Beautiful Hell: A Contemporary High School Bully Romance Read online

  Today, I’m not exactly in the best of moods. Everything with Kira plus the visit to mom has me a little on edge. Sure, I might have switched schools to Trinity High for the sake of being able to see my mother more often, but it’s still not easy looking at her without really being certain that she’s in there. Those who say that my father drove her mad wouldn’t be fully wrong. But he’s not the only one to blame. Mom’s sick and a mentally unstable woman who forgets about taking care of herself can land into a hole that is never ending. That’s where my mother is now, and it kills me. Maybe that’s why I was so delicate with Kira after finding her in the gazebo. Regardless, I need to put all of that to the side for a minute and allow my brain to breathe.

  When Sheldon comes to my house to tell me about William Malone, I listen, unequivocally, needing something to be distracted by. Sheldon’s judgment prevented numerous failures in Dressler Corp. Hell, he singlehandedly pulled the company out of the gutter during the financial crisis, and that was before he was even offered a position as our in-house lawyer.

  We take our seats in the living-room. The sun breaks through the thin white curtains, dressing everything in a soft light, as Erica, one of my maids, serves coffee and pastries. Sheldon looks calm, but I know he’s always on edge when it comes to William Malone. If there is anyone who hates that man as much as my dad did, it’s him.

  “How’s Kira?” Sheldon asks, aware of our little trip to the hospital from the other night. I tell him everything, thus securing my own protection. Sheldon’s contact list could cover up Watergate without blinking an eye—let alone a rich girl’s overdose.

  “I don’t know,” I reply, sipping coffee. The bitter liquid trickles down my throat, spreading warmth through my stomach. It’s the one thing I’m not sure I’d be able to live without. “I haven’t spoken to her since I left her at the hospital. She should be fine, though. The doctors said she was out of danger.”

  Sheldon frowns, occasionally glancing at Erica as she finishes setting up the coffee table service and leaves the living room area. “Are you sure she’s out of danger, though? She’s been taking Oxy since her leg injury, well over the prescribed amount. It’s a clear sign of addiction.”

  It bothers me, of course, but I don’t like saying it out loud. It would imply that I actually care about her and any such feelings for a Malone would be detrimental to my reputation, not to mention the company. I may trust Sheldon, but no one can know what goes on inside me. These are my demons to tackle, and no one else’s.

  “Probably. But it’s not really my problem,” I say, leaning back into the armchair. The words feel stale on my tongue, plagued with the sourness of the past as opposite to the prospect of a much brighter future where Kira and I are concerned.

  Sheldon murmurs something under his breath before raising his voice. “If Malone’s sole heir to the business is unreliable due to drug problems, it opens him up to serious trouble on the market.”

  “I’m not bringing Kira into this,” I say, determined to keep her as far away from this mess as possible. She’s got enough on her plate. “Besides, Malone is grooming Janelle for a position within the company. Kira’s determined to keep dancing, so I doubt she is in any manner interested in running the company.”

  “Now’s not the time to start protecting the enemy, Elias.” I don’t like the way he says that. A week ago, those words would have meant something. The Kira back then was the Kira I had known growing up. She wasn’t weak or broken or in need of being handled with silk gloves. This Kira, the one who I found on a bench in her gazebo, well, she’s in a completely different ballgame. Only this time, she’s not the one pitching fastballs, instead, she’s being beaten down with the bat.

  “You can’t exactly fake an overdose,” I say to Sheldon. “She’s not in a good place and I’m not the type to kick someone when they’re down.”

  Sheldon sighs. “If you want to take Malone down, I might have a good avenue for us to follow…”

  His voice trails off, his eyes fixed on me. I know that look. Sheldon is a hawk. Even in his mid-fifties, his mind is as sharp and as dangerous as a poisoned arrow tip. If he sets his sights on someone, that person is irrevocably screwed, and for the past five years, Sheldon has been digging into all aspects of William Malone’s life—both business and private.

  Nothing he’s come up with so far has been enough to take the bastard down, but that hasn’t stopped Sheldon from digging deeper. He’s taken extensive trips across the country, sometimes being away for months on end, just to meet and talk to former friends and business associates of Malone, contractors and clients, distant relatives… pretty much anyone who could tell him something about the man. Something that wouldn’t do his company any good if it ever came to light.

  “Well, go on,” I say after a long pause. “Don’t keep me on the edge of my seat here.”

  “I just want to make sure you know what we’re getting ourselves into. Taking William Malone down will not be easy. You’ve seen for yourself.”

  “I’m honoring my father’s memory with this endeavor,” I reply. “I’m also getting a dangerous man out of the public. Provided we find a smoking gun, obviously.”

  Sheldon shoots me a cool grin. He’s not the kind of person to exhibit such emotions, so… whatever he’s got on Malone, it’s big. Bigger than anything else he’s come across before. “I’ve spoken to Joe Fowler’s wife. His parents. Former college buddies.”

  It’s my turn to frown. Janelle and I aren’t exactly friends, but we don’t have the kind of beef that Kira and I do. Digging up her father’s skeletons – I can’t say I’m the biggest fan of that. “Where are you going with this?”

  “Hear me out,” he says, seeing that I’m not exactly biting the bait he’s offering.

  He sits up straight as he pours himself some coffee and cream. No sugar. Sheldon’s heart problems advise against caffeine altogether, but the man is an addict, much like me. He thinks he can cheat the system if he thins his coffee with milk or cream. “All the people I’ve spoken to have said the same thing. Joe Fowler never had a history of depression. He was never prescribed any medication. He never even experienced panic attacks, okay? His mental health was ironclad. His wife suspects foul play, adamant that Joe would’ve never killed himself.”

  “From what I remember, Joe loved his daughter very much. I tend to agree with his wife’s assessment,” I reply. “He would’ve never left Janelle like this. But there was absolutely nothing in that Baltimore hotel room to point to any kind of foul play. Maybe he caved in. Maybe he knew the IRS audit would reveal something compromising. Enough to get the SEC Commission involved.”

  “But none of that ever happened. The audits revealed some mismanagement of funds, and that was it. Certainly not cause for a man as mentally healthy as Joe Fowler to commit suicide,” Sheldon insists. “That being said, I haven’t even gotten to the best part yet.”

  Another grin slits across his face, and I’m about to ask Erica for some popcorn. I’ve always suspected that William Malone was a cold son of a bitch, cold enough to kill people in order to get what he wants. His feckless way of raising Kira after her mother died is proof enough. They have the most dysfunctional and hateful father-daughter relationship I have ever seen. And I’ve attended both public and private schools. I’ve seen everything there is to see on the familial spectrum.

  “Go on,” I mutter, somewhat irked by how Sheldon pauses, purely for dramatic effect.

  “Joe Fowler kept a mistress. A Tallulah Brown from Michigan. He brought her over to Trinity three years ago, put her up in a nice condo. They met once a week, usually on a Thursday or a Friday. They had the occasional escapade as well. When Mrs. Fowler thought he was traveling to Los Angeles, for example, he and Tallulah were checked in at a luxury resort in Napa Valley.”

  This is new information. Information that I would bet a kidney is about to lead somewhere very, very, intriguing. Plus, I know Sheldon enough to know that he would never bring it up unless he
’s got as much of a full picture as possible. That’s the kind of man he is. He doesn’t deliver half-details, he comes with the full story or he keeps digging until he finds it.

  “They had a serious relationship going on. Tallulah’s not convinced that…” Sheldon pauses at my reaction.

  “You met her?”

  He nods. “Over lunch, a long walk in the Park, followed by dinner,” Sheldon says. “No one knew about her, not even the police or William, not to mention his wife or Janelle. Tallulah is, by far, Joe Fowler’s best kept secret.”

  “You spent a whole day together?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.

  “An entire day,” he confirms, a small smile ticking up his lips.

  “Tallulah is thirty. A cosmetician by day, a novelist by night. She has a sharp mind on her, too. And she’s got a lot of stories to tell. Tallulah represents a part of Joe Fowler’s life that no one ever knew about,” Sheldon says.

  “Given you spent a whole day together,” I reply, reiterating my earlier point, “should I assume she’s told you some of those stories?”

  His gray eyes light up. It’s the question he’s been waiting for. “Fowler often confided in her with regards to his business. He wasn’t at all concerned about the IRS audit, like William had told the authorities. He knew they’d only get a minor fine, at the very most. Fowler had absolutely no reason to commit suicide.”

  “She’s just the mistress,” I cut in, giving at least an attempt at discounting her words. But even I know better. Mistress, hooker, prostitute – men like Fowler are known to confide in the women they take to bed. Women who aren’t their wives. Women who are satisfied by their money and therefore easily paid for their silence.

  “They were talking about starting a family together, Elias. I think she was more than just his mistress.”

  “Whoa. Okay,” I breathe, genuinely surprised by the depth of research this whole thing had to have cost Sheldon. “How do we know he wasn’t just stringing Tallulah along, though? As far as I know, Fowler had a good marriage going.”

  Sheldon nods slowly. “He did. But he also loved Tallulah enough to start discussing these issues with a divorce lawyer. Tallulah kept his card. I know the guy, and he confirmed everything I’ve just told you. Joe Fowler was getting ready to start a new life.”

  For a moment, I wonder if the wife had found a way to kill Fowler, given that she obviously had the most to lose if that divorce came to happen. “What about Mrs. Fowler?”

  “I’m telling you, Elias, she had no idea. She was in Cabo with Janelle at the time of his death. Mother-daughter bonding time. It’s corroborated by hotel and restaurant receipts, CCTV, anything that I could get my hands on. I checked,” Sheldon says. “Technically speaking and as it stands right now, William Malone did not have motive to kill Fowler, but Fowler didn’t have a reason, or the mental state needed to kill himself. I’m positive that if we dig deeper into what happened to Fowler, it’ll eventually lead us to Malone. If there’s anyone who has dirt on Malone, it’s Fowler. Maybe Malone wasn’t comfortable with that; maybe Malone had secrets he wasn’t sure Fowler would protect forever. Or maybe Malone just wanted to take over the company, but Fowler wasn’t in any way interested in selling his shares.”

  I take a deep breath, letting it out slowly as I analyze the dangerous territory we’re about to go into. I trust Sheldon’s instincts, and I want to destroy William Malone… but if we don’t have compelling evidence against the guy, I risk everything—including my reputation and my company. It would bring about my own destruction.

  As if reading my mind, Sheldon smiles. “Tallulah has more stories to tell me, Elias. I’m meeting her again next week. She wasn’t exactly an open book the first time around, so I’ve got my work cut out. It’ll take some dinners and friendly conversations, maybe a cheque here and there… without Fowler’s financial support, she’s got a hard time keeping that condo and all the expenses it comes with.”

  I take a deep breath. On the one hand, this is just the kind of thing I wanted him to come to me with. Something big. Something that could really ruin Malone. And murder, well, you don’t get much better dirt than that.

  “What can I do? How can I help? William wants to meet with me, to discuss potential charity work between us and Fowler & Malone,” I say. “I know it’s just an angle. He’s planning something and he has a tendency to underestimate me, likely thinking I’m not as strong or as protected as my father.

  My assistant has tried to patch him through a couple of times, and I’ve rejected each call on account of being busy or in meetings or whatever else might work to keep him at arm’s length. I know he invited me to that house party of his talk about this stuff. Kira OD-ing kept me away from Malone, but I won’t be able to avoid him for much longer.

  Despite the longstanding hatred between our companies, both Malone and I keep up appearances in public. My dad used to do the same, in a bid to keep our clients and prospects out of the drama—not to mention the stock market. It’s a tedious game we’re playing, and I need something to cut Malone out of the business for good. This business may not be for the weak, but it shouldn’t be for murderers, either.

  “You should engage him in conversation,” Sheldon says. “See what he has to say. Hell, oblige him with whatever you can, but don’t let him get too close to the company. In the meantime, I’ll keep working on Tallulah, until she’s got something to give me regarding William Malone. I’m sure she’ll come through, Elias.”

  I exhale sharply, bracing myself for what will come next. “I’ll have to meet with him,” I reply without hiding my discontent. “Gah. Even being in the same room with him makes me want to hurl.”

  “I sympathize with your distress,” Sheldon chuckles, which makes it sound like he doesn’t. “But we need Malone to be completely unsuspecting of any work we might be doing against him. Maybe you can try befriending his daughter again. Kira could have information.”

  I shake my head, blood already simmering through my veins. “We are not touching Kira. I told you. She’s not involved in the business. She never will be.”

  “But they live in the same house, and I know Malone takes a lot of meetings there, especially over the weekend,” Sheldon insists. “She might have seen something or someone that could help us tie Sheldon to Fowler’s death.”

  He’s right, and I know it, but every instinct warns me against getting Kira involved. She’s struggling enough as it is, and I honestly want to see her succeed as a ballet dancer—partly because she’s incredibly talented and almost hypnotic to watch on stage. But also because Kira becoming a dancer would certainly put a dent in that bastard’s succession plans.

  Getting closer to Kira would also bring Janelle into my orbit, since the two are virtually inseparable. If all this pans out, I’ll need Janelle on my side and willing to listen, once the evidence starts coming in.

  “Sheldon, you focus on Tallulah for now, and I’ll see what Malone wants from me. Let’s put a pin in Kira for the time being.”

  He watches me for a while, without saying anything. The shadow of a smile touches his face. “You’re more like your father than you’d care to admit. You have a strong sense of ethics, Elias. Don’t lose it, but don’t let it hold you back, either. I understand you care about Kira, despite your frequent brushes… Remember, though, that Malone will use anyone and anything to get into your head. Including his daughter.”

  This is the second time that Sheldon is telling me a most uncomfortable truth. I’ve reached my limit for such things, at least for today. I give him a faint smile, eyeing the door and hoping I’ll watch him walk through it soon enough.

  “Thank you, Sheldon. Your advice is excellent, as always. I’m taking all your suggestions under consideration.”

  He takes the hint and gets up, collecting his briefcase from the floor. “Before I forget, I’ll leave these with you,” he says, taking out a folder and placing it on the coffee table in front of me. “It’s the complete case file and assessment
compiled by the police after Fowler’s suicide. It’s for your reference, mostly, but if you see something I might’ve missed, by all means, have at it.”

  He leaves, knowing I’ll definitely be mulling over everything he’s given me today—the case file, too. But all I can do, for the time being, is sink back into my chair and take deep breaths, trying to take my mind off Kira.

  If William Malone is as dirty and as deadly as Sheldon and I think he might be, the revelation will likely affect Kira in ways I’m not even able to anticipate right now. After seeing her in the hospital, I’m reminded of how fragile she can be, despite the strength she aims to project, especially in public. It might not look like it, but I fear she’ll be a direct casualty of this silent war between her father and me.

  11

  Elias

  A hot shower takes me through the rest of the thought process regarding Tallulah, Joe Fowler, and William Malone. The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that Sheldon is on the right track here, and that I’m letting stifled emotions cloud my judgment. Kira could be useful. Hell, if I take her father down, at least she’ll be able to breathe and do whatever the hell she wants with her life.

  Dressler Corp. can take over Fowler & Malone. I could give Janelle a position within the new company format. Everyone would be better off, in the end. It sounds idealistic, if not idiotic, at this point in time, though. William Malone would rather die than lose his company. If I’m to go with the notion that Sheldon’s suspicions about him are true, Malone could be dangerous, too, and I have no intention of ending up like Joe Fowler.