Twisted Perfection (Rosemary Beach #5)(57)

“You won’t. I won’t let you.”

Della sniffled and shook her head. “You can’t control it.”

Yes, I could. I would find a f*cking way to control it.

“You are mine. Do you hear me? You are mine, Della Sloane. I will take care of you. Nothing is taking you away from me. Nothing.”





Della



I had spent the rest of yesterday curled up in Woods’ lap while we sat on the front porch and watched the ocean. We hadn’t talked much. We’d just held each other. I’d tried hard to let myself believe him and he’d reassured me with words every once and awhile.

Today I’d set my alarm because I was on the schedule to work the breakfast shift and I wasn’t missing another day because Woods thought he needed to coddle me. I was a big girl and I could deal with things. He had brought me to work and kissed me several times before leaving me so I could go get ready in the kitchen. He was behind on work in his office and he’d promised me he would work in there today and not hover over me.

It had taken a lot of begging but he’d agreed. I walked into the kitchen to see a gorgeous blonde with a very pregnant stomach talking to Jimmy. He was rubbing her stomach and cooing at the baby inside. She lifted her eyes to meet mine and a sincere smile touched her lips. I was instantly curious.

“Hello,” she said and her voice reminded me of warm honey. It was smooth but had a southern drawl to it. I wasn’t sure which part of the south it was though. My eye caught the large diamond on her hand. She had to be a member here. But why was she back here in the kitchen with Jimmy?

“Hello,” I replied.

Jimmy glanced back at me and grinned. “Glad you’re back, girl. Yesterday went to shit without you.”

I returned his smile but my interest was right back to the blonde.

“Della, this is Blaire. She’s my BFF who ran off and left me for another man. One I can’t blame her for because he is one hot piece of ass. Blaire this is Della. She may or may not be boinking the boss.”

“Jimmy!” we both said at the same time. I couldn’t believe he’d said that. I didn’t know who this Blaire was.

“Woods right? That boss?” Blaire asked with a mischievous grin.

I liked her.

“Of course, Woods. The girl has taste. She ain’t gonna boink the old man.”

“Would you stop saying ‘boink’?” I could feel my face heating up.

“Jimmy shouldn’t have told me that but since he did, can I say, Woods is a great guy. If you are in fact… um… boinking him, then you picked a good one.”

I couldn’t believe we were talking about this. I forced a smile. “Thanks.”

The blonde beamed at me like she was truly happy to hear I might be doing it with Woods. I wondered if they were friends. I almost felt jealous until I remembered her very large stomach and very large diamond. She was taken. Very taken.

“If I don’t have this baby this week maybe we can get together and have lunch.” I glanced down at her stomach and then back up at her face. It was very likely she was going to give birth any minute. She was tiny except for that basketball in her stomach.

“Okay. That sounds good,” I replied.

“Della Sloane,” a hard voice called my name and I spun around to see a police officer standing at the entrance of the kitchen.

“Yes, sir,” I replied. The last time a police officer had come looking for me had not ended well. The fear that went along with that memory kept me frozen in place. I didn’t like police officers.

“You need to come with me, Miss Sloane,” he said as he held the door open for me to exit. I could feel every eye in the kitchen on me. I wanted to hide from them but I couldn’t move. “Miss Sloane, if you don’t come willingly I will have to go against Mr. Kerrington’s wishes and arrest you right here on the club’s grounds.”

Arrest me? My heart raced at the memory of handcuffs clicking around my wrists as the officer read me my rights. I had to fight this. Now was not the time to zone out. I couldn’t have an attack right now. I had to keep my head.

“What are you arresting her for? I sure as hell don’t believe Woods knows about this,” Jimmy said angrily, stepping in front of me.

“Mr. Kerrington does know. He is who sent me in here to escort a Della Sloane out of the building and then arrest her once I had her in the parking lot. However, if she doesn’t come willingly I will arrest her and anyone who stands in my way.”

He was going to arrest Jimmy for trying to help me. I had to go. I didn’t believe Woods knew about this. Something was wrong and Woods would find me. I would not have a panic attack over this. I would not.

“It’s okay, Jimmy,” I said and stepped around him and went toward the door. I didn’t look back at anyone as I walked out the door and focused on getting out of the building. I was tempted to yell for Woods but I didn’t. I couldn’t get my mouth to move. I was slowly freezing up.

Once I got close to the police car the officer shoved me forward causing me to stumble. I caught myself from falling and grabbed the front of the car. He began telling me I had the right to remain silent and I blocked him out. I tried not to think about the metal cuffs clinking shut around my wrists. If I thought too hard about it I would lose myself.