by Shauna Hart
Unable to stop herself, the words that had been in her thoughts bubbled to the surface, releasing involuntarily.
“I love you,” she whispered.
His eyebrows drew together as his eyes narrowed. He stared at her, breathing deeply.
It wasn't the reaction a woman prayed for when she said those three words, but she had to tell him. No matter what happened between them, she wanted him to know just how much he meant to her.
And she wouldn't regret it.
Even if she lost him.
* * * *
Joe stared at her as her eyelids fluttered closed. The words had left her mouth so effortlessly. He reached out to pull a stray lock of hair away from her face, tucking it behind her shoulder. Her breathing had steadied now, letting him know that she had fallen into a deep sleep. Her fingers flexed against his chest.
None of his careful planning could have prepared him for this.
The last time he had heard those three words, they had been a lie.
A lie that had cut him deep. A lie that was still bleeding.
But the certainty in Mara's eyes when she said them was clear.
It was no lie.
She loved him.
His chest tightened painfully as he looked at her. God, she was beautiful. More than he would ever deserve. He turned to stare up at the ceiling.
Could a man like him ever be whole again?
Or would he just end up hurting the thing he loved the most?
* * * *
The bitch might have thought she could get away from him, but she was wrong. She would never be free of him. Tonight, they had left the porch light on.
As if that could protect them.
He chuckled, his chest bowing out with pride.
They were scared.
Good!
They should be.
Tonight was just a preview.
It wouldn't stop there.
He didn't want them to have one moment of peace. And they wouldn't if he had anything to say about it.
He had been so close, so close to having her all to himself again. If that bitch friend of hers hadn't shown up, he would have her now. God, it felt good to have her beneath him, to have her whimpering in pain, to know that he was in control.
When he took her next time, he would make her pay for everything she had done, for every moment that she had played the whore, and he would make her understand what it meant to be his. Bile rose up in his throat as he remembered the things that she had done with Gates, the things she'd let him do to her. The bastard had turned her into a slut who was all too happy to spread her legs at any time.
But she would pay soon.
Soon, she would beg to be forgiven.
Her penance would be long and painful. He would make sure of that. She would never doubt his control again.
Tonight had been a taste, but soon he would have his fill of her.
From across the street, he could see a dim light flickering in the upstairs bedroom window. A satisfied smile slid across his face.
She couldn't sleep.
Good.
His fingers curled into fists, his nails digging into the skin of his palms.
“Are you wondering where I am?” His voice carried into the stillness of the night.
“I'm right here, baby. And I'm coming for you.”
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* * *
Chapter 23
Mara woke up with a jolt, her heart racing. Joe rolled over, still sleeping. She slipped out of bed, heading over to the window. The dream had been so vivid, so real. It was like he was standing out there waiting for her, waiting for the perfect moment. She glanced down at the street below, her eyes adjusting to the darkness.
That was when she saw it.
A shadow.
No, a man standing beneath a tree on the other side of the road.
All of the air in her lungs seemed to evaporate as panic closed in.
“Joe, there's someone outside,” she croaked, her voice betraying her fear.
Before she knew it, he was standing beside her, pulling his pants on.
“Where?” he asked, his gaze scanning the shadowed street.
“There. Right by that tree, I saw someone.”
She barely had time to point before he was out the door. Grabbing a robe, she headed out after him. Finally, she caught up to him just before he made it out the door. He turned to give her a sharp look when he heard her come down the stairs.
“Stay back,” he warned.
She watched as he walked out the door, firmly shutting it behind him. Her heart beating fast, she raced over to the window. Holding her breath, she watched as he crossed the street. He glanced back and forth, clearly surprised to find no one there before walking back across the street.
Even as he started to come back to the house, she searched the road.
He came back inside, his face grim. “Whoever he was, he's gone now,” he said.
“Gone. But for how long? He's out there watching us,” she explained.
He crossed the room, pulling her into his arms. “We'll find him,” he murmured into her hair. “I promise.”
She nodded against his shoulder. “But will we find him before he finds us?”
His silence confirmed her fears. There was no guarantee, no assurance that things would work out, that things would be okay.
And Joe wasn't the type of man who would lie to her to appease her.
As much as she was grateful for that fact, she couldn't help but be terrified of the reality. They were puppets in some strange show, waiting for a crazed maniac to call the shots.
But would they find him before he found them?
* * * *
Mara sat on the couch, trying to feign interest in a popular sitcom. It had been two days since the attack, and she was still shaky.
It had also been two days since she'd told Joe that she loved him. To his credit, he hadn't said a word about it. In fact, he acted like it had never happened. And that bothered her more. She was beginning to think that her rash confession was going to ruin everything. If only she had been able to keep her big mouth shut, she might not be in this predicament.
Still, she knew that in that moment, she had had no choice. She had been lost in him, and the words were out before she could suck them back in. She curled her legs underneath her on the couch.
Now, all she could do was wait. And patience was not something she had a ready supply of. As much as she didn't want to, she had to consider the possibility that this would not end well. She heard the rumble of a car outside and turned to peek out the blinds.
“It's not him,” James said, his gaze still focused on the television set.
She turned to stare at him in surprise. “What?” she asked, not sure she had heard him correctly.
His gaze met hers. “He wouldn't be home this early. Besides, I can usually tell when it's his car.”
She looked away, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment that she was so easy to read.
“You're good for him, you know?”
Her head snapped up. “What?”
He looked at her. “I love my grandson. But it's time he realized that he's not as hard as he thinks he is.”
She sighed heavily, wondering if her rash actions the other night had given him the perfect excuse to remember that.
“Don't give up on him. He needs you more than he realizes.”
Her heart swelled with hope at his words. “I won't,” she promised, hoping that it wouldn't be a lie, hoping that she was strong enough.
* * * *
Later as she finished cleaning in the kitchen, Ellen came in.
“Well, it looks like the handsome devil is already sacked out. I guess I'll get out of here unless you need something.”
“Ellen, do you think James knows what he's saying?” she asked hesitantly.
The other woman's eyebrows furrowed together. “Why? Did he say something that upset you?”
Mara shook her head. “No, he didn't say anything. I just wondered.”
Ellen looked thoughtful for a moment before she answered. “Alzheimer's is a pretty hard disease to understand. It robs him of simple day-to-day facts but magnifies events that happened twenty years ago. Sometimes, he'll go on and on about a person, like he saw them yesterday. It takes me a few minutes to realize that he's thinking of a different time in his life.”
Mara stared at her. She had never had any experience with the disease before now. It didn't seem fair that an illness could rob someone of their memories.
“But I'll tell you something,” Ellen continued. “Don't ever think that man doesn't see what's going on around him. Sometimes, I think he sees more than we do. People have a way of not paying attention when they don't think you'll remember it. But he does. He remembers all of it. It may not come out the way we want it to, but it's there.”
Mara nodded.
She hoped that Ellen was right.
In fact, she was counting on it.
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* * *
Chapter 24
Mara stepped out of the large walk-in shower, shutting the glass door behind her. Grabbing a towel from the rack, she wrapped it around her body. She walked up to the counter, scrubbing a hand across the steamed-up mirror. Staring at her reflection, she noted the changes.
The timid woman she had been was a thing of the past.
She wasn't that girl anymore. It was there in the set of her shoulders, the confident lift of her chin. As much as she wished she could claim the victory as her own, she knew that it would be a lie.
It was Joe who had changed everything.
He made her aware of just how sexy and special she was. She owed him more than he would ever know for that. Even her writing had gone through a total transformation. Her editor said that this was her best book yet, and the advance reviews she was getting were proof that the book resonated deeply with readers.
She wasn't naïve enough to think that the future was set. With everything that was happening, the one thing she could count on was inconsistency. But she couldn't help but hope that fear for her safety wasn't the only reason Joe wanted her here.
She smiled as she reached for the jar of scented powder. Letting the towel drop to the floor, she lifted the feather duster, trailing it along her skin to let the powder create a shimmer across her skin. Just thinking about being with him was enough to make her pussy flood with moisture.
She leaned back to glance at the clock. He would be home soon.
Home.
It was the way she had come to think of this house.
And of the people inside of it.
She quickly dried her hair and applied a light coat of makeup. Walking into the bedroom, she grabbed the lace corset off the bed, holding it up in front of her.
What would he think when he came home to find her waiting for him?
Her lips curled up as she began to put it on. Then she slid the silk stockings on, attaching them to the garters.
She heard the door open downstairs, and a grin slid across her face. Pulling her robe off the bed, she pulled it over her shoulders. She hurried to the door.
Tonight would be a night that Mr. Gates would never forget.
When she pulled the door open, she was met with an evil grin.
“You won't get away from me tonight.”
* * * *
“Damn it, how much longer is this going to take?” Joe bellowed, his aggravation clear.
Curtis shrugged. “Sorry, boss, but with Jenson out, I would hate for things to get crazy here if you left.”
Joe paced back and forth in front of the monitors.
It didn't make any sense.
Curtis had kept him here for the last hour because he was worried about a member of the club becoming violent. He claimed the guy had already been asked to leave once.
But if that were true, why hadn't he heard about it?
In fact, if there had been a problem in a previous visit, he had been completely oblivious to it.
Was Cal right?
Was he really that out of touch with what was going on at the club?
He didn't want to believe it.
It just didn't feel right.
He stared at the monitor, waiting for something, anything to happen. But all he saw was a couple enjoying themselves on a Friday night. There was nothing to suggest that the situation could turn harmful.
A quick glance at the clock over Curtis’ head told him that he was running late. Mara would be waiting for him.
He crossed his arms over his chest. “I just don't see it, Curtis,” he confessed.
Curtis came over to stand beside him. “I'm telling you, boss. There's something about the guy that I don't trust. If you had seen him the other night...” He trailed off.
Joe's eyes narrowed as he watched the grainy image of the man as he bent down, his head between the woman's legs.
Something wasn't right.
Either he was losing his grip ... or Curtis was lying?
But what reason would Curtis have to lie?
Shaking his head, he turned to face him. “Well, I don't see it. If something happens, you have my cell phone number. I can be here in less than ten minutes.”
He grabbed his jacket off the hook on the door, shrugging into it.
“But, boss, I don't trust this guy. After what happened the other night...”
Joe spun on his heel to level Curtis with a stern glare. “What about the other night? Why didn't I get a report on what happened?” he demanded, his temper flaring.
Curtis’ eyes widened. “I gave it to you.”
Joe's eyebrows drew together. “Then why isn't it in his file where it should be?” he challenged.
Curtis looked away. “I don't know. I followed procedure. I put a copy on your desk, and I put a copy in the file. After that, I don't know what happened to it.”
Joe stared at him, his jaw clenching.
Curtis was lying.
He could see it in the man's eyes.
But why?
He opened the door to his office, holding it wide. “We can discuss this tomorrow. For now, it looks like things are okay.”
Curtis shook his head, his anger clear. As he passed, he muttered something under his breath.
“Did you have something to add?” Joe prodded.
Curtis turned, his hands clenching at his sides. “I'm surprised.”
Joe let out a heavy sigh. “Surprised by what exactly?” he replied.
“Surprised by the fact that you're going to let some cunt get in the way of business,” he bit out.
Rage clouded his vision, making it difficult to keep from pummeling the other man. “Curtis, I think you should leave. Now!”
His eyes narrowed. “Fine! Who the hell needs this fucking job anyway? You're a dumb son of a bitch. And believe me, you'll get what you deserve.”
Before he could make sense of the dire warning, the other man was storming down the hall. He stared after him for a moment, trying to make sense of the drastic about-face.
He glanced down at his watch.
Two bouncers down meant it would take even longer to get out of here.
He grimaced as he thought of Mara waiting for him.
It looked like it was going to be a long night.
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* * *
Chapter 25
“What are you doing here, Dan?” she asked, her voice trembling.
She backed away, watching intently as he followed her step for step.
His eyes narrowed as he took in her attire.
“Were you waiting for me? Did you know that tonight would be the night?” he challenged.
She tried to still her racing pulse, but it seemed impossible. Suddenly, all of the pieces fit together perfectly. The person who had been stalking her had seemed to know too much, and why not? He knew everything about her, because he had lived with her. He knew her h
abits. He knew when she ate and when she slept.
“The night for what, Dan?”
He let out an evil laugh as he reached out to stroke her cheek. She jerked away from him, repulsed by his touch.
“The night you come back to me,” he explained.
“I'm not coming back to you,” she said, her voice surprisingly steady.
For a moment, his eyes blazed and she could see the fury beneath the surface. But he quickly guarded it.
“You would rather be a whore?”
When she didn't respond, he continued.
“I will admit that I was surprised. I never would have believed that you would do half the things I've seen you do in the past few weeks,” he observed, his lips twisting in distaste.
“Maybe I didn't have the right partner?” she suggested boldly.
Suddenly, his gaze turned hard as he grabbed her chin, pulling her face level with his. “Watch it!” he bit out, holding her there for a minute before releasing her.
She stumbled backward before regaining her balance. Tears filled her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She would never give him that pleasure.
“The pictures ... the break in ... It was all you?”
An evil smile slid across his face. “You never suspected a thing,” he boasted.
“But how did you get into the club? You're not a member?”
He smirked. “That was a challenge ... at first. But then I met Curtis. He was only too happy to let me in. For the right price, of course.”
She shook her head, the facts becoming a wild jumble in her mind. “The girl?” she mouthed.
He tilted his head to the side, one eyebrow quirking up. “It's not hard to find a girl who's willing to do what you want in New Orleans, Mara.”
Anger boiled up inside of her, demanding an outlet. She was about to tear into him when she saw him pull the rope from his waistband. Fear slithered up her spine as she realized just how dangerous he had become.
Her gaze flickered toward the door. If only she could get past him...
He raised his hand, his finger waving back and forth in front of her. “Don't get any stupid ideas in that head of yours,” he warned.
