Page 30 of At Her Service (Club Velvet #2)

CHAPTER 30

“I t’s okay, Hazel.” Valerie bounced the crying toddler up and down on her hip. “It’s all right.”

But Hazel’s cries only grew louder. “I want Abby!”

“I know, sweetie. I know.”

Valerie’s phone began to ring. She carried Hazel over to the kitchen counter where she’d left it. Was Abby finally returning her calls?

But it was just Alex calling her, and for the third time that day. She’d told him in the morning that she wouldn’t be going into work, which had sent him into a panic. She’d missed deadlines, meetings, important calls. But with Abby gone, she had no choice but to stay home and look after Hazel.

No, that wasn’t true. She’d stayed home because she was barely able to hold herself together. If it wasn’t for Hazel, would she have even gotten out of bed that morning?

She silenced the call, shifting Hazel to her other hip as opened the fridge door. “Are you hungry? Let’s get you a snack.”

“No!” Hazel screwed her eyes shut and began to scream. “No, no, no!”

“It’s okay. It’s okay.” Valerie shut the fridge, then headed into the living room, where Hazel’s toys were strewn haphazardly about. “Let’s play a game instead.”

“I don’t wanna play!” Hazel wailed. “I want Abby!”

“ I know ,” Valerie snapped. “But Abby isn’t here!”

Hazel began to wail even louder.

Valerie cursed internally. She’d vowed long ago to never yell at her child in anger. She’d never once snapped at Hazel until now.

“Sweetie, I’m sorry,” she said gently. “I shouldn’t have raised my voice at you. Mommy is just tired.”

They both were. Valerie hadn’t slept at all the night before, and that was on top of the jet lag.

She kissed Hazel on the forehead, holding her tightly, rocking her back and forth. Finally, her cries grew silent and her tears dried.

Hazel rubbed her eyes with her fists, sniffling quietly. “I want Abby.”

“I know,” Valerie said. “So do I.”

“Where is she?”

“I don’t know, sweetie. I wish I did.”

Since Abby stormed out of the house the night before, Valerie hadn’t heard from her at all. She’d left her car behind, disappearing into the night with her duffel bag and suitcase, her bedroom littered with remnants of her. Valerie didn’t know where she’d gone, or if she had somewhere to stay, or if she was safe at all. She had no way of finding out if Abby was all right.

But how could she be all right after hearing what Valerie had said?

Something squeezed inside her chest. She’d never meant for this to happen. She’d never meant to hurt her. But she’d hurt Abby worse than she ever thought she could.

Her phone rang again. This time, it wasn’t Alex. But it wasn’t Abby either.

It was Francesca.

Her stomach tightened. Before leaving her house the night before, Francesca had told her she’d give her some time to “consider her offer.” But Valerie had been too preoccupied to think about anything Francesca had said. And now, her words, her threats, were a crushing weight on Valerie’s chest, and she could barely breathe?—

She closed her eyes and drew in a deep, calming breath. Then, she picked up her phone, silenced Francesca’s call, and dialed Simone’s number. It was the middle of the afternoon, and Simone was undoubtedly busy with work. But there was no denying it. Valerie couldn’t deal with this alone.

Simone picked up after a few rings. “Val, you’re back. How was the trip?”

The trip. The wonderful trip, where, for the first time, it had felt like Abby was truly hers.

Now, it seemed like a distant memory.

“Are you there?” Simone asked. “Valerie, what’s going on?”

“It’s Francesca,” she said. “She broke into my house last night, and Abby was here, and now she’s gone, and I can’t reach her, and everything is falling apart?—”

“Val, just breathe. Is Francesca gone? Are you and Hazel safe?”

“Yes. But Abby, I don’t know where she is.”

“Where are you right now?” Simone asked.

“I’m at home with Hazel.”

“All right. Just give me half an hour and I’ll come over. I’ll be there soon. We’ll figure this out.”

Valerie hung up the phone and sat down on the living room rug, setting Hazel down next to her. “It’s okay, sweetie. Everything is going to be okay.”

* * *

The doorbell rang. Hazel sprang to her feet. “Abby’s here!”

Valerie reached for her. “Wait, that’s not?—”

But she was already halfway to the front door.

Valerie followed, not bothering to tell her not to run. Joining Hazel by the door, she opened it up to find Simone on her doorstep.

But not only Simone. Jade, Elle, and Olivia were standing there too.

Hazel pouted and ran behind Valerie’s back, peering out from behind her leg. “You’re not Abby.”

Valerie placed a reassuring hand on her daughter’s head. “What are you all doing here?”

Simone gave her an apologetic look. “I filled them in on the situation. I hope I didn’t overstep, but it sounded like an all-hands-on-deck situation.”

“This is…” Valerie shook her head. “I don’t know what Simone told you, but you didn’t all need to drop everything to come here.”

“Of course we did,” Elle said. “You’re always there for us when we need you. We’re simply returning the favor.”

“Well?” Olivia crossed her arms. “Are you going to let us in?”

“All right,” Valerie said. “Come in.”

They entered the house and made their way to the living room, stepping around the toys and stray toddler clothes strewn across the floor. The house was in such disarray that it was as if Abby had been gone for weeks.

Elle and Olivia took a seat on the couch. Simone nodded to Jade, who stepped forward.

“I can take Hazel for you if you’d like,” she said. “That way, you can all talk privately.”

Valerie nodded. “I’d appreciate that.” She hadn’t known Jade for long, but if Simone trusted her, Valerie could trust her with her daughter for a short while. “Hazel, why don’t you go show Auntie Jade your toy room? If you ask her nicely, she might read you a book.”

Jade held her hand out to Hazel. “I can’t wait to see your room. Can you take me there?”

Hazel glanced at her warily, then took her hand. “Okay. I wanna read the penguin book.”

She led Jade to the stairs, chattering animatedly about her books. It seemed like only yesterday that she’d been unable to say a single word, let alone have a conversation with someone she’d never met. The once-shy toddler was finally coming out of her shell. Was Abby to thank for that?

Valerie sank down onto the couch across from the others. She needed to fix things with Abby. But how could she when Francesca was hell-bent on destroying everything she held dear? She’d already begun ruining Valerie’s life by making sure Abby heard her say all those awful things about her. She would never let Valerie know peace.

And if she knew how much Valerie cared about Abby, she’d never let her know peace either.

Simone sat down next to her. “Now, tell us what happened. In detail, this time. Francesca broke into your house?”

“Yes, last night,” Valerie said. “We got back from the airport, and she was inside waiting for me. She’s been harassing me for months now, and things have been escalating. I should have done something about it sooner, but I never thought she’d go this far.”

She told them everything, going all the way back to the beginning when they were still married. And for the first time, she spoke about the full extent of her ex-wife’s behavior.

“She threatened me back then too, when I first told her I wanted a divorce. But I never told anyone. I was ashamed. She made me feel like I had reason to be. Like I was this monster, and she was the victim. It wasn’t until after I left her that I saw it was the other way around. But that’s why I never dealt with her. We’d been married for years. She knew my darkest secrets, my deepest fears. And that gave her power over me, power I was afraid she would use. And now she’s threatening to do just that.”

Valerie told them about the photos Francesca had taken. She told them about Francesca’s jealousy, about how she’d lied to protect Abby. She told them how Abby had overheard her lies, and it had crushed her.

And now, she was gone.

Valerie held her head in her hands. “Everything has gone so wrong. I don’t know what to do.”

“That’s why we’re here,” Simone said. “You don’t need to figure this out on your own. First things first, you need to deal with Francesca. Rather, you need to have your lawyers deal with her. Call them. And call the police. She’s been harassing you, stalking you, and she broke into your home. You want her out of your life? You need to throw the full force of the law at her before she can so much as think about releasing those photos.”

Valerie nodded. “I’ll talk to my lawyers today, and to the police. I hope it’s enough to stop her from acting on her threats.”

“It will be,” Olivia said. “And if it isn’t, I’ll lend you my PR expertise and make any false accusations go away.”

“Thank you. I appreciate it.”

“All right,” Simone said. “Once you’ve dealt with Francesca, how are you going to get Abby back?”

Valerie shook her head. “I don’t know. She won’t even talk to me. She’s not answering her phone. I tried messaging her too, but she wouldn’t reply.”

“There must be some other way. She’s been living with you, working for you, all this time. Don’t you have her details? An address, emergency contacts?”

“Yes, somewhere. But I can’t take advantage of the fact that I’m her boss to track her down and show up at her doorstep. That would make me no better than Francesca.”

“Valerie,” Elle said. “I say this with love, but you need to realize it’s okay to break the rules once in a while. All this happened because you were too stubborn to make Abby yours for good. Why? Because it’s against the rules. Francesca certainly wasn’t playing by the rules when she drove a wedge between the two of you. So if you want to fix the mess she caused, you have to be willing to get your hands dirty.”

“Elle has a point,” Olivia said. “You need to do whatever it takes to find this woman. You’re obviously in love with her, and she obviously has feelings for you. Find her. Apologize. Explain what happened. And tell her how you feel. If she feels the same way, she’ll understand.”

“You’re right.” Valerie closed her eyes for a moment. “You’re right. I need to get her back.”

“And how are you going to do that?” Simone asked.

“I have a few ideas. But first, I need to handle Francesca.”

Simone nodded. “If you need someone to look after Hazel while you do, we’re here. We can all pitch in.”

Valerie steeled herself. She was going to deal with Francesca once and for all. Then, she was going to tell Abby how she felt.

She couldn’t let the woman she loved slip through her fingers.