Page 10 of Provoke You

Jennifer raised her eyebrows and met Matt’s gaze. “You’re Matt Cole?”

He nodded and stuck out his hand to shake Jennifer’s. “It’s a long story. Any chance you can get us out of these?”

She gave me one of her slow blinks and dug in the side pocket of her pencil skirt. “I saw the live feed and figured you’d need a key. Though I never thought you’d show up chained to one of our candidates for the new head of security position.” She turned to Matt, tucking a strand of blond hair behind her ear before offering her hand. “I’m Jennifer Wilson. We spoke on the phone.”

He nodded. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

She puffed out a breath. Her gaze darted from Matt to me, then back to Matt. She seemed relieved as she worked the lock. With a quiet click that felt like a stab in my chest, the handcuffs fell off Matt’s and my wrists. He was free to go, and for some reason the thought made me want to throw up. For a beat, we both stood facing each other.

“Thank you. For everything.”

He nodded. “Sure.”

“Goddammit, Rosela.” Dad’s almost roar echoed in the small room.

I looked up to find him crowding the door, and my body jerked. I’d never seen him this mad, red faced, eyes bulging. Stuffing the handcuffs in the back pocket of his jeans, Matt turned to face Dad.

As if they’d rehearsed it, in the same beat, Jennifer planted herself between Matt and Dad. “Mr. Benoit, let me introduce you to Matt Cole. He brought Ela in.”

The heat in Dad’s cheeks defused some when he turned his gaze toward Matt. “I’m sorry we had to meet under these circumstances.”

“I completely understand, sir.” Matt shook Dad’s extended hand. “We can reschedule our interview if needed.”

“That won’t be necessary.” Dad took a deep breath before he faced me. “Your mother stayed behind in Paris. You will meet her there immediately.”

“Why?” The question spilled out before I could stop it. I didn’t need Dad to explain why. In cases like today’s, the best thing to do was for me to get out of town and let things cool down. They always did. A few days in Paris sounded like a good idea.

“This is not like the other times, Rosela. I have a lot riding on the family name. A deal that can take my legacy to the next level. I will not tolerate you screwing it up because you can’t control your alcohol. Do you understand?”

“I’m sorry.” And just like that, we fell into the usual song and dance. He’d get mad and I’d apologize. A second later, he’d go back to pretending I didn’t exist.

Dad held my gaze, and for a moment, the idea that we could be still be a family like before flashed in my mind. I missed him. I missed having a family. He opened his mouth and closed it.

“I’m selling the Baroness. When you leave tomorrow, you need to make sure and take all your belongings with you. Get someone from the house staff to help you.” He uttered the words I never thought I’d hear.

“You can’t do that. This hotel belongs to me. Grans always said when I was ready, this hotel would be mine.”

Jennifer squeezed my hand. “Ela.”

“I don’t need to explain myself to you. I made a deal overseas. The Baroness is part of it. It couldn’t be helped.” Dad made no sense at all.

“You don’t care about this place or its history, do you? This hotel is important to me.” I walked around Jennifer to make Dad look at me. “Did you think about that?”

“Enough. This isn’t your call.”

“Except it is. Grans—”

“Grans was an old crock, who much like you, spent most of her days three sheets to the wind. Whatever you think she did for you, she didn’t.” He ran his hands through his hair before he turned to Matt. “Seems we’ll have to reschedule after all.”

“Seventeen seventy-five.”

“What?” The red in Dad’s cheeks returned.

“That’s when our family built this hotel. In 1775. Did you know that? The Baroness is one of the oldest hotels in the French Quarter. My family was part of that. Do you know what that means? My roots are planted here.”

“Of course, I did. I may have married into this family, but I’m part of it as much as you are. All this is mine as much as it is yours. The only difference is that I care about our legacy and making the family business thrive. You only care about you.” He cleared his throat. “Jennifer will handle the details of your trip.” With a last nod to Jennifer, he stormed out the door as he’d done many times, though this time he’d managed to take so much more with him.

“Ela.” Jennifer’s voice was low and calming. “He didn’t know this hotel meant so much to you.”

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