by Adler
“Is there anything else?”
Once again, Bradley stalls. He takes several sips of his coffee and then clears his throat. “Um, yes, there is.” Harrison’s eyes narrow again, as he waits for the rest.
“So a while back, I was tired of Marion calling all the shots and told her I was done and that I wanted to handle Dani my way. Well, she began threatening me and telling me she would expose me to Dani and Dani would hate me even more than she already did. I had no choice but to go along with her for fear of being exposed. I knew she was blackmailing you and some other guy. I was then added to the list. And she stopped paying me, saying I owed her now.” He pauses to drinks more coffee. “I told her thugs where Simone lives, so they could just scare her. I had no idea that they were going to try to hurt her. I was in the vicinity when the jerk knocked her over while she was jogging, so I showed up to play hero when she got back to the house. The problem is that she doesn’t want anything to do with me. Once again, she shunned me. I was so mad that I called Marion and told her about it. She just laughed at me and told me she couldn’t blame Dani for leaving me and that I was worthless. I was incensed. I managed to get information out of one of Simone’s clients about their trip to Palm Springs. I was about to buy a ticket to go down there, when I learned that you were already there. Even after that trip, I was able to probe enough information here and there that I was keeping Marion satisfied. She also had some guy working from the inside, who seemed to be off way too often. She was growing suspicious of him and was getting ready to blow the whistle on whatever it was that she was blackmailing him with.”
Harrison nods his head. All of this is starting to make perfect sense, he’s referring to Garrin.
“I didn’t want her to do the same to me, so I stayed on top of Simone and pried as much information out of her as I could.” I learned of your wedding the same way as everyone else though; it was plastered all over the media.”
“Okay. So, I am glad that you have come to me with this. It still doesn’t change anything though. Are you the one who entered her condo all those times and left those flowers?”
“No, I just told Marion when she would be gone, so she could have one of her jerks leave the notes and flowers.”
“So you didn’t send the bottle of wine to Simone or leave the flowers on the doorstep either? What about the air let out of her tires?”
Shaking his head, “No, none of it. I was only the information guy. I didn’t want my fingerprints on anything. I was supposed to be the hero swooping in to save the day. But, apparently you already beat me to the hero role. We had a really hard time keeping up the scare tactics with that huge bodyguard always there.”
“So, what about the attack on her in the park?”
Bradley lowers his head and takes a deep breath. “Well, before I finish, I need you to give me your word that when you hear what else I have to say, you will not lay a hand on me.”
Harrison’s eyebrows are now furrowed. “Well now, that is going to depend on what you else you have to tell me.”
Bradley sucks in air and then lets it out in a whoosh, while Harrison is still glaring at him “When Marion learned of your marriage in the Caymans and that her blackmail scheme had fallen apart, she called me and told me that we were to resort to our back up plan.”
“Which was what? Come on, just spit it out already!”
“Just so you know, it was not supposed to go down the way it did. Marion told me that she just wanted to scare Danielle really good into thinking if she wasn’t with you, all of this wouldn’t be happening. It seemed logical at the time, but once I thought it over later, I realized I was just played by Marion. I was so upset about her marrying you that I didn’t think any of it through beforehand. Had I been thinking clearly, I could have stopped Marion from physically hurting Dani. I…”
Before Bradley finishes his sentence, Harrison leaps up and lunges across the table at him. To hell with being a gentleman. The gloves are off, and he is taking him down. Harrison knocked Bradley to the floor and falls to the floor on top of him. He begins to punch Bradley in the face, while Bradley struggles to block the blows. The waitress is screaming, and someone is pulling Harrison off of Bradley. Once the two are separated, a man asks Bradley if he is okay. He wipes some blood away from his lip as he nods, not taking his eyes off his attacker.
“Yeah, you’re fine aren’t you? It’s not your life that someone has been fucking with is it?”
“If you hadn’t swooped in with all your mother fucking money and glamour, Dani would be mine!!”
“No! She was long gone before she met me! You lost her a long time ago and once she hears about this, she will never forgive you. I doubt you know what love is. You took money in exchange for terrorizing your ex-wife. What kind of man does that?”
Bradley starts to respond, but stops. He looks around the room and realizes the entire establishment is staring at them, hanging onto every word.
“Listen, as much as I would love to stay and receive some more of your verbal abuse, I have something else I need to tell you that is more important than anything else I have said so far.”
Harrison snarls at him, “What else could you possibly have to add to this already charming story, Bradley?”
Bradley looks around the room again and nods toward the door. “Not in here, I think we have outstayed our welcome.” He throws some money on the table that someone has restored to its upright position, then heads toward the door. Harrison follows at a distance.
“Listen, I’ll make this quick. I regret everything I have done. Nobody has ever had more remorse than I have. While I know that she is with you now, I still love her deeply. I allowed my anger at myself and the loss of her love to almost kill her. Marion hired a thug to actually kill her. Dani practically served herself up on a silver platter when she took that run without her bodyguard.”
Harrison grumbles at the thought.
Bradley continues. “When I learned of what she had done, I realized we were no longer just trying to scare Dani. But, Marion’s idea of plan B was murder. When Marion discovered that Dani survived, she came unglued. She hatched a new plan and enlisted me to impersonate you and have the private nurse you hired replaced by someone Marion has on payroll. I hired a family friend, Glenda. Her daughter is Alicia, the girl you hired as a housekeeper. I had not planned on Alicia seeking out her own opportunity; she almost blew the whole cover. For all she knew, she was just supposed to report the daily activities of you and Dani’s progress back to me. Marion was plotting for another accident to happen. But, then you threw her yet another curve ball by planning your wedding on New Year’s Eve.”
“Wait, how the hell do you know about that?” He thinks for a minute, “Alicia? Did she tell you?”
“Yes, she reported to me and I reported to Marion, leaving out the pertinent details about Dani. However, Alicia decided to contact her employer directly and that was how Marion discovered I was not being truthful. By then, it was too late to salvage my alliance with her. I only know the next bit of this because Alicia blabbed to Glenda, who immediately contacted me. In all fairness to Glenda, she had no knowledge of any of this. She is a legit nurse and she thought she was doing me a favor. It was her hooch daughter that screwed my plans to protect Dani from Marion.”
“Not your job, anyway.”
“As I was saying, Glenda told me that Marion has now hired a hit man to take out Dani! That is the reason I was willing to risk being pummeled by you.” He says, as he wipes at the dried blood on the corner of his mouth. “We need to put aside our differences to protect Dani.”
Harrison turns and begins to pace. “Did she make any mention of when she heard she was going to do this? My god, she is in New York right now!! How can I protect her from here? Did Glenda mention any details?”
“No. She just said that when Alicia told her this, it turned her blood cold, and she contacted me immediately after.”
“We need to go to the police with this, and I nee
d to make sure that security is ramped up in New York. Marion sent Danielle flowers today with a threatening note. By the way, I have known for some time that Marion was behind all of the attacks and threats on my wife. For that matter, I had my suspicions about you. I knew you were involved somehow.”
“My guilt is more than I can bear for what has already happened. When Dani was in the coma, I snuck in and promised her that I would make all of this right. After all that I have put her through, that is the least I can do. I plan to make good on my word.”
“I am going to be blunt.”
“By all means.”
“I don’t like you, I think you are a complete douche bag. I don’t trust you any farther than I can throw you, but I find myself in a position where I have to rely on you to help me get this woman behind bars. Are you really going to help or is that just lip service? I need to know.”
“It’s not just lip service. I have to make this right for Dani. She deserves that from me. I blame myself for all of this and….”
“Enough! You can save your guilt for your shrink. All I want to hear is the sound of you rushing down to speak with Detective Burke and tell him everything you told me. Then, when Danielle is back from her trip, I will be the one to tell her what you have done. If she decides she wants to forgive you someday, I will not stand in her way, but I’ll never ever allow you to see her again. If you make any attempts at contacting her or trying to see her, I will press criminal and civil charges on you that will land you behind bars. Do you understand me?”
Bradley simply nods.
“Good. Now that we are clear on where we stand, thank you for coming to me. The only reason I am not going to press charges is because I know how hard it must have been for you to contact me to tell me all of this. You must have at least an ounce of decency in you and for that, I will allow you to walk away from here, instead of leaving on a stretcher. So, why are you still standing here? Shouldn’t you be running to speak with the detective?”
Bradley turns to walk away, but instead he turns around and puts his hand out. Harrison grabs it and they shake. As he steps back. Bradley smiles and says, “Congratulations you got a great girl!”
Harrison smiles, “I know.”
Chapter Twenty
The penthouse is simply in a state of chaos. There is so much to pack and so much to do before we depart in the morning. We are leaving to Montreal tomorrow, so Clarke is due here any time now to help me pack all of my attire that I will need for the trip. I am nervous beyond belief to meet his family. He keeps reassuring me that they are going to love me. I don’t know though; I have never been around people with the breeding this family has. I am a mixed breed, a mutt if you may. While his family is what you would refer to as blue bloods or something like that. Every time I try to discuss this with him, he just gets irritated with me and says that I need to trust him. I am in my master closet when I hear a kafuffle coming from down the hallway. I step out of the closet to hear Clarke ranting and raving all sorts of expletives as she makes her way to my room. Upon entering the room, she continues her tirade.
“Seriously, that man practically strip searched me. He felt me up in places you couldn’t hide a weapon!”
I have to giggle, though the reason behind her outburst is anything but funny. After Harrison met with Bradley, he learned that essentially there has been a hit put out by Marion…on me. My love has taken no chances and has stepped up the security here to include armed guards at the entrances, and I have not been able to leave the penthouse. If someone comes here, they go through a metal detector and a pat down.
“Are you exaggerating just a little by any chance? They didn’t really feel you up, did they?”
She snorts, “Well no but they might as well have. I know that old bastard was enjoying himself. His nightstick wasn’t the only thing that was stiff.”
“Oh enough Clarke! I’m seriously sorry you had to go through that but honestly! You don’t need to take it so far. Besides, I am the one whose life has been threatened on several occasions, and my husband of eight weeks is barely sleeping. Our usually amazing sex life has dropped off the planet. I’m developing a complex! He claims it is just from all the stress we are under, and that once Marion is no longer a threat, he will feel normal again.”
“Wow Danners, that sucks. I just can’t imagine what you are going through.” She walks over and gives me a squeeze. “Oh, before I forget, my mom sent this for you. It’s for Harrison to carry in his pocket on the day of your wedding. It is supposed to be for good luck.” She rolls her eyes. “Of course, you are already married, so I am not sure how effective it will be. Well anyway, my little Italian mama wanted you to have it.” She hands me a funny looking little metal coin. I turn it over in my hand, as Simone exclaims, “It is made of iron; it wards off evils spirits. Maybe you should be the one carrying it!”
“Yeah, maybe I should. Well, please thank your mama for me. That was very sweet of her.”
“So, what is the plan here?”
“The plan is to get my suitcases packed up tonight, so I am not a mad woman in the morning.” I look up to see her standing with her hands on her hips looking at me with a scowl.
“You know that is not what I meant. I was referring to how are you going to move about knowing that you have that threat hanging over your head? You are a hostage here in this penthouse. How is Harrison getting you to Montreal without walls surrounding you?”
“I know right?! I feel like I am in a fortress here. He bought out the first class section of the plane. He is bringing a security detail that will remain with us throughout the trip.” I look at Clarke rolling her eyes. “Yeah, I know, real romantic! Mom and dad are flying with us tomorrow also. Harrison’s parents invited them to join in the many festivities that are planned. You are invited too, but you said you had to work.” I add that in just as her lower lip started to protrude.
“I know. It’s super lucky, though, that my job is in Jersey, so I will fly up to Montreal from there. I can’t wait to wear my new snow bunny coat! It is a chic little powder blue number that looks great with my hair!”
“Oh brother, always the fashionista. It seems we will have a full house. I’m really excited about seeing this house of his. It is apparently in the most affluent area of Montreal. I have never been up there, so I really don’t know anything about the area. I bought this travel book online to read on the plane, so I can acquaint myself.”
She laughs, “Seriously, Danners? You do realize there are e-readers now? You don’t need actual books nowadays.”
“I know and I like doing that too, but I am also a bit old fashioned and wanted a book that I can tuck into my bag. Yeah. go ahead and roll your eyes at me Miss Woman of the World.”
We spend the rest of the afternoon packing my bags and planning my trousseau. I am able to forget my worries and just be a bride or newlywed for a few hours.
Late that night, well into the wee hours of the morning, I have my nightmare again, but with a twist. It starts as usual, I am running down the stark white corridor with the shrouded black figure following close behind. I turn to see if he is closing in on me. Sure enough, there he is but then he vanishes again. I turn back around and notice he is not there anymore. I am almost to the end of the hall, when I realize it is a dead end and there is nowhere to go. I turn around to go back the direction I just came, when the bony hands reach for my neck. I start to scream, but nothing comes out. Suddenly, I feel a hand on my arm, pulling me into a doorway that has never been there before. Just as I am pulled through the threshold, the shrouded figure appears in the doorway. The black hood falls to reveal Bradley standing there. I am transfixed, staring at his wicked face when I wake myself up screaming. I try to move my arms, but someone is holding me. When I open my eyes, I realize that I am actually awake and Harrison is holding me, stroking my hair.
“You were having that bad dream again weren’t you mi amore?”
Nodding quickly, I grab onto him and in between th
e tears I sob, “Harrison! This time in my dream, I saw him! I finally saw his face! I know who has been chasing me in my dreams!”
“Who, my love, who?”
“Bradley. It’s been him chasing me the whole time.”
“It’s okay, I am here.” He kisses the top of my head, while continuing to stroke my hair. I feel my breathing is still erratic.
“These dreams have been so real that it is hard to distinguish that they are dreams and not reality”
“It is interesting how one’s dreams can mirror reality, though. Bradley was actually a threat to you and maybe somewhere in your subconscious, you knew that.”
“Yeah, maybe. These dreams started months and months ago, though.”
“Yes, and so did Bradley’s pursuing you. I am guessing the timeline would be about right. Maybe this will be your final dream, now that your tormentor has been unveiled?” He kisses my forehead. “Can I get you anything?”
I shake my head.
“Good, then let’s get some more sleep before our big day tomorrow.” I snuggle in the crook of his arm and fall into a deep, uneventful sleep.
Feeling rested and ready to tackle our day of travel, I decide to hit the shower before Harrison wakes. After brushing my teeth and putting a mud mask on, I hop in the steaming water. I am enjoying the rain effect of the shower head. I am lathering myself up, when I feel hands grabbing my ass. I giggle as his hands travel around to my front, resting on my pussy. He turns me around and plants his sexy lips on mine. He tastes of toothpaste. I giggle again. He holds his head back for a minute, and a wide grin covers is face when he notices the green sea algae mud on my face. I tip my face into the water and wash off the mask, while Harrison is making work of washing every inch of my body with his soapy hands. He moves his hand back to my pussy and starts probing it with his fingers, while he suckles my neck just below my ear.