Beauty and the Beast (28 page)

Nefertiti gasped. “Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?”

“Does that really matter right now?”

In the big scheme of things, she knew he was correct, but she’d sure ask him later. “So what’s the story?”

“Someone named Jay hired Butch to steal your paintings, but you came home unexpectedly.”

She conked herself in the head with the butt of her hand. “So that’s the Jay you were asking me about. Now it all makes sense.” She raked her mind for a Jay, but came up empty.

“Where were you supposed to be that night?” Bruce asked.

“Wow, you’d think I’d remember everything about that night, but I’ve forgotten. All I remember is…” Visions of Butch strangling her made her throat constrict. Soon, she couldn’t breathe. “Br… Bruce.” She grasped for air. She could see Butch pull out a knife.

“I’m here, baby.” He caressed her back until her breathing returned to normal. “You don’t have to do this. I’ll talk to him myself.”

Betty peeked into the room. “That jackass just pulled in front of the house.”

“I want to try, Bruce.” She forced the memories away and hurried into the study to the lily tapestry armchair under the large bay window. The early afternoon sun felt great on her face. If she could just focus on the warmth instead of Dennis, she’d be able to maintain control until Bruce obtained the information he needed.

“Hello, I’m Dennis Green, here to see Nefertiti Townes, my fiancée,” she heard Dennis say.

“He must be out his damn mind,” whispered Bruce from in front of the bookshelf a few feet from Nefertiti. “How can he claim anything after all this time?”

“She’s in the study,” Nefertiti heard Janis say. “Right this way.”

The confidence in Dennis’s stride had returned since she last heard him stumble like a buffoon out her hospital room. Eyes closed and shades firmly in place, she soaked in the rays of the sun.

“Hello, darling,” he said sweetly. “Bruce,” he said with a distinct edge, “may Nefertiti and I have some time alone please?”

“No.” Bruce folded his arms over his chest.

“I know we got off to a bad start at the hospital, but…”

Nefertiti was lost after Dennis said hospital. Bruce hadn’t been at the hospital, so what on earth could Dennis be referring to? Then it hit her. She’d felt a strength there supporting her throughout her ordeal.
Bruce was there. He saw me battered and bruised.
With each realization, her love for Bruce did the impossible—it deepened.
He’s been here for me since day one.

“I’m not leaving, so say what you need or move on.”

Dennis snarled, but moved over to the couch. “Won’t you sit with me, Nefertiti?”

“She can’t see,” Bruce interrupted. “Once she sits, she pretty much stays wherever.”

“Oh, of course. I’m sorry.” Dennis placed one of the chairs from the game table across from Nefertiti. She wondered if he did that so he wouldn’t have to face Bruce. Given a choice, she would have preferred Dennis to sit on the couch—as far away from her as possible.

Clean-shaven with a smooth bald head, his dark chocolate skin and sultry brown eyes were what she’d noticed about him first. Two years ago she’d thought the man who sat across from her was drop dead gorgeous. Now she wondered what she ever saw in him. He was even wearing the pale yellow cotton shirt she’d given him their first Christmas.
Maybe he’s trying to test if I can see.

He rested his elbows on his knees and his face in the palms of his hands. “I visited you in the hospital, but… But you were asleep. I should have been there. Everything started going haywire at work, and I wasn’t getting off until after visiting hours. You know I’m no good at calling. I haven’t spoken to my mother in years, but she knows I love her. I love you.”

The more Dennis spoke, the more Nefertiti could see what Bruce had been talking about. Dennis had a tendency to ramble, yet his ramblings usually made sense. She wasn’t sure if he was out of character because of his guilt or because he was somehow involved in the attack. But what motive would he have?

“I’ve finally sold my condo and moved to a cute two bedroom apartment.” He bent to reach for her hands.

“No touching,” Bruce warned.

“I’ve fixed up the spare room for you. I want you to come home with me where you belong.”

Laughter erupted from Nefertiti and surprised everyone in the room, including Nefertiti. She laughed so hard that she cried and her stomach cramped up. Soon she began coughing, but the hysterical laughter didn’t end.

“Janis,” Bruce barked. “Come get Nefertiti.”

Janis rushed in and led Nefertiti back to her suite.

Dennis and Bruce stood face to face in the study.

Bruce couldn’t blame Nefertiti for laughing at Dennis’s ludicrous suggestion, but once she fell into hysterics, he knew this meeting had been a disastrous mistake. “Let me get this straight. You abandoned the woman you supposedly love six months ago without a word, now you waltz in and expect her to move in with you. Why are you here?”

“There is no supposedly. I do love Nefertiti.”

“You have an odd way of showing it. Why are you here?” Bruce knew why; the man was fishing. He also didn’t like the way Dennis appeared to be studying the layout, as if casing the place.

“I should have been at Nefertiti’s side this entire time.”

“Now tell us something we don’t know.”

“I’m here now.”

“It’s too late now. You can’t tell me a man as smart as you didn’t know that. So again I ask, why are you here?”

Dennis shook his head and turned away. “You got me.” He went over to the window and looked out over the grounds. Several security guards strolled about. “Since you’re so bright, why am I here?”

“All I’ll say is this. If I find you had anything to do with the attack on Nefertiti, I’ll kill you my damn self.” He stalked out of the room. Unfortunately, Rachel, who had been sent in to deliver a message about his flight, couldn’t move to the side quick enough, and Bruce practically knocked her to the floor.

The eighties rap group Houdini blared on the opposite side of Nefertiti’s door. Bruce knocked. No answer.

“Nefertiti.” Still no answer.

He opened the door and entered. As he’d thought, she was in the sitting area of her room working on her geometric chip masterpiece. He still couldn’t tell what she was creating, but he was glad she had an outlet.

“The freaks come out at night,” she sang. “The freaks come out at niiiiight.”

“And how’s my freak?” He knelt and kissed her on the ear.

“Whew.” She dropped a handful of orange hexagons and grabbed onto him. “You scared the mess out of me. Turn that down.”

He reached over, picked the universal remote off a pile of chips and flicked off the iPod stage. “I’m sorry about that fiasco of a meeting.” He drew her into his arms. “If I ever suggest anything so asinine again, please feel free to slap the mess out of me.”

“If I ever agree to anything so asinine again, don’t slap me, slap yourself for me. I know you had your heart set on going out today, but can we just hop on the plane and head to Virginia?”

“I can do you one better. How about we hop on the plane and head for Champaign? I know you want to see what’s going on with Uncle Nathan. Why put it off?”

“Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes, double yes. You have the
bestest
ideas.”

“Well, you are my
bestest
gal. I gotta keep you happy.”

“But what about Dixon?”

“Virginia will still be there when we finish with Uncle Nathan. And if it takes a while, I’ll just send Janis. She knows as much about my plans for Dixon Resort as I do. Hell, she even helped me develop the idea. As a matter of fact, I believe I’ll send Janis and that new girl on an East Coast shopping expedition. I just scared the child half to death, again. Why is she only around when I’m going off?”

“What did you do this time?”

“Only threatened to kill Dennis, but the bad part was, I accidentally bumped into the poor child. I remember thinking I needed to apologize, but I was so angry, I don’t know if it actually came out. Maybe a spree on me will show her I’m not all beast.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

F
rom the time Bruce was in kindergarten until he graduated from college, he spent the majority of his Christmases and spring breaks with the Townes. It gave Victoria time to relax and gave him a change of scene. They lived on a farm just outside of the Champaign city limits. He had loved to chase the goats, pot-bellied pigs, and Nefertiti around the barn. And when a good rain storm hit, he and Nefertiti would make huge mud puddles and splash themselves into total exhaustion.

The farm didn’t produce anything except fun. For Bruce’s twelfth birthday, Nathan gave him a horse. When Bruce returned to school with pictures, his friends didn’t believe him. A week later, Nathan mysteriously appeared with a trailer and Bruce’s horse in the school parking lot.

Nathan was the father figure Bruce loved and respected. They had a special bond that many couldn’t understand. Like Bruce, Nathan suffered from a mood disorder, and refused to medicate. Like Bruce, Nathan hadn’t allowed his illness to stop him from reaching the top. Nathan owned one of the top architecture firms in the country.

“Janis called while you were learning how to fly the plane. I’m shocked we landed safely,” Bruce teased, then sobered. “The D.A. needs to speak with you.”

“What do you think?”

Bruce took his eyes off the road for a second to glance at Nefertiti’s sketch. “I’m driving.” She’d drawn the two-story Townes farmhouse and barn. Every time he brought up the trial, she would change the subject to her father, art, or anything. With the date quickly approaching, she wouldn’t be able to avoid the conversation much longer. He understood her nervousness and her not wanting to delve into what happened that night, but she’d need to remember and recite what happened for the trial.