Tessa's Temptation (22 page)

Chapter Twenty-five

Chase came in through the garage with roses and Tessa’s favorite pizza in hand. He wasn’t above groveling. The house was quiet. She hadn’t even turned on the Christmas lights. That wasn’t a good sign. She adored the decorations and had lit the tree and mantle ever since the day after Thanksgiving. Her car was still in the garage so she had to be home.

“Tessa,” he called as he walked through the foyer to the bottom of the steps. “Baby, please come down.”

He waited a few minutes but she still didn’t respond. When he turned to set the pizza on the foyer table he noticed the large crystal vase he was going to put the roses in had been knocked over and shattered by the front door.

“Tessa?”

Could she still be that mad? He went to the laundry room for the broom and dust pan. How could she have left all that glass in the entryway? As he swept up the mess he waited for her to come downstairs. He may have had some apologizing to do, but she could have at least greeted him so they could discuss things like adults.

A sharp knock at the front door pulled him out of his thoughts. He looked through the side window to find Tanner standing on the porch. What the hell did he want?

Chase opened the door to his jittery intern. Tanner didn’t look like he had slept either. His jaw sported a large bruise where Chase had hit him the night before.

“What are you doing here?” Chase asked. “When you didn’t show up at work I figured you came to your senses.”

“I didn’t think I still had a job.”

“You shouldn’t, but I know Audra put you up to that nonsense. I want to see how Tessa feels about you staying on at the firm, then I’ll let you know.”

Tanner glanced inside the foyer. “What happened in there?”

“Tessa has a bit of a temper, I guess.” He pushed the door open and let the boy in. “Be careful. It was a crystal vase so it shattered into thousands of pieces.”

“Did she throw that at you?”

“No.” He continued to sweep up the mess. “I’m not sure how it got broken. I found it that way when I got home a few minutes ago.”

“Where is Tess?” Tanner asked.

“Around here someplace.”

“You fired Audra. She’s not happy about it.”

“She’ll deal or she won’t.” Chase shrugged. “She can’t be my problem anymore. Not after fucking with Tessa. Did you know she keyed her car?” If Tanner admitted that, he couldn’t guarantee that he wouldn’t haul off and punch him again.

“No, not when she did it. She told me last night.”

“Last night?”

“After I left here I went to tell her I wasn’t going to help her anymore. I thought she’d be furious. I told her what happened and how Tess had no idea about the two of you. I wanted her to know she wasn’t even an afterthought to you. Not important enough to even mention to your new girlfriend.”

“I screwed up with that. I should have told her everything.”

“Audra was thrilled you didn’t.”

“Why?”

“She hoped that had created a rift between the two of you and from the looks of that vase, it appears it has.”

“If you’re here to spy for her, you better not even think about it. You’re lucky I didn’t kill you last night. You touched my girl. All I saw was red when I walked in here. I’m not sure how I controlled my temper.”

“You didn’t.” Tanner ran his hand across his jaw.

“I could have broken it and you could be eating out of a straw right now. Trust me, I was controlled. You have Tessa to thank for that.” He put the dust pan on the floor by the table. “Why are you here?”

“I’m not helping Audra. I came to make sure you guys were okay.”

“Why wouldn’t we be?”

“After you let her go this morning, she showed up at my apartment.”

“How the hell did you get mixed up with her?” Chase had been thinking about that alliance all night. Why would Tanner hook up with Audra after everything Chase had done for him? “How could you do that to me?”

“I’m sorry,” Tanner said. “Audra can be very convincing and there were a few nights when she invited me to her place and… well, she’s a beautiful woman.”

“You’re sleeping with her?” This was more fucked up than he’d realized. He had been so caught up in his world with Tessa that he failed to see what was going on right in his workplace.

“Just a few times. She’s obsessed with you. She talked about you before, during, and after.”

“What’s wrong with you? Have you no self-respect?”

“She’s hot.” He shook his head. “But she’s nuts. I get that now.”

“Tanner?” Chase sighed. “Why did you come here today?”

“She’s always been off – a little on edge – especially whenever she would see you and Tess together. Those were the nights when she was most intense. The night of the charity ball we went back to her place and she was... ” Tanner looked down at his feet. “I’m an idiot.”

“I’m not going to argue.”

“This morning she was full of rage. She kept saying you’d be sorry and you weren’t going to end up with Tess. When I asked her what she had planned, she became elusive and told me she was going away for a few days.”

“Where?”

“I don’t know, but she said she was about to ruin your weekend.” Tanner looked toward the staircase. “Are you sure Tess is here?”

“Her car is in the garage and her Uggs are right there.” He smiled when he thought about her prancing through the house in them with her delicate toes always painted a new shade of pink, purple or blue. “Tessa,” he shouted up the stairs. “Are you here?” He pulled his phone from his pocket and called hers. He heard it vibrating from the kitchen.

“I don’t want to make you worry, but Audra was furious when you told her to leave today. She kept going on and on about how this was all Tess’s fault.”

Chase didn’t like what he was hearing as Tanner followed him to the kitchen. Tessa’s phone was on the table but there was no sign of her.

“After she stormed out of my place, I went to the office, but they said you had already left for the day so I came here. I could be overreacting but I have a weird feeling.”

“Did she threaten Tessa?” Chase bounded up the back staircase with Tanner close behind.

“Not specifically, but she kept talking about the two of you and how you were going to be sorry for tossing her aside for a girl like Tess.”

“She’s not here,” Chase said. “Where the hell could she have gone without her car?” He checked each of the rooms but she would have made her presence known by now.

“I don’t have a very good feeling about this.”

“Yeah,” Chase said. “Neither do I. You need to call Audra right now and find out what she’s up to.”

“Me? She won’t tell me.”

“You better find a way to make her talk. If anything happens to Tessa, I’m going to make you suffer.”

“Chase, I had nothing to do with this. I didn’t think she’d go through with anything. I just got a strange vibe and then when I came here and saw that Tess is missing… well, I don’t know.”

“You should have come to me the second you knew that Audra was fucking with my girl.” They went back down the stairs and Chase sat down at the table looking at the ominous cell phone. “Then I could have prevented any of this shit from happening. Call Audra right now and find out where she is and who she’s with.”

The only thing stopping him from beating the crap out of Tanner was finding out where Tessa was. If Audra had come to his house and hurt her he could never forgive himself. What was he thinking by letting her go this morning? She already wasn’t stable but he’d provoked her by firing her and making her leave the office. He should have called her therapist and made sure she sought help.

“She’s not answering. It went straight to voicemail. Twice.”

“Come on.” Chase grabbed his keys from the foyer table. “We need to get to her house.”

“I don’t think she’s going to be there. She told me she was on her way out of town.”

“Where was she going?” As the seconds past, Chase became more enraged with himself.

“She didn’t say.”

“Think!” Chase shouted. “Where was she going? You’ve been spending time with her. Getting close to her. Where would she go?”

“There might be one place, but I don’t know...” Tanner shoved his hands in his pockets. “I don’t think you’re going to like it.”

“Just fucking tell me. Tessa could be in trouble. Your days of protecting that woman are over.” Chase towered over him. “Tessa isn’t here to stop me from beating the shit out of you today.”

“Okay.” Tanner held his hands up. “You know that property you bought out by Hollow Lake?”

“Tessa’s father’s old place?”

Tanner nodded.

“What about it?”

“Audra and I have been spending weekends there. There’s a remote cabin on the edge of the property. She said you wouldn’t care. You weren’t ready to do anything with the land until the spring.”

“This just keeps getting better and better.” What else had Audra been keeping from him? “There’s no electricity or running water.”

“We made do with a fire. It was like camping.”

“Do you think that’s where she went?”

“There’s only one way to find out,” Tanner said. “I’ll go with you.”

“If you’re wrong we could be wasting valuable time.”

“It’s the only place I can think of. We could stop off at her house first and see if she’s there. Maybe she left an indication of where she went. Maybe she doesn’t even have Tess.”

“I hope to God she doesn’t. I’ve seriously misjudged her already. I can’t make any more mistakes.”

Chase stormed out to the garage feeling more dread and fear in that moment. No one had ever meant as much to him as Tessa. If Audra did anything to hurt her...

He couldn’t think that way. He had to stay focused and find Tessa. That was his only concern.

***

When Tess opened her eyes and looked up at the wooden ceiling, everything was foggy. Her vision was blurry and her head hurt. She pushed herself up on the old, springy, beat up sofa. The place smelled musty and damp. The stinging on the bottoms of her feet triggered a faint memory.

Focus! What happened?

The crazy ex-girlfriend slash attorney knocked on the door. Tess let her in because she wanted to give her a piece of her mind about sending Tanner over there to force himself on her in some convoluted attempt to make her cheat on Chase.
Like that would ever happen.

Tess recalled opening the door and a few minutes of conversation, but after that she couldn’t remember anything else. Their brief encounter was hazy and distant. Almost like a dream but it had happened.

***

What do you want?” Tess had asked as she answered the door.

“I want to talk to you.” Audra entered the house without being asked.

“Oh, please, come in.” Tess shut the door and turned to face her. “Chase isn’t here.”

“I know,” she said. “I wanted to talk to you.”

“About what? How you keyed my car or sent Tanner here to assault me?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The smirk on her face said otherwise.

“Come on, Sinclair. You’re really not that smart.”

Tess wasn’t annoyed that Chase had a past relationship with Audra. It was before she came into his life. She could even forgive the fact that he kept it from her once she gave him the opportunity to explain. Her hostility toward this woman stemmed from her actions. Tess wouldn’t stand by and allow Audra to come between her and Chase. Not now, not ever.

“I didn’t come here to fight with you,” Audra continued. “I’m just here to help you see the damage you’re doing.”

“What damage would that be?”

“You don’t belong with a man like Chase. He’s so far out of your league it’s laughable. The fact that he’s too blind or too horny to see it is absurd. You’ve sponged off him long enough. If you really care about him, you’ll leave. Do it before you move your father in. How long do you think playing house with Chase will last?”

“You’ve got some nerve.” Tess placed her hands on her hips. “How dare you come into this house and pretend to speak for Chase. You know nothing about our relationship.”

“I know he never told you about us.” Audra grinned. “Why do you suppose that is?”

“Because it was insignificant to him. He probably forgot all about it. Maybe it wasn’t important enough to waste a conversation on? There could be a number of reasons.” Tess wasn’t going to allow this woman the satisfaction of planting any doubt in her mind. Chase may have made a mistake but she still trusted him.

“You’re so sure of yourself. I can’t wait until it all comes crumbling down around you. I’m going to be there when he realizes who you are and what you want from him. He’ll see I’m the better choice. We lost our way, but we would have found a way back if you hadn’t come into his life.”

“You’re delusional.” Tess stared at Audra, but she seemed distant and unfocused.