Billionaire's Inheritance Bride(11)

"Enough!" Adam bellowed. The room suddenly grew quiet, the air around them turning tense. Their eyes locked.

"I don't need this. I don't want a man who's just going to waste my  life." She turned away, fighting the angry tears. "You know, you made me  happy for once in my life, and we all could've been happy if you  weren't so damn stubborn. Tell Lacey I love her, but I'm sorry, I just  can't live with some brute who's too afraid to admit that he's in love!"  She spat before rushing out the door and slamming it shut.



"Do we really have to go, Daddy? What about Marie?" Lacey's big brown eyes implored her father for answers.         

     



 

"Yes. We have to go."

"Why?"

"Because I'm your father and I said so." He said harshly, grabbing her hand and pulling her toward the door.

"I don't want to go without Marie!" Lacey whined.

"You can either come with me or stay here all by yourself," Adam answered coldly.

"But what about school?"

"You'll go to school in Boston." He answered, getting annoyed.

"But all my friends are here. I like New York." She was getting impatient, but Adam couldn't take it any more.

"Marie is never coming back and that's the end of it. I don't want to  hear another word out of you until we're at the airport. Got it?" Each  word was colder than the next. He didn't even bother to look at his  little girl as he dragged her out the door. Tears streamed down her face  as she walked quickly to keep his pace

***

After a short plane ride to Boston, they settled in their old, colonial  home. It was quite a change from their New York apartment, but Adam had  it constantly renovated so it wouldn't go out of style. He sighed,  sitting on his luxurious, white sofa.

Lacey stood in front of him with a sad look on her face.



"Don't look at me like that. There was nothing I could do" Adam said  sadly  –  sorry to disappoint Lacey for what felt like the hundredth time  that day.

" Now its time for us to get some rest, it's been a long day," He  announced as he got up from the sofa and walked towards the bedrooms.

"Okay, daddy" Lacey's voice sounded hollow before she rolled her  carry-on into her room and closed the door. Music sounded from inside.  Adam sighed, knowing this was his daughter's way of telling him that she  wanted to be left alone. She got that from her mother.

I just need to forget about her. I don't need her to take care of my  daughter. I can take care of her myself. Adam grumbled to himself as he  made his way up the stairs to his own bedroom. He dropped his bags by  the door and fell into his bed. It was already approaching midnight and  he could definitely use some sleep. Love isn't worth it anyway. He  buried his face in his pillow and let sleep carry him away.

As soon as he was asleep, the nightmare began. His mind brought him back  to the last night he had ever spent with his wife. They had gone to the  club together. There, Adam had been sure that he had seen his wife  flirting with another man. He had confronted her about it, dragging her  back to the car.

"Adam! I didn't do anything. I was just dancing." His wife crossed her  arms over her chest, sitting in the passenger seat with an angry look on  her face.



Adam started the car, his rugged face locked in a look of rage. "I saw  you." He shouted at her. "I saw you all over him. Don't try to deny it."

"You can't keep insulting me! I won't stand for it. I'm your wife."  Ripping the keys out of his hand, she pushed past the valet and jumped  into the car.

"Where do you think you're going?" Adam demanded, ripping at the locked passenger door. "Alexandra!"

She merely shook her head, pealing out as she left him in the parking lot.

He called one of his friends over and demanded that he follow his car.  An app on his phone showed him just where to go, and they sped after  her, running red lights and cutting cars off at each turn. Rage blinded  him as he followed her trail, crisscrossing the city and out into the  suburbs.

He was met with police lights when he got close to their home, and he  quickly popped some mints to hide the liquor on his breath. His  annoyance turned to dread as he recognized the crumpled heap of metal on  the side of the road as his own car. He jumped out of the car, pushing  past the firemen and trying to catch a glimpse of the scene.

The last thing he remembered before waking in a pool of sweat was a  gurney, a body bag. Adam had tried his hardest to wipe that memory from  his mind, but now, all he could think about was the pile of crumpled  metal, his wife's body in the ambulance, the look on Lacey's face when  she heard the news. Every day after that, he had drunken himself into a  stupor in a desperate effort to forget her. Their marriage had not been  perfect, but he had never wished his wife harm, much less death.         

     



 

The nightmare repeated itself. The police lights blinded his vision,  keeping him from seeing the details. However, this time, as he surveyed  the damage, his wife was nowhere to be found. Instead, he saw Marie on  the gurney. . "Don't you love me, Adam? You know, I love you." He heard  those words on repeat, over and over again.





***

A soft rasping sound came from Adam's door. He groaned, moving his  pillow over his head. He had barely gotten a wink of sleep last night.  He was exhausted.

"Daddy?" Lacey's sweet voice floated into the room, as she knocked a  little louder. "Daddy …  I had a bad dream." She whined, pressing her body  against the door. "Can I come in?" She persisted when her father didn't  answer.

Adam finally got up and opened the door. His little girl stood there,  holding her stuffed animal by its long, floppy ears. "What's the matter,  pumpkin?" He asked, squatting down and looking at her with concern in  his eyes. The rage he had felt the day before was slowly dissipating.  "What happened? Everything alright?" He wrapped his arms around her,  pulling her close as he rested her head on his shoulders.

"I had a bad dream. I dreamt I'd never see Marie again … " Her voice wavered and her eyes grew big.

"Don't think that, honey. Marie is fine. Safe and sound in her bed."  Adam tried to reassure her, gently caressing her hair. "I promise." He  pulled her a little closer.

"How do you know? Can we call her?" Lacey looked desperate, tears  appearing in the corner of her eyes. "Please. I just want to talk to  her." The little girl blinked, trying her hardest to keep back her  tears. Adam's heart tightened at the sight of his weeping daughter.

"Don't cry." His jaw tightened.

"But I miss her … " Lacey buried her face into her father's chest, now  sobbing. Adam froze in place, feeling his daughter's trembling body  against his own. She was right. Marie was a part of their life. He  couldn't just push her away. He had to get her back and reunite the  family they had built. He would never live with himself if he allowed  her to slip through his fingers.

"C'mon." He picked up his daughter and walked out of the bedroom.

It took Lacey a moment to look up, but when she did, she noticed her  father already packing one of his luggage bags. "What are you doing,  daddy?" She wiped her nose with the back of her arm, sniffling as she  watched her father frantically gathering some travel essentials.

"We are getting Marie back. She's part of our family now."

***

Adam paced around JFK airport with a tense look on his face. He had  already called Marie five times, but she never answered. He gritted his  teeth and kept pacing back and forth. How was he supposed to find her in  a giant city like New York? He racked his mind for answers as Lacey sat  down, nervously swinging her legs. He could tell she was just as eager  to find Marie as he was.

"Daddy." She suddenly tugged on his shirt. "Where's Marie?"

"I don't know yet, pumpkin, but we're going to find her. I promise."  Adam patted her head. His heart ached at the sight of his daughter's  concern.

He made a call to his assistant, then to his lawyer, tasking them to  call every production company in the city. If Marie were anywhere, she  would be on stage. He was sure of it. The minutes crawled by at an  agonizing pace as he continued to make phone call after phone call,  searching for answers. Finally, someone called him back.

"Hello?"

"Mr. Tucker?" It was his lawyer.

"Did you find her?" Adam said urgently.

"Yes. It appears my assistant found her. She's working as the lead in an off Broadway production of A Streetcar Named Desire."

"Where. Tell me now!" Adam demanded, his heart racing with the possibility of finding her.

"The Roosevelt Theatre, near the Market District … " Adam hung up before  his lawyer could even finish his sentence. He would have to give him a  hefty bonus later on for finding Marie, but right now, he had to go get  her before it was too late. Lacey tugged at his arm, awaiting news.