“Yes,” Carly said, her voice soft. “We remember. The funeral was…”
“Horrible,” Deni filled in. “But my father…he fell apart and I didn’t know. I was so overwhelmed with my own grief, working on my recovery, that I didn’t realize what was going on with my dad.”
Charlotte leaned forward. “You should have called me. I would have brought Bart over,” referring to her emotional support dog. Bart was a big, adorably ugly bulldog that curled up with her patients when they were dealing with emotional turmoil. Somehow, Bart’s heavy body and rough fur helped Charlotte’s patients deal with their pain, easing it somehow.
“I appreciate the offer, but…well, before I knew what was going on, my father was in some serious debt. We had the medical expenses from the hospital and oncologist. The insurance company didn’t cover all of her medical bills. They covered some, but they argued that some of her expenses weren’t necessary,” she explained, her voice quavering as she thought back to her beautiful mother who struggled so valiantly to live, only to pass away in the end.
“You should have come to me,” Jessa soothed. “I would have gladly covered her expenses.”
Deni sniffed and smiled at Jessa’s generous offer. “I know,” she whispered past the lump in her throat. “I know that any of you would have helped me.” She blinked and sniffed. “But Sebastian offered me the money to cover my father’s debt and…a bit more.”
“In exchange for…?” Carly prompted.
“In exchange for marrying him so that he could regain custody of Chloe.”
“So that’s how he got custody of Chloe back!” Jessa exclaimed. “We were all wondering, but Sebastian’s so quiet and reserved.”
Deni smiled at the memory of that sweet child. “Yes. I married him and, at first, it was a perfect arrangement. I lived in Sebastian’s house, continued to work, and Chloe came back to him. But she was…something was wrong. She was so quiet and still.”
“I remember that,” Carly agreed. “Chloe wasn’t herself. But she got better.”
Deni nodded. “I know. She came out of her shell and started smiling again.” She took a deep breath. “And I got to know Sebastian a bit better.” She thought back to that initial dinner with the two of them. “She smiled and laughed and we went camping together and then…”
Carly choked on a sip of her margarita. “Wait. Sebastian? He went camping? Like in the dirt and outside and all of that?”
Deni laughed, nodding her head. “Yep. You should have seen him making s’mores! He wasn’t impressed with marshmallow stickiness all over his fingers and his daughter.”
All three women laughed at the image of the always reserved, icy-cold friend of theirs with sticky marshmallow on his fingers.
“That was sort of the turning point. I couldn’t watch Sebastian during that camping trip and not fall in love with him. He would do anything for his daughter, even sleep in a tent and make foods that he’d normally never touch.” She looked down at her hands, then up at her friends. “We came back and…things just got better and better between us,” she sighed. “I loved him.” She shook her head. “But something went wrong. Somehow, his ex-wife heard that Sebastian and I didn’t sleep in the same bedroom. She’d deduced that our marriage wasn’t real and demanded custody of Chloe back.”
“But…” Charlotte blinked, confused. “He still has Chloe.”
Deni sighed, nodding. “I know. I was at the hearing.” She shook her head. “I couldn’t stay away.” But she took a deep breath and looked back up at her friends. “He…he thinks that I’m the one who told Meredith. He also accused me of taking money from Meredith.” Deni shuddered. “That woman is horrible! I wouldn’t even speak to her, much less give her information that would hurt Chloe or Sebastian. And there’s no way I would accept money from her.”
Jessa rolled her eyes. “I could have told Sebastian that!”
Charlotte nodded. “But we had no idea,” she replied, watching Deni with “the look”.
Carly tilted her head. “Although, we suspected something was going on. Sebastian has been extra grumpy lately.”
Deni asked the question she’d needed to know over the past two weeks. “Is…is Chloe okay? She hasn’t heard about any of this mess, has she?”
Carly leaned over, putting an arm around Deni’s shoulders. “Chloe is doing great,” she assured Deni.
Good, she thought. That was all that mattered. “Okay, then that’s done!” she announced and lifted her glass, finishing the rest of her drink. “Now that you ladies all know of my latest stupidity, let’s drink and…”
The doorbell rang, indicating that their pizza had arrived.
“…And eat until we’re sick!” she finished.
Charlotte laughed, standing up to answer the door. Carly stepped into Deni’s tiny kitchen and whipped up another round of margaritas, topping off drinks as Charlotte set three pizzas on the coffee table.
For the rest of the night, they drank and devoured the pizzas, laughing and having a good time. Oz arrived around midnight, looking at the four of them with an amused expression. “It’s a good thing none of you are pregnant,” he muttered, herding the three thoroughly buzzed ladies into his vehicle. Turning to Deni, he looked down at her with eyes that were disconcertingly observant. “Are you okay?” he asked softly.
Was she okay? Deni didn’t think so. But Oz was a sweet man, and a dangerous one. If he even suspected that she was hurt, Deni didn’t want to know what he might do. “I’m fine,” she assured him.
Oz didn’t move for a long moment, but then he leaned forward, pulling her into a gentle hug. “No, you’re not. If you need help, any help at all, you come directly to me. Got it?”
She hugged him back, grateful for his brotherly assurance. “I will,” she promised.
Chapter 30
Sebastian wanted to hit something.
Since that was so out of character for him, he continued walking down the hallway, irritated with life in general and everything else specifically.
As soon as he entered his office, he sensed that something was wrong. Sure enough, as soon as he opened the door, he found Oz and Jayce standing in his office.
“Go away,” he snapped, walking around to sit at his desk.
Jayce and Oz moved closer, sitting down across from him. Sebastian hadn’t really believed that his friends would leave, but a man could hope.
“He looks miserable,” Oz commented conversationally as he lowered his tall frame into the leather chair in front of Sebastian’s desk.
“Good,” Jayce snapped, sitting in the other chair and glaring at Sebastian.
Dark eyebrows lifted as Sebastian surveyed his friends. “Good?” he scoffed coldly. “You’re glad that I’m miserable?”
Jayce shrugged. “You hurt our wives’ friend. It’s good that you’re hurting as well.”
Sebastian wasn’t aware of their friend. “To whom are you referring?” he snapped.
Oz’s eyes narrowed. “Deni Stenson is our friend.”
Sebastian’s body ached at her name. He looked away, pushing out of his chair and moving to look out one of the windows. “Is she okay?” he asked softly, and dropped his head, muttered a curse. He shouldn’t care! She’d betrayed him! She’d given information to Meredith!
“No. She’s not okay,” Jayce replied. “We didn’t know about the connection with Deni and our wives, but now that we know…!”
Sebastian swung around, his eyes sharp. “What’s wrong with her?” His eyes moved to the doorway. “Is she…?”
“Why do you care?”
Sebastian stopped, reminded once again that he shouldn’t care. “She’s…!” he stopped, not sure what to say.
“She’s your wife?” Oz prompted blandly.
Sebastian heard the word and, once again, his heart ached. But then and there, he resolved to figure out a way to…what? Keep her? Divorce her? Leave her alone?
No, that wasn’t the solution. He’d been trying that for the past
several weeks. It hadn’t worked!
“Just…is she okay? Is she eating enough?”
“No,” Oz replied flatly. “She’s lost weight and she looks miserable. What did you do to her?”
Sebastian shook his head, trying to ignore the need to order food for her. “She told Meredith about…that mess with the separate bedrooms,” he finished off, sighing heavily as he rubbed the back of his neck. “And put Chloe in jeopardy.”
Oz and Jayce stared at the man, then they both shook their heads. “No. It wasn’t Deni Stenson,” Oz replied emphatically. “And if it was, then it was an accident.”
Sebastian thought for a moment, recalling the amount of money sitting untouched in that bank account. It hadn’t occurred to him that she might have revealed the information to Meredith accidentally. But that would make more sense!
Standing up, his whole body lightened. “Do you think so?”
Jayce shook his head. “No. She didn’t reveal anything, you ass!” he snapped. “Deni is an intelligent woman! She would know what’s going on and she wouldn’t have said a word!”
Sebastian slumped back down behind his desk. “Then…who told Meredith? I almost lost Chloe to my ex-wife because of what Meredith found out.”
Jayce shook his head, leaning forward. “Yeah, and you kept custody of your daughter because of Deni. She showed up at that courtroom after you kicked her out of your house. She didn’t need to be there. And yet, it was because of her that you had those pictures on your phone. Deni had a bunch of pictures on her phone too. And it was Deni’s dad who risked being arrested to go to the judge’s chambers before the hearing to show the judge pictures of Chloe.”
Sebastian had agreed with all of that right up until they commented about Mark. And he didn’t even question how these two men knew about the court hearing. The men seemed able to get information out of a rock! So it seemed just par for the course that they knew all about it.
At that moment, his office door whipped open and he turned, ready to snap at whoever would dare to enter his office without permission. But instead of an employee, a dark haired giant of a man, Ryker Thune, walked in with…!
“Martha?” Sebastian blinked as his housekeeper walked in next to Ryker. Then panic hit him. “Is Chloe okay?” he demanded, standing up. The woman’s eyes were teary and she looked absolutely miserable.
Ryker understood where Sebastian’s mind had gone and hurried to reassure him. “Chloe’s fine. She’s with Jenny.”
Sebastian sank back into his chair, relief surging through him. “Thank goodness!” he muttered. He pulled himself together and looked at the older woman. “What are you doing here?” he asked of his housekeeper.
Ryker tossed a file folder onto Sebastian’s desk.
Sebastian opened the folder and…there were several pictures of Meredith walking into a store and Sebastian recognized the name of the store. It was the place either Jenny or his housekeeper purchased most of Chloe’s clothing. “What’s this?” he asked, flipping through the pictures. One by one, he understood. Martha stepping into the store, then Meredith several minutes later, according to the time stamp. Then there was Meredith coming back out, and her expression was one of fury and frustration. There were several more pictures. Then one of Martha coming out, with just one package and walking in the opposite direction.
“It was me, sir,” Martha admitted.
Sebastian looked up, confused. “It was you…what?”
Martha sniffed, but her shoulders pulled back. “I’m the one,” she explained. “I accidentally told your ex-wife about the separate bedrooms. My only excuse was that I was irritated. Your ex-wife took over the shopping trip, making me purchase all of these horrible dresses when Chloe only wanted a simple dress. Meredith Hughes even demanded I give her your credit card! I was so angry with her, sir! But I thought I was alone as I walked out that day. Unfortunately, someone heard me mutter and…well, that’s how Meredith found out about the two of you sleeping in separate rooms, sir. I’ve already packed up my things and I will be out of the house before you get home. But just to make sure….”
“You told Meredith that Deni and I slept in separate bedrooms?” he demanded, stopping her explanation.
The woman nodded.
“So…it wasn’t Deni?”
Martha shook her head. “I think it was me. And I’m so sorry, sir!”
Sebastian shook his head, lifting a hand to stop her apology. “You…you didn’t mean to do it.”
“No, sir! I never liked the first Ms. Hughes, sir. I’d never, ever, do anything to hurt you or Chloe.”
Sebastian’s heart lifted and he had an almost dizzy sense of relief. “That’s fine, Martha. I appreciate you telling me.”
“If I’d known that I was the one who slipped up, I would have come to you sooner, sir.”
Sebastian smiled, shaking his head. “I know you would have. Thank you.”
Ryker put a comforting hand on Martha’s arm and led her out of the office, then quietly, but firmly, closed the door, leaning his shoulders against it. “So, now that you know it wasn’t Deni, what are you going to do?”
Sebastian smiled, which was odd. “I think I’m going to go find Deni and…”
“No!” Oz snapped. “Sorry, old man, but she’s our wives’ friend, now ours, and you hurt her.”
Sebastian chuckled. “I thought I was your friend too.”
Jayce stood up, walking over to stand next to Ryker. “You are our friend. But the problem is, Deni is a good person and our wives care about her.”
Oz stood as well, taking his place next to his brother and friend. “We’d protect you if there were any issues,” Oz assured Sebastian. “But now we need to protect Deni.”
Jayce nodded. “From you.”
Sebastian leaned back against his desk, crossing his arms over his chest as he surveyed the human wall that blocked him from leaving his office. “So, what’s your plan? Are you going to stay there like that forever?”
“If we need to,” Oz replied.
“Even if I tell you that I plan to make it up to Deni?”
Ryker stepped forward. “How?”
Sebastian opened one of the desk drawers, lifting a small, black box and tossing it into the air, catching it on the way down. “I love her,” he began. “I love her and I’d bought this over a month ago, intending to marry her, for real this time.”
Ryker shook his head. “You don’t know Deni very well if you think she’ll just accept a diamond ring and forgive you.”
“I don’t care how long it takes me,” he warned both of them. “I’m going to win her back. I was stupid to have believed she’d do something like that. Deni would never betray me and I was an idiot.”
“Why did you believe it in the first place?” Oz demanded.
Sebastian knew that these men might be the key to winning Deni back. “Because I was in love with her. And I’ve learned not to trust women or love.”
The three men stared, but it was Oz who broke into the tense silence with a frustrated epithet. “Damn it!” he sighed. “You said the one thing that would convince us,”
Ryker chuckled. “I wasn’t going to keep him from her anyway,” he said, slapping Jayce and Oz on the backs.”
“Why the hell not?” Jayce demanded.
Ryker was always the quiet type, but his eyes caught everything. “Because they are miserable without each other.”
Oz conceded the point, but turned to face Sebastian with a grin. “He’s right, it’s going to be hell for you to convince Deni to forgive you.”
Sebastian’s smile evaporated. “And you three aren’t going to do anything to help me, are you?”
Ryker laughed, but it was Jayce who answered. “We’ve all been in your shoes, my friend. It’s our turn to sit back and watch, reveling in the fact that you’re in the doghouse and not us.”
Sebastian wasn’t amused. “I’m relieved that my pain will entertain you.”
Oz chuckled and clapped Sebasti
an’s shoulder merrily. “More than you will ever know.”
Chapter 31
Deni rolled over, feeling sleepy and…!
Her eyes popped open as the nausea from the previous night hit her. Jumping out of bed, she raced to the bathroom. Several minutes later, she leaned back against the wall of her small bathroom, her body aching as she regretted the three…no, four…uh…maybe five margaritas Carly had pressed on her.
Of course, Deni could have just set the glass down, but it had felt so good to not hurt anymore. To feel…numb. To not feel the absence of Sebastian and Chloe every waking moment of her day.
With a sigh, she pushed herself up to her feet and…yelped when she noticed her appearance in the mirror. Her lips were red, her hair going every which way, and her skin looked…a bit green.
Turning on the shower, she leaned her head against the wall, wishing that her stomach would calm down. Her head was achy too, but not as bad as it should be after last night’s indulgence.
It was probably the pizza, she thought as she stepped under the warm water. “This is ridiculous,” she muttered, grabbing the soap. Fifteen minutes later, she felt better, but still achy. “Time to stop looking like a ghost,” she told her reflection. Bending down, she grabbed the hair dryer from under the sink and…
“Oh no!” she gasped, spotting the box of tampons in the corner of the cabinet.
The hair dryer slipped out of her numb fingers. A moment later, she rushed to her bedside, picking up her cell phone and flipped to the calendar, then through the months. Not last month. Not the one before but…
“Oh no!” she moaned, collapsing onto the bed as she realized why she’d thrown up this morning. It hadn’t been the margaritas. At least, not entirely.
She was pregnant! If her calendar was correct, two months along!
The doorbell rang at that moment and she glanced out the bedroom door. For a long moment, she considered ignoring the bell. But it might be Carly or one of the others and…well, right now, she could use a friend.
Wanted: Wife for Hire (The Diamond Club Book 8) Page 22