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  “Yes, this place is way too cold for me. I bet these people wear overcoats year-round.”

  Sage smiled. “Personally, I like the weather here. It’s the kind you can snuggle up under covers and stay warm with your man. I hate that Erol wasn’t able to join me here. I think he would have liked it, too.”

  “Are you going to let him know you’re returning home early?”

  “No, I think I’ll surprise him.”

  Gabe took great pleasure in volunteering to escort Sage and Rose back to their rooms after dinner, which was easy enough since they were staying at the same hotel. Parnell had bid everyone good night, and Gabe knew he wanted to do the same to his daughters before it was past their bedtime. After seeing Rose to her room, he caught the elevator up to the sixth floor to see Sage to hers.

  “You really didn’t have to do this, you know,” Sage said, smiling at him in the enclosed confines of the elevator.

  “Yes, I did. One of Joella Blackwell’s strictest rules was to always see a lady safely to her door.”

  “Joella Blackwell?”

  “Yes, my mother.”

  The elevator door opened, and stepping out, they began walking toward Sage’s room. “Is it true that your family adopted Christopher Chandler?”

  Gabe laughed, remembering the article that had appeared in a certain newspaper last year. “I guess you can say that, although of course not legally. Chris was eighteen, and my parents decided they needed another son and I needed a brother. They thought since we were the same age it was perfect. However, at the time I didn’t particularly like Chris and wasn’t all that keen on the idea. But no one fights Joella Blackwell when she makes up her mind about something.”

  He grinned. “I think even Chris was overwhelmed by it all. He was a loner and had been all his life. He’d never had anyone to care for him before, except for his wife, Maxi, when they went to school together as kids, and one of his former teachers. My parents proudly boast of him being their other son, and I’m proud to claim him as a brother.”

  Sage nodded. She had picked up on the special friendship the two of them shared when she’d seen them together earlier that day. “And what about Parnell? He’s raising his daughters alone?”

  Gabe answered, “Yes, his wife was killed in a car accident three years ago. The girls were barely a year old at the time. Parnell took her death extremely hard, and the only thing that held him to his sanity was those girls.”

  Sage shook her head sadly when she thought of the little girls who would grow up without a mother. “Who will take care of them while he’s out here working?”

  “He plans to move them out here with him. And whatever it takes, he’s going to make it work. Chances are that he’ll hire a live-in sitter to help out. Joya and LaToya are his whole world. He is the perfect father, and those girls are the apples of their father’s eyes.”

  Sage thought about the special relationship she’d always shared with her father while growing up. When they finally came to her room, they stopped. “Thanks again, Gabe, for a nice evening. You certainly have your work cut out for you with the Landmark Project, and I do as well. But it’s my belief that we’ll both be successful.”

  Gabe nodded, hearing her confidence surface once again. “That’s my belief as well. And congratulations on your upcoming wedding. Have you set a date?”

  “Yes, June eighth of next year.”

  He smiled and said in all honesty, “I wish you and your fiancé all the best.”

  “Thanks, and if you’re ever in the Charlotte area, let me know.”

  “I will, and I’d like you to do the same if you’re ever in Detroit.”

  “Thanks. Well, I’d better go and start packing since I’m leaving tomorrow.”

  “I hope you have a safe trip back home.”

  She turned and inserted her key in the door, and it clicked open. Giving him a final smile, she said, “Good night,” before slipping inside and closing it behind her.

  Gabe walked away, and for the umpteenth time since first seeing Sage Dunbar, he thought that her fiancé was definitely a very lucky man.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Sage waved goodbye to Rose and Mr. Poole as she walked out of the airport terminal tugging her luggage behind her. She was glad to be back home and couldn’t wait to tell Erol how well things had gone in Alaska.

  Five minutes later she was pulling her BMW out of the parking garage. She glanced at the time on her car’s dashboard. Knowing Erol was probably at the office, she decided to surprise him and go there. But first she wanted to get him a gift for his office, so she pulled into a florist shop. After deciding on a small potted plant that sat in a beautiful ceramic bowl, she walked up to the counter to pay for her purchase, handing the lady her bankcard. She was admiring a beautiful arrangement of fresh-cut flowers when the sales person spoke.

  “I’m sorry, but your card was declined.”

  Sage raised a brow. Her card being declined wasn’t possible. She always kept a balance of at least a thousand dollars in her account, and since she hadn’t used her card since the last time she had been paid, there was a lot more than that in her account. “There must be a mistake,” she said, smiling to the older woman. “Could you try it again?”

  The woman nodded and tried again. Moments later Sage was given the same response—her card had been declined. Sage went into her purse to retrieve cash to make her purchase. This had never happened to her before, and she quickly assumed the mistake was due to a glitch in her bankcard. She was confident that once she contacted her bank, the matter would be straightened out. But still, she decided, she would stop at the first available ATM to verify her bank balance.

  Ten minutes later she walked out of a grocery store upset. The ATM had indicated that she had a twenty-three-dollar balance in her account. Getting back into her car, she quickly strapped up and maneuvered her vehicle back into traffic, anxious to get to the bank before closing time. Someone at the bank had a lot of explaining to do.

  In record time, Sage pulled her car into the parking garage that was connected to the bank as well as other office buildings. Taking the garage’s elevator, she pushed the button for the floor where the bank was located. She wasn’t surprised to find the bank busy, and instead of standing in line for a teller, she went immediately to a bank officer, someone she knew. Her father had worked at this particular branch for a few years before relocating in the bank’s corporate office after he’d gotten a promotion. Adam Montgomery had been a bank teller when her father had been a loan officer.

  “Miss Dunbar, it’s good seeing you,” Adam Montgomery said, taking the hand she offered him.

  “Thanks, Mr. Montgomery, and it’s been a while.”

  The older man smiled and took the chair behind his desk after offering Sage the chair in front of it. “Yes, it has. I ran into your father last month at a business meeting, and he mentioned you’re getting married. Congratulations.”

  “Thanks.”

  Adam Montgomery leaned back in his chair. “Now, what brings you to me? Do you need a loan for that wedding you’re planning?”

  Sage shook her head, grinning. “No, sir, I’m trying to convince Mom to keep things simple.” Sage then shifted in her chair as a concerned expression came onto her face when she remembered the reason for her visit. “Mr. Montgomery, the reason I’m here is because a short while ago I tried to make a purchase with my bankcard and was declined. I later stopped by a grocery store and checked my bank balance at an ATM, and it showed less than twenty-five dollars in my account. According to my records, I should have well over two thousand dollars in there.”

  Adam Montgomery frowned. “Then, there must be some mistake. What is your account number?”

  Sage gave him the information he asked for and watched as he entered the information into his computer. She looked as his frown deepened.

  “Umm, this is interesting,” he said moments later. “Our records are showing that you withdrew two thousand and five hundred doll
ars out of your checking account two weeks ago.”

  Sage sat up straight in her chair. “Your records are incorrect. I haven’t used my bankcard in three weeks, and I definitely didn’t withdraw that much money at one time.”

  Mr. Montgomery looked at her and lifted a brow. “Then, we’ll definitely get to the bottom of this,” he said, standing. “I will have one of the tellers pull a copy of that transaction. Excuse me, I’ll be right back.”

  Sage nodded as she watched him leave his office. She shook her head, wondering how the bank could have made such a horrendous mistake. It was a good thing she hadn’t written any checks yet on her account. She made it a habit to pay all of her bills the first of the month. She stared through Mr. Montgomery’s glass wall and watched him talking to another bank official before they walked to a computer that began printing documents.

  Moments later, Mr. Montgomery returned with a document in his hand. “It seems our records are correct, Miss Dunbar, although you weren’t the one who withdrew the money from your account. This shows the transaction was made by Erol Carlson, and he is named on your account as an authorized user.”

  Sage was momentarily taken aback by Mr. Montgomery’s statement. Of course Erol’s name was on her account; but he had never used it, and he definitely would not have withdrawn money without telling her. “That can’t be possible, Mr. Montgomery. Although my fiancé’s name is on my account, he would not have taken any money out of it without telling me first.”

  Adam Montgomery glanced down at the document in his hand before meeting Sage’s gaze again. “Would you recognize your fiancé’s signature if you saw it?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  Mr. Montgomery handed the document to her. Sage recognized the signature immediately. It was Erol’s. But how … Why? She held her breath while a million questions raced through her head. For the longest time she didn’t say anything. She just continued to study Erol’s signature in near shock. Her concentration was broken when she heard Mr. Montgomery clear his throat.

  “Evidently your fiancé forgot to mention this to you, Miss Dunbar,” the older man offered as way of an excuse.

  Sage nodded, accepting his words but knowing that wasn’t possible. No one could have that much of a memory lapse. What she was seeing didn’t make sense. Erol had his own checking account, and her name was on his account as well; but neither of them used the other’s checking account. And then there was the savings account they had together. Although both their names were on the account, it was mainly hers. She had made a pretty hefty deposit into it last year with the life insurance money her grandmother had willed to her.

  Sage frowned as an unpleasant thought began forming in her mind. “Mr. Montgomery, would you check the balance of my savings account as well? In my estimation, I should have over fifty thousand dollars in it.”

  He nodded, then quickly left his office again.

  Sage’s hand trembled as she reached into her purse for her cell phone. She had to talk to Erol immediately. There had to be a reason he took the money out of her account without talking to her first, or even telling her about it. According to Mr. Montgomery, the money had been removed from her account over two weeks ago. As far as she was concerned, he’d had plenty of time to tell her about it.

  She breathed in heavily when the phone to Erol’s office was answered by his secretary. “Hi, Joan, this is Sage. Is Erol in?”

  “No, Ms. Dunbar, he had a meeting with a client, but he should be on his way back to the office. He indicated he would be working late tonight. You may want to try him on his cell phone.”

  “Thanks, I’ll do that.” She then tried reaching Erol on his cell phone but got his recording instead. Deciding not to leave a message, she had disconnected the call and placed her mobile phone back into her purse when Adam Montgomery returned. She could tell by the look on his face that he was not about to deliver good news.

  “It seems, Miss Dunbar, that all but one hundred dollars was taken out of that account as well, on the same day, and again by Mr. Carlson, who is listed on your account.”

  Sage’s blood immediately went cold. She didn’t want to believe what Adam Montgomery was saying. It couldn’t be true. There was no way Erol would have touched her money without first discussing it with her. There was no way.

  “Are you sure?” she asked, in a voice that trembled so bad she could hear it.

  Sad, apologetic eyes met hers. “Yes, Miss Dunbar, I’m sure. Here is the document for that transaction if you would like to see it.”

  Sage took the second document he handed her. She had to see it for herself. When she did, a part of her wanted to believe it was all a mistake and this couldn’t be happening. She tried to think of some explanation, some excuse, but couldn’t come up with anything. She took a deep breath, forcing herself not to panic, not to jump to conclusions. There had to be a logical, acceptable reason why Erol had done this, and she intended to find out just what it was.

  She stood on shaky legs. “May I keep these papers?”

  “Certainly, and if there’s anything further we can do, please call and let me know.”

  Sage nodded and turned and walked out of the man’s office, literally fuming. When the elevator door opened she rushed inside, quickly pushing the button on the console that would take her to the parking garage. She had to see Erol. He had a lot of explaining to do.

  By the time Sage walked into Erol’s office less than fifteen minutes later, she was boiling mad. After leaving the bank, the more she had thought about what Erol had done, the angrier she had gotten. Since it was past closing time, she had met his secretary on her way out.

  Without wasting any time, she walked down the hallway to his office and immediately opened the door. He glanced up, both startled and surprised to see her. He stood and came around his desk. “Sage? What are you doing here? When did you get back in town?”

  She inhaled deeply, again trying to find a logical explanation for what he had done. “I returned earlier than planned,” she said as calmly as she could. “Didn’t your secretary tell you that I had called?”

  “Yes, but I assumed you had called from Alaska.”

  She clutched the straps of her purse that hung on her shoulder as she struggled for control. Before her stood the man she loved, the man she was planning to marry. Suddenly she was seeing him as a man who had taken over fifty thousand dollars out of her bank accounts without telling her.

  “No, Erol, in fact I was calling from the bank. I went there when my bankcard was declined for a purchase and I couldn’t understand why.” Her heart broke with the expression that suddenly appeared on his face—one of guilt.

  “Sage, I can explain,” he said, taking a step toward her.

  She automatically took a step back. “Can you? How can you explain taking fifty-two thousand dollars from my account without mentioning a word of it to me, Erol?”

  He breathed in and said, “I was trying to find the perfect time to tell you. In fact, I had planned on telling you everything when you got back.”

  Sage became livid. “When I got back! What was wrong with telling me before you did it!”

  “I knew you wouldn’t go along with the reason I needed the money.”

  “Which was?”

  For a long moment he didn’t say anything; then he said, “An investment deal. Edwardo told me about this hot investment tip on this invention that could be worth billions of dollars, but you had to have at least sixty thousand dollars to get in.”

  Sage inhaled deeply, trying to keep her anger in check, but was failing miserably. Edwardo Anders was one of Erol’s frat brothers who was an investment broker. “So you took every penny we had and invested it without talking to me about it first?” she asked incredulously. She couldn’t believe this. She didn’t want to believe this.

  “Like I said, Sage, I knew you would be against it, and all I could think about was getting in on such a great technological opportunity and being like one of those individuals wh
o had the foresight to invest in Microsoft on the ground floor. I figured that in the long run, I would make back at least a hundred times the amount of my initial investment.”

  “So you took it upon yourself to make a decision such as that for the both of us, Erol?” she asked angrily. “You had no right to do that. At least you should have given me the opportunity of saying no, and you didn’t do that. For all you knew I may have gone along with it, although I doubt it. I trusted you, Erol. How could you have taken advantage of me that way?”

  “But don’t you see, Sage? I thought I was doing something that would ultimately benefit the both of us. Even Edwardo didn’t know the investment wasn’t on the up-and-up and—”

  “Whoa, back up,” Sage said, suddenly becoming angrier. “What do you mean the investment wasn’t on the up-and-up? Are you standing there telling me that you lost every single penny you invested?” Sage tightened her hand on her purse straps as she felt the floor beneath her feet begin to shift. She knew the answer to her question before Erol’s lips formulated a response. The look on his face said it all. He had lost all of their money. Every single penny of it.

  “I’m sorry, Sage.”

  Her heart felt heavy in her chest. The words he had just spoken had been the same ones he had whispered to her after they had made love over a week and a half ago. Now she had an idea why he had apologized, but she still needed for him to confirm it.

  “That night we made love and you apologized afterward … You were apologizing for this, weren’t you? You were apologizing for losing all that money.”

  He hesitated only briefly before answering. “Yes.”

  Sage fought back the tears she felt forming in her eyes. The next morning she had asked him about it, giving him the perfect opportunity to come clean and tell her what he’d done, but he had chosen not to, leading her to believe things were all right. Instead, she had to find out this way.