Chapter Twenty-nine
“Lord Jesus, what are we going do?” Jennifer asked.
Mia and Roman were in Thomas’s office at the far end of the house. Nobody sat. Instead, they stood huddled by the door.
It was a small, cozy room sporting soft green wallpaper and a seating area with a fluffy white rug across from the metal and glass desk. The large picture window looked out over the front lawn and showed the controlled chaos of the team of valets and the various vendor vans crammed onto the circular driveway.
The party continued out back and the sound of music and laughter seeped into the room. Jennifer walked over to a table, and grabbing a Kleenex, dabbed at her eyes. Thomas paced back and forth in front of his desk.
“How could this have happened? We hired you to safeguard our son, and now he’s married to a probable murderer,” Thomas said.
“With all due respect, we were hired to look into Eliza’s past, not stop them from marrying,” Roman said. His tone was reasonable and he spoke slowly but firmly. “The question is, what do you want to do now?”
“We want the marriage annulled and Eliza arrested, obviously,” Jennifer snapped. “She’s going to kill him. I can feel it in my bones.”
“You know we don’t have enough evidence to have Eliza arrested,” Mia said. “We can keep digging though, if that’s what you want.”
Thomas stopped pacing and turned to face Mia. “It might be too late. She’s legally his wife now. If anything happens to him, she’ll get the estate.”
“You need to guard Scott,” Jennifer said.
“How? We can certainly stake out the house and follow where they go but we can’t set foot on his property unless invited. And that’ll be his most vulnerable time—when they’re at home alone,” Roman said.
“Jennifer mentioned you were planning to have a discussion with Scott tonight. A follow-up to the meeting Roman and I had with him yesterday. I think the moment has arrived,” Mia said. “Maybe when you raise all the suspicions about Eliza, it’ll hit differently coming from his parents.”
Thomas’s laugh held zero warmth. “You saw him out there? He’s so in love with this monstrous woman there’s no way he’ll believe anything we say.”
“I still think it’s worth a try, don’t you?” Mia said.
“Scott might be safe for a while,” Roman said. “I was looking up the Tennessee surviving spouse elective, and it sounds like Eliza would only inherit around ten percent of the estate if they’ve been married less than three years. Why would she settle for a piece of the pie when she could hang in there and get the whole thing?”
Thomas walked slowly around his desk, pulled out the chair, and sank down onto it. He sighed. “Because after the prenup fiasco, Scott had a new will drawn up. Now that they’re married, Eliza will inherit the whole thing, including his share of Quantum Mind Technologies.”
“Oh. My. God. Why didn’t you tell me?” Jennifer said. All the color drained from her face and her arms hugged her midsection.
“Because I didn’t want to add more worry. There was nothing we could do about it anyway,” Thomas said.
“Well, crap. That puts a different spin on things,” Mia said.
“Look. I still think it’s worth a shot talking to Scott,” Roman pressed.
Jennifer and Thomas locked gazes. The fear was so clearly etched on each of their faces. Jennifer’s eyes had gone glassy, while Thomas’s face was infused with red and his jaw tightly clenched.
“I guess all we can do is try,” Jennifer said.
“Great.” Roman nodded. “Let’s do it now. Before they leave the property.”
“You guys stay. I’ll get him,” Jennifer said before whirling toward the door.
No one spoke after Jennifer bustled out of the office. Thomas sat slumped in his chair staring blankly at the far wall. Mia could easily sense the waves of fear he was throwing off. When Jennifer returned and shut the door, she gestured toward the small couch and Roman and Mia slid onto it while she moved one of the straight-backed chairs beside Thomas’s desk.
There was an impatient rap on the door and when it opened, Scott stood on the threshold, his arm around Eliza. They were presenting a solid and united front and Scott’s light brown eyes flashed with anger.
Jennifer leaned forward in her chair. “Eliza, we’d like to speak to Scott alone. This is a family matter.”
“Eliza is my family now,” he said through clenched teeth.
Mia got to her feet and approached them, her gaze zeroing in on Eliza.
“Things have already started off pretty rough. If you want this marriage to have any chance of working, you need to let this play out,” Mia told her softly. “Maybe we’re wrong about everything and maybe your past is innocent and wholly tragic. If so, how does it hurt to let Scott have this meeting with his parents? The more you protest, the worse it looks for you.”
“Either she stays or we both go,” Scott said.
Mia and Eliza remained locked in place, staring at one another. Mia pushed out with her mind, but unlike with Thomas, she couldn’t get a real fix on Eliza’s emotions.
Eliza’s hand came to the base of her throat and her fingers tapped out a quick rhythm. Scott took her elbow but before he could guide her away, she shook her head.
“No. You go on ahead and have a chat with your parents. I have nothing to hide. I’ll see you outside … after .…”
She stood on tiptoes and planted a kiss on Scott’s lips before trailing her fingers slowly down his arm and giving his hand a quick squeeze. Then she took a giant step back and made a shooing motion with her hands. The entire time, her eyes stayed glued to Mia’s face.
Mia shut the door before returning to her seat. Thomas remained behind his desk with Jennifer off to the side. Meanwhile, Scott crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the doorframe, his expression neutral.
“You guys, I’m begging you to let this go. Eliza is my wife. It’s already happened. There’s nothing you can do now. All these things you’re convinced she did … well … you’re flat-out wrong. I’ve got the situation in hand and nothing’s going to happen to me. Please just leave us in peace,” he said.
“We love you so much, Scotty. We’re only trying to keep you safe,” Jennifer said, her voice hitching.
“Look at it from our point of view. If you had a son and he was married to Eliza, I promise you’d be terrified. You certainly wouldn’t welcome her with open arms,” Thomas said.
Scott sighed. “I get that this is hard for you guys. But you raised me to be strong and independent. To think things through and make smart decisions. I know what I’m doing. Can’t you just please trust me. I don’t want us to fight.”
Jennifer’s breath sobbed out and she covered her mouth with her hand while Thomas slowly nodded.
“What’s the plan now? Are the two of you jetting off on honeymoon?” Roman asked.
“No. We’ll carry on prepping for the reception on the eighth. I still have a bunch of stuff going on at the company, and Eliza wants to get her social media reels filmed so she can schedule out the posts for when we’re away on the planned honeymoon starting the ninth. Basically, everything proceeds as though we weren’t already married.”
“But she’s going to stay at your place from now on?” Mia asked.
“Of course.”
“Please won’t you allow us to put Roman and Mia in your house tonight? Just in case,” Jennifer said.
“Mom. That’s not gonna happen. End of story. Think of how hurt Eliza would be. I stood up today promising to love and cherish her.” He shook his head and studied his parents. “I’ll be fine. Please try not to worry.”
“Okay. I can see how us being there would send the wrong signal,” Roman said. “What if you let us put a health monitor on you? Just one of those wrist units that looks like a Smartwatch. That way we could track your vitals and jump in at the first sign of trouble.”
Scott blinked and his gaze flicked over the four people in the room. “Are you being serious right now? I’m not wearing a damn tracking device. It’s just another way to hurt Eliza and I won’t do it. End of story. I’m asking everyone to please back off.”
He turned and strode to the door before flinging it open. Eliza stumbled back. She’d obviously been listening in. Scott paused, the briefest hitch of his stride, then reached for her hand. She brushed by him and stepped into the room.
“I want you to know I love Scott. So much. I’d never do anything to hurt him. I don’t know what I’ve done to make you hate me so much. If you want Mia and Roman to guard Scott, fine. I don’t care. Whatever it takes to get you to leave us alone. They can even come right in the house with us.”
Tears flowed freely down Eliza’s face. Some of her makeup had been washed away but Mia noted her mascara was holding strong. Her lips trembled but she firmed them and turning back to Scott, took his hand. She somehow managed to look both fragile and brave as she stared up at him.
Scott searched her face for several beats then shook his head. “No one’s coming in the house on our wedding night. That’s special and just for us.” He shifted to face Roman. “I can’t stop you from sitting outside my place, but if you have any shred of decency, you won’t do it. Be decent, okay?”
JP made a sudden appearance, prancing down the hall toward Thomas’s office. Eliza let out a small sob then scooped him up and cuddled him against her chest. Scott wrapped an arm around her shoulders as though to shield her from everything that had happened with his parents before leading her away.
“Well, that didn’t go too well,” Roman said, in an attempt to lighten the mood.
Tears coursed down Jennifer’s cheeks and she grabbed another Kleenex and dabbed at them while her shoulders shook. Meanwhile, Thomas pulled out a piece of paper then swiped the screen on his phone before furiously scribbling. He stood and made his way out from behind the desk before thrusting the sheet at Roman.
“It just so happens Scott’s house is owned by his company, and I sit on the board so I have access to all the info. I looked it up the other day just in case. Here’s the alarm code, and I also signed a release for you to enter the premises. I’m hoping it won’t come to that, but it can’t hurt for you to have the info.”
“Are you asking us to sit on the house tonight?” Roman asked.
“Yes,” Jennifer blurted out at the same time Thomas said “No.”
“You heard our boy. We have to trust he knows best and let him live his life as he sees fit. If my parents had tried to intervene in either of my marriages, I’d have been livid. He’s certainly taking it a lot better than I would have. We can’t keep pushing or we’ll lose him for good,” he said.
“Speaking of, Scott mentioned his mom died a few years back. Is there anything we should know about her?” Mia said.
“It’s true. She did die. But honestly, she was never really here before that. Maybe my parents should have talked me out of marrying her,” he said with a sad smile. “Except I wouldn’t have Scott. He’s worth all the pain I went through back then. Rhonda was ill. Mentally, I mean. I only fully realized after we were already married, but I hoped we could make it work somehow or other. I was wrong. That’s probably why I’m so terrified for my boy now. Leaving aside the whole murdering intent part, I know what happens when you marry the wrong person.”
“What do we do now?” Jennifer asked.
“I guess we sleep on it. It’s all we really can do. Roman and I have a couple more avenues to explore and we can start on them tomorrow.”
Thomas nodded, his eyes bleak. “It’s the best we can do. I still can’t understand why he won’t see what’s right in front of his eyes. Our boy is smarter than this.”
Jennifer exhaled a shaky breath. “It’s like Eliza cast a spell on him. Maybe she’s a witch.”
“Or maybe he’s just so in love he can’t contemplate she’d ever want to hurt him,” Thomas said. “Love can do that, you know.”
He and Jennifer gazed at one another for several beats. Her breathing smoothed out and she tipped her head to the side. “Yeah. It surely can,” she said.
“Please try not to worry. Eliza would have to be crazy to do anything knowing we’re on to her,” Mia said.
Thomas’s shoulders slumped. “Crazy is exactly what I’m afraid of.”