Beauty and the Beast (24 page)

Nefertiti glanced from the screen at Bruce. “First off, her name is Tiffany, not Tiffy.”

“Tiffy, Tippy, Tiffany, all the same to me,” he grumbled.

“Secondly, I’m still going to the exhibit. Why shouldn’t I?”

“Someone murdered Mr. Wilson. There’s no way in hell I’m letting you off Maxwell grounds until I get to the bottom of it. I’ll have a private showing set up in the gallery. You can invite anyone you’d like—even motor-mouth.”

“It’s not the same, Bruce,” she said dryly, then clicked on the attachment link. “I’m not a prisoner.”

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but…” He debated whether to say what was on his mind. “The other day we had to have the cellar sprayed in order to make you move into a suite.”

She scrunched her nose. “Why you dirty rat!” she said with a half smile.

“Now you want to go gallivanting all over town. Butch has obviously hired someone to ensure his acquittal. With Wilson dead, you’re the only witness.” He leaned forward, gently cupped her face with his hands, and lowered his voice. “I’m not trying to make you a prisoner. I have to protect you. Here you’re safe.”

The anger that creased her brows and darkened her eyes dissipated. “I understand—”

“Good, because I won’t take any chances where you’re concerned.”

“Stop cutting me off all the time. I wasn’t finished.”

“Aw hell,” he drawled out. “Why can’t you just go along with what I say?”

She giggled. “You are so cute.” She pinched his cheeks. “You’re overreacting.”

“A man’s dead. There’s no such thing as overreacting.”

“No one knows I can see or that I’m here except the people in this household, Tiffany, the therapists and my parents. I even told Tiffany to call me Tee. When I go out, I’ll be so covered, I’ll look like a bolt of material with sunglasses.” She clicked on the send message.

“What about Alexis?”

“She didn’t recognize me. I don’t even know if she’d seen a recent picture of me before the attack. Even my voice is different. And,” she hugged him, “I’ll have the meanest, strongest,
bestest
bodyguard ever right by my side whenever I go out.”

“
Bestest
?” he chuckled. “How can I say no to
bestest
?” He lifted her, sat, and placed her fully onto his lap. She rested her head on his shoulder. “I still want you to keep speaking to a minimum when we’re out or if someone comes by. It won’t take a rocket scientist to figure out you’re somewhere close to Auntie Vic. I want people to think you are a submissive mail order bride or something like that. They already believe I’m a beast, so this shouldn’t come as a shock to them. That way they’ll think you’re still held up in the house somewhere or Auntie Vic has you hidden away until the trial.”

“You’re going overboard, but if this cockamamie scheme makes you feel more secure, I’ll be the
bestest
submissive bride ever.” She winked, then reached over for the laptop and set it on her lap. “What’s on your agenda for today?” She clicked on her inbox.

“There’s not much left. I have a few calls to make regarding Dixon Textiles. Then I figured I’d have dinner with my fiancée. Then I figured I’d feast on my fiancée.”

“Umm, sounds delicious.” She started checking off messages to delete. He felt her stiffen in his arms.

“I’m almost temped to read this crap.” She checked an email from Dennis for deletion. “But I’m in too good a mood.”

“Is that your ex?”

“Yeah, it’s that Dennis.”

“Let’s see what it says.” He reached under her arm to open the email.

“Bruce, he deserted me. I don’t want to hear anything he has to say. It’ll only bring down my mood.” She stood and handed him the computer. “Look all you want. I’m getting dressed for dinner.”

He watched the sway of her hips as she walked out. “Man, how I love that woman.”

He scrolled through her emails and saw that Dennis had also emailed her a few days ago, and she hadn’t opened that email either. He clicked on the older email.

Nefertiti,

I know I’m the last person you want to hear from, but I had to apologize for my behavior. There are no words to express my regret. I’ve learned an ugly truth—I’m a coward. Saying I’m ashamed doesn’t capture the regret and guilt I feel.

Seeing you like that… I don’t know how to explain. This will sound crazy to you, because now it sounds crazy to me, but at the time, I blamed myself. I couldn’t face my guilt. I couldn’t face you.

I’m rambling. I miss your telling me to stop all that rambling and say what I want. I haven’t said much of anything lately. All I do is think about you. Think about how much I miss you. Think about how lonely my life will be without you. Think about how I want to be the man I should have been six months ago and support you. I love you so much. I’m sorry.

If you can’t forgive me, I understand, but I wanted to apologize.

I asked your mother and aunt where you are, but they say you don’t want to hear from me. Again, I understand. I didn’t want to take the coward’s way out by apologizing though email. But if you do not want to see me, again, I understand.

I pray you are doing well, and hope you can find it in your heart to meet with me. You have always been a strong, loving person. I wish I had half your strength and even a tenth of your heart.

I miss you and will always love you.

Dennis

Fury threatened to take over Bruce’s mood. Now he saw Nefertiti’s point and was glad she hadn’t read the email.
There is no way she loved this insensitive, needy, jerk.
“Selfish son-of-a-bitch still doesn’t get it,” he bit out. “And what the hell is this guilty crap? He was out of town.” He scrolled to the next email from Dennis.

Hello Nefertiti,

I love and miss you so much. Please give me a chance. I know I can never make it up to you, but I’m a new person. I’ve grown into a better person from this experience. How would you like to meet me somewhere neutral? We can meet at one of the parks and have a nice picnic, maybe rent a paddleboat. Whatever you want, I’m willing to do.

Love Dennis

“His beggin’ ass was in on that shit.” He snatched his cell phone off his belt clip and called Janis. “You remember that ass Dennis?”

“Hello, Janis, this is Bruce, or hello, Janis, this is Mr. Maxwell.” She hung up.

He cursed and speed dialed her number. “Hello, Janis, this Bruce,” he said through tight lips.

“Oh, Bruce, what a pleasant surprise. What can I do for you?”

Why these women had to always go through these stupid rituals was beyond him, but he didn’t feel like arguing his point. “You remember that Dennis ass Nefertiti almost married?”

“I surely do.”

“Find out everything about him.”

“Would you like me to hire another private investigator or give this to Ken?”

 
“Call Ken up and check with him first. I think he may be too busy to investigate Dennis also. Tell him I’ll pay for anyone else he hires.” He continued scrolling through her emails to see if Dennis had emailed her earlier.

“Will do. Your two cases of condoms will be delivered first thing in the morning. But, Bruce, stop announcing to the world your intentions with Nefertiti. She’s a lady and deserves to be respected.”

“I do respect her.”

“Of course you do, but the way you’re marking your territory is very disrespectful and embarrassing to her.”

All he could do was shake his head. People often called him a beast. Said he was ferocious. Yet most of the women who surrounded him put him in his place without a second thought. The way things were going, they’d have Rachel trained to handle him within a week or two.

“I just can’t help myself sometimes. I finally have her, and now I want to tell the world. Flaunt her, I guess.”

“I’m truly happy for you and Nefertiti, but some things about your relationship should remain private.”

“Message received. Go home. I promise not to call you tonight.”

“One more thing. Make sure to check your electronic day timer. I’ve scheduled Roy Dixon to meet with you in the morning.”

“What the hell does he want?”

“He said he needs to speak with you about Dixon Textiles business.”

“Okay, thanks again.”

“Good night, Bruce.” They disconnected.

Roy’s unexpected visit was annoying, but Dennis’s email unnerved Bruce. Jealousy set aside, he’d never liked Dennis. Something about him just wasn’t right. And that he’d had the audacity to contact her after all of this time—it didn’t add up.

CHAPTER NINE

S
itting in one of the burgundy Louis XVI winged chairs outside of Janis’s office, Nefertiti imagined her wedding. Gone was the huge public wedding at St. Columbanus. Instead, she envisioned a simple affair for family and friends at Maxwell manor.

Gold. Deep golds would blend better, but bold yellows speak to me.
She loved the forest green and burgundy-checkered floor. She even loved the dark mahogany banister and the rich maroon walls. But she wanted her wedding to be brighter, more cheery.
The bridesmaid dresses will be bold yellow.
She sighed.
But who will wear them?
Since her attack, she’d realized she didn’t have friends, only business associates she often times socialized with.

And then there’s Daddy.
Her father hadn’t replied to her email yet, but she was certain she’d be hearing from him soon. As she’d done every night since leaving the hospital, she’d raked her mind for a reason for his behavior, but had come up with nothing plausible. If she didn’t hear from him by the end of the day, she planned to call her mother and just flat out ask what was going on.

“Hey, baby girl.”

Nefertiti looked up at the security guard. “Hello, Betty.”

“That Dixon boy is out front.”

“If I sit really still, do you think he’ll mistake me for a statue?” She winked and put on her gloves. Covered from veil to toe in dark chocolate brown, she began to stand.

“Don’t you go runnin’ off, baby girl. This here is your home.” Betty peeked into Janis’s office. “I’ll get it.” She continued toward the door. “Don’t you let no one run you out,” she said as she opened the door without giving Roy a chance to ring.

“Hello, I’m Roy Dixon, here to see Mr. Bruce Maxwell.”

“Come on in, honey.” The guard stepped to the side and pointed at the winged chair to the right of Janis’s office door. “Please have a seat. He’ll be down in a minute.”

Nefertiti wanted to laugh when Roy first noticed her. Mid-stride, he froze. She slowly nodded a hello.

“H-hello.”

Janis stepped out of her office. “Hello, Mr. Dixon. I’m Janis, we’ve spoken on the phone.” They shook. “Would you like some coffee, tea, juice, water?”

“No, thank you.”

“Make yourself comfortable, I’ve let him know you’re here.” She returned to her office with Betty close behind.

Instead of taking the offered seat, he stuffed his hands into his slack pockets and roamed around. For the briefest of moments, Nefertiti wondered if he had an aversion to sitting so close to her.