by Ivy Layne
“You didn't find any sign of a breach in the system?” Gage asked.
“Not so far. If someone got in the house –”
“Someone fucking hit Sophie over the head,” Gage interrupted. Cooper gave him a sober nod. We followed him into the library and sat on the couch, side-by-side.
“However they got in the house, they didn't bypass or breach the system. There has to be a way in we don't know about. Until we find it, the motion sensors will give you an extra layer of safety.” Looking at me, he said, “How’s your head?”
“Better. It wasn’t really that bad.” Beside me, Gage growled, a low, almost imperceptible sound. I squeezed his hand. I think he was more upset about my bump on the head than I was.
Cooper shook his head. “I’m sorry. Somewhere, we missed something. It won’t happen again.”
“It better not,” Gage said, his arm tightening around me. Cooper caught the possessive gesture and rolled his eyes. Gage pulled my broken phone from his pocket and handed it to Cooper.
“It's the last call that came in. We haven't tried to turn the phone on, so I don't know how badly it's damaged.”
Cooper shook his head in dismissal. “It's good; I can work with this. Sophie, do you care if I have your phone? I can give you a new one.”
“No, whatever you need to do is fine.”
“What can you tell me about the call?”
“It sounded like it was my husband, which is impossible because he's been dead for two years.”
“Do you have any idea who would try to play a trick on you?”
I shook my head, watching as Cooper pulled a mobile phone out of his pocket, powered it on and connected it to my broken phone. Despite the shattered screen and cracked case, my phone powered on at the press of a button. Cooper did a few things on the new phone and set them both on the coffee table.
“We'll find out where that call came from and hopefully who placed it. Do you have reason to believe you might be in danger from anyone associated with your husband?”
I looked from Cooper to Gage, Cooper's eyes curious and Gage's heavy with concern. I hated the answer to his question and how stupid it made me seem. I didn’t want to remember the naive woman who’d married Anthony.
“I don't know very much about Anthony's life outside of our marriage,” I said. “He kept me isolated, but toward the end, I started to wonder. He came home a few times with blood on his shirt—never very much—and he always had an excuse. And there was the stress.” My voice dropped to a whisper. “He was always so tense. Angry. But I didn’t actually know what he was doing. Not really. He told me he was an accountant—” I gave a small, helpless shrug. I knew his story didn’t make sense, but that didn’t mean I knew the truth.
Cooper didn't seem to need more of an explanation. Kindly, he said, “Don't worry about it, Sophie. If he was involved in anything sketchy, we’ll find out. Did he leave you anything? Anything someone else might be interested in?”
“Not really. There was some money. Not a lot after the funeral expenses. I got the house, which I sold. His car was totaled in the accident, and there was some insurance money, but if you mean any papers or anything of value, then no. His will stated that all his personal belongings and the contents of the house would go to his brother. It was weird because he’d told me they were estranged, but by the time I knew about the will, Anthony was gone so I couldn't ask him about it.”
“Okay, I'll look into that,” Cooper said. “I’m going to get out of your hair. I'll be in touch tomorrow to let you know what I find out.”
He stood, disconnected my broken phone from the one he'd brought, and handed the new one to me. “I cloned your phone to this one. You can use it just like normal, but we’ll be monitoring any calls, so don't say anything you don't want one of us to hear. Unless it's dirt on Gage, in which case feel free to talk away. I can always use the ammunition.”
I gave him a weak smile. “I'll see what I can come up with,” I said.
“What are the chances this phone call is related to Sophie's hit over the head?” Aiden asked, walking in behind us.
“Thought you were still at work,” Cooper commented.
Aiden gave an abrupt shake of his head. “I came home early.”
Both Gage and Cooper stared at Aiden for a moment. So did I. Aiden never came home early.
Answering Aiden's question, Cooper said, “It’s possible. I tend to think no, but until we figure this out, I don't want to make any assumptions.”
“It seems unlikely that we have two separate issues in the same week,” Aiden said.
“That's why it's tempting to connect them,” Connor said. “But a call from her dead husband is contact aimed specifically at unsettling Sophie. If she's the reason for the break in, then the hit over the head doesn't make sense. Whoever the intruder was, he had her right there, alone in the hallway. Hitting her over the head implies that she was in the way, rather than the target.”
“Makes sense,” Aiden admitted. “I don't like all this going on so close to the wedding. The house is going to be filled with guests.”
“Evers is working on shuffling things around so we can get more security,” Cooper said. “I'm going to head out, but if anything comes up, call me. The new settings on the security alarm will activate automatically at night, so make sure everyone stays put after it’s on.”
Gage gave me a meaningful look as Cooper let himself out. I didn't like the idea of being trapped in my room after bedtime if I couldn't sleep, but it was better than running the risk of bumping into the intruder in the dark. My head still ached from our last meeting.
“Sophie, I'd like to speak with you in my office,” Aiden said.
Pulling my hand from Gage’s, I looked up at him and said, “Of course.” Gage followed me across the hall into Aiden's office. Aiden looked up to see Gage behind me and said, “I'd like to talk to Sophie alone.”
“I'm not leaving.” Gage folded his arms across his chest.
“Gage,” I hissed. He looked down at me.
“Do you want me to leave?”
That was a difficult question. No, I didn't want him to leave, but Aiden was still my employer. Reading my face, Gage said to Aiden, “Is this business or personal?”
Aiden sat behind his desk and gave Gage a hard look. “Personal.”
“Then I'm not leaving,” Gage said. He nudged me to one of the chairs opposite the desk, waited until I sat, and then took his own seat beside me. I wasn't sure if I was pleased or annoyed.
“Did you forget our conversation?” Aiden asked Gage.
Gage's expression was stony when he said, “No, I didn't.”
“I heard you took Sophie out to lunch,” Aiden said.
“What Sophie and I do is none of your business,” Gage said, evenly. His voice and expression were perfectly controlled, but I could read the surge of his temper in the way his hand fisted against his leg.
“Sophie is an employee of this family, and she is living in this house,” Aiden said, his voice ice cold, “That makes it very much my business.”
“Are you firing me?” I interrupted, my stomach sinking. What if he said yes?
Leaning back in his chair, Aiden shook his head, looking from Gage to me. “No, Sophie. It's not your behavior I'm concerned about; it's his. Pursuing you puts you in a difficult position. I've already spoken with him about it once.”
Gage lurched forward in his chair, and for a moment I was afraid he was going to swing that clenched fist into Aiden's patrician nose.
Charlie's voice came from the doorway, cutting through the tension. “For heaven’s sake Aiden, does she look like she's in a difficult position? You sound like a Victorian father. You have to get past this need to organize everyone's life.”
Aiden looked at Charlie with affectionate annoyance. “Charlie, stay out of it. This isn't your business.”
“It's not yours either,” she insisted.
“Charlie, I don't need you to stick up for me,�
� Gage said, his tone startlingly like Aiden's, affection and irritation rolled up together.
Charlie laughed and sat on the arm of my chair. “I'm not sticking up for you. I'm sticking up for Sophie. She doesn't need everyone interfering in her personal life.”
Aiden's back went poker straight, and with an icy look of authority, he said to Charlie, “Sophie is an employee in this household, and when she took the position living here I assured her that she would be treated as a professional. I told Gage to stay away from her—”
“Aiden, whatever thing you and Gage have to work out, it's not Sophie's problem. Stop making this into such a big deal.” Twisting on the arm of the chair so she could meet my eyes, Charlie said, “Sophie, if Gage is making you uncomfortable, now would be the time to bring it up.”
“I think you have the wrong impression,” I said to Aiden.
I was nervous about whatever was going on between Gage and me, but there was no way I'd let our growing relationship turn into a point of contention between him and Aiden. It seemed obvious they had enough to argue about without adding me to the list.
“I'm not sure exactly where this is going,” I said, carefully, “but what's between Gage and myself is mutual, and he hasn't done anything he shouldn’t.”
“Are you sure?” Aiden asked, and I stifled the urge to squirm under that cool, direct gaze.
“I'm positive,” I said. “I understand if you feel like it's inappropriate, but—”
“Sophie is going with me to Charlie's wedding,” Gage cut in, “so you have two weeks to get used to it.”
I looked away from Aiden and turned in my chair to Gage. “I can't go to Charlie's wedding with you,” I protested.
“Why not?” both Gage and Charlie asked.
“Because I'm going with Amelia.”
“Amelia can take care of herself for one night,” Charlie said. “She's not an invalid. And she'd be the first to want you to go to the wedding with Gage.”
“That's not the point,” I said, exasperated. “She'll head straight for the sweets and make herself sick. Do you know how often I find contraband in her room? She knows she has to watch her sugar intake, but she's convinced herself that just once doesn't count. The problem is that all those little just once treats add up. I'm trying to help her control her diabetes with diet, rather than needing insulin, and letting her run rampant at your wedding with no supervision is not going to help.”
I turned to Gage. Reaching across the space between our chairs, I took his fisted hand in mine. Rubbing my thumb over his clenched knuckles, I felt his grip ease. “I'd love to go to Charlie's wedding with you, but I can't. I'm sorry.”
Aiden let out an aggrieved sigh. “I’ll take Amelia to the wedding,” he said, sounding defeated and a little amused.
“Don't you already have a date?” Charlie asked. “I thought you were taking what’s her name? With the laugh.”
“I broke it off. She was starting to get ideas. The last thing I need is to take her to your wedding.”
“Thank God, her laugh sounds like a hyena.”
“Charlie, I don't need you interfering in my social life.”
“Really?” Charlie asked with a laugh. She made a swirling motion with her finger, encompassing all of us in the room, and said, “After this little scene you're going to lecture me about not butting into people's personal lives?”
“No, just about not butting into mine.” Aiden stood from behind the desk. “Sophie, consider Charlie's wedding your night off. I can keep Amelia out of trouble. It will be a good distraction from having to watch my baby sister get married to Lucas Jackson.”
He came out from behind the desk and hooked his arm around Charlie's neck, pulling her in for a quick hug and a kiss to the top of her head before stalking out of the room.
“I thought he liked Lucas?” I asked, my chest warm at the sight of the tears in Charlie's eyes. Aiden could be a hardass, but Charlie always brought out his soft side.
“He does,” she said, with a watery laugh. “I think he just imagined me with someone a little… gentler. But I think he also thought I’d spend my life arranging flowers and doing charity work, so he's had to make some adjustments.”
“He's interested in Sophie,” Gage said out of nowhere.
“What?” Charlie and I both said in unison. I might be a little rusty when it came to dating, but I definitely did not get the interested vibe off of Aiden. At all. Aiden saw me as an employee and a female living under his protection. As a romantic interest? Not a chance.
“Gage, no,” Charlie said. “I really don't think—”
“Then why is he so concerned with her personal life?” Gage challenged. “He's been telling me to stay away from her since I got back. Sophie and I had barely met at that point, so why bother warning me off unless he was trying to protect his own interests?”
“Gage, you're reading this wrong,” I said.
“Then how should I read it?” he asked, his temper flaring. His eyes were hot, blue flame, but he sat very still, as if making a concerted effort to contain his roiling emotions.
“I don't know,” Charlie admitted. “I’m not even going to pretend that I understand whatever's going on with you and Aiden. He's missed you all this time. When we thought you weren’t coming home, he was a mess, and now that you're here he's being a dick. Sometimes I really do not get the way men think.”
Agreeing with Charlie, I said, “Gage, this isn’t about me.”
He stood up, taking my hand and tugging, so I rose along with him. He pulled me into his arms, and I whispered against his chest, “Really, Gage, if he were interested in me, why would he have said he'd take Amelia to the wedding? He had the perfect excuse to keep us apart.”
“I don't know,” Gage admitted, rubbing his chin against the top of my head. “Aiden is tricky. Whatever he's doing on the surface isn't necessarily what it seems to be. He's always got a master plan.”
“Well, that's true,” Charlie said. “What you see isn't necessarily what you get with Aiden, but I still think you're wrong. This isn’t about Sophie. It's about you, Gage.”
Gage kissed my cheek, and we started toward the door, Charlie falling in step with us. “I don't care what he's up to,” he said, “as long as he stays away from my girl.”
I shook my head, not bothering to respond. I was with Charlie. I did not get the way men thought.
Whatever was going on between Gage and Aiden, they'd have to deal with it on their own. Between my job running herd on Amelia, a brand-new relationship with Gage, the break-ins at Winters House, and now a phone call from my dead husband, I had my hands full.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Gage
Sophie let out a squeak of surprise as I tugged on her hand and pulled her behind the curtain, drawing her into my arms. Winters House was packed with wedding guests, and we hadn’t had a second alone all day.
Charlie's wedding had been planned with only six weeks notice and was on Christmas Eve, but that hadn't stopped most of the guest list from scrambling to attend. She was a Winters, after all. On top of that, her departure from Winters Inc., plus hooking up with a guy like Lucas, had made for some seriously interesting gossip as far as Atlanta society was concerned. She and Lucas had only invited a hundred people, but the house was bursting at the seams.
I’d pulled Sophie into the living room, looking for a quiet corner. The curtains would have to do. As children, we'd hidden in these curtains more than a few times. Reaching from the floor almost to the high ceiling, they were made from layers of heavy, rustling silk. The perfect hiding place—a dark cocoon of privacy—the sounds of the party muffled through the silk.
I needed Sophie to myself for a few minutes. She was my date for the night, but too many wedding guests were intrigued by my return, and it had been impossible to get a moment alone.
Time alone with Sophie had been a constant challenge for the last two weeks. During the day, Winters House had been a hive of activity. Charlie an
d Mrs. W had every available hand pitching in, and we did whatever she and the wedding planner told us to: rearranging furniture, setting up seating, carrying equipment.
Amelia claimed old age and set up a chair in the front hall to supervise the proceedings, gaining scowls from everyone working, but entertaining us with her comments. Sophie was somehow able to help with the wedding and keep an eye on Amelia at the same time.
When I was a child, both my mother and aunt Olivia had claimed that Mrs. W had eyes in the back of her head. I still wasn't sure about that, but I was beginning to believe that Sophie might. More than once she'd stopped what she was doing, marched over to Amelia's chair, stuck her hand in the pillows propped behind Amelia, and withdrawn a package of cookies or candy bar.
Someday she would make a great mom. Our kids would get away with nothing.
That thought should have shocked me. At least scared me a little. We'd only known each other a few weeks, and we both had things to deal with before we were ready for a commitment like that. Despite all the weddings going on, I wasn't running out to go ring shopping.
Not yet. Not unless I wanted to scare Sophie off. But as every day passed, I grew more convinced that she was it for me.
We slept together every night in her room. I'd tried to talk her into sleeping in my suite, but she'd insisted she needed to be across the hall from Amelia. Amelia slept like a rock and had never needed her in the night, but Sophie claimed that wasn't the point.
I didn't care. I was happy wherever Sophie was. My room. Her room. I wouldn't mind bedding down on the ground if she were beside me.
We’d both worried that the motion sensors would make our insomnia even more frustrating. It was bad enough not being able to sleep. Being trapped in one room, unable to roam, to get a cup of tea or watch a movie, seemed like a punishment.
It wasn’t. The first time I woke from a nightmare of flashing lights and gunshots, Sophie had reached over and stroked my cheek until the iron band around my chest loosened and my heart rate slowed to normal.