Saving Hanna (Romantic Suspense)

by A. L Long

  “Hanna, don’t believe him. He is the reason we lost the farm.”

  “I don’t believe you, Carter. You are the only person to blame. You took everything from me.” Hanna’s words were filled with emotion. I never thought that I would feel any remorse for what happened.

  “I knew you would never believe me. He’s got you right where he wants you. I knew it the minute he entered that diner,” Carter replied.

  Lifting the gun to his head, I saw he was about to take his own life. It would be the easiest way out of this mess, but I couldn’t allow him to do that. It would not only tear Hanna apart, it would also put a damper on my plans. Having no choice, I did the only thing I was good at. “Carter, taking your life isn’t going to make things better. Let me help you.”

  I had his attention. Even though he continued to hold the gun at this head, at least his eyes were on me. “How could you possibly help me? You’ve already taken everything.”

  “Come work for me.” The minute the words left my mouth, I wanted to snatch them up and take them back.

  “And why the fuck would I do that?” Carter chuckled, lowering the gun from his head and pointing it towards me. “You are the reason I’m in this mess to begin with.”

  “Carter, NO!” Hanna screamed. The sound of panic in her voice.

  “Because you can give Hanna back what you took and she can live the life she was meant to have. It’s a win-win for all of us.”

  ~*~*~*~

  It took some doing, but I finally managed to convince Carter to come work for me. It might have been the biggest mistake I had ever made. The upside was that Hanna didn’t have to witness him taking his own life.

  Hanna and I waited for Albert to show up in order to drive the truck back to the house. I called a cab for Carter and instructed the driver to take him to the St. Regis so that he could sober up. Tomorrow he wasn’t going to like me very much when I told him the stipulations of his employment.

  As we waited for Albert to show up, I thought it would be as good a time as ever to mention the dinner that my father had invited us to. Well… me and a guest. Taking Hanna by the hand, I led her to the couch. Placing my lips to hers, I asked softly, “Are you okay?”

  Keeping her eyes focused on our hands, she answered. “Yeah. Thank you for being here. I don’t know what my brother was thinking.”

  “I’m sure after he sobers up, he is going to feel like an ass for what he did.”

  “Yeah… you’re probably right. He was pretty drunk.” There was a moment of silence when she asked, “How does my brother know you, Aiden? I need you to be honest with me.”

  I knew that question would be coming up again. All I could think about was how I was going to answer her. “I’m really not sure. He certainly has kept his eye on me, otherwise how would he have known that I frequented Dotty’s? A lot of what he said didn’t make any sense. Tomorrow morning I’ll meet with him. Maybe he can shed some light on how he came to know me.”

  Pulling her closer, I kissed the top of her head. Her body nuzzled into mine. I didn’t remember ever feeling this close to any woman. It was the best feeling ever. Taking the chance that this was a good time, I said, “My father is having a small dinner party on Friday. I would love it if you came with me.”

  “You mean as your date?” I couldn’t help but smile at her question.

  “You could call it that.”

  “Well, in that case. I’d love to go.”

  Focusing on nothing else but her lips, I lowered my head and placed my mouth over hers. Teasing her lower lip, I plunged my tongue inside. As our tongues collided together, her warmth consumed me. Pulling her closer, I deepened the kiss, only to be interrupted by a knock on the door. “Excellent timing,” I said to myself.

  Chapter Fourteen

  HANNA

  My heart was racing. In less than eight hours I would be meeting Aiden’s father. Everything that I owned had been spread across the bed and nothing seemed to be good enough to wear. Even what I thought a month ago was my prettiest outfit just didn’t seem right. Frustrated and feeling as though accepting Aiden’s invitation might have been a mistake, I stared at my clothes and thought it would be best to tell Aiden I wouldn’t be able to go. Maybe if I pretended I wasn’t feeling well, he would understand.

  Opening the door to my room, my heart jumped out of my chest, startled by Aiden standing on the other side. “Crap, crap. You scared me to death.”

  “I’m sorry, Hanna,” he said, peering over my shoulder, more than likely wondering about the mess that I had made of my room. “Fight with your closet?”

  Looking back over my shoulder, I replied, “Something like that. Listen, I’m not sure going to your father’s is such a good idea. Maybe you could tell him I wasn’t feeling well.”

  Taking me by the hand, he pulled me closer and placed a kiss on my lips. “Let’s get out of here. I think a shopping day is in order.”

  Grabbing my phone and my small shoulder purse, I pulled the door closed and followed Aiden down the stairs, walking hand in hand with him. I didn’t know why I didn’t think about it first. Certainly, I wouldn’t be able to afford a dress that would be suitable to wear to his father’s.

  Heading towards downtown Houston, Aiden turned down Westheimer Road, where shop after shop appeared. In the year that I had lived here, the closest I ever came to shopping for new clothes was at your corner Wal-Mart store. Looking at the clothes displayed in the windows, I knew that these shops were way above what I could afford.

  Looking over to Aiden, I said, “I don’t think there is anything I can afford in these shops. Is there a mall nearby where we can go?”

  “Don’t be silly, Hanna. I invited you to my father’s and therefore, this is all on me.”

  Even though I have never allowed anyone to buy anything for me, he did have a point. If it hadn’t it been for the fact that he invited me to his father’s I wouldn’t have needed a new dress. I wouldn’t be shopping for one in the first place. On second thought, there was still the fact that I accepted his invitation.

  “I can tell that you’re overthinking this, Hanna.”

  He was right. I was overthinking this, but only because I was trying to convince myself that he should have to buy me a dress for tonight. I have always been independent. The only man that ever bought me anything was my father, and that was only until I was seventeen.

  Turning right at the light, Aiden pulled to the side of the street, parking in front of a fancy boutique that displayed beautiful dresses in the window. Looking up at the marquee hanging above the arched door, there was no way I could pronounce the name of the place. It had to be French since there was a picture of the Eiffel tower in black behind the pink lettering.

  Aiden got out of the car first while I continued to admire the dresses from the inside of the car. Opening my door, Aiden assisted me out. My attention was still on one particular dress that was the most gorgeous thing I had ever seen. It was simple, with a neckline that crossed in the front and barely hung off the shoulders. There was a big black bow at the waist that added to the rest of the dress, which flared out. Even though teal wasn’t my favorite color, it was beautiful. Standing next to Aiden, his eyes were now upon the dress that I fixated on. “It’s very attractive and would look amazing on you.”

  Giving him a smile, I stared at the dress and replied, “We’ll see.”

  Entering the boutique, a young lady greeted us, or at least Aiden, “Good morning, sir. Welcome to Paradis sur Terre.”

  “Thank you. My friend would like to try the dress on that you have displayed in the window. I believe a size four should fit nicely,” Aiden responded.

  I had no idea how he knew about women’s sizes, unless of course, he had shopped with women before. Just the thought made me angry even though there was really nothing between us except a few episodes of amazing sex. There shouldn’t have been any reason to be angry. I should have felt flattered that he knew what size I wore.

  Without th
inking I blurted out, “Shop much?”

  “Occasionally,” he began. “This was my mother’s favorite shop. I used to come here as a child.”

  At that moment, I could have sunk into a hole. I needed to work on jumping to conclusions. Thankfully the clerk brought the dress before I said anything else. Taking it from her hand, I looked around to see if I could find a dressing room. The clerk pointed to the back of the store where I saw a row of dressing room along the back wall.

  Heading in that direction, I said, “Thank you,” leaving Aiden with the clerk.

  As I began getting undressed, I could hear the clerk laughing and carrying on with Aiden on the other side of the door. I wasn’t sure what it was about this woman, but just the sound of her laughing was making my stomach turn. It was then that I realized that I was acting like I was in high school. Never had I been jealous of a girl and there was no way I was going to start now.

  Stepping into the dress, I pulled it up my legs and then over my shoulders. Pulling up the zipper located on the left side, I took one look in the mirror and was amazed at how well the dress fit me. It was beautiful and looked like it was made for me. At least, until I saw the price tag. “Fifteen hundred dollars, are you shitting me?” I choked.

  “Hanna, is everything okay in there?” Aiden’s voice sounded like he was right outside the door. I had no idea that I had confessed my disbelief out loud.

  “Couldn’t be better,” I said as I slowly opened the door.

  His expression gave no clue whether he was disgusted or charmed by the way I looked in the dress. His mouth had dropped open and his eyes were glued to me. Taking a stab at how he was feeling, I said, “You don’t like it.”

  “Don’t like it? Are you kidding? You look amazing.”

  ~*~*~*~

  I only had an hour before we were to leave for Aiden’s father’s home. As I looked in the mirror, there was something missing. As beautiful as the dress looked on me, I still didn’t feel that way. Staring at my face in the mirror, I knew that something needed to be done. Pulling my hair back, I turned my head to the left and then the right and knew it was my face that made me look like a simple girl dressed in a beautiful dress. Grabbing the make-up chest that Albert had purchased, I opened it up to see if there was anything I could use to make myself look better.

  There was everything a girl needed to make herself look beautiful. The problem was, other than the mascara, I had no idea how to put anything on. I never had the use for make-up living on the farm. The pigs and chickens certainly didn’t care what I looked like, and it wasn’t as if I had any events to go to.

  Taking the first item that was on top, I opened an eyeshadow palette which was mostly made up of browns and nude colors. Searching the chest, I found a small brush that read shadow brush on the side. Luckily for me there was a picture on the lid of the palette that showed where the shadow should be applied. Doing my best to copy the picture, I selected the first shadow and began applying it to my eye.

  After finishing with the shadow and applying mascara and a little blush to the cheeks and gloss to my lips, I had to admit that I looked pretty good. Removing the hair tie, I let my hair hang down, pulling only the front into a half pony.

  Taking one last look at myself, I was happy with what I accomplished. I hoped that Aiden would feel the same way and not be embarrassed by what I had done to myself. Leaving the bathroom, I slipped on the black pumps that Aiden so graciously bought for me and walked carefully to the door. Having never walked in heels, I was glad that he agreed that two inches was sufficient for me.

  By the time I had walked out of my room, it was close to time to leave. Standing at the top of the stairs, Aiden was at the bottom, looking even more gorgeous in a black suit and teal tie that matched my dress perfectly. I was nervous, but when he looked up at me, that all changed. Just the way he looked at me made me feel beautiful. Step by step, I slowly made my way down the stairs.

  Aiden never took his eyes off me, which made me wonder what was going through his head. It was an agonizing journey to reach him, but when he placed his hand on my cheek and lowered his lips to mine, it was well worth the outcome. As tender as the kiss was and as much as I wanted it to last, I knew that if we continued, we would be late.

  “I think maybe we should go,” I suggested in a heated breath.

  “My father can wait.” Aiden’s lips were on mine once again and I knew that we would be late.

  Chapter Fifteen

  AIDEN

  We ended up being late, but it was well worth it. Any extra time that I could spend with her was well worth the disgruntled look that my father gave me when we walked into the dining room where his guests were already seated. Taking our seats, my father’s attitude changed as he began introducing his business associates and their wives to us.

  Everything was going along smoothly until my father introduced us to them. “My friends, I would like to introduce you to my son Aiden and his lovely wife-to-be, Hanna Marsh.”

  I wasn’t sure what was going on, but as much as I would have loved that to be true, it wasn’t. Standing to my feet, I leaned over and whispered to my father, “May I have a word with you?”

  I could tell that Hanna was stunned. I hated leaving her the way I did, but I had no choice. Pushing away from the table, my father cleared his throat and said, “Excuse us, gentlemen… ladies.”

  Following him out of the dining room, I looked back at Hanna, and of anyone sitting at the table, she looked the most confused. My father was a man of few words, but when he spoke, people listened. This evening was the one night I wished he hadn’t spoken so freely.

  As we entered his study, I closed the door so no one could hear what I was about to say. “Are you insane? Why would you introduce Hanna as my fiancée when I hadn’t even proposed to her yet? And another thing, how the hell did you know her name?”

  “Simmer down, son, and quit with the theatrics. You remind me so much of your mother,” he began as he walked over to the liquor cart next to the window and poured himself a drink. “I have a lot on the line and I needed to make sure you were heading in the right direction. It is my right as a father to know everything about the woman my son intends on marrying.”

  “You had no right to tell your guest that Hanna was my wife-to-be.”

  “I had every right in the world. Do you know who these men are?” my father questioned, pointing to the door as though they were on the other side.

  “Of course I know who they are. At least most of them are members of the board. Even though I haven’t had the privilege to meet them personally, I have seen most of them at Elite Exchange. What I don’t understand is… why would they give a rat’s ass who I kept company with?”

  “Ha-ha… my dear son. You have so much to learn. Those men are ultimately the ones who decide whether or not you take over the company. And yes, some of them are board members, but they are all shareholders.”

  “I don’t understand, father. Why would they need to approve my position of CEO? Unless they own the majority of the company.”

  “Now you’re learning,” my father confirmed, downing the rest of his drink and walking toward the door. “We need to get back to the guests. Tomorrow we can discuss this further.”

  As we headed back into the dining room, I did everything I could to keep from exploding. I was so angry at my father for not sharing that bit of information with me. Tomorrow he was going to get a rude awakening. He would be getting the surprise of his life when he found out that I no longer wanted the CEO position.

  ~*~*~*~

  After we left my father’s home, I felt awful for leaving Hanna alone while my father and I had our little discussion. Little did I know that she didn’t mind it at all. The men and women at the table were very nice and seemed very interested in her. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been given so much attention.

  I was beginning to think that maybe I had been a little hasty in giving up my quest to be the next CEO. If the boa
rd members and shareholders liked her as much as she said, then my chances of being voted as the next CEO were better than I thought. The best part was that it didn’t even bother her when my father announced her as my soon-to-be wife, at least not until we got home.

  “Aiden, why would your father think that we were going to get married?” she asked as we headed into the living room for a night cap.

  Pouring us a drink, wine for her and Scotch for me, I walked over to where she was seated and tried to think of something that she would believe. Handing her the wine glass, I took a seat next to her and said, “Wishful thinking, I suppose.”

  “Is that why you left the dining room with him?” she questioned.