Page 74 of For Love & Torture
Chapter 32
Isabel
One day later
Sitting on the sofa in the den, Grant and I are cuddled up, looking at a website for one of the local jewelry stores. I never thought in a million years that he and I would be picking out wedding rings.
“Oh, I like this one, Bell. Look, baby. It has the one large stone in the center and smaller stones along the platinum band. And then you have the wedding band with nice sized diamonds all the way around. I think this set would look beautiful on your long slender finger.” He pulls the picture up so we can really see the rings.
“I think it’s gorgeous, but did you see that list of numbers underneath it? It’s a bit pricey.” I point out a cheaper set. “That one’s nice too and not nearly as expensive as the one you picked out.”
“Ignore the numbers, baby. You know damn well I can afford it. And I want everyone who looks at your left hand to know how much I cherish and value you.” He kisses the side of my head and I melt into him.
It’s hard to believe this is the same man from a year ago. It sure took a hell of a lot to get him to appreciate me. But at least it finally happened.
I point at the man’s ring that goes with the set—a plain platinum band with no adornments whatsoever. “But the one that goes with it is too plain.” I move my finger across the screen to one that’s also platinum, but has small diamonds on the top in the shape of a cross. “I like this one for you. I’m buying you this one.”
He raises his brows, clearly a bit surprised. “You’re buying me that one? Did you happen to see the price of that thing?”
Snuggling even closer to him, I laugh lightly. “My bosses pay me well. I have it to spend, my love.”
Grant’s cell rings and he picks it up. A frown fills his face as the name Steve Wilkins shows up on the screen. “I wonder what he wants. It’s nearly midnight.”
“Answer it and find out. Maybe something happened at the club you should know about.” I swipe the screen for him and I can hear the noise already. Sirens in the background.
“Shit,” Grant says as he answers the call. “Steve, what the hell is going on there?”
“Betty is what’s going on. She came back after being told she no longer has a job here and brought a few friends to try to trash the place,” Steve lets Grant know.
“Betty doesn’t have a job there anymore?” I mouth at Grant as this is the first I’ve heard about that.
“She falsified Bart Mason’s background checks.” He tells me before switching back to the phone. “Did they damage anything?” he asks Steve.
“Just the employee entrance. They used a battering ram to try to get in. Her employee key-card had been deactivated, of course. She was furious, Grant. Like in a way I had no idea she could be. She wasn’t herself at all.”
“Possessed,” I whisper. Betty wasn’t a crazy person. She was very sweet and helpful. But she was the one person who was responsible for getting Bart Mason’s membership accepted. Could he have done something to her?
“Have she and her friends been arrested?” Grant asks as I get up and grab my bottle of water off the coffee table and take a few gulps.
“They have. The police are about to take them away right now. We’ve pressed trespassing charges as well as destruction of property charges on them all. Grant, I know this is going to sound crazy, and there has to be an explanation—like maybe they all have on creepy contacts or something. You know, meant to frighten people. But all of their eyes had fire in them. It was the creepiest shit I’ve ever seen.” Steve hesitates then goes on, “And Betty said something that’s very off-putting.”
Grant pinches the bridge of his nose as he looks irritated with a side of fear. “And what was that, Steve?”
“She said, ‘He will get what he wants. No one can stop him.’ What do you think that means, Grant? And who is he? I asked her several times, and she just laughed like a fucking maniac.”
Grant’s eyes catch mine and I mouth, ‘Me, he wants me…’
It’s obvious that Bart Mason will do everything within his power to get his master what his master has asked for. And how much destruction can I stand by and watch before I give in?
“I’ll head down to the police station first thing in the morning to see if I can talk to her. Maybe I can get some answers out of her,” Grant tells him.
“You do that. I’ll get on replacing the door in the morning, and we’re leaving security here overnight to make sure no one gets in through the broken door after we close. See you tomorrow then.”
Grant puts the phone down and looks at me. “Funny how you think you can move on from a thing like this, but you can’t.”
With a nod, I sit back, and he puts his arm around me. I lay my head on his shoulder and wonder what the fuck I can do to end this shit. “I have no idea what Bart is or what his master is, Grant. I have no idea if there’s a person on Earth who can help me.”
“Help us,” he corrects me. “I’m in this too, you know. If something happens to you again… I’ll lose my shit. I can promise you that. They’ll have to put me in a straitjacket and leave me in a padded room.” His lips press against my cheek, and I turn to catch his mouth with mine.
