“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
“Because he damn well got close enough! What the fuck, Richard ? You didn’t think I deserved to know what the hell you and your boys were planning. This is my life, my f**king life, and you should’ve included me,” I screamed as I broke down and fell to my knees.“Isabella , please try to understand,” he said as he kneeled down in front of me.“Understand what?!” I screamed. “I need time away from you so I can think.”“Don’t say that, Isabella. Please, don’t say that,” he begged as a tear fell from his eye.I got up from the floor and wiped my eyes. “You keep things from me, even though you promise you won’t. I need time away from you because if I don’t get it, I will hurt you.”“Baby, please!” he yelled as I tore up the stairs.I slammed the bedroom door shut and locked it. I took a suitcase from the closet and started throwing some clothes in it. When I was packed, I called a cab and took my suitcase downstairs. Richard was sitting on the couch with his face buried in his hands. When
Julia screeched and then looked at me and put her hand on my face. She knew I was sad, and I could tell how much she missed Richard. I sat down with her and let her run her hands through the sand. The beach, the ocean, and the sunset, would become as special to her as it was to me.“He misses you, and he’s not doing good,” I heard a voice say behind me.I turned around and saw Denny standing a few feet away from us. I smiled and held out my hand for him to sit next to me.“What are you doing here? Should you even be here?” I asked as I kissed him on the cheek.“I’m fine. Dana drove. She’s in the house, talking to Mason. I don’t want to talk about me. How are you doing?”“I’m okay,” I said as I looked out into the ocean water.“No, you’re not. I know you, Isabella, and you miss him just as much as he misses you.”“I’m so mad at him, Denny. How could he do that to me? How many times do I have to tell him not to keep things from me before it sinks into that thick head of his?”Denny smil
I’m so sorry. Please tell me you forgive me,” he begged as he buried his face deep into my neck.“I forgive you, but we need to talk,” I said.“I know, and I’ll do anything to make things right. I love you, and I missed you so much.”I broke our embrace and placed my hands on his face. “I missed you too,” I said as I kissed him. “Come sit down and have some coffee and the hangover cocktail I just made.”“You know I hate that stuff, Isabella.”“I know you do, but it works and you have to be feeling pretty lousy right now.”“I am,” he said as he rubbed his head.I picked up the glass with the cocktail in it and sat down on his lap. He wrapped his arms around me as I brought the glass to his lips. “Drink.” I smiled.He looked at me, made a face, and took a sip as I tilted the glass. He took it from my hand and chugged it down as fast as he could, then placed the glass on the counter.“Where’s Julia?” he asked.“She’s at the house with Mason. He’s going to pack her stuff up and bring her
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