A/A
< Surprise!
Surprise!
Cruz was holding Presley’s hand as they strolled back towards the resort’s hotel following their day in Cannes and he couldn’t stop smiling.
Despite the rocky start to the day, they’d actually spent an incredible afternoon day in Cannes. They’d eaten lunch together strolled the streets and shops and he’d enjoyed watching Presley finally relax in his presence.
“I really had a fun time today, Ladybird. How would you feel about having dinner together in the restaurant here? I didn’t book anywhere off the resort.”
“Actually, I’m exhausted. The run this morning and then all the walking this afternoon, I want to put my feet up and relax.”
“What if,” he looked at her hopefully, “we order room service, I give you the best foot massage of your life and we have an early night? I bet I could pull up a movie on the laptop.”
“Really? You wouldn’t mind not going out?”
“Presley, most of the time when I am home, I stay home. I’m not one to go out partying. I get we’re on vacation and we’re supposed to be having fun but part of being on vacation is also relaxing and recharging and doing the things you don’t get to do at home. I almost never have time to watch a movie. Most of the time, I’m reading emails or research materials or reviewing reports from the time I’m out of bed until I turn the light out at night. I would love to spend an evening doing nothing with you.”
“I would like that.”
“Then, let’s go, beautiful.” He smiled happy she was no longer fighting him at every turn.
Entering the lobby to the hotel, his smile fell off as he took in the sight there.
“What the actual f**k?” he stared in horror at the woman standing near the reservation desk. “This isn’t f*****g happening.” He muttered under his breath as he tried to drag Presley through the lobby towards the elevator hoping to God the woman arguing with the staff happened to not see his oversized frame tearing through the lobby.
“What’s wrong?” Presley asked as she took in his pallor.
“Baby!”
He stumbled on his feet as he frantically pressed the call button for the elevator.
“Baby! It’s me! I’m here!”
The shrieking high–pitched voice yelling at him was punctuated by the sound of heels clicking along the tiled
floors.
“No, no, no,” he panted as he punched the metal doors. “Come on. Open.”
“Cruz, what’s wrong? Who is she?”
“Baby! Cruz. Wait for me.”
He was desperately watching the numbers as the elevator descended but it wasn’t fast enough as the talon tipped hand gripped his bicep and bit into his flesh.
175
Surprise!
“Cruz, baby, didn’t you hear me? I’m here! Surprise!”
“Ramona, what the f**k are you doing here?”
“Baby, who is she?” The loud woman leaned sideways to look at Presley. “Why are you holding her hand? Let her go, right now!”
“I asked what the hell you are doing here. You’re violating a court order.”
“Which can’t be enforced in France!” she sang the words. “It gives us the opportunity to work out our problems and get engaged again and finally set our wedding date.”
“s**t,” Presley took a breath and sighed, “Is this your ex–fiancée?”
“Yes. I want to know how she knew how I got here!”
“You sent a text to me telling me you were coming here. It held your entire itinerary. It was clear you wanted
me to be here.”
Cruz turned his gaze from the woman who’d been making his life a living hell for the last several years to the one who’d been torturing him as of late. “Ladybird, did you do this?”
“Um,” she swallowed nervously. “Sloane might have offered an assist when I complained about the bathroom door coming off.” She squeaked out the words and pouted her lips nervously. “Sorry?”
“Sorry? You’re sorry. You literally let the fox into the henhouse and you’re sorry? I took a restraining order against this nutjob. I needed to move twice in Toronto because of her insanity,” he ripped his arm out of Ramona’s grip and stalked towards Presley until she was flat against the wall beside the elevator, and he towered over her furiously. “I have gotten fourteen different phone numbers in the last twelve months. Fourteen.” He raised his voice and slapped his palm against the wall above her head, “and you simply gave her my entire itinerary?”
“Cruz, if you would just breathe,” she pointed to his neck, “your veins are doing the weird popping thing again.
“I might strangle you.”
“I might be into it?” she tried to joke.
“Baby! I don’t know why you’re upset. You messaged me.” Ramona clapped her hands happily.
“I didn’t f*****g message you, you crazy psychopathic nutjob. You’ve gone so far off the deep end, the Mariana’s Trench seems shallow. You need to get the f**k away from me before I lose my s**t!”
“Are you saying you’re not losing your s**t now?” Presley asked quietly her eyes curiously wide. “Who are you?” Ramona stomped her foot and glared at Presley.
“I’m Presley Brookmore.”
Ramona lunged at her, “you’re the b***h who made a scene on social media!”
“Um, yeah,” Presley ducked behind Cruz for protection.
He considered letting Ramona at her to teach her a lesson.
“I’ll kill you. He’s mine!” Ramona’s voice reached a tone which made Cruz’s ears ring.
“f**k you,” Presley shot back. “He’s not yours. If he was yours, he wouldn’t have f****d me hard multiple times
2/5
Supriser yesterday.”
Cruz watched in awe as Presley suddenly ducked under his arm and was up in Ramona’s face.
“You need to back it up right now, you loud, obnoxious b***h,” Presley shoved the woman and caused her to
stumble backwards on her six–inch heels.
Cruz wondered why the hell a woman would wear such things to a beach resort but his quick though flitted away as Presley began giving the woman a verbal beatdown reminding him why he, Odin and Anderson were always in awe when she finally snapped and freaked out at them.
“Listen to me, that man,” she pointed over at Cruz, “is my f*****g man. Not yours. I don’t know what you thought you were going to accomplish coming here but you can’t break us up. We’re unbreakable. He’s been my crush since I was a preteen girl and I’m telling you, I finally get to be with him and our families are excited about it. Don’t believe me, call his father, and ask him. He’ll tell you how much he’s begging for us to get married. I’m going to marry him. I’m going to have his big–headed babies. I’m going to grow old with him. You, “Presley poked Ramona in the chest, “blew your chance. I know all about you. I know how you proposed, and you were actually living with him and then you moved out like an i***t. You f****d up. Your mistake is my greatest victory, so get lost!”
“But” Ramona batted dampened lashes as Presley told her off with a fire which was drawing quite a crowd. “You’re a smart woman. You know coming here, when he has a restraining order against you was a stupid idea but what you didn’t realize, was how much I’ll fight for him. I have loved him my entire life and I will not let you take from me what I’ve waited so long to have.”
“I,” Ramona stuttered in confusion. “He messaged me.”
“He didn’t message you and you know it. I could pull his phone out right now and prove there are no messages to you. He already showed me how he blocked you in every damn way possible.”
Security people were approaching now as Presley’s voice carried across the hall. Cruz groaned and rubbed his head, wondering what else was going to happen. Was this going to be another f*****g internet sensation where his life got dragged through the tabloids?
He was in awe as Presley looked at the security and yelled at them.
“What kind of resort is this? He’s a damn billionaire who paid for top–of–the–line services and you’re letting fans, stalkers and paparazzi follow him around in your resort? We were told this was a high–end place where our privacy would be respected and you let this crazy lady try to approach him? Do we need to get Cruz’s full security team in place because you can’t do your jobs?” She waved at Ramona. “There is a restraining order back home in Canada against this freak and you let her chase him? What if she possessed a weapon or intended to hurt him?”
“Sir, do you have proof of this restraining order?”
“Yeah,” he grabbed his phone and scrolled through his email to find the copy he carried with him at all times.
“Here.”
“Cruz, baby, you love me.”
“He loves me, you nutjob.” Presley interjected. “It’s why we’re getting married!”
“No!”
< Surprise!
Presley turned, jumped on Cruz, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist and kissed
him full on the mouth.
“Um sir, your phone,” the security officer cleared his throat.
Cruz didn’t break the kiss. He simply took the phone and carried Presley into the open elevator while the security officers took Ramona by the arm and started pulling her away. When the elevator doors closed, he pulled his head back and pushed the button for their floor.
“Ladybird, you are in a heap of f*****g trouble.” He whispered against her mouth.
“I’m really sorry.”
He needed to give it to her. She did appear contrite.
“Why would you give her the itinerary when you damn well knew she was my stalker?”
“I didn’t realize,” she swallowed audibly before biting her lip. She started to unwrap her legs from around his middle, but he kept her in place and carried her down the hall to their room once the elevator opened.
“You didn’t realize, or you were hoping to cause more chaos in my life.”
“Okay, I admit I was angry at you because you destroyed my dildos and removed the bathroom door and I was complaining to Sloane and asked her to help me get you back but,” she made a face, “I didn’t realize Ramona was going to be so f*****g crazy. Like one eye was larger than the other and it was twitching, and her fingers were snipping and snapping at you like she was trying to pinch you or something. Holy s**t, Cruz, she’s not all there.”
“She’s under conservatorship of her parents. I will need to call them and let them know she’s here.”
“s**t. I am sorry. I fixed it though,” she nodded exuberantly as he got them into the room.
“You didn’t fix it. She’s still here. She’s here and she’s going to make our lives a living hell. You took her by surprise down there, but she’ll regroup and replan, and she’ll be back, like a bad rash.”
“Oh.”
He dropped her onto the bed. “I’m going to make a couple of calls and then you are going to make it up to me.
”
“I am?”
“Yup.”
“How?”
He turned and faced her, a smile pulling his lips despite how enraged he was feeling, “I need to feel better. I’m very stressed and upset. You’re going to make me feel good. I suggest you do some mouth exercises, Ladybird. I want my c**k sucked and it’s going to be worth my time.”
As her eyes bugged at his bold comment, he pulled his phone and immediately dialed out Anderson. Time to call in reinforcements.
