ryder poured them some ice water, and downed his in one gulp to quench his dry throat. The suspense was going to be the end of him.

“I’m going to start from the beginning.”

As Eliza began the story of Violet and Robert’s relationship, Ryder wanted to tell her that Violet had already shared this difficult part in her life with him and that their time was running short sitting here doing it all over again. Within hours, Joel would be married and their window of opportunity to talk with him privately would be gone. But Ryder remained quiet, seeing Eliza’s need to tell her side. She was a beautiful older lady, but her past brought out the fine lines across her face and bore sorrow into her usually brilliant eyes.

Hearing Violet’s version of her life had been heart breaking, but listening to Eliza open up her perspective of her daughters hard trials, was worse. Ryder found himself lost in her words. Violet had kept so much of her life from him. Ryder found each new fact squeezing his heart more. Robert was a mean son of a bitch, more than people knew, unless you were one of the poor bastards on his bad side.

“Violet is my third oldest child and of all my children, she was the most independent. Since her first steps, she turned away help, determined to take them on her own. But she was there for all her siblings. Her heart is big and when she was young, it was free. She strived for perfection, but she laughed her way there. Her independence is partially responsible for her stubbornness. I had hoped that she wouldn’t need proof from a file to stand up to Joel. I had hoped that she could find it in herself to trust you after so many have made it almost impossible for her to do so.”

So had he.

“However, this morning I was greeted with a tear-stained daughter who didn’t want to talk about it.”

Tear-stained? Damn it. Why was he still here?

“That brings us to her wedding and the two of you in the silver ballroom.”

Ryder had heard enough. “Violet told me about that night. I’m sorry I was drunk and I got her drunk. It wasn’t my intention.”

Eliza’s patience evaporated and she rushed the next words out. “Violet wasn’t honest with you about her wedding. I wish it was her that would have told you, but it’s not. It’s me. And to be perfectly honest, I don’t want to, but here I am, sitting with you, about to shock the shit out of you and if you could just remain quiet until I’m finished that would be helpful.”

Her frustrated tone and fierce words quieted Ryder and she continued.

“I found you and Violet that night, like drunken teenagers.” What a low part of his life. “I found you both on the window bench.” If only she knew what they had done on that window bench only a week ago. “You were wrapped under a tablecloth which I assumed you pulled from a table.”

Ryder was pretty sure red rose to his face, as he was envisioning Violet naked and wrapped in the tablecloth.

“You were both naked.” Ryder’s attention snapped back to the now.

Huh? Both of them naked? Ten years ago? Had he misheard her?

“What?”

“Joel has the two of you on video.”
On video? What was this lady talking about?
“You and my daughter have a sex tape that Joel is holding over her head.”

A sex tape? Of Violet and Ryder? A sex tape? A sex tape!

Eliza carried on. “Joel is blackmailing Violet. If she continues to see you, he will release the tape, which in turn will result in Parker and Sophia suffering.”

A sex tape?
If Eliza hadn’t sat there confident with her words, Ryder would have been convinced he’d misheard the entire conversation. Only, Eliza’s stare told him he’d heard it correctly

A sex tape.
Ryder recalled the night he spent with Violet in the silver ballroom, only a week ago, and she’d told him she was trying to refresh his memory.
Violet had been trying to jog their sexual encounter in that silver ballroom ten years ago.
It hadn’t worked and they’d ended up creating a new memory.
He didn’t remember a single detail of the first time.

Ryder flushed with embarrassment. First embarrassed that she knew of a past that Ryder didn’t even know and second, that he’d taken advantage of her distressed daughter in one of her darkest times. “Eliza, I am so sorry.”

Eliza touched his hand. “Don’t apologize to me. That night, through Violet’s fears and pain, you gave her a light of hope. She didn’t see it, but I did. So I want to thank you. When her life was at her lowest point, and broken beyond what I thought could be repaired, when no one was there to stand up for her, not even me...” Guilt formed tears in Eliza’s sapphire blue eyes. “...that night, you pushed her back onto her feet. She might have lost her trust in people, but she gained trust in herself and she fought Robert and Joel every inch of their choice to deceive her. And from the hasty, disarranged departure of the two of you, from the lobby bathroom before the Bensen meeting, I believe that was the moment you gave her another push in the right direction of trust.”

The lobby washroom?
“How do you know about that?”