“What’s wrong, Vanessa girl?” His nickname for her always brought her comfort, but for some reason, the comfort didn’t come that night.
“Daddy, why are we here?”
“James and I thought our children should get to know each other,” he said with a beaming smile. A smile of pride, but one that made unease roll through her.
“Daddy, I know who Charles is, but we don’t hang with the same people. Can we just go home, please?”
Before her father could answer, the door opened. “Harold, I’m glad you could make it,” James Harper said as he shook her father’s hand. “Don’t tell me, this is Vanessa? She’s stunning, Harold. Must take after her mother.” He chuckled as he elbowed her father.
“Yes, she looks just like her mother,” her father replied with such pride and love in his eyes.
James waved his arm for them to enter. “Come in. Dinner is being placed on the table as we speak. Vanessa, I’m sure Charles is going to fall all over himself when he sees you.”
She bowed her head and tucked a lock of brown hair behind her ear. She didn’t want Charles falling all over himself for her. He was a senior when she was a freshman, and seniors didn’t acknowledge freshman unless they were trying to get into their pants. Plus, everyone knew he had been dating Linda Gregory, and now they were away at college together.
She jerked her head up when her father cleared his throat. “Vanessa, Mr. Harper is speaking to you.”
“Thank you, Mr. Harper, but I’m sure he has better things to do.”
“Nonsense. This is the most important thing he has to do. He’s almost a man and needs to start acting like one before he graduates.”
Vanessa nodded even though she didn’t understand what he was talking about.
When Charles joined them in the dining room, he looked handsome in a pair of khakis and a collared golf shirt. He had a polite smile, but nothing that said he was happy to see her, and he sure as hell wasn’t falling all over himself.
As they sat for dinner, the looks from Mr. Harper and her father made it obvious that she was to be the topic of conversation. Unease washed over her.
“Charles, as of today, you’re dating Vanessa Calhoun,” his father announced in a matter-of-fact voice.
Vanessa choked on her food. Looking at her father as she coughed, she questioned when she was able to speak. “Excuse me?”
“What? I already have a girlfriend!” Charles stood with both hands firmly planted on the table.
“Well, now you have a new one.” Mr. Harper glared at Charles. “Sit down. You’re scaring the girl.”
Charles wasn’t scaring her. His father and hers were. She looked at her father hoping this was a sick joke, but a look of determination was fixed on his face. She ducked her head and leaned toward her father as discretely as possible.
“Daddy, I don’t want to date Charles.”
“See, she doesn’t want to date me either,” Charles said to his father.
“That’s because she doesn’t know you, and you’re acting like a fool.” His father leveled him with another stern look.
Charles sat down. To his credit, he was trying to maintain some kind of decorum.
Mr. Harper pointed between himself and her father. “Charles, Vanessa, we have an arrangement.”
“What kind of arrangement?” Charles asked.
“Daddy—”
“Shh, Vanessa girl. This is a good agreement, and you’ll be taken care of for the rest of your life,” Mr. Calhoun said, patting her on the hand.
“That’s right, Vanessa. As of today, you’re promised to Charles. He will court and marry you. You will be taken care of. By marrying you, Charles will give you the heir you need to keep the beachfront property. If something happens to you, then your father knows who will take it over. It’s a win-win arrangement for everyone.” Mr. Harper’s smile was sickening.
Sickening. That was exactly how Vanessa felt. She didn’t want anything to do with this family.
“Daddy, don’t I get a say in this?”
“Sweetheart, it’s been settled. I’m not getting any younger, and I want you taken care of if something happens to me. James knows how to manage these things, and you won’t have anything to worry about.”
“But, Daddy—”
Her father leveled her with a stern look. He rarely raised his voice, but when he cocked his brow, she knew to stop. “It’s settled, young lady. That’s final.”
Tears stung her eyes as she tried to hold them back.
“Father, I agree with…um, Vanessa. I don’t want this. I love Linda, and we’re talking about a future together.”
“I see. Seems you can tell her you misspoke because your family has obligations that involve you marrying someone else.” Mr. Harper narrowed his eyes and leveled a look at Charles that didn’t grant any argument. “End it, tonight.” As he turned his head, he smiled at Vanessa again then looked at her father. “Harold, why don’t we adjourn to my study for a cognac. We’ll let these two get to know each other.”
As soon as the door closed behind their fathers, Charles turned on her. “Those two old men may force me to marry you, but I will not give up Linda. You got that?”
“Believe me, I don’t want this either. I’ll talk to my dad when we get home, I’ll get him to change his mind.”
Charles scoffed. “Doubt that.”
Reliving that night jarred her memory. They had never discussed her trust fund. It was always about the beach property. She grabbed her phone and hit the speed dial number for her attorney.
5
Charles Harper got out of jail twenty hours ago with a monitor on his ankle. Having his possessions returned to him, he flipped his wedding band over then stuffed it in his pocket along with his keys. His attorney was waiting for him when he walked outside and drove him to his house.
“You can get your car, Charles, but it’s still a crime scene. You can’t go inside.”
He got out of the car and watched Wayne drive off before he approached the front door where police tape was stretched across it. “Fuck that.” He tore the tape away and walked inside.
He looked around. The house was just as they’d left it that night, eight weeks ago. He showered, changed clothes, and packed a small duffle bag. When he’d gathered everything he needed, he headed to the only place he wanted to be.
Now, sitting on the sofa in Linda’s living room, he wondered where his life was heading. He couldn’t believe Linda had stood by his side from day one of this nine-year-old nightmare. He remembered that night as if it were yesterday.
His father opened the front door for Mr. Calhoun and Vanessa, then waved as they pulled out of the driveway. Charles leaned up against the doorjamb to the dining room waiting for his father to reenter the house. As soon as the door closed, James Harper leveled him with a stern look.
“You better not fuck this up. Do you know how much that land is worth? When the time is right, we’ll develop it and make a killing.”
“When are you going to listen to me? I love Linda. I want to marry her when we graduate. Somehow, I don’t think little miss Vanessa is going to go for a triad, especially if she’s left out.”
“You can keep your little piece of ass on the side, but you will keep her discreet. You will be seen around town with Vanessa Calhoun immediately, and you will marry her as soon as she turns eighteen. Do you understand me?”
“I’ll be a senior in college, Dad, not to mention Linda lives with me. How the hell am I going to do that?”
“Mrs. Charles Harper will live with her father while you’re at school. Y’all will stay here, together, when you come home on weekends, and you’ll get her pregnant when the time is right. You’ll have the best of both worlds, my boy. Your duty in your bed here, and your pleasure at school.” His father patted him on the back.
“I don’t know if Linda will agree to this.”
“That’s your problem to work out, Charles. Either she agrees, or she leaves.”
/> “You’re deep in thought.” Linda sat beside him.
“Just thinking about the night my father put this whole idiotic plan in motion.”
“Have you talked to him since you got out?”
“No.”
“You need to. What’s the worst that can happen?”
“Are you shitting me? I signed a fucking prenup because ‘it’d look good.’” Charles put his last words in air quotes. “She’s not pregnant, and she hasn’t fucking died, so we’ll lose all rights to that property. Pissed off won’t begin to cover how angry he’s going to be that she filed for divorce.”
“He’s not in good health, Charles, so he may not be as pissed as you think. Plus, who’s to say she isn’t pregnant?”
“Me. I used a condom every damn time I had to fuck her unless Daddy Dearest made an appointment where they checked for semen.” Charles plowed his fingers through his hair. “She was steadily losing weight except for that week Officer Cox worked with her. Asshole. I thought he’d figure it out if they spent too much time together. Once he was gone, her weight started decreasing again, but not as quickly.” He blew out a harsh breath. “It doesn’t matter now.”
“It might if she took the creamer with her. I told you it has an appetite suppressant in it.”
Charles shook his head. “She didn’t. I saw it on the counter. I’m sure it’s out of her system by now.”
Linda cupped Charles’s face and held his gaze. “Since she’s filed for divorce, it’ll all be over soon. We’ve waited a long time, and now we can finally be together.”
He kissed the back of one of her hands. “Look, I’ve got to get out of here for a while.” He stood, pulling his keys out of his pocket. “I’ll be back later.”
6
Nathan always hated rotation changes.
He loved the three days on and three days off, but it was the change from nights to days and vice versa that killed him. Getting back adjusted to day shift screwed with his sleep and usually put him in a shitty mood by early afternoon. Today was no different. He dropped his uniforms at the dry cleaners and just stepped outside to put on his sunglasses when some jackass bumped into him.
“What the hell, dude? Open your damn eyes.”
Charles turned on him. “You’re not in uniform today, Mr. Cox.”
“Charles, today is not a good day. I suggest you keep on walking and use some manners. I thought that was what the South was known for.” Nathan’s hands involuntarily balled into fists.
“Are you missing my wife?” Charles taunted.
“Soon to be ex-wife,” Nathan said through gritted teeth.
Charles laughed and shook his head. “Are you sure about that? Things have a way of changing. Maybe she’ll take me back. Maybe she won’t be around at all.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Nathan asked with furrowed eyes.
Charles shrugged and kept walking. “Have you spoken with her lately?” he asked as he turned and looked at Nathan.
Nathan’s heart raced. He hadn’t spoken to her since before he went on shift last night.
Fuck!
He couldn’t let Charles see that his words rattled him, so he schooled his expression and watched Charles walk down the street laughing. Nathan jumped in his truck and hit Vanessa’s speed dial number as he cranked it.
“Nathan?”
Relief flowed through him. “Hey, beautiful. How are you?”
“I’m getting stronger every day.” He could hear the joy in her voice.
“Ness, I need to ask you something,” he said as he pulled onto the main road.
“Okay, this sounds serious.”
“Yeah, kinda. Was there a prenup with you and Charles?”
“Yes, but it protected me more than him. Why?”
“What did it say?”
“Well, there are two trusts. A financial trust and a land trust. Since Charles agreed to sign the prenup, my father thought it was a good idea to let my monthly allowance from the financial trust go into the account I shared with Charles.” She paused, and he heard her take a deep breath. “Now, I’m not so sure because I don’t know what he was doing with the money. He paid all of our bills, took me shopping when I needed something, and I only got a small allowance for incidentals. When it was time for my driver’s license to be renewed, he wouldn’t let me. He said I didn’t need it because I didn’t have a car.”
“He what? You don’t have a current driver’s license?”
“No. I was barely eighteen when my father gave me away. I had no financial sense, so I was fine letting Charles handle the money.” She paused. “I do know that my deposits were enough for me to have a car, but in hindsight, he just wanted to keep me dependent on him. I had nothing.” Her tone was sad. “That’s the money the attorney has coming to me.”
“Were there any stipulations in the agreement?”
“Yes, but they didn’t really have any meaning until we were married ten years.”
“How long have you been married?”
“Seven.”
“Tell me the stipulations,” he calmly said.
“I had to remain faithful.” Her laugh was sad. “Funny that was never put on him. I think our fathers knew he hadn’t been and never would be.”
“What else did it say?”
Her voice came through in a matter-of-fact tone. “Let’s see. At a time of Charles’s choosing, we’d start a family. If I wasn’t pregnant by our tenth anniversary, I’d agree to go to a fertility doctor. Once we had a child, Charles would take over management of the land trust. If anything happened to me with no heir, Charles would be considered my heir and inherit both trusts.”
“Damn,” Nathan whispered. An heir or death. “What about divorce? It didn’t prohibit you from divorcing him, did it?”
“No, and I discussed that specifically with the attorney before I filed. He said under the circumstances, attempted murder would override a prenup anyway.”
“Thank God.”
“Nathan, what’s this all about?”
“I ran into Charles this afternoon—”
“Oh, no. You didn’t do anything, did you?”
“No, but it took everything in me not to wrap my hand around his throat.”
“What did he say?”
Nathan relayed the conversation he’d had with Charles. “The part that bothered me the most was when he said that you may not be around at all. His laughter put me on edge. When he asked if I’d spoken with you lately, I swear it was like he knew something I didn’t. Maybe he was just antagonizing me. I don’t know.” Nathan rubbed his head. “I’m coming down there tomorrow. Please don’t open the door for anyone but me, okay?”
“I’ll call the attorney and let him know what’s happening.”
“How are you feeling now compared to before you left?”
“What? Why?”
“Please, just humor me.” He knew the questions were going to be hard for her to answer, and hard for him to hear, but he needed a little more information.
“I don’t have the stomach pain and nausea anymore. I guess my nerves have settled now that I’m able to eat and function without fear. And I’m not as clumsy or dizzy—I haven’t fallen once. Maybe that’s because I don’t have to walk on eggshells anymore.”
Fuck! He was grasping for straws here, but his gut told him there was more to it. “Ness, was Charles ever alone with your food?”
“Of course. He’d fix breakfast, what little I could eat of it, on week mornings, and he always had my coffee prepared in a to-go cup so we weren’t late for work. Why?”
“Just a hunch.” He paused to switch from personal to professional. “Ness, were you ever actively trying to have a baby?”
She burst out laughing. “Oh, God. Nathan, I don’t want to discuss that with you. Why would you even want to know that?”
“Right now, I’m your investigating officer. If you want, we can discuss it face to face tomorrow if that’s easier.”
“No, no,” she quickly said. “How much do you need to know?”
“Did you consummate the marriage?” he asked as bile came up his throat.
“Yes,” she whispered.
“Were you on birth control?”
“For the first year, yes.”
“Then what?”
“We moved into our own place. His father was constantly reminding him that I needed an heir.” She paused. “God, Nathan, do you really need to know this?”
“I’m sorry, but yeah. If my hunch is correct, I need to go to your house.”
“Why?”
“Just finish, and then I’ll tell you.”
“Okay, so that’s when Charles got all weird about my weight. I’d have to weigh every day. He served my plate with how much he decided I could eat, whether I was still hungry or not.” She paused. “For a month he watched me take my temperature to check my cycle and taunted me the whole time, telling me I wasn’t a complete woman because I couldn’t get pregnant normally.” Her voice broke. “He didn’t know that I’d seen him put on condoms when he did have sex with me, but I never said anything because I didn’t want to have a child with him.”
“He was putting you through all of that, and he wore a condom? What the hell, Ness?”
“I was confused too. I heard him on the phone with his father one night, telling him that he fucked me every day and didn’t know why I wasn’t pregnant.” A small sob broke her voice. “We had sex once a month, at the most.”
“I’m sorry, beautiful.” He took a deep breath to regain control of his anger. “Anything else?”
“During one of my visits to the ER, Charles said something to Dr. Gregory about trying to get pregnant. Dr. Gregory said I needed to gain weight. By this time, my periods had basically stopped.”
“Have they started back?”
“I cannot believe I’m telling you this.” She sighed. “I weighed myself this morning. I’ve gained five pounds since I’ve been here, and yes, I had a period last week for the first time in months.”
“That’s good, Ness. Baby, you’ve got to get healthy.” He was happier than he’d been in the last five minutes.
Unbridled Passion: A Riverton Crossing Novel Page 3
