Page 28 of Saving Salem
“Jack, I’m glad you’re home. Were you able to find out anything about the pictures?”
“Yeah, we found the guy who planted the cameras. He couldn’t tell us a whole lot unfortunately. He was hired by a woman to install the cameras in your apartment.”
A tightness started in the pit of her stomach. She still couldn’t believe somebody wanted to spy on her. Watch her every move. It had to be Tarik’s family, but what did they hope to gain? All they’d see was her taking care of Chloe or her studying for her graphic artist degree. She never had people over, nobody but Gabi anyway. Did they she was having wild orgies in her apartment with Chloe there? Tarik had been her first and only lover; it wasn’t like she’d been a party girl even when she’d been in college.
“A woman? Do you know, was she watching me—us—the whole time? Well, it couldn’t have been long, because we only came back yesterday.” She shrugged, her shoulders slumping. “This doesn’t make any sense. I’m not a partier, so whoever put in the cameras would be disappointed if they thought to catch me doing…anything.”
“We don’t know why somebody had the cameras placed. Gator was able to find out that the cameras were not activated here in New Orleans, so they had to be viewing remotely.”
“But the pictures were taken and printed today.”
Jack nodded and leaned against the wall. “Bubba—that’s the guy hired to install the cameras—got a message from the person who hired him, an email with the six pictures attached, and told to get them printed and leave them on your front doorstep. He never accessed the cameras once. Gator’s taking the guy’s laptop and cellphone to Stefan, see if we can get any information off either. Maybe if we’re lucky, he can trace it back to the source, get an IP address, something to tie it back to whoever hired Bubba.”
He walked forward and softly brushed the hair off her cheek.The one with the scar. She drew in a breath and held it, realizing his hand lingered for a few seconds, his fingers touching her skin. It took everything not to pull back, let the hair swing back to cover the offending reminder.
“Don’t,” he whispered. “You do that, let your hair swing to cover your face whenever you think someone’s staring. Salem, nobody’s looking at the scar. Should I tell you what I see when I look at you? I see a beautiful woman. Skin kissed like warm peaches and cream with glorious rich auburn hair that falls against your shoulders. I see the biggest, brightest blue eyes that sparkle when you laugh, though you haven’t laughed nearly enough lately. Lush plump lips, blush pink that beg for kisses. The scar that you see, thinking it makes you ugly? I see a badge of courage. I see a mark that tells the world that you are a fighter, a survivor who stood up to a monster and won. There is nothing about that scar that makes you unattractive, Salem. When I look at you, I see the whole package, a gorgeous woman who stopped me in my tracks the first time I saw you. You took my breath away then, and you take my breath away now.”
She closed her eyes, letting his words sink into her soul. Was that really what he saw when he looked at her? He made her feel beautiful. Special. Something she hadn’t felt since long before she met Tarik in Italy and her life changed.
“Thank you. You don’t know how much I needed to hear those words. I…I made dinner. Hope you’re hungry.” She knew the abrupt change of topic came out of left field, but she wasn’t ready to face the feelings his words evoked. After her conversation earlier with the ladies, she was willing to try, but it might take baby steps.
“Starving. Anything I can help with?”
“Would you mind checking on Chloe? She’s down for a late nap. We had company while you and Gator were gone, and it wore her out.”
“No problem. I’ll get washed up and check on her. Back in a sec.”
Turning back to the counter, she finished the salad and put it on the small dining table, then pulled a bottle of dressing out of the fridge. She checked on the rice, which was perfectly done. Spooning it into a serving bowl, she put it onto the table, too. Finally, she took the chicken out of the oven, placing it on a serving platter. It only took a few minutes to whip up gravy from the drippings, something she’d learned from Ms. Patti once while visiting. Cooking had never been one of her strong features, because when she’d lived at home her mother had never cooked. They had a live-in housekeeper who cleaned and handled all the meals. Now she was enjoying exploring a new area, learning what she liked and what she was capable of making.
“This one was sitting up in her bed, playing with her bunny.” Jack stood at the edge of the kitchen with a wide-awake Chloe in his arms. She stared at him with wide-eyed wonder, and as Salem watched, wound her arms around his neck and laid her head against his shoulder. It was almost cuteness overload, and she wished she had her phone out so she could take a picture.
“Well, dinner’s ready. Hey, sweet pea, let’s get you in your highchair, so we can eat some dinner.” With the ease of having done it hundreds of times, she got Chloe all fastened in, her daughter’s feet kicking and her fists banging against the plastic tray.
“You can go ahead and fix your plate, I’ll just be a minute getting hers ready.”
“I don’t mind waiting.”
Salem sliced a small piece of chicken and cut it into small cubes, making sure the pieces were bite size. A spoonful of rice joined it, and she got the baby’s spoon her daughter sometimes used, though she had the feeling Chloe would be using her fingers. The spoon was strictly for entertainment purposes.
Finally, she sat across from Jack, and gave him a shy smile. “This is nice. I don’t think we’ve had an actual sit-down meal together since all this started. It’s always been meals at the Boudreau ranch, or fast food while we were on the road. Tonight’s our first meal together as a family.”
“Just the three of us, as you said, a family. That’s going to take a bit of getting used to.”
“Right?” Salem chuckled and shook her head. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact we’re married. I mean do I keep my last name or do I change it to Sutton? We haven’t talked about it. There are a lot of things we haven’t talked about.”
Jack set his fork down on his plate and grabbed her hand. “It’s your choice of whether to take my last name or keep Hudson. I would be honored if you and Chloe became Suttons.”
“I would like that very much. Salem Sutton. It’s got a nice ring to it. I’ll need to get it changed on my ID, driver’s license, and other paperwork.”
“Getting married is always an adjustment for most couples. We’ll make it work.”
“I know we’ll have to look into getting a bigger place. With the three of us in this apartment, it’s going to get cramped fast.”
Jack leaned back in his chair, letting go of her hand. “I meant to talk with you about that, but things got a little crazy when I got back from C.S.S. Samuel has a couple of open apartments in the building. You know a lot of the guys who work there also live there with their wives. He’s offered us one of the units, if we’re interested. I have no idea what they look like, how big they are, or anything else about them. But if you want, I can make arrangements to look at one.”
“Are you kidding? When Samuel moved here, he converted all the upper spaces into apartments for his employees. Luxury apartments. They’ve got everything, all the bells and whistles you can imagine. I’ve been in several of them because Gabi knows everybody who works there. I kind of get dragged along when she visits the wives. Stephanie had her own place there before she married Etienne and moved into his apartment. I bet hers is available. Jack, we’re talking million-dollar apartments. Samuel and Andrea’s place is on the top floor and it’s worth more than my parents’ house.”
Jack’s grin spread the longer she talked until she realized she was babbling. Probably sounded like Chloe in her excited nonsense talk. But moving from this apartment, which wasn’t horrible but all she could afford on her salary, into a place like the C.S.S. building? It was a no-brainer.
