Read TROUBLE (The Billionaire's Rules, Book 9) Online

Authors: Kelly Favor

Tags: #The Billionaire's Rules

TROUBLE (The Billionaire's Rules, Book 9) (2 page)

BOOK: TROUBLE (The Billionaire's Rules, Book 9)
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“Oh.
 
Cullen.
 
Cullen Sharpe.”
 
Ivy spelled his last name.

There was a clacking of the keyboard as
the officer’s fingers rattled over the keys in rapid-fire fashion.
 
“He’s in Central Booking,” the woman
informed her.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what—“

“Central Booking is where people go to
wait for arraignment.
 
Your
husband’s been arrested, and he’ll be arraigned.”
 
The woman moved away from the computer
and picked up a Styrofoam cup.
 
She
sipped at it and then started filling out some paperwork, seemingly done with
the conversation.

“Ummm…excuse me, ma’am?” Ivy asked
softly.

The officer didn’t turn her head, just
kept working.
 
Another person
stepped into line behind Ivy and the officer looked up and waved that person
forward.

“How can I help you, Sir?” the woman
said.

Ivy didn’t move from the window.
 
“Wait a second,” Ivy said.
 

“I answered your question,” the woman
behind the window said.
 
“Your
husband is awaiting his arraignment.
 
Sometime in the next twenty-four hours, he’ll have his time in front of
a judge. And if you’ll excuse me, I have other people to help.”

“That wasn’t help,” Ivy said, her cheeks
flushing.
 
“How dare you treat me
like I’m just some annoying little pest?
 
I’m a person, and my husband’s been arrested and I’m frightened.”

The officer pursed her lips and took a
deep breath.
 
“Most people who come
in here are scared.”

“I need to see my husband immediately.”

“He’s not allowed visitors.
 
He can see his lawyer.
 
One will either be appointed to him or
he can find one for himself.”

“So I can’t even see him?”

“He’ll be allowed three calls.
 
If he decides to call you, then you can
speak to him.
 
Otherwise, I really
don’t know what else to tell you.”
 
The officer waved to the man standing behind Ivy again.

Ivy nearly put her arm through the window
and tried to throttle the piggish woman.

But she knew that it wouldn’t do any
good.

Instead, she walked over to one of the
long benches in the waiting area and sat down on it.

She took out her cell phone and sat
there, waiting for Cullen to call.

 

***

 

Ivy had been sitting and sitting as the
hours went by.

She’d watched people walk through the
precinct—police officers, lawyers, seen convicts being led in and out,
cracking jokes as they went, talking like it was just another day at the
office.

And all the while, Ivy was sitting there,
hoping Cullen would call her.

You
could just as easily be sitting at home instead of at the police station.
 
You’re not doing him any good by being
here.

Somehow, though, just the act of being at
the precinct was effort, and felt right.
 
If she were at home in her apartment, it would be as if she didn’t care
at all.
 
It would feel all wrong.

She stepped out briefly to get some food,
eating a sandwich from a nearby deli.
 
And then she came back and waited some more.

She’d received no phone calls, and the
day was waning.
 
Soon, darkness had
fallen outside and the room was illuminated by florescent lights.

Ivy was just about to get up and tell
that short, squat obnoxious female cop that she demanded to speak to her
superior.

There had to be a way to find out more
information about what was happening with Cullen.

I’m
his wife.
 
They can’t just forbid me
from having any communication with him, can they?

And then, shockingly, Cullen himself
walked into the room, followed by a tall man in a gray suit and a police
officer who seemed to be escorting the two of them.

When Cullen saw Ivy sitting there, his
eyes widened.
 
“What are you doing?”
he said.

“I—I came here to find you,” she
replied, and then burst into tears.

It was humiliating.

But before long, Cullen’s arms were
around her, lifting her to her feet and then hugging her tightly to him.
 
“Shhh…it’s okay.
 
Calm down.”

Ivy was shaking with relief.
 
She grabbed on tightly to his shirt as
she pushed her face into his chest.
 
“I was so scared….so, so scared.”

“Come outside with me,” Cullen told
her.
 
And then he turned to the man
in the gray suit.
 
“I need to get her
out of here.”

“That’s fine.
 
I can take care of the paperwork.
 
I’ll meet you.”

Cullen walked Ivy outside the station and
then brought her to a nearby bench and sat down with her.

“How…how did you get out?” she
asked.
 
“Did they drop the charges?”

Cullen laughed.
 
“Not quite.
 
I’m free on bail.”

“But the police officer in there said you
needed to be arraigned.
 
You needed
to go to court, right?”

“I have a very good criminal lawyer.
 
He was able to secure me a preliminary
arraignment via video conference, which sped things up.”

Ivy took a deep, shuddering breath in and
then let it out, collapsing against Cullen, laying her head on his broad
shoulder.
 
“I’m so relieved.
 
You have no idea.
 
I was just sitting there, waiting for
you to call me.”
 

Cullen was silent.
 
He rubbed her back and didn’t say
anything.

Ivy lifted her head and looked at
him.
 
His eyes were distant.

“Cullen?” she asked.

He glanced at her.
 
“Yes?”

“They said you were allowed three
calls.
 
Why didn’t you use one of
them to call me?”

He made a grunting noise.
 
“I was a little preoccupied with trying
to get myself out of jail as quickly as possible.
 
And I knew there wasn’t anything you’d
be able to do to help that happen.”

She felt wounded.
 
“I’m your wife.
 
Aren’t you supposed to call your wife?”

Cullen slid away from her and his body
tensed.
 
“Ivy,” he said, his voice a
hiss of impatience.
 
He lowered his
head and ran his hands through his hair.
 
“I really can’t do this right now.”

“Do what?”

“Sit here and justify everything I did
after I got arrested.”
 
He sat
straight up and turned his head to stare at her.
 
His eyes were burning bright with
frustration.
 
“I was just arrested
for a patient’s death and you’re whining to me about hurt feelings.”

She looked away from him and her tears
seemed to instantly vanish.
 
“Fine,”
she said.
 
“I won’t whine anymore,
Cullen.”
 
She got up and started to
walk away from him, shaking her head.

Cullen jumped to his feet and caught her,
grabbing her wrist.
 
“Stop,” he
said.
 
“Stop it right now.”

She turned to face him.
 
“Why are you so cruel to me?”

His face was a mask that she couldn’t
penetrate.
 

“I’m tired,” he said.
 

“So am I, Cullen,” she said, her voice
cracked pathetically.

Nearby, two women in short skirts and
extremely high heels cackled.
 
“You
tell him, honey girl!” one yelled out, and the other cackled and gave them the
finger as they continued walking past.

Cullen sighed.
 
“This is where I’ve come to in my
life.
 
Even two drunk prostitutes
feel superior to me.”

“You haven’t come to anything,” Ivy replied.
 
“This is just a setback.
 
You’re going to beat the charges because
you’re innocent.”

“Am I?” he challenged, staring her down.

The truth was, she didn’t know if he was
innocent.
 
Only Cullen knew that,
and she wasn’t even certain that he knew either.

The man in the gray suit exited the
police station and came down the steps towards them.
 
He handed Cullen a manila folder.
 
Then he turned to Ivy and offered his
perfectly manicured hand.
 
“I’m
Drake Bennett,” he said.
 
“Cullen’s defense
attorney.”

“I’m Ivy,” she replied, shaking his hand
briefly.
 
It felt dry and cool.

“Ivy Spellman,” Drake nodded.
 
“Cullen’s told me very good things about
you.
 
Congratulations on your
wedding.”

Ivy smiled, wanting to laugh at the
absurdity of his congratulatory words when they were standing in front of the
police station talking about her husband’s arrest for murder.

“It’s been an interesting honeymoon,” she
said.

“I bet,” Drake said.
 
He turned back to Cullen.
 
“Now you go home and rest up,” he
said.
 
“Tomorrow, we need to meet
and go over everything from top to bottom.
 
I’ll bring the whole team.
 
Sound good?”

“Yes,” Cullen said.
 
“And thanks for everything.”

“Just doing my job,” Drake replied, and
then the lawyer turned on his heel and walked off.

A limousine pulled up to the curb and
parked in front of Cullen and Ivy.
 
Cullen’s
driver opened the door for them and they both got into the back of the limo.

And then the driver got into the front
seat and glanced in the rearview mirror at his boss.
 
Cullen said, “Back to the apartment.”

“Right away, Sir.”

A few moments went by with neither Cullen
nor Ivy speaking to one another.
 
The tension felt thick in the car.

“Would you like a drink to celebrate my
release from the gulag?
 
Or are we
going to keep arguing about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin?”
Cullen finally asked.

Ivy shrugged.
 
“Fine.
 
I’ll have a drink.”

Cullen seemed a little more relaxed now,
as he poured her a slightly smaller glass of scotch and handed it to her.

They clinked glasses together.
 
“To good lawyers,” she said.

Cullen laughed.
 
“Not a bad toast, Miss Spellman.
 
Not bad at all.”
 
Then he tossed back his scotch and
closed his eyes.

Ivy sipped her scotch, and it burned
warmly as it slid down her throat.

When Cullen opened his eyes again, they
were like ice flows.
 
Cold and
remote and unreachable from where she was.

“What’s going to happen tomorrow when you
meet with your lawyer and his team?” she asked, imagining how frightened she
would be in his position.

Cullen twirled the tumbler in his fingers.
 
“They’ll tell me just how likely it is
that I go to jail,” he said.
 
“Or if
I’m going to lose my license to practice medicine.”

“But they’re going to come up with a good
strategy to fight this off.
 
Right?”
 
She had a sudden
moment of panic.
 
“You don’t think
they’d advise you to plead guilty?”

He watched her closely.
 
“Don’t worry about my lawyers.
 
They do just fine.”

Her stomach fluttered.
 
“It’s difficult not to worry.
 
I want you to be okay.”

“None of these details are your concern,”
he said, bristling.
 
“How many phone
calls I make, what my legal team advises me to do next.
 
Let me deal with it.”

Ivy felt her hand tighten around the
glass.
 
“So you’re telling me I’ve
forgotten my place?
 
Is that it?”

Cullen didn’t deny it.
 
He just looked at her with that cold
indifference she was becoming accustomed to.

BOOK: TROUBLE (The Billionaire's Rules, Book 9)
10.33Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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