The Wilde Side (29 page)

Ashley was so dazed by his admission, she couldn't speak.

"Then things got more interesting," he went on, his expression smug. "After you fired me, my friend told me about your lover doing the restoration work at the hotel, and it was nice having an informant keeping me up to date on your illicit affair, just in case I needed some leverage." He strode to a small table and riffled through the stack of mail and papers on the surface, until he'd retrieved a manilla envelope. He opened it and handed her some pictures. "In fact, as you'll see for yourself, I have it documented quite nicely right here."

Reluctantly, Ashley looked through the photographs, most of them grainy, faraway shots, and could only assume James's friend had helped him out in this area. There were pictures of the day that Scott had barged into her boutique to confront her, and their body language was an easy giveaway that there was much more going on between the two of them than Scott needing help finding something in the shop, more pictures of them in her car on the nights they'd gone out together, and another of her in a passionate embrace with Scott in the parking lot after one of their out-of-the-way dates. There were additional photos, but she'd seen enough.

"I received a call yesterday from my friend that the two of you spent the night in a suite together at the hotel," James said, bringing her attention back around to him again. "Does your daddy know you're screwing the hired help?"

She sucked in a quick breath at his crude words and realized just how all this would look to her parents. While none of the photos were as explicit or indecent as the ones that Greg had taken of her years ago, these were still proof enough that she'd been sneaking around with Scott and having an affair with him.

With effort, she forced herself to remain calm, but her next decision came easily, based on her strong feelings for Scott. He gave her the strength to face this problem boldly, without fear. "Do whatever you think you have to do with these pictures, because I'm not giving in to your threats."

She'd obviously caught him off guard with her indifference, with her willingness to let him expose her secret, and that confidence of his faltered a notch.

"Then you might as well call the police and press charges," he said with a shrug. "But arrested or not, I won't have that money."

She tossed the offending pictures aside, willing to reason with him, to give him a break if he'd at least try to meet her halfway. "Then give me at least a payment of some sort. A show of good faith."

"I don't have it," he stated through gritted teeth, his tone vibrating with frustration and anger.

She stared at him, seeing past all the bravado of the past ten minutes to a man who seemed tormented by something other than the money he owed her. "What's going on, James?" she asked. "Are you in some kind of trouble?"

His gaze narrowed. "Why do you care?"

"Because I see a different man today than the one who worked for me. Because I'm beginning to wonder if you didn't steal and hock that merchandise out of some kind of desperation."

It was a guess on her end, but when he stiffened, she knew she'd hit close to the mark.

"Yeah, I'm desperate alright," he said angrily. "I'm desperate to save my sister and make sure that she has a chance at a normal life!"

"Excuse me?" Ashley said, certain she'd misheard him.

"Forget it." His entire demeanor turned defensive, and he started to walk away from her, but she grabbed his arm and stopped him before he could.

So, she had heard him accurately, which piqued her curiosity all the more. "No, I won't forget it. What's wrong with your sister?"

"Let me show you." This time, he grabbed two regular pictures from a corner table in the living room, where he'd obviously been looking at them. "
This
is my sister, Carrie," he said, and showed her a photograph of a young, beautiful girl laughing into the camera, seemingly happy and carefree, which he quickly replaced with the second snapshot of the same girl in a hospital gown, wheelchair bound with one of her legs in a cast.

The sadness and devastation in the girl's eyes pulled on Ashley's emotions, and she glanced back up at James, seeing the agony in his expression. "What happened?"

"She was in a car accident a few months ago and completely shattered her left leg, nearly beyond repair."

"Oh, God," she whispered, unable to imagine such a fate – for anyone.

"She's only eighteen, and both of our parents are gone and all we have are each other," James said, his previous temper softened by his obvious love for his sibling. "Unfortunately, she doesn't have medical insurance, and every spare cent I have has gone toward paying her medical bills and scraping together enough money to keep her in physical therapy which will make a difference between her being able to walk again on her own or being bound to crutches or a cane for the rest of her life."

Ashley felt tears sting the back of her eyes and blinked them back. His desperation was completely justified. She understood that his caring had driven him to steal, and while she didn't condone theft in any form, she sympathized with his predicament. "Why didn't you tell me this before?"

His mouth thinned into a grim line. "Because it doesn't change the fact that I stole from the boutique, or that I owe you more money than I have to my name, and I certainly don't want your pity."

"How about my compassion?" she asked gently. "Did you ever think that I might understand your situation? That maybe you and I could work something out, some kind of financial loan of some sort or a donation to help your sister out?"

He eyed her skeptically. "I'm not used to anyone caring that much."

She offered him a soft smile. "You never gave me the chance."

He swallowed hard, his gaze locked on hers, hope shining in the depths. "Would you give it to me now?"

Ashley could only guess how hard it had been on James's pride to ask for her help, and she wanted to give him a second chance to prove himself. Without hesitating, she nodded. "Yeah, I would."

He released a deep breath. "Then I'd appreciate whatever you could do for me and my sister."

She started by giving him his job back. "How about you come back to work at the boutique, on probation, of course."

"You would do that for me?" he asked, clearly astonished at her generosity, her forgiveness.

She laughed. "I just did, so take the offer."

"I will," he said eagerly. "Thank you."

Then she grew more serious. "As for your sister, tell her that she'll get the physical therapy she needs until her leg is completely healed. And I'll make sure it happens as soon as possible."

Moisture gathered in the man's eyes, and she could only imagine what a relief it was for James to have his sister's medical problems taken care of.

"Ashley ... thank you." His gratitude was genuine, as was his apology. "And I'm sorry, about everything."

"Desperation and fear can drive people to do crazy things," she said, having been there herself. She headed for the door, then turned around one last time before leaving. "Oh, and tell your friend at the hotel that his information and pictures aren't worth crap," she said with a teasing smile. "Because if I have my way, my relationship with Scott is about to become very public."

*

Ashley paced anxiously in her office at the back of the boutique. A quick glance at her watch told her it had been fifteen minutes since she'd paged Evan and left him a voice message to come to her office as soon as possible. Every minute that passed seemed like an eternity, and she wanted to get this conversation over with so she could go and find Scott and talk to him, too.

It was late Monday afternoon, and she'd seen Scott's work truck parked in the area designated for Nolan and Son's workers, but she hadn't seen him since she'd returned to the hotel from her visit with James, which was just as well, since she was intent on settling this one last issue before she faced Scott, and the most important decision of her life.

Another five long minutes crept by before Evan finally arrived. "I'm sorry I took so long to get here," he said as he entered her office. "I was talking with your father."

She smiled at that. "He seems to be spending a lot more time at the hotel lately, hasn't he?"

Evan shrugged, his gaze not quite meeting hers. "He's enjoyed watching the progress of the restoration work and figuring out what other upgrades he wants to do to the hotel."

His reply was simple and par, but there was something about Evan's mannerisms that felt off, making her wonder what he and her father had discussed that made Evan seem so distracted.

Finally, he looked at her, his demeanor shifting to the businessman she was used to dealing with when it came to hotel and work issues. "So, what's up?"

"I need to talk to you about a few things."

He slid his hands into the front pockets of his slacks. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes." Better than it had been in years, and she couldn't believe all that had changed in the past month, including her own attitude and the direction her life was about to take. "I made some business decisions, and as CEO of the company, I wanted you to hear them from me first."

"All right." He inclined his head curiously and waited for her to explain.

She leaned her backside against the desk behind her. "I went and paid a visit to James this morning."

Evan's brows gathered into a frown. "You never should have gone there by yourself," he said gruffly.

"I know," she admitted, appreciating his concern. The thought had crossed her mind, too, but confronting James on her terms, and alone, was something she'd had to do.

"How did it go?" Evan asked.

"Not quite as I expected, actually." Ashley went on to tell Evan about her conversation with James, from the reasons why the other man had stolen the merchandise from the boutique, to his inability to pay back the money, to his sister's medical condition that James was struggling with – emotionally and financially.

Once all that was out in the open, she paused a moment, preparing herself for Evan's reaction to the next bit of news she was about to share. "I gave James his job back."

"You did
what?
" He stared at her as if she'd lost her mind.

She winced, but held her ground. "I said I gave James his—"

He waved a hand between them, cutting her off. "Never mind. I heard you, I just can't believe what you did." He shook his head incredulously. "God, Ashley, despite James's troubles, you're taking a huge risk in rehiring the guy."

Evan clearly disapproved of her generosity and understanding, and she knew that James was going to have to work twice as hard, and be on his best behavior at all times, to convince not only her that he was a trustworthy employee, but Evan, too. But Ashley had faith in James, and she was standing firm on her decision.

"I've come to realize that some risks are worth taking," she said to Evan. "He's a good guy who made a mistake, and he deserves a second chance. I'm taking care of his sister's medical bills personally, and I'll take full responsibility for James coming back to work at the boutique. If anything happens, he'll answer to me."

Evan didn't look at all reassured. "And how do you intend to do that when you won't even be around to keep an eye on him?"

His question brought them to another subject Ashley needed to address and settle between them. "Because I'll be here, in Chicago, still overseeing the boutique. I'm not moving to San Francisco."

His mouth opened, and snapped shut again. He sat down in the chair behind him, clearly thrown by everything she'd dropped on him today. Then his gaze narrowed on her, examining her closely and with concern. "Are you feeling okay?"

She laughed. "I've never been better."

"I guess I'll have to trust you on that," he muttered, though he still looked skeptical. "Can I ask why you changed your mind about transferring to San Francisco?"

Her response came easily. "Because I was making the move for all the wrong reasons."

A wry grin canted the corner of his mouth. "I could have told you that."

Her brows rose at his comment. "Oh?" The one word prompted him to elaborate.

"I never thought your decision to relocate to San Francisco was a
career
move, but rather a personal one." His expression revealed a more serious side. "I know the past couple of years have been rough for you in a lot of ways, and I can't help but wonder if any of your reasons for moving had to do with you and I, and how things ended between us."

The man was more perceptive than she gave him credit for. "That was part of the reason, yes," she admitted, wanting to be honest with him. "I know how my parents feel about you. They think of you as the son they never had. And I know they were disappointed that things didn't work out between us. But the truth is ... I don't love you."

"I know that, even if it's been hard to accept." He smiled, and she could tell that he'd come to terms with his feelings for her and hers for him. "But that aside, you can't live your life for anyone other than yourself."

He knew her well. "You understand," she whispered.

"Of course I do." He stood again, and grasped her hands in his, giving them a light, affectionate squeeze. "You know I care for you, Ashley. I always will. And no matter what, I want you to be happy, just as your parents do."