Captive

Chapter Twenty Four

"She called you then?" said Davey and Bret grinned, as he put his phone back in his pocket and followed his brother in law out to the locker room. They had just finished the media event and needed to change into their wrestling gear for the fan event. "Didn't I tell you that it would all come out in the wash?"

"Yeah but I'm not getting my hopes up just yet," Bret said, even though he couldn't stop the grin that was on his face. "She might still tell me she doesn't want a thing to do with me."

"You're going to talk though?"

"She says so yes." And Bret's grin widened. "Just got to figure out how to get her to stop calling me Mr Hart or sir and then we can go from there. Least that's what I'm hoping."

"The fact she has called has got to be a good sign hasn't it?" Davey asked and he nodded. "So what did she say?" Bret's smile faltered a little as he considered her actual words. She had believed he didn't want anything to do with her any more; had rung to question him about the money. The money had played on his mind all through that first night she was away from him as he had tried to think how he could possibly put things right after what he had done. Paying her for her work seemed like a good idea at the time, but when he thought about the way she had spoken, the almost disgusted tone in her voice, he wasn't sure that she necessarily saw it the same way he did. In a strange way it had almost been as if she felt insulted by him, by what he had offered.  But in his head he took her from having been a virtual slave to an employee and that was surely better for her in every way? To his mind she had earned every cent and he wanted to make a clear distinction between the awful captivity she had faced from that maniac in the UK and the contract she had had with him.

"Just that she wants to talk," he replied, a little evasively and Davey nodded.

"So when are you meeting?"

"Not sure yet, we didn't exactly set a date and time. I got called away for an interview, which was a damn shame. Timing couldn't have been worse! But I'll call her tomorrow morning before we're needed here again and then maybe we can sort something out."

"Yeah best not to leave it too long to call her though boss. Don't want her sleeping on it and changing her mind."

Bret considered this and then shrugged.

"I guess I could text her tonight, make sure she knows I'm serious about wanting to talk."

"I would," Davey agreed and he grinned at his brother in law. "Be great if you two can figure something out; she's a real nice girl."

Bret nodded his agreement; she was a nice girl and he had treated her horribly. When he thought about it she rarely seemed to do anything for her own benefit. She had been forced into a friendship with the man who attacked her to help support her mother and her boyfriend, despite her reservations about Jason. And then she didn't report what had happened so that her mother didn't get embarrassed or hurt by the truth of it. She had come out to Canada to allow her mother to start a new relationship with Edward and to support her father, a man less deserving Bret could not immediately imagine. He doubted any of them appreciated exactly what they'd got with Juliet; a girl who would always put their needs ahead of hers no matter the cost. And he realised with a pang that he was appreciating that perhaps a little too late.

"Come on mate, your adoring fans will be waiting," Davey said as he finished lacing his boots and Bret nodded,shrugging on his jacket and following Davey out into the meeting room which was full of screaming fans, sliding effortlessly back into the Hitman role, even if his mind was definitely elsewhere.

***

Mark and Dani took their seats at the table and Kane grinned as he looked at the grilled chicken breasts, macaroni, garlic bread and salad that Juliet had prepared for them. It looked delicious and all three complimented her on the spread.