Silence followed.
“Did you call your contact?” Dom asked.
Troy shook his head. “No. I’m supposed to call them tonight. They are the same people who gave me the venom and the drugs. After what happened at the wedding, I knew Jillian wouldn’t be safe.”
Lex got a paper and pen and slapped it in front of Troy. “We need names and numbers of everyone you’ve worked with. We have twenty-four hours to destroy Warwick’s network.”
CHAPTER 20
Jillian woke up groggy, and for one brief moment, she couldn’t get her bearings. Her mouth tasted funny, and her stomach growled. She looked around, recognizing the curtains and the paneling. She was on board the jet on her way to her honeymoon. Jillian stretched and grinned. Pain shot up her arm, and she stared at the bandage on it. How the heck had she gotten hurt?
The pain brought back memories of her beautiful wedding. Lex carrying her upstairs and into the bedroom. Troy interrupting them when things had just gotten interesting. Troy…
The fraud. The no-good, lying, cheating bastard had drugged her.
Jillian sat up suddenly, and dizziness washed over her. What happened after Troy revealed his real identity? She remembered what he’d said about working with Warwick because of his brother, who was in jail and not dead. He’d faked being gay. And something about Douglas choosing him. The rest was blank. She hoped Lex found out the truth about him and threw his fake-gay ass in jail before they left.
She scooted to the edge of the bed. The door opened, and she looked up, expecting to see Lex. Instead, a familiar tall man with red hair and freckles entered. “Dr. Bates?”
“Ah, you are finally awake,” he said, turning on the lights.
“What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to make sure you are okay. I’ll check your vitals, see if you need anything to get the drugs out of your body. How are you feeling? Any dizziness?” the doctor asked, lifting her eyelid and flashing a light into her eye.
“When I sat up, but I’m okay now.” She was going to kill Lex for putting her through this. The doctor didn’t check his vitals after he was drugged. Where was he anyway? Sleeping elsewhere? She’d slept with him when he’d been drugged.
While the doctor checked her blood pressure, everything Troy had done kept playing in her head. It took serious skills to fool everyone, including Douglas. Lex must be pissed. He was probably just outside the door waiting for the doctor to be done. Or maybe he was sleeping out there. No sounds came from the main cabin. He was so overprotective she wouldn’t be surprised if he had the poor doctor checking her vitals every few hours.
“How long was I out, Dr. Bates?”
“About fifteen hours. We stopped in Moscow for a few hours.”
“Moscow?” Their honeymoon destination was supposed to be a surprise, but Moscow? Seriously? “Where are we headed?”
“Armenia.”
“Oh.” As soon as the doctor removed the blood pressure cuff, Jillian crawled across the bed, lifted the curtains, and peered out of the window. It was dark outside. She scooted to the edge of the bed and stormed into the main cabin. “Lex? Is this the surprise you prom…?”
Her grandmother was dozing off on the couch. Across from her were Zorah and Narek. In the seats behind them, also asleep, were Dareh, his wife Margarit, and his father. Lex wasn’t with them.
“Jillian,” her grandmother said and sat up.
“What’s going on? Where’s Lex?”
Narek helped her grandmother to her feet. Then she moved to Jillian’s side and took her arm. “Lex is back in L.A.”
“Why?”
“I’ll explain. Come with me.” Her grip tightened when Jillian dug her feet in and opened her mouth. “Not a word,” she warned and pulled her toward the bedroom. The doctor was putting away his medical things. They waited until he left the room, then closed the door. “Okay, Grandma…”
“Lex decided to put your safety above everything and sent you home with me until he can stop the madman who drugged you.”
Jillian’s jaw dropped. “What? That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. I’m fine. No, this is his way of micromanaging my life. I swear, I’m going to make him regret… Where’s my purse?”
“Jillian Finnegan-Fitzgerald!”
Jillian stopped and blinked. “Grandma, there’s no need—”
“Sit.” She pointed at the bed, her turquoise eyes flashing.
Jillian glared back.
“Now,” her grandmother snapped.
Jillian sat at the edge of the bed, not completely sure why her grandmother was turning on her. “I didn’t do any—”
“Not a word until I’m done, young lady,” her grandmother said through gritted teeth. “Before you get on the phone and talk to Lex, you need to understand what he has been through for you. What he has endured since your kidnapping. Once you do, you will call and tell him that you love him, support him, and will wait patiently like a dutiful wife until he comes for you. No matter how long it takes.”
Jillian opened her mouth to retort and clammed up when her grandmother’s eyes narrowed. The woman was super scary when pissed.
Her grandmother turned and swiveled the only chair in the room, so it faced the bed, sat, crossed her ankles at an angle from her knees, and placed her hands on her lap. It was her classic pose. Very regal and intimidating. Jillian sat up straighter and fought the urge to imitate her.
“Now, where was I?” she asked.
“I’m supposed to shut up and not complain about my husband dumping me on our honeymoon,” Jillian said.
Her grandmother sighed. “You are so melodramatic. Lex did not dump you. He agonized over leaving you. He cradled you in his arms and begged me to take good care of you all the way to the airport, his face wreathed with worry. And when he brought you on board, I had to reason with him to get him to leave. His man kept knocking on the door when it was time to leave, but he wouldn’t leave your side. He must have decided he couldn’t because when I walked in here, he was lifting you up. I had to convince him that he was doing the right thing.” She sighed.
Tears filled Jillian’s eyes. She lifted her chin and fought them, but she lost the battle. Her grandmother moved closer and gripped her hands.
“In all my years, I’d never seen a man hurt the way he did,” her grandmother continued. “He believed he’d failed to protect you and that as long as that madman was out there, he would find a way to hurt you. Lex loves you. He worships the ground you walk on, but seeing you like that almost broke him. Your dress ripped, stockings torn, arm cut, which he made the doctor clean and redress before he left the plane. If he could have, he would have kept you chained to his side.”
The tears escaped and rolled down Jillian’s cheek. She hadn’t even noticed she was still wearing her getaway dress. Her Noelle bridal stockings were ruined, and the slit on her dress was now to her hips. Lex must have felt like he’d failed her.
“He once swore he would never let you leave with me because your place is by his side, yet he begged me to take you away and keep you safe.” Her grandmother got up, sat beside her, and put her arm around Jillian. “That kind of sacrifice comes from the deepest and truest kind of love.”
“But I still don’t understand why. He knew the drugs would wear off. I should be filing a report on that lying snake Troy.”
“This is more than Troy. Lex is going after the madman for what he did to you and for poisoning your wedding guests.”
Jillian’s stomach dropped. “What poison?”
Her grandmother pressed her hands together and closed her eyes. “Oh, sweetheart.”
“Grandma, what happened? Who got poisoned? When?”
Her grandmother started to talk, and every word was like a dagger through Jillian’s heart. How could Troy betray her like that? Poisoning her guests? Ruining her wedding? The little lying, fake-gay bastard had known how much she’d wanted her wedding to be perfect.
Jillian swiped at her cheeks. S
he was going to kill Troy. No, rip his heart out of his chest with her bare hand. She looked around the room. “Where are my things?”
“Why?”
“I want to call home and yell at that conniving… Troy, not Lex,” she corrected. Lex is perfect. Lex is…” More tears rushed to her eyes. “He needs me, Grandma. He shouldn’t have dealt with our guests without me. I should have been by his side.”
“You will be. Just not now,” her grandmother whispered.
Jillian didn’t think so. She needed Lex. Needed to hear his voice. She was becoming the kind of woman she loathed. Clingy, emotional, and annoying, and she didn’t care. Any psycho who would stoop to hurting people to get his revenge was capable of so much worse. She had to confirm that Lex was okay.
“What time is it here, Grandma?”
“Nine o’clock. We stopped to refuel in Moscow.”
Jillian glanced at her watch, which was still set to L.A. time. It was eight in the morning. Lex should be up. Jillian dived inside her bag and fished out her phone. Her heart pounded as she dialed. Her grandmother left the room and closed the door softly behind her.
“Hey, sweetheart,” Lex said and more damn tears rushed to Jillian’s eyes. “I know you’re angry, but I hope this once you’ll see things from my point of view. I’m sorry I failed you. I should have protected you, and you—”
“Stop,” she begged him. “Please. Just… just stop being so hard on yourself. You’ve done nothing to be sorry about and everything to protect me.”
“You’re crying,” Lex said, and he sounded so helpless she only cried harder.
“No, I’m not. I have something in my throat. That’s why I sound funny.” That was the most pathetic lie she’d ever told. “Is everyone okay? The guests who were poisoned? Your family? Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m okay. We made sure they all got the right treatment and were sent home. Don’t cry, sweetheart. I can’t bear to hear you cry. Not when I can’t hold you and make your pain go away.”
“You can’t make my pain go away, you silly man,” Jillian said and bit her lower lip so hard she tasted blood.
“I could make you forget. Share your pain.”
He would too. When he made love to her, nothing else mattered but him. “Fine, I admit it. I’m crying. But you can’t blame me. I love you and miss you. I know you’re doing the right thing, but I wish I was there and not here.” She wiped the tears from her cheeks. “At least tell me you caught Troy and wringed his scrawny neck.”
Lex chuckled. “We didn’t.”
“Damn it.”
“He brought you home to the penthouse and was waiting for us by the time we located the Wraith.”
Jillian frowned. “He did? Why?” She realized how that sounded. “I mean evil bastards in cahoots with death row inmates don’t do things like that.”
“No, they don’t. Troy had a change of heart once he saw what happened to our guests.” Lex explained what Troy had done and why, and what they were doing to deny Warwick contact with the outside world until his execution.
Listening to Lex calmed Jillian down. Her man had this. Because of him, the governor and the head of the prison system were digging into cases that could prove Warwick had used more prisoners as leverage to get their families to work for him.
“Cade found the person funding Warwick. It’s his step-sister.”
“How does she sleep at night?”
Lex chuckled. “She might not know what he does with the money.”
“Or maybe she just doesn’t care,” she said. He saw the good in people all the time, while she knew just how evil people could be.
“That’s a possibility, too. We think he has planted people in our companies. Not just Troy. We are doing background checks on all our employees. If there’s a connection between any of them and the step-sister’s accounts, we’ll find it.”
Jillian sighed. That sounded like something that could take weeks. Maybe even months. “When can I come home?”
“In a couple of days. In the meantime, don’t worry about a thing. Enjoy your family. Do not agree to do interviews or make television appearances.”
“Ha-ha. Very funny.” She still hated reporters and their nosiness even though she now knew her stalker worked for her great-uncle.
“I’m serious, babe. Right now, Warwick thinks his plan worked. Troy is helping us with that. If you appear on Armenian news, he’ll know Troy is lying to him. I explained the situation to your grandmother, and she understands. So lie low and stay away from Armenian nobility.”
“I’ll have no problem doing that.” Mathews announced that they were about to land. “I love you and miss you, but I have to go. I’ll call you when we land.”
Lex cursed. “You’re still on the plane? You should have landed hours ago.”
“We stopped in Moscow for a few hours. Not that I was aware of it.”
“Where’s your grandmother?”
“In the main cabin. What’s going on?”
“Stay with your grandmother and Narek, and get off the plane as soon as it lands.”
A bad feeling washed over Jillian. Mathews worked for Lex, and Dr. Bates was Sloan’s private doctor. Warwick had recruited people who could get close to Lex and his friends. “You don’t trust Mathews and Bates?”
“We don’t know who to trust. Just be safe. I love you.”
“Love you more. Come get me soon. I need the honeymoon you promised me.” He chuckled, and the memory stayed with her as she joined her grandmother for the landing. When it was time to get her things from the plane, she opened his suitcase and took a couple of T-shirts and dress shirts.
If she wasn’t going to sleep in her husband’s arms, she could at least have his things next to her skin.
~*~
A driver picked them up in a limo from Zvartnot International Airport. Zorah and Narek accompanied them to her grandmother’s home. Another driver picked the others up even though they lived near each other in one of the twelve districts of Yerevan. Too wired to sleep, Jillian explored the four-bedroom house.
It was spacious, the décor a blend of contemporary and old—marble counters, Persian rugs, and Victorian chairs. She fell in love with the flower garden in the back by the pool. There was an orchard too, which she couldn’t wait to explore.
“How’s Lex?”
“He’s getting results. He said he’ll be here in a couple of days.”
She stayed put the next day and met more relatives, including Derah and Margarit’s son and daughter. The house always seemed full, relatives coming to meet her and bringing spicy, exotic dishes. Dishes spicier than what she was used to, but she ate and smiled even when her mouth burned.
The older relatives had anecdotes about her father. The younger ones wanted to know about Hollywood. It was the meeting at the Montage all over again. Her grandmother was in her element, and Jillian had a feeling she was thrilled to be showing her off, her only relative. She also loved that for once Jillian dressed up. Of course, she didn’t know that Lex had surprised her with a trousseau. She was now the proud owner of gorgeous designer dresses, pants, jackets, scarves, and shoes… The shoes were to die for.
God, she loved that man.
“I told you I’m not your Barbie doll to dress up,” she told him when he called in the evening, reminding him of a conversation they’d had weeks ago.
“How else do I get to unwrap you if you don’t get dressed? If you don’t like them, return them or give them away,” he added.
He’d told her something along those lines about firing Troy. She should have.
“Are you kidding?” Jillian lifted her feet and admired her sandals. She wore his polo shirt, starting a new trend. “I’ve always wanted to own a few Manolos.” Her eyes went to the line of shoes. “And Valentinos.”
Margarit noticed the shoes right away and complimented her. She was a lot nicer than before. Or maybe the fact that Jillian had shown no interest in visiting the factory or vineyard had somethi
ng to do with it. Everyone wanted to show her the city though, but her grandmother nixed that in the bud.
“She’s waiting for her husband,” she said. “Once Lex gets here, they’ll explore the city together.”
Except Lex wasn’t there after two days like he’d promised. “Things are moving a little slower than I’m used to. I need a few more days,” he said when he called that evening.
“Something is wrong, isn’t it?”
“No. Dealing with bureaucrats is frustrating.”
Jillian understood him too well. The government did things at a snail’s pace, while he tended to get results with a phone call. After talking to Lex, she called Douglas. After a brief conversation, she said, “Take good care of him for me, Douglas.”
“I will, Ms. Jillian.”
By the end of the second day, she was being introduced to family members through photo albums and portraits. Some of the portraits were so old they could be in a museum. Then there were those with no pictures, just names chronicled in the back of an old leather-bound book.
TV didn’t interest Jillian, and Internet at her grandmother’s was terrible. She managed to get online once and wished she hadn’t. Someone had talked, so the world knew her guests had been poisoned. As usual, the pundits played the guessing game—who did it and why? More annoying hashtags.
When two more days passed, Jillian stopped smiling and moped around the house like she’d lost her best friend. It felt like it. Lex was not just her husband. He was her best friend. Her confident. Her everything, and she missed him. Missed him so much it hurt. Sleeping in his shirts just so she could be close to him didn’t help.
Just when she thought things couldn’t get worse, she got online and followed a thread to pictures of Lex with his British ex-girlfriend. One showed her helping Lex out of his shirt. In another, he was shirtless. And in the last one, he wore a robe. The comments didn’t help.
Not sure when they were taken, Jillian went through a full range of emotions—jealousy, doubt, rage, and pain. The insecure part of her wanted to call Lex at two in the morning L.A. time and accuse him of cheating on her. Was this why he hadn’t come for her? Was he regretting their marriage? But the other part—the new, secure part—knew she trusted him and he would never cheat on her. Her love and steadfast belief in him pushed away the doubts and the pain, and the jealousy. Lex loved her. He would never do anything to hurt her.
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