Chapter 44
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I stopped at the entrance to the living room, watching as four men faced off against each
other. Victor stood back ready to step in if needed, but for now Bradley, Sean, Spencer and Tony were simply glaring at each other.
Their stance reminded me of a meme I had recently seen on my social media, of four banty roosters prepared to fight each other to assert their dominance. Not that any of these guys. was small in stature, it was just the agression oozing off of them. I had sent the meme to Jenna so when I whispered “c**k fight” she burst out laughing. Her peals of laughter served to
break the tension in the room. Thank goodness for that.
Seeing we now had everyone’s attention, I motioned to the seating area, and just said, “sit“. Jenna still giddy gave a soft ‘woof‘ and stuck out her tongue as though she were a panting dog. Thank the good lord for our slightly dark senses of humor, as her silliness now made it
easier for the men to settle themselves and their emotions.
I didn’t sit immediately, instead I moved to the portable bar and wheeled it closer to the seating area. Jenna ran back to the bedroom and returned with our wine glasses and the remaining bottle of wine. I raised an eyebrow at Bradley, then nodded my head towards the bar. He understood exactly what I meant and poured five glasses of Crown Royal, passing a glass to each of the men, and taking one for himself.
When we were all fairly comfortable I felt ready to speak. “Thanks for coming over so quickly, I appreciate it. Before any of you say anything, I am going to ask some questions, and I want trurhful answers. Can you all agree to do that?” I looked pointedly at each of the men, getting hesitant nods from each of them. Sean looked very red–faced and upset, but oh well.
“Before I ask my questions, I am going to tell you what I think, and please don’t say anything until I’m done, okay?” All five of them nodded again.
“I think my mother is still alive, in hiding. I think Uncle Caleb is with her. I think you all know this, but for whatever cockamamy reason couldn’t tell me. I think the accident was staged to look like my mother died. I think Sean played a big part in the planning and execution of the plan.” Now my voice took on a hard edge. “And I think that I have been lied to by my grandparents, by extension my mother and uncle, by my lawyers, and by the man I looked at as my stepfather. The thought of that makes me very, very angry. So angry, that if what I think is true, I don’t know if I can ever trust you again.”
I paused to take a few deep breaths to calm my emotions and stop my hands from shaking in anger. Jenna pushed my full wine glass into my hand, and told me to take a drink. I shook my
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head and asked her to get me a glass of water. I needed a clear head for this discussion. After taking a long drink of the cold water, I was able to continue.
“This question is for all five of you. And yes Victor, I have a feeling you know some if not all of what’s going on, so you are expected to answer this.” They all looked extremely nervous, ! imagine expecting me to go absolutely apeshit on them. But that wasn’t the way I handled
confrontation.
“Is any of what I just said true?” Not one of them could look me in the eye, nor did they answer me. I waited, hoping to make them uncomfortable enough to break their silence. Not one of
them did.
“Okay, so none of you want to answer that question. Next question. Is the reason you won’t
answer because you can’t answer? Such as you all had to sign an NDA?” Bingo! All five of
them whipped their eyes in my direction, a clear indication that I was right. “Well?”
One by one they admitted they signed an NDA.
“Was it my grandparents that insisted you do so?” They all nodded as a means of answering.
“Okay. Well guys, I’m not sure if you realize this or not, but your voices carry, especially when
you’re shouting at each other. Seeing as I’m not hard of hearing, you pretty much told me this
involves mom. And you, Sean, said you would do anything to protect her. So I am going to ask
you again, is what I think true? Is my mother still alive, but in hiding?”
“F**king tell her, Sean!” Bradley grated out. “Enough is enouth! Spencer, Tony?”
Spencer answered for the three of them. “Brad, you know the NDA is airtight and it covers this
situation too. You know we can’t confirm or deny a thing, much as we may want to! Our hands
are tied and our lips are zipped because of what we signed. I care about Anna, but I’m not willing to lose everything by breaking the NDA.”
Sean interjected at this point. “Look, Anna. We legally can’t tell you anything. We can’t confirm or deny anything. But what we can do is ensure that you are safe and protected. We have to get you out of this city and away from Alan, Lydia and Fiona until your twenty–fifth birthday.”
“What’s so important about that date? Why is everyone so fixated on December 31? At least tell me that, or get out of my apartment, and out of my life. I’m done with the games. I’m done with the BS. I’ll stay here and take my chances with the vipers.”
The men looked horrified at my statement. Bradley instantly stomped over to me, swooped me up and marched me to my bedroom, slamming the door behind us.
“You will not be staying here! You are my wife and I am not letting you put your life at risk, do you understand? I’ll f**king hogtie you and carry you to the jet if I have to. But you are not
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Chapter 44
staying here!” He was practically shouting at me, fear and frustration filling his voice.
Facing him, my hands planted on my hips, I hissed at him. “I am not your wife yet. And the way I feel right now, I’m not sure getting married is the right thing to do.”
His face paled, then flushed almost crimson. “Don’t you ever say you aren’t my wife! We may not have said the I do, but you are my wife! I told you that once we made love there was no going back. I f**king meant what I said. You are my wife, we will make it official on Friday, and then we are going on a month long honeymoon cruise! Understood?”
“Excuse me?” I was now standing toe to toe with Bradley, madder than a wet hen at his bossy
attitude. “You can’t tell me what to do. You’re not the boss of me!”
I wanted to stomp my foot when I saw his mouth quirk up on one side, trying not to laugh. What the hell? But then, my anger melted away as quickly as it came. The ridiculousness of
my ‘you’re not the boss of me‘ statement reminding me of a five–year–old having a terper
tantrum.
I struggled a bit as Bradley enfolded me in his arms, pressing me tightly to his chest. “Red, I
know you are upset, frustrated, and angry. I don’t blame you. I’m frustrated too. I want so bad
to tell you what’s going on, but for your safety, I can’t. I curse the day I signed that damn NDA.
But I’m begging you, please trust me. Trust us. All we want to do is keep you safe. Please,
Baby, trust me. Trust your husband.” His voice was barely a whisper, but I heard him.
“You have no idea how frustrating this is,” I lamented. “You all expect me to blindly trust you,
without giving me any information to base that trust on. Did my grandparents think so little of
me they didn’t think I could handle things? Why didn’t they trust me? It’s not right!”
“I wish I could answer that for you, but I can’t. All I can tell you is they had their reasons. Very
valid reasons, but that doesn’t help you understand anything. What I will tell you is that every
man out there in your living room is as frustrated as I am at having our hands tied and our lips
zipped like they are. It’s not fair to them, and it sure as hell isn’t fair to you. None of this is. But
please don’t be mad at us. Their job is to protect you. My job is to love and protect you.”
Now he started covering my face with kisses, trying his hardest to worm his way back into my
good graces. And damn it, it worked.
