Wilde at Heart (Completed)

Chapter 24

"Hello?" she asked, slightly breathless.
"What the hell took you so long to answer the phone?" growled Canon.
"Sorry," muttered Layla sitting down on the couch and turning on the tv, "What's up?"
"You left," he accused, "You were supposed to come home with me."
Layla shook her head in amusement. "I walked right past you, buddy. You never said anything about that."
Silence greeted her on the other end of the line and suddenly, Layla looked forward her breath caught in her throat, her eyes glued to the tv screen. She'd stopped flipping channels when she saw a very familiar picture.
One of her and Canon outside her apartment.
One of them outside his office.
And one of them in the coffee shop.
And even one of them exiting the restaurant where they had had their date.
Slowly, Layla came back to reality. Canon was yelling at her on the other end of the line asking was she alright and Layla shrieked at him. "Shut up!"
"What?" his voice sounded shocked.
"Are you home?" asked Layla, turning up the volume on her TV.
"Yeah?" answered Canon slowly.
"Turn on your TV," she ordered, "To the Lisa Wing talk show."
Turning her cell-phone on speakerphone, she set it on the coffee table as she listened to what the woman on the TV had to say.
Lisa Wing looked straight at the camera a bright smile on her face while a picture of Layla and Canon floated behind her on a screen.
"Hi everyone, welcome to the Lisa Wing show!" she said cheerily, "Today we are going to be talking about the hottest bachelor of the year, Canon Wilde CEO of Wilde Brother's Incorporated. Sources say he's been seen with a young woman, Layla Kelly, several times. Once at his home even! So do you think Manhattan's hottest bachelor is really going to settle down? And who exactly is this woman that has caught his eye? We all know he was supposedly engaged to model Sophia Dunstan. But that was years ago and I haven't heard wedding bells yet."
She paused to take a sip of her coffee, her perfectly manicured nails shown off. "My source has given me quite a load of information on the mysterious woman who seems to have captured Canon Wilde's attention," she went on. She winked at the camera, "At least for the moment, anyway." Then she picked up a piece of paper from the table in front of her.
Layla felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. "It seems Layla Kelly has quite a reputation," said Lisa Wing, glancing at the paper, "She lived with her aunt as a child and apparently had some anger issues. She tried to kill her uncle and was sent to a mentle hospital. She is now Canon Wilde's PA. A far cry from Sophia, if you ask me."
She clicked a button and a recent picture of Layla waslking into Canon's office building flashed across the screen. Layla felt bile rise up in her throat and she resisted the urge to puke. She felt tears running down her cheeks and realized she was crying. She heard Canon curse and he said, "Stay there, Layla. I'm on my way."
Layla shook her head; then realized he could not see her. "No," she said trying to keep her voice even, "I'm fine."
"We both know that a load of bull," he snapped, "I'm coming. Stay there."
Layla turned her attention back to the screen as Jester walked in the room stopping mid-sentence when he saw what was happening. Without a word, he sank down on the couch beside Layla and pulled her into his arms.
Layla buried her face in his sweater and wiped her tears away. She felt humiliated beyond words. She had always known there was a chance of this happening if she continued to ascociate with Canon outside the workplace. Jester, glared at the TV screen, "It's going to be alright. We'll fix this. It's okay."
"No it's not," yelled Layla, her voice muffled in his shirt, "No, it's not."
Jester didn't say anything else as Layla pulled away from him, squaring her shouldes. "You should go," she mumbled, turning the TV off, "You're going to be late for your date."
She'd seen enough. Now all of Jackson knew her life story and she'd be picked apart by all the tabloids tomorrow. Jester was not going to mess up his and Rose's date just because of her.
Jester shook his head firmly. "No," he said, "I'm not leaving you here. Not like this."
"What about your date?" she asked, getting up to look for a box of Kleenex, "Rose was really looking forward to tonight."
"She'll understand," said Jester, following her to the kitchen.
As sweet as it was that he was so worried about her, Layla was adamant. "You have to go," she said, wiping her nose.
A knock sounded on the front door and Layla went to open it. Canon stood outside, his hair a disheveled mess, dressed in black jeans and a black sweater, a worried look on his face.
"Who's at the door, Layla?" asked Jester, walking into the living room.
When he saw who it was, Jester's face reddened with anger. "You," he hissed, jerking Layla back into the apartment, "What are you doing here?"
Layla's eyes opened wide as Jester punched Canon in the nose before he had time to respond. "This is all your fault," he yelled furiously.
Canon clutched his bleeding nose in his hand, glaring at Jester. "Jester!" shrieked Layla, slapping him across the back of the head, "Stop that right now!"
Jester wheeled on her and asked disbelievingly, "What's he doing here, Lay? He's the reason you're all over the TV screen right now."
Layla tugged Canon into the apartment, her hands on her hips after she slammed the door. "Are you crazy?" she shouted at Jester, "There's probably someone out there taking pictures and guess what? You just gave them one of you punching Canon Wilde! Are you insane?"
Jester glared at Canon who was trying to stop the blood leaking from his nose. Layla ran into the kitchen and grabbed him a towel. He immediately pressed it to his nose and shot her a grateful look.
"What's he doing here?" asked Jester again.
Layla sighed knowing he wasn't going to let it go. "He wanted to come over," she said, "He saw what that Wing woman was saying as well."
Jester looked appalled. "So just like that," he asked, "You're going to let him walk all over you?"
"Huh?" asked Layla in bewilderment.
Jester rolled his eyes. "Who do you think gave that talk show host the information? Who's the only other person other than me and Rose who knows about your past?" he asked in a duh tone, motioning to Canon.
Layla's eyes widened. "No," she said firmly, "He'd never do that."
Canon narrowed his eyes at Jester and said in a nasally tone, "You need to stop jumping to conclusions. I didn't tell anyone about Layla's past, but just so you know, it is not hard to find. Anyone can do some digging and will find it easily. But it wasn't me."
"Who?" Layla questioned in puzzlement, "Who would do something like this? I don't know anyone that would do this."
Canon smiled tightly at her and said, "Someone with a motive to get revenge."
Instantly, Layla's thoughs flew to Sohpia. It was her; had to be. Layla sighed feeling drained. She'd had a hard day at work and then she came home to find out she was a social pariah; lovely.
Collecting her thoughts, she pushed Jester towards the door and said, "Go. Rose is waiting. You'll be late."
"No," he said, "I'm not leaving you here."
"Jester," assured Layla, "I'll be fine. Now go. I made my mess. I'll clean it up."
He kept protesting, but Layla shoved him out the door with a forced smile on her lips and whispered, "Go have fun."
Turning back to Canon, she asked, "How's your nose?"
"Well, it stopped bleeding," he muttered, "It's not broken."
Layla nodded in relief and then asked, "What are we going to do?"
"Don't worry about it," said Canon, "I've got Carter taking care of it. Lisa Wing's show has been canceled and Carter is finding out who gave her that information, although I'm pretty sure it was Sophia."
"I really don't like her," muttered Layla provoked.
His eyes softened as he took a step closer to her until he was right in front of her. Dropping the towel to the floor, her looked down into her watery eyes and said, "Thanks for defending me."
Layla leaned into him as he wrapped his arms around her, leaning his head on hers. "You're welcome," she whispered. They stood like that for who know how long before Canon broke the silence. He hesitated a moment and then said, "Layla, I want you to come live with me."
He felt her stiffen at his suggestion and hastened to add. "Only until this mess is cleared up. It'll only take about a week before everything dies down and they find someone else to bother. I need to make sure you're safe and by staying with me, I can. The media isn't going to leave you alone now that they've associated you with me."
He was slightly hurt that she didn't seem to like the idea of living with him. Layla looked up at him. "Okay," she said, "But just until this is all cleared up."
Canon's heart leaped. He was on cloud nine and a big smile was on his face. "I just need to pack," said Layla tiredly, looking around the apartment.
"No need," said Canon softly, "You have clothes at the Estate."
"Yay me," she muttered, grabbing her phone, "Jester should be alright, though, right? The media won't bother him."
"No," answered Canon, "They have no reason to yet. And if you move in with me, they will forget all about him."
He picked her up bridal style, and kissed the top of her head. "Hey," she protested, trying to wiggle out of his hold, "I can walk. I have two legs."
"I know," Canon smirked, burying his face in her hair, "You have two very sexy legs. But I'm still going to carry you. It'll make a great picture for the paper tomorrow, love."
Layla flicked his nose and chuckled as he frowned playfully at her. Canon shut and locked her apartment door and started down the stairs. "It's official," Layla chuckled as she breathed in his smell, her face against his broad chest, "We have the weirdest employee, boss relationship ever."
She nuzzled closer to Canon, wrapping her arms around him as they reached his car. Sliding in the back seat with Layla still in his arms, he pulled her close wrapping his arms around her and breathing in her sweet scent.
"Matt," he spoke to the driver, "Take us home."
The car started and roared off down the street and Layla fell asleep dreaming of blue-eyed knights carrying her off into the sunset in expensive audis. Somehow, her knight in shining armor looked a lot like Canon. Something she was extremely happy about.

She woke up, feeling something soft envelope her in warmth. Her hands felt sheets and she realized she was on a bed. Opening her eyes, she looked up as Canon brushed a kiss against her forehead before walking over to his closet and disappearing inside. The moon shone brightly through his open windows and Layla realized she must have fallen asleep on the ride home. She paused as she thought over that; home. She had just called Canon's Estate home.
Sitting up, she stretched her muscles, looking around Canon's room. Unlacing her shoes, she kicked them off on the floor as Canon walked out of his closet now in a t-shirt and his boxers. Layla blushed, looking down at her hands and he chuckled before saying, "Like what you see?"
With a giggle and confidence she didn't know she had, Layla raised her eyes to his boldly and said, "Very much."
His eyes held surprise and he grinned before flexing his arm muscles. Layla giggled, holding up her hand as she said, "Okay, okay, Tarzan."
He crawled on the bed beside her and sat down cross-legged before holding up his hand, his other going to rest against Layla's heart. "You Jane," he said huskily, "Me Tarzan."
Layla placed her hand against his and smiled softly as her other hand went to rest on his chest above his heart. "Me Jane, you Tarzan," she chuckled, pulling Canon closer so she could kiss him.
They snuggled down on the bed together, getting under the covers. Silence reigned a moment as Layla listened to Canon's heartbeat.
"What was Carter doing at the office today?" asked Layla casually, looking up at him.
His body tensed and he muttered stiffly, "Nothing."
"Don't believe you," said Layla softly.
He sighed and then decided to just tell her, "I've had Carter and Jason searching for the people that killed my mom and sister and kidnapped me."
Layla interrupted him, pushing herself up on her elbows. "Kidnapped?" she screeched, her eyes open in horror.
Canon cursed; he shouldn't have said that. Sitting up so he was facing her, he began to try to explain but Layla interrupted him. She jerked forward and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm so sorry," she muttered, her arms wrapping around his neck.
"What for? It wasn't your fault," answered Canon, his voice muffled against her hair, "Don't say you're sorry for something you didn't do."
With a groan, Layla slapped the back of his head and said, "I'm sorry you had to go through that alone."
He shrugged, trying to keep her from seeing how much those few words meant to him. Those people had done things to him that imprinted on his memory, burned into his brain. He could never forget even if he wanted to. He held Layla tighter. No; he wouldn't think about it. Instead he concentrated on the feel of Layla's arms around him, the way she was a perfect fit against his body. He concentrated on the strawberry and vanilla smell of her hair; the way her eyes sparkled when she smiled or laughed; the way she wrinkled her nose when she was upset or was over-thinking.
Layla felt him relax and broke the silence. "What are you thinking about?" she asked softly, pulling away from him.
Immediately, she felt cold without his arms around her but pushed away the feeling. He gave her a crooked forced smile and answered, "You."
Layla blushed and muttered, "Shut up."
His smile was full and real this time and he teased, "Speechless are we?"
Layla huffed and Canon reached out for her hand, holding it tightly. Layla squeezed back and Canon asked, "Remember the gala you came to?"
Layla nodded. "Yes," she answered. Canon lifted her chin so she was looking at him and said, "The former DA, Ryan Steele, was at the gala. My men and I had purposely come because we knew he would be there. I just didn't want you involved in the whole mess."
Layla smiled as she understood. "It's alright," she said softly.
Canon smiled relieved and continued, "Jason has found the evidence that disappeared twenty years ago from the trial where Alison Porter was allowed to go free. She was my father's PA at the time. Mary remembered something the other day about letters Alison and my father were fighting about. Jason broke into my father's house the other night and found them in his safe. We have them now. Jason is looking for the man Alison was talking to in the letters. We only have the ones from him."
"You don't think your father is involved do you?" asked Layla in shock.
"He had a motive," answered Canon reluctantly.
Layla asked, "What?"
"My mom was pregnant with my little sister," said Canon in a low voice, avoiding Layla's eyes, "But the baby wasn't my fathers."
"Ohhhhh," breathed Layla, "That makes sense."

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