A few hours had passed and Connor finally arrived home. As he stepped off the elevator, I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him tight before he even had the chance to put his briefcase down.

“Wow, now I like that greeting.” He smiled as he kissed me. “I thought I was going to get yelled at for not calling you all day. You wouldn’t believe the shit going on at the office right now. I was in back-to-back meetings all day.”

I smiled at him and walked back to the kitchen to take the chicken out of the oven. Connor followed behind me.

“Where did those flowers come from?” he asked.

“From someone who thinks I’m the most beautiful and exquisite woman in the world.” I smiled as I set the chicken on the stove.

“Of course you are, baby, but who sent them?”

I turned around and looked at him. “A hot and sexy man sent them to me, along with those romantic texts all day.”

Suddenly, Connor got angry. “Ellery, I will ask you one last time: Who the fuck sent you those flowers and what texts are you talking about?!” he yelled.

I couldn’t believe how upset he was. This was his game and he had the nerve to yell at me.

“Jesus, Connor, calm down. You’re the one who sent them. Why are you yelling at me?”

As he looked at me, his eyes turned dark. “I didn’t send you those flowers or any text messages today. I told you I was in back-to-back meetings all day!” he yelled again. “Give me your phone!” he commanded.

He was scaring me and I didn’t like it. With shaking hands, I opened the text messages on my phone and handed it to him. As he read them, the look on his face was daunting. He looked at me and then back at the flowers. He picked up the card from the counter and read it.

“When did these flowers come?” he asked.

“I don’t know. They were delivered when I was out with Peyton.”

Connor pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed it. “Mason, it’s Connor. Were you here when the flowers for Ellery were delivered? I see. Thank you,” he said as he hung up.

“He said that when he and Julia got home from the park, they were outside the door.”

“Connor, I thought they were from you along with the text messages. Now you’re scaring me,” I said as my bottom lip started to quiver.

“Why the hell would I send you text messages from a restricted number?”

“I thought you were playing with me.”

He sighed as he paced around the kitchen, running his hands through his hair. “These aren’t from me!” he yelled.

I couldn’t stand there and be yelled at anymore. I didn’t know what was going on, so I took off up the stairs and went into my bedroom. After I locked the door, I threw myself on the bed, scared and shaking that someone, other than my husband, was saying those things to me and sending me my favorite flowers. While I was lying there, Connor knocked on the door.

“Ellery, open the door.”

“No! Stay the hell away from me.”

“Baby, please. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you like that. We need to talk about this, so please open the door.”

He sounded like he had calmed down, so I got up from the bed and unlocked the door. With a turn of the knob, he opened it as I sat on the edge of the bed. Connor walked in and sat on the bed next to me. He put his arm around me and pulled me into him as he held my head against his chest. I started to cry.

“I’m sorry. Please forgive me, Ellery. You just have no idea the terrible thoughts that are going through my head right now.”

“You fucking scared me, Connor.”

“I know I did. I’m sorry. It’s just the thought of someone saying that shit to you is unnerving, and I took it out on you, and I shouldn’t have. Please, baby, look at me.”

I lifted my head up and Connor wiped the tears from my eyes. He took my face in his hands and softly kissed my lips.

“We need to find out who’s doing this. I put a call into Detective James, the private investigator who worked with me on the Chicago fire. He’s coming over in a while and so is Paul.”

As I nodded my head, I got up from the bed and went into the bathroom. I looked at myself in the mirror and tried to remove the mascara stains from under my eyes. The day that was going so well and made me so happy had all just gone to hell. Connor stood in the doorway of the bathroom and looked at me.

“Are you okay, Elle?”

“Do I look okay, Connor? Some stranger is stalking me, sending me text messages and my favorite flowers, and my husband just got done screaming at me. So to answer your question, no, I’m not okay. I accept your apology, but I really just want you to leave me alone for a while so I can take in everything that just happened.”

Suddenly, we heard Julia cry from her crib. “I’ll tend to Julia and leave you alone,” Connor said with an attitude.

I sighed as I closed my eyes and tried to figure out what the hell was going on. I needed to talk to Peyton, but my phone was downstairs. The last time I saw Connor that angry was back in the hotel room in Michigan. The way he yelled and the look he had in his eye brought back all the memories I never wanted to remember again. Once I finished wiping the mascara from underneath my eyes, I put my hair up in a ponytail and changed into my yoga pants and a sweatshirt. I walked past the living room. Connor was giving Julia her bottle. As I walked into the kitchen, I grabbed my phone from the counter and noticed the roses were gone.

“Did you throw the roses away?” I asked Connor as I walked over to the bar.

“You bet I did,” he replied.

The bottle of Jack was already sitting out and so was a shot glass. As I poured myself a shot, I looked over at my husband. “Did you get this out?”

“Yes. I figured you’d be coming down for some,” he replied as he looked down at Julia.

“Thank you,” I said as I threw the shot back and set the glass down. “I’m scared,” I blurted out as I poured another shot.

I looked over at Ellery and saw the fear in her eyes. I wanted to go to her, but I was feeding Julia. I never should’ve yelled at her the way I did. But when I read those messages and saw the flowers and the card, a fear crept up inside of me that someone was after my wife. Ellery continued to slam a couple of shots as I burped Julia. She had just finished her bottle, so I set her on the floor amongst her toys. Ellery stood behind the bar, and I walked over to her.

“Come here,” I said as I embraced her. “I know this whole thing is scary, but I promise you that I’ll never let anything happen to you or Julia. We’re going to find out who’s behind this and they’re going to pay. I’ll see to that.”

“Who would do something like this?” she asked.

“I don’t know, baby; some sick, twisted individual,” I said as I tightened my grip around her.

The doorman rang up and said that Detective James and Paul were downstairs. I told him to send them up right away.

“Mr. Black, it’s nice to see you again,” Detective James said as he shook my hand.

“I wish it was under better circumstances,” I sighed.

Paul walked over to Ellery and gave her a hug. “Are you okay, Elle?” he asked.

I escorted the detective to the living room and offered him a drink. Paul got up, walked over to the bar, and poured himself a glass of bourbon.

“Detective James, you remember my wife, Ellery.”

“Yes, I do. It’s nice to see you again.”

Ellery gave a small smile as she nodded her head. I sat down beside her and held her hand.

“Your husband has filled me in on what’s going on. Can I see the messages you received today?”

Ellery reached over, took her phone from the table, and handed it to him. As Detective James scrolled through the messages, I got up, walked into the kitchen, and grabbed the card that came with the flowers.

“He sent her three dozen roses with this card attached,” I said as I handed it to him.