Informed Consent Read online

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“You’ve made my day, Ms. Marrow. You’re trying to bribe an officer of the law! Come on out of that car, Ma’am.”

  He wrapped a hand around her upper arm, opening the door with the other and hauling her from the car.

  Denise had freaked to think of Andrew’s anger when he discovered one of the boys had missed school. Next she’d lost it imagining how pissed he’d be when she got a driving without a valid license rap. He’d be tickled pink when he heard she’d tried to bribe a cop.

  ***

  At the police station Denise was left sitting on a hard chair while Harrison tried his darnedest to convince the Captain he had grounds for an arrest for bribery.

  Denise asked to call her parents’ lawyer.

  The Captain scowled at her. “You haven’t been arrested yet, babe. If you want to call your lawyer I’m arresting you first.”

  She slumped back into her chair.

  The Captain slapped Harrison on the shoulder. “You don’t have enough. Write her up for driving on a suspended license and get her out of here. You impounded her car, right?”

  Harrison grunted, shot Denise a dirty look, and wandered off at a leisurely pace to get coffee. Then he sharpened pencils. Made some calls. Chatted with other officers. Denise got the message and resigned herself. Two months ago she wouldn’t have had the brains to keep her mouth shut.

  Today, she had an insane husband watching her every step and three younger brothers she needed to raise. She was amazed at how quickly she learned there were times when the best idea was to shut up.

  This was maturity. Yippee.

  An occasional glance at a clock on the wall told her the time. Officer Harrison intended to keep her at his desk as long as he could.

  “Denise?”

  A tall, striking woman wove her way through the jumble of desks, office machinery, and file boxes.

  “Denise Marrow?”

  Denise nodded and offered her hand. “Yes. Sorry, do I know you?”

  “Not really. But I know you. Harrison, what the hell is going on here?

  “Oh never mind.” Without further explanation the woman made a beeline towards the Captains office.

  Harrison leveled another disgusted glance at Denise. “Looks like your cavalry arrived even without a call. Aren’t you a lucky little princess?”

  Denise shrugged. “Really? I have no idea who that woman is.”

  “Your husband does.” He shoved a stack of forms out of his way, settled more deeply in his chair, and pulled the keyboard towards him.

  The Captain stuck his head out from his office. “Take the cuffs off, Harrison.”

  Ushered out of the room an hour later, her hands full of official papers, Denise saw the tall woman moving in her direction from across the room. This time the woman offered her hand.

  “I owe you a big thanks.” Denise smiled. “I don’t even know who you are!”

  The woman stood at least three inches taller than Denise. She smiled down at her. “Glad I could help. I’m Sam Donaldson. Actually, Samantha Donaldson Cross.”

  Denise’s stomach dropped like a boulder to her feet.

  Samantha took her arm and propelled her out the door, moving her smoothly into a parking lot adjacent to the station.

  “My car’s right over here.” She pointed to a sporty looking Audi. “I’ll drive you home.” She aimed a fob at her car and reached for the driver’s door. Denise stood dumb, where the woman had left her.

  “Get in Denise,” Samantha said. “I’m taking you home. Come on, get in.”

  Her feet were like lead. She really didn’t feel them hitting the ground. Apparently her brain had simply short circuited. Nothing. Nothing was going on in her head. She was going to drown.

  She missed the door handle on the first try but eventually made it inside and got the door shut.

  Samantha had already buckled herself in and now she put the key in the ignition and the motor caught, managing to sound more expensive than an American car.She turned to look Denise in the eye and gestured towards the floor where Denise had dropped her purse.

  “Give me a dollar.”

  Denise stared at her, mute. The woman wanted a dollar? She was getting the new client discount for whatever Sam had said to get her off?

  “A dollar,” Sam repeated.

  Denise didn’t have a dollar in bills. She pulled out her ATM card, and a stack of credit cards.

  Samantha sighed. “Look around in there. There has to be some change somewhere in that thing.”

  Denise came up with six dimes, three nickels and eight pennies and let them fall into Sam’s outstretched hand.

  Samantha dropped them into a cup holder.

  “You just hired me.” She slid the elegant little car into gear and backed them out of the parking space.

  “I can’t discuss your business.” She added as she headed for the street. “With anyone. Except you of course.”

  Denise started to cry.

  ***

  “So, I’m married to Andrew’s brother Neil.” Samantha started talking once she merged into traffic. Denise kept her mouth clamped shut and concentrated on stemming the river running down her face.

  “We’ve heard a lot about you.”

  The words hung in the air. Ominously.

  Neither woman spoke again until Samantha pulled up at the gates of the compound. Denise scrabbled at the door. “I can walk. It takes forever to get the damn gate open.”

  Samantha’s hand came up and rested on Denise’s arm. “Let me come in, Denise. We need to talk.”

  Denise expelled a breath. “It’s 123454321.” She sat back in her seat.

  Samantha lowered her window and pushed in the code. There was silence again as they waited for the gate to make its slow journey.Luckily, it only changed its mind twice.

  “What’s up with that?”

  Denise shook her head. “I don’t know. It’s always been that way.”

  “I’ll bet it drives Andrew crazy.”

  Denise’s eyes opened wide and she opened her mouth to speak.

  A laugh from Samantha cut Denise off. “They’re all compulsive about that kind of stuff.”

  Seeing the question on Denise’s face, she added, “They like things to work the way they’re supposed to.” The woman shrugged. “They like to keep their women safe.”

  Denise’s mouth pulled into a tight line. Mentally she added this nugget to her list of Things to Keep in Mind. And while she was on mental lists, she started a new one labeled: Things to do Right Away. She put “Fix the freaking gate” at the top of that one.

  Samantha stopped the car in front of the house. She scrunched down in her seat to peer out of the windshield. “Criminy. That is pretty worn down.”

  Denise shoved her door open, climbed out and tried to slam it behind her. Since Audi’s were expensive, well made cars, the sound failed to truly express her feelings.

  “I gather my house has been the source of concern?”

  “I know, awkward. Let’s go inside. Never mind the house. We need to talk about the trouble you’re in.

  “With the courts,” she clarified.

  Denise strode up the steps to the front door. The horrible feeling this elegant, self-assured woman knew much, much more than Denise wanted her to, was slowly but surely filling her chest cavity.

  The door wasn’t locked because it never was. She shoved it open and gestured to the other woman.

  “They don’t like unlocked front doors, either.”

  Denise glared.

  Samantha grinned. She shot Denise an apologetic glance, though.

  “Look. I’m sorry. I’ll keep our conversation strictly business if you want but I’m trying to be helpful. I thought you might want to talk about it. Especially in light of today.”

  Why was it that her spine suddenly seemed to take on a life of its own, freezing into the rigidly offended position she associated with her dead grandmother’s reaction to a bad smell?

  “We’ll talk about the legal aspects
, of course.” Samantha hadn’t noticed Denise’s reaction.“Remember, we have a relationship forbidding me to discuss your business with anyone. You don’t have to worry about me telling Andrew. Or Neil, for that matter. We can let it go at the legal stuff, if you want. Or we can cut the shit and talk about how freaked out you are to discover Andrew expects you to accept domestic discipline.”

  Finishing her sentence, Samantha dropped her purse and briefcase into a nearby chair, and gestured at a sofa. “Shall we sit?” She didn’t wait for an answer but let folded herself gracefully onto an overstuffed couch.

  A flush burned its way up Denise’s cheeks. She sank into a low chair, crossed her arms over her stomach, and rocked forward.

  “What did he do? Discuss me with the whole freaking family?” Oh hell, she’d started to cry again. “Did he call to announce he’d spanked me as a pre-nup?”

  Samantha leapt up and moved across to Denise, resting a hand on her head. “It’s not like that Denise. It isn’t gossip. Neil is Andrew’s big brother and he’s married so yeah, Drew is going to look to him for advice. That’s the kind of relationship they have.

  “Look, what I’m trying to tell you is this -- Andrew’s a Cross. Neil’s a Cross and I married him. They’re all alike. I can help you. Or not.”

  No more gentle tear drops; Denise dissolved into a torrential river of tears. A gasket sprung loose from something major. Unable to stop, she buried her face in Samantha’s lap.

  Samantha’s hand stroked Denise’s head. That made Denise’s heart ache even more. “I wish I’d never met him.”

  Samantha said nothing. She stuck to patting.

  When Denise’s finally looked up, her face streaked with tears, she said, “I don’t get it! How could you let someone treat you like that? You’re gorgeous. You’re obviously smart; you’re a lawyer for god’s sake!”

  “What’s that got to do with it?”

  Well, that was annoying. Pretending she hadn’t asked a perfectly reasonable question. Denise dashed at the tears on her face.

  “I’m sorry I lost it.” Her voice wobbled so she left the room, muttering about needing a tissue, and walked toward the kitchen.

  “Something to drink?” She called back into the other room before she stuck her head under the cold water faucet.

  “Sure. Anything. Now answer my question. What do looks and professions have to do with anything?”

  Denise yanked open the frig and bent over, peering in. “I have soda, mineral water and juice. Or do you want something hot?”

  “God no. It’s hot enough outside. I can help you. Quit avoiding.”

  Denise moved back into the room her hands full of bottles. She sighed and sat down across from the other woman. “I’m a mess. I flunked out of school, I have no job and I can’t drive. My parents died. I have no idea where my mother got this bizarre idea to make my marriage to Andrew part of her will, but she did. Now my brother’s depend on me. So I had no choice. Otherwise--forget it. No offense, but I wouldn’t have married Andrew for a billion bucks.”

  Samantha looked at Denise for a moment, evaluating. “Your parents knew Andrew, right?”

  Denise nodded.

  “Did they like him?”

  Denise shot the woman a disgusted look. “They thought he walked on water.”

  “Maybe that’s why they did it then.” It was a statement, not a question and Denise scowled.

  “I can’t believe they even made a will. My parents barely paid enough attention to pay the bills. Suddenly they decide to make a will?”

  Samantha looked at Denise. “You kinda wonder where they got the idea, eh?”

  “If I ever find out I’ll kill the person. I suppose one of my Aunts must have suggested it.Maybe one of them planned to off my parents so she and the other biddies would inherit.” Denise looked thoughtful.

  “If that’s what happened, if my aunts tried to plant the idea, my parents would have loved to arrange it another way, one more F-you to the sisters.”

  Samantha nodded. “OK. End of that subject.” She gave a slight shrug. “So… How’s it going? It has to be worse, the adjustment, not even wanting to be married to the man. Did you like him? Love him? Before you found out Andrew wanted a Head of Household deal?”

  “Is that what they call it?” Denise twisted the cap off a bottle of water she’d brought in for herself.

  Samantha kept her eyes on Denise. “Domestic Discipline. Taken In Hand. Head of Household. All the same, basically.”

  “Taken in Hand?”

  “You know; as in ‘She needs to be taken in hand.’”

  Denise snorted. She took a long drink.

  “I can’t even remember how I felt back then. After we broke up my whole life fell apart, on top of the break up, you know? So I don’t know anything. But I know this. Now? I despise him. I’d happily stick a knife in his ribs, and wriggle it around to sever his heart and lungs.”

  Samantha whistled. She shook her head and stared at Denise for a moment.

  “You asked how a smart, successful lawyer could ‘let’ someone treat me like that. I’m going to answer your question.

  Good, thought Denise. It went beyond annoying to pretend her question wasn’t an extremely reasonable one.

  “I fell hard for Neil. I had a great job. Lots of friends, a lover. But nobody lit me up inside the way Neil did, still does. I’ve always been attracted to that type and I was wildly in love with the man. Of course we clashed. We’re both very dominant people. I’d known for years I could never love a man who wasn’t as strong as I am. It was a bit of a shock, I’ll admit, when I realized he was stronger--that’s not the right word actually--for now let’s say he was even more dominant than I was.”

  Denise focused on Sam’s face, mouth opened. Sam nodded.

  “Oh yeah. We clashed all the time. At some point, I realized he listened to me, discussed things, and occasionally even saw things my way, but there were lots of times he didn’t agree and simply went ahead and did things his way. No big fuss, no more talking about the issue. He simply did things his way.

  Neil was also very dominant sexually, and that was fine with me because, come on! The sex was beyond amazing. The longer we were together the more overtly dominant he became. I won’t lie. We had some fierce battles. No big physical confrontations or screaming matches. He’d calmly stick to his guns and we’d agree to disagree.

  “Then one day he swatted me. At the time it felt spontaneous. Later on I realized he’d been waiting for the opportunity. But anyhow, that night I’d scared him. I was late, really late and I didn’t call to let him know. He’d been worried sick, he said, and he asked if I’d had anybody walk me out to my car. When I said ‘no’ he got really pissed and said I’d acted dangerously. Then he reached behind me and swatted me. It stung, a little. I laughed.

  “He didn’t laugh. Instead he did it again, harder. And said, ‘Don’t ever do that again.’”

  Samantha was quiet for a brief second.

  “He sort of shoved me against the wall when he did it, that second smack - not hard - and started nuzzling my neck, nipping, touching my breasts. I was really turned on and that’s what I focused on, not the fact he’d whacked my butt.”

  Her eyes looked directly into Denise’s.

  “It was hot. Sex had always been awesome but wow … that time –unbelievably hot.

  Much, much later I realized how deliberate the whole scene had been. He took me right there, against the wall. I was absolutely begging. Right when I was sure I’d die if he didn’t…” She drew a deep breath and laughed. “He said ‘Are you going to be good from now on?’ He made me tell him I’d be his good girl.”

  Denise blew out a breath. “What a bastard.”

  Samantha raised one shoulder and laughed. “I wrote it off as sex play. Damn hot, but play.”

  Denise blew her nose.

  “So what happened after that? Did he start paddling you for random things? How did you explain it to yourself? Didn’t you
feel like an idiot?”

  “Maybe at first. After a while no. Things got pretty interesting. We had some intense skirmishes here and there at the beginning. I left him more than once. But things settled down as we adjusted.”

  “You adjusted. He bullied, you adjusted.”

  “No.” Samantha shook her head. “That’s not fair to him. He always, always, listens to me, even if he doesn’t change his mind, and there are plenty of times too when he does accept my way about stuff.

  “Face it Denise, all couples have to give and take. Usually there’s a ton of fighting, until someone gives in for some reason; maybe a sense that the fighting has to stop before anyone gets badly hurt. Or maybe because it sucks for kids to live with feuding parents. Then what? Bitter feelings and resentment from the person who gave in.”

  “You don’t resent him getting his way in the end? I’m pretty bitter when a man thinks he can boss me around.” Denise stalked around the room. “How do you live with yourself?”

  “But he can boss me around. He’s a foot taller and outweighs me by eighty pounds. Besides, I’m utterly incapable of living without him. I’m totally miserable without him, so I accept it. I tried the doing without him, because yeah it was uncomfortable at first. Once you accept it though, you’ll find out you have a ton of power over him. It’s simply in different spheres.”

  Denise looked skeptical.

  Samantha laughed. “I know. Kind of whoo-whoo…?”

  “Very.”

  Samantha shot Denise a keen look. “Here’s a piece of advice. Take it or leave it. About today? Confess everything. Immediately.”

  Chapter Six

  Denise wasn’t going to confess a darned thing. Obviously, she needed to be a heck of a lot more careful. Her plan had been to fly under the radar with Andrew, staying as much out of his way as possible, not giving him any reasons for pitching a fit. If she could avoid it and still live with herself.

  Well, she’d certainly screwed that plan up. One kid never made it to school. She’d driven without a license and been pulled over by the police. Finally, depending on your point of view, she had or had not attempted to bribe an officer of the law. Hardly stealth mode.