Milandra made her way to the pool.

Chapter 22.

In the courtroom, Baron sat across from an employee trying to sue Houston Commercial Construction Company. Baron hoped the jury would be sympathetic because of the death of Rupert and render a verdict in favor of the company. The employee alleged that bricks had fallen on his cast-covered foot.

Baron argued that the employee had stolen bricks from the company and the incident had actually occurred at his home.

The jury returned from deliberation. The court officer called the court to order.

"Mr. Foreman, has the jury reached a verdict?" the judge inquired.

"Yes, Your Honor," the foreman responded.

"How does the jury find the defendant?" the judge asked.

"Not guilty."

"I have another win under my belt. Am I good or what?" Baron mumbled to himself.

The plaintiff's attorney looked over at him. As usual, his opponent was furious. Talk amongst the attorneys around the courthouse was that Rupert had the judges on his payroll, but there was no concrete evidence to prove it. In reality, they were wrong; Baron really was a good attorney.

Baron packed his briefcase and closed it. He walked over and shook the opposing attorney's hand as a symbol of professional courtesy, but he really wanted to smear another victory for Houston Commercial Construction Company in his face.

Hurrying out of the building, Baron made his way to his car. He tossed his briefcase in the backseat and got in. His stomach growled. Baron was hungry and he was sure that Tessa had cooked up a storm for him, but his first stop would be to pick up a dozen roses for his love.

At the florist's shop, he handpicked individual long-stemmed roses. He made sure that each rose was firm and unbloomed. The florist laid them down in a long white box that was wrapped with a gold ribbon.

He thanked the florist, left, and made one and more stop at a store that exclusively sold wine. He started to buy Tessa one of the finest wines in the store, instead he purchased one that he knew she loved-a bottle of plain old Sangria.

When he arrived at the house, he expected to open the door and get hit by the aroma from Tessa's fabulous cooking. Instead, the house smelled like peach air freshener.

"Tessa," he called as he went to the kitchen and placed the wine and roses on the table. The kitchen was spotless. The only pot on the stove was a teakettle.

Baron left the kitchen and he ran up the stairs. "Tessa," he called her again.

He looked into the backyard, calling her name, but there was no answer. Tessa must be speaking to her niece. He figured Tessa would come back and bring food for them.

After hours had gone by and night fell, Tessa never returned. Baron tried her cell phone several times, but all he got was her voicemail. He went on to make himself a sandwich from leftover chicken.

Tempted to call Aniyah, he grabbed his keys and left the house instead. He jumped into his car and drove over to the Houston Estate.

It was around midnight when he reached the estate. Baron rang the bell.

Aniyah came to the door dressed in a red bra and panty set. She was excited to see him. "Hey, sugar, you came to see me."

Baron didn't want to ask her about her aunt. "I was in the area and was checking things out before I went home."

Aniyah laughed. "Yeah right!" She pushed up her b.r.e.a.s.t.s with her hands. "You want this."

He decided to use his lawyer skills on her. "Do you have company?"

"h.e.l.l yeah, you now." She grabbed his tie and yanked it for him to come inside.

He followed her into the house, which would give him the opportunity to look around.

Aniyah put her arms around him and kissed him. He pushed her off.

"Stop it!" he said.

"You'll do what I say. Don't forget, I have the picture," she reminded him.

He laughed. "Not anymore, I've destroyed it."

She laughed back. "No, you didn't. You're bluffing."

Baron stepped closer up on her and looked directly into her eyes. "Do I look like I'm bluffing?"

Aniyah saw that he might be telling the truth. She hadn't checked her hiding place where the photo was supposed to be secure, so she left him and ran up the stairs.

Baron looked around as much as he could while on the first floor. He ran up the stairs and looked in the west wing. There were no signs that Tessa had been there. He headed to the east wing when Aniyah showed up furious.

She ran up to him, beating him on the chest. "You b.a.s.t.a.r.d, you found the picture. Give it back to me."

Baron shoved her off of him with force. Aniyah fell to the floor.

"I'm not giving you anything back. You had no right to twist things around for your own nasty reasons."

"Whoever's in the room, she's nothing but a s.l.u.t!" he yelled, a.s.suming she was entertaining a man.

In the office closet, Tessa tried to make noise. She could hear his voice. Baron has come for me. She prayed that her niece wouldn't harm him in anyway.

Aniyah got up. "Get out of here."

He yelled back, "I will! I can't believe you're nothing like your mother."

Baron thought that he would bring Tessa's name up, hoping Aniyah would give him a sign as to whether her aunt had been there or not.

Aniyah kept a straight face and said nothing about Tessa being there.

"That's why you don't want me. You love her! Well, she doesn't give a d.a.m.n about you. She loved Rupert. She always said he was hot in bed," she lied.

He walked down the stairs to get out of the house. Tessa listened as the sound of the arguing faded away.

"I feel sorry for you."

"Go back to what you do best and be a yes-person for the Houstons. Just leave me the h.e.l.l alone."

Baron slammed the door behind him. He still wondered where Tessa was. He went over to the servants' quarters and woke Elsa. She came to the door covered in a long robe with her hair tied up.

"h.e.l.lo, Mr. Chavis. Something wrong?"

"Have you seen Tessa today?"

"No, I haven't."

"If she calls you, tell her to get in touch with me."

"Yes, Mr. Chavis."

"Elsa, don't tell anyone I was looking for her. Keep that between us."

"My lips are glued."

Baron called the limo service. He asked for the driver who had driven Tessa. The driver lied as he was instructed by Aniyah. "Miss Sanchez asked me to get her to the airport as fast as I could. I dropped her off and left."

Baron felt his stomach tighten up. His gut feeling was that something wasn't right. But he hurried home in hope that Tessa would be there.

He arrived home and there were no signs of Tessa. He glanced inside the closet. Her belongings were still intact, including her empty suitcase. But he used his connections as an attorney and learned that she did not take a flight back to Mexico. "Where are you, Tessa?" he whispered as he lay across the bed. He prayed that Aniyah wasn't holding something over Tessa's head that would cause her to run.

He realized that maybe the driver was lying and was following Aniyah's instructions. The Houston Estate was too enormous to check, but he had to find a way to search it for answers. He worried that Tessa was in trouble. The answers were with Aniyah. He tried to stay awake but could no longer keep his eyes open.

Aniyah ran back upstairs and into the office. She opened the door, went inside the closet, and slapped her aunt across the face. "No food for you tomorrow. You'll starve."

Tessa tried to talk but could not.

"Shut up! I don't see what Baron sees in you. He's hungry for you, but guess what? He had me and he liked all of this." Aniyah rubbed her hands over her body. "He took me for himself in his house. How do you like that?"

Aniyah knew that her aunt could not answer. She laughed at her and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Tessa tried to cry but she had already cried so much that her tears were frozen. She prayed that maybe tomorrow G.o.d would send an angel to save her.

Chapter 23.

Sid picked Noelle up early that morning. She came out of the house wearing a simple baby-blue zip-up dress. He opened the door for her. "Good morning," he said.

"Morning, Sid, how are you?"

"Doing better now that I have such a lovely lady in my car."

Sid had become her permanent driver. He took Noelle to whatever destination she wanted. He thought that she was the s.e.xiest woman he had ever seen. Today, she wanted to go shopping. He took her to a few shops, which included a party shop to purchase the necessary supplies for Kenley's sixteenth birthday. Lunchtime came soon after.

"Hungry?" Sid asked.

"Yes, I guess I've shopped up an appet.i.te."

"I have a great lunch for us."

"Where did you get lunch from?"

"I had it packed just for you."

"Thanks, Sid."

Noelle thought that he was the perfect gentleman. He looked after her in every way while he was her chauffeur.

"So, let's see, where will we eat?"

"How about under a nice, big tree at the Houston Estate?"

"I don't think we should go back to the estate. It really belongs to Aniyah."

"The estate is so big, she would never know we were there. We'll go to the far end like we did before."

"I do love the grounds of the estate."

"See, it's perfect." He smiled.

First, Sid stopped to get some ice from the store and then drove Noelle to the estate. The security guard opened the gates for him.

Driving way out on the acreage to find a private spot, Sid parked the limo near a shaded tree to help block the hot sun. He turned on some soft music from the stereo in the limo. He took the lunch basket and carried it under the tree.

Noelle watched as he removed a large plaid blanket and spread it out on the gra.s.s. She eased down onto the blanket, pulling her dress down because she was too shy to expose her thighs to him.

The shade from underneath the tree cooled them off somewhat. Sid placed a sandwich on each one of their plates.

"You're always surprising me." Noelle smiled.

"I love your company."

"I enjoy yours, too."