Chapter 2 - Nobody Takes Her Anywhere
Dean Calloway had spent most of his adult life believing volume could substitute for authority.
At the locked entrance of L’Aurora, he tested that theory again.
“PIERCE!”
His fist slammed against the glass.
The restaurant had gone eerily quiet.
Guests remained seated because Lucas Hale's security team had politely but firmly asked them to stay while an “internal matter” was resolved.
Most understood that those words meant they should avoid curiosity.
Dean didn't.
“Open this damn door!”
Two men stood behind him beneath the awning.
Both worked for Calloway Freight.
Neither looked comfortable.
Inside, Lucas watched from several yards away.
Matteo Russo approached.
“How long are you going to leave him outside?”
Lucas checked his watch.
“Boss hasn't told me to let him in.”
“It's raining.”
Lucas looked through the glass.
“That's tragic.”
Matteo sighed.
“You enjoy this too much.”
“No.”
Lucas watched Dean pound again.
“Exactly enough.”
Inside Jonah's office, Stella heard every strike against the door.
Each one made her flinch.
Jonah remained beside the couch.
“Look at me.”
She couldn't.
“Stella.”
Her eyes finally lifted.
“He'll be angry.”
Jonah's expression remained still.
“He arrived angry.”
“You don't understand.”
“I understand more than you think.”
“No, you don't.”
Her voice shook.
“You'll make it worse.”
Jonah said nothing.
She gripped the blanket.
“Dean gets angry, and then he calms down. If people interfere, he gets worse later.”
“Later?”
Stella realized what she'd admitted.
Her face drained.
Jonah didn't rush to fill the silence.
That was another difference between him and Dean.
Dean weaponized silence.
Jonah seemed comfortable inside it.
“He's my boyfriend,” Stella whispered.
“How long?”
“Three years.”
“How long has he been hitting you?”
Her eyes snapped toward him.
Jonah's tone hadn't changed.
No judgment.
No disbelief.
Just the question.
Stella looked away.
“I didn't say he—”
“You didn't need to.”
She swallowed.
“Don't.”
“Don't what?”
“Make me say it.”
Jonah nodded once.
“Then don't.”
That answer nearly broke her.
She had expected interrogation.
Threats.
Maybe mockery.
Instead Jonah simply stood.
Stella panicked.
“Where are you going?”
“To deal with Dean.”
“No.”
Jonah stopped.
She forced herself upright despite the pain.
“Please. Let me leave through the back.”
“With him?”
“No. I'll go home.”
“Where Dean lives?”
Her silence answered.
Jonah returned to the chair.
“Stella, if you want to walk out of this building by yourself, I won't physically stop you.”
She stared.
“But if what you're actually asking is whether I'll send you back to a man who did this to you because he's creating a scene at my door, the answer is no.”
“You can't decide my life.”
“No.”
He leaned forward.
“But I can decide who leaves my restaurant with whom.”
The pounding stopped.
For a moment Stella almost relaxed.
Then her phone began ringing.
DEAN.
She froze.
It rang until voicemail.
Immediately it rang again.
Jonah glanced at the screen.
“You don't have to answer.”
“He'll know I'm here.”
“He already knows.”
“How?”
“He followed you, or someone told him.”
The realization visibly frightened her.
Jonah saw it.
“Does Dean track your phone?”
Stella hesitated.
“I don't know.”
“Does he know your passwords?”
“Yes.”
“Does he check your messages?”
Sometimes.
She didn't say it.
Jonah heard the answer anyway.
He stood and opened the office door.
“Lucas.”
Lucas appeared instantly.
“Boss.”
“Get Elena.”
“On it.”
Stella frowned.
“Who is Elena?”
“My attorney.”
“I don't need an attorney.”
“Probably not.”
Jonah looked toward her phone.
“But you need someone who can tell you what your options are without asking anything from you in return.”
Before Stella could respond, Dean's voice boomed from the restaurant.
“STELLA!”
Her body recoiled.
Jonah turned.
Lucas stood ten feet away with Dean beside him.
Apparently the confrontation had changed.
Dean's soaked coat hung open.
His sandy hair was plastered to his forehead.
Rage disappeared from his face the moment he saw Stella.
In its place came concern so convincing that Jonah almost admired the performance.
“Baby.”
Dean stepped forward.
Jonah moved between them.
Dean stopped.
“Get out of my way.”
Jonah's voice was quiet.
“No.”
“She's with me.”
Stella stared at the floor.
Dean tried to look around Jonah.
“Stella, come on. We're going home.”
She didn't move.
Dean smiled tightly.
“Baby, you're upset. It's been a stressful night.”
Still nothing.
His jaw twitched.
“Stella.”
Jonah watched that twitch.
There.
The real man.
Dean looked at Jonah again.
“This is between us.”
“No,” Jonah said. “The money is between us.”
He gestured toward the envelope Lucas held.
“You're twenty-five short.”
Dean's face changed.
“I'll have the rest tomorrow.”
“You were supposed to have it tonight.”
“I had a situation.”
Jonah glanced toward Stella.
“I noticed.”
Dean's eyes hardened.
“Careful.”
Lucas straightened.
Several security men shifted discreetly around the room.
Jonah didn't.
“Who hurt her?”
Dean laughed.
It sounded forced.
“What?”
“Her ribs are cracked.”
Stella closed her eyes.
“Her arm looks like somebody tried to leave fingerprints beneath the skin.”
Dean looked at her.
And Jonah saw something colder than anger.
Calculation.
“What did you tell him?” Dean asked.
Stella's hands began trembling.
Jonah stepped closer to Dean.
“Wrong person.”
Dean's gaze returned to him.
“Excuse me?”
“You asked the wrong person a question.”
Jonah's voice dropped.
“If you have something to say in this room, you say it to me.”
Dean scoffed.
“You playing hero now?”
“No.”
Jonah looked almost bored.
“Heroes care whether people think they're good.”
“Then what are you doing?”
“Making sure no one gets injured on my property twice in one evening.”
Dean smiled.
“You think because she has a few bruises—”
Stella inhaled sharply.
Jonah heard it.
So did Lucas.
Dean realized his mistake half a second too late.
“A few bruises?” Jonah repeated.
Dean's expression stiffened.
“She falls. She's clumsy.”
Jonah looked toward Stella.
She was staring at Dean now.
Something had changed in her eyes.
Maybe because Dean had just confirmed the lie she hadn't finished telling.
Dean stepped toward her.
“Come here.”
Stella didn't.
His voice hardened.
“Stella.”
Jonah extended one hand.
Not touching Dean.
Just stopping his path.
“She stays until she decides otherwise.”
Dean laughed.
“You think she wants to stay with you?”
Jonah turned slightly.
“Stella.”
She looked up.
“Do you want to leave with Dean?”
Every person within earshot seemed to stop breathing.
Dean stared at her.
His face carried a familiar warning.
Choose carefully.
She had seen that look in grocery stores.
At parties.
In the apartment after arguments.
Say the correct thing now or pay later.
Stella's lips parted.
Nothing came out.
Dean smiled.
“See?”
Jonah didn't move.
“I'm asking her.”
Dean's smile vanished.
“Stella.”
She remembered the radiator.
She remembered apologizing while Dean stood over her.
She remembered wondering whether the pain beneath her ribs meant something inside had broken.
Then she remembered falling.
And waking with her arm over her head.
The shame of it burned.
“No.”
The word was barely audible.
Dean blinked.
Stella breathed again.
Louder this time.
“No.”
Dean stared at her as if she'd spoken in another language.
Jonah nodded.
“There's your answer.”
Dean's face twisted.
“You ungrateful—”
Lucas moved before Jonah had to.
One hand landed against Dean's chest.
“Finish that sentence,” Lucas said quietly, “and this becomes a much shorter conversation.”
Dean looked around.
Dozens of witnesses.
Security cameras.
Jonah's men.
He forced himself to laugh.
“Fine.”
He fixed his coat.
“This is ridiculous.”
He looked at Stella.
“You'll call me tomorrow.”
She said nothing.
Dean pointed toward Jonah.
“And you still want the rest of your money?”
Jonah's eyes stayed cold.
“Tomorrow. Noon.”
“Or what?”
“Or your contracts start disappearing.”
Dean stared.
“You can't shut down my company.”
“No.”
Jonah glanced toward Matteo.
“But I know people who don't enjoy doing business with men who miss payment deadlines.”
Dean understood.
He turned toward the door.
Then paused.
“You've always had a weakness, Pierce.”
Jonah raised an eyebrow.
“You think because you don't drink too much and don't yell at women that you're somehow better than the rest of us.”
“No.”
Jonah's answer came instantly.
“I think I'm better than you because I don't have to hurt someone smaller than me to feel powerful.”
Dean's face reddened.
Lucas opened the door.
Cold rain blew inside.
“Good night, Mr. Calloway.”
Dean stepped into the storm.
His men followed.
The moment the door closed, the restaurant exhaled.
Stella didn't.
She stared at Jonah.
“You shouldn't have said that.”
“What?”
“About his contracts.”
“He owes me money.”
“You threatened everything he has.”
Jonah studied her.
“No. I reminded him that actions have consequences.”
Her face filled with dread.
“You don't know Dean when he's losing.”
Jonah looked through the windows as Dean climbed into a black SUV.
“Then I suppose I'll meet him.”
An hour later, attorney Elena Ward arrived.
She spoke with Stella privately.
Lucas arranged clothing from a nearby boutique because Stella's sweater was soaked.
Doctor Finch returned with medication and strict instructions.
Jonah stayed away from the office door.
He didn't want Stella to feel guarded.
Or watched.
Around midnight, Elena found him near the empty bar.
“She won't file a police report.”
Jonah nodded.
“Expected.”
“She also refuses a hospital.”
“Finch told me.”
“She doesn't have anywhere she feels safe.”
Jonah looked toward the hallway.
“What about family?”
“Mother passed away. Father lives in Oregon, but they're estranged.”
“Friends?”
“Elena the attorney or Elena the gossip?”
“Attorney.”
“Then none of your business.”
Jonah accepted that.
Elena studied him.
“You know what you can't do.”
“I know many things I can't do.”
“You cannot keep her here like a protected witness in your private kingdom.”
“I'm aware.”
“And you cannot solve domestic violence by destroying Dean's company.”
“I was planning to destroy his company because he owes me twenty-five thousand dollars.”
Elena stared.
“That sounded more convincing in your head.”
Jonah almost smiled.
Almost.
Then Lucas approached quickly.
“Boss.”
Something in his tone changed the atmosphere.
“What?”
Lucas handed him Stella's phone.
“She gave Elena permission to have us check whether Calloway installed tracking software.”
“And?”
“He did.”
Jonah's expression hardened.
“But that's not the problem.”
Lucas opened another screen.
“There are three hidden audio recordings.”
Elena frowned.
“Recordings of what?”
Lucas looked toward Stella's closed office door.
“Dean talking to somebody about shipments.”
“What shipments?”
“Listen.”
He pressed play.
Dean's voice came through the phone.
“We move Pierce's containers Friday. He'll think Callahan did it.”
A second man answered.
“And the girl?”
Dean laughed.
“She doesn't know enough to matter.”
The recording ended.
Jonah said nothing for several seconds.
Elena whispered, “Jonah?”
He took the phone.
Dean hadn't merely owed him money.
Dean had been planning to steal from him.
Frame a rival.
And Stella had unknowingly been carrying evidence.
Jonah looked toward the office.
Lucas lowered his voice.
“There is one more thing.”
“What?”
“The recording was made automatically three nights ago.”
“So?”
Lucas turned the screen.
“The file was accessed tonight.”
Jonah's eyes narrowed.
“By whom?”
Lucas met his gaze.
“Someone logged into Stella's phone remotely from inside this restaurant.”
Jonah slowly looked around L’Aurora.
Dean had left.
But whoever was working with him might still be inside.
And for the first time that night, Jonah realized the locked doors had not only kept danger out.
May you like
They had trapped danger inside.
---
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