Deception (Infidelity #3)(37)
“His first name.”
“Yes, Edward Bryce Carmichael Spencer.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that only some of us who have known him forever call him Bryce. According to Nox, in business, he goes by Edward.”
“The letter was signed Bryce.”
I nodded. “Which is the way he’d sign it if it were from him to me.”
“You’re saying that others may mistakenly use one of his other names?”
“Yes. For example, if Nox received a letter from me and it was signed Alexandria, you could assume it wasn’t written by me.”
“What do your parents call him?”
The little bit of chicken salad I’d managed to eat hardened in my stomach. “Bryce. It’s what his mother calls him too.”
“What do you think of the writing?”
I shrugged. “It’s messy. It’s barely legible and it could be his. It’s been a long time since we passed notes at the academy. I would say it is his writing, but…” My eyes opened wider. “…you could have a handwriting expert look at it.”
“I could,” Deloris confirmed.
My phone buzzed again.
I didn’t need the screen. I knew the tune. “It’s my mother.”
“Or your stepfather using your mother’s phone.”
“This is only going to escalate,” I warned. “Trust me. I have experience.”
Ring.
“My job is to keep you safe,” Deloris said. “But you’re not a prisoner. Do you want to go to Savannah? Would you feel safer in your home?”
My home?
I knew the answer. I knew where I felt the safest, and it was in the arms of the man in DC. I hadn’t considered Montague Manor my home since the day I boarded the plane to Stanford. My home had been with Chelsea, and over the past month, it had been with Nox.
“No. I trust Nox. He trusts you. I know my stepfather and that isn’t reassuring. I want to assure my mom I’m all right. But I don’t want to leave.”
Ring.
She reached toward me. “May I help?”
Uncertainty flooded my system, testing my last statement, pushing me to my limit. If I handed my phone to Deloris, I was making a big leap of faith, trusting her not only where I was concerned, but also my mother, or God forbid, Alton.
Ring.
As I handed her my phone, Deloris nodded, neither appearing happy or discontent with my decision.
“Hello?” she said.
I could hear Alton’s voice again.
“This is Mrs. Witt, Mr. Demetri’s associate…”
Lifting my glass of iced tea from the table, I stood and paced near the windows, listening to both sides of the conversation as Deloris spoke with Alton. I loved her calm. Nothing rattled her, not even a billowing blowhard threatening legal charges.
“I assure you that Miss Collins, a legal adult, is safe and here of her own free will…”
I looked around for a clock. What time was it? Was Nox in DC?
I jumped as a hand touched my shoulder. I turned to the soft brown eyes of Silvia.
“Alex, Mr. Demetri is on the house line for you.”
My heart swelled. “Thank God! He probably tried my cell. My parents have had it monopolized.” I tilted my head toward Deloris, still in conversation.
“No, not Lennox, his father, Oren.”
“WHAT?” I ASKED Silvia as I tried to comprehend her words. “Nox’s father wants to speak to me?”
“Yes,” she said. “You can take the call in Lennox’s office, if you’d like.” She tilted her head toward Deloris. “It would be more private.”
More private? I still hadn’t been told the story I was supposed to relay about the shooting. I’d pleaded ignorant with my parents, but if I recalled, Nox had mentioned his father’s name, as if he’d spoken to him since our return to this house. If he had, then undoubtedly, Mr. Demetri knew what had happened.
I stared for another moment at Deloris, wondering if I should speak to her first.
“Alex, what would you like me to tell him?” Silvia asked.
I straightened my shoulders. I wasn’t good at waiting for permission to speak. If Nox had spoken to his father, then I could too. “Please tell him I’ll be right there.” I looked around. “I don’t believe I’ve been to the office. Can you show me?”
I nodded to Deloris who was still doing her best to reassure my mother of my well-being and followed Silvia from the sitting room. Ironically, I recalled seeing Oren Demetri for the first time in that room, sitting very close to where Deloris now sat.
The office was as beautiful as the rest of the house. It too was walled with windows: one side looked out to a patio, surrounded by greenery that I remembered led to the pool deck. The other wall of windows looked out to the pool itself, with the sound beyond.
“How could anyone get work done in here with that amazing view?” I asked as Silvia lifted the phone on the desk.
She smiled her response before hitting a button and speaking. “Mr. Demetri, Miss Collins is here.” She handed me the phone. “I’ll ask Mrs. Witt to give you a few minutes.”
“Thank you, Silvia,” I said, sitting behind the desk. Before I spoke, I saw the piece of paper, folded in half and lying on the ink blotter. On the outside was sprawled Charli~.