Her Premarital Ex (The Alexanders Book 3) (4 page)
Read Her Premarital Ex (The Alexanders Book 3) Online
Authors: Tina Martin
Tags: #suspense, #reflection, #true love, #unrequited love, #jealousy, #stalker, #fiction romance
sure. It doesn’t make sense to me either. Either way it goes, you
still gotta pay up.”
Dilvan chuckled. “What’s
your name?”
She pointed to her name
tag. “Bianca.”
He stood up and said,
“Well, I have to run, Bianca.” He took out his wallet, pulled out a
fifty dollar bill and handed it to her. “This should cover the
check. No change needed.”
Her face lit up at the
large tip he was leaving her. “Thank you.”
“You deserve it. See you
around.”
away, feeling her heart thudding in her chest.
“
So I have
some bad news,” Gabrielle
said to Padma as they sat in the living room at Padma’s
house.
“What’s wrong?”
“Tyson doesn’t want me to go.”
“Did he say why? I thought
he’d be thrilled to know that you wanted to learn the inner
workings of the restaurant business.”
“I thought so too, but he
didn’t like it. I’m not going to go into detail about what he
said...just wanted you to know that I’m not coming with you guys on
Friday so I hope you and Lalita will have a blast.”
speak to him, he’ll be more open about it.”
“No, Padma. This is
something I need to work out with Tyson, and frankly, if he doesn’t
want me to go, I won’t go. I love and respect my husband and I have
no issues being a submissive wife.”
understand that, dear.”
“At least I’ll be here to
monitor the garden...meet the students there and all.”
“Prasad will be there too.
I had already told him that you were coming with me to Chicago,
so—”
“I’ll tell him not to
bother.”
“No. Just let things stay
like they are. Prasad will meet you there and that way, you’re not
there alone.”
“Okay.” Gabrielle buried
her face in her hands, exasperated, trying to think of a way to get
through to Tyson. “Oh, wait a minute. Gosh, what am I thinking? I’m
supposed to be going with Tyson to Atlanta this weekend, so I won’t
be here to meet the students at the garden.” She shook her head.
“I’m so out of it, Padma. Tyson and I had such a good morning and
then when I mentioned something about Chicago, everything fell
apart. But, anyway, I’m not going to dwell on it. What’s going on
with you?”
“Besides getting ready for
this trip? Nothing. Oh, I did want to ask you something,
Gabrielle.”
“What’s that?”
“Beatrice told me that
Dilvan told her he spoke with you the day of your wedding
reception.”
eyes. “Yeah, he did, but I wasn’t trying to hear anything he had to
say.”
“What
did
he have to say?”
“Something about Tyson, of
course...sounded like he was making up stuff as he went
along.”
“Like what?”
“Um...said Tyson was a
sniper...tried to imply that Tyson killed some guy named Dennis who
was supposedly his best friend.” Gabrielle giggled. “Then, as if
this wasn’t strange enough, he tells me that Dennis stole his
ex-
fiancée
, Desiree, from him so out of retaliation, Tyson killed the
man.” Gabrielle laughed more but when she saw the stoic, serious
look on Padma’s face, her smile gradually faded.
“Padma?” Gabrielle said.
“That’s not true, right?”
“Well, I told you Tyson’s
friend Dennis was sleeping with Desiree. You remember?”
“Yeah, but Tyson isn’t a
murderer. He’s the sweetest man I know, well other than my dad, of
course.”
“Listen, dear. I love
Tyson like a son, but there
were
rumors about his involvement in Dennis’
death.”
“But—”
“And Tyson
was
a sniper...that part
is true as well.”
Gabrielle’s eyes widened
and brightened. With raised eyebrows, she said, “A sniper?
My
Tyson was a
sniper?”
“Yes, dear.”
and said, “Why would he not tell me that?”
Padma shrugged. “Maybe he
didn’t want you to know. You’re his new start.”
Gabrielle felt a sour
feeling in her stomach at the thought of Tyson hiding things from
her. Who was he exactly? Was Dilvan right? Was Tyson a
monster?
Tyson
jumped in is Range Rover and sped out of the driveway like a
mad man. He was furious that he couldn’t get in touch with
Gabrielle. This morning, after breakfast, she had left for Padma’s
and it was clear to him that she was disappointed about the Chicago
trip, but that was no excuse for not answering her
phone.
ago, and he hadn’t heard from her since, even after calling her
cell phone plenty of times. With every unanswered call, he grew
more furious, yet worried at the same time. And it wasn’t helping
matters that Padma wasn’t answering her phone either.
Lightning flashed across
the night sky. Thunder crackled and roared immediately after. Rain
poured, almost instantly reducing visibility as he drove down the
highway, intent on finding his woman.
Tyson dialed the
windshield wipers to their highest setting, the noise of it
drowning out the low tunes from the local Hip Hop
station.
He pulled up at Padma’s
house, looking for Gabrielle’s car. He hadn’t seen it, but he still
wanted to talk with Padma since he was there already...since
Gabrielle told him this is where she would be.
Shutting off the engine,
he jumped out of the car without a second thought and jogged to the
front door.
Colin had been standing
there, watching Tyson running towards the deck, in the rain without
an umbrella and getting drenched.
“Hey, nephew,” Colin said.
“What on earth are you doing out here in this storm?”
“I’m looking for
Gabrielle,” Tyson said standing on the deck.
“Here,” Colin said,
opening the door wider. “Come on in and get out of this
rain.”
said, “Hey, Tyson. Are you looking for Gabrielle?”
“Yeah. Where is
she?”
“You just missed her. She
left here ‘bout ten minutes ago. I’m surprised you didn’t pass her
on the road.”
here all day?”
“Yep. All day.”
“Where was her
phone?”
“Don’t know. I didn’t see
her with a phone so I guess it was either in her purse or maybe
she’d left it in the car.”
Boom!
Thunder roared so loud,
it sounded like it struck the house. The lights
flickered.
“I wouldn’t worry Tyson.
Gabrielle’s fine. She’s probably already home by now,” Padma
assured him.
“Padma, what did Gabrielle
say to you?”
“She told me you didn’t
want her to go to Chicago with Lalita and I. She was pretty upset
about it.”
“Here you go,” Colin said,
tossing a towel to Tyson so he could wipe his face.
“Thanks,” Tyson told him.
“I’m going to head back home to see if she’s there.”
“Have you tried calling?”
Colin inquired.
“Yes. She’s not
answering...probably still angry with me.”
“Let me give it a shot,”
Padma said. With her phone to her ear, she listened to the rings –
one after another. No answer. “Nothing...just getting voicemail,
but maybe her ringer’s off.”
“Maybe,” Tyson said. “I’m
going to go.”
“Tyson, wait...I need to
tell you something. Ah...Gabrielle told me some stuff that Dilvan
told her about you.”
“You know I don’t care
what Dilvan has to say about me.”
“Well, maybe you should
care this time.”
“Why’s that?”
“He told her you were a
sniper.”
down and rubbed his eyes. The rain tap danced on the roof, created
a melody against the window pane while thunder continuously
crackled, rumbled and echoed angrily in the dark sky.
Tyson sighed and said, “I
didn’t want her to know that. Gosh, why can’t the past just be the
past?” he asked, exasperated.
“That’s not all. She also
knows about Dennis and the rumors...”
“Wow,” Tyson said. “I
can’t believe this.”
“I’m sure if you sit down
and talk to her about it—”
“No. I’m not bringing old
garbage into my marriage.”
“But Tyson, it may be time
to address the rumors,” Padma said like she wanted answers
herself.
“What rumors?”
“About Dennis. People
think you had something to do with it.”
“I’m glad I’ve never been
a person to care what people think.”
“What about your wife? You
care what she thinks?” Colin asked.
“Of course I do. I gotta
go. I’ll see you guys later.”
Tyson opened it, inviting the hissing noise and rusty smell of the
rain inside. The downpour had only gotten worse with heavier and
thicker raindrops. Still, he didn’t hesitate to run out into the
elements, jump in his jeep and go back home, all the while hoping
Gabrielle was there and was safe and sound.
Gabrielle
stood in the shower, just standing under the
lukewarm water. It had been a long day, a day that started at 4:00
a.m. with running on the beach with Tyson, making passionate love
afterwards. After breakfast, he’d been adamant about not wanting
her to work. His ideology had upset her. What man didn’t want a
woman who wanted to better herself? That’s all she wanted. She
wasn’t asking for much.
the water ran down her face. She was new to this marriage thing,
but was Tyson right? Should she be content just being his wife?
That wasn’t a bad position to have, especially from a successful,
attractive man who could hand pick any woman he wanted. And he
wanted her.
She opened her eyes and
the moment she did, she saw him standing there, behind the fogged
glass, nearly scared the breath out of her petite body. His clothes
were wet and so was his face.
Her heart thudding, she
said, “Tyson, jeez, you scared me.”
Tyson hadn’t responded.
Instead, he stepped in the shower with her and asked, “Why have you
been avoiding me?” His first thought was that she was avoiding him
because she was upset, but after talking to Padma, he surmised that
she’d been ignoring him because of the things she’d learned about
him. The things she’d found out from Dilvan.
“Tyson, why are you in the
shower with you clothes on?”
“My clothes were already
wet with me running around in the rain, trying to find you, so what
does it matter, Gabrielle?”
Guess it doesn’t
matter.
She looked at him, giving his face
a thorough once over. The dominant frowns in his forehead made her
shiver.
“Why have you been
avoiding me?” he asked again, in an eerie, monotone.
“I haven’t.”
“You have,” he said with
flared nostrils. “I called you over a dozen times.”
“Well I left my phone in
my purse. It must be on silent or something, okay?”
almost made her lose her footing. Made her not even want to look
him in the eyes.
“Tyson, I’m sorry, okay,
but it’s not like you didn’t know where I was. I told you I was
going to Padma’s house.”
listen to me, and you listen well.” He placed his hands on her
face, forcing eye contact, and said in a reprimanding tone, “Don’t
ever do that to me again.”
“I didn’t do—”
“Don’t play games with me,
Gabrielle. Don’t do that to me!”
“I’m not
playi—”
“I have to ride around
here in this storm, thinking something happened to you, feeling
like my world is falling apart when all you had to do was pick up
the phone and call me...don’t ever do that to me again! Do you
understand me?”
“Tyson—”
“Do you understand me?” he
asked in a raised tone.
Tyson, deep into his eyes. He was hurt. She’d never seen this
potent pain in his eyes before. Desperation in his actions. In his
voice. Who gets in the shower with clothes on?
“I’m sorry, Tyson...didn’t
mean to hurt you. I’m sorry,” she said watching water wet his
worried face.
