39. Chapter 39
Chapter 39
Anson
D ating Nova was a dream come true. We took it easy. I forced myself to, because I wanted to rush her all the fucking time. It had been three months since we'd seen the dolphins, when she finally agreed to give us a chance, and it was the best time of my life; nothing matched the contentment I felt. And yet, I wanted more. But I knew she wasn't ready. She would get there; I believed that now, and that was in itself a gift.
"Sugar." I woke her gently.
She opened her eyes and smiled. "Is it time to wake up?"
I kissed her cheek as her eyes closed again. "No, baby. I just wanted to kiss you before I left for Sentinel. I'll be back tonight."
She lifted her lips, seeking mine with her eyes closed. I kissed her gently.
"Hmm. Love you," she murmured.
She said it all the time with ease now. It was fucking awesome.
"I love you too, Sugar." I kissed her forehead, and watched her sleep for a couple of minutes.
Diego and I were driving to Sentinel for day-long meetings, and I also had to deal with Larue Mansion.
Mama had moved out and gone to Atlanta. Alma had gone with her. Despite how angry Mama had been with my sister, she'd forgiven her as I knew she would.
We were closing the mansion down. It was an expensive estate so it would take a minute for it to be sold. I'd still have to keep up the property—the gardens and the mansion, inside and out, so it was in tiptop shape for buyers.
I'd had a meeting with Gabe Rhodes, and he seemed keen to establish a Rhodes Hotel in Sentinel. Someone from his team had taken a tour of the mansion and grounds, but they were dragging their feet to decide. I didn't blame them; it was a big-ticket item.
My mother was, needless to say, disappointed that I was selling away a piece of Larue history. An old house that had freaking slave quarters was probably not the kind of legacy I wanted. I was happy to be rid of it.
Mama and Alma were staying at a Larue property in one of Atlanta's most expensive areas, so it wasn't like they were slumming it, though they complained like they were.
Alma had gotten over her broken heart rather quickly after Tyler grew a pair and told his father to go fuck himself. She was now dating a Hattenbarger of the Hattenbarger Fabrics empire. The guy was a known douchebag, but I didn't think Alma wanted him for his intellect. As always, she landed on her feet.
Bailey was out on bail. It had been a scandal of gigantic proportions in Sentinel, when news of Bailey's arrest hit the small town. Bailey's mother had come to me and begged me to drop charges against her daughter. I told her it was out of my hands, which was true. This was a GBI case, because Bailey had not just embezzled Larue Homes' money, but the Georgia state government's as well.
Bailey and Alma didn't remain friends—so much for loyalty, but then Alma always knew which side of her bread was buttered, and it wasn't the side of the woman who had been arrested for embezzlement.
Nova had met with Agent Fancie at the GBI offices in Savannah with Lemon Goodwin, her barracuda of a lawyer. The GBI was still investigating Pete—and Diego's GBI friend had given Diego a head's up that they would be arresting him soon.
Since leaving Sentinel, my life had changed for the better.
Living in Savannah had not only, once again, brought Nova into my life—but all her friends and their families as well. I used to feel lonely in Larue Mansion, with a mother and sister who were self-involved. But now, I felt cared for.
Nova loved hard. I had never thought that such happiness would be mine.
The Sentinel Heights project was moving along with alacrity. In fact, with Diego and Nova at the helm, I didn't even have to check up on progress. I knew Nova preferred it that way; keeping the professional and me separate. I was okay with that, as long as she let me take her to work every day and back home every night. As long as she let me come into her office, and lock the door so I could kiss her.
I was thinking about calling Nova when there was a knock on my office door, and Charmaine stepped in. "We have a situation."
"Okay."
"Bailey is downstairs demanding to see you. Security has stopped her, but I wanted to check with you."
I thought about how to handle this. I'd spent so many years going with my gut that now I was working toward becoming more methodical; assessing personal situations as I did professional ones. I never jumped in when it came to business, but in my personal life, I seemed to have been making decisions without much thought. I was turning thirty-one in a few months—so it was time for me to become more mindful.
"Ask one of the security guards to walk her in." I picked up my phone then. "And, ask them to make sure she doesn't have a weapon."
Charmaine's eyebrows shot up. "Say what?"
I shrugged. "I don't know this woman, Char. The woman I knew…well, the woman I thought I knew wasn't someone who stole and framed an innocent."
Charmaine pouted. "Then why do you want to talk to her?"
I smiled. "Closure."
"Really?"
I laughed. "Yeah. I'm growin' up, Char."
"About freakin' time." Charmaine flounced out of my office.
Since Georgia was a "one-party consent" law state for purposes of making audio recordings of conversations, I turned my phone's recording feature on.
I wondered how I'd feel seeing Bailey again. It had been months since we'd broken up. Some would say Nova was the rebound, but the truth was, and I was ashamed of it, Bailey and every other woman since Nova had been the rebound. It had taken me seven years and seeing Nova again to figure out where my heart was.
I had Valen to thank for helping me find Nova because if I hadn't gone to Savannah Lace to meet with Nina, none of this would have happened.
I'd talked to Valen often about Nova when we were deployed. He told me about his crushes and a girl he hoped would wait for him. In a war zone, you believed that life at home was brilliant because it was. There was food and a bed, and no one was shooting at you.
Bailey didn't knock, just walked in like she owned the place, like she had a right to me like she used to.
She looked the same. Getting indicted, booked, and fingerprinted hadn't done a thing to her. She wore a pair of tight jeans and a crop top. Her sandals were hooker high, gleaming with rhinestones. She looked gorgeous—but now I noticed that her beauty was tinged with desperation.
I stayed standing behind my desk, and she came to me. Before she could lean in for a kiss, I put a hand out to push her away.
"Now, Bailey, to what do I owe this visit?"
She smiled sweetly. "Anson, darlin'. Not even a kiss for dear ol' me?"
" Bless your heart , darlin', I don't think so." I sat, and pointed to one of the client chairs. "Have a seat."
She strutted. Had that ever been attractive? Yes, if I was honest, all of it had been, she had been. The thing was that Bailey was my type. Nova wasn't. And yet, I never loved Bailey. I had cared for her immensely. I believed she loved me, and hence I owed her decency and affection. But I knew better now. She didn't love me. I didn't owe her shit.
"How are you doin'?" she asked, even fluttering her eyelashes.
"Get to the point, Bailey," I growled.
She pouted. Her lips were painted pink. That mouth was made for sin, and I knew how good it felt to have her blow me—and yet, I felt nothing. Not even disdain, just a weary resignation for her just as I did my life as a Larue, the one where I was living up to a last name that, in the large scheme of things, didn't mean much because it didn't make me happy.
Valen had once asked me while we sat in the dark, scouting an enemy location, "Do you know what makes you happy?"
It took me a while to answer. No one had ever asked me that. "I don't know," I finally responded.
He nodded. "Me neither. May be important to find out, don't you think?"
"Or maybe not," I suggested. "What if you learn what makes you happy, and then you find out you can never have it?"
"Maybe the point is to know regardless of the result. I think it's about having an honest conversation with yourself. Once I get home, I'm gonna find out, Anson. I want to be happy."
He never had the chance. I did, and I had done fuck all to understand myself better. It may have taken me four years to get here, but now I knew. Happiness was ephemeral; it came and went. I was searching for contentment and peace, so I could welcome happiness when it arrived, and still be okay when it left.
Every day with Nova in the past three months, since she agreed to give me a chance, had been about feeling peaceful and safe, feeling rich in so many ways that had nothing to do with my stock portfolio or bank account. It was a feeling of being loved by the one who you loved.
Valen, I've figured it out. Happiness is being loved by someone you love. It's about giving yourself to someone fully and wholly, and being accepted just the way you are, without any enhancements or subterfuge. And it's about loving that woman in the same way.
Bailey cleared her throat. "I know you're angry with me. I get it. But, baby, I did what you wanted. I knew you wanted to expose Nova, and I was only helpin'."
I cocked an eyebrow, amused. "Bailey, you were stealing from Larue Homes long before Nova even came into the picture."
"I had debts to pay, Anson, and you refused to help."
I shook my head. "That's not just our money; it was Georgia state money."
She shrugged. "You could've covered it. You didn't have to sic the GBI on me."
If I looked up entitled in the dictionary, I was sure her face would pop up, I thought. I was disgusted with her but also with myself for having ever thought I could spend my life with such a shallow creature.
"You know how I feel about dishonesty, Bailey, after all, isn't that why you and Alma concocted that little scheme about Nova stealin' from me?"
She pursed her lips. "Nova. Nova. Nova. Good Lord, Anson, what does she have? Magic pussy?"
I almost chuckled but resisted the urge. Nova did have a magic pussy. Magic heart. Magic everything. Being with her had magically made me a better person; it made me want to be good and worthy of her.
"Bailey, what do you want?"
"Have the charges against me dropped."
"I can't."
"Of course you can," she challenged.
"I can't. These are state charges. I can't interfere. State dollars are partially funding Sentinel Heights, you know that. I couldn't stop the involvement of law enforcement even when I thought it was Nova who embezzled," I explained.
"What does that mean?"
I smiled then and spoke honestly, "That I would've protected her."
She scoffed. "Right!"
"No, Bailey, I'd already decided to extricate her from that mess. I'd set it up with Kiefer to make that happen. But you, on the other hand, will have to deal with the consequences. I can't do anything about the shit you, Alma, and Pete pulled all those years ago, but trust me, y'all will pay."
I believed in checks and balances. I believed in being held responsible for our actions.
"What does that mean?" she challenged.
"It means you're going to jail, Bailey. Pete is being investigated, as you probably know, 'cause I know you're still fuckin' him, especially now that Maria has finally kicked him out."
She straightened, understanding that I probably had kept eyes on her and Pete, which I had.
"Now, my sister, I got no choice, yeah? It'd hurt Mama if Alma got what she deserved, so I'm only kicking her out of Larue Mansion and closing down any access to money that isn't hers. Like you, she cares about that, so, I know it's goin' to hurt her."
"Is that bitch worth it?" Tears shined in Bailey's eyes.
She'd walked in with confidence, certain that she'd bend me to her will. Her tears were born out of frustration and anger, not sadness.
"You call her a bitch again, Bailey, and I'll make sure your stay in prison ain't goin' to be fun."
She chortled. "I'm not goin' to prison. I already have a deal with the GBI."
I thought about it for a moment, and then burst out laughing. "Christ, Bailey. You sellin' out, Pete?"
This explained so much about Agent Fancie talking to Nova. Bailey was turning state's witness against Pete. They'd probably prefer to get him, a sheriff, over his moll.
She stood up. "Find a way to get me out of this, Anson, or I'll sell you out, too."
"Feel free," I remarked.
When she was at my door, I called out to her, "And, Bailey, don't ever come back here or anywhere I am, ever again."
She threw her hair back like she was in a shampoo commercial. "Anson, do you really think that you're goin' to get away with this? You think Pete's not going to come after you and your slut?"
"Pete's goin' to be too busy not bending over for some guy called Bubba in a Federal penitentiary," I jeered. "Now, get out and stay out."
But after she left, I called Diego and asked him to reach out to his GBI friend, and get a status on Pete.
It took fifteen minutes before Diego was in my office, concern marring his face. "He's disappeared. They can't find him," he announced.
"Pete?"
"Yeah. They have a warrant for his arrest, but he's gone."
"Ask them to talk to Bailey. She was just here." I opened my phone and forwarded the audio recording I made of my conversation with Bailey to Diego. "Take that to your friend."
Diego checked his messages and saw the audio recording. "Is that what I think it is?"
"Yeah. I can't remember if she said anything truly incriminating, but she threatened Nova and me with the wrath of Pete," I muttered.
"I'll get it over to the GBI. Are you ready for our meeting with the builders for the Augusta development? They're waitin'."
I nodded. "Yeah. Give me five, and I'll come into the conference room."