They were all excited about the next book coming out.It was a murder mystery that was like his Sloan series.Guy had a ghost around that would talk to him, and she had been murdered.It didn’t take him long to figure out how she was killed and even less time to figure out who had killed her.So he wrote a book about it, leaving out the part where he saw the ghost of the dead woman that was hanging around him.She moved on when he did, as she had asked him to do, and that was to get Amber, her stepdaughter and mate to him, the insurance money that she’d left for her.
After he and his brothers left to go to the storage unit, they were able to load the three bedroom suites up in their trucks and bring them to his house.They even stuck around to put them together with the mattresses that he’d ordered to go with them.Looking around the bedrooms, he was pleased with the way that they’d turned out and was happier still for the help that he’d gotten from his family.He didn’t know what he would have done without them around all the time.
It was Brandy who suggested they order out.She didn’t just order for them from one place, that would be too much for one place to handle, but she did order a variety of foods that came from several places.Chinese, pizza, subs, as well as pasta and salads from another place.There was plenty to eat as well as enough of a variety to make sure there was something for everyone.Even Ayden was able to find something in the plethora of food to fill himself up.
It was going on midnight when his family left.They didn’t have to get up in the morning, so staying out late was all right with them.He, however, needed to be at the clinic at nine the next morning, so when he went up to bed with Sen, he made sure to set his alarm twice before he fell asleep.With Sen curled up around him, it was wonderful to sleep in their new home together.
He woke up around two to go to the bathroom.On his way back, he stubbed his toe on the bottom of the bed.Moving the furniture around so that that wouldn’t happen was going to be something he did in the morning before leaving for work.He knew that might happen and wasn’t surprised that it had.Limping to the bed, he was curled up around Sen before he fell asleep again.
Ivan got up before Sen and was out of the shower before she got up.She didn’t seem to be in such a good mood all of a sudden, and he asked her about it.She said that she’d not slept all that well last night because she had a lot on her mind.Mostly to do with her mother, but also her dad.She was being pulled in two different directions right now, and he felt sorry for her.He knew that she’d get it all worked out, but for now it was weighing on her heavily.
There was little he could do for her in this; she was the one dealing with her father.He liked the older man a great deal, but there was pressure from him about getting to know Sen.She wanted to get to know him, but she was also worried that her mother was going to get out and hurt her.It was something that he could help her with by talking to the police officers about what she’d said.It would be up to them if she were to get out sooner rather than later, and that worried him as well.
~*~
Sen had a pile of work that she had to catch up on.Glad to be at work, she sailed through most of the files before lunch.Putting the others off until after lunch, she was able to enjoy a nice, quiet lunch by herself in the cafeteria.Since she’d brought leftovers from home, she didn’t have to mess with it too much before she got to eat.It was a good day so far, and she was having fun being back at work.Judge Rainer sat down next to her just as she was getting up to go back to work.
“I have a case in the morning that is going to take me away from the office for most of the day.It’s hearing the charges against your mother.”She asked him if he should be talking to her about it.“I’m just telling you that I’m going to be gone all day tomorrow.Anyway, that has nothing to do with you knowing.”He grinned at her.
“She had a gun, did they tell you that?She was planning on killing me with it.”He said that’s what he’d heard from the jailers.“I’m worried that she’s going to be getting out soon and find herself another weapon to do me harm.I just got my life the way that I want it, so I’d really hate to find myself dead because of money.”
“I would as well.She’s going to have to serve some time with the gun.She’s been in prisonbefore, and she’s not allowed to have a weapon.”She asked when she’d been in prison and what for.“She robbed a convenience store when she was eighteen years old.She didn’t spend all that much time in the system, but it was enough to be put on her record.That’s going to get her into trouble the most.I’m sorry I can’t do anything about her threatening to kill you.Unless, of course, she mentions it in court.Then I can get her for that too.Do you believe that she’ll be brazen enough to tell me what she’s planning on doing when she gets out?”
“She thinks that she’s justified in killing me for the money because he was her brother and only an uncle to me.To be honest, if it wasn’t for the fact that she wasn’t around them when the accident happened, I’d swear that she killed them both.It would be just like her to get money.She gives me the impression that the money should have come to her in the first place.”He said that’s what the officers told him when he asked.Like she’s privileged or something.“Yes, that’s her in a nutshell.She’s privileged thinking, and that’s what gets her into trouble.My father was giving her ten grand a month to help her keep herself, and she would spend it on things that I have no idea where they might be.”
“I’m good at leading someone down the path of being against the law.I’ll get her to tell me what she’s planning on doing with the gun.I won’t give it back to her; she’s not allowed to have it, but I will make sure that she can’t use it against you when she’s out and about.Not that I think she’ll be out for a very long time.But I’m pretty good at my job.”She told him that she knew that, that’s why she loved working with him.“Thank you.I had hoped that you’d say something like that.I thought that now that you’re married, you’d quit and stay at home making babies.”
“I plan on having children with Ivan.I don’t know how many, but a few.But as for working, I don’t plan on being a stay-at-home mom for very long.I think I’d go crazy.”He told her that was what his wife had said about doing the same thing.“I have enough money now that I could do whatever I want, including becoming an attorney.But I have no desire to do anything like that right now.I’m happy with the way things are going for me and Ivan.As I said, maybe down the road I’ll want to try something else, but for now I’m happy.”
“Good for you.”They walked to the elevator together to go back to work.“The hearing will start at nine in the morning.Can I assume you’ll be there?”
“Yes.I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”They talked about their new home, and she told him how it was finished being unpacked.“Having movers do most of the hard work paid off.I don’t think I could have done it any other way and been as happy with the results.Now all I have to do is decide what I want to do with my uncle’s home, and I’ll be able to move on from there.It’s going to be nice having everything done right now.I’m excited to get things moving in the right direction for a change.”
“Yes, having money does help in a great many things.”She agreed with him.“You do good work, honey, and you’ll go far.I’m happy that you’re going to be working for me for now, and that’s all that I can ask for.We’ll talk more after tomorrow.You be safe now.”
“I will, and you do the same.”He said that he was wearing a bulletproof vest to work nowadays.“I guess that makes sense.I know the world is changing every day in how people react to things.You wear your vest, and I’ll be happier for it.”
As she started back to work, she found herself wondering if she should invest in a vest as well.Thinking herself silly, she decided that she was going to wear something nice tomorrow instead of the jeans that she had been planning on wearing.She wanted her mother to notice her, notice that she had come up in the world.Sen looked down at the ring that Ivan had given her just this morning at the courthouse when they were married.
They’d been married quickly and quietly.All the families were there, and she loved that most of all.Brandy had been the one to stand up with her, and Ivan had asked Devlin to stand up with him.It was quite an affair, and she was glad that it was finished.Sen was glad that they’d done it this way and that things had gone perfectly for them.
As she finished up her workday, she headed home free of trying to figure out if her mother was going to be there to attack her.Sen had no doubt that her mother would do something that would cause her harm; she just hoped that it was harm rather than killing her.She’d not been kidding when she toldJudge Rainer that she didn’t want to be looking over her shoulder every minute of every day while she was free to run around.
Going to bed that night, she was happy with the choices that she’d made as to what she was wearing tomorrow.The dress was one that she’d never worn before and had been a part of her aunt’s clothing.The price tag had still been on the garment, and she’d paid quite a bit for it.Ivan was going to wear a tie that almost matched the dress perfectly, and she was glad for that.She thought they looked like a power couple, just as she hoped her mother would see them.
The next morning, she was up and ready to go by seven.Her sleep had been pitiful, but she’d gotten enough that she wouldn’t be yawning all day.When Ivan came downstairs, she’d already had a bit of breakfast as well as two cups of tea.She was beginning to see the appeal of a good, strong cup of tea and was glad that Ivan liked it as well.
Getting to the courthouse on time, she sat in the chairs directly behind Devlin at the prosecution table.While this wasn’t a trial as yet, he was there to provide as much evidence as would be needed to send her mother away to prison.If nothing else, perhaps she’d be in the jail system for some time before her trial.
When the courtroom was called to order, she stood up with the rest of the people in the room.They’d not brought out her mother as yet, and she was curious what she might look like after spending ten days in jail.Surely they wouldn’t allow her to have a hairdresser come in and take care of her needs.With a little laugh, she thought that her mother would have been demanding all kinds of stupid things while she was in the system.
After being seated, the judge made an announcement about how this was a courtroom and that things would be orderly.He also said that this wasn’t a trial, just as she’d thought too, and that today would bring order to the lives of so many people.Then her mother was brought out.
She’d not only not had a hairdresser come to her in her hour of need, but it looked like she’d not had her hair washed at all since she’d been put away.Even from as far away as she was, Sen could see that her nails were broken and the polish chipped.In a word, her mother looked horrid.Like being in jail had been the final straw in her not taking care of herself.She couldn’t believe how terrible she looked.
After Devlin said what he was there for, the reasons why her mother had been arrested, he handed the judge several files and some to the defendant’s table as well.He was saying how she’d been arrested for running up a tab that the hotel was demanding payment for, as well as she’d been found with a gun on her person.Then he went on to say that, as an ex-con, her mother was in violation of her release from prison.
Sen found herself tuning out the proceedings and thinking about her life so far.She had a wonderful husband, a good amount of money, and a home that she loved.If there were more to life than that, she didn’t know what it would be.Of course, she did add that having family around was important too, as she thought about how much she loved all of Ivan’s family of brothers and their wives.Then she thought about Ivan.
