Consequences(156)

Samuel knew there wasn’t an answer for his father. He turned to walk away.

“Where are you going—boy?” Nathaniel bellowed.

“I’m going upstairs to my wife. Do you have a problem with that?”

“You’re going upstairs—to the upper level of my house. No. I don’t have a problem—do you?”

“No, Father, I do not.” Samuel exited the office.

Before he shut the large doors, Samuel saw Anton’s expression as he hurried down the corridor. The teenager had witnessed the entire scene. Samuel hoped when they were up in their suite, they could talk about it. His son would know discussions were welcome.





God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.




—Reinhold Niebuhr





Chapter Thirty-Three


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The view through the windshield of Tony’s new Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class Coupe reminded Claire of space movies—the snowflakes were like stars being passed at warp speed. The snow, wind, and subfreezing temperature accentuated the reality that they were no longer in paradise. She settled into the heated seat, rubbed her leather gloved hands, and watched the snow covered terrain. The glistening sparkles would’ve been pretty if not for the blowing and accumulation. Tony didn’t mind. He was enjoying his new car, which had arrived at the estate while they were gone. To Claire’s relief, it handled amazingly well on snow.

Although almost 8:00 PM, she felt as though she was finally waking—the jet lag was difficult to navigate. Both she and Tony had slept late following their arrival back to reality. Now as they headed to Tom and Bev’s for a New Year’s Eve celebration, she thought about their return.


When they entered the estate, Catherine’s welcoming smile was the best sight Claire could imagine. They immediately embraced. The peaceful stillness of the mansion, barren of decorations and workers, was comforting. She and Tony ate a light dinner and fell sound asleep.

It was during the morning, while more awake, they discussed their bedroom situation. Now that they’re married, should they move into one room? When Tony asked Claire’s opinion—a benchmark moment—she replied she liked maintaining two rooms. The most important thing was sleeping together, the location was irrelevant. Claire said she liked her suite. Truth be told—she did. Yes—she knew it had surveillance and memories—but it was also where she felt safe and at home. Maybe she’d come to terms with the recordings. She felt—well—secure. If Tony could watch her every move, he wouldn’t question her actions. She also mentioned, “Besides, my suite doesn’t match yours in terms of technology.” His had the big multifaceted screen and God only knew what else. “And you wouldn’t be able to access all your stock market data from here.”

Since their big storm last summer, Claire hadn’t been required—or asked—to watch more videos, but she believed Tony did. She also believed he could access his videos and anything he wanted: from his office, bedroom, movie-theater, or anywhere else he chose. This hadn’t been confirmed, but somehow she suspected it was true.

His reply was why, even now as they drove, Claire was still stewing.

“I think that sounds reasonable, I don’t believe we’ll be running out of room anytime soon”—As Claire watched the honeymoon hue of Tony’s eyes fade into darkness, he continued—“however, regarding the technology you mentioned, I believe it would be prudent to maintain the past restrictions involving my office and bedroom. I don’t think you need unsupervised access to computers, Internet, or telephones.”