Chapter 23
TWENTY-THREE
SADIE
On the Monday that marked the start of our fifth week of marriage, Gideon and I ventured out of the cottage and drove into town.
I had agreed to meet Lola this week for the first fitting of the muslin draft of her dress, and I had a lot of catching up to do if I wanted to have anything for her to try on.
That meant we could kill two birds with one stone.
Gideon unlocked Life’s a Stitch, did a sweep, and turned to face me. “I’ve got eyes and ears on you,” Gideon assured me, “and either me or one of our guys is one minute away. If anything seems weird—anything, Sadie—you call for help.”
I nodded. “Everything’s going to be fine,” I assured him. “I promise to be very responsible bait.”
“I don’t like this.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck and smiled. “I know.”
“Why is that funny?”
“It’s not funny. I’m just smiling because it feels good for someone to care about me like this.”
His hands drifted down my sides, and he kissed me again—hard.
I let my own hands slide up his arms, loving the feel of his skin under my palms. For the first time since I’d met him, he was wearing short sleeves—and he was doing it in public.
His T-shirt clung to his biceps and strained over his chest. He looked delectable, especially when he glared at me with protectiveness emanating from every pore.
“Call for help, even if you’re not sure,” he reminded me, then stalked out the door.
I watched him go, eyes flicking to the cameras he and his team had installed in the shop.
I gave the nearest one a wave, then moved to the worktable where I’d left my project.
Working on Lola’s dress was like learning to walk again after a long illness.
It was uncomfortable almost to the point of pain, but also an intense relief.
I made a ton of mistakes and almost ran out of muslin, but I finally got the pattern pieces cut and pinned together.
Standing back from the dress form, I tilted my head and considered my work.
Not bad. The waist probably needed to be lifted a bit, but I’d leave it as-is until Lola came in.
She had a pretty long torso, so I wanted to give myself fabric to work with.
Excitement bubbled in my gut. It felt good to be back.
That was the moment Ivan Popov chose to walk in. I turned at the sound of the door opening and greeted him as he looked around the room with a sneer on his lips.
“Think you’ll be able to make this place work, do you?” His lips curled into a cruel smile. “Good luck.”
The best way I’d learned to handle this kind of sarcastic, passive-aggressive comment was to take it at face value. I beamed at Ivan. “Thank you! It’s such a great space. I’m really enjoying working here.”
His eyes narrowed. “I don’t trust you.”
My heart had started rattling as soon as he’d walked in, and now it began to bang. “Okay,” I answered.
“We don’t need any newcomers in this town. It’s fine as it is. You should just pack up and go back where you came from.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. Or else life here might get real difficult—”
The door banged open again, and a second later, Gideon had Ivan by the lapels of his faded plaid shirt.
He backed the old man up and slammed him against the big window at the front of the shop so hard it rattled in its frame.
Ivan’s head went red, and he stammered, feet flailing as Gideon lifted him off the ground.
Knox was just behind him. He reached into Ivan’s pocket to pull out a phone. He connected it to another device and started typing.
“Threaten my wife again and die, old man,” Gideon growled.
“I didn’t—it’s not—she doesn’t belong here!”
Gideon slammed him against the window, and Ivan whimpered. My husband glanced at his brother. “Anything?”
Knox just grunted, and the look on Gideon’s face told me that was a negative. Gideon rattled the old man once more and said, “Did you key Sadie’s car?”
“No!”
“Did you puncture her tire?”
“No!”
“Did you send her a threatening text?”
“A text message?” Popov answered, incredulous.
“Answer the question.”
“No! I didn’t do any of that! I just think she should leave!”
Gideon growled, animalistic. His neck muscles were stark, and his eyes were fully black. I drifted over to where Knox tapped on his laptop, downloading all the data from Ivan’s phone. That looked…illegal.
My husband glanced over at the two of us, and Knox shook his head. “Phone was nowhere near Sadie’s car at the time of the vandalism,” Knox said. Then he angled the laptop toward Gideon and said, “It was there.”
Gideon glanced over, then narrowed his eyes. “Betsy’s house?”
Ivan spluttered. “We’re just friends!”
“You’re having an affair with my grandaunt?”
“If you tell anyone, I’ll—”
“You’ll what,” Gideon growled. He set the old man back down on his feet, but he didn’t move back an inch.
Popov trembled in front of him, his jaw jutting out as he glared. “It’s not an affair. We’re in love.”
Gideon and Knox exchanged a glance.
Ivan slithered out from where he was pinned to the window and snatched his phone.
Then he pointed at Gideon. “You should be the one telling her to leave. You think she’ll stick around?
After your mother and your ex both left you?
When you look like this?” He gestured to Gideon’s bare arm, where the burn scars were on full display.
My mood went from zero to apoplectic in the space of a breath. I was so angry I couldn’t feel my face. Then, suddenly, calm descended over me, cold and distant. I took one step to the side and threw the lock on the door. Then I turned to face the old man.
“Apologize,” I said, my voice sounding flat and strange, even to me. In my peripheral vision, I saw my husband and my brother-in-law shift their stances to face me, but my gaze remained trained on Ivan.
He turned to face me, lips curling down in an exaggerated frown, then slowly rocked back on his heels. “What the hell?”
“Apologize to my husband,” I repeated in that same mechanical, horrifying voice. “Now.”
Ivan blinked a few times, then lifted his chin. “Why should I?”
I gave him a terrible smile. It felt wrong on my lips when fury still made my blood pump hot. “Because what you said wasn’t very nice, was it?”
Fear began to flicker in his expression. He shrugged, then tilted his head and mumbled, “Sorry.”
“Say it like you mean it.”
“You’re a bitch, you know that?”
“Yeah,” I replied, then waited.
Ivan grumbled, spun around, and said, “I’m sorry, okay? You people are crazy.” Then he brushed past me, unlocked the door, and scurried out. I watched him until he moved out of sight, then sucked in a long breath and let it out slowly.
Finally, I turned to look at the two remaining men. Knox had an eyebrow popped. Gideon was looking at me strangely. He approached and put his hands on my shoulders in a gentle touch. “You good?”
“No,” I said. “I’m furious. I wanted to deck him, but he’s so old I was worried I’d kill him. And then I was thinking about how I’d happily kill him, but then I’d go to prison, and that would suck.”
Gideon’s arms went around my shoulders, and then he was shaking. It took me a moment to realize he was laughing.
I pulled away to glare at him.
He kissed the tip of my nose. “Remind me never to make you angry.”
“You’re on thin ice as it is.”
He chuckled, kissed me softly, then let me go. Knox squeezed my shoulder with one of his giant hands, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “Badass,” he mumbled, then took his gear and left.
“So it’s not Ivan Popov,” I said.
“No,” Gideon replied.
“At least we know I make good bait.”
He grimaced, then dragged me away from the shop so we could get lunch.
That evening, when we were curled up on the couch after dinner trying to decide on a movie, I remembered something Ivan had said.
“What did Ivan mean when he said your mother had left?”
With my head on his chest, I heard Gideon’s pulse speed up.
He put the remote on the arm of the sofa and swallowed.
“She left when I was eight years old. My dad raised us. He had to work overtime to care for us, so a lot of the home stuff fell to me when my aunts or grandma couldn’t come and help. It was a lot.”
I licked my lips and said, “I’m so sorry.”
“It was a long time ago.”
I nodded, my face rubbing against his shirt. “Why did your mom leave?”
“My dad had met her when he was in the military, and they’d settled here when he got out. She popped the four of us out within six years. We were four out-of-control boys. She was at home all day with us in this small town she’d never wanted to move to. I guess it was just too much for her.”
With his arm draped around me, I felt the moment his hand spasmed on my arm. I wondered if he thought I’d be the same. If I’d cut and run back to the city at the first sign of trouble. But where would I go? Why would I go, when all my happiness was right here with him?
“I’m so sorry, Gideon,” I repeated.
“It’s fine,” he replied, but the hitch in his voice told me it was a wound that still caused him pain. “I mean, I had my aunts and uncles. I had my grandparents. I had my brothers and my dad. And after my dad died, the whole family rallied. I’m lucky.”
Like he was lucky to get out of the fire with only the burns he sustained. Funny kind of luck, I thought.
He flexed the hand that wasn’t holding me.
I watched the low light glint on the signet ring he always wore on his right hand.
He shifted, pulling the ring off to hold it between his thumb and forefinger.
“My dad got sick when I was seventeen. Pancreatic cancer. Died within four months of feeling an ache in his back.”
“Oh, my goodness. I’m so sorry,” I said for the third time. I wished there was something else I could tell him, but nothing seemed right.