Chapter 14
“What do you mean you're linked?” Kat asked Sascha, sounding shocked.
“Just like you and Prescott.” Sascha couldn’t be any happier about it.
“You’re getting married.” Kat didn’t ask; she stated the fact.
“Who told you that?” Sascha wished she’d already told Kat that Gregory had told his parents and Rose they were getting married.
“Everyone. Stephanie—well, she mentioned it to Prescott, not me. She’s not on speaking terms with me. Rose, Aunt Meg. Others. I can’t believe I had to learn it secondhand.”
“Sorry. It’s not like you think. Wait, Aunt Meg knows?” Sascha hadn’t really expected that.
“Yes. She called me to learn if I knew about it.”
“Uhm, okay. Well, Gregory told his parents when we went over there to have lunch with them today. I didn’t agree to getting married. Gregory didn’t even ask me if I wanted to marry him. I don’t even have an engagement ring.” She looked at her bare hand.
“Easily remedied,” Gregory said, still on the phone with Prescott. He smiled at her.
Sascha frowned at him and said to Kat, “So it’s not a done deal.”
“Did you, uhm, you know, have sex?” Katrina sounded a little worried.
“Not all the way. And what about the marriage part? Aunt Meg said we couldn’t have sex before marriage, even if the guy is our soulmate.” Sascha had almost forgotten that part.
“Now that, Aunt Meg told me, wasn’t true.”
“You’re kidding!” Sascha was so relieved. But she couldn’t believe her aunt had kept that from them.
“Yeah. You don’t have to wait to have sex until after marriage. But you do have to be soulmates, or you will lose your abilities.”
“I always wondered if maybe I had lost my powers before because Damon and I weren’t married yet.” Then totally forgot about it when she became infatuated with Gregory. She was hopeless.
“Nope. You and Damon aren’t soulmates. You’re really linked to Gregory?”
“Yeah. Though it’s iffy at times. If I’m thinking about other things, I can’t read his thoughts. I think he misses a lot of what I’m thinking because he’s not used to any of this.”
“The same thing happened between Prescott and me. Ask Aunt Meg if you’re soulmates. I suspected that once I learned Prescott and I were linked, we were soulmates, but Aunt Meg wouldn’t tell me whether we were or not. Maybe she’ll tell you though.”
“Oh, I’m getting a call from her. I’ll call you back in a little while. Hello, Aunt Meg?” Sascha said, worried she would get scolded for not telling her about the plan to marry Gregory.
Gregory, hearing Sascha was talking to Aunt Meg, said to Prescott, “I’ve got to go. Talk to you later.”
“What’s this business of planning to marry Gregory without talking to me first?” Aunt Meg asked, sounding annoyed.
“That was Gregory’s idea. He told his parents. I didn’t have anything to do with it.”
“But you’re agreeable.”
Sascha sighed. “He knows about us, and he believes in all of it. So yeah, if we’re soulmates, I am.”
“And you’re linked.”
“Uh, yeah.” Sascha figured her aunt had read her mind.
“Did he get you a ring?”
“Not yet.”
Pause.
Gregory said, “I’m getting you one right after the call.”
Sascha nearly laughed. He must have been listening in on her thoughts.
“I normally wouldn’t tell you what I suspect you already know. You feel differently about Gregory, correct? I mean differently than you felt when you were with Damon.”
“Yes. It’s like Gregory is a part of me. And this longing I have for him is bone deep. I really care for Damon, but I really have much stronger, deeper feelings for Gregory.”
“Because you’re linked. That doesn’t happen with just anyone.”
“So we’re soulmates?”
“Normally, I would let you discover the truth in time. But I’m only telling you this because you’re in danger like Kat was with Prescott. I don’t want to lose you after what she went through, and I know Gregory will do everything in his power to keep you safe. So yes, he’s your soulmate.”
Sascha couldn’t help but be thrilled as relief washed over her. Gregory was her soulmate.
“But get the ring, make the marriage plans. If he skips out on you, he will be in a world of hurt.”
She smiled at Gregory, knowing her aunt was deadly serious. “He won’t. I was the one balking at marrying him until I knew the truth.”
“For good reason. Okay, I’ll let you go.
Uncle Jimmy and I are still trying to figure out who could be after Gregory and now you.
We’ve checked with the hospital and urgent care facilities, but no one has shown up who has been bitten severely by fire ants.
At least he most likely won’t bother you for a few days. ”
“We’re looking into this too. And the police are also.”
“Good. Be safe and let us know what we need to do to help you plan for the wedding.”
“Thanks, Aunt Meg. I love you.”
“Love you too, dear.”
Then they ended the call, and Sascha hugged Gregory to pieces. “We can do it.”
“Get married?”
“Have sex.”
He laughed. “Let’s get that ring first, go out to celebrate, and come home and spend the rest of the night making hot, passionate love.”
“I’m all for it.” She texted Kat: Gregory and I are soulmates.
Kat texted back: Omigod, that’s great news. Let me know when you are planning the wedding.
I will.
Sascha and Gregory got dressed; she wore a skirt and blouse, and he dressed in slacks, dress shoes, and a sportscoat. Then they headed down the stairs.
He told Maria, “We’re going to buy a ring and have dinner out.”
“Your mom sent two bodyguards over. Nick and Henry Bolton. They’re brothers, Special Forces, and they’ll follow you wherever you go from now on until the police catch this guy. That way Red can continue to watch the house.”
Sascha was glad for it.
“That sounds good. Good to meet you,” Gregory said, shaking their hands.
“We’re here to protect you,” Nick said.
Henry nodded.
Then Sascha and Gregory got into a different car, and the guys followed them to a jewelry store. It felt weird to have a couple of bodyguards follow them into the store. But she was glad they were there to protect them.
The shopkeepers didn’t look surprised. They were probably used to wealthy clientele or important people shopping at the store who had bodyguards.
Sascha and Gregory picked out a nice solitary diamond, had it fitted, and chose wedding rings. Then she wore the engagement ring out of the store, admiring it, feeling like a princess. “I guess I need to tell Damon I’m marrying you.”
“I’m sure Stephanie has already heard, but I suspect Damon has too. We all run in the same circles.”
“Hmm, I’ll tell Damon we’ll rent Leymone’s ballroom for the wedding and reception. That will cheer him up.”
Gregory’s jaw dropped; then he smiled. “You told him that.”
“What?”
“At my house.” They got into his car, and he drove her to a steak restaurant for dinner. “You were trying to cheer him up then too. All of us really. And you told him he would have a big event in a couple of weeks. He said business had been slow, but he didn’t have anything scheduled like that.”
“Oh, I did foresee that. I didn’t know whose event it was. See, I can’t envision things that involve me, but they involve him. So I didn’t see myself there.”
“I’m sure he’ll be happy about that. And maybe Lucy and he can convince Aunt Meg to give up on her plans for them to marry once you and I are happily married. Maybe your aunt was still afraid you would go back to Damon.”
“That could be.” Then Sascha got a call from Lucy. “Hi, Lucy, Gregory and I are going to dinner to celebrate our engagement.”
“I just heard about it.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry I didn’t call you right away.
I didn’t learn until a few minutes ago that we are soulmates; otherwise, we couldn’t have wed.
That was all Gregory’s idea. I need to make arrangements with Damon for the venue, but we’re going to have it at Lemoyne’s.
” Sascha realized, just as she said it, that Lucy might not be happy about it, since she would be dealing with Damon.
“Oh, sure, that would be nice. It’s a beautiful place to have a wedding. Let me know what I can do to help. So you really know you’re soulmates, or you wouldn’t be marrying Gregory.”
“Yeah, we’re linked.”
“Hot damn. Okay, so if that happens to me, oh, I’m still stuck with marrying Damon. But I’m truly thrilled for you.”
“I’m hoping that now that I’ve found my soulmate, we can convince Aunt Meg she doesn’t have to force Damon to marry you.”
“That would be great. Are you going to join us this weekend at the fair?”
“Yeah. I had fun. I’ll see you there.”
“Gregory’s coming too, and he’s bringing a couple of bodyguards so we’ll all be protected.”
“That sounds like a good idea. I’ll let you get on with your celebration. Oh, and I can’t wait to hear what Stephanie has to say about it.”
“She’ll try for Camden maybe next.”
“Camden’s not interested, thank the heavens. Talk later, congrats and love you.”
“Love you too.” Sascha ended the call and sighed. “I forgot Lucy might be upset with me for setting this up at Lemoyne’s, but luckily, she seemed fine with it. Now, when it’s the day of the wedding, who knows?”
“I hope she’ll be fine with it then too.”
The bodyguards followed them into the restaurant, and Gregory asked the hostess to find a nearby table so Nick and Henry could eat as well.
“We’re supposed to just watch over you,” Henry said.
“You need to eat. Pick out anything you want for dinner. You can watch us and the surrounding restaurant while you’re eating,” Gregory said.
Sascha thought the world of him for wanting to make sure the people who worked for him were also taken care of.
The hostess found a place for the bodyguards to have a table a few tables away from where Gregory and Sascha were sitting. Then they got their menus, and she ordered chicken wings for an appetizer and a filet mignon. He got a T-bone steak and the works. He ordered a bottle of red wine.
“So, what are you going to wear for the wedding?” Gregory asked.
“You’re not supposed to ask that.”
He laughed. “I know you love colorful clothes. I was just curious.”
“You will have to wait and see.” But yeah, she planned to wear something colorful.