Bringing the Magic

Chapter Twelve

Mike had dropped Ali off at the club and he'd gone to his own building. The crew had been there for a couple hours already and they'd been working hard. The place would be ready, on schedule, for the final inspection in two weeks. He was going to have the retail space he'd dreamed about for so long.

He went to the back of the building; to the space that he'd kept to himself for his workshop. He set down his couple of things that he'd brought with him. The very expensive piece that needed to be finished for delivery tomorrow evening was still on the work table. The only thing he had to do today was get this done so he could get paid.

The guys, Richie, Tito and Tarzan, were going to do some sightseeing while Ken was spending time rehearsing for his audition tomorrow. Mike kind of wished he could have gone with them, but work had to be done. And this way he didn't have to listen to Richie bitching about him going to Vegas.

There was no way that Mike could leave Ali alone, not now. And honestly, with the renovation being almost finished, he didn't want to go to Vegas. He'd been a couple times before and he'd done the whole drunken Vegas thing. It didn't interest him anymore.

He'd only been working on the piece in front of him for half an hour when he got a text from Ali. It was about the length of a short story and he wondered why she didn't just call him.

Ali's miles-long text was definitely rambly. But the gist of what it was: the club was closed. And it was going to be closed for an unknown length of time. Somehow Marcus had gotten the place shut down because of health code violations. Mike was shocked that Tess had kicked her out; he knew Tess was hot-headed, but it was crazy that she sent Ali away.

Ali said she was going back to her own apartment; that she wanted to be alone. That thought brought no comfort to Mike. She promised, though, that she would let him know she was home. He would finish the piece he was working on and then he'd go see her.

He didn't know where this overprotective streak came from. He had never been this way with the other women he'd dated, but now Ali and her safety was top priority to him.

Ali sent some other random emoji to him and he smiled before putting the phone back away and getting back to work.

Ali hailed a cab while she texted Mike. She was a five-minute walk from her apartment, but she wasn't going there like she'd told Mike. A taxi stopped and Ali climbed in. She gave the driver the address of her destination and then nervously waited for the ride to end. Yes, she felt guilty for lying to Mike, but he wouldn't like what she was about to do.

Once they pulled to a stop, Ali climbed out and took a deep breath. This was really the last place she should be. But she had to end things once and for all. And she needed to do this herself. One last flip of her hair and she headed up to the building.

Inside the building, Ali charged through the lobby and waited for an elevator. She rode up to the twelfth floor. When the doors opened again, Ali headed straight for the bored looking receptionist that stood as gatekeeper between her and the entire reason she was in the building.

"Hi there," Ali said. "I need you to let Mr. Gerber know that I'm here and I need to speak to him," she said.

The redhead unleashed an incredibly fake toothy smile. "I'm sorry," she said in a drawn out, sarcastic tone. "Do you have an appointment with Mr. Gerber?" she asked.

Ali rolled her eyes. "Obviously you know I do not have an appointment," Ali replied with an equally fake smile. "Tell him that Ali Richardson is here. I know he'll see me."

The redhead tapped away on the computer in front of her. Ali watched the woman's eyes scan back and forth as she read something on the screen. The sigh that the woman gave let Ali know that she was in.

The woman rose from her seat and held her head as though she had a permanent smell under her nose. Despite the woman being gorgeous, it wasn't an attractive look. "Follow me."

The woman led Ali towards the large double doors a short distance away and opened them. She allowed Ali to walk in and then closed the doors behind her.

Ali walked in a few feet and waited silently while Marcus turned dramatically towards her in his high-backed chair.

"I have to say, I'm surprised to see you here, Ali," Marcus said as he rose from his chair. "Please, take a seat," he indicated one of the chairs in front of his desk. Ali sat and Marcus propped himself on the edge of the large desk.

"I'm not going to be here long enough to need to sit and believe me, I'm not happy to be here. I just…"

"You know, Ali, all of this could be over. This war between us; you could stop it all."

"Gee Marcus, I don't think you're being dramatic enough."

"Cut the bullshit, Ali. You owe me. You owe me for everything I taught you," he said as he leaned in towards her. "In addition to all of the gifts, I got record labels to listen to you. And I educated you on business. You owe me," he whispered in her ear.

"Do you like treating women like they're whores, Marcus?" Ali spat back. "I don't owe you anything."

"You used me to make your now-ex jealous. You strung me along until Jack was single. And then you decided that I wasn't worth your time any more. Because you had what you wanted."

"You used me to get inside information about Tess and Burlesque. You tried to buy the damn place out from under Tess and you were going to tear it all down."

"You and I could be an unstoppable force, Ali. But you're wasting this fantastic body and mind on this new idiot. And you know he's going nowhere…fast. I'm sure he'll do a terrific job of putting himself out of business on his own, but I'm going to give him some help anyway. I'll give you a chance for you to help your little boyfriend's business. And, if we can't work it out…well…" he said as he walked around her. His hands were on her shoulders. "If you aren't willing, then I'm going to make sure Mike Lane Custom Designs is buried in so much red tape that he'll have to go back to stripping in Florida."

Ali knew what she was going to hear, but she asked anyway. "What do you want from me, Marcus?"

"You'll sleep with me, Ali," he said bluntly.

She shuddered mentally.

"I will?" Ali asked, sarcastically. "Because I don't think that was ever in the cards for you and I."

"Don't look at this as an act of coercion; you'll come to me willingly. And you'll spend the night."

"Marcus, you could have any other woman you want. I don't understand why you need me. I'm just a farm girl from Iowa that happens to be able to sing. I'm sorry I strung you along; it's not something I should have done. I've apologized for wasting your time and I've returned all the gifts. But that's the past; we…you…need to move on. Move forward. Leave me alone. Leave Mike alone. Leave Tess and the Burlesque Lounge alone," she said as she looked the man straight in the eye.

Marcus had his hands on her upper arms in the instant and he crushed her to him in a violent and unpleasant kiss. She fought him and struggled out of his grip.

"You're disgusting," Ali said sharply.

"I get what I want. You know that. So what do you say? Do you want your little boy-toy to be unemployed, too? Or am I going to see you at my place tonight for a private show?"

"Could you be any creepier?" Ali asked.

Marcus simply waited for her to answer.

"So you're saying, if I have sex with you, you'll leave Mike's business alone? And what about Tess? And the club?"

Marcus smiled an evil grin. "If you come to me tonight and do as I say, Ali darling, we'll be able to work out a deal. Come alone to my house at ten tonight. Do not tell your boyfriend where you're going. I won't be happy if loverboy interrupts our fun," Marcus explained. "And I'll need you to delete the recording of this conversation off your phone right now."

Ali looked confused. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm not an idiot, Ali. Give me your phone. Now," Marcus said.

Ali sighed and handed the mobile device over to the man in front of her. He quickly stopped the voice recording and deleted it.

"Did you really think that I would fall for that? I'll bet you really thought you had me sorted out," he handed the device back to her. "You and I are going to have an amazing time tonight, my dear. Remember…ten o'clock."

Ali glumly shook her head and headed for the exit of the office.

He stopped her before she opened the door. "Wear something low cut."

He pressed a kiss to her temple and allowed her out of the room.

Ali wanted nothing more than to be gone. She'd gone in to this impromptu meeting optimistic that she would be able to fool Marcus. The man had figured out the recording on her cell phone; but he didn't check her other pockets. As she headed out of his office, past the annoying redheaded receptionist and into the elevator, she forced herself to remain emotionless. Ali wasn't sure if Marcus had cameras and she didn't want the man to catch on.

By the time that Ali made it into the fresh air outside of the building, though, she was almost bubbling over with excitement. She pulled her iPod out of her pocket and stopped the recording function. It was a long shot, but it was something she'd had to try. Ali saved the twenty minute recording and then pressed play while she waited for a cab. If this worked, and she suspected it had, she was just going to have to take this to a police officer or an attorney and things would be all sorted out once and for all.

But before she could listen to the recording, Ali's phone started to ring and she jumped a little as it startled her. She removed the phone from her purse and read the caller ID. It was Mike.

"Hello?" she said in a friendly tone into the receiver.

Mike's tone was not as friendly. "Where are you?" he said. "Are you okay? I don't mean to sound this pissed…I just can't stop it right now," Mike said.

"I'm fine. I…"

"Ms. Richardson?" a female voice said behind her.

Ali turned around and the unhappy redhead from Marcus' company was still wearing her frown and following behind her.

"Mr. Gerber wanted you to take this key," she said snidely. "He said you would know what it was for."

In shock, Ali accepted the keyring from the woman. The redhead gave Ali one last disapproving look before turning on her stilettos and headed back to the building.

Ali was hoping that Mike hadn't heard that, but she knew she was out of luck. Now she just had to wait for Mike's response and hopefully he would understand when she explained it all to him.

"Ali? What the hell is going on?" Mike asked. "Where are you?" the hurt in his voice was almost unbearable.

"I need to explain this all in person…promise me you trust me."

There was a long, tense pause before Mike finally spoke.

"Of course I trust you, Ali."

Ali let out a sigh of relief. "Good. I promise I'll explain everything when I get home. Things are going to be okay, Mike."

To Be Continued…

Author's note: thank you all for your reviews! I really do love hearing from you all about what you like (and don't like) and it helps a lot! Hopefully you've liked this chapter too. Let me know but sending a little review love! I'm working on the next chapter already, too! Also, I hope you aren't too mad at Ali…she had to do something!