“Oh, please, don’t worry about it. It’s on me.”

Connor walked down the stairs and was surprised to see Phil standing in the kitchen.

“Phil, what brings you here, buddy?”

“I have some papers you need to sign,” he said.

“It couldn’t wait until morning?” Connor asked.

“No, I need to get these faxed over to Japan tonight, and when I went to your office earlier to have you sign them, you’d already left.”

“Why don’t you sit and have some pizza with us,” Connor said.

“Nah, I don’t want to interfere with your dinner.”

“You’re not interfering, Phil. Now sit down and let me get you a drink.” Connor insisted.

I took the paper plates and napkins to the living room. Phil followed behind me with the pizza boxes. Connor poured himself a scotch and made Phil a martini. I sat down on the floor, at the coffee table. Connor asked me what I wanted to drink. When I told him a coke, Phil jumped up and said he’d get it. We sat around the coffee table and talked while we ate.

“I’m surprised to see you sitting on the floor, eating pizza, Connor,” Phil said.

“Ellery likes things very informal,” Connor responded.

“Yep, I don’t like all that uppity shit.” I laughed.

“Well, Connor has changed quite a bit since he married you,” Phil said.

I looked over at Connor and smiled. “He sure has.”

“He’s a very lucky man to be married to such a beautiful woman.” Phil smiled.

When he said that, I blushed. “Phil, stop it.”

“No, I’m serious, Ellery. You are incredibly beautiful, and any man would be lucky to have you.”

“Well, thank you. But I’m the lucky one.” I smiled.

Connor got up and walked over to the bar to make Phil another drink, while Phil helped me bring the plates and pizza back into the kitchen.

“Thank you for inviting me to stay. It meant a lot to me, Ellery,” Phil said as he hugged me tightly.

As I stood there, astounded, I gently patted his back and told him that he was welcome. Connor walked in and handed Phil his drink.

“What’s going on in here?” He smiled.

“I was thanking your beautiful wife for having me.”

“It was our pleasure, Phil. You know you’re always welcome here.”

He drank part of his drink, set it on the table, and then announced he had to leave. Connor showed him to the door and gave him the money for the pizza.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Connor said as he shut the door.

He turned around and looked at me as I walked over to him and collapsed in his arms.

“I’m tired. I think I’ll go take a hot bath,” I said.

“Okay, baby. I’ll be up in a while. I have some papers I need to go over and then I’m going to call Detective James.”

When I reached the top of the stairs, I stopped in the nursery to check on Julia. She was sound asleep. I started the bath water, poured a capful of bubble bath, and stepped into the tub. As I lay back, I slowly closed my eyes and took in a deep relaxing breath. All I wanted to do was escape into a world where it was only the three of us. As I was dreaming about my alternate world, Connor walked into the bathroom and sat on the edge of the tub.

“Are you enjoying your bath?” he asked.

“Yes, I am. I was dreaming about our alternate world.”

Connor looked at me strangely. “What are you talking about?”

“I invented a world where it’s only me, you, and Julia. Just the three of us, living happily ever after.” I smiled.

“I love your imagination,” he said as he lightly ran his finger up and down my arm. “Are you imagining the things I’m doing to you in your alternate world? Are you imagining me making passionate love to you all night long because I can’t get enough of you? Are you imagining me whispering ‘I love you’ in your ear as I’m slowly moving in and out you?”

Whenever Connor talked like that, in that tone, he always put me in a trance. It was like I was frozen by his words and I was unable to move. As he spoke, he fondled my breast. While he stared into my eyes, he ran his thumb over my puckered nipple and leaned over to kiss my lips.

“You need to get out of the bath now,” he whispered.

“What if I’m not done yet?” I whispered back.

“You’re done, Mrs. Black, because I’m going to take you to your alternate world and do things to you there I’ve never done before. I’m going to make it so you don’t want to come back.”

I gasped as he took my hand and stood me up. He grabbed the towel I had sitting next to the tub, wrapped it around me, and helped me out. He dried every part of me in a seductive manner and removed the clip that was holding my hair up, letting it fall over my shoulders. He took in a sharp breath as he placed his hand on the side of my face.

“I’m so in love with you, and I need you. I need you every day. You’re my strength and my light and, without you, I’m nothing.”

As I smiled at him, he picked me up and carried me to our bed. He gently laid me down as his fingers deftly removed my towel, and he took me to my alternate world. He was right; I didn’t want to come back.

“You were right, Connor,” Paul said as he walked into my office and threw the file on my desk.

I sat there and shook my head as I read the contents inside. “Fuck!” I yelled as I slammed it down.

“I can’t believe it either. What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know yet,” I said as I paced back and forth.

Since I had taken my father’s place as CEO of Black Enterprises, I had never needed to ask for his advice, until now. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed him.

“Dad, I need you to come down to the office. I need to talk to you about a situation that’s going on.”

“All right, Connor, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

As I hung up the phone, I walked out to where Valerie sat. “My father will be here shortly. Cancel my meeting for this afternoon and do me a favor and order us some sandwiches from the deli down the street. Nobody, and I mean nobody is to disturb us, not even Phil, do you understand me?”

“What about Mrs. Black?”

“Well, of course her, but she usually just calls my cell phone.”

“Very good, Connor. I’ll get on those sandwiches now.” She smiled.

I walked back into my office and sat down at my desk. “I want you in on this meeting with my father, Paul.”

“I figured as much. Do you want me to call anyone else?”

“No, this is to stay between the three of us.”

About an hour later, my father came strolling into my office and Valerie entered with the sandwiches. We took a seat at the table and my father looked at me.

“What’s going on, Connor?”

“Take a look at this,” I said as I slid the file across the table. “Remember the conversation we had a couple of weeks ago?”

My father opened the file, looked at it, and then looked at me with an expression of shock. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“I wish I was,” I replied.

“I’m at a loss for words, son. I don’t know what to think about this.”

As I got up from my seat, I walked over to the bar and poured a scotch.

“Connor, I can see the rage in your eyes and the first thing you need to do is to calm down. You won’t do anybody any good if you start acting crazy and out of control. Think of the situation and repercussions if you go off the deep end.”

He was right. I needed to calm myself and think this through very carefully. I sat back down and the three of us discussed the matter further, trying to formulate a plan of action. Once I was satisfied with what we came up with, my father and Paul left the office, and I made a couple of phone calls. One of the phone calls I made was to Denny to see if he was up for a visit; I hadn’t seen him since the first day he was released from the hospital.

“You’re looking better every day,” I said to him as I handed him a bottle of his favorite bourbon.