Since she and Christopher hadn’t gotten around to drawing up a prenup, the law was clear on the rights of inheritance. A will could only confirm that and perhaps designate heirship of smaller, sentimental items. Was there something specific Lois wanted? If so, all she needed to do was ask.
Pushing down the bewildered hurt, Vanessa reminded herself she’d never truly understood Christopher's parents. Christopher had often commented that they cared more about their church family than their real one.
After getting Chloe a cup of coffee and a doughnut, Vanessa asked her if she’d mind coming with her to the study. “I hope y’all will excuse us for a few moments,” she said to the rest of the room. “I’ve got some things I’d like to discuss with Chloe.”
“I’d prefer to be there,” Lois announced.
Vanessa stared at her. She’d thought Christopher's mother couldn’t shock her any more than she already had. Turned out she’d been wrong.
“I’m sorry,” Vanessa told her firmly. “But this is private. I’m sure you and Steven can enjoy the rest of your breakfast while I take care of this."
With that, she swept from the room, Chloe trailing behind her.
—---------
In the study, As Vanessa outlined tasks to the other woman, Chloe pulled out an iPad and took notes.
“Chloe, I’m going to need your help getting everything set up with the funeral home. I already did some of the initial work, but there are still a lot of decisions that need to be made.”
“I’m ready to help in any way I can,” Chloe said, nodding.
Once Vanessa had outlined everything she needed, Chloe shut down her iPad and stowed it in her purse. “Thank you for such detailed instructions,” she said, smiling. “That makes it a lot easier. I’ll get right on this. In fact, I’ll stop by the funeral home after I leave here.”
“Perfect.” Vanessa stood, smiling. “Oh, and one more favor. Please don’t mention any of this to Lois or Steven.
I’d prefer just to let them know everything once all the arrangements have been finalized.”
Though Chloe eyed her curiously, she nodded. “Consider it done.”
Though she felt like a cynic, Vanessa couldn’t help but think she’d realized who’d be signing her paychecks from now on. It certainly wouldn’t be Christopher's parents.
“I’ll touch base with you later today,” Chloe promised, striding confidently toward the exit. “Let me tell the Wesleys goodbye.”
Once she’d gone, Vanessa let out a huge sigh and began massaging both her temples. “This is a nightmare.” She mumbled to herself. Finally, she pushed herself up from behind the desk. Her head was starting to ache so she decided to try and bypass the Wesleys for a while. She headed out to the living room, where Lois and Steven were seated waiting for her. They informed her that would be leaving to stay with a close friend of theirs who lived in the city.
Although Vanessa knew that it would make more sense for them to stay with her, she knew that it was best so they'd avoid getting on each other's nerves as they didn't really get along.
"That's alright," Vanessa told them. "Just let me know if you need anything and I'll keep in touch too,"
After they left, Anita followed an hour later as she had some work to attend to while Vanessa took the opportunity to get some sleep. She woke up later that evening and decided to go for a small walk. When she opened her front door, there was a tiny package waiting for her.
That was weird, she thought. She'd not ordered anything and wasn't expecting anything either. At first she was afraid to pick it up, but after giving it a kick with her foot and realizing that it was very light, she picked it up. Besides, if it really was a bomb as she feared, it'd have exploded already. She took it inside and sat in the living room to open it up.
Smoothing the stray hairs at her temples, she cursed. Her hands were shaking as she opened it to find a letter… Well not really a letter because it just had one sentence. “Obviously someone is a dumbass,” she muttered, willing her hand to stop trembling.
'I’ll be seeing you soon' it said.
Her breath caught and pressure seized her chest. It didn’t matter how many times she’d read the line. Each time her eyes crawled across those five words, she felt the burn in her throat, the building in the back of her mouth. She wanted to scream, and she never screamed.
Placing the letter beside the flower vase on the table, she then stood on weak legs. Her fingers icy and numb, she walked across the living room to the window. Could he be out there right this second, watching her?
No.
She stopped herself from backing away from the window, from caving into fear, and squeezed her eyes shut. No way could she allow herself to think that. She had done nothing wrong to anyone and she wouldn’t let this…this fucker do this to her. Only she had control of her life and her choices.
“Focus,” she said, rubbing tiny circles along her temples.
She twisted away from the window and opened her eyes. The room was minimalistic in design, muted colors of black and gray. Her shoes clicked off the hardwood floor as she went back to the table. She dropped her hands to her hips, her eyes narrowing behind her glasses. She had to fix this, gain control of the situation. It was the only option. But doing so required that she take the threats seriously.
First it was the shooting and now threats. Trying to ignore this was like ignoring an ache that wouldn’t go away. No good shit comes from that.
She needed to figure out who was behind this letter, and that wasn’t going to be easy. She needed protection. And she knew who to go to.
Detective Alaric Harper.
He'd given her his number and told her to call if she needed him. Well, now she did need him. The man had such terrible people skills, but she didn't have anyone else to go to. He was also very handsome, she thought as she searched her room, trying to remember where she'd kept his number.
She wasn't sure if it was those startling dark eyes of his. Or it could’ve been those incredibly wide shoulders that would make any woman feel petite, or that broad chest and those…“What am I doing?” She smacked her forehead with her palm, pushing those thoughts aside.Going to him for help had nothing to do with envisioning him in boxers or showing off hard, naked abs. And the last thing she needed to be doing right now was mentally molesting the man. It was highly unlikely that he’d be happy to hear from her, but it was his job. Unable to find the number, she scooped up the letter she'd received, placed it back into the package it'd come in and shoved it into her bag. Fuck finding his number, she thought. She'd go straight to the station and find him there. She left her house, in search of a very different type of asshole.—--------Detective Alaric Harper's phone vibrated in the pocket of his jeans for the second time in the last hour. He needed to continue ignoring it. He should
While those who were unaware of his upbringing thought he was affected by it due to his…habits and the fact he rarely stayed with one woman, the truth was, he had enough common sense to know that not all relationships were like his parents’. In reality, he had always been the least affected by his bastard of a father and train wreck of a mother. He just hadn’t met the woman he wanted to be with for more than a few hours here and there or involved in any aspect of his life.He really should get the fuck out of here. The lack of interest was one of the reasons why he hadn’t frequented Leather and Lace lately. And this was the only place he’d do this in. He never brought women back to his home. His cell started vibrating again.Fuck.Leaning back in his chair, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell. Curiosity perked when he saw that it was his partner's number. “Paul?”“Thanks for answering the phone in a timely manner,” a deep, gravelly voice said.Alaric's lips tipped up
Vanessa's stare lingered on the woman’s chest, and she suddenly felt like she was rocking a training bra. Christ on a crutch, were those things real? Her gaze finally drifted up to the woman’s face and something about the pretty features was familiar… Holy fuck balls, wasn’t she a district attorney? Oh my.Alaric cleared his throat, drawing her attention back to him. “We need to talk? Right now?” he asked. For a moment, she couldn’t speak. Good God, this man…His dark brown hair was messy, and his broad shoulders seemed bigger now. His cheekbones were well defined and high, setting off a strong jawline and wide, expressive lips. The man was built like a heavyweight boxer.Her gaze traveled down his throat, over the gap in his shirt at his neck, and then down his arms. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up, exposing powerful forearms and large hands.“Mrs Spencer?” Amusement colored Alaric's voice.Heat flooded her cheeks. Dear God, was she flustered? She was never flustered. An obno
Irritation pricked at her skin, mostly at herself for becoming so frazzled. “I have a problem.”When his brows shot up, she wanted to smack herself in the face with the file folder. Had she lost brain cells somewhere between entering this room and right now? Fuck. “I received a threatening letter… Or note I guess,"Alaric didn’t respond, so she shoved the file folder toward him, which wasn’t very far, since he was in her personal space. He didn’t take it, and her irritation grew into frustration. “It's in here," “Okay.” He drew out the word as his gaze dipped. But not to her hands. To her chest.Vanessa didn’t know what to think or say at that point. She was a logical woman. A minute ago, he had had a woman in here who had two baby butts for boobs and she was barely a B cup. Not to mention there was no way in holy hell he could see her goods. She was wearing a white blouse buttoned straight up to her chin and a suit jacket. Unless he had x-ray vision, he was just being an ass.Strug
"This… That was… That is so inappropriate that I don’t even know where to begin.” She reached up, taking off her glasses. For the briefest second, he saw her face for the first time without them before she placed them back on. His eyes narrowed. Just what did she see in Christopher Wesley that made her marry him, he wondered. She stared at him for a good half a minute and then exploded like a bottle rocket. “For fuck’s sake, talking to you is impossible! Fucking forget I even came here, because this was the most pointless trip I’ve ever made in the history of fucking forever! And just so you know, you're the worst Detective I've ever met in my life. It's a wonder how you manage to keep your job since the only thing you're good at is making false accusations, and being a shitty person.”He blinked, surprised by her outburst. And turned on—completely, 100 percent rocking a raging hard-on. There was definitely something wrong with that, but he wasn’t surprised. He liked his women mouthy
The whole lower part of the steering wheel had been torn open, wires exposed and dangling like little red and blue snakes.“Oh my God,” she whispered, slowly shaking her head. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Anger poured into her chest, causing her hand to tighten around the keys until the metal dug into flesh. Someone had done this to her car—her property. No way in hell did she believe this was coincidental. It had to be the asshole behind the note, and…Icy fear snapped at the heels of her fury. Her breath came out in a ragged exhale. The person who had done this could still be here, ting and watching. Oh my God. Her heart jumped in her chest painfully. Backing away from her car door, she scanned the darkness ahead of her.She swallowed, but the knot of fear made it difficult. She was out here, alone, and if someone wanted—A heavy hand landed on her shoulder.Shrieking, she spun around, dropping the folder and throwing out her hand that held the key-shank she’d created.“
He stepped away and opened his mouth, but then seemed to rethink what he was about to say. He finally checked out her car, frowning when he saw her open door. As he moved forward, she gulped in air and ignored the smidgen of disappointment.“What in the hell?” he said, facing her car fully. Gripping the door, he bent at the waist. “Looks like you lost a windshield.”She rolled her eyes. “No shit.”He cast a look over his shoulders that would’ve sent men running in the opposite direction. Vanessa made a face. “The sarcasm isn’t necessary,” he said before turning back to her car. “Man, they did a number on this baby. Looks like someone was trying to get himself a free ride.”She snorted. “You must be the muscle and not the brains. I guess Paul is the brains in the team then.”Again, he shot her another dark look, which she ignored.“Ten minutes ago I told you that I received a threatening note. Do you really think those two things aren’t connected? Wait. Don’t bother answering, because
There didn’t appear to be any security cameras at the garage entrance or inside, at least none that was obvious and would deter potential perpetrators. The lighting sucked in the garage, making it easy for anyone to be hiding. He didn’t like any of it.As he parked the truck and killed the engine, he looked over at her. “Are you doing okay?” The question made him strangely uncomfortable because he shouldn't care. She finally met his gaze and nodded curtly. “I’m fine.”That was debatable.Clearing her throat, she reached for the door handle. “Thank you for taking me home.” She said, “I came all this way, so I’m going to check out your apartment.”She was out of his truck with surprising quickness, slamming the door. He cursed under his breath and climbed out, finding her standing near his side, hand extended.“I’m going to need the note, please.” Her voice was clipped, professional, and cool.His eyes narrowed. Instead of handing it over, he walked around her and headed toward the en