19 - His observation

Feeling a little out of sorts now she'd been left on her own, Paige took this opportunity to go on a stroll through the gardens, having always wanted to visit. Of course, she'd never been granted the chance. In between the responsibilities at home and Magicka, there hadn't been time for much else. Tonight would change that. As she headed off down one of the openings of flowers she paid little attention to the men in the corner of the place, nor did she care. For that reason alone she failed to notice the curious light in their eyes as their gazes suddenly shot in her direction. As well as the recognition.

The same couldn't be said of them.

James, Chief of Security tracked her movement from the table, as he had from the moment he'd spied her sitting at the table. Confirming the suspicions he had when he'd spied the women sitting at the table, he leaned down to whisper in his ear. "Um, Mr. Cromwell."

"What?" he grunted.

He lowered his voice. "Your wife's here."

Roth was in the midst of discounting what the man had to say, as the event was only for the creme de la creme of society. Though he hadn't had much time to get to know the new missus, she didn't seem like the type to be at a society event. Even while he doubted what the man said, he glanced in the direction that his security had directed him towards. His eyes doubled in size when Roth spotted the woman climbing from the table, dressed elegantly she was gorgeous on a whole new level. No matter his attempts, he was affected by her.

"Follow her," he ordered one of his men. "Take pictures."

"Yes sir," Oscar agreed, then vanished.

Strangely enough, Roth had the urge to follow her himself, desiring to see what she could be doing, but the prying eyes kept him from moving beyond his guards. He'd find out soon enough anyway. Just as had been ordered of him Oscar followed the misses through the garden, vanishing into the shrubbery every time she stopped to observe the gardens. Pulling out his cell phone he took pictures of her walking along the rows of roses, how she'd occasionally stop and bend down to smell the roses. Capturing her laughter and smiles, as she became lost in her wonder.

It was enchanting. Oscar had never seen anyone appreciate the world the way she did, as if she was seeing everything for the first time. Yet, he suffered the surprise of a lifetime when Mrs. Cromwell reached the opening of the garden, with the lights it was almost magical there tonight. Without anyone witnessing her actions Paige slowly began spinning around. Moved beyond words to see her in this element Oscar changed the picture option to video, recording as the misses twirled around the gardens, laughing and smiling.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" a high pitched voice broke out, then the misses best friend was on the scene, swatting the side of the man. She wasn't pleased to find him watching her. "Get out of here, perv or my friend's husband just might catch wind of your peeping tom antics."

Gulping convulsively at the thought of her husband believing him to be a peeping tom, Oscar hurriedly rushed out of there before more could be said. No matter what Mr. Cromwell said or thought about the woman he married, he would have no qualms of killing anyone who dared make a move on his wife. Gold digger or not, she was his. And he always protected his own.

A few minutes later two women emerged from the beauty of the gardens, which enabled a certain man watching to issue a shuddering sigh of relief. Paige glanced up at the time. "Okay it's been more than two hours, I'm ready to go home."

Amber nodded. "As you wish."

Then before anyone could think to come to interfere in their plans Amber led them out of the archway of the gardens and climbed into the back of their awaiting vehicle. Aware her aunt wouldn't be thrilled about her leaving the party so early in the evening, but she'd made a promise to Paige.

Barely twenty minutes had passed when Roth informed his security that he was leaving and the cluster of men made their way out of the event. Although it'd barely been an hour since the man had arrived at the gala at the gardens, Mr. Cromwell was well known for his avoidance of social events, leaving practically before he arrived. Tonight was the longest the man had ever stayed in attendance, though it wasn't the guests that'd compelled him to stay. Just one particular one

The Rolls Royce took him to where the MPV was awaiting and climbing behind the wheel he headed back to the house, intent on heading home. Less than an hour later he arrived at Newcastle confident she couldn't have arrived much earlier than him. Believing it'd give the two of them the opportunity to actually talk for a spell, maybe to understand why she'd gone tonight. No such luck. As he opened the front door of the house Roth shook his head at finding her curled up on the couch in the living room. She was asleep. Again.

Shaking his head as he wondered if the girl ever intended to actually fall asleep in her bed, he went upstairs to his bedroom to shower and change into night clothes. It came as no surprise to him that when Noah came back downstairs it was to find her still curled up on the couch, nor did she awake at his assistance. Shaking his head in disbelief without thinking about it he scooped Paige up into his arms and instinctively she snuggled more deeply against his chest. This time it didn't bother him, as much.

Carrying Paige to her bedroom on the opposite end of the hall from him, he laid her on the comforts of her bed, then on second thought he pulled the comforter over her. Immediately returning to his own bedroom before she had the chance to catch him in her room, he closed and locked the door behind him.

Then stretching out in the comforts of his bed he reached for the phone on the bedside table when it beeped, realizing it was a text from Oscar. Curious, he saw it was the pictures that man had taken at his demands, that outlined the woman's excursion into the gardens as she appreciated the flowers. Finally Noah came to the last of them which turned out to be a video, watching as Paige whirled around in the gardens. At peace with the world. Watching the expression on her face, as she moved around unashamed, a foreign emotion surfaced inside of him, but didn't have a clue what it meant.

Noah went to delete the pictures and videos that Oscar had sent to him, but then at the last minute he saved them and put them in a hidden folder. He refused to think about his reasons for saving them, telling himself it was for the use of his investigation into her. If his nana had been there she would've laughed, boy you can lie to yourself all you want, but both of us know you aren't as indifferent to her as you want to claim. He growled at the thought of the woman's beliefs and hit the pillow into a more comfortable position, as if to vent his frustration against her.