Divorced! Now what?
Chapter 70

Bethany POV

Everything was ready. The penthouse smelt of pie and other tasty food, the beer was cold, and the television was blasting sports news. A knock on the door made me frown. Dad and Hank would walk in. I opened the door and found Felicity's bright smile on the other side. 'Hey Felicity, how are you? Are you coming for the game?' I knew the answer before I asked, but it was always fun seeing her cringe.

'Not likely. Is Theo about?' She was trying to look into my place, but I had not stepped back to let her in.

'Nope, he should be back soon. Do you want me to send him over when he is back? He had something on his mind that he needed to clear before the game.' Theo did not say where he was going, and I did not feel I should ask. He had been distracted since the phone call last night.

'Yeah, send him over when you can. We are almost done setting up how we want the place. Congratulations on becoming a couple and having this place up for grabs. I have always loved this place!

'Are you going to have a party?' I asked, hoping she wouldn't. I love our privacy, and having a lot of people up here creeps me out.

'No, we like the privacy and do not want to start having guests up here; it is our sanctuary. I could not agree more with that; when you start having guests coming up, the doorkeepers will begin to believe everyone who comes in, and security could get bad; part of why I took this place was because no one could get in this lift, and visit me unless I agreed. But if Felicity started having guests over, then it could hurt the security I was feeling at the moment. 'Dad is coming over today, yes?'

'He should be here soon,' she smiled and left me to watch her return home. I was a little confused by the whole visit.

I was standing there watching a replay of something from last week when Dad and Hank walked in. They cheered as the replay showed a rather good tackle, and I smiled at the hype they brought with them.

After a hug and kiss, they both settled down in the lounge, chatting about some game they had watched yesterday. I had not even thought of sports yesterday. I know games are played, but I don't think I have ever thought about spending a whole weekend watching sports. The idea is good, but I have too much to do, catching up on stuff on a Saturday, so I can have the whole of Sunday free.

Theo came in, and I informed him of Felicity's visit. He said she could wait, he had something to talk about.

Settled in the lounge, we waited for Theo to spit out what was on his mind, and when he had finished, his Dad wanted to kill someone and my Dad turned pale. Theo filled Dad up with our suspicions of that detective and asked him to be careful and to leave my protection to him and his friends; they had a tail on the guy and eyes on others, which could be a problem. I was sitting there stunned that my Mother and Sister would do something like that.

Theo left to see what Felicity wanted and returned in time for the main game to start. He was carrying a box of something, put it in the back room, and came to sit near me; I was on the floor, as I prefer to do, but this time, I had Theo on the right and Dad on my left. Theo kept touching me as if to make sure I was still there, or something like that. I was not sure, but once the game started, all else faded away for now. I danced, cheered, and screamed as I would normally do, but I could tell that the others were not as much into the game as they were. It was sad to think that my mother and sister could spoil my day; it hurt deep, and I understand that Dad had trouble with it, as even I had the idea of being hurt kept coming to the forefront when the breaks were on.

Our team won, and we are now in the semi-finals. Next week would be at Hank's place, and he was inviting a few of his friends to come and watch the game with us. We agreed that if we were in the finals, we would watch it at Hank's place so he could have his mates over. They only joined Hank when it was finals time and were eager to see his new den.

When they left, Theo pulled me to him and kissed me deeply. Breathless, I pulled away and looked at him. You could see the worry etched on his face. I rested my head on his chest and sighed, when will all of this end?

'I wanted to tell you earlier that I had men protecting you and had another lot following your sister; after she kept showing up at places we were in, I had a feeling she had been watching us or following you.' He sounded like he was having trouble telling me this, and I wondered if he would have ever said it to me if it had not escalated. I am unsure how I feel about this, but I understand that Theo was only trying to protect me, and I am grateful for that part.

The rest of the night was spent in Theo's arms; he kept kissing me and pulling me closer to him as if I were some fragile woman, and he was afraid at any moment I would break. In some ways, it was cute; in others, it was damn right annoying; I have had to be strong all my life, I am not fragile, but yet, at that moment, I guess in his eyes, I was.

Sleep was a nightmare. When I eventually found it, my sister and Mother were laughing at me, mocking me, calling me weak and stupid, and mother that I was going to pay for being born at all. My sister was yelling about how I could have shared a womb with her, I had robbed her of a life she should have had, and in the end, I was a crying mess.

Theo shook me awake at some point during the night, and I cried for a little while on his chest, leaving it soaked with my tears. He kept stroking and circling on my back and saying tender platitudes. Morning came, and I was so drained, but we had work; it is not good for a doctor to call in sick, so few can fill your place.

The car service arrived, and the man greeted Theo and said something to him. I was not really listening, being in a world of my own. This was going to be our new norm until the problem was resolved, and how that was going to happen was beyond me. I did not want my sister or Mother to be killed; I am not vindictive, though Theo said I had every right to be. Work was a drag.

The nurses steered clear of me, and I think Theo warned Robson as security tightened at the hospital, checked on the little girl, and was pleased with how she was progressing. I signed her over to Robson to continue her care and retired to my lab, where everyone left me alone. They could all tell that something was going on but were not game to ask me, and Robson was not about to spill the beans. It would have to come from me, and as I was still processing it all, I was not ready to vocalize it out loud. How do you tell your work colleagues that the place is unsafe because you have a target on your back?