“Thank you. I hope I have a quick solution to your problem.”

“I hope so.”

We took our seats and began to discuss his facilities and supplies when yelling and banging caught my attention. I dropped the pen in my hand and darted from the office toward the front, hoping no one was hurt. The second I stepped through the doors, a hand landed on my shoulder, twisting me and throwing me up against the wall.

“Ashton Hawes?”

A cop stood next to me, at least a dozen more throughout the restaurant, tearing the place up.

Just fucking great.

What in the hell were they looking for in the restaurant? Nothing here would be worth their time. I would never taint this business.

“That’s me.” My voice was muffled against the hard surface of the wall.

“Mr. Hawes, we’re bringing you in for questioning in the kidnapping of Mrs. Elena Tolley.”

I tried to swing around to get a good look at his face, but the officers held tight until the cuffs were snapped into place. It never occurred to me to ask about the cuffs if I was only being questioned.

“What the fuck are you talking about? Elena’s down at the theater practicing for the new Sondheim show.”

“We’ll send a car over.”

It took two of them but eventually they had me moving, marching me across the restaurant, toward the door. Most of my staff had looks of disbelief on their faces: mouths open, eyes rounded. Fuck, I’d have to come up with an explanation for them and hoped they didn’t run for the hills. And the customers. This shit could ruin my business. I needed to get it cleared up—fast.

“Dustin, call my father and tell him what happened.”

“You got it, Ashton,” he answered and I was extremely grateful he didn’t have some ridiculous remark to go with it.

The cops pushed through the front door and helped me into the backseat; not easy with my hands locked behind my back. One reason I never used metal cuffs in all of my games, they were way too uncomfortable. Although, I tried to get more information out of the officers, none of them were budging. It wasn’t until we walked through the front doors of the station that so much became clear.

Tolley.

The lousy piece of shit sat at one of the desks. When he looked up, his eyes still black and blue, he gave me a cold smirk. The bastard had orchestrated all of this. Would Elena take his side? A small part of me worried that might be the case, except the rest of my brain pushed it away. Not the new Elena. That worthless son of a bitch was in for a rude awakening when she got here.

Tolley jumped from his chair, playing the victim so well. “That bastard stole my wife.” Two of the cops restrained him, offering him comfort. Thoughts of shaking off the cops’ grip and finishing what I’d started a few weeks ago was more than a little appealing but, unfortunately, if I wanted to walk out of there sooner rather than later, I needed to keep my hands to myself and be on my best behavior.

Grinding my teeth, I didn’t fight the officers as they led me into an interview room, closing the door behind me, two cops still inside. On the far wall, I could see myself in the two-way mirror. They sat me down in the chair and moved the cuffs from the back to the front. A few minutes later the door opened and in walked another cop, dressed in a suit. He took the seat across from me as the other two left.

“Mr. Hawes,” he said opening the folder in front of him. “Where is Mrs. Tolley?”

My natural instinct was to tell this guy to shove it up his ass and get me a phone to call my lawyer. It was what Dad had drilled into our heads from the time we were little.

Not this time.

I hadn’t kidnapped anyone, and the sooner they found Elena, the sooner they would let my ass go.

“Like I told the gentlemen who brought me in, Elena’s at the Canterbury Theater downtown. She’s got a part in the one of the new productions.”

“Damn, you’re making my life easy.” He shook his head, a shit-eating grin on his face.

Arrogant bastard thought he had me. I leaned back in the chair and waited for all of it to play out in front of me. As long as the idiot didn’t figure out the real reason why Elena was currently in my care, I would be walking out of there in no time.

“Want to tell me why you kidnapped Mrs. Tolley in the first place?” he asked, not looking up from his paper, waiting to write down whatever I said for later.

“I didn’t.” It happened to be the only answer he would get out of me, until either Elena or my lawyer showed up.

“You told us exactly where to find her, and yet you say you didn’t kidnap her.”

“Exactly.”

The door swung opened and Arthur, my father’s lawyer, stepped through. “That’s enough of the questions. I’m Mr. Colburn, Mr. Hawes’s attorney. From what I understand, he’s given you the information to prove he is innocent. At this time, he will not answer any more questions until you stop treating him like the accused and instead realize that he’s actually the victim.”

The detective clenched his jaw, but made no attempt to correct Arthur, instead, leaving the room, the door crashing into its frame as he slammed it behind him.

Arthur took the chair next to me. “What the fuck happened, Ashton? Your father is ready to storm the place.”

“I take it Dad’s here?”

“You could say that. I’m not the only lawyer he brought. Now do you want to tell me what the fuck happened so I can go out there and calm him down, before he makes any of this worse on either of you?”

“The soon-to-be ex-husband of the woman I’m seeing claims I kidnapped her.”

“Elena?”

I nodded, curious as to how Arthur knew that.

“Don’t look surprised. Your father told me all about her. Now let me go out there and calm him down.”

Before he had a chance to stand, screaming could be heard from the main lobby and it happened to be the only voice I wanted to hear.

CHAPTER 27

Elena

“From the top,” Alan called from somewhere near the back. “Vince, remember where we made the changes to the blocking.”

We’d been rehearsing the same number for the last three days when Alan decided that the scene didn’t work and we needed to start from scratch. My feet were sore from all the dancing, not to mention my throat was scratchy. At some point Alan would need to give up and give us a break.

The intro to the music started and I counted the beats. I was the first to come in. I heard my cue and started to sing. Suddenly, the door was flung open, the heavy metal handle crashing against the wall and startling everyone in the room. Six police officers ran through the door, guns drawn.

Alan jumped from his seat and into the aisle, his hands raised. “I’m not sure what’s happened, but I think you have the wrong place.”

The one in the front took a step forward, calling out, “Elena Tolley?” and all heads, excluding those of the police officers, snapped in my direction.

“I’m Elena Tolley,” my voice squeaked out.

He holstered his gun and came toward me. “You’ll have to come with us, ma’am.”

I crossed my arms over my chest and stood stock-still. “I’m not going anywhere with anyone until someone explains what is going on.”

“Ma’am, we have Ashton Hawes in custody. He is being questioned regarding your disappearance. Kidnapping,” he clarified.

My eyes practically popped out of my head. “You what?” I yelled.

Alan ran up onto the stage. “You arrested Ashton?” he asked, a bit more calmly than me.

Why in the hell would they think that Ashton kidnapped me? I was only clueless for a fleeting moment because the answer slapped me in the face.

Dominic.

Asshole was still finding ways to ruin my life.

“Officer, I can assure you Ashton did not kidnap me. I’m with him of my own free will.”