Текст книги "Ignite"

Автор книги: Kelly Elliott

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Текущая страница: 10 (всего у книги 16 страниц)

THE SOUND OF ADALINE’S VOICE caused my heart to feel light again. A warm sensation spread through my body as she talked about us growing up. When she brought up the night we had first made love, my eyes automatically opened. The light in the room hitting my eyes felt like a million knives stabbing me in the back of my head.

My heart ached as I listened to her talk. Hearing her say she knew I didn’t cheat on her was sweet music to my ears. She must have finally listened to the damn messages I left.

“Why did you leave?” I asked before looking away. What was I doing? It didn’t matter why she left. What mattered was she came back. “It doesn’t matter. None of it matters anymore.”

The sharp intake of air from Adaline caused me to look back at her. Her face was white as a ghost as she stared at me in disbelief while I asked, “Did you listen to my messages finally?”

My body went rigid when she shook her head. “I didn’t listen to them.”

“How did you know I didn’t cheat on you then? Did you talk to your dad? My mom?”

Adaline was chewing on her lower lip, causing it to instantly swell. “No,” she said. “I just finally decided to stop listening to my head, and I listened to my heart. I’m so sorry I hurt you again, Emmit. I’d give anything to take it all back.”

The warmth spread through my body again as I looked into her eyes. “You can’t run away every time you think there’s a problem, Addie.”

Nodding her head frantically, she barely spoke. “I . . . I know. I’m an idiot.”

I would have nodded in agreement, but my head hurt too damn much. “We need to work things out together if there is a problem.”

Adaline began crying hard again. “I. Know. I. Hate. Myself. For. Hurting. You.”

“I want a do-over, Addie.”

With a snap of her head, she wiped her eyes and then her snotty nose. “A do-over of what?”

“That night.”

Adaline slowly shook her head as she pinched her eyebrows together. “What night?”

“The first night we made love.”

Adaline’s mouth dropped open as she pulled her head back in shock. “Never. That night was the best night of my life. It was magical and romantic.”

Looking away, I closed my eyes. “Nah, it was hot as hell. The bugs were eating us alive; it bruised the hell out of my knees and your back. You bled on my mother’s favorite quilt and you wore a look of pain the entire time.” I opened my eyes and caught Adaline’s stare. “I was so scared I was hurting you.”

Adaline’s blue eyes softened as flashed me a smile. God how I loved that smile. I’d never in my life get tired of seeing it. “Like I said, it was the best night of my life. I wouldn’t change it for the world. Except the part of your mother’s quilt.” Standing up, Adaline leaned over me. Her lips stopped right before they came in contact with mine. “You weren’t hurting me, Emmit. You were making me yours. I’ll forever be yours. A moment like that doesn’t happen twice.”

The moment her lips touched mine, I felt a surge of energy race through my body. Lifting my hand, I placed it behind her neck and pulled her closer to me. I’d give anything to have her crawl into bed with me. I could still taste that first kiss, like it had happened yesterday.

A male’s voice cleared their throat from behind me as I dropped my hand and Adaline pulled her lips away from mine.

“I see sleeping beauty woke up.”

The sound of Malcolm’s voice caused my head to hurt more. “Get the fuck out of my room, asshole.” He walked around the end of the bed and gave me that shit-eating grin of his.

“You know you want to see me. My pretty face makes you feel better.”

Rolling my eyes, I let out a groan and swore some more under my breath. “What’s wrong, Malcolm? Coming to see how bad of a job your flunky did in trying to keep me out of a race car.”

“Emmit!” Adaline said as Malcolm’s smile faded.

“You really think I’m that worried about your shitty driving that I would have to pay someone to keep you out of a car. You sure think highly of yourself, you asshole. I’ll beat you any day, any track.”

I glared at Malcolm as I balled my fists. “You’re on, Wallace. That dick move on me cost me the race.”

Malcolm shook his head as he looked at Adaline and then back to me and then back to Adaline. Malcolm and I had been rivals since I could remember. Two young Texas boys starting out on a dirt track. At first it was just fun to wreck each other. Then when we started winning, it was a race to see who could win the most.

Malcolm sighed. “You should have stayed away, Adaline. He’s nothing but a cocky son-of-a-bitch.”

Malcolm turned and headed out of the room. “Fuck you, Malcolm!” I shouted as Adaline gave me a dirty look.

“Emmit, stop! Malcolm has been here the entire time, waiting for you to wake up. He’s been worried sick.”

For one brief moment I felt guilty, then I remembered who we were talking about. We may have been friends once, but that was a long ass time ago. Letting out a laugh, I grabbed my head and moaned before saying, “The only person Malcolm Wallace cares about is himself.”

Malcolm took Adaline by the arm, turning her to face him. “Don’t worry about it, Adaline. I’ll let the nurse know he’s awake.”

“Thank you for staying, Malcolm.”

The exchange between the two of them pissed me off. Had Malcolm held Adaline in his arms? What if he was trying to move in on her? I’d kill him first before he got anywhere near Adaline.

“No problem, Adaline. See ya around.”

Adaline watched as Malcolm made his way out of the room. As she turned around, I saw the anger in her eyes. “So let’s get back to you leaving me again.”

Her eyes softened as a slow smile spread across her face. “You’re so bad.”

With a wink, I reached my hand out for hers and pulled her onto the bed as I wiggled my eyebrows and said, “And you love it.”

Biting on her lip, Adaline’s eyes lit up as she slowly nodded. “Yes, I do.”

“I’m going stir crazy.”

Adaline looked up from her Kindle and smiled. “Emmit, pacing the floor is not going to make the cat scan come back any faster.”

I shook my head and rolled my eyes. “This is stupid. I’ve already missed three races. There is only a few more left and I’m already out of contention for the series, why won’t they let me just race?”

Adaline looked back down at her Kindle and sighed. “You know why, Emmit.”

I was about to argue with her when the door opened to the little room we had been sitting in. Doctor Samsung smiled as he walked up to me and extended his hand. Giving him a quick and firm shake, I cut to the chase. “So? Am I cleared to race?”

Doctor Samsung glanced over to Adaline, lifted his brow and then back to me. “I expect for you to keep a close eye on him.”

“Of course I will. I wouldn’t treat Emmit any differently than I would any other driver.”

Seeming pleased by her response, he handed me the release form. Grabbing it from his hand, I smiled and headed out the door. I heard Adaline call my name out before the door even shut.

I’d been banned from my car for far too long. I was ready to get back at it. I may be out of the chase, but I still had a few races I could win. And I couldn’t wait to give number twenty-four a little taste of his own medicine.

Adaline grabbed my arm and pulled me to a stop. “Emmit. Where do you think you’re going?”

My face jerked back in shock as I stared at her. “To my plane. I’ve got a race to get to, Addie. You heard him, I’m cleared for racing.”

Pinching her eyebrows together as she threw her hands on her hips, Adaline gave me a look that should have scared me, but turned me on instead. “Just because he gave you the all clear doesn’t mean you have to rush back into a car, Emmit. You need to take it easy.”

I rolled my eyes as if I thought she was insane while I looked down at her soft plump lips. My mind drifted back to last night when they were wrapped around my—

“Are you even listening to me?”

I let out a soft chuckle while I shook my dirty thoughts away. “Yes, baby, I’m listening to you. Addie, you knew the moment I was given the all clear I’d be out the door. I need to get behind the wheel again. If I can make it to the track today, I can get a practice in and race this weekend. It was just a stupid bump on the head.”

The sigh that Adaline let out caused me to bite back another smile. “Fine. But, can we please stop at the house so we can at least pack up a bag for us each.”

A huge smile spread across my face as Adaline followed my lead. Picking her up, I swung her around as she let out a small yelp. “I love you, baby.”

Adaline’s body slid down mine as her feet slowly hit the ground. Licking her lips, she gave me a wink and said, “I love you too. Now let’s go before you practically jump out of your own skin.”

While Adaline called Mr. Elliot to let him know I had the all clear, I called Waldo and told him I would be in the race this weekend. I missed Charlotte last week because the asshole doctor felt I needed another week of rest. It was a damn bump on my head for Christ sakes.

“I’m headed to Kansas as soon as I can get to the plane.”

“Good. I need you back in this car.”

My body came alive at the thought of slipping through the window and racing. “Emmit, I need you to do one thing for me.”

I pushed the key into the ignition of my car as I cranked it up and quickly pulled out. “Anything, Waldo.”

“Put the number twenty-four out of your head. You focus solely on racing.”

I stole a glance over at Adaline who was typing away on a text message. The last thing I wanted to do was lie to the one man who was more like my father than my crew chief. “I know where I need to focus. I may not be in the race for the chase anymore, but I still intend on walking away with as many wins as I can.”

Waldo laughed and said, “That is the Emmit I know and love. See you later tonight.”

I reached over and hit End on the screen in my car. “Daddy is probably glad to know you're heading back.”

“Yeah, he is.”

Adaline reached over and took my hand in hers. “Promise me something, Emmit.”

I prayed like hell she wasn’t about to make me promise her something I knew I wouldn’t keep.

“What’s that?”

I could feel her stare penetrating me as I tried like hell to stare straight ahead and drive. “You won’t go after Malcolm.”

Adaline had told me how Malcolm didn’t leave my side until after I woke up and basically kicked him out of my hospital room. None of that mattered. That bastard was the reason I ended up missing out on three races. He was currently sitting second in the points lead and I had every intention of making sure he didn’t win this weekend.

“I’m going to race hard this weekend, so I can’t make you promises I’m not sure I can keep.”

Adaline sighed and squeezed my hand as we rode the rest of the way home in silence.

MY MIND WAS SPINNING AS I followed Emmit out of the drivers’ meeting. He seemed calm and even walked over to Malcolm and exchanged a few words with him. The only problem was, I knew it was all a front.

“I’m headed back to the bus to relax a bit before the race,” Emmit said as my father lifted his hand in acknowledgement.

As I chewed on my lip, I tried to come up with some kind of plan to get Emmit’s mind off of getting back at Malcolm. I knew he was focused on winning, but he was also focused on Malcolm way too much.

As we stepped up into the bus, I looked around. Little Johnny wouldn’t be here until after the race started. Hank never hung out on the bus before a race, and everyone else would be in the garage.

“Do you think they’ll come knocking for an interview?” I asked as I watched Emmit sit down on the sofa and turn on the TV.

With a shrug of his shoulders, he said, “They might.”

I slowly nodded my head and glanced over to the door. “I’ll be right back,” I said as I made my way outside and grabbed Lola’s water dish. It had been full, but I emptied it anyway. Making my way back inside, I shut the door and quickly locked it.

Emmit was focused on some show about fixing up old trucks. I set the metal dish on the granite countertop and smiled when I looked down at my dress.

Perfect.

I slowly made my way over to where Emmit was sitting, as I reached up and took my hair down from my ponytail. Operation, Get Emmit’s mind off of everything, was in full swing. He was so engrossed in the show he was watching, he didn’t even notice me take my panties off.

I stepped in front of him and gently bit on my thumb as I looked at him. Emmit’s eyes burned with lust and that crooked smile that I loved so much slowly spread across his face as his dimple popped out.

“Whatcha doin’?” he asked as he adjusted himself.

I tried to give him the sexiest look I could as I tiled my head. It wasn’t hard to be sexy when Emmit’s stare was causing my lower stomach to pulse with desire.

“I’m making a move on you,” I said with a wiggle of my eyebrows.

Emmit bit down on his lip and I almost fell to my knees. There was something incredibly sexy about it.

“Are you in the slow lane, baby, ’cause you’re just standing there.”

I dropped my hands to my breast and moved them over my body. A low growl came from the back of Emmit’s throat as he whispered, “Jesus, Addie.”

“It isn’t fair you’re the only one who gets to go for a ride today,” I purred as I moved onto the sofa and straddled my body over his.

With a quick scan of my face, Emmit zeroed in on my lips. Placing his hand behind my neck, he pulled my lips to his. We quickly got lost in the lust filled kiss as Emmit’s other hand moved under my dress only to discover I was sans panties.

With a deep moan into my mouth, Emmit quickly lifted and pulled his pants down, exposing himself to me.

My eyes widened as I looked at what belonged to me. I was so wet I knew I could slip right onto him and go fast and hard, but I needed to focus on Emmit’s needs right now, not my own.

I ran my tongue slowly along my top lip as I softly said, “Touch me. Get me ready for you.”

Emmit’s fingers dove into me as he let out a hiss. “You’re more than ready, baby.”

I moved my hips against his fingers, loving the way it felt to be like this with Emmit. It still felt like we were making up for those three weeks I had temporally lost my sanity.

“Oh, Emmit. You drive me crazy.”

Emmit pulled my lips back to his and kissed me. It felt as if we were fighting to take each other’s air as we kissed. Stopping the kiss, Emmit spoke against my lips. “I want you to come with me inside you. Don’t come, Addie.”

The build up to my orgasm was in full swing as Emmit’s fingers messaged the magic spot inside of me. My body shook as Emmit grabbed a handful of my hair and said, “Do not come, Adaline.”

My lower lip began to bleed as I bit down with such force I busted it open. “Emmit, I need to . . . please!” I begged as I rocked faster.

“If you come, I won’t let you fuck me.”

My heart dropped as I fought with everything I had not to come. I loved it when Emmit talked dirty to me. It turned me on even more as my eyes locked onto his.

“I won’t. . . . come . . . I swear,” I panted out while Emmit’s fingers slowed down. A smile spread across his face as he pulled his fingers out and put them in his mouth as I whimpered.

Slowly pulling his fingers out of his mouth, Emmit said, “Get on me, Addie.”

“Yes,” I said as I moved over him and slowly sank down onto him. Dropping my head back, I took in the feeling of Emmit filling my body. Something about us both being completely dressed was driving my desire even more.

“You look so fucking hot. Now fuck me. I’m all yours, baby.”

Placing my hands onto Emmit’s shoulders, he grabbed my hips as I moved. The feeling was amazing as I totally lost control and quickly got lost in my orgasm. It hit was such force, I screamed as I tried to get Emmit deeper into me. The moment his fingers dug in deeper into my hips, I knew he was about to come.

“You’re gripping my cock so hard . . . I’m going to come, baby.”

Emmit’s words pushed me over the ledge as I came with him again. I loved being on top. I always came when I was on top. The feeling of being in control while we fucked was something I loved more than I wanted to admit. I had fantasized about tying Emmit up more than one time. Maybe someday I’d work up the nerve to tell him my fantasies.

My forehead dropped to his, Emmit, and I pulled air into our lungs as I felt him twitching inside of me. I would have to say that operation get Emmit’s mind off of everything worked like a charm.

“I can’t wait until you’re pregnant, Addie.”

Those words wrapped around my entire body and caused a shiver to race across my skin. I wanted nothing more than to be carrying Emmit’s child. My mother thought we were rushing things, especially since she kept bringing up how I had run away not too long ago. I had admitted I let what I thought I saw and heard fuel my silly fears. I knew in the depths of my soul that Emmit would never cheat on me.

“Do you want to try for a baby, Emmit?”

Emmit’s eyes lit up as I felt him getting hard again. Lifting my eyebrows up, I let out a giggle. “Are you getting hard again?” I asked as I began moving my hips. I didn’t regret blurting out my question. I could see it in Emmit’s eyes he wanted a baby as much as I did.

Emmit answered me by pressing himself into me. “I would love to see your stomach growing with our child, but I want us to spend some time together first, Addie. Just you and me. When we have a baby, things will be different.”

I pulled my body back to get a better look at him. “What do you mean things will be different?”

Emmit pulled me back to him as he kissed along my neck. “I’m just saying, once we have a baby it won’t be us sneaking off to places together. There will be a little person involved.”

There was lightness in my chest as I thought about us having a baby. Emmit’s voice whispering against my neck had my lower stomach tightening with anticipation. “I’m going to make love to you now, baby.”

Before I even knew what was happening, my dress was over my head and on the floor as I laid on the sofa and Emmit made love to me every so slowly.

God I loved race day.

Two Months Later

AS I STOOD ON THE window of my car, I yelled out in victory lane. Turning, I quickly scanned for her.

Blue eyes caught mine as Adaline made her way over to me. Jumping down, I ignored all the pats on the back and the yells of congratulations. The only thing I saw was her.

Adaline.

My breath caught in my throat when she stopped in front of me. “You won,” she said as she pressed her lips together.

The last race of the season.

I raced my fucking ass off against Malcolm Wallace and even though I wanted to ram into the back of his car, I kept my cool and took the win from him. I knew by taking Malcolm out, I risked wrecking my own car.

“You know what’s even better than winning?”

Tilting her head to the side, Adaline asked with a smile, “What?”

I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her body flush against mine. “You kissing me in front of everyone.”

Adaline chuckled as she pressed her lips against mine.

I knew the world couldn’t be shut out for long. My name was called out and Adaline took a step back to let the rest of the world invade our moment.

“Emmit, how does it feel knowing you won the last one, but you were still out of reach of that title?”

With a smile and a small shrug, I looked into the reporter’s eyes and said, “There’s always next year.”

More rounds of post race interviews took us well into the night. By the time Adaline and I made it back to the bus, I was exhausted and Lola was ready to play.

“I just want a shower and a bed,” I mumbled as I walked past Adaline and into the bathroom.

Lola had been on my heels until Adaline called her to go outside.

As I stood under the shower, I thought about this past year. So much had happened and there was still so much more to come. In five weeks was the wedding. Five weeks and Adaline would be one-hundred percent mine. My hands pressed against the shower wall as I let the water run over my body and dreamed of marrying Adaline.

“Emmit, are you hungry?” Adaline called out.

My body came to life as her voice filled the bathroom. There was only one thing I was hungry for. Turning off the shower, I wrapped a towel around my waist and set out to find the love of my life.

I stepped into the bedroom and came to a stop. A package was sitting on the bed wrapped in plain white paper.

“I’m heating up some of the lasagna I made last night,” Adaline said from the kitchen.

As I picked up the package, I said, “Okay, baby. I’ll be right there.”

There was no note or card anywhere on the package. Ripping it open, I held a box in my hand. Lifting the lid, I pinched my eyebrows together as I reached in and lifted out a picture frame. Smiling, I sat down and looked at the picture of me holding Lola when she was about twelve weeks old.

“What’s that?” Adaline asked as she walked in and sat down next to me.

I laughed as I looked at Adaline. “Like you don’t know.”

As she glanced down at the picture, she smiled and said, “Is that Lola as a puppy? Oh my gosh, she is so cute. Where did you get this picture?”

I pinched my eyebrows together and asked, “You mean you didn’t give this to me?”

Adaline wore a confused face and said, “Nope. The only pictures I’ve ever seen is the one on your mantel of you holding Lola in your arms right after you got her and the one in the living room when she was older. I’ve never seen this one.”

I shrugged as I glanced at the photo. “I wonder who put this here then?”

Adaline slapped her hands on her legs as she stood up. “Maybe your sister or mom? They were both in here earlier during the race. Wasn’t there a card?”

I shook my head. “Nope.” Standing, I walked over and placed the picture next to my bed. “It was probably, Mom. She must have found the picture.”

Adaline smiled bigger. “It sure is cute. Makes you want another puppy.”

With a laugh, I shook my head and grabbed some sweatpants. “Hell no do I want another puppy.”

Lola barked as Adaline laughed. “Seems to me like Lola is down for a friend.”

I pulled Adaline into my arms and quickly gave her a kiss. “The only baby I want in this bus is our baby.”

Adaline smiled as we made our way to the living room area.

The rest of the night was spent with Adaline curled up in my arms as Hank finally showed up and we started back for North Carolina. I couldn’t wait to get home and just relax. I kissed Adaline on the forehead and slowly let exhaustion claim me.

“Two more weeks. Can you believe it darling?”

My mother was standing at her kitchen island cutting up some fabric that was being used to make bows or something for the wedding reception when Adaline and I got back from our honeymoon. Since we were having a family only wedding, we decided to have a reception for our friends and co-workers once we got back. I quickly learned to smile and nod and pretty much just let the women in my life do whatever they pleased concerning this wedding and reception.

With a polite smile, I shook my head. “Nope. It’s not going by fast enough. I just want to make Addie mine already.”

My mother let out a soft laugh as she concentrated on cutting the fabric. “She is not a piece of property to own Emmit Lewis.”

I took a bite of beef jerky and nodded my head. “Yes ma’am, I’m fully aware of that.”

My phone beeped as I pulled it out and saw it was an email. The Subject line read, Your Laluna reservation.

“Looks like the hotel is confirming our reservation.” I said as I opened up the email. My mouth dropped to the floor as I read what it said.

Dear Mr. Lewis,

This is to confirm your cancelation of your beach cottage booked from December 23 through January 5.

I didn’t even finish reading the email and I was calling the resort.

“Emmit, what’s wrong?” my mother asked as I mumbled every curse word known to man.

“Hello! Yes, I just got an email confirming that my reservation had been cancelled. Lewis. Emmit Lewis. I never cancelled anything. I’m getting married there for Christ sakes!”

“I’m so sorry about this. Ms. Morgan called and canceled that just moments ago.”

My heart was stuck in my throat. I knew Adaline hadn’t called because she was standing in the dining room laughing with my sister about some stupid family tradition. “When did she call exactly?”

“No more than ten minutes. I just sent the email. I was the one who took the call. She said she was the bride, Ms. Morgan.”

“That’s impossible because I’m looking at my fiancé and she has not been on her phone at all.”

“Oh my goodness, Mr. Lewis I’m so very sorry. She stated she was Ms. Morgan.”

I glanced at my worried mother as I made my way outside. “Okay listen, someone is obviously trying to play some kind of game. Please tell me our wedding is still set and that nothing has happened with that.”

More typing. Silence followed by more typing. “No, nothing has been changed with that. I’m putting a note in your file now to alert the entire staff of what has happened. Mr. Lewis let me be the first to apologize. I would have never cancelled it had I thought it was someone playing a cruel joke. She even had your credit card number when she confirmed.”

Stephanie.

“No harm, no foul. But if you would please alert your staff as well as Roslinda, our wedding planner, that if anyone tries to make any changes, she is to call me first.”

“Yes, sir. I will personally call her right this moment. I’m glad we were able to get this taken care of.”

I nodded and blew out a breath. “So am I, or I would have had one very upset bride-to-be.”

After ending the call, I pulled up Robert’s number. I didn’t want to bother Mr. Elliot with this kind of bullshit, so I had been keeping his son Robert in the loop. After I got the picture of Lola and me, then another picture of me with my arm around Stephanie at a benefit dinner that my sister Ashley had taken, I knew something wasn’t right. I immediately told Adaline what was happening and she agreed that it all seemed a little fishy. Now with this happening, all signs were pointing to Stephanie. She had access to everything of mine at one time.

Fucking bitch.

“Emmit? Is everything okay?” Adaline asked as she made her way over to me. I quickly decided she didn’t need to know what Stephanie had done. I caught it in time and fixed it. No need to add any stress on my beautiful bride.

Forcing a smile, I nodded and pulled her into my arms. With a quick kiss to the top of her head, I said, “Everything is perfect, baby. I needed to have Robert take care of something for me.”

Adaline pulled back and looked into my eyes. “Are you sure?”

I slipped my hand behind her neck and pulled her lips to mine. Kissing her with as much love and passion as I could, Adaline moaned into my mouth. If my mother and sister hadn’t been in the house I would have taken Adaline right here by the pool.

When my lips broke contact with hers, Adaline giggled. “Wow. It doesn’t feel so chilly outside now.”

“That’s just a little taste of what I’m going to do to you after my mother and sister leave.”

Adaline’s eyes lit up and then her lower lip jetted out into a pout. “I think they’re going to be here for a while. We have a lot to take care of for the reception.”

My body filled with warmth as I gazed into the eyes of the woman I loved more than life itself. Lifting my hand, I ran my thumb across her lower lip. “I love you, Addie.”

With her hands placed on my chest, Adaline tilted her head and looked at me like she knew I was bothered by something. My phone rang with my new assistant Todd’s ring tone. I had already had him change numbers from Stephanie’s old number. It was a pain for people to contact me, but I didn’t care.

Adaline pointed to me and said, “I’m not finished with you Mr. Lewis. We are talking later.”

With a quick chuckle, I nodded and said, “Yes, ma’am.”

Adaline took two steps away from me and then turned and headed back into the house as I swiped my phone to answer it.

“Todd, what’s up?”

Todd cleared his throat and said, “We have a slight problem, Emmit.”

I dragged in a deep breath and braced myself for something else. “Hit me with it.”

“I got a call from Robert just now. I decided to go ahead and pull up your credit card online, I had a gut feeling if Stephanie had your card number for a cancelation, she might try something else.”

My hand pushed through my hair as I dropped down onto a chair and stared out over the lake.

“Fucking hell. What has she done now?”

There was a slight pause before Todd started talking again. “It appears your new credit cards we had issued after Stephanie was fired, have all been closed.”

“Why in the hell would she close my accounts?”

“Why would she call and cancel your villa, sir?”

I let out a sharp breath of air as I said, “Point taken. How did she get the new numbers?”

“I’m not sure sir. It was only two cards, not all of them which is kind of strange.”

I nodded my head as I thought for a moment.

“Todd, we need to go ahead and have all the cards changed out again and no one gets access to them. Let’s also go ahead and do the restraining orders like the lawyer suggested. I didn’t want to do it, but I think we need to.”

“Got it. I’ll have the new cards to you within twenty-four hours.” Sounds of rustling paper followed a brief silence. “I’ll get it done ASAP.”

Closing my eyes, I nodded and said, “I owe you.”

“Just doing my job.”

After talking about a few more details, I hit End and stared out over the lake. I was not about to let our wedding get ruined by some nutcase.

Knowing what I had to do, I got up and headed to my office.

Stephanie was going to wish she’d never heard of me.