Come Home

Chapter 14

Just as Alice was entering the kitchen to head to the kitchen to refill her water bottle her phone rang, "Hello?" she asked then stopped walking, catching the attention of all the men since they were relaxing for a bit after lunch. "Oh hello Warden, how can I help you?" She frowned and tilted her head in thought, "Yes Sir, I can do that. Yes Sir, okay, I will get right on that. I think that will be okay, but I can confirm once I talk to the rest of my staff. Yes Sir, goodbye."

"Everything okay?" Kota asked as she hung up her phone.

She held up her hand and dialed a number then tapped her foot as she waited, "Hey Officer," She smiled when the caller picked up, "I need a favor." She switched over to speaker and pulled up the calendar.

"You're the boss," a male's voice chuckled, "what do you need?"

"Yeah, but it's a Saturday and I know you usually spend that with that cute barber of yours."

"Eh, he's training some local releases today so I'm free," Officer Romeo chuckled, "what can I do for you, Boss Lady?"

"Warden Holden would like to see as much information as he can about Bars with Paws, including statements from the other wardens, prisoners, and releasees if possible. You have all that back at the main office on the main computer. I don't have that information since I didn't think I would be staying here, much less opening a temporary program here. He also wants to meet on Wednesday during his lunch break and I still need to check out the land to figure out where to create the yard, exercise yard, kennels, dog houses, shelter, um..."

The man chuckled, "I got you, Boss Lady," she heard him typing away. "You go work on your lists and I got the information handled."

"You are a lifesaver," she sighed as she kept typing. "Oh, how did the dog grooming final go for your barber? Did he get certified?"

"Yes Ma'am, he did," he said proudly.

"Yay!" She squealed happily. "Take him out to dinner for me on the company card as a congrats. We now have a dog groomer in our business! I'm so proud of him."

"I'll tell him and I will, thanks Boss Lady."

"Thank you, Romeo," she smiled softly. "Okay I got to call Jackson and Jasper then get started on this. Thanks again," she said as she headed to the kitchen.

Just as she came back into the living room, there was a knock on the door. She turned to look at the men, "We aren't expecting anyone," Nathan said standing and shaking his head.

She opened the door and gasped. Just then her phone rang, "Hey can I call you back?" she asked answering it. "I think hell just froze over."

"What's going on, Alice?" Jackson's voice came through.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Alice asked ignoring the question as shock turned to anger.

"Now now, is that anyway to talk to your father?" Scott tsked as he straightened his tie.

"You're no father of mine," she glared, "what are you doing here? You aren't welcome."

"Actually, as the heir of my parents, I am welcome here," he said trying to take a step into the house, but she blocked him. "Move now Little Girl."

"No," She glared, "You aren't welcome here," she repeated. "This is MY home, the title and deed to the house and land is in MY name and I say you are trespassing. You need to leave immediately."

"You heard her," Raven said as he came to stand behind her with the rest surrounding them.

"Listen here little slut," Scott glared, "you can whore yourself out to these worthless punks as much as you want but you will never get what you crave so much because what you saw was a façade. It's not real and this business will fail one way or another. I will get this land and the first thing I will do after kicking you out into the streets is demolish this piece of shit."

"Gee, you are such a loving father," Alice rolled her eyes sarcastically. "Welp," She smirked, "it was such fun having this father daughter bonding time, but I have two successful businesses to run and honestly I'm just done looking at your pathetic face so..." She slammed the door in his face and sighed.

"Il Mio Cuore (My Heart)?" she asked holding the phone back to her ear as she blinked back tears.

"Go ride your pretty little pony, Cub," he said through clenched teeth. "I'll call Officer Romeo to gather the information of your talk and then let Jasper know."

"Yes Sir," She said clearing her throat.

"I would be there if I could but I have court in the morning," Jackson sighed. "I'll be there as soon as I can, Sugar."

"I know," she said nodding. "Love you."

"We love you too," Jackson said softly, "Have fun with your pony."

She hung up her phone and slipped it into her back pocket. By passing the men watching her she walked outside and began whistling.

"Fucking watch it!" Andrew shouted as he fell on his ass as Jack raced passed him.

Alice climbed the fence then got on his back as he came to a halt beside her. She got on him and clutched his mane, "Let's go, Jack," she sniffled as Jack neighed and started walking off. Just as they passed Andrew she looked down and glared, "Watch how you talk to my boy or you will regret it. Oh, and fuck off."