Chapter 44
FORTY-FOUR
U nable to put if off any longer, she left the bedroom suite to help Creed with dinner. Any thought of food yesterday held no appeal for her. But today, her stomach was filing a complaint against her, especially as the appetizing aromas hit her when she came out of the bedroom.
As she descended the winding staircase, she didn’t see Creed in the living room. She walked to the kitchen but saw nothing on the stove, so she pivoted toward the dining room.
Lights flickered on the wall as she came closer. Creed was sitting at the table, waiting for her with the overhead lights dimmed, creating an intimate atmosphere.
“I thought we were going to cook … I didn’t …” Sage found it hard to talk as she took in the effort Creed had made to create a romantic dinner for them.
Creed rose to his feet to pull out a chair for her. She sat down and took in the tapered candles accenting a beautiful tablecloth. The table settings had been reduced to two from earlier, matched with the flowers in the middle of the table.
“I didn’t expect you to have all the food already cooked, and I didn’t see any dirty dishes.”
Creed poured her and himself a glass of champagne before sitting back down. “You thought we would spend the evening cooking and cleaning the dishes? I don’t enjoy cooking, do you?” Nudging the appetizer board closer to her, he took a piece of toasted baguette with cheese.
“I’m a passable cook, but I don’t mind it. What I do dislike is the cleanup.” Shrugging, she reached for a piece of the baguette with shrimp. “Did you do all of this by yourself, and the dishes, too?”
“I arranged for it to be done. Does that count?”
Sage smiled. “Yes, it does. I think it looks beautiful, regardless of whoever accomplished it.”
Creed served her a variety of dishes before serving himself. The food tasted so delicious, she had to make a conscious decision to monitor herself, or she would have gone back for thirds of the cauliflower gratin and taken another steak skewer.
For dessert, Creed went to the refrigerator and returned back with a pale ale and a luscious strawberry and cream tart.
“I can’t eat another bite.” Shaking her head when he offered another slice, she laid her fork down before she could be tempted.
“Take your beer and let’s go outside and sit on the patio,” he suggested, rising to take his own beer.
She had planned to excuse herself after she’d eaten and go to bed so she could pretend to be asleep before he came to bed, but since she was mellowed out from the food, the plan of faking tiredness to keep from having sex then spending hours pretending to be asleep sounded torturous.
Letting the plan bite the dust, she rose from the table, and when she leaned forward to blow out the candles, she noticed Creed about to do the same thing.
“I almost decided not to use them. I didn’t know if burning them would bring bad memories for you.”
“I don’t light candles around Glory, but she isn’t here tonight. I don’t think she’ll ever get over not checking to make sure the candles were out.”
They both took their glasses of beer and headed outside to an outside couch. With a push of a button on a remote control, Creed started the electric outdoor fireplace. He didn’t share the couch with her but took a chair close to the side of the couch where she was sitting instead.
“I really don’t want to talk about this subject on our wedding night,” Creed began somberly, as if he was afraid of breaking the peaceful night enveloping them, “but I don’t want you to think I’m being deceptive to you ever again.”
Sage set her glass down on a small table as dread filled her.
“I talked to the Ashwoods yesterday. They agreed to stop visitation with the girls.”
“How did you manage that?” Elated, she wanted to jump up and down on the couch.
“While searching for who Victoria paid to take the contract out on you, a friend of mine, whom I asked for help, uncovered how the fire really started. It wasn’t Glory’s fault. The only mistake Glory or her husband made that night was leaving their door unlocked.
“Victoria had come over angry. She saw the candles, the romantic dinner, the girls gone, and lost her mind. She said it was so she could show them how irresponsible they were, I guess. She puts the L in loony. When s napkin caught on fire, she got frightened and ran out of the house without trying to alert them.”
Sage jerked to her feet as blinding rage filled her to the extent she was shaking. She wanted to get in her car and go confront Victoria. What had she done with her car keys …? It took her a moment to remember she had driven here with Creed.
“I need to borrow your car!”
“Wait until tomorrow.” Creed made no effort to move. “If you tell Glory tonight, she won’t get any sleep, and tomorrow is already going to be difficult for her.”
“I’m going to see Victoria!” she corrected him. “I’m going to ki—”
Shaking, she covered her face with her hands. She’d never believed herself actually capable of murder, but tonight, any doubt she could was gone.
Before she could resist him, Creed pulled her down onto his lap. She was so upset at what he had told her that she didn’t try to get up.
“How could a mother do that to her son? I don’t understand! She saw Denny in the hospital, how badly he was burned, saw Glory barely hanging on to life. If it was an accident, why didn’t she say so? How could she be so cruel?”
“I don’t think Victoria could accept not having control over Denny anymore.
When she went to see Denny that night and saw how happy they were, how they were building a life without her being able to hold money over their heads, I think she wanted to destroy that life, so they’d have to come begging to her for help, and she’d have Denny back under her control.
Regardless of why, Victoria started the fire.
With her son gone, she turned to another plan—gaining control over her grandchildren and mold them the way she wanted them to be. ”
“The injustice of Victoria letting Glory take the blame for years! That is so sick.”
“I agree. When I was talking to her, there was no doubt she is mentally ill. Maybe Bradford wasn’t aware of how sick his wife is.
I have my doubts where that is concerned.
He said he would get her help.” Creed soothingly rubbed her back as he talked.
“Bradford gave me a check to reimburse Glory for the destruction of her home and the money she had to pay fighting to retain custody of her children. Gather all of Glory’s medical bills, and I’ll make sure Bradford pays for those as well. ”
“Thank you.” Having all the financial aspects of Glory’s needs taken care of lifted a huge weight off her shoulders.
“You’re welcome.” He looked away from her as he said, “I wanted to bring this up tonight because I need to get it out in the open. Money will no longer be a problem in caring for your sister and nieces. With the money, you will have enough to buy a home. You won’t need me financially.”
Sage looked at him, trying to read his expression.
“I’m going to sleep in the guest room tonight and give you a chance to think your options through before we get Glory and your nieces in the morning.”
“ If we go in the morning,” she corrected him, still waiting for his reaction, which remained elusive.
Creed’s hand slid to the back of her neck caressingly as he talked. “Yes, that’s why I told you tonight.”
“You could have told me before we got married.”
“I could have, but I wanted to marry you. To be honest, even if Bradford is able to hire the most successful psychiatrist in the world, I don’t think they would be able to fix what is wrong with Victoria.
I’ve seen a lot in my line of work, and she’s the worst type of psychopath.
She’s become fixated on the children, and she feels as if you are keeping them from her. ”
“ Me ? Why? Because she found out Glory is gravely ill? How did she find out? That’s why I paid to keep a separate residence from Glory so Victoria wouldn’t be able to use how ill she is against her if we have to go back to court.”
“Victoria was jealous of you before the fire,” Creed told her, weaving his fingers sensuously through her hair. “The night of the fire, she came over because she was furious Glory and Denny had chosen you to keep the girls, despite her asking for them.”
Finding out Victoria was so sick as to be responsible for her son’s death because she hadn’t been asked to babysit showed the level of obsession Victoria was capable of.
“I was hoping, when I talked to her, I would be able to frighten her enough not to make another attempt on your life.”
“But you don’t think so?” The level of fixation Creed was telling her that Victoria felt toward her was scary.
“No, I don’t. I hope I’m wrong, but I think Victoria won’t stop until she succeeds. What makes me even more worried is that, eventually, she’ll become so frustrated at not eliminating you, she might decide that if she can’t have the girls, no one can.”
Horrified at what Creed was saying, she began shaking. “You think she would actually hurt the girls?”
“I wouldn’t put anything past the woman I met.
I’ve had to deal with psychos before, but that bitch takes the cake.
The security in this development is top notch; there are alarms throughout the whole home, which a security company monitors twenty-four hours a day.
Delivery trucks have to be scheduled in advance; packages can’t even be delivered to the door.
Two guards take turns delivering the packages twice a day.
All the guards who work here are highly trained and have previously worked in the police field or in the military.
When you want to leave, you need to let me know.
I hired a private security detail to provide a bodyguard to accompany you when you do. ”
“I don’t want a bodyguard,” she protested.
“If you had seen Victoria yesterday, you wouldn’t argue with me.
I also want to make you aware that, on my side of the room that I didn’t show you, there is a mock wall, which hides a safety room that is double-locked.
There’s a code to open the room electronically—a manual lock above eye level.
There are two gun safes in the room, too, which will be kept locked at all times.
The children may have access to the whole house, except our bedroom suite. ”
Sage stiffened on his lap. “The gun safe; I want to make sure it’s inaccessible to the children.”
“It will be completely secure twenty-four hours a day, and if they stay out of our room, it will be inaccessible,” he assured her. “I don’t take children’s safety lightly.”
She believed him where that was concerned.
The two times they had taken the girls out, Creed had been as vigilant about watching them as she had been.
Where the bedroom was concerned, she could understand he would want a child-free zone.
He had made sure to take care of all their needs in selecting a house; it was only fair he was given the only need he asked for.
The gentle stroking of his fingers had her alarm bells going off. Finding herself about to lay her head on his shoulder, she forced herself off his lap.
“I’ll clean the table and put the food away.”
“I’ll come help.”
She almost argued that she preferred to do it herself but decided it would be quicker to escape his company if she accepted his help.
The cleanup only took twenty minutes. Self-consciously, she was aware of him climbing the steps behind her after they finished.
“I’ll just grab a pair of shorts and something to wear tomorrow, if you don’t mind,” he said, following her into their bedroom.
She went to turn down the bed as Creed disappeared into his section of the bedroom. She folded the thicker part of the comforter at the bottom of the bed and was heading to her closet when she heard her cell phone ring.
No one called her except Tayla or Glory.
Frightened something might have happened, she rushed back to the nightstand, where she had left her cell.
Concerned, she automatically answered despite not recognizing the number.
Tayla’s husband constantly had to switch providers for their cell phones, so the unknown caller could be her.
“Hello?” she rushed out. “Is everything all right?”
“No, you slut! Everything is not all fucking right!”