Mrs. Rosemary and I never spoke about her coming to the hospital the day of Bella’s accident. But she is aware of how appreciative I am that she was there with me. I tried to broach the subject once we were home and she shushed me and went about her business. I feel she is an adoptive parent, and I can't help but be thankful my parents brought her into our lives.
All I want is to put the accident and Elliot Hunter out of my mind, but that didn’t happen until the case was over. Bella had to testify on the stand about what she remembered from the moment she left the office to when she woke in the hospital room.
I won't ever unhear her testimony. It bolstered the fact that the accident was meant for an intended victim. His apartment proved that he watched Bella with her comings and goings. There were timelines and descriptions all over his place. He had several different scenarios planned out. The look on Elliot's face further confirmed my thoughts.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Bella
I sit on the stand; my hands are folded in my lap and I wait for the orders of Ben's attorney for me to relay the events of my day of the accident as over time the moments have come back to me, while fragmented – I can remember the majority of the events.
“I left the office with the intent to pick up supplies and a breakfast order for our special teams project that Adams Enterprises and Ryder Tech had teamed up on. I was at a red light in the left lane waiting for my turn to go. Once the light turned green, the car going opposite of me turned into my lane and accelerated across the middle section right into the vehicle I was in,” I recall the events. “Then I woke up in the hospital.”
“How are you sure that the car was coming for you specifically?” the attorney asked.
“The way he swerved into what was my lane. He lined his car up with mine perfectly, there is no question it wasn't an accident.” I reply.
“And did you get a good look at the individual when his vehicle was coming towards yours?”
“It happened so fast, that honestly I did not. I was braking and panicking as I was boxed in by other vehicles on all sides. I was freaking out.” I admitted.
“The individual, you were told who he was. Is he in this room?”
“He is,” I reply.
“Can you please point to him?”
And I do.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Benjamin
The case was cut and dry.
Elliot's attorney tried to defend his client by arguing the vehicle he was driving had a malfunction. However, the district attorneys had an investigation launched on damages to the vehicle and there were no issues with the vehicle aside from the damage the crash caused, thereby refuting the argument.
The ruling was first degree attempted murder with a life sentence with a chance of parole.
With Elliot's one choice to cause harm, he ruined his life. While I should mourn the fact that my one-time close friend could do such a thing, I feel nothing. I feel relief that Bella survived, but I feel nothing about his punishment aside from satisfaction.
When the bailiff hauled a shut-down Elliot out of the courtroom, he didn't fight it. He slowly stood and was lead out of the room in silence. He did, however, stop and finally look me in the eyes. His features portrayed a man lost, and for that I wished things could have been different.
In a different world, my parents would have never passed away. Elliot and I would have started our company, and I would be married to Renae. She would have never felt ignored, never felt the need to run into another man’s arms, so she would not have been in that fatal car accident.
But then again, I am finally happy with my world as it actually is, and I don't want that what-could-have-been world. Sure, it would be great to have my parents alive, but while I mourn the tragedies that pushed me to where I am not, I am grateful for the life I'm currently living
I have Bella.
I have an outstanding business.
The events of my past brought me to where I am today.
When Bella first came to work for me, I wasn't living. I was just working; I was a drone. I was like a dying flower, but she repotted me, fed me and made me better than I was before.
Bella renewed me.
Epilogue
The employees of Adams Enterprises no longer cower when I walk through the offices now. For some reason, they greet me with smiles and don't scatter anytime that I am near. It's taken some getting used to, but I find that I rather like it.
Some of the upper management employees I do business with nonchalantly poke around trying to figure out why I’ve changed so much in the past year. I’m not sure if they are aware or have figured out the source of my joy is the beautiful woman who keeps me on top of my shit, in and out of the office.
The accident was horrific but we've moved on. My thoughts of losing her that day made it absolutely one of the worst days in recent years. Having to deal with the court stuff afterwards reopened wounds, but now we have moved on.
Bella has officially moved into my penthouse; however, she still insists on keeping our relationship out of the office. I have occasionally been successful at catching her in the mood and have managed to bend her over my desk or hers and take her from time to time. Each time, she tells me that it will be the last time. But we both know, that is a complete lie as we can’t get enough of one another to go all day without some form of touching. We keep everything private and no one in the company suspects our relationship.
The relationship contract is now being used consistently and the company has been successful in protecting assets. We haven't had any situation arise where any lawsuits could be filed, however Micah did get a divorce. And now, he's signed one of the contracts.
Today is the anniversary of our first date – the Gala – and I couldn’t be more excited for her to see the dress I got her for this year’s event this evening.
She’s in the bedroom with the makeup artist and hair stylist and I’m pacing the hallway, waiting anxiously for her to come out. When she does, I smile. Her hair is half up and half down. Her hair is adorned with Swarovski Crystals around the bun in her hair. Her makeup is simple, only highlighting her cheekbones and her beautiful blue eyes.
“Where is this dress you’ve hidden from me?” she asks.
I smile and then lead her back into our bedroom, to the massive closet that houses a his and hers sides. It’s big enough it could double as another bedroom.
I pull out the dress, covered by a garment bag and place it on the hook that I have sticking out of one of the cabinets. I slowly unzip the bag and then, before I unveil the dress, I ask her to turn around. When she complies, I remove the bag and puff out the dress fully.
I ask her to turn around and when she does, her hands fly to her mouth. Her eyes moisten as small whimper come out from behind her hand.
“Do you… Do you like it?” I ask her hesitantly, unsure if her reaction is of disgust or love. A moment passes before she removes her hands from her mouth. Tears are forming in her eyes, she places her hands over her heart and lets out a whimper.
“I love. I love it!” she says, rushing to the dress.
“Please. Put it on?” I beg of her.
She quickly disrobes and puts on her new dress purposely drawing out her movements to drive me crazy. She turns her back to me, so I can zip her up and then steps back to face me.
She looks amazing. My woman looks absolutely stunning.
The dress is gold, with yellow and white Swarovski crystals adorning the waist and some on the pleats of the dress. The fabric hangs off the shoulders and the bodice is fitted perfectly. The bottom half of the dress is a ball-gown with silk organza covering a lightweight white petticoat, which adds volume to the gown.
“It’s beautiful, Ben. Absolutely beautiful. It looks like it would be so heavy to wear, but it’s like I’m wearing air. It’s magnificent.”
“You, my love... You look beautiful.”
“I feel like a princess!” she exclaims as she twirls.
Over the length of our relationship, we’ve teased ONE another with the nicknames of Beauty and the Beast. It’s rung true from time to time, as I have been known to be a bit of a scary individual and she, well, she couldn’t be more beautiful.
My Isabella, my Bella. My Beauty.
She is the beauty, to me – the beast.
THE END
A Note to You
Readers,
Thank you so much for your support. If you enjoyed this book, please sign up for my newsletters so you can be in the know when a new book comes out, or if you just want to hear me ramble about nonsense.
My newsletter has sneak peeks of upcoming books, giveaways, and fun stuff.
Please check out my website at: WWW.TARRAHANDERS.COM
I hope that in some shape or form you felt connected to my characters. I strive to have my stories be as relatable as possible, and not too outrageous. The sole purpose for me to bring my friends these stories is to feel like that too can be you.
That being said, I write to make you happy. I wouldn’t be able to do so without your feedback. Whether you leave a review on Goodreads & Amazon (Please do, that would be spectacular!) or if you feel like shooting me a message at: [email protected], I would love to hear from you.
Newsletter Sign up: http://eepurl.com/cm6Ru5
All my best with Smooches and Huggles,
TARRAH
Acknowledgments
First and foremost, thank YOU to the readers, the bloggers, THE people. I write to entertain you for however long you deem to let my words into your mind. Thank you for picking up this little ditty and giving me a chance.
I thank my husband for putting up with my ignoring him and the kids at times to write, edit, market and daydream. Without you by my side, I’m not sure that I would be so grounded. You are my rock. Thank you for your support and thank you for giving me eye candy when you get out of the shower.
Thanks to Jess Bryant and Maren Lee for your constant cheerleading. You two are two of the most amazing chicks that I’ve had the opportunity to share my authoring journey on. I’m so fortunate to have crossed paths with each of you.
To Tarrah’s Teases, my street team: Thank you for pimping me out on social media, for reading and reviewing and your overall support.
To the ladies of the D-Print Police, my reader group. Thank you for your continued support and devotion.
To my betas Tamera & Mel. Thank you for the gushing, the critique and the overall awesomeness that you guys are!
To Laura, of Red Pen Princess & Indies Ink. Your amazing editing skills are top notch. Thank you for editing, reading and loving me despite my punctuation and my lack of use of ONE another. Also, for the awesome facts when I misrepresent a word. You are a cave of wisdom.
Also by Tarrah Anders
Discover these other titles by
TARRAH ANDERS:
THE ZONE SERIES
The Friends Zone
The Crash Zone
The Office Zone
THE MELTED SERIES
Frozen Over
FROZE
Freezing
Novellas
New Year, New You
STRIPPED
Clutch, Rounding Third: A Baseball Anthology (Contributing Author)
The Night Manager
Coming Soon:
http://eepurl.com/cm6Ru5 to subscribe
About the Author
I am originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, but living in beautiful San Diego with my own little family while working during the day as a social worker working with the homeless. I am hardcore San Francisco Giants fan and anything dealing with cupcakes and Zombies.
I’ve been writing since I was in middle school and throughout college. While it was a passion, I kept it under wraps and never vocalized or followed through with my desire to be a writer, until I read a horrible book and thought: ‘I could do better than that!’ So I started writing. I love to escape into the unknown world of my characters and let them speak for me.
My writing style is that I try to keep on earth. I try my best to not be too unrealistic with my characters, what they do and how they live. I want my books to be relatable and not to create too many eye rolls, when a character starts calling his love interest baby after knowing her for 5 minutes.
I am currently working on a several pieces, but likely spending most of my time buying up book covers.
The Brute Page 11