Chapter 13
Gregory took out his phone and checked the news. He raised his brows when he saw Marvin had been arrested and jailed for DUI and running a red light, then making the police chase him until one did a PIT maneuver and forced him off the road.
Then he thought Sascha might have seen the news on her phone.
“That’s why you’re not my soulmate,” Sascha said, glancing out the window at his French-style mansion.
“Okay, I’ll tell you something more about the family.
Lucy and her parents fight all the time.
Lucy has powers and uses them whenever she pleases, which could cause trouble for the family.
When Damon made me lose my abilities, Aunt Meg and Uncle Jimmy vowed to take revenge.
Having our abilities and then losing them is like losing your hearing or eyesight. It’s an integral part of who we are.”
“Okay.”
“I loved Damon, and he loved me. I thought because of the way we felt about each other, he was my soulmate, but as soon as we made love, I lost my abilities. I had to fake having my abilities at shows. It was awful. Kat filled in for me. Sometimes Lucy did. It was horrible. So when I got my abilities back—”
“You vowed to never make love with anyone unless you knew for sure that they were your soulmate. But Damon and Lucy aren’t soulmates.”
“No. Her mother said that Damon has to marry her. Lucy will lose her abilities for the five years that they’re married. If they want to stay together after that, they can. If they don’t, they’ll be free to leave each other and start over again, and she’ll regain her powers.”
“You said he would be cursed if he didn’t marry her.”
“He would lose his ability to make love, and no male enhancement medicine will take care of it.”
“And he believes it.”
“He knows about our abilities, so yes, he knows that Aunt Meg is serious and will do what she said she would do. But she’s postponed the wedding until after Kat has her babies.
And for your information,” Sascha said again, “Aunt Meg cursed the person who broke into my apartment and tore it up.” She got on her phone.
“Aunt Meg, can you tell me what you did to the man who wrecked my apartment? Yes, I’m with Gregory.
No, we’re not doing anything we shouldn’t. Okay, I’ve got to go. Love you. Bye.”
Gregory got the door for Sascha. “I guess this means we’re not going to get a ring right now.” He got a text from Stephanie with a photo that showed she had a red tint to her hair, making her look like a strawberry blonde in patches. It was a total disaster.
Stephanie texted: I’m suing Sascha for paying the beautician to ruin my hair. And I’m suing the hairstylist and the salon.
Gregory smiled. So Sascha’s prediction had come true. “So what did your Aunt Meg say?”
“The guy will feel like a million fire ants are biting him. He’ll swell up all over his arms, legs, face, and torso. It will last for three days. She would have made it last forever, but she doesn’t have enough power to do that.”
“Well, good that she could do it for that long. If he goes to the doctor, maybe we can learn who he is.” If he had more than twenty to thirty ant bites, he might need to be hospitalized or at least see a doctor.
Gregory got on his phone and notified the police sergeant that a man might be going to the hospital or an urgent care clinic because of a severe case of fire ant bites. Even though he had a hard time believing in curses, if there was any truth to the matter, he had to explore it.
“How do you know that?” the police sergeant asked.
“A huge pile of fire ants was located near the apartment complex, close to where Sascha’s place was,” Gregory made up.
Though fire ant hills could pop up anywhere on Texas lawns, so it wasn’t unusual.
“Someone fell in it, and the whole nest was disturbed. It might mean nothing, but if the guy that broke into her apartment was the one who got into the ant-hill pile, he might have ended up needing medical attention.”
“Okay, I’m on it. Are the two of you okay?”
“Yeah, we’re doing great.” Maybe not in the romance department though. Gregory was going to have to work harder on that.
“You believe me about Aunt Meg’s curse?” Sascha looked like she couldn’t believe it as another man on Gregory’s staff drove the car away.
They walked into the house. “Yeah.”
“You don’t believe it,” she said.
“I wouldn’t have told the police sergeant if I hadn’t believed it.” He led her into the living room and sat on the couch with her.
She didn’t appear to trust him about it. “And the reality about Damon and Lucy?”
“I believe it.”
“You’re not just saying that?”
“No.” He showed her a picture of Stephanie’s new hair coloring. It was pale red but blotchy, and it looked horrible. “You said she would end up with a bad hair dye.”
Sascha smiled.
“You didn’t have anything to do with it, did you?”
“Nope. As much as I wanted to.”
“She said she’s going to sue you for bribing their employee to do that to her, and suing the salon and the beautician.”
Sascha laughed. “Like that’s going to go anywhere in court. If she wants, I can make her lose her hair, and she could regrow it.”
Boy, would she have a fit about that. “Or she could dye it again.” But Gregory thought Sascha liked her idea better because Stephanie was planning to sue her. “I’m going to your booth on the weekend, and Prescott and I will protect you and your cousins. I’m your soulmate.”
Sascha laughed.
“We have a deep emotional connection. I’ve wanted you ever since I laid eyes on you. We understand each other now that I realize you and your cousins and other family members have special abilities.”
“You realize your sister and the guy she dates will meet, as I said?”
“Yeah. I didn’t think she would ever give up Marvin. He was kind of a sure thing. Now that Marvin is actually in jail, everything you said has come true. Well, the merger situation hasn’t come to pass, but I guess I need to just wait on that to happen.”
“You do. It will all work out. Do you want to swim?”
“Yeah.”
She got up from the sofa, and he thought they would walk up together, but she ran up the stairs. He chased after her, caught her at the top, and carried her to his bedroom.
“We don’t know if we’re soulmates.”
“I know. We just have to get to know each other better until you agree that we are.”
“I don’t want to wait,” Sascha admitted.
He chuckled and ran his hands through her hair. “Neither do I.”
Then they quickly stripped off their clothes, and she pulled on a black one-piece bathing suit with multicolored flowers. He pulled on a bathing suit, and they went downstairs, where Stephanie was waiting for them.
Ah hell. He would have to tell his staff not to allow her into the house unless he had invited her.
“Tell me you’re not marrying her,” Stephanie said.
Gregory ignored her, took Sascha’s hand, and led her outside to the pool.
“Oh, this is just beautiful.” Sascha hurried to the steps and walked into the pool as Stephanie joined Gregory on the pool deck.
“You weren’t invited. I don’t know why you think you can just come over here anytime you want. But you’re not family, and you’re not my girlfriend.” He got on his phone. “Yeah, Stephanie’s leaving. Escort her out, will you? Thanks.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
Then Gregory jumped into the pool's deep end and swam over to Sascha.
“You got rid of Stephanie.” She sounded surprised.
“Yeah, it was time.”
“How did she know we were getting married?”
“Maybe Rose told her. She would love to tell Stephanie that I would be with you rather than her.”
“Ugh. Watch your mother share it with everyone too since she’s so excited about you getting married.”
He kissed Sascha and wrapped his arms around her. She enveloped her arms around his neck while he treaded water to keep them afloat, and she kissed him deeply.
He groaned, his body reacting to her tempting one right away. “If…”
“I was normal?”
“I love you the way that you are. Everything about you. You cheer me up with your colorful personality, your uniqueness, and your ability to keep a level head in a crisis. Raymond said you told him to open the limo windows before the vehicle was sent tumbling into the river. He had been too rattled to think of that. I was mad when you told Rose she would be in a car accident when she met Fenton, thinking you should be telling customers what they wanted to hear, not scaring them to death. But then—”
“You realized I was telling the truth, that she needed to ditch Marvin, and someone else would come into her life. It won’t mean that Fenton will be the one and only for her, but she will have someone in her life after all this business with Marvin ended.”
Sascha kissed him deeper and rubbed her lithe body against him, making him groan with need.
“I think we're soulmates,” Gregory said, “but I would never do anything to take away your abilities until we know for certain.”
“So I sleep in the guest room?” She slid her hands down his swim trunks.
“Hell, no. But I’m definitely wearing boxers to bed. Especially if you get hot and get all naked on me again.”
Sascha laughed.
“Seriously, you thought Damon was the one for you. How do I compare? Do you feel the same way about me?”
“No way. The two of you are totally different. But I do feel this compelling need to make love to you. It’s really bone-deep, and it makes me wonder if it’s just something wacky inside me. What if I just meet other guys like that and feel the same way?”
“Is there anyone in your family who would know?”
“I think Aunt Meg would, but she wouldn’t tell Kat when she found her soulmate.
She had to learn it for herself. But I think Kat made love to Prescott before she knew for sure.
She was willing to give up her abilities to be with him.
She didn’t know what it would really be like if she lost them though. Not like I found out.”
Gregory took hold of Sascha’s hand and kissed it. “We could be intimate with each other without going all the way.”
“I would want to go all the way.”