“How can you turn a son against his own parents? Don’t you have a working conscience anymore?” Danna Sherrod asked.
“And you?” Racheal retorted, suddenly feeling anger. “Where was your conscience when you tried to pin a crime you committed on me?”Danna Sherrod frowned. “I could have been your ally here. Maybe your friend even, but you are destroying all the chances of that happening.” “I do not need allies. And you are the last person I want for a friend.” Racheal said, meaning every word of it.“You will regret this.” The woman said, and Raacheal felt her heart sink. Another threat. Now she had to be careful again, and always watch her back. Why could she never get a break? She heard the convoy coming up the driveway.“Come with me.&rdSteffan placed his hand on Racheal’s waist, and slowly turned her around.“Let's not fight like that again?” Racheal said, tilting her head to look in her eyes.He nodded, and kissed the tip of her nose. She smiled. “Go get dressed.” “Dressed?”“We still have that vacation to go to.” Steffan stepped back, with his hands in his pockets, looking at her.“It’s Tuesday.”“Well, neither of us have to go to work.” Steffan moved close again to run a finger across her collarbone. “And we both deserve it, don’t you think?”She nodded, and turned around into the bathroom, she closed the door behind her and leaned against it, a smile spreading across her face. ***When she stepped out, Steffan was not in the room. She sighed, picked out a sundress, and slid a pair of heels on.“You look lovely.” Steffan appeared at the door.She turned around and smiled at him.“Ready?” He asked. She nodded. He walked forward, and took her hand and her purse.“What are you doing?” She asked, giggling. “He
“Do you know how long this drive will be?” Steffan asked.Racheal shook her head.She had not been paying attention the last time he took her out of the city. But she knew it would feel like forever as he slowly began sliding her lacy panties down her legs.“You’ll not care,” he said, and winked. He took her right leg and placed it over his shoulder as he began to kiss her calves, moving upward and upward.“Uhhh.” She closed her eyes, her hands feeling around for something to grip. She found herself becoming more and more breathless as she waited for his lips to reach the spot her whole body most anticipated. But Steffan was taking his sweet time. To her distress, his lips traveled up to her thighs, came so close, and went back to her calves to restart the long upward journey.“You want me to beg again?”“Do you want to beg?” He had a devilish smile in his eyes, as his tongue darted out and lapped at her inner thigh.“Ohhh.” She gasped, pulling further into the seat. “Lift the dr
“I can’t believe we just did that.” Racheal giggled as she pulled her dress down to cover her legs, and then up to cover her chest.“I can’t believe we have never done that.” Steffan responded, tossing the wipes in the car’s disposal purseThey watched it shrink.“We are disrespectful lots.” She said, now beginning to feel sorry for the men that had to live through that. Steffan smiled, and pulled her close.“I was joking about the screen. This is a custom-made car. They couldn’t hear anything,” he said.“Did you have this in mind when you were customizing your car?” “Maybe.” He grinned.She shook her head, and looked away. "They still knew we were up to something improper when you closed that screen.”“You think they don’t know we are always up to something improper?” He asked, softly caressing her arms.She smiled and said nothing, just continued leaning her head on his chest.“Racheal.” Steffan said, his voice serious. She froze.“Never lie to me again,” he said.“I won’t.”He
The couple left Hilltop Mansion, as they now called it, and returned to the city the next morning. Steffan was quiet the whole ride, his eyes glued to the window as he stared outside.Racheal knew he was not angry with her, this was not about her, so she left him alone. This was important; they had to do it. Now that she had chosen again to build a life with him. She did not want this hanging over their heads.Besides the secrets, to build a solid new life together, they had to wave goodbye to their old lives. One of the cars in the convoy branched out to a flower shop and got carnations. They arrived at the cemetery, and she felt a chill in her bones. She thought of her mother. The thought that her mother was resting in one of such places, and she had still not found it, made her chest hurt.Their guards found the spot where Malorie was buried and led them to it. Steffan walked as if in a daze. Racheal walked by his side, not touching him, although she very badly wanted to s
“We might have a job for your nephew too,” Racheal said. “Anyone good enough to work for the Sherrods will do a good job for us.”Steffan glanced at her.“Oh yes. Good fellow, strong too,” The old man looked up and stopped, staring at Racheal. Racheal froze. Did he recognize her? Had she been underestimating the man’s intelligence?“My God, you are beautiful, lady.” The old man said finally. “Your wife?” He turned to Steffan.Steffan smiled at him. “Yes.”“Lucky man.” The old man said, and returned his attention to his task. “What do you want my nephew to do for you?”“We need a guard for my wife,” Steffan said, his voice gentle. Racheal was impressed. This was the calmest she had seen him. She was glad he took her cue, and was interviewing this man with kid gloves.“Hmmm.” The old man said. “Jordan may not be the man you need. You see, he is no spring chicken anymore.”“That is exactly the man I need around my wife, someone older, more calm-headed,” Steffan said smoothly. The ol
When Steffan returned, it was completely dark outside and Racheal was already in her night dress. As soon as he walked in through the door, she knew something bad had happened.She hurried to him, and threw her hands around him.He paused, and then he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her to himself. She stepped back, looking at him all over. “Are you fine?”“Yes.” He said, and walked to go sit on their bed.“What happened? Did you get the evidence?”“Jordan is dead.” Steffan said, dropping his head between his hands.She stared down at him in confusion. What was he talking about? They had seen him together, so it meant that the story that he was dead was a lie.Steffan looked up, and saw her confused face. “I think something foul is at play.”She shook her head. “I don’t understand what you are saying, Steffan,” She said, and went to sit beside him. “Start from the beginning. What happened when you got to his house?”“He lived in a dingy slum. So the guards and I could not a
Racheal had no idea why Steffan respected her decision not to talk about why she had reacted so strongly to what he had just told her. Maybe it was because he saw how distressed she was, or because after listening to her talk about her previous interactions with the Dallozs, he had an idea why the news affected her so much, or still because she finally promised she would get the key for him.But he did not ask her any further questions. He simply led her to bed, and tucked her in. She listened to him get under the shower, and the sound of water hitting the floor before she stood up and pulled her phone from the nightstand. She scrolled to the message Chloe had sent her and stared at it. She had to go speak to this man, before he turned up dead again.She thought about all Madame Dalloz had told her, all the lies, half-truths, and pieces of information she did not know how best to classify.She had heard that Spencer Sherrod bombed the camp from one person only. Madame Dalloz.
Racheal stood in their closet with Steffan deciding on what to wear. It felt good to not have anything to hide anymore, to not be dying of anxiety.“I remember watching you in this at that nightshow.” Steffan said, reaching from behind her to touch a blue blazer. She smiled at the memory, till she remembered that Madame Dalloz had gotten her that. She had encouraged her to go to the show and sent a stylist over with options of clothes to wear.She sighed, and looked away. Her eyes fell on a purse sitting on a rack at the other end of the closet.She walked towards the purse and picked it up. “Coincidentally, this was the purse I was holding that day too.” She said over her shoulder to Steffan. “All a gift from Madame Dalloz.”Steffan said nothing. She dug her hand in the purse, and felt her finger scrape a card. She pulled it out.RACHEAL ROBERTS was boldly written on the front of the card. Racheal gasped. She had never gone to see the woman after that night. This was the wom