Chapter 25: Protecting Love
Chapter 25:
Sheridan stood under the hot spray of the shower, she was a little sore and tired. She planned on dropping into bed for some sleep. She was glad they wouldn’t be needed back at the station anytime soon, Interpol agents wanted to be present. Apparently the FBI and Interpol were going to take credit for the case, of course they were helped by the local law enforcement.
Speaking of the local law enforcement, she was really glad she wouldn’t have to show her face at the station. She had been embarrassed when the men whistled as they walked out of the evidence room. Luis had told them that under no circumstances should they tell anyone outside the police station about what had just happened, he more than made it clear that he didn’t want anyone discussing it. Sheridan couldn’t of cared one damn bit at that moment but now that she thought about it, it was a good command. She could see the headlines now, “Heiress to the Crane billion caught doing the nasty in a police station evidence room.’
She stepped out of the shower twenty minutes later. She toweled off, combed her wet hair back and applied lotion to her arms and legs and every area she could reach. She slipped into a pair of white cotton bikini underwear. Sheridan stretched out on her bed, lying on her stomach.
“Luis.” She called. He came in a moment later.
“Yes.” He sat down beside her on her side of the bed.
“Can you lotion my back down?” Sheridan asked sweetly.
“Anything for you.” ‘And me.’ He thought. Luis loved touching Sheridan no matter how you dressed it up.
“That feels good Luis.” Sheridan moaned as Luis’ hands began to massage the lotion into her back and shoulders.
“Anything I can do to please you milady pleases me.” Sheridan just smiled at his chivalrous comment. Luis could be so goofy at times, but it was a good thing. Plus it also showed that he had time for a little fun when he had to work full time as a teenager after Martin disappeared. He had to grow up quickly, he had missed out on a lot. He had her now and she would make sure that he enjoyed life.
She finally had a good man. She closed her eyes and sighed.
Touching Sheridan was doing things to his body, he wanted Sheridan.
“Sheridan.” He called her name. Sheridan gave a little snort and turned onto her side. Unbelievable, she had fallen asleep. He just laughed. “Time for a cold shower.” He covered Sheridan up and headed for the bathroom to take that cold shower.
He was ready to hop into bed as soon as he put on some boxers. It had to be the jet lag. He got under the covers with Sheridan. As is sensing him she moved to his side and laid her head on his shoulder.
“I love you.” He kissed her forehead goodnight and closed his eyes. He opened them again when she spoke.
“Love you too.” She kissed his shoulder and drifted back to her peaceful sleep. He hugged her closer to him and drifted to sleep.
They slept until the next morning. Sheridan was the first to wake up, but only because she had to go to the bathroom.
After she finished using the bathroom she returned to bed only to find out that she was wide awake now. She looked at Luis, he was sound asleep. She was bored and wanted to do something. She decided to get up and get dressed to go down to the mansion. She showered and dressed in a simple black sheath dress, a black duster that was embroidered and a pair of strappy high heels. She wrote Luis a quick letter so he wouldn’t worry, which she placed on her pillow. She kissed him goodbye and left for the mansion.
She entered the mansion and looked around, maids were running about, that wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. She saw Ivy heading her way, she was putting her coat on in the process.
“Going somewhere?” Sheridan asked with a smile.
“Sheridan!” Ivy exclaimed. She hugged Sheridan tight. “I was just about to come and see you. I was going to drop by last night but I figured you would be tired from your flight and then having to sit at the station.” Ivy led Sheridan to one of the sitting rooms. They sat down and got comfortable. “So where is your handsome bodyguard?”
“Luis is still sound asleep in bed.” Sheridan answered. She laughed as Ivy’s eyebrows practically shot up into her hairline. “It’s nothing like that Ivy. Luis has been wound so tight since he became my bodyguard. He has taken great care of me and believe me when I say he needs to sleep, especially after the plane trip. I plan on taking care of that man, I love him too much not to.” At that moment Ivy moved to sit beside Sheridan. Sheridan turned to her sister-in-law as the older blonde took her hands and held them in her hands.
“I want you to listen to me Sheridan and I mean really listen to me.” Sheridan nodded her head.
“I know you know that my marriage to Julian is nothing but a sham, a marriage of convenience, nothing else. What you don’t know is that I was blackmailed into this marriage. When I was younger Sheridan I was so in love. We spent every moment together, when it came time for us to part at the end of the night I never wanted to leave. We kept the relationship a secret, he wasn’t in my social class but it didn’t matter to me. The money was never important to me, according to my father anyone out of my class was unsuitable marriage material. When I found out I had to marry Julian I was devastated, my father sold me to Julian Crane. I told Alistair and my father that I’d rather die than to marry Julian.
My father then said he knew about the man I had been seeing and he threatened his life. Just looking at him I knew he would kill him, I didn’t want him to die but I didn’t want to let him go either. In the end I ended up breaking my heart and his by marrying Julian. I’m still in love with him to this day even though he’s moved on and has a family of his own. Everyday I regret the decision I made, I hate my father even though the bastard is long gone. I’m waiting for Alistair to drop dead so I can dance on his grave. I’ve had years to think about my decision and I know that I’m also to blame on my missing love. I never gave him a chance, to defend himself and our relationship, our love.
I’m telling you this because I don’t want you to do the same thing. You and Luis are so much in love and believe me when I say it’s a once in a lifetime thing. You and Luis are meant to be, there’s no doubt about it. I want you guys to make it but you have to be wary of Alistair. He will never approve of your relationship with Luis, if he say he does he’s lying. Don’t believe a damn thing that comes out of his mouth, he will do anything to keep you from Luis. You have a really good thing Sheridan, Luis is a good, caring, kind, considerate, loving, intelligent, and beautiful man. He alone is your white knight as well as your prince charming, fight for him. I’m not telling you this to scare you Sheridan, give Luis the chance to prove he is more cunning than Alistair, I know Luis will come out on top. Believe in him Sheridan.
Ivy and Sheridan both had tears cascading down their cheeks; Ivy’s from the memories of her lost love and Sheridan’s from Ivy’s obvious pain.
Sheridan had always known that Ivy couldn’t stand Julian ever since she herself could understand such things. She also had known that Ivy couldn’t stand Alistair, hell a lot of people couldn’t stand him. She had known for a while that her father was ruthless but the things Ivy just told her were despicable, underhanded and other things she didn’t have words for. It was just another list of dislikes where her father was concerned.
“Oh Ivy, I’m sorry you had to through what you went through.” She hugged Ivy. “Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me about your love. I assure you that I have total faith in Luis, the man never backs down from anyone or anything. I love Luis, I can’t picture my life without him. I will do anything to insure a future with Luis and no one, including Alistair Crane will stand in my way.” Sheridan said forcefully. Ivy smiled a tearful smile, Sheridan was determined.
“Good to hear it and I want you to know that I’ll always be there for you, no matter what.” Sheridan hugged Ivy causing her to laugh. Sheridan was glad to have another person who was truly in her corner. The women broke away from the hug smiling at one another. “Come on, let’s go and fix our make-up.” The two women went to Ivy’s bedroom and re-did their make-up. They talked more, mainly about Ivy’s happiness with her past love, Sheridan was honored that Ivy trusted her so much.
“We should get you back to Luis, I didn’t realize I had talked so long. Why didn’t you stop me?”
“You needed to talk Ivy and I needed to listen. I just have one question and of course you don’t have to answer it if you think it’s none of my business…”
“You want to know his name?” Ivy asked before Sheridan could ask. Sheridan gave a sheepish look. “Not here, come on, I’ll wake with you back to the cottage. The mansion’s walls have eyes and ears.” Sheridan was shocked.
“You mean father has cameras throughout the mansion?” She asked as they made their way downstairs.
“Yeah, the bastard knows everything that goes on in the mansion.” They left the mansion, headed for Sheridan’s cottage.
“If he’s wired the mansion, does that mean that he’s wired the cottage?” Sheridan asked warily.
“I really don’t know Sheridan, its possible.” Ivy answered. Sheridan was horrified, to think that her father or anyone else had watched while she and Luis made love made her sick. She would seriously talk to Luis about possible cameras in the cottage.
“I don’t even want to think about it.” Sheridan said in a disgusted tone. They walked down the beautifully landscaped trail that led to her cottage, Sheridan could see Sam’s police cruiser. There was only one police cruiser so Sheridan knew nothing was wrong.
“Why do you think Sam is over here?” Ivy asked.
“Luis and he are probably doing some male bonding or other guy junk, something like that.” Sheridan answered. She and Ivy laughed at her answer. “So before we head into the cottage are you going to tell me who your mystery love was?” Sheridan really wanted to know, whoever Ivy had been seeing before Julian was obviously a good man, unlike her greedy and dimwitted brother.
“Yes, I’m going to tell, you know him.”
“Really? Now I really want to know who this man in.” Sheridan was curious as hell.
“He’s Harmony Chief of Police.” Ivy confessed.
“Sam.” Sheridan exclaimed. “Oh my God.” She exclaimed louder. She squealed like a teenager, she was bouncing up and down. Sheridan was shocked, utterly shocked. Her mouth hung open in shock.
Ivy looked at her, she became concerned for Sheridan after a while.
“Sheridan.” Ivy patted her on the back, Sheridan came back to reality.
“Sorry I zoned out on you Ivy, it’s just a shock.”
“Well Sheridan you’re not the first Crane woman to love a man who’s out of your class.” Ivy said with an edge to her voice that Sheridan quickly detected.
“Ivy, I didn’t mean it like that. I’m not shocked that you love a man outside of your class. When you said it was someone I knew I didn’t expect you to name Sam, he hates the Cranes just as much as Luis does. I always knew why Luis hated our family but Sam’s reasons were unknown, that is until now. I can totally see why you fell in love with him, why you still love him, he’s a good man.”
Ivy slumped down into a beautifully designed bench that sat in front of the cottage. Sheridan sat down beside her.
“He was and is a good man, there’s no denying it.” Ivy said truthfully. “I love him and there’s nothing I can do to change how I feel.” She then laughed a bitter laugh. “Can you believe it? After all these years I’m very much in love with a man who can’t stand me, a man who has a family of his own. I just want to lose myself in his arms, consequences be damned. I don’t care that he has a wife- I just don’t care. I know that makes me sound like a heartless and cruel bitch but I just don’t care.” Sheridan pulled her into a hug when tears began to spill from her eyes.
“That doesn’t make you heartless and cruel bitch Ivy, it makes you human. You’re hurting and you’ve been hurting for a long time. You feel cheated and I would feel the same way, even about the wife thing. I could never imagine Luis with another woman, it would be too painful.
I’m not going to sit here and call you a bad woman Ivy because of what you want, I’m not even going to tell you not to do it. Usually when I give advice it’s something I can picture myself doing. I can’t picture myself staying away from Luis, even if he was married. If you love Sam as much as I love Luis, I could never tell you not to follow your heart.” Sheridan felt for Ivy, it was clear that she had been unhappy all these years. Her heart went out to Ivy.
Both women stiffened when they heard the door open and Luis and Sam’s laughter. Ivy hurriedly wiped away her tears.
“Sheridan, do you mind if Sam and I watch some sports over here later on?”
“No, not at all, watch away.”
“I have to be going Sheridan, I hope you guys enjoy your sports. Thanks for the shoulder to lean on Sheridan.” Ivy stood up without looking behind her. She walked off looking every bit the classy woman that she was.
“Ivy, wait.” Sheridan called before she launched herself off the bench and went after Ivy, who moved pretty quickly in her high heels.
Luis and Sam watched the exchange between the two Crane women, it seemed tense.
“What do you think they’re talking about?” Luis asked.
“Who knows, with women whoever knows, especially Crane women.” Both women stood facing one another, both in black and both extremely beautiful. When Ivy let down her hair Sam couldn’t help but stare at the beautiful woman who had broken his heart into pieces so many years ago.
God help him but he still had feelings for her. He continued to watch as Ivy walked off towards the mansion and Sheridan headed back towards the cottage.
“What was that about? It seemed heavy.” Luis asked.
“It’s private Luis and don’t try and get anything out of me either.” Sheridan had no intention of telling Luis about Sam and Ivy, her sister-in-law was a very private woman but she had trusted Sheridan to tell her about Sam and she wouldn’t break Ivy’s trust. I’m going to go on inside now, I’ll see you later Sam.” She opened the door and went inside.
“Now I’m really curious.” Luis said looking at the door.
“If I were you man, I’d leave it alone. She won’t break Ivy’s trust.”
“Yeah, I know, I just don’t like secrets between the two of us.” Sam only nodded at Luis’ comment. What else could he do? He kept secrets from Grace, big secrets.
“I’ll see in a couple of hours Luis.” Sam said.
“Alright man, see you later.” Luis watched Sam drive away and went back into the cottage where his gorgeous girlfriend was.
To Be Continued...
