Page 45 of Erotic Behavior (Observant Behaviors)

I walked up behind her and placed my hands on her shoulders while I looked at her in the mirror.

“Andrew Bardot isn’t capable of getting anywhere near you.He knows to keep his distance from me.Get your things.We’ll talk more on the plane.”

I placed a kiss on her temple and went back into the bedroom to get her bags.I had what I needed at each of my properties, so other than my laptop I didn’t have much to take with me.By the time I made my way to the front foyer, she was close on my heels, and I helped her out and into the car.Our ride to the airstrip was quiet.I knew she was still upset about what happened and I hadn’t even dealt with the fact that I walked out on her in anger that same morning.Hell, the problems we had then seemed like nothing compared to what we were dealing with now.

“Hello Mr.Haynes, Mrs.Haynes.Can I get you anything before we take off?”

Hearing Raven referred to as Mrs.Haynes by the stewardess moved something deep inside me from uncertainty to pure joy.We would get there; it was just taking us longer than I had expected.

“I’ll take a vodka and water,” Raven said without missing a beat.I sat there with what I was sure was a ridiculous smile on my face because she didn’t even bat an eye at the reference to her being my wife.

“I’ll have the same.”

By the time we had drinks in front of us, the pilot was already making his way down the runway.I reached for Raven’s hand during take off and once we were in the air, I realized we needed to talk.If I didn’t share with her some of the things that had been weighing on me, I never would.She deserved to know more.

“I want to tell you about your father and why I know him.”Raven turned towards me and bit her lower lip as I caught her eyes with my own.“The plaza he mentioned when he spoke with you is a property I have under contract in Brooklyn.The area of the city it’s in is a place he considers his territory.This is not the first time I’ve come up against him in real estate, and it won’t be the last.I know what he does, I know about his church and his followers, and that is why I continue to purchase properties in the area.Every one that I’ve bought has been converted to a non-profit community center specifically for people who struggle with addiction, codependency, and abuse.”

Raven’s eyes went wide as I continued to speak.Her father was a well-known prophet who had created his own church years ago.“But why do you do that?”

“When I was younger and working for my father, there was a woman who came to work for us.She and her daughter had just escaped the clutches of his church and she was desperate to start over.She had applied for the receptionist job, but it wasn’t long before I learned she was overqualified for the work.She had spent years under the direction of Andrew Bardot and believed she wasn’t capable of anything more.When my father promoted me to a department chair, I hired her as my secretary.Not long after that, she moved into marketing and on and on until she left and started her own business.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t need to say anything.I’m just sorry that I didn’t tell you sooner.You deserve to know a lot more than I’ve shared with you so far.”

“What does that mean?You knew who I was?I mean, before the auction?”

Of all the secrets I had been keeping, that was the one question I absolutely didn’t want to admit to her, but now, looking at her, I felt I had no choice.If I told her now, then there was no way she could run, but the fear of her never forgiving me was so deeply burned into my soul that my hand shook as I reached for my drink and finished it.

“There is a lot I need to tell you, Raven, but I want to make sure you know how I feel about you first.I feel like I’ve made it clear with my actions, but I’ve learned through experience that words are just as important, if not more.”

I reached for her hand across the small table that was between us.It seemed like the logical place to sit when we got on the plane, but now I wished I had moved us to the couch toward the back so I could hold her to me when I spoke.

“I love you, Raven.I had hoped I would fall in love with you when arrangements were made for the auction, but I was never certain.From the moment you walked into my life, I knew you had something about you I wasn’t willing to let go.I didn’t know it then, but I was already falling for you and every day that we spend together just makes me fall a little harder.”

The Arrangement

Raven

Becketthadjustsaidthe words I had been praying for.He loved me, he really loved me, but the entire sentiment was drowned out by the word “arrangements”.If he had made arrangements for the auction, then he knew I would be there.I just didn’t know at this point how deep all the lies ran, and it made me sick to think that the man I had fallen in love with had been lying to me for months.Was he the one to blame for me living in a constant state of confusion?Was he the reason Talia was missing?

I pulled my hand from his grasp and leaned back in my seat.The overwhelming need to run was pulsing through my veins, as it usually did when my life was about to turn to shit.The only difference was I couldn’t run.I was stuck, and he knew it.

“What do you mean, arrangements?”

I watched as Beckett took in a deep breath and tilted his head to either side, cracking his neck.“You’re not going to like what I’m going to say.”

“I think we are a little past that already.”

“Fair enough.I needed a wife, Raven, and it had to be you.My father had made plans before he died outlining what steps I needed to take to keep the company afloat and under my ownership.If I didn’t do what he wrote in the contract within five years of his death, then the ownership of the company would transfer to another son of his.The child of a woman he had an affair with years ago.Someone neither my mother nor sister even knows exists.”

“What was in the contract?”

“I need a wife and an heir to leave the company to.It’s the only way he could ensure that the company he built would always be in the family.”

“How does that even work?He’s dead, isn’t he?It’s not something he can enforce anymore, right?”

“I signed the contract before his death, and it wasn’t between me and him.It wasn’t a part of will or a trust; it’s literally a contract between me and the company.If I don’t provide what’s required by the designated time, then the board of directors will terminate me and begin the transfer of ownership.”