Page 96 of Priceless

Micah studied me, assessing. “Just checking.”

“For?”

“Whether my wife is talking down about herself. Which isn’t allowed.”

My smile was real this time. “I wasn’t.”

“And that’s the only reason I’m not spanking you.”

A strange feeling flowed through me. It wasn’t a bad one. The words didn’t trigger any fear or memories. Only curiosity. “Guess you’ll have to save that for later,” I said, breathless.

He’d cursed before kissing me hard and leaving my room. Now, as I stared up at the house I’d called home for most of my life, the memories I held with them were the reason I could do this by myself. Barely married a week, and they were already helping me.

Isabel opened the door before I could ring the bell. “Hello, dear.”

“Hi.”

“Do they know you’re coming?”

I shook my head. “I’m just here to check on my flowers. Have they given Sally a hard time about it?”

“No, she’s stayed out of their way.”

That was good. “I won’t be long. They’re here though?”

“Yes. Don’t worry, I won’t tell them.” She winked at me.

“Thanks, Isabel.”

The greenhouse was tucked outside in the garden. Mom loved more than just flowers, so she’d turned a portion of the estate into a beautiful grove. Her refuge away from the hard research she did, and later, from her illness. It was one of my favorite places in the world.

Right now, with the sun bright, the greenhouse looked like a sparkling jewel in the middle of a sea of green. And after using the fingerprint lock, I was relieved to breathe in the delicious scent of the air and see that all the flowers that remained here were thriving. Sally knew what she was doing.

I didn’t deserve her. Especially since she was willing to still take care of the flowers while we were gone. Both here and at the DuPont estate. There wasn’t enough time to move the rest of them before we left tonight.

Humming to myself, I pulled on a pair of gloves and sank into my routine of watering those that needed it, checking the plants that might need trimming, and taking a look at the hybrid flowers I’d been working on. They were still sprouts without blooms. But by the time we came back they might be ready.

It didn’t take as long as normal, because so many plants had been moved to the transitional greenhouse in our courtyard. The ones that were left here were more delicate. Either older, more settled plants that I’d been monitoring for a long time, or a few of the hybrids that I didn’t want to risk an atmosphere change while they developed.

When we built a permanent greenhouse at the DuPont Estate, I would move them then.

My smile couldn’t be stopped by the time I was done. I hadn’t even realized how much I missed spending time here. But also the knowledge that I was leaving and going back to safety and happiness.

Unfortunately, inside the greenhouse was where the happiness ended. Laura stood at the entrance to the house with her arms crossed, glaring at me as I came back. “Why are you here?”

I rolled my eyes. “That’s not a real question when you know the answer.”

“Your uncle wants to speak with you.”

“Can it wait? I need to get back.”

“No, it can’t.” She walked away, fully expecting me to follow. I could simply leave, but given we were flying out of the country tonight, I didn’t want either of them to come to our house furious and give Ruby or Marcela any trouble. Besides, there wasn’t anything they could do to me now. They married me off, and if they did anything, my husbands would ruin them.

So I followed her.

I missed the light hallways of the DuPont mansion. Everything felt so dark here. It hadn’t when Mom was alive. That came later. Laura’s taste in decoration was as bad as the rest of her.

My uncle looked up from his desk when we came in. “Ah, Ocean. I need to know the internal quarterly profits for Zenith Incorporated for the last few years, and a breakdown of each of their subsidiaries.”

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