Justin rolls his eyes, “Okay, you were right. Girls and tuxedoes.”
I watch as he stomps into the kitchen and tosses his heavy backpack down. “Oh, Drake, he’s going to look adorable in a tuxedo.”
“Don’t call him adorable, he’ll hate it.” Drake kisses me as his phone goes off. “Yes, Jane, she’s leaving now. I’m sure traffic is bad, it’s always bad in Chicago. No, the bridal salon won’t care if she’s ten minutes late or an hour late. They want my money and I want their dress. No, you don’t need to talk to her, she’s going out to the car now. You’ll know how to find her. I’ve told you what she looks like twice, gorgeous, five foot four with long brown hair and eyes. She’ll also be the only women walking in when the store is closing. Because she’s the only woman there who has a fiancé who wants every salesperson’s attention on her alone.”
With a press of a button, he ends the phone call with a sigh. “Okay, from now on, you’re dealing with her. I’ve already told her, you get whatever the hell you want, cost doesn’t matter, it’s your day.
Norman is waiting outside for you. He’ll take you into the city and bring you back to the house. I have my car and I’ll take Justin with me once all the packing is done. Your landlord is a nice guy and has been dealt with, don’t give him any money. They aren’t always nice and if he thinks you don’t know, he might try and get something extra from you.”
Standing, he walks me to the door and with a light kiss pushes me out the door. The moment I step out of the house, the door to a Mercedes sedan in all black parked in front of the duplex opens and the driver runs around to the back door. “Hi, Norman. I’m Ria and you don’t have to open the door for me, okay?”
“Okay, Ms. Ria.”
“Ria, just Ria.”
He nods and closes the door. He’s casual in jeans and black button down shirt. Tall and well-built, he’s a very dark black man with hair clipped very short and an air of control and contained menace. “So, how long have you worked for Drake?”
“On and off for a few years, usually just private investigation jobs for Drake. A few times during the year he’ll travel and request me as a bodyguard. I do bodyguard jobs out of the country for a few other high profiles, over the last few years though I’ve been looking for something more stable. When Drake offered me the job for your driver and bodyguard, it was exactly what I was hoping for. Also, Boston is my hometown, he liked me knowing the area for when you guys move.”
I’m surprised and it shows, I can’t think of anything to say.
“Ria, Drake is doing the right thing. I know it seems scary and maybe a little over the top. Really though, a pretty woman like you, on her own in Chicago and Boston, will always be a target. Add in that soon it will be obvious from your clothes and the way you carry yourself that you have money, the threat will be higher. I’ve known Drake a long time, and those he cares for are treated like the precious things he considers them to be.”
I don’t know what to say, I nod and look out the window, not seeing the city going by. A bodyguard, really? Then it flashes, how every night I had gone into work early, to avoid the harassment I had dealt with on the few nights I had traveled in the dark. Tension eases out of me, damn Drake for being such a know it all. My annoyance goes up a notch when Norman stops at a fast food favorite of mine. Asking me what I want because Drake told him I’d be hungry and likely wouldn’t be able to eat for several hours.
As we drive to Drake’s home in Lake Forest, farther north than Evanston, I sink into the soft leather seats. Jane had been as bad as she sounded on the phone. I wondered how in the hell Drake had put up with her for more than a few days. Until the moment when she had slipped out of the florist’s to take a call and the florist had muttered that it didn’t matter if she was the most sought after wedding planner in all of Chicago, the florist couldn’t stand her. I then found out she had done every major wedding in Chicago and the suburbs for the last five years. It became clearer then, she was the ‘had to have’, and if others had to have her then Drake would make it known he had to have her. When I found out she had dropped another client whose wedding was in a few weeks, I’d been shocked and in awe of how far Drake was willing to go.
Letting my hair out of the pony tail I had put it in while dress shopping, I sigh with contentment. The perfect dress had been found and it would be ready in only three weeks. Once, I tried to look at the price tag, the saleswoman told me Drake had instructed them to be removed so I wouldn’t know how much it was. The dress was to look as close as possible to the lingerie he had sent over and that was the only consideration the saleswoman or I needed to worry about. Even without being there, Drake could be bossy.
The house catches my eye as we drive toward it, as almost every room in the house had the light on. Then Norman pulls up the long drive toward it and I’m sitting up straighter. This was the kind of house on the front of magazines, and I’m supposed to live in it? I don’t even notice Norman has stopped the car and opened the door for me until he clears his throat.
“No problem. I thought the same thing the first time I came here. It’s a nice place,
Drake’s mother worked hard to make it not feel like a museum.
I’ll be taking Justin to school and picking him up, as well as driving you. We chatted before he went into your house today, we’ll do well together.”
It doesn’t surprise me, Justin would love having a driver and a bodyguard at that. I go in through the open garage door Norman indicated and find myself in a huge dark-wood kitchen with a large island as the centerpiece and white granite countertops. Both Drake and Justin are at one end of the island, Drake on his laptop and Justin with a book and notepad in front of him. They’re talking about whether Justin needed a laptop and a desktop or just a laptop. The debate is light and Drake is smiling. When he feels my eyes on him, he turns and his smile grows wider. Seeing me, Justin shakes his head and looks at Drake, then with a shrug goes back to his book.
Drake pulls me into his arms lightly, he sighs with longing and I smile to let him know I’m feeling it too. “Come, meet Meredith. Meredith, this is my fiancée, Ria. Ria, this is Meredith, she and her husband have looked after this place since before I was born. This is her husband Enrico. Enrico takes care of the grounds. He’ll also take Justin to school on mornings when Norman is driving you. Dinner is almost done, Meredith and I have unpacked your clothes and personal things in our bedroom. The household and kitchen items are still boxed. We can look at what you want to keep or move with us to Boston.”
Meredith is a small, smiling woman with steel gray hair and pretty light-blue eyes. Enrico is tall, thin and as welcoming as his wife.
When I ask if I can help, the other woman’s eyes go wide and she shakes her head. “No, dear, you have a seat.”
Shrugging, I look to Drake for help. He laughs and pulls me close. “Did you find a dress?”
“Of course, I found a dress and it will be ready in three weeks and no you don’t get to see it. The flowers are picked out and the china pattern to be used for the dishes and flatware too because Jane said men don’t care about those things.
We absolutely can’t be late to the cake tasting because yet another bride is being bumped for us. I can’t believe you stole Jane from some poor bride.”
He laughs as I glare at him. “Sweetheart, do not think of Savanah Hill as a poor bride. She’s a gold digging, husband stealing slut, who used to be known as Savanah’s Hills when she worked as a stripper, before she got her claws into Evan Green. From what I hear Evan’s already having second thoughts, that’s why Jane cut and ran. Evan couldn’t believe the bills Savanah was running up and kept asking questions, they’ve had some blow-ups already. Odds are running against them actually making it to the altar, because she’s digging in her heels at the prenup.”
“Oh,” I feel oddly deflated. “I feel a little better now.”
“Dinner is ready, the small dining room has been set.” Meredith announces, Drake pulls me up and tugs at Justin to get him moving. He puts his hand over the book Justin is trying to take into the dining room.
“Ria lets me take homework to the dinner table. It’s not like I’m on a cell phone or something.”