Righteous Obsession (63 page)

“It all evens out,” she finished for him as he pulled
her down on top of him.

Liam arrived a little after seven the next morning
since they were planning to catch the eight o’clock shuttle to Los Angeles.  He
parked his Liberty in the garage and went into the house.  He was carrying a
duffel bag and sleeping bag under his arm.  Since McGregor hadn’t arrived yet,
Liam had a cup of coffee with Colin and Alethea while they waited.

“Boy!  Debbie sure is excited about that dance!”

“She told me Amanda and her were going shopping for
her dress tomorrow,” Alethea said.

Colin chuckled and shook his head.  “It must be
different for girls.  I can’t recall ever being excited about a dance.”

“Probably because you never went to one either,
Colin!”  Liam replied pointedly.  “You were always off playing in some garage
band.”

“True!”  He laughed.  “Probably why I couldn’t ever
keep a girlfriend either!”

“How many girlfriends are we talking about?”  Alethea
inquired.

“Whoa!  Do you know the definition of infinite,
Alethea?”  Liam joked.

“He’s exaggerating,” Colin said.

“Not by much!”

McGregor arrived and they left for the airport in a
taxi.  The shuttle got them to Los Angeles in a short time.  Colin rented a 4x4
and they drove to Alethea’s former home.  Alethea glanced at the drawn blinds
doubtfully as Colin helped her out and said, “I hope Mace remembered we were
coming today.”

“He was probably out late last night and overslept,”
Colin replied.  He rang the doorbell, waited for a few moments then rang it
again.

“Mace isn’t home,” A somewhat deep voice behind them
announced.  Everybody but Alethea turned in surprise to find a rather haughty
looking older woman.

“Hello, Mrs. Von Neumann,” Alethea said, smiling and
extending her hand.  Mrs. Von Neumann took it.

“Hello, Alethea.  Mace told me you’d gotten married. 
My congratulations.”  She appeared to be in her early seventies, tall and thin
with a regal carriage.   She dressed very stylishly and her short, white-blond
hair was cut and styled in a punk-like hairdo.

“Thank you.  I’d like you to meet my husband, Colin
Matthews.  Colin, this is Marguerite Von Neumann.”  She looked him up and down
then extended her hand.  “How do you do.”

Colin smiled and took her hand, hoping his face wasn’t
flushing too noticeably.  Out of the corner of his eye he could see Liam
smirking.  “Nice to meet you.”

“This is Colin’s brother, Liam and his bodyguard, Buck
McGregor.”

McGregor nodded at her.  “Nice to know you.”

She looked from Liam to Colin and back to Liam.  “You
two are only half-brothers, aren’t you?  You certainly don’t look anything
alike.”

“Yup,” Liam replied cheerfully, ignoring her rude
remark.

Colin turned to Alethea.  “Well, if Mace isn’t home,
we’ll have to wait until he shows up unless you still have a key?  I gave mine
to him.”

She shook her head.  “No.  I gave all of them to
Mace.”

“Mace keeps an extra key buried under that shrub right
there,” Mrs. Von Neumann said, pointing.

Just then Mace’s Mustang pulled up in front.  He
jumped out and hurried over to them.  “Sorry!  I meant to get here before you
did, but I overslept.”

“Overslept with whom?”  Mrs. Von Neumann asked tartly.

Mace grinned.  “Nobody you’ve ever met.”

“I certainly hope you used protection then!”

“Always.”  Mace unlocked the front door and they all
went inside.

“God!  Is there anything that woman doesn’t know or
won’t ask!”  Colin muttered to Alethea.

She giggled and teased, “Well, she certainly knows all
about you!”

“Don’t remind me!”

Before she left for her interview with Centaur,
Alethea told Colin, Liam and McGregor what she wanted them to pack.  Mrs. Von
Neumann surprised everyone by offering to pack Alethea’s clothes for her.

“That’s very kind of you, but it’s too much work,” she
protested.

“Nonsense!”  She replied briskly.  “I’ll have that
much out of the way by the time you come back.”

“That’s true.  I appreciate whatever help you can
give.”

“Great!”  Colin groused to Liam on his way out to the
patio.  “Now she can tell the entire neighborhood what kind of underwear my
wife fancies!”  He went outside to collect the plants she kept by the pool and
put them into boxes.

Alethea came up behind him.  “I’ll see you later,
Colin.”

He got to his feet, brushing off his hands.  “Be real
careful, okay?”

“I will.  If you’re worried about me being car-jacked
– don’t be.  I took a course in defensive driving this spring and I graduated
at the top of my class!”

Colin wrapped his arms around her.  “Hey!  I love you
so I’m entitled to worry!”  He kissed her.

Alethea ran her hands down his back and cupped his
ass.  “I think we should go for a swim tonight.  What do you think?”

“I think that’s a great idea!”

While Colin, Liam, and McGregor kept packing, Mrs. Von
Neumann continued to help.  She finished packing Alethea’s clothes and then
started packing the dishes, glassware and silverware.  Colin was loading some
boxes into the 4x4 when Alethea pulled up behind him.  “Hi!  How did it go with
Centaur?”

“Great!  They’re all really nice guys.  How’s the
packing coming?”

“I think we’re ahead of schedule – mostly due to Mrs.
Von Neumann,” Colin admitted.  He was taking a break later and having a glass
of iced tea when Mace came in and got a cold beer out of the refrigerator. 
“So, what’s Jake been up to lately?  I’ve tried calling him a few times, but
he’s never home.”

“Like all of us, he’s busy writing songs for the new
CD.  I think he’s been working mostly at the studio so that’s probably why you
haven’t been able to reach him.”

“Yeah, I didn’t think to try there.”

“He’s also been flying to New York a lot to visit
Vanessa.  He didn’t want you to know because he didn’t want you to start
teasing him about the bridal bouquet crap again.”

“I’ll be damned!”  Colin replied.

They finished up packing late in the afternoon except
for some odds and ends that could wait until morning.  McGregor’s friend, Eddie
Cole, came for his interview with Alethea.

“What do you think?”  Colin asked her after the
interview.

“I like him.  He knows his stuff and best of all he
knows how to be discreet.  I told him the job was his if he wants it.”

“Good!”  Colin replied, running a hand through his
thick hair.  “That’s one less thing I have to worry about!”  They had a light
supper then Colin and Alethea got ready to leave for the MTV.

“Good luck on the show,” Liam said.  “Mace and I are
going club-hopping so we won’t be here when you get back.”

Colin caught his breath, but forced himself to say
nonchalantly, “Okay.  Have a good time.”

Liam laughed.  “With Mace, I’d say that’s a given!”

After Liam had gone, Colin pulled McGregor aside and
asked, “Can you do me a favor?”  Colin told him about Liam and Mace going out
and confessed his concern about Liam.  “I’d feel much better if I knew you were
along keeping an eye on things.”

“I can do that.”  McGregor agreed.  “In fact, I could
use some R&R myself.”

“Thanks.”

When Colin and Alethea returned to the house after his
appearance on MTV they found they had the house to themselves.  Colin smiled at
her and raised his eyebrows.  “Well, things certainly worked out to our
advantage.”

“I’ll race you to the pool!”  Alethea quickly slipped
out of her clothes and ran out the door.  Colin ditched his clothes also and
ran after her.  “I win!”  She cried, diving into the pool.  Colin dived in
after her.  He surfaced, pushed his hair out of his face and looked around for
her.  She was at the other end of the pool.  She waved at him and called, “Are
you going to stay there all night?”

“Not on your life!”  Colin yelled back.  He started
swimming quickly towards Alethea when a sudden pain in his side forced him
under.  He came up again, gasping.

Alethea swam over to him and put her arms around him
to steady him.  “Are you all right?”

Colin took a deep breath and expelled it.  “I’m okay
now.  I was swimming too fast and my scar tissue let me know it didn’t
appreciate it!”

“Maybe, we should go back inside.”

 “No.  I’m just going to have to remember to swim
slowly for a while, but otherwise I’m fine.”  To prove it he pulled Alethea
close to him and kissed her, letting his tongue caress the inside of her mouth.

Alethea slid her hands down his hips and grasped his
penis.  She felt him jerk against her as she touched him.  She began caressing
him, feeling him becoming fully erect.  Suddenly she broke it off and swam away
from him.  She lazily swam in a circle around him, splashing him with water
each time she passed.  She swam back over to him, put her arms around his neck
and kissed him deeply, rubbing herself against him as she did so.  She felt
Colin’s mouth slide from hers to her breasts, taking first one nipple then the
other one into his mouth.  At the touch of his lips, Alethea felt her body
quivering in delight.  She felt the head of his hard cock rubbing her clit and
that drew a passionate moan from her.  Her thighs seem to part of their own
volition and she was a helpless captive in her desire for him.  She put her
mouth to his ear and whispered, “Make love to me, Colin!”

Colin wasted no time in doing just that.  He cupped
her ass with his hands and with one hard thrust he was inside her.  He felt her
legs encircle his hips, pulling him deeply into her.  They both moved together,
slowly at first then faster, knowing from experience how to bring each other to
the most explosive climax possible.  Alethea clung to Colin then went limp as
her orgasm ebbed.  She gave a satisfied sigh and said, “I can’t wait until our
pool is finished!”

Colin chuckled lasciviously and replied, “Me either!”
He swam around lazily. “Do you suppose Mrs. Von Neumann heard us?”

“I certainly hope so!”

It was close to one by the time they finally got to
bed.  Colin lay awake after Alethea had finally fallen asleep.  It had been a
long, strenuous day and he felt tired, but he couldn’t sleep until Liam was
home.  He twisted sideways, trying to get a look at the clock.  Beside him,
Alethea stirred, murmured something and pressed herself closer to him, but
remained asleep.  Colin saw it was after two and frowned.  The clubs closed at
two – where were they?  Suddenly, he heard a car pulling into the driveway,
doors slamming and muffled voices.  He heard Liam’s voice and grinned,
realizing he sounded a tad buzzed!

They were up by eight the next morning.  The movers
came at nine and by noon they had the truck loaded and were ready to leave. 
Alethea had decided to leave Mace her major appliances since she and Colin
didn’t need them.  “There’s no point in putting them in storage if you can use
them, Mace.”

“Thanks, Alethea!  I really appreciate this!”  Mace
said.

Mrs. Von Neumann came over to say goodbye to Alethea. 
She suddenly turned to Colin and waved a finger in his face warningly.  “You’d
better be good to Alethea!  I don’t want to hear you’ve been stepping out on
her!”

“Not a chance!”  Colin assured her and then to her
surprise he gave her a hug.  “Keep an eye on Mace for me?”

“I always do!” She replied and then strode back towards
her place.

“Thank you very much, Colin!”  Mace muttered
sarcastically. “Keep an eye on Mace my ass!”

“I don’t think she was expecting that hug,” Alethea
remarked.

“Neither was I!”  Colin admitted.

She started giggling.  “I think she threatened to kick
your ass if you weren’t good to me!”

“I know she did!”

“She’d do it, too!”  Mace confirmed.

Alethea sighed as she looked at her house.  “I’m going
to miss this place.  I had some really good times here.”

Colin felt an acute twinge of jealousy as he wondered
if she meant with other lovers.  Alethea got into her Corvette, jogged his arm
and said, “Climb in.”  Colin got in, knowing it was fruitless to argue with her
about letting him drive until they were out of the city limits.  McGregor was
driving the 4x4 with Liam riding shotgun.

“See you in a few weeks, Mace!”  Colin called.

 “You bet!”  He called back.

Even though Colin eyelids felt like lead he kept
himself constantly alert as they drove through the city.  When they stopped for
a light he warily eyed the traffic on both sides of them.  He noticed Alethea
doing the same thing and saw she never took her foot off the gas pedal.  He
also noticed McGregor stayed very close behind them.  Once they were out of the
city limits, Colin fell asleep.  He remained asleep until they reached a
halfway point between Los Angeles and San Francisco where he and Liam took over
the driving.  He pulled into the driveway of his parent’s home and Liam pulled
in behind him.  He hopped out and came over to them.  “Are you staying for
supper?”

“Yeah.  We’re staying the night, too.  We’re both too
tired to drive any further,” Colin answered.

Amanda greeted them as they came in the door.  She
gave them both a hug.  “Did you get everything done?”

“Yeah, and it’s on its way to San Francisco.”

“Mom, do I have time to call Alison before we eat?”

“I think you better wait until after supper, darling. 
We’re just about ready to eat.”  She turned back to Colin.  “You both look
tired.”

“We were up kind of late last night,” Alethea said,
blushing as she did so.

“I see,” Amanda replied with a knowing smile.

“I couldn’t sleep after I got to bed,” Colin
remarked.  “Liam, Mace and McGregor went out and I couldn’t sleep until I knew
Liam was home again.”

“I know exactly what you mean,” Amanda assured him. 
“I feel the same way every time he or Deb leaves the house.”

“I guess it’ll be a while before we feel different?”

“I’m afraid so.”  Amanda shook her head, trying to
dispel a twinge of anxiety.

She turned to Buck.  “Are you staying the night,
Buck?”

“I think I will if it’s not a problem, Amanda.”

“None, whatsoever.  We have plenty of room.”

Debbie came downstairs at that moment.  She gave a big
smile as she saw Colin and Alethea.  “Hi!”

“Hi, Deb!” Alethea replied.  “Did you find a dress for
the dance?”

“Yes!”  She turned to Amanda.  “I’m going to help you
with supper, but can I take Alethea upstairs and show her my dress first?”

“Go ahead, Deb,” Colin interrupted.  “I’ll give mom a
hand.”

“Thanks, Colin.”  Alethea and Debbie disappeared
upstairs.

“Deb seems more like a normal teenager every time we
see her,” Colin remarked as he and Amanda walked into the kitchen.

“Yes, she’s coming along little by little.”

“Liam told us she wasn’t seeing Doctor Hughes
anymore.  What happened?”

“Deb saw her for a couple of time then Doctor Hughes
asked to see us.  She told us she didn’t think Deb felt comfortable with her. 
She said she felt her age remained Deb too much of her mother and she didn’t
feel as if Deb would ever open up completely to her.  She recommended we find
her another therapist.”

“Did you?”

“Yes.  Doctor Hamilton is younger, in her
mid-thirties, and Deb really likes her.  She seems to be responding well to the
therapy.”

“I think some of that credit belongs to you and dad.” 
Colin declared, giving her a hug.  “Is dad on the patio?”

“Yes.  He’s bringing in the chicken.”

Peter waved to him as he came out the door.  “Hi,
Colin!”  Colin came over and his father gave him a hug.  “How’s everything?”

“Great!  We got Alethea’s stuff packed and on its
way.”

“Where’s Alethea?”

“She’s upstairs; Deb’s showing her Alethea her dress”

Peter chuckled.  “Deb sure is excited about that
dance.”

“Have you met Cody yet?”

“No.  We invited him to supper next week.  That was
our only stipulation to Deb – we wanted to meet Cody before she went to the
dance with him.”

“Sounds like you have things well in hand.”

“We have been through this twice before,” Peter
reminded him with a smile.  “Have you heard from Jeff lately?”

“I talked to him a couple of days ago.  I’m just
taking it one step at a time.”

“Sounds like a good idea.”  Peter finished putting the
last of the chicken on the platter.  “Well, I hope everyone likes my barbecued
chicken.”

Colin licked off a bit that had gotten on his thumb. 
“The sauce tastes slightly different.  It has a kind of tang to it.”

Peter laughed.  “Your mother says my barbecue sauce
never tastes the same twice in a row!”  They walked into the kitchen.  Alethea
and Debbie were talking while they set the dining room table.  Peter took the
chicken into the other room while Colin helped his mother with the rest of the
food.

“How was supper with your grandparents?”  Amanda
asked.  “I hope they didn’t badger you about Jeff too much.”

Colin chuckled.  “Not about Jeff, but grandma did ask
Alethea point blank if she was pregnant yet!  When she told grandma she wasn’t,
grandma gave me this look like I was failing in my husbandly duties!”

“Well, don’t let them pressure you into anything.”

“We won’t.”

They sat down, passed the food around and everybody
ate in an appreciative silence.  Peter’s barbecued chicken disappeared down to
the last piece.  “I think your sauce is an unqualified success,” Amanda said.

After dessert was eaten, Debbie asked permission to
call Diana so she could tell her about the dance, Cody and her new dress.  “Go
ahead, Deb,” Amanda replied with a nod.  When Debbie had left the room, she
remarked, “I’m happy to see Deb enjoying things teenagers are supposed to
enjoy.”

“How did you think I did on MTV last night?”  Colin
asked.

“You looked calm and you answered the questions very
well.”  Amanda said.

“Except for that last question when he asked me if I
hated Father Michaels.  I really lost it there.”

“I think you handled it very well, considering what
you’ve been through,” Peter said.

“I don’t know, Dad.  I don’t think I should have
admitted to hating him in front of millions of MTV’s regular viewers!”

“You also said you felt sorry for him because of all
the pain and misery he’s caused his family and he didn’t seem to care,” Alethea
pointed out to him.

“Anyway, Colin, you’re the victim here!”  Liam
argued.  “You shouldn’t have to apologize for the way you feel about that
creep!”

“Liam’s right,” Amanda agreed.  “I’m sure there are
many crime victims who feel the same as you.”

“There are also a lot of people who probably think I
got what I deserved and I probably brought the whole thing on myself!”

“Yes, there probably are people who think that, but
they’re in a minority,” Alethea said.

“A pretty sick minority, if you want my opinion!” 
McGregor added.

“Maybe,” Colin conceded.

Liam went upstairs to call Alison while Colin and
Peter cleaned up so Amanda and Alethea could talk.  “Your mother really enjoys
having another woman to talk to, I think,” Peter remarked.

“Well, she might have another woman to talk to before
too long,” Colin said.  “It sounds as if things are getting serious between
Liam and Alison.”

“Frankly, I’m hoping they’ll wait a couple of years
before they marry.  They’re just kids.”

Colin laughed and teased, “Spoken like a true father
who wasn’t much older than Liam when he got married!”

Peter smiled faintly.  “True, but somehow back then
nineteen seemed a lot older than it does now.”

Colin chuckled.  “It seemed a lot older nine years
ago!”

“Just wait until you’re a father, Colin,” Peter kidded
him.  As was his custom, Peter turned on CNN before he went to bed to check out
any late-breaking news stories.  A clip from Colin’s co-hosting the
Headbanger’s Ball with Jazz came on. A picture of Father’s Michaels was shown
over Colin’s shoulder.

Jazz Conrad:  “Do you hate Father Michaels, Colin?”

Colin:  “Sometimes I hate him so much it scares me!”

“They’ve been showing that same clip all day,” Peter
remarked, shutting off the television.

“That’s terrific!”  Colin groaned.  “I sound like a
fucking vigilante!  Ready to take my fucking AK-47 and blow Father Michaels
away!”

“Calm down, Colin!”  Alethea urged.  “You can call
Steve and your publicist tomorrow and have them release a statement of
correction.”

Colin took a deep breath.  “I’m sorry.  You’re right.”
 He was up early the next morning, called Steve who got right on it.  He got
Unforgiven’s publicist on the line and the three of them worked out a corrected
statement for immediate release to the media.  They said goodbye to everyone
and drove home.

Monday morning he and Alethea got jarred out of bed at
seven o’clock by the arrival of the pool installers and their digging
equipment.  After lunch the movers arrived with Alethea’s furniture.  Between
the digging equipment and the noise from the movers, Colin almost missed his cell
ringing.  He picked up the phone and stuck one finger in his ear.  “Hello?”  He
could hear someone, but couldn’t make out what they were saying.  “What?”  He
said loudly.  “Sorry, I can barely hear you.”

Alethea came over to him and mouthed, “Who is it?”

Colin shrugged then said, “Can you hold for a
moment?”  He indicated to Alethea he was going upstairs to talk.  She nodded
she understood.  He hurried upstairs to their bedroom that was on the other
side of the house from the digging.  “Hello?  Sorry about all the noise!”

“Colin, this is Marie Wickersham.”

“Detective Wickersham, are you calling with news about
Father Michaels?”

“Yes.  Father Michaels was arrested by the Italian
authorities yesterday.”