A/N: HAPPY BOXING DAY! This is going to start bringing everything together. Hang in there with me.
I've got the rest of the story written, but I've decided that I can add some extra chapters after about chapter 23. I did a significant time jump there, and I might do some holiday fillers. We'll see. Let's get to that point.
Enjoy.
Maggie's testimony added to the case we'd already worked up brought everything to a head. The District Attorney filed formal charges and the civil suit was filed as well. The problem was that James disappeared. We'd hired a PI to keep track of him while we were compiling evidence, but two weeks ago he just vanished.
But I didn't have time to think about that. Emmett and Rosalie were scheduled to arrive any minute and I took a perch at the front desk waiting for them. I'd met the pit managers earlier in the day as well as the housekeeping staff. Maggie had the front desk managed so well, there was little to pretend to do. So I stood doodling on an office pad, waiting and thinking.
Quil and Embry were bringing Bella a little later. I had no idea what was going on with Bella, but I knew it had to be something with Edward. Jenks had provided substantial evidence that Edward had been sleeping with his secretary and for quite some time. He'd moved a substantial amount of property into Bella's name and they were all the properties that his company had bullied out of people or other companies. If worse came to worst Bella could use that as leverage if Edward tried to strong arm her into something undesirable.
I wasn't sure how much Edward knew about me, yet. But our morning conference call made it clear that Edward was finally digging fast and deep. I was glad that Bella was coming. After reconnecting with her and rekindling our friendship, I found that a text here and there was just not enough. Though, with Edward digging, I'm glad that's all it'd been. I'm positive he'd use anything against her if things went south.
"Jake! Man!" Emmett's voice boomed across the lobby from the doorway. I waved at him.
"That must be Emmett," Maggie said with a smile, looking up briefly. She was tapping away at the key board, preparing room keys for a bus tour set to check in in a few hours.
"How'd you guess?" I smirked back. We'd decided to cool things until the conclusion of the case, but I'd seen a dramatic change in her since our date. It was like, revealing her secrets to someone had set her free. She was more lighthearted with everyone, staff, guests, and her son. Frankie started coming by the resort after school to do his homework and he'd become my new best friend.
"He is just like you described him," she answered as Emmett arrived at the desk.
"And if you're Maggie, Jake did not do you justice," Emmett said. The tall blonde woman next to him smiled.
"You must be Rosalie," I said. "Emmett says you give him a run for his money. If that's the case, I already like you."
"Well, I'll let you know my opinion of you after I've seen our wedding arrangements," she said. It sounded bitchy, but her brilliant smile conveyed all her gratitude.
"Well, let me show you, then," Maggie offered. "Jenny, you have the desk while I show Ms. Hale her accommodations. Will you check in Mr. McCarty because we all know Mr. Black will mess up the system if he tries to check them in." Jenny smiled and stepped up to the computer and Maggie bustled Rosalie off to the ballroom.
"Ow!" Emmett remarked. "You take that kind of crap from your subordinates?"
"When they are spot on I do," I admitted. "We kept their system when we took over because we didn't want them to have to learn a new one and I just can't seem to get the hang of it. But I really don't need to since they all do such a good job." I gave Maggie one final look and winked at her before she led Rosalie away. "Jenny, Mr. McCarty will be in the Presidential Suite. Bill it to me." Jenny started typing and I did know how to make the magnetic keys so I did that and left one at the desk for Rosalie. "I'll show him up to his room while you finish up here. I'll be back down to sign the paperwork."
"Yes, Mr. Black," Jenny said, politely. I took Emmett past my office so he could find me if he needed me and then up to his room. It was bigger than any of the apartments I rented. I showed him the kitchenette, the sitting room, through the bedroom and into the large bathroom.
"Wow, man! This is really too much! Thank you!" Emmett said. "Rosie is so pleased, she totally likes you, but she won't show it. I've quickly learned that when she is overly solicitous is when you need to be scared. I'm just pleased as punch I have the rest of my life to figure out why. She's so fucking interesting!"
"You've got it bad!" I chuckled. "I'm really very happy for you. It seems really fast, but as long as you're happy, I'm glad that I can contribute."
"How are things with Maggie? Everything was very professional except for that playful jibe about you fucking up the system."
"Well, the date went really well, but we have to hold off until a legal matter is cleared up. I found out something that happened before I bought the casino that needs to be resolved, but I really get along with her son. He'll be here after school if you want to meet him."
"That just sounds like you're stalling," he remarked.
"I'm not stalling. I'm really interested in her. I can't talk about the details, but it will be worth it in the end."
"Okay, man, if you say so. I just want you to have what I have with Rosie. Fuck I'm so happy!" he exclaimed. "Even when we fight I'm happy."
"You've been dating less than a month. When have you had time to fight?" I asked.
"At least once a day. Then we make it a point to make up," he said, waggling his eyebrows.
"Emmett, you're too much." I showed him into the bathroom with the bathtub for two and he thanked me about twenty more times.
"Emmett!" Rosalie's voice called from the sitting room. "Where are you?"
"In the bathroom. We got a tub for two, baby!" he called back. We heard the clacking of Rosaslie's heels on the tile and then she entered, bypassed the tub and wrapped me in a hug that would have strangled Emmett.
"You are my favorite person on the planet! Everything is just perfect. And I know that Maggie made all the decisions, but you're the one who made it happen, including my parents coming, which wouldn't have been possible without you. Thank you! Thank you!"
"Shit, man! She hates me!" I said in a strangled voice looking at Emmett.
"No, that's sincere, not overly-solicitous," he corrected. She released me, thankfully, turned towards Emmett and put her hands on her hips.
"Emmett McCarty, have you been telling my new best friend my secrets?" she asked.
"No. Just how to take your swinging moods which you are displaying with unintentional perfection," he countered.
"You are in so much trouble," she said, waggling her finger at him. "I like being an enigma!"
"I like being in trouble," Emmett growled and stalked towards her.
"How am I going to punish you?" she asked, tapping her perfectly manicured finger on her temple.
"That's my cue to leave. It was nice to meet you, Rosalie, my new best friend. But I don't want to even be in the vicinity when you punish Emmett. I will expect him in the training room tomorrow morning for a session, though. This doesn't all come for free. I haven't had a good run in almost three weeks."
"Oh, he'll be there," was the last thing I heard Rosalie say before her mouth covered his. I literally ran out of the suite so I didn't hear the beginning of whatever…I didn't want to think about it. I puttered around in my office for a while when Maggie came to my door. She tapped softly and pushed the door open.
"Rose was very pleased, Maggie. Thank you for all your hard work," I said.
"I see we need a room for Bella Swan," she said, and raised her eyebrow.
"Yeah, that was decided just today," I said, rubbing my chin. "You asking means that you know—"
"That she was the girl you dumped in high school. Yeah, Embry told me," she said. "Are you going to be okay?"
"Yeah. Her dad just had a heart attack and her husband is acting strange. She needed a break so I invited her here."
"Ah, that brings everything together," she whispered to herself.
"Brings what together?" I waved her in and she shut the door.
"Just things I've heard over the years," she sat in the chair in front of the desk. "I know you were close to the man who had the heart attack, I didn't realize it was her father. Wasn't that difficult? Seeing the father of the woman you let go?"
"At first," I said as I moved around my desk to be closer to her. I leaned against my desk. "Her dad and my dad are best friends. We just never talked about her. Her dad was my biggest fan when I played college ball. We reconnected when I went back and mended old fences. We've been texting here and there since then. She wished me luck on our date," I finished with a grin.
"So she knows about me?" she asked uncertainly.
"Yes. Does that bother you? I don't want to make you uncomfortable."
"No, it doesn't bother me. I'm actually relieved. I like how you're very straight forward. I never have to guess what you're thinking. That is so refreshing." She sighed in relief and held my gaze.
"I'm not like that with everyone," I said. "Just people I trust." She gave me an appreciative smile.
"What are you thinking now?" she asked.
"How much I want to kiss you, but I can't," I admitted. She blushed a little.
"Well, I better leave then. Because I want that, too." She rose and I caught her hand. I pulled her close, but not quite touching. Still leaning back on my desk, I opened my legs a little and she moved a little closer. She was tall, and sitting on my desk like I was, our heights were almost even. I could feel her warm breath on my chin.
"I want you to know that you're the first person since Bella I've allowed myself to feel anything for. You're a good, strong, intelligent woman, Maggie. I just want you to know that," I whispered. My lips inched closer to hers, almost touching, but not quite. I heard her inhale, and one of her fingers brushed my hand.
"Jake, even if nothing else happens, I want you to know that you've done more for me in three days than anyone has in my whole life. Thank you." She cupped my face with both her hands and placed a sweet, chaste kiss on my lips then leaned her forehead on mine.
I didn't know quite what she meant by "if nothing else ever happens" but the moment was so sweet, so intimate, I didn't question it.
We stood there for a while not touching except for our foreheads after she dropped her hands. For some reason neither one of us wanted that moment to end.
"Okay," she finally said and slowly backed away. "That was intense. Thank you, Jake. For everything."
I was about to ask her what for what exactly when my friends, with the worst possible timing, came storming into my office. I guess technically it was our office, but we were never all here at the same time.
"Twatwaffle!" Embry boomed. He stopped short looking at me and then to Maggie who was a few feet away. "Dude, am I interrupting something?" Quil bumped into the back of him, not realizing that Embry had stopped.
"Nothing yet," Maggie replied. "But I might have to file a suit because of your use of a derogatory term for female genitalia," she quipped without even a smirk. I knew she was kidding, but Embry didn't.
"I ah…didn't know…ah…" he stammered.
"She's yanking your chain asshat," Quil said as he shoved Embry out of the way.
"He's not an asshat, that would be my husband," Bella added as she came in. "No one deserves that moniker since we've labeled him that. That's lower than a fucktard." Bella stopped short when she saw Maggie. There was moment where everything and everyone in the room stopped, looking between Bella and Maggie. Finally, Bella's face split into a wide grin. "Is this Maggie?" she asked, truly delighted.
"Yes," I said proudly. Bella looked really tired. Something was really wrong. Her face was paler—not pretty pale like normal—she'd lost weight and her wan features made her sad eyes stand out even more.
"It is so nice to meet you!" Bella gushed and moved forward to give her a hug. Maggie looked a little astonished by the reaction. She reluctantly hugged Bella back and shot me a confused look. I shrugged.
"Maggie, this is Bella," I announced. "You know these other boneheads."
"Jake! I forgot where your office is," I heard Emmett's voice filter in from the hallway.
"In here!" I called back. This was going to be interesting.
"Who's that?" Bella asked.
"Emmett," I said just as he entered the room.
"Whoa! You got a full house!" Emmett surmised. "Get it? Full House, and we're in a casino!" He snorted at his own joke. "I know these three," he said pointing to Maggie, Quil, and Embry, "but who's—"
"Bella?" Rosalie asked as she emerged from behind Emmett. "Bella Swan? OH. MY. GOSH!" she squealed and ran to Bella to pull her into a tight hug. It was Bella's turn to be surprised by a hug.
"What are you doing here?" Bella asked. "It is so good to see you!" Rose pulled away and turned towards Emmett.
"I'm marrying this specimen of manhood tomorrow," she answered. "And Jake and Maggie have arranged it all. What the hell are you doing here?"
"Jake's been my friend as long as I can remember and I needed a break from my life so he invited me down," she answered.
"Does someone want to explain how you two know each other?" Emmett asked, looking from Bella to Rose to Jake and back to Bella.
"When I was at University of Washington," Rosalie explained, "I taught a women's self-defense class. Bella was my star student."
"You went to U-Dub?" Emmett asked Rosalie.
"You studied self-defense?" I asked Bella.
"How are you marrying her tomorrow and you don't know that?" Emrby asked Emmett.
"How have you been life-long friends and you not know that about her?" Rose asked me.
"We've only been dating for a little over two weeks," Emmett said. "I haven't delved that far, yet."
"We fell out of touch," Bella answered Rose.
"And you're getting married already?" Quil asked Emmett, looking contemplative.
"When you know you know," Emmett and Rose said together.
"Didn't you marry that Edward guy?" Rosalie asked.
"Yes, she did," Quil answered.
"Is that the life you need a break from? I remember him being very intense," Rose said.
"You don't even know the half of it," Embry piped in.
"Who are you?" Rose asked.
"I'm Embry, this is Quil. We're Jake's partners."
"Well that explains that. But what about this break you need? Bella, spill," commanded Rosalie.
"I don't think she needs to get into it here," Maggie chimed in. "She doesn't know everyone that well." I shot her a grateful nod and she smiled back at me.
"You and Emmett are the only ones she doesn't know," she stated turning to Maggie, "and Emmett won't say a word because I'll castrate him and if Jake likes you, then you can't be bad. So, Bella," she turned back to Bella, "spill."
"You know, part of her problem is that she's sick of being told what to do all the time," Embry kicked in. "Bella, you don't have to say anything you don't want to." Bella's eyes were bouncing to each person that spoke and she took a deep breath.
"No, it's fine. I'm not ashamed of it and everyone is going to know sooner or later anyway." She paused, like she was steeling herself for something big. "I'm pregnant. And my husband made me choose between the baby and him. I chose the baby."
There was a collective gasp between Rose, Emmett, and me while Quil and Embry watched me for a reaction. I sat back on my desk at a loss for words and Rose grabbed Bella back into a tight embrace. That made tears spring to Bella's eyes and she was sobbing out of nowhere.
"And, apparently he's been fucking his secretary, who is a complete skank, so I'm going to have to go get tested to make sure I don't have any communicable diseases." She hiccupped after another sob.
"Oh, God," Rose said, her hand rubbing up and down her back. "What a fucking asshole! Well you made the right choice."
"It's fine Rose. Really. Quil and Embry helped me get my mind off of it on the plane and now I'm here and I get to see you get married!" she said, pulling out of Rosalie's hug and wiping her eyes with the palms of her hands. "And I cry for no reason at all. I fucking cried at an ASPCA ad for abused puppies."
"Those will make anyone cry," Quil stated, giving Bella a supportive nod. He looked at Emmett and Embry who was staring at him with open amusement. "They make Claire cry all the time!" he explained. But he looked a little sheepish.
"Well you're gonna be my maid of honor!" Rosalie announced. "We need to go get you a dress! Jake, where can we go shopping? Never mind. We're going to take Maggie." Rose grabbed both Bella and Maggie's hand. Maggie tried to protest but I shrugged trying to tell her it was all good. Rosalie pulled them out of the office chattering about how Bella would look good in burgundy and they were gone.
"Dude, are you okay?" Emmett asked me.
"You're getting married after two weeks?" Quil asked Emmett again. Emmett beamed at Quil as his answer. "I gotta make a phone call," Quil said and left the room.
"Jake?" Embry repeated. "Are you okay?"
"No, I'm not okay," I finally said. I was feeling too much.
I'd just had an extremely emotional experience with Maggie. I'd allowed myself to feel something for a bright, funny, and vulnerable woman. After all these years, I'd finally found someone to let into my heart and Bella's husband leaves her. I did not appreciate Taha Aki's sense of timing or humor.
"Oh, man," Emmett finally caught on. "What are you going to do?"
"Nothing. I can't do anything anyway. Maggie's in the middle of a legal issue that prevents me from doing anything with her and Bella is still married even if the asshat kicked her out," I said. "I can't do a fucking thing about anything!" I was frustrated and angry.
"What legal issue?" Embry asked.
"James," I answered, willing him to understand the subtext.
"No! Not Maggie! That mother fucker!" Embry hissed. His jaw muscles tightened as he held back the immensity of his anger.
"Who's James?" Emmett asked.
"He used to manage the place. We can't say anything else," I said giving Embry a pointed look.
"That's why we brought Bella here, though, Jake," Embry explained. "Rach seems to think you can draw up a divorce decree that will be fair and won't get her screwed over. We've got enough dirt on him that we can make it happen really fast. All that property in her name looks really bad, but you said you knew how to use that."
"I do. But I want to focus on the good stuff right now. We'll get Emmett married and on his honeymoon and then we'll focus on the shit swirling around in the rest of the world," I said. I had to prioritize my thoughts and actions. I went back to my desk and pulled out a legal pad and started writing.
"What's he doing?" Emmett asked Embry.
"Making his lists. It's how he gets things sorted and done. He's done it since he was a kid," Embry explained.
"The top of the list is a good run, so you better not fight with Rose tonight and spend the rest of it making up. I need you to push me hard in the morning," I said as my pen flew across the page.
"The other way he processes is to push his body until it almost breaks. That's the Jake I know," Emmett said.
"Dudes!" Quil said excitedly coming back into the office. "Claire said she'll marry me! We're gonna plan it for June! We want to do Hawaii. Do you think Rebekkah will help plan it?"
"You fucking asked her over the phone?" Embry scoffed.
"When you know, you know," Quil shrugged with a grin to Emmett. "I've known for a while, but I thought she was too young. She said she doesn't care. I'm the only one she's ever wanted to be with. I'm gonna get married!" he cheered.
"Good on you, man!" Emmett said, clapping Quil on the back.
"Quil, congratulations. I love you all, but I have work to do. Can you get the fuck outta of my office and then I'll buy drinks for everyone in about an hour?" I asked, not even lifting my head.
"Sure man," Emmett said, grabbing the other two and pulling them out of the office.
Quil was on to something. Bella is the only woman I have ever wanted.
Until Maggie.
What the fuck was I going to do?
Thoughts?
