7. Alyssa

We didn't speak again for the rest of the ride because I was still mulling over his words and trying to make sense of everything. Not long after, we pulled through these humongous gates that led to a sprawling white mansion with a red roof that looked as if it was built into the cliff it sat on.

Below the sea crashed into the rock and I thought it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. "What is this place?"

"My villa, or at least one of them. Come, I've had the chef prepare your favorite dinner."

I watched him climb out as the driver came to my door to let me out, still not sure what was going on here. My phone rang, jarring me, and I fished it out of my purse and saw Bri's number.

"One moment!" I held up my hand to Garrett and stepped to the side to take the call.

"Bri!"

"Who the heck is this Garrett guy? I thought he was just a business associate?"

"What do you mean?"

"He sent us a dossier, all of us."

"What?" I looked over at Garrett, who had his back turned with his hands in his pockets, looking down at the ocean.

"Listen, I'm not sure how much I'm allowed to say because of this NDA thing, but I had to make sure you're okay."

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm at his…"

"Yes, we know, you're at his villa; we even got the address. Just…just call me if anything seems hinky. Are you sure you're safe? I'll come and get you right now."

"No-no, it's fine, I'm fine."

As soon as I hung up the phone, Garrett walked back to my side and just took my hand, and led me through a huge wooden door that was built into the cliffside, or at least it was made to look like it was.

The door led to the most beautiful courtyard filled with the local flora, and the scent of the frangipani was like a calming balm to my otherwise frazzled senses.

I got so caught up in the beauty of my surroundings that I almost forgot he was holding my hand. "Come on; your dinner will be cold. You'll have plenty of time to look this place over." For some reason, I felt that there was more between the lines of that statement, and my tummy started to tingle in ways that I did not understand.

It was more conducive to sexual stimulation, but there was something sharper, more intense beneath the usual sexual urge I'm accustomed to. I didn't voice my thoughts, though they were itching on my tongue and just let him lead me up the outside stairs to a balcony with a table that had been set for two.

There were candles and flowers, champagne chilling in a bucket, and two people, a man and a woman, waiting there to serve us. I let him seat me before taking his chair and said nothing as I once again lost my breath at the beauty around me.

If this place looked like something out of a fairytale from the ground, seeing it from up there left me speechless. For some odd reason, the view almost brought me to tears. I turned from looking out over the ocean to find him watching me.

He didn't say anything until after our dinner had been placed in front of us, and he'd dismissed the staff. He removed the warming covers himself, and I looked over at him in surprise. When he'd mentioned my favorite dinner, I thought for sure he was going to fall flat on his ass because there was no way he could know what that was.

"Who told you? My brothers?"

"I told you, I know everything there is to know about you, the things that are important to you at least."

"Why did you send a dossier to my family?"

"Why do you think?"

I ignored his question and looked down at the plate of spicy chicken mac and cheese and wasn't sure if I should be embarrassed or impressed that he knew this was my favorite dish since I was a teenager. I'm sure his palate is way more refined.

What the hell am I thinking? What the hell do I care? "Where is this going? Why are you here?"

"The truth? I'm not sure. I've been asking myself that very question since the first time we met. I'm not sure if I just want to fuck you or marry you." Who the hell talks like that?

"So, what have you decided?" I asked tongue in cheek.

"I think we should get married." I dropped my fork on the table and picked it right back up again. Welcome to crazy town, Alyssa. This is what you get for being a raging bitch.

It was on the tip of my tongue to inquire about his sanity, but I knew for a fact that he was very sane. "Aren't you afraid that I would call your bluff?" I could barely hear myself above the beating of my heart.

"I'm not bluffing." I looked at him across the table in the candlelight, and he was dead serious. I had to look away quickly because his dreamy dark blue eyes were making my head spin a little. He has this way of looking at me as if he could see right through me. I noticed it that first day at the meeting but didn't think much of it.

"So, you just go around proposing to women you don't know."

"No, you would be the first. I have a question. Did you love him?"

"Who?"

"The one you were set to marry."

"No."

"So, I'm guessing that's not a prerequisite for you then."

"People have arranged marriages every day."

"Exactly, so what would be so hard about marrying me?

"But I have known him for four years. I only met you once."

"And yet, the man you knew so well did what he did."

How the hell does he have a point? What the hell? I tried to concentrate on my juvenile meal for a bit while he ate his fancy salmon and risotto or whatever it was. "Why aren't we eating the same thing?"

"Because that's what you like. Why would I force you to eat what I like or vice versa?" He thinks like me, I think, but there's something different about his way. "It's only Thursday; you've got one more day to decide; no rush." Yep, I'm convinced. He's nuttier than a fruitcake.

Okay, I'll play along. "A marriage between us wouldn't work. My job is on the other side of the country from yours, and I have no intentions of quitting."

"I own my company, remember? I can work from anywhere."

Out of the night, someone approached the table and handed him a folder, which he handed over to me. "What's this?"

"Open it!" I flipped it open, and there were sheets of embossed paper inside, along with a Mont Blanc pen. "I'll give you some time alone."

As soon as he stood from the table, the outdoor sconces came on and lit up the balcony. I flipped through the papers and scanned most of them before going back to read them. "Are you insane?" I looked around, expecting him to be somewhere close by, but there was no one out there other than me.

There was a prenup included in the papers he'd given me, but not the usual kind you would expect. His consisted of, if after one year of marriage, I wasn't satisfied, we could have the marriage annulled, and I would walk away with five million dollars free and clear.

That was it. There was nothing about him protecting his assets or anything else about money at all. There were also listings of homes, if you can call them that, in my local area or close to it. I looked up and around again. Some of those places I had looked at before.

I'm one of those people who like to drive around at holiday time to see other people's decorations. It gives me joy. How the hell does he know? There was one house in there that I had salivated over since I was a kid, but it's been owned by the same family since before Sherman went through the South on a tear.

I've toured that place I don't know how many times since it's been on an antebellum tour since I was about six or seven. There is no freaking way, this bastard. "I'd marry you for the house alone."

"It's a deal." I almost jumped out of my seat when his voice came out of the dark before he walked back to the table.

"I was kidding."

"I was not." I looked around for help from this lunatic, but his staff was nowhere to be found.

"Your brothers are here."

"What? Where?" I looked around but saw no one. "You don't seem upset."

"Why would I be? They're just being protective of their little sister. I just have to prove to them that I can take over from here."

No sooner had he said it than there was a door clanging open somewhere, and I looked up to see not only the boys but Mom, even Dad, was here. Seeing him reminded me of what I had done to his wife and her banshee crotch goblin. That seems like a whole other lifetime.

Shit, because of this one, I'd missed out on all the fireworks. I figured I should keep my wits about me now, though, because he was slippery. "Gentlemen!" He greeted my brothers and Dad, then led them back inside, leaving Mom and me alone.

"Mom, what's going on?"

"I wish I knew. All I know is we all received a dossier on your beaux, from school records to his holdings and SEC rating."

"You're not serious."

"Yup, your brothers had to explain some of it to me, but that's it in a nutshell."

"I didn't even know you were seeing someone else. I just found out about Denny because your brothers had to explain to me what this was all about."

"We're not seeing each other; I met him once at a business meeting out of town. In fact, that was the day I came home early and found Denny in bed with Lacey."

"Divine providence."

"What?" She was nodding her head like that made sense.

"I'm not going to tell you what to do, but when your stars align, you should pay attention."

"Mom, what the hell?" How could she still be such a hopeless romantic after what Dad had done to her?

"Some things are just meant to be. Like your father and I."

"Come again? You mean the man you divorced?"

"That's just one part of our story, love. He was and still is the love of my life. And I have you kids as a daily reminder."

"Mom, he hurt you."

"Yes, that was part of our path as well. I know you don't understand now, but sometimes people hurt each other in the worst of ways only to come back stronger."

There's something in the fucking water in this place. Am I the only sane one here? If so, this whole island is fucked. "Mom, why are you talking like that?"

"Because it's true. Why do you think I never got married or even so much as dated again? Because there are some loves that just cannot die."

"Mom, you're freaking me out. Have you been drinking?" She giggled. Mom does not giggle.

"Of course not silly. I've just had lots of time over the years to think and put things into perspective. After you were born, I went a bit batty. I hated your father with a passion; don't ask me why. Of course, I now know I was suffering from PPD, but back then, who had time for that mess?"

"Anyway, your father and I had a dead bedroom for about five years, and he just fell for the first hussy that spread her legs after one of our fights. It took me years to accept my fault in the whole thing, plus the fact that that woman was awful to me back then didn't help."

"I have or had a lot of guilt over my part in the whole thing. I always thought Till Death Do Us Part stood for just that, but I forgot that your father is human, and he had needs. When he told me about the affair, I just about died, and maybe we would've gotten back together, but then Helen threatened his job because she worked for him at the time, and that would've been a whole mess."

"What do you mean threatened his job? Why am I only now hearing about all this?"

"Because you were too young back then. Your brothers only just learned about all this recently as well. But, as to her threatening his job. He wanted to come home, but she got a lawyer and was going to sue him and take everything. She even threatened you kids, especially you."

"Oh?" Now, I really can't wait to watch the videos of their home security when I get back to the hotel.

"Enough about that now; we're talking about you and your young man. What do you think? I can say one thing: he's worlds above Denny. If I ever see that person, I'm going to knock his bloody lights out."

Not the southern belle, say it ain't so. Then again, maybe now I know where I got my brand of crazy because I'm pretty sure she's nuts, too.