Chapter 39
THIRTY-NINE
C losing her eyes tightly, Sage desperately wanted to pretend Kent hadn’t just told her that Victoria Ashwood wanted her dead badly enough to pay someone to kill her.
When she opened them, she didn’t doubt Kent was telling the truth. The memory of the car accelerating toward her yesterday was too fresh in her memory for her not to believe him.
“I’ll go to the police.”
“They’ll take a report, an officer will talk to you, and that will be the most they can do.
You have no proof. I have no proof I can give you.
Your sister and Victoria have been going back and forth for custody of your nieces.
They’ll think you’re making it up to keep Victoria from seeing the girls. ”
“How do you know Victoria has taken a contract out on me?”
“I’m used to working and dealing with the less law-abiding citizens in Kansas City.
When you told me last night you were nearly hit on a crosswalk, I had a work associate of mine start asking around.
He found out about the contract. He’s working on finding out who she hired.
That’s going to take some time … time you and your sister don’t have. ”
Where could she take Glory and the girls to hide? Even if she could think of a place, she didn’t have the money to move anywhere else. Their money was stretched so thin they were barely covering the basic necessities of life.
Kent shifted in his seat to face her; he was quietly giving her the time to take in that Glory’s mother-in-law wanted her dead.
Usually, she could come up with a plan to keep her family safe. She didn’t have to ask Kent why Victoria wanted her dead. She was the only person standing in her way of gaining full custody of Colby and Tinsley.
“I don’t know what to do.” As she thought out loud to herself, her hand moved away from the door handle.
“I do.”
“Like I’d take any advice from you!”
“You don’t have a choice. You’ll either accept my help, or you might as well pack Colby’s and Tinsley’s suitcases before you tell them goodbye.”
Imagining that scenario wasn’t hard to do—it was her worst fear.
Rather than getting out of the car and letting her anger toward Kent lead to another mistake she would regret—this time, a fatal mistake—she asked, “What should I do?”
“It’s not what you should do.”
The hardened expression on his face frightened her. If she had been given the benefit of seeing Kent this scary before she had spilled his coffee on him, she would have run the other way.
“It’s what you are going to do,” he corrected her.
“What am I going to do?” she conceded, only to hear what he had to say.
“You’re going to marry me.”
She reacted without thinking of the repercussions. Her hand flew out to smack him in his face. He didn’t try to stop her, merely looked at her with those blue eyes that had always had the power to strip her defenses.
Pulling her hand back before she was tempted to hit him again, she gave him a hatred-fueled look. “I would rather swallow a hand grenade than marry you!”
“I have the power and money to fight the Ashwoods. I have the experience and connections to protect you from who Victoria hired. I can also give you the type of life Glory could only dream about her daughters having.”
Her sister wasn’t the only one who had dreams for the girls.
There was so much she wanted to give them and couldn’t due to their finances.
She wanted to have the time to spend with them so they could play outside more, explore different places without worrying about the cost. What she wanted most of all was to get the Ashwoods out of their lives before they were able to mar the beauty of Colby’s and Tinsley’s souls.
“I purchased a house this morning. It’s big enough for all of us. Glory, your nieces, and you are going to move in with me. You’ll never have to talk to the Ashwoods again, and I can make sure they never go near the girls again.”
As much as she wanted to shut Kent’s plan down, she couldn’t dismiss it outright.
“We’d only have to stay married until you find out who Victoria hired and prove it?”
They could stay with Kent for a short time period, she told herself. It would give her breathing room to find a job while Kent found the proof she needed to rid the girls of Victoria.
“Sage, there is no need for me to hide what type of man I am from you any longer.” Kent looked at her as if he could read her thoughts.
Goose bumps rose the hair on her arms. “I don’t do anything without a reason or if there isn’t something in it for me.
You won’t be just staying with me. Either we get married before I help you, or you can get out my car and go lock yourself in your apartment. ”
She racked her brain to come up with any other option. “Twister,” she said out loud as the thought occurred to her.
“My dad would try to help.”
“ What ? Twister is your father ?” She was more shocked that Twister was his father than finding out Victoria wanted her dead.
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you say something when we saw him at the beer fest?”
“My dad and I have been estranged for several years. I also don’t make my association with Twister and my brothers public.”
“Don’t fit with your image, do they?” She hadn’t thought Kent could sink in her estimation. She’d been wrong.
“I don’t make my family connections, or anyone I care about, public. Not because I’m ashamed, but because I care about their safety.”
Was he lying to her to keep her from asking Twister for help?
“Twister told us he had three sons. He never mentioned you. He talked about Wraith, Creed, and …”
“I’m Creed. Dad refers to us by our nicknames. Call him, if you don’t believe me.”
“It doesn’t matter. He’d help. I know he would.” She was becoming desperate. She didn’t want anything more to do with Kent … or Creed—whatever his name was. That he hadn’t told her Twister was his father was just further proof of how deceitful he was.
Creed suited him much better than Kent. Kent was the name of a superhero. Creed was a villain in a three-piece suit.
“Twister would try, but he doesn’t have the legal knowledge you need. Do you really want to continue letting the girls go the Ashwoods until you find the proof you need? That could take months.”
No, she didn’t.
Another name popped into her head. There was someone else she could turn to. She would strip naked to clean houses every day if that was what it took to keep from marrying Creed.
“Don’t count on Ivo, either.”
Stunned, she pressed herself against the car door. How did he know about Ivo?
“He has a family and a business to protect. Call him, if you want. You’d save him a phone call. He’s going to call you tomorrow to terminate your employment. I can’t have anyone gossiping that my wife cleaned houses while showing her tatas.”
“You knew it was me?” she gasped in shock.
“Sage,” he said dryly, “to my dying day, I’ll never forget the way your ass looked in that thong.”
Fury like she had never experienced took over, making her lose the ability to hold on to rational thought.
“You bastard!” she shrieked. All the hatred she felt at his deceptions made her determined to hurt him as badly as he had hurt her.
Curling her fingers, she went for his face.
By the time she was done with him, his handsome face would be shredded, unmasking the villain.
She would do the women of the world a favor and save them from the heartache she was suffering.
She threw herself at him, and her nails made it a hair’s breadth from his handsome face before Creed trapped her hands with his.
“Whoa …” His laughter hit her like gasoline. “Sorry, I can’t let you mark my face. I’ve arranged for us to get married in two days. I have to look perfect for the pictures.”
“Let me go,” she said through gritted teeth.
Slowly, Creed released her wrists.
Settling back in her seat, she stared out the windshield. It was beginning to rain.
“Why did you go to the employee meeting this afternoon? I thought Garrett would have fired you this morning.”
“He did. He came to the file room when I returned from lunch. He told me a file was missing from the restricted area, and since I was head file clerk, it was my responsibility. He was right.” She gave a bitter laugh.
“If I hadn’t taken off the day to be with you, the file would have still been there.
I begged him not to fire me. He said it wasn’t his decision.
He was stepping down, and it was the new firm’s head’s decision to fire me.
I went to the meeting to find out who Garrett had chosen. ”
She continued staring out the window, afraid if she looked, she would make another attempt to maim him. “Why did you fire me? You got everything you wanted.”
“No, Sage, I didn’t. I want you.”