THE Media Baron's Heiress (BOOK 2)

CHAPTER 8

'Darling are you asleep?' Brad playfully tugged at Tessa's ears.

'Depends why you ask?' she sleepily murmured against his throat, her head tucked in the crook of Brad's sturdy arm, her hand carelessly on his chest. Brad laughed softly and kissed her temple.

'If I want to talk?' Brad enquired. It was close on midnight. Tessa's antenna picked up the serious tone. Her head lifted, her eyes searched his.

'I'm awake,' she murmured encouragingly.

Brad looked away, she noted, her husband who was normally able to express himself with ease, now found difficulty articulating himself. His bedside lamp was still on. A financial journal was opened on the bedside table.

'What is it darling?' Tessa whispered, lifting her hand and entangling it in his hair.

'I want to talk about Alexei,' Brad could not keep the anger out of his voice. Tessa inhaled deeply. She had hoped that the issue with Alexei was closed. She spoke, aiming to lighten the mood, 'I thought we don't discuss business in bed,' Tessa smiled.

'This is not about business. This is about a man who walks into my building and audaciously touches my wife,' Brad's voice angrily rose an octave.

Tessa lifted herself up and leaned on her elbow, raising the sheets over her chest. 'Lower you voice,' she whispered. 'You said you want to talk,' Tessa reminded him. Alexei had apologized, but Tessa did not want to risk appearing as if she was defending Alexei.

'Well I wanted to hit the guy,' Brad admitted with difficulty, and I have not reacted so violently, since I was a teenager, when somebody had picked on my late mother.'

Tessa's heart yearned to comfort the boy Brad spoke of, but her husband was a proud man who would not tolerate anybody's pity. Her hand reached out and cupped his face.

'You did not react violently,' Tessa murmured.

'I almost did,' Brad countered. 'Had you not called out to me, ---who knows what would have happened. Tessa remembered all too clearly, how vicariously close Alexei had stood near the window's edge.

'I don't believe you had any intention of being reckless darling. You would not have heeded my voice, if you did.'

'What if you weren't there? What if---?' Tessa knew his unfinished sentence questioned what if Brad had accidently caused Alexei to fall out the twentieth story executive suite. It had been Tessa's greatest fear as well when she had watched Brad manhandling Alexei.

'We can thank God we have nothing to regret,' Tessa spoke softly. 'You are one of the most responsible people I know,' she smiled. 'In the four years we've been together, I have never once witnessed any bouts of violence or anger,' Tessa mitigated.

'Now I know why I married an attorney,' his lips twitched into a smile. Tessa offered a silent prayer that she would never in the future need to defend her husband in any criminal litigation.

'I'm very expensive. You cannot afford me, so best you stay out of trouble,' Tessa teased. Brad reached over and hugged his wife.

'You are an amazing woman Mrs. Blakely,' Brad ran his fingers through the silky curls of her hair.

'Thank you, Mr. Blakely.'

'I'm sorry to have woken you up,' Brad murmured, pressing his lips to her earlobe, his lips doing some erotic things to her.

'Are you really?' Tessa whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck.

'No,' Brad chuckled. It was more than an hour later, when he finally allowed his wife to get some sleep.