A Love With Interest

CHAPTER 18: You'll Always Come First

WADE

I know that Racine had a lot on her plate to think about and yet I knew deep down inside that neither one of us wanted to stay in our place so, I decided that until she had made her decision, that we could possibly stay in a presidential hotel suite until she made up her mind.

I know a hotel whose business I have helped throughout the years actually put their name on the map and bring in a ton of business for them so they owe me a favor and I think this will be the perfect time to cash in on it.

I was gonna bring up the idea to her later and in the meantime, I took off the next few days of work and today, after we had breakfast with Franklin, we went to her now burned down salon.

What once had beautiful flowers displayed along with a welcoming vibe on the outside with lettering on the big glass windows displaying her name and services she provides, there now was nothing welcoming about the place. The only bright colored thing you saw was a 'POLICE CAUTION: DO NOT CROSS' tape surrounding the area.

Once we stepped out of the car, just looking at the look on her face killed me. I felt guilty and like this was all my fault. Rothington is gonna pay for all of this and I am gonna see to it that he does.

"Baby?" I look at Racine who looks torn.

"I just, I still can't believe this happened and all last night." She says.

"I know, me neither. But I promise you we'll fix this." I assure her.

"How? Maybe this is a sign." I hear her say under her breath not thinking I'd heard her but I did.

"A sign for what? You don't deserve this. And despite how you feel right now, I think that within time, when you can think more clearly, you can think of another bad ass salon to rebuild." I smile at her.

She looks at me with a smirk.

"I love you." She says as she throws her arms over my shoulders.

"I love you too." I tell her as I wrap my arms around her waist.

"I guess we should go talk to Steve. He's the adjuster." She says.

Then as we get in the car to start heading over to her insurance adjuster, I start to think if maybe I could bring up my idea on where we would stay at.

"So I know it wasn't that long ago since the idea about where we would stay until we can sell and find another to place to live in but, I was thinking, until you make a decision on Franklin's offer, I thought about us staying in a presidential suite at one of the hotels that I helped make a success over the years." I tell her while still driving.

"But that would cost a fortune." She says.

"Baby, I know it was hard to grasp before but you should know by now that I have more than enough money to help take care of us for the rest of our lives." I try and remind her.

"I know but still." She shrugs.

"Well, I did find something out this morning about his men. They're actually undercover agents. They are all playing the part and even letting Franklin still play his roll so that no other gangs or anyone else can find out that he's about to give up everything, including them." I laugh a little.

"Really?" She asks in disbelief.

"Yeah. It's crazy but I even was introduced to his right hand guy who was the leader of the operation and turns out the guy has a wife and two kids at home himself." I tell her.

"Wow." She says. "They're great actors. I thought they were legit." She laughs a little.

"Yeah well, remember, nobody else can know. Not even Levi and Neil." I tell her.

"Okay. But what about their safety? I mean if your dad-Mr. Rothington finds out about them don't you think he'll hurt them to get to us or something?" I ask.

"I already talked to Franklin and he's gonna have some of 'his guys' watch over them." I assure her.

"Okay." She nods in agreement. "Then I guess it's okay if we stay with him." She says.

"Are you sure?" I ask.

"Yeah. I mean, now that I know it's really AGENTS that are helping out, I feel better." She smiles at me.

"Good. Cause I want you to feel better and safe. You'll always come first to me Racine." I tell her.

"And the baby?" She asks with a cocked eyebrow.

"Yes of course." I smile in return and start giving her a kiss on the lips right as we pull up to the front of the office.

Next chapter will be posted soon! :)