Three Thousand Miles (49 page)

I jolt from the sofa as I there is a soft knock at the door. I make my way to the door and I open it reveal Sophie and Katharine. Sophie leaps into my arms and I fall slightly back from her force. She pulls back from me and her face is tense, I take a deep breath and I realise that she knows about what happened?

“Oh Alanna are you okay?” She gushes as she hugs me again. I let out a creaked laugh as I pull away from her.

“Yes I am fine,” I say as I signal the girls to walk with me into the room. Katharine and Sophie take a seat next to me on the massive, leather sofa. I look over at the bodyguards and I wish that I could have some privacy.

“Um can I please have a minute with my friends?” I ask in a gentle tone. The two men gaze at each other and then one of them turns to look at me.

“I am sorry miss but that is out of the question.” I sigh at his words and I again turn to face my friends. Sophie looks concerned and surprisingly I notice that Katharine looks happy. She is smiling hard although she is trying to hold it in. I gaze at her and I wonder what has her in such a good mood.

“Alanna what happened?” Sophie asks as she reaches for my hand. I take a deep breath as I try to explain.

“It was awful, Chad is Michael’s brother and he attacked me. I was tied to a chair and he had a gun.” Sophie gasps and her face is distressed.

“Oh my god Alanna why would he do a thing like that?” I again take a deep breath as I begin to tell my friends that Adrian had an affair with Chad’s wife. Unsure of they will react to a thing like that my heart begins to race.

“He wanted revenge on Adrian because he had an affair with his wife.” Sophie’s eyes bolt from her head at my revelation. I can see that she is not impressed by this and I fear what she might say.

“Wow, when was this?” She asks firmly.

“About five years ago, she is a lot older than Adrian and I don’t know what I can say. I know it was a horrible thing for him to do but he was young and desperate for love.” I try to protest before Sophie goes on a rant.

“Alanna that’s no excuse for what he did. But I can understand – I think. Adrian is a wonderful guy and he loves you to pieces. But sometimes he scares me and I have a feeling that he has secrets that he might not be sharing with you. I guess I can understand what he did because he had such a terrible childhood and it has left him with many flaws. But Alanna I want you to be with him so if you have to forget that he cheated with his brother’s wife then do it.” I smile at Sophie as I take in her words.

“Sophie is right Alanna; remember how miserable you were without him? I know this could easily ruin your relationship but you have to work hard to fight it.” I turn to Katharine and then I turn back to Sophie, I smile at them and I realise that I have amazing friends.

“Thanks for supporting me I really appreciate it.”

I lounge on the sofa with my friends for what seems like hours. We talk about everything and not a single detail is left out. Except, I have chosen not to tell the girls about William. I feel that is not really my place and until Adrian finds out that he is actually his son then I am not going to say a word. Many topics have come up during our conversation and eventually Katharine spills and tells me why she is so happy.

“Jeff is amazing,” she gushes and I cannot hold back my smile. I am not at all surprised that she and Jeff have hit things off. She is gorgeous and Jeff is funny, smart, cool and talks with a British accent. As soon as I saw him walking over to our table that night at the party I knew that he was a potential guy for Katharine. Everything about him screamed out what she is looking for in a guy. He is rich and he is handsome but if you set all that aside, you can tell that he is genuinely a nice guy.  I am not shocked at how quickly Katharine seems to have gotten over Michael because I feel that she was more in love with the idea of him. Her feelings were strong towards him but I just knew that Katharine would not stick around when Michael was treating her badly. I am glad that she has now found Jeff and I wish her all the happiness in the world. Sophie on the other hand is desperate to find a guy and I feel that she might be a little jealous that Katharine is with Jeff. Sophie is my best friend but sometimes I don’t understand her. She says that she is happy that her friends are doing so well in the love department. But at the same time, I feel that she resents that we are happy. I really wish that Sophie would find a guy and settle down with him and be happy because until she does, none of us will get her blessing. I am also wondering about Emma and Michael. From what I remember of last night’s party, they were dancing and they looked close. Emma was gazing into Michael’s eyes as she slow danced with him and he looked infatuated with her. I am trying hard not to feel annoyed by their friendship but every time I think of them together, my heart breaks a little. I do not exactly feel jealous but I do feel that I would rather not think of them as a couple. At least until Michael confirms it to me and then I cannot deny it.

“Alanna, can I ask you something,” Sophie says in calm voice. I smile at her but inside I am shaking. What could she want to as to ask me and what would be my answer?

“Okay,” I say to her. She loosens her hand from mine and she leans back onto the sofa. Katharine is staring wide-eyed as she waits to hear what Sophie is going to say.

“Why hasn’t Adrian purposed to you?” Sophie says in firm voice. I am a little stunned by her harshness but I try to shake off my annoyance of her as I respond.

“I don’t know,” I lie. I know exactly why Adrian has not asked me to marry him and that is because I have reassured him that I am not ready. However, I do not really feel like telling Sophie this information, as I fear what she might say.

“I don’t believe you Alanna. Adrian was on his way to ask you to be his wife and then you were shot. I don’t understand why he has not asked you. Has he changed his mind?” I resist the urge to roll my eyes as I take in Sophie’s words. I look at her and I feel that I have to explain.

“No, he hasn’t changed his mind but I have told him that I am not ready for marriage.” Sophie laughs at me.

“Come on Alanna, he is the perfect guy why wouldn’t you want to marry him?”

“I didn’t say that I didn’t want to marry him. I simply said that now is not the right time. I love Adrian and I would love to be his wife, just not right now.” Sophie wrinkles her forehead at my words and I know what she is going to say next.

“It is because of Michael isn’t it?” I shake my head at her.

“No, Michael has nothing to do with my reasons for not wanting to get married.”

“Then what is your real reason, Alanna? Because I am not buying that it’s too soon.” I frown at her and then I turn to look at Katharine who is unusually quiet and I notice that she is texting one her phone so I kind of understand her silence. I look at Sophie and I feel that she can see right through me.

“I guess I don’t want to get married because I don’t want to get divorced.” Sophie looks at me in confusion and I feel that I need to explain myself better.

“I don’t understand what Adrian sees in me and my biggest fear is that one day he will realise that too. I don’t want to leap into marriage because I am scared that he will get bored of me. I know that Adrian says that he loves me and he is practically forcing marriage on me. But I am determined to keep things as they are for as long as I can.” Sophie rolls her eyes heavily at me.

“Alanna please tell me you are joking? That guy adores you and you are crazy to think that you are not good enough for him. Sure he is drop dead gorgeous but come on you are an amazing girl and sometimes I feel that he doesn’t deserve you.” I lightly laugh at Sophie’s words and I smile at her as I take her hand.

“Well thanks for the vote of confidence but I can’t just shake off my feelings and fears.” Sophie rolls her eyes at me as she pulls me in for a hug. Katharine is still on her phone and her smile is beaming at whatever is on the screen. Sophie and I gaze at her and we cannot hold back our giggles.

Later that night Adrian returns home and as soon as he walks in through the door, I can tell that he is agitated. He glides over to the sofa were I am sitting and he places himself next to me. I look at him and he pulls me closer. He loosens his black neck tie and throws it onto the sofa. I smile at him and I lean in and kiss him. His lips are tender but I feel that he is holding back. Something in his manner alerts me that he is angry and I pull back from him, as I want to know what is wrong.

“Adrian, is everything okay?” He runs his fingers nervously through his hair and he exhales deeply. His eyes look full of stress and I am beginning to worry.

“Baby did you watch the news today?” I look at him in confusion and I immediately question his words.

“No why?” Adrian quickly takes off his suit jacket and he again nervously runs his hands through his hair. I do not know what is wrong with him but I need to find out.

“Adrian you are scaring me please tell me what is wrong?” He turns to face me.

“Baby if you would have watched the news then you would have seen that a bloke got killed today. He was stabbed on his way to a business meeting.”

“That’s awful, I didn’t know.” Adrian shakes his head at me.

“Alanna, the business meeting was with me.”

“I don’t understand what you are saying. You look very worried about this but I don’t know why. Was it a random attack or was it something more?” Adrian catches my hand.

“Baby, I think that it was the Marshalls. I fear that they know that you are alive and that they killed that bloke to send me a message. It is not over Alanna you are still in danger.” I grasp his hand firmly as I move closer to him.

“Adrian, we don’t know for sure that it’s them. However, if it is then we will get through it. We have security and they won’t find us.”                        

“I hope you’re right but you know what this means, don’t you?” My heart skips a beat as his words.

“No I am not leaving you don’t even think it.” Adrian laughs at me and my heart slowly begins to reach its normal rate. Adrian pulls me closer to him and he huddles me into his chest as he leans back on the sofa.

“Baby that’s not what I meant,” Adrian whispers. I gaze up at him.

“Then what did you mean?”

“We will have to be extra careful from now on. For the next three days that you are in London, you need to come everywhere with me. That includes my trip to Edinburgh. You can do that can’t you baby?”   

“Yeah but I don’t have to go to work with you. I can stay here at the hotel with Sophie. I will be fine here, right?” Adrian takes a moment to consider my suggestion.

“I don’t know if I trust her.” He says firmly. I look up at him.

“She won’t hurt me.”

“I know that but I don’t trust her for taking you out of the hotel. I would need her to promise me that she wouldn’t ask you to leave with her.”

“Don’t you trust me?” Adrian smirks at me.

“Yes baby, I trust you, but I also I need to trust those people who are around you.” I sigh at him.

“You can trust Sophie and I won’t leave the hotel unless I am with you.” Adrian smiles at my agreement and he pulls me in for a kiss.

“So when do we go to Edinburgh?” Adrian plays with my hair as he answers.

“The day after tomorrow,”

“How long are we there for?”

“Just for one night, don’t worry I will have you back in New York in time for you birthday.” I smile as I kiss him again.

Twenty-Seven

My night with Adrian at our hotel suite consists of a romantic dinner for two. Adrian ordered us room service, which comprised of steak and all the sides that go with it. I sipped champagne and as usual, Adrian drank Evian water. We talked about many things but what surprised me was that he did not mention William. I sat gazing at him all night wondering when he would bring him up but he never did. As Adrian asked me about my family, I answer his questions but I my mind was not fully in the conversation. I was preoccupied thinking of how Adrian must be feeling about all this. I look into his green eyes and I fear that he is trying to block out everything about William. I feel that is the wrong thing to do and I wish that he would talk to me about it. I want him to open up and I want him to tell me how he feels. Until he does, I don’t know how I feel about it. When Adrian explains his emotions to me hopefully, it will unlock my true feelings about William.

I play with my food nervously as I try to pick up the courage to ask Adrian how he feels. However, I chicken out as Adrian gets up from his seat. With a swift glide of his feet, he is standing behind me. He places his hand onto my
shoulder as he gently slides my chair away from the table. I turn to look at him and he is glaring back at me with those green eyes.

“Baby, would you like to watch a movie?” I smile at him as I take his hand. He walks me over to the sofa and he places me down. He heads over to the TV cabinet and he begins to rummage through the DVD’s. I gently let out a laugh as Adrian considers his options.