Page 56 of Deadly Misfortunes

“Well, not to disappoint you or anything, but sometimes I get distracted. And I can’t catch your fleeting thoughts. Only when you’re thinking about something particularly strongly does my focus shift from my thoughts to yours. But I don’t think I’ve fully regained my abilities. I sense sometimes you’re thinking about me, but I can’t read your thoughts. It drives me crazy.”

He laughed. “Well, realizing you know what I’m thinking at any time is enough to distract me.”

“Good. I like knowing what you have in mind.” She ran her hand over his thigh. “By the way, I haven’t seen your bodyguard, Red? Where is he?”

“He makes the rounds at the house all the time. But he’s unobtrusive, so he’s there, but not.”

She frowned at Gregory. “So you don’t have a bodyguard who actually guards your body.”

“Sure I do. I want him at the house making sure the maniac doesn’t get in.”

“Hire another.”

“Too much of a rigmarole to do another background search on someone else. Besides, I trust him with my life.”

“But not right now. I mean, if the maniac comes after us with another big vehicle, then what? You really should get another bodyguard.”

12

Sascha never encountered a stranger. Normally she felt comfortable with everyone, but meeting Gregory’s parents put her on edge. His parents, both green-eyed blondes, appeared too eager to meet her. Montague Landry gave her a light hug and was more subdued, yet she could sense he hoped she was the one Gregory had settled on to marry.

Janet Landry seemed almost desperate, eager to welcome her to their home, and gave her a hug that said she didn’t want to let go of her, afraid she would just vanish. Gregory couldn’t have told them he was dating her, could he have?

His mother chattered nonstop. Was she nervous? Normally, Sascha didn’t have an anxious fiber in her body, yet Mrs. Janet Landry wore her down.

“You know, dear,” she said as she led them into the den, “I just knew you would be a redhead.”

Sascha smiled at Gregory. It figured. So what did he tell them about her, exactly?

Rose soon joined them and gave Sascha a hug as if she were her long-lost sister. Sascha appreciated it and hugged her back.

“I’m sorry about your apartment,” Rose said, her words sounding genuinely concerned.

“Thanks. I would feel a lot worse about it if I had to return there to live. When I move into the carriage house on the Worthingtons’ acreage, I’ll be buying new furniture.”

Mrs. Landry frowned to hear that Sascha was moving into a house on the Worthingtons’ property. Maybe she thought Sascha had moved in with Gregory already.

“We’re so upset about the break-in too. Rose told us about it. Gregory said he’d paid for you to entertain at his party the night the man ran the limo off the bridge. I can’t imagine how terrifying it had to have been that the maniac came after you, for heaven’s sake,” Mrs. Landry said.

Surprised that Mrs. Landry knew about her profession and didn’t seem bothered by it, Sascha saw her in a different light. She had expected to be looked down on and to be considered too low-class to join their family.

Sascha opened her mouth to speak, but Mrs. Landry spoke again. “Gregory hasn’t dated in over a year. Did he tell you, dear?” She motioned to a cushy, cozy, two-seater love couch for Sascha and Gregory to sit on.

Gregory didn’t seem to be bothered that his mother had told her she hadn’t dated anyone special in so long.

After they took their seats, Sascha’s whole body warmed. Not only did Gregory’s leg touch hers as if they were joined at the hip, but his hand also drifted over her thigh with reassurance. His actions didn’t go unnoticed, either, as his mother smiled. A maid hurried into the room and served canapés and spicy wine, breaking the tension.

His mother spoke again. “Rose said you tell fortunes and dance, but Gregory wasn’t able to spend much time with you at the Worthingtons’ party.”

After her last comment, Mrs. Landry smiled broadly in the sunlight-filled room. Two walls of glass looked out over a swimming pool, the water sparkling in the mid-afternoon sun. “And that Stephanie has been intruding on the three of you to such an extent that she’s clearly a nuisance.”

Sascha’s lips parted, surprised to hear Mrs. Landry call Stephanie a nuisance when she had threatened to tell Gregory’s parents he had “thrown” her out of his house when they were supposed to be such close friends.

Mrs. Landry said, “I think Stephanie turned a bit green over the impression she had that you intrigued my son so. Still, I’m quite miffed with him for putting your life in danger. He should have known that the fanatic would come after his girlfriend next. Gregory says you’re staying with him now, for safekeeping.”

Clearing her throat, Sascha intended to speak, but Mrs. Landry continued, “That’s best, you know. He has all kinds of security features at his place. You should be safe there.”

“But he should have more than one bodyguard,” Sascha hurried to say.