The Fall Bride (TSBS-3) ON HOLD

Chapter Fifteen

Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.
―Yoda

Ivan Dwayne

"Kyle's bringing them over."

As Mark plopped down on the couch, I narrowed my eyes at the tinted glass door. "Is Leo around?"

He checked his watch and clicked his tongue. "He shouldn't be. He wouldn't stay this long."

Swirling the chair, I gazed outside at the dark night. Janet and Caden had managed to stay out all day, and I had survived not coming off as a dictator to her. Although I badly wanted to call Kyle and order him to confine them at home, I knew it would be a wrong step to backtrack the progress I have made with Janet last night. She valued independence like breathing oxygen. I'd surely be in lack of it if I even uttered anything against her day out.

"How long are you planning to keep him away from Caden?"

It wasn't that I didn't trust Mark's men. Other than failing to get me any intel on Sanders, they had been remarkable and trustworthy over the years, surviving even the tight surveillance in the Middle East. But, here in New York, I didn't have enough familiarity, making me constantly worry about the people I had found recently in my life.

"If he cares about his life, he wouldn't dare come near my son." I swore, believing Leo wasn't dense enough to underestimate me. Caden had been an unexpected blessing, and I had realized when it comes to family, I could be impulsive. I would do anything to protect him, even if I had to request assistance from those in Abu Dhabi, even if I had to be owed to them for the rest of my life.

"But he will go to Janet." Mark informed in a knowing voice. "Divorce is the best sly tactic for him if he knows there's no prenup."

"Then make sure he doesn't come near Janet."

I refused to believe Janet was gullible enough to fall for Leo's sweet talk if he did manage to secure an audience with her.

"Does she know that she can be a millionaire overnight if there's a divorce?"

And, most definitely, she wasn't as crazy about money as Leo and I. People like Janet who only worked for money to put food in their stomachs and roof over their heads wouldn't value it as much as their lives because they knew money comes and goes, they could always find another means, another job for their livelihood. But those who already knew the taste of money would only crave a whole mountain of it more and more because they knew money was limitless, that it would make them have the upper hand in this money-driven world.

"There will be no divorce." I declared confidently. 

"Hopefully, not." He wished, then with a teasing tone, he added. "Besides, with the way you two were going, there might be another Caden soon or will it be Casey this time?"

Memories of last night were fresh in my mind because it was the first time since that night I had seen Janet in her truest form, writhing and panting, full of desire in her eyes for me. She had always been the only woman to make me lose my sanity, to confine myself in her body and find the comfort and relief she would give me from the cruel twist of reality. 

Even after years, she still made me act on impulse, giving in to the passion and forgetting the rules I have made for myself regarding women.

"Shit." Mark cursed at my silent deliberation. "Don't tell me that's your plan."

Turning the chair around, I scowled. "Of course not. I'm not that vile."

"But you wouldn't mind it either." He pointed it out, knowingly.