Her eyes landed on Edric who smiled and shook his head as Tomas turned to her and said, “I don’t need anything, Ms. Welsh. In fact, I think I will go see Mariah.”
Mrs. Welsh looked at him startled asking, “This late, Tomas?”
Tomas gave her a sheepish smile as he walked over and kissed her cheek before telling her, “I’m going to see if she will let me sleep on her couch.”
He walked out of the office hearing Edric’s laughter and as he climbed into his car, he paused briefly a slight frown hovering over his face as he wondered where Lida went. He shook his head recalling she had done this often since she first moved in with them as Edric’s ‘secretary’. At the term, Tomas smiled and started his car up heading out and to the one person that had been able to finally calm the anger in his heart since the day he learned that Adela, Edric’s sister, had passed away.
Half way there, he called Mariah and grimaced when he heard the huskiness of her voice which told him that he woke her up.
“I’m sorry, Mariah, but I need to see you,” he told her in a soft voice, and he waited for her to speak.
“I wanted to see you too,” she told him, and he mentally jumped for joy feeling like a horny teenager again although all he said was, “That’s good because I’m about ten minutes away from your place. I wonder if you don’t mind me crashing on your couch.”
Her low laughter raced across his nerve endings as she said, “Then I will see you in ten minutes.”
He laughed outright as his eyes took on a roguish grin, and he repeated, “See you in ten.”
He hung up with a smile as he increased his speed ready to see her and his phone beeped at him once letting him know that he had a message, but he ignored it. Although he loved Edric like a brother, he really didn’t feel in the mood to talk with him right now and he had a feeling that was because of his own guilt about Calida. He just hoped that Edric was honest with himself soon, or he just might lose the best thing that’s happened to him in a long time.
Lida woke up slowly her body aching with pain trying to remember where she was when suddenly it all came back to her and tears filled her eyes.
There was a deep sigh and she slowly turned her head to look at the man she had believed without question only to learn how wrong she had been.
“You should’ve just believed me,” Jeremy told her from the chair he was sitting one leg crossed over the other as he waved his hand at her. “Someone help her to her feet.”
Lida groaned as she was hauled without gentleness to her feet and pushed down into a hard wooden chair.
She glanced around slowly her eyes blurry which she knew meant that she was probably sporting a black eye remembering how Jeremy hit her when she confronted him. Forcing herself to focus, she glanced up at the man sitting in front of her as indifferent while her mind replayed what happened when she arrived here two days ago.
Flashback:
As she pulled up to the Reseda residence, she slammed on the brake and parked the car opening the door before she even turned it off. As she slammed the door shut, the front door opened and one of Jeremy’s bodyguards came out.
“I need to see him,” she had said heading for the door.
The man had grabbed her arm and told her in a cold voice, “He is busy at the moment. Maybe you should wait until he calls you.”
Those words echoed through her mind as she stared at him and in that moment, she realized what a fool she had been.
She snatched her arm away as she said, “I will see him now.”
Before the man could stop her, she rushed into the house and hearing noise in the living room she headed in that direction only to stop when she reached it her eyes widening in shock and disgust.
“Hello, Lida,” Jeremy said from his position on the floor between two beautiful women and Lida felt humiliation roll through her. “What are you doing here?”
“You lied to me,” Lida forced through her humiliation and embarrassment as the young women didn’t even pause while Jeremy looked at her with indifferent, and laughing, eyes.
“About what, my dear,” he asked allowing his eyes to close briefly before he opened them back up to stare at her with a challenge.
Lida ignored it as she told him, “Calida was never your lover.”
Jeremy smiled here his eyes darkening as he said, “Now, Lida, don’t tell me you are starting to believe her lies. Calida is very good at twisting the truth.”
She opened her mouth to tell him what she had seen when suddenly she hesitated remembering that brief flash in his eyes at Calida’s name. She changed tactics as she looked at him with scorn before shifting that look to the women with him. “I think I believe what I see with my own eyes.”
She watched as a hard light entered his eyes and he said softly, “Is that so?”
Lida swallowed sensing the danger coming off of him as she backed up and told him bravely, which was her mistake, “I think Calida and I should have a talk about a few things. I think she would like to know certain things about her mother if you ask me.”
She turned around quickly only to be blocked by the same man who tried to stop her from entering as Jeremy said behind her so deadly that she shivered, “I don’t think so, Lida.”
Ignoring the warning her body was telling her, she spun around ready with smart remark when she froze as her eyes met Jeremy’s who had moved without her being aware of it, and standing in front of her so close that she saw the muscle in his jaw clench.
“No, I don’t think so, Lida,” he repeated as his hand came up as if to caress her face only for it to change as he slammed his fist into it knocking her out.
The last thing she heard as she lost consciousness was Jeremy saying, “Take this bitch down to the basement, but you can’t start having fun until I’m done with her.”
End of Flashback
Lida’s mind came back to the present as she glared at Jeremy even though fear was running through her at how coldly he had hit her, and how nonchalant he sat there watching her.
“Lida, my dear, we need to talk,” he said suddenly uncrossing his legs to lean forward his eyes going cold.
Lida felt a shiver run through her body at that look and she had a feeling that she may not walk away from Jeremy after he was done with her.
“Let’s get started, shall we,” Jeremy quipped a smile of anticipation crossing his features as he stood up and started toward her, and Lida felt her skin crawl as his hands reached out to her.
Edric walked in his bedroom as Calida stepped out of the bathroom her hair still wet from the shower.
She blushed as he stared at her saying a soft voice, “I thought you would be a little longer as you said that you had some work to complete.”
Edric nodded his head watching her as she walked over to the bed and sat on the edge using the towel to dry her hair while her hazel eyes shifted around the room showing him that she was nervous.
“Why so nervous, sweetheart,” he said a mocking note in his tone of voice getting a startled look from Calida. “After all, you were definitely not nervous last night.”
Calida’s hand stilled as she told him in a rueful voice, “No, I guess I wasn’t. I gave in way to easily, huh, so I guess that makes me a…”
She didn’t get to finish the sentence as Edric crossed the room and laid a hand over her mouth a grimace on his face.
“I’m sorry,” he said gruffly running his free hand through his hair. “I didn’t mean it like that, I’m just a little upset right now and I took it out on you.”
Calida raised her hand lacing it with his as he lowered it from her lips and asked, “Is there anything I can do to help you, Edric?”
He stared at her the sound of his name falling from her lips calming him when suddenly a smile crossed his face. “You just did.”
Calida tilted her head to stare at him in confusion but he didn’t add on to his comment as he grabbed the towel and settling himself behind her finished towel drying her.
�
��Did you enjoy today, Calida?”
She smiled as he towel dried her hair telling him, “It was a wonderful day so thank you for giving it to us.”
At her words, Edric laughed as he teased, “Us?”
Calida nodded her head causing him to lose hold of her hair which he said with a mocking exasperation, “If you want this dry, keep your head still.”
“Yes, sir,” Calida muttered laughter threaded through her voice.
Edric chuckled tossing the towel to the floor as he grabbed her spinning them around so she was lying on the bed staring up at him with startled eyes.
“I think we are done drying your hair,” he told her huskily his green eyes dark with passion.
Calida’s own hazel eyes were showing her own arousal as she said throatily, “But I will get the bed wet.”
“Oh, well, I guess some sacrifices have to be made,” he told her as he leaned down to kiss her catching her laughter on the tip of his tongue as he kissed her sweetly.
“Sacrifices,” she moaned sometime later as he settled on top of her his green eyes staring down into her hazel ones as he interlocked their hands on the either side of her head. “What sacrifices are you making?”
He smiled and leaned down saying against her lips, “Let me think about it and I will get back to you on that…afterwards.”
Calida’s eyes went wide as his mouth settled on hers with a passion that left her breathless and she decided that later neither one cared what sacrifice was made as they were swept up into the storm that they created.
Two hours later, Calida laid against his chest her mind blank as Edric played with her hair and he murmured, “Tell me about your mother.”
“What,” she mumbled in shock her head lifting from his chest to stare at him.
He kissed the tip of her nose before he nestled her back against him and told her, “I want to know about your mother. Can you tell me about her?”
Calida was quiet for a few minutes before she began to speak and as she did, Edric could feel her body relax as a warm note entered her voice. Edric listened to her talk telling him about her childhood and as she talked about her mother getting an insight on how much Calida’s mother had played an important role in her attitude and perception of the people around her.
It was only as she reached her mother’s death that her voice went quiet and Edric asked quietly, “You don’t know what happened at the time of your mother’s death?”
The hand that was moving on his chest stopped at his question and it was a few minutes before she answered, “I only remembered that she was acting a little weird during that time as if something was on her mind. When she left that day, she gave me a kiss and told me to be good that she would have a treat for me at her return. I laughed because she normally forgot or came home with something that I had to wait to eat.” She went quiet for a few minutes before she told him in a very low voice, “I remember thinking it weird that my brother watched her drive away and there was a terrifying look on his face when he came back inside the house. He glared at me before going to his room although I thought I heard his car leave sometime later, but everyone thought I must’ve imagined it.”
Edric wondered if Calida knew what she was revealing to him as he asked her slowly, “Calida, do you think it’s possible…?”
“That Jeremy had something to do with my mother’s death,” Calida finished as he stopped. She sighed suddenly her breath drifting across his chest as she answered his question, “I spent ten years learning everything about Jeremy, but I can’t say with definite proof that he was responsible for her accident. As to your question do I think it is possible that he may have been involved is a different story because I think Jeremy can do, and will, anything to get what he believe is his right to have no matter who he hurts in the process.”
Edric stiffened at her words, but Calida lost in thought didn’t feel it at first and when she noticed it she lifted inquisitive eyes to him.
“Is something wrong, Edric?” She asked a frown between her brows and Edric shook his head with a smile forcing his body to relax although her words continued running through his mind.
“I wonder what caused you not to trust your own brother,” he asked running his hand down her back. “You said yourself you were too young when your mother died to fully understand.”
Calida was feeling drowsy as his hand continued traveling over her back so when she answered his question, she brought up something that she vowed never to bring up to anyone again until the evidence she had to make him pay for it was in the right hands.
“I saw him kill someone,” she murmured in his chest falling asleep soon after she spoke those words unaware that Edric stayed awake for the rest of the night staring down at her his eyes dark seeing the frown that crossed her face and how she paled even in her sleep as the nightmares from that night began to start all over again.
Chapter 13
A week later, Calida was in the kitchen with Ms. Welsh making the cake she promised Mariah for her niece’s birthday party when Tomas came in with a frown.
“Have you seen Lida by any chance, Ms. Welsh?” He asked as he snagged a cookie from a plate in the middle of the table.
Ms. Welsh frowned as she glanced over at Calida who also looked up with an answering frown on her face. “I haven’t seen her since that first night I spent here,” Calida said worry evident in her voice.
“I don’t like this,” he muttered as Calida walked to the sink and washed her hands.
“Do you need help looking for her, Tomas?” Calida offered as she dried her hands on a dishtowel glancing up in time to see the skeptical look that crossed Tomas’ face. “It’s not that I don’t like her, Tomas, but more that she is blinded by my brother and will do anything for him no matter what it is.”
Tomas had to admit he understood that which was why he got close to her in the first place, but he hadn’t wanted anything to happen to her.
“It was one of the reasons you got close to her, right, Tomas?” Calida said suddenly as she slipped her engagement ring on staring down at it and he swore when she muttered, “Isn’t the fact he is my brother is why Edric wants to marry me?”
Ms. Welsh glanced over at her as Tomas looked at her sharply as she asked, “What was that, sweetie?”
Calida glanced up with a smile that wasn’t reflected in her eyes remarking, “Nothing, Ms. Welsh, I was merely making an inane comment.”
Tomas gave her a thoughtful look as he suggested, “If you want to help me, Calida, I would appreciate it so we can find Lida. She normally takes vacation for a while but never this long without at least calling to let us know something.”
He turned for the doorway when suddenly Sophia’s voice echoed in the room as she came through the door. “Oh, Tomas, I’m glad I caught you before you started looking then,” she said with a smile.
Tomas looked at her in confusion and she chuckled as she explained, “Lida called me yesterday and told me that she was going to visit her family, and that she wouldn’t be back until the end of the week.”
“Family?” Calida uttered in a surprised tone catching the glance that Sophia gave her.
“Is there something wrong, Calida?” Tomas asked as Sophia smiled and shook her head.
“I guess she doesn’t trust me, Tomas,” Sophia said her tone slightly downcast, and Tomas frowned at Calida seeing a look of thoughtfulness on her face.
“Nothing is the matter, Tomas, and I’m sorry if I gave you that impression, Sophia,” Calida said with a small smile. “I was thinking of something and it came out wrong.”
Sophia nodded her head although she let tears fill her eyes slightly as Tomas turned to her and he was about to speak when another voice rung through the kitchen.
“Calida, what are you doing?” Edric asked as he stood in the doorway and Calida looked over at him a soft smile gracing her mouth.
“Making the cake that Mariah asked me to make for her niece, but,” she said glancing at the oven and scrunchi
ng her nose, “I don’t think it’s quite ready yet.”
He laughed as he walked over and put his arms around her waist not noticing the frown that Tomas gave him or the narrowed look of Sophia, but Ms. Welsh caught the narrowed look as Sophia turned away.
“I have a date tonight, so I will see you tomorrow, Ric,” she stated in the right tone of voice that caught everyone’s attention. “It’s business, Calida, which I’m sure you understand.”
Calida frowned slightly as she caught an undertone in her voice but she nodded her head in understanding wondering why she got a weird feeling in the pit of her stomach.
“Bye, Sophia,” everyone called except for Calida who was distracted by the feeling that Sophia had been trying to tell her something.
Edric saw the distracted look and said quietly, “Calida” getting her attention as she glanced up hazel eyes slightly dimmed and her face a polite mask hiding her feelings.
Edric bent down and kissed her roughly before he lifted his head and muttered, “I asked you not to show that look around me.”
Calida glanced at him in confusion before she shook her head and said, “I was thinking about something.”
“Edric,” Ms. Welsh said as she wiped down the counter, “we were discussing Lida not being here for almost a week.”
Edric frowned as Tomas said, “Sophia said that she called her with the explanation that she was spending some time with her family.”
Calida said absently, “I thought for sure though that she was an only child and her parents died her last year of high school.”
All eyes turned to her and Tomas asked sharply, “Are you sure, Calida?”
Calida glanced over at him and shook her head as she admitted, “I wish I can say I was, but I can’t be sure as it was something my brother told me and I learned ten years ago what he says can’t be trusted.”
She stepped away from Edric’s arms as she said this to check the oven that she didn’t see how both men froze at her words and when Edric asked her a question in a controlled voice, she missed it due to her own painful memories. Edric’s mind flashed back to that night when Calida told him about seeing her brother killing someone, and he wondered if it was the reason she had left town so suddenly.
Past Sins Revisited Page 17
