While Isabella grabbed her bag, I took mine from the hall closet and grabbed my keys. “I forgot to tell you that I’m driving us today. Denny called me this morning, and he’s not feeling well.”Isabella turned and looked at me. “What? What’s wrong with him?” she asked with concern.“I’m not sure. He just said he wasn’t feeling well and that he’s sorry, but he couldn’t work today.”“Denny is never sick,” she said.“I know. I’m a little worried about him, but I’m sure he’s just picked up a bug. People at the office are sick.”“I hope he feels better soon.”“Me too, baby,” I said as I put my arm around her and we headed to the gym.After our workout, Isabella dropped me off at the office and took the Range Rover with her. I told her that I’d catch a cab home this evening. Valerie followed me into my office, rattling off all the meetings that were scheduled for today. As I sighed, I set my briefcase down on my desk and looked out the large window that overlooked the city. My mind wouldn’t
Who the hell did he think he was, starting an argument with me before I even had my first cup of coffee? I slipped on my silk robe and headed towards the kitchen and Richard followed behind.“I’m coming with you; end of discussion. See, now that wasn’t so bad, was it?”“Richard.”He walked over to me, picked me up, and set me on the counter. “Listen to me. You’re my wife and this is something that’s very important to you, and it’s important to me too. ““But—”He cut me off and brought his finger to my lips. “No buts. I love Denny and we’ll be here for his surgery. But I’m getting on that plane with you and we’re going to that art gallery together. I would never miss your first showing, or any showing, and to think that you were going to go by yourself really hurt me, Isabella .”As I stared into his eyes, I could see the hurt in them. What the hell did I do? My eyes started to swell with tears as I wrapped my arms around his neck.“I’m so sorry. I just feel so guilty having to go to
I decided that when we get back to New York, I’m going to call that artist and ask him to do it. After all, I know you wouldn’t have a problem with a strange man staring at me for six or seven hours a day while I’m fully nak*d in front of him, posing.”I took in a sharp breath. “You know what? Let’s just forget about that painting. I have the real thing right here and that’s all I need.” I smiled as I leaned down and kissed her lips. There was no way I was going to let that happen.Isabella I paced back and forth, trying to comfort Julia as she screamed her head off at three o’clock in the morning. I bounced her, walked her around the penthouse, sat down, rocked her in the rocking chair, and nothing soothed her. I even gave her gas drops, thinking she was gassy, but that didn’t help either. Richard came up behind me in the living room and took her from me.“What’s wrong, Julia?Daddy is here. I rolled my eyes because sometimes he thought he was the cure-all where she was concerned. W
“When did these flowers come?” he asked.“I don’t know. They were delivered when I was out with Anita.Richard pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed it. “Mason, it’s Richard . Were you here when the flowers for Isabella were delivered? I see. Thank you,” he said as he hung up.“He said that when he and Julia got home from the park, they were outside the door.”“Richard , I thought they were from you along with the text messages. Now you’re scaring me,” I said as my bottom lip started to quiver.“Why the hell would I send you text messages from a restricted number?”“I thought you were playing with me.”He sighed as he paced around the kitchen, running his hands through his hair. “These aren’t from me!” he yelled.I couldn’t stand there and be yelled at anymore. I didn’t know what was going on, so I took off up the stairs and went into my bedroom. After I locked the door, I threw myself on the bed, scared and shaking that someone, other than my husband, was saying those things to
“Yeah, I remember,” he said with a confused look.“They weren’t from me,” I chimed in.Mason shifted in his seat as he stared at me. “Who were they from?”“We don’t know,” Isabella said as she kissed Julia on the head.“Oh my God, the roses. They weren’t from you either?”As I sipped my coffee, I shook my head. “No, they weren’t. It seems that someone has taken a great interest in my wife.”Mason looked at Isabella , got up from his seat, and gave her a hug. “I’m so sorry, Isabella . What can I do?”“I have a detective working on it, but I’m hiring a bodyguard for you and Julia. Isabella will have her own, just until we find out who’s behind this.”My phone rang and, as I pulled it from my pocket, I saw Paul was calling. “Hello, Paul.”“Good morning, Richard. I have two guys lined up as security if you want to interview them. We can be at your place in about fifteen minutes.”“Sounds good; we’ll be here,” I said as I hung up. “Paul is on his way over with two men he wants me to interv
That doesn’t explain why the man was holding his crotch like that. Who does that in a public place?” Richard asked.“He has testicular cancer, and I know he’s frequently in pain. So that’s probably why he was doing that. Why are you asking about him anyway?”“Someone’s been sending text messages and flowers to my wife. The texts are sex related and when I saw this picture, I automatically assumed it was him.”“Couldn’t be him,” Vinnie said. “Did I mention that he’s gay?”Richard looked at me with a disappointed expression. I thought for sure it was the lighting man, and this would finally be over. A beep came from my purse, which alerted me that I had a text message. As I fumbled for it, I took out my phone and there was a text from him.“I stare at your picture and imagine what it would be like to f**k you and hear you moan. I think about you all day, and I can’t stop. Your smile drives me insane and your mouth around my c*ck is what I crave and desire.”My panicked face gave it away
It was our pleasure, Phil. You know you’re always welcome here.”He drank part of his drink, set it on the table, and then announced he had to leave. Richard showed him to the door and gave him the money for the pizza.“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Richard said as he shut the door.He turned around and looked at me as I walked over to him and collapsed in his arms.“I’m tired. I think I’ll go take a hot bath,” I said.“Okay, baby. I’ll be up in a while. I have some papers I need to go over and then I’m going to call Detective James.”When I reached the top of the stairs, I stopped in the nursery to check on Julia. She was sound asleep. I started the bath water, poured a capful of bubble bath, and stepped into the tub. As I lay back, I slowly closed my eyes and took in a deep relaxing breath. All I wanted to do was escape into a world where it was only the three of us. As I was dreaming about my alternate world, Richard walked into the bathroom and sat on the edge of the tub.“Are you enjoy
As Richard let go of the doors and they started to close, he stuck his hand in between them to stop them from closing, stepped out, and hugged me.“I don’t want to go, Isabella.”“Honey, it’s only for one night. You said yourself not to worry. What’s going on?”“Nothing. I just hate being away from you,” he said as he kissed my head.“I hate being away from you too, but you have to go. Now come on. Put your big boy pants on and go; you’re making things harder,” I said as I broke our embrace and patted him on the chest.“No, Isabella , you’re the one making things harder.” He winked as he looked down at the bulge in his pants.“Get out of here, Jones.” I laughed as he stepped onto the elevator.A couple of hours had passed, and I took a nap. It had been forever since I took a nap without having to worry if Julia was going to wake up. I took the stairs down to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator for a bottle of water. After checking my phone to see if I had any messages, I walked in
Well?" she asked, demanding a response from him."I don’t want to quarrel over this, Hannah." He was smart enough to recognize a loaded question when he heard one. Smart enough to extract himself as best he could, too. "All I’m saying is that I’d prefer it if you invested as much time in our relationship as you would in a job. There are only so many hours in a day. You can’t do everything, you know.""In other words you wouldn’t be willing to help with the cooking or the housework?"Richard was quickly losing his grip on his patience, which had always been in short supply. Isabella seemed to be looking for an excuse to pick a fight with him by tying him up in verbal knots. She had been from the moment he’d arrived home. Hell if he knew what he’d done that was so terrible now."I’d be willing to help with the cooking and housework." He fully expected his answer would take the starch out of her arguments. How willing he actually would be to help around the house was another question ent
Isabella ?" He spoke her name softly when he noticed the moist trail of tears that streaked her face. "Would it help any if I told you I was sorry?" He didn’t know what he was apologizing for, but it was apparent he’d hurt her, and knowing that didn’t sit right.She stopped and looked up at him through narrowed, suspicious eyes."Whatever I said, I didn’t mean it," he tried once more."You don’t remember?" She sounded incredulous."No," he admitted, reaching for her hand. "Come back to the house and we’ll talk about it. All right?"She seemed to be trapped with indecision. He raised his hands to her face and gently rubbed the tears from her cheeks. Each one was an accusation against him. His heart constricted at how pale her features were, how fragile she looked. It demanded every ounce of control he possessed not to take her in his arms and beg her forgiveness. He was a reckless bastard to inflict his drunkenness on so delicate a soul, and he silently vowed never to do it again."Com
Tell me," he said, walking toward her, fully intending to take her in his arms; a couple of kisses might reassure her even more. "You wouldn’t happen to be jealous now, would you?""Jealous?" She threw the word back in his face as though he’d issued the greatest insult of her life. "If you can honestly mistake integrity and principles for jealousy, then I truly wonder what kind of man I’ve married."With that she turned and walked into her bedroom and closed the door. Isabella had probably never slammed a door in her life, he realized.Air seeped between Richard’s clenched teeth. He’d done it again. Just when he was beginning to make headway with her, he got cocky and said something stupid. It was becoming a bad habit.He let a few moments pass, then decided to try once again. He knocked on her bedroom door, but didn’t wait for her to answer before turning the knob and walking in. A husband should be allowed certain rights. Isabella turned and glared at him accusingly."I didn’t mean
None of my business," she repeated calmly. Obviously she was traipsing across ground he had no intention of mapping. "I see.""It’s obvious you don’t. Damnation, woman, you’re making a mountain out of a molehill.""I most certainly am not," she replied, doing her best to hold back the flash flood of anger that threatened to drown her. "If anyone is being unreasonable, it’s you. Apparently the subject is a touchy one and best dropped. I’m sorry I said anything.""So am I."It seemed that Richard wasn’t watching the road as well as he should have been, because a car shot past them and the driver hammered on the horn as he sped by. Her husband muttered something under his breath that Hannah pretended not to hear."Are there others?""Other what?" Richard shouted. His frustration with her was clearly getting the best of him."Women," Isabella explained serenely. "I should know about them, don’t you think? It might save us both a good deal of embarrassment.""Are you asking for a list of e
He came around and helped her out of the car and cupped his hand under her elbow as they walked up the flight of concrete steps to his apartment.Once they reached the top, Richard unlocked the door. Shoving it open, he turned to Isabella and without a word calmly lifted her into his arms.Taken by surprise, she let out a small cry of alarm. "Richard ," she pleaded, "put me down. I’m too heavy.""Let me assure you, Isabella Jones , you weigh next to nothing." With that he ceremoniously carried her over the threshold, gently depositing her in the leather recliner.Isabella smiled at him, a little breathlessly, although he’d been the one to do all the work. This man was full of surprises. All week she’d been convinced she was marrying a monster, but Richard had gone out of his way to prove otherwise. Perhaps this marriage had a chance to survive, after all.Richard turned on the television and reached for the evening paper and, after a few minutes, Isabella excused herself and began unpa
Glancing at her now, sitting by his side as they drove to his apartment in nearby Port Orchard, gave him further cause to wonder. She hadn’t said more than a handful of words since the ceremony. He hadn’t a clue what she was thinking, but he figured she was looking for some way to get out of this."It was very nice of Chaplain Stewart and Lieutenant Commander Kyle to arrange housing on the base for us, wasn’t it?" she asked softly."Very nice," he repeated. He wondered how many strings his CO had had to pull to come up with that. The news had come as a surprise to Richard , who’d lived in a small apartment complex for the past two years."When will we be moving?""Soon.""How soon?"Hell, first he couldn’t get her to talk, now he couldn’t shut her up. "Next weekend.""Good. Packing will give me something to do while you’re gone during the day. Once we’ve moved, I’ll look for a job.""I don’t want you doing any lifting, you hear?" She flinched at his harsh tones, and he regretted speak
I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.""Obviously," he retorted, trapped in his anger. "No one in their right mind would do this to themselves. The question is, what the hell are we going to do about it now?""Oh, don’t worry. It isn’t necessary for you to marry me. I don’t know what ever made Dad suggest that."She seemed so damn smug about it, and that riled him all the more."Apparently your father feels differently. He seems to think my marrying you would salvage your honor."She nodded. Her hair was tied at her nape, giving Richard a clear view of the delicate lines of her face. As pale as she was, she resembled a porcelain doll, fragile and easily breakable. She looked dangerously close to that point right then."My father is an old-fashioned man with traditional values. Marriage is what he would expect.""What do you expect?" His tone was less harsh, his concern for her outweighing his irritation.Isabella placed her hand on her smooth stomach as though she longed to protect
She woke when her father made a sharp turn and eased to a stop in front of a guard house. He rolled down the window, and a blast of cold air alerted Isabella to the fact they’d arrived at their destination. She straightened and looked around. Although she’d never been on one before, she recognized immediately that they were entering a military compound. "Dad?" she quizzed. "Where are we?""Bangor," he announced a little too loudly. "We’re meeting Richard Jones."In Chaplain Stewart’s office Riley sat, ramrod straight, across the room from Isabella Brown and her stern-faced father. Richard gaze narrowed as he fired a look in her direction. Not once did she deign to glance his way. She sat, her back as rigid as his own, but although she held her head high, her gaze refused to meet his. Perhaps it was just as well.First thing the previous morning, Richard had been called before his commanding officer. When he arrived, he’d discovered Chaplain Stewart and Lieutenant Commander Steven Kyl
Richard blamed himself still. He feared he’d frightened her so badly that she’d fled in horror. Had he hurt her? She’d been so tight and so small. It was all he could do not to slam his fist into the wall every time he thought about their brief encounter, which was damn near every minute of every day. What had happened to her since? Was she sick? Alone? Frightened? Pregnant?He’d been in control of their encounter until she’d kissed him. Now it was weeks later and he still reeled at the memory of the gentle, shy way in which she’d pressed her lips to his. He cursed how he could close his eyes and continue to taste her. How sweet she’d been. How warm and delicate. Her lips had molded to his, and her flavor reminded him of cotton candy. That alone was enough to torment him, but it wasn’t all. Her fragrance continued to obsess him. It wasn’t a commercial one he could name. The only way he could think to describe it was to imagine walking waist-deep in a field of wildflowers.The woman ha