Bella's Choice (37 page)

Her hand clutched the syringe tightly, and her fingers trembled with her fury as she watched and waited for him to leave. “Just leave, Aldrich,” she commanded softly into the darkne
ss, and as if on cue, she watched as he walked away, the door closing behind him.

With no time to waste, she moved into action, and immediately sat on the mattress next to the sleeping form. Taking Anabella’s arm in her lap―after making sure the syringe was ready―she pushed the plunger and watched as a small drop ran down the side of the needle. Grinning, she looked at the sleeping woman and pressed the needle against her skin.

“What are you doing?” Aldrich’s strong voice filled the room the moment it was flooded by light.

Momentarily blinded, she yelped in surprise, blinking against the onslaught of light and looked over her shoulder toward him. The murderous look in his eyes caused her body to shiver in response.

Aldrich couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He’d had a weird feeling when he left the room; an uneasy feeling that crawled down his back, nudging him to turn around. “Chaney! What the hell, woman?” he bellowed, his mind racing with reasons as to why she’d be in Bella’s room. It was only when he looked down that he saw the syringe and gasped in shock, his hand clutching the doorknob in utter surprise. He walked, slowly, closer to the deranged female, his eyes a steel-blue as he pinned her down on the spot. He noticed how steady her hand was, the one that held the syringe, its needle pressing down hard on Bella’s skin. He had to get her away from Anabella, and quickly.

“I’m getting rid of her, my love,” she snickered with delight, her eyes gleaming in the light.

To Aldrich, she looked insane, her youthful face contorted in an ugly grin. He couldn’t believe he’d once thought her beautiful. He must have been insane.

Unbeknown to them, Anabella had stirred and was wide awake the moment the light came on. When she tried to move and felt pressure on her arm, she noticed the woman sitting next to her. Her arm was held in a tight grip, and the woman’s long fingernails were piercing her skin. She kept her eyes fixed on the woman’s hand, the one wielding the syringe too close for comfort and ready to pierce at any given moment.

“Why, Chaney? What did Anabella ever do to you?”

Only then did Anabella look up, right into her father’s lover’s face.

“You!” Anabella cried out, recognizing the blond instantly.

Chaney grinned smugly as she pulled Anabella’s arm. “Yes, me.” The syringe ready to do her bidding.

“No, don’t!” Aldrich called out, frustration apparent in his voice. “You don’t want to do this, Chaney.”

“Yes, I do, Aldrich. She’s taking you away from me,” she whined, glancing at Aldrich before returning her focus to Anabella’s arm.

Anabella watched in horror. The woman’s fanatic and concentrated stare on her arm gave her the shivers, and the tip of the needle was pressed against her arm. She feared her skin would be pierced at any moment with whatever contents the syringe held. She looked at Aldrich with pleading eyes but he shook his head and gave her a reassuring smile, and she relaxed somewhat.

Aldrich is here. I’m not alone.
The thought flashed through her mind as she watched in fascinated horror while he spoke to the woman, who was still as determined as ever to get her way. This was the woman who had been so affectionate with her father on that fateful night. She was the one who had whispered those dreadful words in her ear.

Stunned and now wide awake, Anabella glanced between the mad woman and Aldrich. Painstakingly slow, he moved toward the bed, still speaking to her.

“I love her, Chaney,” he said with conviction, “and I have asked her to be my wife.”

“No, Aldrich, no!” she screamed. “How could you? She’s taken you away from me, and you do this… how could you?” Desperation laced her voice, which rose feverously. Her fingers curled firmly around Anabella’s wrist, making her wince in pain. She rearranged the syringe in her hand with one fluid movement, as if she was holding a knife, and went for Anabella’s eyes. “You tramp!” she seethed as spittle ran from her mouth. “He is mine!” And she lunged forward just as Anabella knocked her wrist away.

Everything that followed from there onward happened quickly, because the moment she lunged for Anabella, Aldrich called out, appearing instantly next to the bed. He grabbed Chaney’s wrist―which by now had swung back―inches from Anabella’s eyes.

Anabella flinched, staring at the tip of the needle; a single drop released. I
nstinctively, she rolled her head to the side, and clenched her eyes shut.

With his strong hold tightly on her wrist, Chaney winced and let the syringe fall onto the bed’s cover and rolled away from Anabella’s body. Aldrich pressed his body against hers and held her in a tight grip as she struggled against him. In one swift move, he hauled the woman away from Anabella.

“Anabella, call Mr. Copeland, now. We need the police here,” he spoke to her sharply.

She nodded and on shaky legs carefully moved away from the woman, keeping her focus on both Aldrich and Chaney while he held her unceremoniously against him. She couldn’t believe this woman, her mind foggy with realization. Despair threatened to make her slump back into the protection of the bed. Instead, she pushed those thoughts aside and grabbed her cell phone from the side table and made the call, while Aldrich secured Chaney using a length of electric cord, tying her hands behind her back.

She kicked and screamed in rage, but Aldrich ignored her. That was followed by pleading, which had no affect on him, and soon it was followed by another row of fury; this he overlooked with insolence. When he was done, and satisfied that she couldn’t get away, he walked to Anabella who was shaking from the fright of it all, and wrapped her in his arms, holding her until help arrived. He murmured soft words of comfort to Anabella who was nestled tightly into his warm body.

She eventually relaxed against h
im.

All the while, Chaney seethed and hissed, cried and called out to him, but he just walked out with Anabella at his side.

The police arrived an hour later and took their statements, photos of the crime scene, and hauled Chaney into custody. Subdued and with tears streaming down her cheeks, she got into the patrol van. They drove away when the sun began to show its face in the horizon, tinting the sky in hues of golden pinks; a promise of a beautiful day.

Anabella was sitting on a deck chair when Aldrich joined her, holding a warm cup of coffee in his hands.

“Here, sweetheart,” he offered, noticing the color had returned to her cheeks.

The trembling had subsided, but still she looked tired, her eyes puffed with black shadows underneath. He placed a kiss on her cheek and she scooted over for him to sit next to her.

“I am so sorry about all of this…” he started as he brushed her arm reassuringly, sending shivers up her spine.

But she looked at him puzzled. “Why? This wasn’t your fault, Aldi.”

“If I hadn’t dated her, none of this would have happened!”

“Aldi, you couldn’t have known she’d act like this. But what has me stunned is that she wiggled her way into my house and slept with my father to get to me. Now
that
is sick.” She scrunched her face in disgust and took a sip of her coffee, and then pulled another disgusted face.

He smiled, happy to see her back to her old self again. “Yes, it is, and now we know how she got into your house. But, Chaney? I never thought that she would go this far.”

“She is obsessed with you, Aldi, and I can’t blame her. I’m madly in love with you, myself.” She placed a kiss on his stubbled cheek and couldn’t help but inhale his scent.

He smiled at her endearing words, taking the cup from her. No amount of words could express how he felt for this young woman and actions were better than words, he’d always believed.

When she offered her lips for a kiss, he moved forward and obliged her with all the pent-up emotion he felt for her. He knew that he could’ve lost her if he hadn’t turned back at that exact moment. And all because of a sick woman who didn’t understand the word no.

“You’re something else, Anabella Anthony,” he finally said after a long silence, enjoying her as much as he could.

“Thank you, Aldi. You are pretty amazing yourself.”

His laughter penetrated the morning air and he nuzzled her slender neck with his lips, stroking it slightly as he imparted more soft words of love to her.

A somber look covered her face once again as she said, “I never thought people like that really existed. The fact that she slept with my father doesn’t come as a shock since I’m used to women draping themselves over him. But to get to me, surely there had to have been an easier way?”

“You get all sorts, sweetheart, I see them constantly. Yes, it’s very mean to do what she did.”

“Do they know what was in the syringe?”

“The sergeant said they’ll send it to the lab and let us know,” he replied. “She didn’t want to reveal anything.”

“I’m glad you came when you did,” she whispered, wiping at wayward tear.

With a crease between his dark brows, he said solemnly, “It was the strangest thing, sweetheart. I woke with this urgency to check on you. When I first came into the room, all was quiet, but she had to have been there because the hair on the back of my neck rose; it felt like little fingers crawling over my scalp, and when I walked out, I couldn’t shake the feeling. I walked to my room, but the feeling intensified. That’s when I decided to return and found her on top of you. I thought my world was at an end when I saw the syringe in her hand.” He shivered slightly, squeezing her tightly to him.

“I’m sorry,” she replied, ruefully.

“For?” This time he looked puzzled.

“For scaring you like that.”

“Sweetheart, don’t you know what you mean to me?”

“You told her,” she said softly. “You said you want to marry me.”

“Yes, I do, if you’ll have me. Today still.”

She raised a brow. “Why the hurry?”

“Because, it’s the only way I can protect you,” he said with conviction.

She looked at him as the biggest and brightest of smiles spread across her face, but then grew silent for a moment. “Yes. I will marry you, Aldi.”

“Really?”

“Oh, yes, really.” She giggled at his sheepish grin. “You sound like Derek when he is baffled about something.”

His grin grew, and she kissed him in an amazing toe-curling kiss; they became lost in their little world.

Mr. Copeland interrupted them by clearing his throat, all the while grinning. He had been quite amazing. Right after she had called him, he’d appeared at the door in a flash and was still there.

“Will you be swimming this morning, Anabella?”

“Yes sir, let me quickly go and change.”

“Sure, honey.”

With one swift move, she was gone.

“How is she holding up?”

“This shook her to the core, especially knowing her father was used to get to her.”

“I don’t mean to pry, but what did the girl do?”

“She slept with him,” Aldrich said, nonchalantly.

Mr. Copeland gasped in shock and glanced at the door through which she’d disappeared and then looked back at Aldrich, confused but at the same time curious. “What did her mother say?”

“Her mother isn’t bothered with it,” he simply replied, and their eyes met.

“You mean…”

Aldrich nodded without any comment.

Mr. Copeland again glanced at the door, then back at him. “Now a lot of things make sense.”

Aldrich remained silent, trusting Mr. Copeland to keep this tidbit of information to himself.

Mr. Copeland sighed as he shook his head in disbelief. He bid his farewell, then walked back in the direction of the resort. When he reached the pool, she was already hard at work, gliding through the water like a fish. He watched as the wat
er separated before her hands when she propelled herself forward in smooth strokes―the pool a second home to her, the only place of comfort and support where she could be herself and forget about life. With strong, even strokes, she moved in the water, swimming, turning, kicking, and breathing with practiced ease. He was amazed at her slick movements, enjoying the constant pace she managed to keep up. She was relaxed and focused doing what came natural to her.

Mr. Copeland was still watching her when Aldrich joined him. Both men stood admiring her as she completed every lap comfortably; her kicks strong, her body in the correct posture, her breathing rhythmic with every stroke. Last night’s ordeal hadn’t stopped her from doing what she loved.

“She is looking strong.”

“Yes, she is strong.” Appreciation was noticeable in Aldrich’s voice.

“You like her a great deal, Aldrich?” Mr. Copeland asked carefully, and received his answer by the look on the younger man’s face.

“Yes, sir, I do.”

“Have you known each other long?”

“We have, for two years now.”

“And it’s serious?”

“Yes, sir. She’ll be the next Mrs. Hagin.” Conviction marked his words, because in his mind it was a done deal.