by Katie Dowe
“When we do, Mr. Heywood,” they promised.
*****
“It’s good to be home,” she said as she sat on one of the comfortable chairs in the nursery. Garth had their son cradled in his arms and his mother was downstairs with the housekeeper making sure that lunch was prepared.
“I am making sure that someone is here with you every single minute of the day,” he told her grimly as he put Blaine inside his cot.
“I am going to okay, baby,” she told him, hating the haunted look on his handsome face. Everything had been ruined. He had told her he loved her when she just woke up and because of the imminent threat of danger he had been jumpy and back to his taciturn self.
“I am going to make sure of that.”
“Could you come here for a minute, please?”
He hesitated and then approached, crouching down in front of her. “You told me you loved me when I was out of it and barely functional. You have not said it to me again. Was it because you thought I was dying?”
“Don’t say that!” he said sharply, getting to his feet. “Do you know what I felt when I saw you lying at the foot of the stairs? I felt fear pure and simple fear, Olivia! I was paralyzed by it and for a moment I saw you and my son dead in front of my eyes. I am not going to stop until whoever it is tried to kill you is caught and I cannot relax until then.”
“Why do I get the feeling that you blame me partly for what happened?” She had gotten to her feet as well. Her movements were still shaky because of the Caesarean section she had received to deliver their son. The doctors had told her that it would take almost three weeks for it to heal properly.
“I asked you not to go, Olivia,” he said tightly.
“And I disobeyed you like the bad little girl I am.” She had followed him to the window. August had made its way in and was no better than July had been with the sweltering heat.
He turned to face her, his green eyes skimming her face. He had almost lost her and he could not get over it. “If you had died – if our son had died-”
“But we did not.” Her hands framed his face. “I get nightmares thinking about it too but I have no intention of letting it spoil our marriage and the joy of us being parents. I am sorry I went, baby, but I did and we are both alive for some reason. I am not going to stop living.”
He pulled her into his arms and Olivia wrapped her hands around his shaking body, her own shaking from the shock of it all!
*****
“We need to talk.” Blake Heywood came into Garth’s office with a disturbed look on his face. Neither he nor Selene had been to the apartment to see Olivia or the baby and frankly he did not give a damn! It had been hard for him to come out to the office but he had pressing things to do and the police had not found any leads. It was very frustrating! He had put a security detail at the apartment and made sure that Olivia did not leave the house, not now anyway.
“What is it?” he asked impatiently. “I am really busy now, Uncle.”
“Make time for this, it is highly important.” His uncle was pacing the room rapidly.
“You have my attention.”
“How are they?”
“Who?”
“Your wife and son.”
“They are doing well.”
“The fall did not affect them negatively?”
“You came to the hospital and found that out yourself, Uncle.” Garth put away his report and gave his uncle his full attention. “What’s going on?”
He sat down on the sofa abruptly and clasped his hands together. “I had no idea she was planning anything.”
“Who?”
Blake looked up at him. “Selene.”
“What are you talking about?” Garth asked him, but he felt the sickness at the base of his throat and knew what the next words were going to be.
“Selene was the one who pushed Olivia.”
Garth stared at him trying to process what he just said. The woman his uncle had married had almost killed his family. “Why?” Garth whispered numbly.
“She wanted me to get the company.”
“She did this so you could get control of Heywood’s?”
“I had no idea what she was planning. She is unhinged, Garth, and I am going to see to it that she gets help.”
“Where is she?” he asked faintly.
“She is at home. Look-”
“You cannot protect her,” Garth’s expression had turned deadly. “You cannot hide her.”
“Garth, please listen to me!” Blake got to his feet in alarm at the look on the younger man’s face. “I have called the police and they are coming over. Please just let them handle it.”
“You expect me to sit by calmly and expect justice for what happened to my wife and kid?” Garth felt as if his insides were on fire. “You said yourself you were going to seek help for her. What exactly does that mean?”
“It means she has gone off the deep end and I need to see to it that she gets the help she needs.” He came and stood before Garth. “I did this to her and I need to fix it somehow.”
“You bastard!” Before he knew what he was doing, Garth lifted his fist and ploughed it into the man’s face just as the detectives came inside. They ran in and helped Blake to his feet.
“What’s going on here?” Detective Blagrove asked, looking from one to another.
“I told my nephew what my wife did,” Blake touched his jaw and felt the blood at the corner of his lips. “He took it badly,” he said with a humourless smile.
“Where is your wife now, Mr. Heywood?”
“At home. I have to go with you in case she becomes difficult.” He looked at his nephew who looked as if he wanted to annihilate him. “I am truly sorry, Garth, I never meant for any of this to happen.”
“You wanted the company!” Garth said harshly. “How do I know you did not set Selene up to do this?”
“Because I would never have gone that far.”
“Mr. Heywood,” Detective Hanson said, looking at Garth. “Would you like to accompany us?”
“No. I have to go and see my wife.”
*****
He did not know how to tell her that it was someone who was supposed to be family did this! It was going to get to the press and the Heywood name would be plastered all over! He did not care about that right now! He just felt the sickness in his guts that he had inadvertently caused this. Selene had done this! He sat in his car in the underground parking and felt the despair surround him. What if she blamed him and no longer wanted to be with someone like him? Like them? He had not called his mother and told her yet but he supposed by now she would have heard. He exited the car and made his way into the apartment barely acknowledging the security there as he ran to get the elevator for him. “No movements, sir.” The security detailed he had put on his wife and son told him with a respectful nod.
“Thank you.” He hesitated for a moment. “They found who did it so you are dismissed for now.”
“Very good, sir.”
Garth found her in the gym. She had started working out since she had been given the go ahead by the doctor. His blood pressure spiked as he watched her lifting the weights, with sweat running down her body. She had on a skimpy gym wear with the Romano’s logo stitched onto the leg and on the tiny bra. A headband held back her thick hair and she looked as if she had never carried their son in her flat belly.
She put the weight into its cradle and sat up on the bench. “You are early.” She glanced at the clock and saw that it was only a little past four. She had put their son down for his nap and decided to get some workout done. Leesa had suggested a personal trainer but she had decided against it.
He came and sat in front of her on the hardwood floor.
“They found your attacker.”
“That’s good news! Was it a burglar?”
He shook his head and then got to his feet to go over to where the treadmill was.
“Garth?”
“It was Selene.”
; Chapter 11
Olivia stared at him in shock! “Selene Heywood?”
“The woman my uncle married tried to kill you and our son,” he told her grimly.
“Why?”
“Because she wanted to get the company for him!”
“I thought the deal was already done. I thought you were made CEO,” she said foolishly.
“Yes, I was. Did you hear what I said? Selene tried to kill you.”
“I heard you, Garth, but I am trying to make sense of it.” Olivia reached for a towel and mopped her face. Her hands trembled slightly as she tried to think. No one had ever tried to kill her before and she did not know what to think.
“Make sense?” Garth laughed hollowly. “I want to kill her for hurting you.”
“And you would have been no better than she is,” Olivia said quietly. She put away the towel and came towards him. “Maybe she is a cold calculating bitch or maybe she did it for love, I don’t know but it is no use plotting her demise. Who found out?”
“Uncle Blake told me this afternoon.” He told her about the conversation and that the police had gone to pick her up.
“So she is not in her right mind.”
“You are making excuses for her?” he asked her incredulously.
“I am trying to find a reason why she did it.” Her fingers touched his face. “Garth, look at me, please. I told you I am not going to allow what happened to me to take away even one day of spending quality time with my family. I am alive and so is our son and Selene will get her just reward. You have not touched me since I came home and it has been almost two weeks. You have been difficult and moody like the Garth I first met. I want my husband and I want him now.”
He stared down at her. She was wearing only socks and looked so tiny that he could not believe it. She was right! He had been obsessing over what happened and intent on catching whoever it was that hurt her and tried to harm his son that he had been ignoring her. “I am sorry.” His fingers traced her damp cheek and went down to her chin. “You are right.”
She stepped back and pulled the top over her head. Ever since she had been unconscious, her son had had to make do with formula and she realized that even though he was taking the milk he was not taking enough. She had been advised by the nurse to express and put the liquid away in the fridge. But now she felt the aching stiffness of the milk in her breasts and needed release.
“Could you?” she murmured, bringing his eyes back to hers. “I am in pain and our son will not be awake for a few more hours.”
“Olivia.” His voice was hoarse and his body felt as if body had caught fire.
She shimmied out of the bottom as well and stood before him totally naked. “I need you.”
He took off his jacket and in his haste threw it onto the floor for the first time in his life. He got rid of the rest of his clothes including his boxers and stood there before her with his erection jutting forth. He caught her around the waist and lifting her he sat on one of the benches that held the weights. He bent his head and the minute his mouth closed over her nipple she screamed! Her body stiffened as he continued to suck the liquid into his mouth. He went to the other one and did the same, his fingers parting her legs and finding her wetness. Olivia sobbed and clutched at him, feeling the molten flame going through her helpless body. “I can’t –Please, Garth I can’t.” He lifted his head and took her lips with his as she erupted against his fingers, her body shuddering and her cries captured inside his mouth!
His mouth continued to ravage hers as his fingers sticky and wet slipped in and out of her slowly. He was not sure it was safe for him to enter her with his erection yet and even though he was painfully hard he did not want to chance it. She pulled away from his mouth and stared up at him. “I am okay.”
“What?” he whispered. He could still taste his son’s milk inside his mouth.
“You can put it in.”
“Are you sure?”
“I am sure.” She eased away and climbed over him lifting herself and guiding his penis into her. His body splintered as her tightness wrapped around him! His fingers dug into her hips and without finesse he pushed into her forcefully. He could not wait nor could he apply gentle pressure. He had not been with her for so long and his body craved her, craved this! Olivia wrapped her arms around his neck and returned his thrusts, her body still weak from the powerful orgasm she had experienced a few minutes ago meeting his eagerly. He did not wait for her, he could not and before long his harsh cries echoed around the room as he spilled his seed inside her, his body shuddering against hers! She came again in the middle of his and curled herself against him as she gave in to the tidal wave washing over her.
When he was able he lifted her and took her to their bedroom where he put her on the bed. He made to move but she clung and he came next to her holding her close. He was still hard and he knew that as soon as she caught her breath he was going to have her. Christ! His body was so drawn to her that he did not know where his began and hers ended. She was curled into his chest, her fingers curling and uncurling in the warmth of him. “I love you so much,” she mumbled as she moved against him restlessly.
“I love you too.” His hands tightened around her body. “What is it?”
“I want you,” she whispered. “It is like a fever raging inside me,” she moaned as the hairs on his chest rubbed her sensitive nipples. “Now, Garth,” she gasped and shivered against him. “Please now.”
He reached between them and entered her swiftly causing her to cry out and dig her nails into his chest. “Your mouth,” she whispered. He understood immediately and bending his head he took a nipple inside his mouth pulling on it urgently. She screamed and came immediately, her body jerking and her fingers digging into him. His lips claimed hers as he brought them up and over, both of them shuddering and exhausted from the emotional bursts that had come from them!
*****
“I cannot believe that Selene was behind all of it.” Margaret gently swayed her grandson slowly into her arms. The little boy reminded her of her son who had been so quiet when he was a baby. Blaine was almost a month old and was thriving so quickly. She found excuses to come over so often just to spend time with him. Blake had been the one to break the news to her but she had already seen it on the news. Selene looked spaced out; one minute silent and the next laughing for no reason.
“From what I gather your brother-in-law had a lot to do with her condition,” Olivia said grimly as she tidied up the changing table. Garth had insisted on hiring a nanny and Olivia had sent her down into the kitchen to take a break. She had drawn the line at her staying over. “We need our privacy and I need to bond with my son.”
Margaret looked at her daughter-in-law swiftly and then smiled as her grandson made little cooing noises. “Blake and Barrington were hard men who had to grow up very fast. My husband was married to the company because their father taught them from early on in their childhood that the company came first. Blake rebelled and took women because they threw themselves at him. Barrington did the opposite: he had me as his wife but he ignored me for the most part and spent most of his time building the company.”
“So you saying it is their father’s fault?”
“Maybe for the most of it.” She smiled sadly. “Garth grew up a very lonely little boy who idolized his dad and did not pay much attention to me and I hurt over it for a very long time.”
“Did you love him? Your husband?”
“I guess I did but I hated him too for bringing up our son that way.” She stood up and went to put the sleepy baby into the cot. “I am not like you, darling. I was not strong and determined so I sat back and allowed Barrington to call the shots.”
“I am sorry.”
“So am I.”
“What is going to happen to Selene?”
“She is going to be sent to one of those exclusive place where the insane rich are sent.” She passed her hand over Blaine’s light blue clad body. “It could have been me and I suppose s
he thought that was the way to go about getting Blake to love her. You came into Garth’s life and you turned things around and I applaud you for it.”
“I was not about to sit back and allow him to ignore me.” Her expression softened as she looked at her mother-in-law. “How about some refreshments and you watch my favorite movie with me?” she asked, linking hands with the woman.
“Not Twilight?” Margaret asked with a twinkle in her eyes.
“The same.”
*****
“We are going to Costa Land for the weekend.” Garth made the announcement one Thursday night in October when he came home. He had found her sitting in the kitchen drinking a cup of tea with Blaine in his mobile cot next to her on the stool. He bent to pick up his son and nuzzled his soft cheek inhaling the scent of baby powder and drool. His hair was a darker blonde than Garth’s and his eyes were still the odd mixture of brown and green.
“We are?” She hopped off the stool to take out the lasagna she had made. She had told the housekeeper not to bother cooking that she would do it for a change. So she had turned on her music and with Blaine’s eyes following her every movement she had prepared dinner. “What’s the occasion?”
“The King and Queen are celebrating their wedding anniversary and eminent birth of their first grandchild.”
“Debbie is due?” She clapped her hands in delight. “I know that they had been anxious about having a child for some time now. They have been married what? Two years?”
“Yes, but with the amount of traveling they do, it’s a wonder it happened.”
“I am so happy for them. When do we leave? Wait! Will Blaine be able to come with us?”
“We would not go if it was otherwise.” He cradled his son in his arms and looked down at him. “He is growing so big.”
“That’s good because by the time he is almost a year old, his brother or sister will be born.”
Garth’s eyes swung to hers as he looked at her in shock.
“What are you saying?”
“I am pregnant, Garth, and this time I hope it is a girl and she looks like me. As much as I admire and love the way you look I-“