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Bass didn’t offer advice, just listened, which was exactly what she needed right now. He told her they’d talk more in person about it. After her call and nearly a full bottle of wine, Ella crawled into bed and fell asleep, dreamless for once. She imagined it was because Nana Bee was her guardian angel and comforting her.
Chapter Thirteen
Ella
Early Monday morning Ella walked into Rafe’s building, quite intimidated. She’d never come to his beautiful offices in downtown San Francisco before. There’d never been a reason for her to do so. He was related to Nana Bee and that was their only connection. He’d been too old to be her friend when she’d been running around his grandmother’s property, and then she’d gone away.
Of course Ella felt like she knew both Rafe and Bass from the years and years of Nana Bee bragging about the two men, but that’s as far as it went. She didn’t truly know them, didn’t have a relationship with either of them.
Then again, shecouldhave a relationship with Bass if she’d allow herself to do it. He was a good man, and it would be safe to have an affair with him. Well, it would bephysicallysafe. She wasn’t so sure her heart wouldn’t get involved if she allowed it to happen. It wouldn’t be too difficult to fall in love with the man. She was very aware he wasn’t the marrying kind. Why should he, when he could have any woman he wanted whenever he wanted? Why should he settle for only one woman for the rest of his life?
Because that’s what you’re supposed to do, Ella thought. As a wedding planner she believed in the happily-ever-after type of love. She knew it was hard to find. A lot of people who married weren’ttrulyin love. They were more in love with the idea of being in love. Or they might be marrying because of a child or for security. Only about half of the people who married, did so because they found their soul mate.
Even with those statistics, she believed in love and was glad she did. She also knew it wasn’t safe to fall for a man like Bass. It was much better to look for a nice man who didn’t have an ego problem, and who didn’t have women falling at his feet on a daily basis. You didn’t fall in love with a playboy who was considered a top catch for any woman, young or old.
Ella was exhausted as she rode the elevator to the top floor where Rafe’s office was located. She’d slept like the dead for about six hours, but something had woken her in the early morning hours and there was no way she was going back to sleep. She’d given up and made a pot of coffee, then spent a couple of hours answering emails and putting out small fires.
She currently had four brides she was planning weddings for. She didn’t like to have more than two at any one time because they were all so demanding. Her wedding business was high-end, and the brides had big budgets, which meant they wanted to be the one and only person Ella focused on. There was no way Paul would allow that to happen. He wanted to make as much money as possible and the more brides, the more money. He didn’t care if his planners were run ragged.
When the elevator opened, Bass was waiting in the lobby. She was happy to see him without Rafe. She knew from Nana Bee’s stories that Rafe was a good man, he was certainly a family man, and was loyal and protective of the ones he loved.
Ellawasn’tone of the ones he loved though. He was suspicious of her involvement, even though she hadn’t asked to be involved. He didn’t trust her, and therefore she was his enemy. Being on the wrong side of Rafe Palazzo wasn’t somewhere anyone wanted to be. It was quite scary actually. With that being said, it was very nice having Bass as a buffer. Rafe seemed to hate Bass more than her. She felt petty being glad she wasn’t the soul focus, but she forgave herself for not wanting daggers constantly sent her way.
“I know a man shouldn’t say this to a woman, but you look exhausted,” Bass said as he reached for her hand.
She gave him a weak smile. “I fell asleep with the aid of wine and slept a solid six hours, but then I was wide awake. I haven’t gotten much sleep for the past couple of weeks. I think it’s all catching up with me,” she told him.
“We need to do something about your boss,” he told her as they walked down the hall toward Rafe’s office.
“I don’t know what can be done. I can’t afford to quit, and it would be a ‘he said, she said’ right now. He has a lot of people who will testify that he’s an incredible man who donates to causes and provides employment to hundreds of people. The community loves him,” she said.
“Just because he’s put on a good face for years doesn’t mean there aren’t more people who’d be willing to step up. If he’s doing this to you, he’s doing it to other people. The one thing for sure with a sexual predator is they don’t change their stripes. He’s not doing this to just you, he’d done it before, and might be doing it with others. We just have to get the evidence. It might suck, but it needs to be done. He can’t keep harassing women, and he really can’t do it to you without getting a serious ass beating,” Bass told her.
They turned a corner and found Rafe standing there. His expression didn’t tell them anything about what he was thinking or feeling. He had to have heard them though. She was seriously embarrassed about that. She didn’t want Rafe to think she was lying about this trying to get attention.
“Who’s harassing you?” Rafe asked as he looked her square in the eyes. She didn’t like his attention focused on her. She shifted on her feet.
“It doesn’t matter,” she said. She was sure Rafe wouldn’t believe her anyway. She was glad Bass did.
“Her boss is harassing her,” Bass said. She elbowed him, but he ignored her and continued. “He cornered her at the wedding she was running last night and laid his hands on her and then left a threatening note on her car window.”
Rafe’s eyes narrowed. “How long has this been going on?”
“Since I started, but like I was telling Bass, I can’t prove it, and he hasn’tactuallyassaulted me. He’s made a lot of comments and grabbed my arm and gotten too close . . . and well, last night he kissed the back of my neck, but that’s the worst it’s gotten.” She grew quieter as she spoke. She looked from Bass to Rafe; both men looked furious.
If she wasn’t so intimidated she might actually find humor in the situation. Both of the men were still wearing marks on their faces from the fist fight they’d shared only a couple of days ago, but they seemed to be entirely over that situation. Now, they were united in their fury against her boss, who they didn’t even know. Bass simply wanted to get into her pants, although not creepily like her boss, and Rafe didn’t like her, but they seemed to like pervy bosses even less than their dislike of each other or her.
Real life was so much funnier than people gave it credit. Maybe she needed to work at an amusement park instead of a wedding business. She needed to laugh at herself and she certainly needed to be less stressed. She’d eventually get hives if she didn’t stop.
“Who’s your boss?” Rafe asked as he turned and began heading into his office, expecting them to follow . . . which they did. It might be kind of fun to just stand out in the hall and see if he came back. Then again, she’d bet money that no one ever made Rafe wait on them. Okay, maybe his wife made him wait around, but she’d earned the right to do that and she was the one sharing his bed, not that Ella wanted to be in his bed. Her cheeks heated at her thoughts and she was incredibly grateful minds couldn’t be read. If they could, she’d be screwed.
“It really doesn’t matter, Rafe. I’ll deal with him. I might be small, but I’m stronger than people give me credit for.” Her spine stiffened. Sometimes she forgot how strong she actually was, but she’d been through more abuse than anyone knew, or that she’d ever talk about, and she’d survived all of it. She wasn’t going to let a creepy boss take her down. There was no chance of that happening.
Rafe looked in her eyes for a long moment before he nodded. She knew they were still enemies, but he seemed to have a bit of respect for her . . . at least for now. She was surprised with how good that made her feel. She wondered what it would be like to have his full approval. It wasn’t something that was going to happen so she needed to not hope for it.
“Can we talk about the property now?” she asked. She was really uncomfortable being under both men’s scrutiny.
“I don’t like it, but we can let it go for now,” Bass said. She thanked him.
