Ella Gets Caught Up

Headlights shown through the window. Ella leaped up off of the sofa and ran over to the window to watch a sedan come up the lane. It wasn’t Bart’s vehicle, but then, he’d mentioned on the phone they’d switched cars. She held her breath, hoping this was Rome returned home and not trouble brewing.
When she saw her husband step out of the passenger side, a flood of relief washed over her. Bart got out, too, though he didn’t step away from the open door. Ella couldn’t contain herself anymore and went out to greet him, flying past the security guard on the porch who only chuckled.
Rome opened his arms just in time for her to slam into him, burying her head in his chest. “Well, hello there, beautiful,” he said with a smile, squeezing her tight but not as ferociously as she was gripping him. “Did you miss me or something?”
Regaining her composure, Ella looked up and shrugged. “Maybe a little.”
He grinned and bent down to kiss her. Ella’s hand snaked around to the back of his head, and she let him know just how much she had truly missed him.
After a few moments, Bart cleared his throat and said, “Well, I guess I’ll be going.”
Rome pulled away from her, and Ella felt a rush of red to her cheeks. She’d forgotten Bart was still standing there. “Thanks for everything, man,” Rome said, reaching over the top of the car to shake his best friend’s hand. “I’m not sure what we would’ve done without your help in all of this, but I’m pretty sure we’d both be in one hell of a mess.”
“It’s no problem,” Bart said, as if he wasn’t responsible for the fact that the couple was standing there together. “I’ll talk to you soon.”
“Okay--thanks.” Ella echoed Rome’s thanks, and Bart started to get back into the car, but Rome stopped him. “By the way, you never told me. Whose yard was that?”
Bart stopped and stood back up. “Oh, uh, Ruby Waterstone. You know, the actress from Better Days? I thought she looked enough like Ella that if people started asking questions, they might just go with the rumor that you’re dating Ruby.”
“There’s a rumor that I’m dating Ruby?” Rome asked, his forehead furrowed.
Ella hadn’t heard that either. She stared at Bart, her forehead also puckered.
“Well, there will be soon enough.” Bart shrugged and got into his car, closing the door this time before Rome could ask anything else.
Rome gave Bart a little wave and they stepped away from the vehicle. He was shaking his head as he took Ella’s hand and led her up the steps to the front door.
A million questions stormed her mind, but she waited until they were inside. Once they were in the bedroom, Ella took a seat on the end of the bed as Rome took off his suit, carefully checking every piece of clothing before he hung them in the bag for the dry cleaners. Exactly what he was looking for, she wasn’t sure, and she didn’t ask. He put on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, leaving her in suspense the entire time, and then came and sat down next to her.
“Well?” she finally asked, wondering why he hadn’t told her what happened while he was changing. “How did it go?”
Rome shook his head. “Not that well. Okay, I guess. I mean--I didn’t get kidnapped. So that was something.”
“What was that bit about Ruby Waterstone?”
With a sigh, Rome brushed his hair back and let it go. It fell perfectly back into place. “We found a bug in my jacket pocket when we left the restaurant. Bart wasn’t exactly sure what it was, so he drove it to Ruby’s house and threw it in the yard. If they were intending to track me, they could follow it there. If it was a listening device, they got nothing out of it.”
“Crazy. How did that get there?”
“We think a woman who asked for a picture when we were exiting the parking garage to enter the restaurant put it there.”
Ella shook her head. “I guess your dad’s still up to his old tricks then?” The idea that neither one of them would ever be able to leave the house came to mind, filling her with dread.
“No, we don’t think so. We think that was planted before dinner, in case I didn’t agree to his requests.”
“And did you? What requests?”
Again, he sighed, leaning backward on his elbows and looking up at the ceiling, as if he wasn’t sure that what he was about to tell her had been a good idea on his part. “I agreed to do ten movies with his studio.”
“In exchange for what?’
“For him leaving me alone. He’s selling the company, El.”
“What?” She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. The idea of Monty Verona selling was preposterous. It would be as if her own father had agreed to sell his company, and she couldn’t fathom her dad ever parting ways with his marketing firm.
“Yeah. He said he had to spend a lot of money on lawsuits recently, so when he got a significant offer from a foreign buyer, he took it.”
“Lawsuits? For what?”
Rome’s countenance changed. His mouth formed a straight line, and his eyes narrowed. “Your family suing him. And me.”
Ella’s eyes widened as she took that in. “Suing you? For what?”
“Wrongful death.” Rome shook his head violently and then sat up. “I can understand them being upset over Tim’s drowning, but I didn’t cause that. And it pisses me off that my father settled with them for millions, as if I had some sort of responsibility.”
“Rome, God. I’m so sorry. My father is a vindictive person, but… I don’t understand how he could sue over that. Tim wasn’t his child.”
“No, that was your aunt and uncle, babe. Your dad sued over your wrongful death.”
“My wrongful death!” Ella’s blood ran cold. “You’ve got to be shitting me!” How dare he try to profit for something he caused. “That son of a bitch!”
“Exactly! So I didn’t bother to ask my dad to try to make peace with yours now. It seemed pointless when all of that has gone on in the last few months.”
Ella folded her arms, anger still pulsating through her as she took all of that information in. She couldn’t blame Rome for not asking his father to call a truce under the circumstances.
“Anyway, I really don’t understand why your aunt sued when she knows that you are alive and we are together,” Rome said, the anger still evident in his voice, too, though he seemed to have calmed down more than she had.
“I agree. It just doesn’t make sense. I’ll call her tomorrow and see what’s going on. I wonder if my uncle insisted. She couldn’t tell him I’m alive. He’s not trustworthy.”
Rome put his arm around her, pulling her close. “I’m sorry, babe. It didn’t quite go as we wanted it to, but at least it’s over.”
“That’s true. With any luck, you’ll never have to see your parents again. Unless you want to.”
“They’re planning to go to Europe once the deal’s done for the company, so it may be a while.”
Mention of the deal reminded her that she had more questions about that. “Who bought it? Do you know?”
Rome shook his head. “My dad doesn’t even know at this point. It’s a deal through their lawyers.”
“So how does he know it’s not my dad?”
“He made sure it wasn’t and put it in the contract that it couldn’t be or else the company reverts back to my dad, and he keeps the money. And if he gets caught sending his men after me, my part of the contract is null as well, and he’ll owe the new buyer a lot of money for the movies I won’t be making.”
“What if it’s an associate of my dad’s?” Ella thought of all the companies her father worked with in Europe. “They could ask you to make some really shitty movies, Rome.”
He laughed. “I thought about that, but I don’t think anyone would purposely make crappy movies just so I have to be the star of them, so I think it’ll be all right.”
Ella stared at him for a few moments, not quite sure he understood what he might be getting himself into. “You already signed it?”
He nodded. “I had to in order to get out of there without any more problems. Whatever it is, it’ll be worth it to get him off of our backs. And I don’t have to start filming until after I finish my current project with Wynnie.”
Swallowing hard, Ella tried to smile. It was all done now, so there was no reason to fret over it. She rested her head on his shoulder, hoping that they’d look back on this day as one where problems were resolved, not as the beginning of a new wave of assaults. But the knot in her stomach told her not to be too optimistic.
Brushing her hair away from her forehead, Rome asked, “What did you do when I was gone? Anything exciting?”
The paintings in the attic came to mind. She’d been so excited to find them and couldn’t wait to tell him about them. But now, it all seemed sort of silly. She’d wait for another time. “Not much. Just… waited for you to call.”
He kissed her forehead. “Did you eat?”
“Lenore made me some soup earlier.” She didn’t bother to tell him she’d only been able to get down a few bites.
“Good. I think I’ll go see what we have to eat. I took your advice and didn’t eat much of anything at dinner. Care to join me?” He stood and offered his hand.
Even though she wasn’t hungry at all, Ella took it. After the harrowing events of the evening, she wouldn’t be letting him out of her sights anytime soon. As they walked to the kitchen, her thoughts continued to race around her mind like migrating butterflies, a frenzy of activity with one goal in mind but no one clear path to get there. Was this the end of their problems with their parents--or were they just beginning?