Love's Cure

Chapter 10

Cecilia's POV

I watched Alexander's face when he read what I had written. It lit up like a christmast tree as a grin spread across his face. So he liked that did he? He liked the message from the benevolent spirits that I believe inhabit this house? Well he should. I wonder if I am going to like what they told him half as much?

I opened the folded piece of paper and looked at the written words. Two short words, but with huge impact. 'Marry her'.

What the actual f**k? I am fairly certain my mouth dropped open in shock. I felt like every fiber of my soul was focused on those two words. I lifted my eyes and met Alexander's gaze.

"Are you pulling my chain?" I gasped out. "Is that really what you heard? Or are you acting the fool?"

He made the sign of a cross over his heart. "Cross my heart, those are the exact words I heard. We were in the hallway outside our rooms, and you were blushing like crazy. That's when I heard the voice in my head saying 'marry her'. I swear I'm telling the truth!"

I thought of the words I had written down. Trust him. Oh boy On some level I did trust him. Obviously, since I suggested he share the flat with me. I wasn't really the trusting sort, truth be told. The only other people I have ever fully trusted are my grandparents. And now apparently, Alexander. Interesting.

"So it sounds like the benevolent spirits in the house are playing matchmaker!" I chuckled trying to make light of it.

"Indeed, it does. Do you suppose they know something we don't? Something we haven't yet accepted?" He asked with a small smirk.

"You never know." I responded. Then I changed the subject by asking if he wanted to listen to the recording I had of my conversation with Kaden Jones.

"Most definitely! Honestly, I can't imagine why your parents would want to pair you up with Kaden and his family. They don't have the best reputation in the Toronto business community." Alexander explained.

"Give me a second, I have to run to my room and get my phone." I was back in less than five minutes, having taken the time to close the balcony sliding glass doors to both our bedrooms.

We moved to the living room sitting side by side on the sofa. Alexander had brought our wine glasses and the bottle of wine, topping up both our glasses. He passed my glass to me while holding his. We each took a sip, then I hit play on the audio recording.

In the end we listened to it a few times, trying to catch the nuances of his words. It really didn't ring true. Gramps and I had done a bit of an internet search on the Clowater's company. According to what we saw, the company wasn't struggling financially at all. If the financial news could be believed, the company was at it's strongest point ever.

I mentioned this to Alexander and he got a thoughtful look on his face. "Cecilia, would you object if I had someone take a deeper look into this? Like you, I don't think what he said was the truth. Something is definitely off with his explanation."

"You know someone who could look into this?" I questioned hopefully.

"Sure do. My friend and apartment mate, Andrew Long is an IT Specialist for Graystone Security, which means he can hack any computer he wants. He just needs the right incentive. I will have to use the encrypted phone he gave me as my 'escape' present, so give me a minute while I call him from my room, ok?"

"Wait, why do you need an encrypted phone?" I asked.

"So no one can trace my location using my cell phone. If you don't want your parents to find you, you should probably have an encrypted phone too. I left me cell phone back in Toronto. If you want, I'll have Andrew ship a new phone here for you." His reasoning made complete sense. Why didn't I think of that?

"Yes, please! I never even thought of that possibility. Should I turn my phone off now? Turn off the GPS?" I questioned, suddenly nervous.

He paused for a moment, looking at me thoughtfully. "How will your grandfather contact you if your phone is off?"

"He'll call me on the house phone here. That's our normal way of communnicating when one of us is here. And I'm expecting him to call me just about anytime now, so you should speak to your friend before he calls."

Alexander headed to his bedroom while I busied myself turning off my GPS and then my phone. Then, just in case, I opened the wall safe and stashed my phone in there for safe keeping. I didn't want to risk losing the original recording. You never know when it would come in handy.

I closed and locked the safe then went back to the kitchen area to ensure I had everything cleaned up. That done, I snuggled back on the sofa, tucking my feet up under me, sipping my wine and waiting for Alexander to return. He must have been having quite the conversation seeing at it was now half an hour since he disappeared into his room.

I had emptied my glass and refilled it by the time he made his way back to the couch beside me. Before saying anything he tipped up his glass and drained it. He then reached for the bottle and poured another glass. 'Well that's not concerning in the least' I thought. Perhaps the call didn't go well?

Finally, he looked at me, took a deep breath and started talking.

"Andrew is sending a phone by courier right away. We should have it by this time tomorrow. He is also sending us secure laptops, and has set up secure email addresses for both of us." He took another gulp of his wine then continued. "Apparently both of our families have published wedding announcments which have the gossip going at full force in our social circles. Andrea is flaunting a huge diamond ring, claiming that I proposed last evening in a most romantic fashion."

My eyes widened at that blatant falacy. Considering Alexander had been in Halifax at the time the big proposal was supposed to have taken place I wondered how that happened.

Alexander, as though reading my mind, snickered. "Saturday evening I sent Andrew a selfie of me having a beer at the Stubborn Goat Gastropub with their sign in the background. He's going to share it on his social media, tagging me in the comments, saying he is jealous of my vacation experience. That should set the tongues to wagging."

I couldn't help but laugh at the expression on his face. It was one I could understand. The 'I'm calling out your lie, big time. Now deal with the fall-out' look. "You're right! That is definitely going to throw a spanner in the works. When is he going to do that?"

"Not until Wednesday. Just about the same time the letter I left for my father telling him I'm not playing his game gets delivered to him at the office. I've also sent one to Samuel letting him know that no doubt my father will then pressure him to step in and marry Andrea, and that if he doesn't want to do that he should either flash marry his current girlfriend, or get out of Dodge."

"Oh my. That's going to go over like a lead balloon, don't you think?" I chuckled.

"No doubt. But knowing Samuel, he'll end up marrying Andrea just so the merger will go through. He's had the hots for her for a while, but never approached her because she was dating Kaden."

"Oh, my, Gawd! You're not serious are you?" Who knew? "Does he know what she's like?"

"He does, and he doesn't care. Her family has been part of our social circle for a very long time. Believe it or not, Samuel and Andrea dated for a very brief time when she and Kaden were on a break. The minute Kaden whistled in her direction again, back she went, leaving Samuel quite upset. He kind of liked having a woman ten years younger than him. Made him feel very manly." Alexander snickered.

"I can tell though that isn't what had that concerned look on your face. What gives?" I prodded.

"Well, Andrew was able to gain access to Clowater's business records. What has been reported in the financial news isn't quite the full story. Yes, the company is doing great. But Eric now has limited access to the company funds. It looks like he illegally siphoned off about twenty million dollars and his father is now insisting he pay it back, or go to jail. Arranging this marriage with the Jones's was his way of getting the money."

"Holy sh*t balls! Are you freaking serious?" I cried out in disgust. "They were selling me off to keep Eric out of jail? How did your friend find all this out in such a short time?"

"Between you, me and the fence post, Andrew had already been doing an investigation for another client."

"Do you know who the other client is?" Curiousity was driving me to ask.

"It was Andrea Cole's father. Apparently Eric had gone to him a few months ago asking for a twenty-million dollar 'business loan'. Jeremy Cole had actually considered it until he found out the real reason for the loan request. Eric had used the siphoned money to invest in a Jones property development that immediately ran into problems. He lost his total investment. Jeremy turned Eric down citing business reasons."

"That's crazy! I thought Eric was smarter than that!" I exclaimed.

Alexander raised an eyebrow at my use of my father's first name. "Why do you call him Eric instead of dad?"

"Why would I call him dad? He has never been a father to me. I barely know the man, or his family. I divorced both him and my mother when I turned eighteen. I have no legal, or emotional ties to them whatsoever. They don't deserve the title of mom or dad. Therefore they get referred to by their first names." I said this in an emotionless voice, clearly showing I was no longer affected in any way by their neglect of me. "As far as I'm concerned, they are just people I used to know. Nothing more."

Alexander nodded in understanding. "I kind of know the feeling. You get to the point where you just turn off the 'emotion switch' when it comes to certain people."

"That's a good description of my lack of feelings for them. The switch is off. I am indifferent to both of them."

Just then the house phone rang. Gramps was calling to check in.