Page 87 of The Revenge Plan

“Bailey can do that?”

“Former cop.”

“Ah.” It felt odd to have people who cared for me. “Tell him I’m fine.”

“I already did. He wouldn’t listen to me.” I rolled my eyes. He laughed. His phone rang, cutting off the morning merriment we had created. He looked pissed that someone had called and was about to cut it off when I said, “Take it. It could be important.“ He grumbled something and got up. I immediately felt the absence of his presence, however small. Julie came back with a steaming bowl of a purple-looking porridge topped with berries and nuts.

“Smells good. What is it?”

“Sweet potato porridge. It will be good for you and for the baby.” Before I could ask how she knew, she said, “It’s obvious that you're pregnant, however, Mr. Scott let it slip. He’s so overly fussy about you, you know.”

“Really?” my gaze wandered to Caiden, who was still busy on the phone. He sounded impatient. I traced back to Julie, “That’s something I wouldn’t expect to hear him described as.”

“Oh, it’s true. When you came here for the first time, he made sure that everything was in shape and nothing was amiss. He even had those orchids ordered every week.” I glanced at the now empty vase, “I thought it was for you of course because we never decorated the place with flowers. Ever.” My gaze went back to him again. My heart fluttered. It could not be, could it?

“When you went away,” Julie followed my gaze, “He didn’t sleep for five days. He was drunk the entire time. After that, he kept to the study, working all the time and crashing on the couch in there. Sometimes, I would hear him call your name.”

I whipped my head back at her, “Are you sure?”

“When have I ever lied to you?”

I smirked.

“Apart from the cooking!”

We both laughed.

“What’s so funny?” Caiden was standing in front of us with his phone in his hand. “Nothing,” I said to him. Julie got up and said, “eat your porridge.” I nodded and took the bowl. It tasted amazing. The flavors of the fruit and the sweet potato exploded in my mouth. It was so warm, it made me feel sated and relaxed.

Caiden took his seat next to me and watched me as I ate. I ignored him at first, but after a while I was feeling more like a zoo animal. “What is it?”

He shifted, “I hope you’re not angry with me.”

I was enjoying my porridge so much that I had temporarily forgotten what he was referring to. It wasn’t his little secret, was it? “About the food?”

He nodded.

“It’s alright. I enjoy your cooking after all.”

“Great. Because I plan to have you stay indoors all day today. No going out for you.”

57

“Ithought you said we were staying indoors the whole day.” My foot hit a bucket I hadn’t seen in the dark staircase, and I winced in pain.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes.”

I wondered how far we were. Caiden was leading me down the dark stairwell to a back door. I wasn’t sure that this new adventure he came up with would beat the fun I was having with him. We had watched movies, talked, and even played a game. I wanted to stay indoors all day. Then he got a call, and then he said he had a surprise for me. And now we were rushing down a dark stairwell. We reached the ground floor, and he took my hand as he hurried past the lobby which, from the glimpse of the glass doors, looked like there were a lot of reporters outside. The door he led me through was one I had never seen before. It was small, and it opened to the back of the building. A jaguar, that looked out of place in the alley, was parked at the entrance. Caiden went to it and opened the passenger door.

“Get in,” he said as he looked around. I glanced at him with a frown and I did as he said.

“Where are we going,” I asked when he got into the car and started the engine.

“It’s a surprise.”

The car drove off in the opposite direction from where the reporters were stationed. “Can you at least tell me the general direction of where we are going?”

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