Page 57 of Third Time is the Charm (Passion and Perseverance #3)

Beth snuggled closer against the warm chest that lay underneath her, silently cursing her alarm that was going off on her nightstand. She wished she could will the stupid thing to shut itself off.

“I think you’re being summoned,” Darcy grumbled.

She groaned, rolling over to turn off the buzzer. She’d set it for earlier this morning so that they could go to the police station before she went into work.

Beth hadn’t wanted the weekend to end. Cooped up inside her tiny apartment, they’d spent the days making up for their lost time – and lost conversations.

Waking up this morning, she felt like the entire thing could have been a dream; Darcy had talked to her about his past, his father, his sister, being at Harvard with Charles…

all of the simple, silly details that she’d been craving to know.

He’d told her about all of the times he’d saved Charles from missing class or from failing a class – not that Charles wasn’t smart, but in his first year, he’d gone a little overboard with partying. After that year, he’d gotten better – or so Darcy said.

In return, he’d tried to ask her every random question that he could think of from her favorite color ( purple) to her favorite book (To Kill A Mockingbird) .

Surprisingly, he said that book made his top five list as well.

Their conversation detoured from the questions to her admiration of Jean-Louise whereas Darcy admired the cool, caring, and knowledgeable reserve that Atticus maintains throughout the story.

Neither of them had read Go Set a Watchman, their newfound similar taste in books spurring the decision that they should pick up a copy as soon as possible and get started.

After coming to that conclusion, she redirected their conversation back to his past…

his life. He’d told her of the anger issues he’d had in college – fighting with classmates who mocked him when he didn’t want to go out drinking.

And the time that George had spread a rumor about Georgiana around campus – Darcy had gone overboard and gone after everyone who had propagated it.

He’d actually almost gotten expelled; his father stepped in and assured the school that it wouldn’t happen again.

He struggled with it – hating the feeling that someone had to fight his battles for him.

Her response? She passed on a little tidbit of wisdom that her father had told her – not that she always heeded it, but she did try to keep it in mind.

Her father said to her once that he believed “the biggest falsehood you can claim about yourself or someone else is to be a ‘self-made man’” – or woman.

No one succeeds in life alone. They’d both agreed that her father was a very smart man.

She hadn’t really had too many embarrassing tales to tell either, aside from the few horrible blind dates that her mother had set her up on; they had a good laugh at those, once Darcy got over his momentary jealousy that he admitted to this time.

Beth sighed, hoping that one day soon it would be back to this. But for right now, she had a crazy bitch to deal with and the Contest to prepare for.

Darcy kissed her forehead before getting out of bed. She took one more moment to enjoy the view of his ass before he pulled his sweats on and caught her staring.

“C’mon, gorgeous, time to go.” Before she could pull any tricks to bribe him back to bed, he walked out into the kitchen to start the hot water for their coffees.

Beth threw the covers off of her, pulling on a grey pair of pants and white blouse. They both got ready in an ominous silence, knowing what needed to be done, but hating that they were being put in this position.

“What do you think she will try to do?” Beth asked hesitantly as she sipped her coffee.

“Honestly, anything to get you out of the picture,” he said heavily. “I’m not trying to scare you, but you kept a lot from me in the past, too, and she is far more unstable now than she was before.”

“What do you mean?” Beth asked. They’d had a silent pact over the past two days to not mention Caroline; she deserved no part in those tender moments of their relationship. Now – this morning – she was a fact that they had to face.

“After I got the restraining order against her, she went crazy. She tried to see me and contact me several times which obviously didn’t work.

Then, she started harassing Charles – demanding to speak to me.

She tried to take his cell phone to call me.

He said he had to dial 9-1-1 before she finally left. ”

“Oh my God…”

“I guess her parents finally stepped in, according to Charles. He’d asked them to because he was afraid she would assault Jane next,” Darcy continued.

“They told her that they would consider reinstating her inheritance basically if she could prove to them that she was adult enough to handle it – the deadline was Charles’ wedding. ”

Beth picked up their empty cups and began to rinse them in the sink.

“And, as you know, she lost it… with only a few hours to go.” Darcy laughed harshly. “I think seeing you, trying to prove to you that I was hers – even though you had a date – was just more important to her.”

“Yeah, what happened to her after that?” Beth asked as they gathered their things, preparing to leave for the day.

“Honestly, I didn’t know and I didn’t care, until you told me what Anne said. I called Charles as soon as they got back last night after you fell asleep. He said that his parents have basically cut ties with her; they told her she will never get that money with the way that she sees fit to act.”

“No wonder she is pissed.”

“No, Beth. She is crazy, not just angry. She is crazy and I have no doubt that she blames everything on you – you took me from her, you’ve kept me from her, you’ve forced her hand which has caused her to lose the only other thing that she has been after: that money.”

Beth swallowed over the lump in her throat knowing that what he said was the most likely truth.

And if Caroline felt like Beth was the root of everything that had happened, that Beth was the only obstacle in her way from getting everything that she wanted, then yes, for the first time, Beth truly felt like her life was in danger.

“Hey,” Darcy said softly, his arms coming around her. “I will never let anything happen to you, understand?” His fingers tipped up her chin so she could look him in the eye.

Beth nodded.

“Alright, let’s go get this done. I’ve already hired more security to be with us today and then stay with you once you get to your office – discreetly, of course.”

She nodded again – this time grateful for what she had previously considered an imposing intrusion.

Beth felt in a fog during the whole process.

She answered questions when asked, admitted that she felt like she was in imminent danger.

Even though Beth hadn’t been harmed by her yet, Darcy provided the items – the evidence – that they’d collected and saved to show that her life had been threatened.

His steely stare might have helped to make sure that they walked out of there with the R.O. in hand.

“You alright?” Darcy asked once they were back in the car on the way to her office.

“Yeah, I’m just glad that is over with – not that I really think a piece of paper is going to stop her,” she murmured.

“It’s going to be ok; I’m having my people try to find her to end this.” He squeezed her hand to try to comfort her as they pulled up to the Dempsey Center.

She moved to open the door, but Darcy caught her first, pulling her close for a long, deep kiss.

Beth felt her toes curl as the warmth of his love and her desire for him spread throughout her body.

For those brief, blessed seconds, all of her fear and anxiety and stress – all of her thoughts of Caroline vanished.

His kiss reminded her of the future – of their future.

And when he pulled back, she found herself feeling stronger; she found herself determined to beat Caroline at whatever game she was trying to play.

“I love you. I’ll see you later, gorgeous,” he whispered against her lips.

“Mmm…” she moaned. “I love you, too.”

He took another few seconds to finally release her and she knew that he was struggling to let her out of his sight; he wanted to come in with her, sit in her office all day, and make sure that nothing happened.

But, for her, he let her go, trusting that the security that he’d hired would do their job.

Beth stepped out of the car, flanked by John and Arnie – the two burly men in charge of protecting her. Walking into the building, she waited for that feeling to come over her – the one where she felt like she was being watched, but nothing came.

Sighing with relief, they walked through the lobby and her keycard got her access to the office levels of the building.

Safe.

The word crossed her mind as they stepped off the elevator, and just as quickly it fled from her as she walked into her office, the giant vase of black roses sitting on her desk a familiar ominous greeting. She felt no fear or confusion, only anger.

Her mouth thinned as she stalked over to her desk, hearing John on the phone with Darcy telling him what they’d arrive to, meanwhile, Arnie went to find out who had brought them up here.

Beth looked through the deathly blooms to pluck out the card she knew was waiting for her.

Did you miss me like you missed him?

You should know by now that we are a package deal.

One that you will soon no longer be a part of.

Beth went to crumple the note, but then figured that Darcy might want to see it or bring it to the police.

She looked up at John. “Tell him I’m fine – he doesn’t need to come here.”