“Yes.Any day of the week.”That hurt, and she wasn’t sure why.She wanted this meeting to go her way, and she wasn’t sure how to get it back under her control.Even if she ever had it.“You think about all the things that you’re going to be missing when he pulls the rug out from under you in a few days.For all I know, he might well have started it already.”
“You think you’re so smart.Well, we’ll see what happens when he tries this shit on me.I’ll have him in court so fast that his head will spin.Then we’ll see what a great father he is to you.”She told her that didn’t make any sense.“Yes, it does.You’re just looking for excuses to try to make me look bad.For all you know, I’m the one who has been keeping you safe from him all these years.Did you ever think of that?”
“The only time I think of you is when I think that you’re going to try and hurt me.And usually that’s daily.I’m sick of running my life with the thoughts of what you’ll do to me if you find out.There are lots of things that I keep from you so that you don’t try to hurt me.But that time is over.I’m going to be my own person from now on and not have another thing to do with you.”She told her she was just showing off in front of the man.“Am I?How would you know anything about me, Mother?I mean, you’ve barely spent five hours with me at any one given time, and that was when you were bitching about what I wasn’t giving you.Or doing for you.As I said, I’m finished with you and all your threats.”
“You’ll be sorry about this, Sen.I swear to you I’m going to hunt you down sometime soon and make sure you understand that you don’t want to fuck with me.”She said she was finished with her, so it didn’t matter.“We’ll see about that.I’m a lot more dangerous than you think.You’ve messed with the wrong person.”
“We’ll see, as you’re so fond of saying.I’m not worried about you.If you try to come at me, I’ll have you arrested so fast…how did you put it?Oh yeah, your head will spin.”Laughter from the two of them had her blinded by the anger that she was feeling.“Mother, you might want to remember something else.I know all about you, and you know very little about me.I might have found that sad to know, but I’m glad for it now.You won’t be able to get past my new family, and that’s a promise.”
When the two of them stood up, she did as well.While she was still pissed off at the two of them, she also knew that there would be a time when she’d get to Sen.And when she did, she was going to make the last time she hurt her look like an easy day in the park.She was just mad enough to kill her this time, and she would if she could, too.
Outside in the sunshine, all she could think about was how badly her head hurt.Anger would do that to her until she found an outlet.It would make her sick to her stomach, too, if she didn’t find an outlet soon.Stomping her way to her car, she was nearly blinded by rage and walked by where she had parked her car twice before she realized it was gone.
She might well have parked it in the wrong spot, so she went through the parking lot three times to try to find it.As she was walking past the places where she could have parked it, she saw Howard Bash across the street.
He waved at her, and before she could think about what she was doing, like a fool, she waved back at him.While she couldn’t hear his laughter from where she was, she could see that he was getting a jolly good laugh about her from where he was.Damn it all to fuck and back, he was doing what he’d said he would.Leaving her homeless and without a car.
Hurrying back to her house, she was just getting there as the police and locksmith were leaving.The locks would be changed, and everything that she owned was still inside.Not like she had any money stashed away.As soon as she got her money monthly, she’d spend it.It was why she would try to get a meal or two out of Sen; she’d be broke within a couple of weeks of getting paid.Ten grand didn’t go as far as it used to, she knew this.Since she didn’t have any bills to pay, not a single one, she’d spend her money on whatever she wanted and damn being broke in a few weeks.Now all that was gone, and she had no one to blame but her daughter.
“The bitch will pay for this.”Debra knew that she’d only had a few months until she turned twenty-five, and she would have lost it anyway.But she was counting on Howard not knowing the date of his daughter’s birthday and giving her some extra time.Not that she’d have been any more prepared for it than she was now.But she might well have been, she told herself.
She didn’t know what she was going to do now.She’d never been one to save any money for later.And now that things were going to be gone from her usage, she was going to have to figure out a way to get some more money.She wished now that she had not spent all the money from her brother’s estate.That might well have come in handy about now.
“There has to be more money than I got.”There was no way that her brother only had what she’d been given.The house that Sen got was all right at first, but now that she didn’t have any place to live, she might well have to make amends and live with her for a while.She had the room; it was a two-bedroom home, wasn’t it?“Damn it, I wish I had been around my brother more when he was alive.I might have gotten more money.”
Water under the bridge, as the old saying went.She was out of a home and car, and money.Her next check wasn’t coming, so she wasn’t going to be able to afford to get another place to live without money.This was all Sen’s fault, and the sooner she could find her, the better, so that she could kill her.Whatever was hers was going to be Debra’s as soon as she was dead, and that was suiting her just fine.She only had to figure out how to get her alone before she could get rid of her for good.
~*~
Ivan understood the reason for the lunch date.He didn’t like it, but he understood that getting Debra out of the house was the way that Howard could have the locks changed.Since the house was in his name, he could do whatever he wanted to it.The car being repossessed was the next thing that he’d done.All of it was going to cause trouble for Sen, and he wasn’t going to be happy if something happened to her in the process.
“I swear to you that she’s going to be fine.I have someone watching Debra all the time, and if she comes within a few feet of her, they’ll take her down.”That all sounded good, but a lot could be done within a few feet, especially if the other person had a gun.Ivan didn’t like this at all.Not one bit.“You have to trust me.”
“I don’t actually.And I don’t trust Debra either.”Howard told him that he didn’t either.“Good, then we can be on the same page about her.She’s going to be dead if she tries to hurt Sen, and I’m not going to be happy with you either.She’s dangerous, and she’ll stop at nothing to get what she feels is coming to her.”
“I understand.”Ivan didn’t think that the man did, but said nothing more.He was going to have to quit his job if things continued on the way that they were, and he was going to blame that on Howard.The man thought that he was smarter than Debra.Perhaps so, but she was still more dangerous than he was.Any day of the week.“I promise you nothing will happen to Serenity as long as I have breath in my body.”
“If something does happen to her, you’re not going to be worrying about getting to be an old man; I’ll rip your throat out where you stand.I’m not one to fuck with either, and she’s my mate.I will die trying to protect her.”Howard said that he felt the same way about her.“I doubt very much that will mean much when you’re dead.Debra will go after you, too.And whichever one of you she gets to first will be dead.She won’t care who it is.”
He could tell that Sen was worried now that she’d thought about it.This morning, it had been a lark, something that she could do to her mother to get back at her.But in the cold light of the day, it was telling her that she’d made a mistake and that Debra was going to come after her.Ivan told her to stick with him, and he’d protect her, but he could only be in one place at a time.Like he thought to himself earlier.He was going to have to quit his job in order to protect Sen.
“I wanted to tell you something.”He nodded, pushing the hair that was over her forehead out of the way.“I’ve fallen in love with you.I didn’t know it was possible after us only knowing each other for so little time, but it’s the best feeling that I’ve ever had in my life.I feel like I could take on the worldand come out on top.I’m so in love with you.”
“I have wanted to tell you that I love you for weeks.I think I fell in love with you that first night I saw you with my brother.”She kissed him on the cheek.“Surely we can do better than that.We just professed our love for each other.I would love a real kiss.”
He pulled her into his arms and held her close.Looking down at her, he knew on all kinds of levels that he’d never love anyone like he did her.She was the one and only for him, and he couldn’t have been happier.He told her that he loved her again and pulled her in for a kiss that would bring them together.
Tasting her, he was thrilled at how much she was giving him.Ivan had kissed women before, but there was no comparison to the kiss he was getting from Sen.She tasted of the honey that she’d had in her tea.Fresh flowers were the scent that he could smell when he was near her.Everything about this woman brought him happiness, and he couldn’t have let her go right now if his life depended on it.He was in love for the first and only time in his life.
When they finished with the kiss, he held her to his body.He knew that she could feel his erection, and there wasn’t anything that he could do about it.When she moved her hips closer to his, he moaned at the feeling and kissed her again.This time, he didn’t hold his passion in check but loved the way that she responded to him.It was like having a bit of heaven with her in his arms.
“If we keep this up, we’ll never make it home but might be arrested for having sex right here on the sidewalk.”She giggled, and he laughed.It was a wonderful sound to hear her giggle, and he would love to hear it more often.“I’m supposing that I should take you home before things get out of hand.We only have a few days, and we’ll be married at the courthouse.Are you sure you’re all right with that?”
“I don’t know that I’d be able to stand waiting for a big wedding to happen.I want to be your wife now.”She looked up at him and smiled.“Besides, the sooner we get this over with, the better.I want to be your wife in the worst sort of way.To be called Serenity Fraizer is the best thing that will ever happen to me.”
“I agree.I can’t wait to introduce you as my wife.I already do that now, but to make it official will be great.”He pulled away from her, sure that he was going to do as he said and make love to her right on the sidewalk.There would be much for people to talk about, but he didn’t care.She’d be his, and that was what he wanted.But in a more quiet setting.At least more private anyway.“We should get home.We have those houses to look at tomorrow morning, and that will take up most of our day.I’ll go home to my lonely bed, and you’ll get to sleep in your big bed alone too.”
“You’re silly.”Walking hand in hand to his car, he held the door open for her when she got in.Once he was in the car and buckled, he turned to her and kissed her on the cheek.“We’ll have to make plans to make love soon.I want you so badly now that I ache from it.”
