Unyielding (Tortured Love Book 1)

by Ravenna Tate

  “I know that now. I suspected something was off when you told me about what André had done to you regarding the wedding plans, but I had nothing else to go on. I was reluctant to ask you outright because I didn’t want to hear the answer. I didn’t want you to tell me that’s why you’d agreed to this marriage.”

  She stared at him as those words sank in. “Why didn’t you want to hear it, Merrick? If you went into this thinking it was true, why couldn’t you listen to me say the same thing my father had told you?”

  Her heart pounded as they locked gazes. She swallowed hard at the look in his eyes. She’d seen it before, especially this past week.

  “Because a lot has happened in two weeks. If I heard it now, it would hurt me.”

  “Why?”

  “I didn’t expect to care for you.”

  She now had confirmation that the tender looks and gentle tone of voice he occasionally let slip through weren’t her imagination. “I care for you, too, Merrick. I didn’t think I would, but I was wrong.”

  “Even though you now know I have people killed when it suits my purposes?”

  Hot fear shot through her. She didn’t want to have to deal with that issue, but she had no choice. It was part of who he was. “How many times have you done that? I want the truth.”

  “Twice.”

  “Who was the first and why?”

  He shook his head slowly. “Not the right time for that story, Lynda.”

  She wasn’t getting anymore on that subject out of him tonight. She saw that in his eyes, and she was okay with it. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know anyway. “So what happens now?”

  “Now, we have our dinner.”

  “Just like that. We pretend none of this happened.”

  “That’s not what I mean. What do you think we should do? How should we handle this?”

  She threw up her hands in a gesture of helplessness. “I don’t know. I honestly don’t know what to do right now.”

  “We should eat. We’re going to need our strength. And two nights from now, we have a fundraiser to attend. We’ll need to put on happy faces for that.”

  Shit! “I’d forgotten about that.”

  “We have to go. I can’t get out of this one.”

  “All right. But then what? How do we go on after this, knowing what we now know?”

  Merrick rose and pulled her into a tight embrace. Lynda closed her eyes as he held her. Even after everything that had happened tonight, being in his arms still felt heavenly.

  “We go on, Lynda, because we have no other choice. We go on with this marriage, and see where it takes us.”

  ****

  Merrick was emotionally drained by the time he finished dinner. Lynda hadn’t eaten enough, and he’d kept pushing her to, but she finally told him her stomach still hurt and she didn’t want to be sick again.

  After they’d both eaten as much as they were going to, he went to his office to outline a plan to deal with this latest shitstorm. Lynda said she was going to work on designs. He told her he was concerned about her being alone, but she assured him that concentrating on her work was the best thing for her right now.

  He called Jimmy Landers and asked about Lynda’s theory that there were two sets of books, because now that she’d put it out there, he needed to know he hadn’t missed anything in the business accounts. She’d been right about him checking out the company’s assets before the marriage.

  Jimmy reiterated what he’d already told Merrick. While Todd hadn’t been exaggerating about the mess the company was in, as far as he could tell, it had been because Todd was an idiot with money, not because anything underhanded had been going on.

  “Then he must have hidden the proof of the embezzlement in his personal accounts,” said Merrick.

  “We didn’t find any personal records,” said Jimmy. “The office is empty, Merrick. He cleared out everything including his computer. So if they were on there, we’ll never find them.”

  “Fuck. Let’s try this from a different angle. What about his house?”

  “You want me to break in? Doesn’t your wife still have the security codes and keys?”

  “She hasn’t lived there in over ten years, so I doubt it.”

  “Well, all right then. We’ll get inside our own way. Not a problem.”

  “I want Tom’s and Ted’s places checked, too.”

  He heard Jimmy typing. “Okay. We’ll need to watch their homes and find out when they’re—”

  “No one will be there.”

  Jimmy was silent for a few seconds. “I see. Okay, then. That’ll make it easier.”

  “And Jimmy, I need that done fast before any of their neighbors start asking questions or call the cops. In fact, it might be better to search their homes before searching Todd’s, since no one knows he’s gone yet.”

  “Except everyone at the firm where Dean worked.”

  Merrick grunted. “Yeah. True. But they’re not going to break into his house and go searching for anything.”

  “Got it. I’ll set it all in motion, Merrick. What about Dean’s place?”

  “No. Too risky. He has family who might have access to the house. We’ll have to hope we find what we need at the other homes.”

  Tom and Ted lived in the same condo complex, close to each other, so that would make it easier. Neither man had any ex-wives, current wives, or children who would start asking questions. Both dated casually, as their brother had done.

  Their neighbors might start asking questions when the mail piled up outside their boxes, but that would take a while. Plenty of time for Jimmy’s associates to search. Todd’s house would be a bit trickier, but Merrick had faith in the people he and Jimmy hired for such necessary tasks.

  After Merrick got off the call, he put his head in his hands and forced himself to relive everything that had happened this evening. The look on Lynda’s face when she learned her father had watched those two fucking pigs rape her, and had then jerked off instead of stopping them, wasn’t something he would ever forget.

  If Todd was found and extradited, Merrick would have some alone time with him if he had to bribe every fucking FBI agent in the state to get it. His first question would be that one. How the fuck could he have let that happen to his daughter? The second question would be why he’d lied about why Lynda had agreed to marry him.

  Although Merrick could probably work out that one on his own.

  Todd had wanted animosity between them from the start. He didn’t want them liking each other, or even worse uniting against him. If he could assure they started their married life as anything but friends, the possibility was greater that he’d get away with what he’d done.

  Merrick wondered whether he thought he’d have more time, and if something had made him change his mind and leave sooner than expected. Either way, it didn’t matter. It was done. But at least Merrick now knew the truth.

  Lynda had married him for one reason only. To save the company. After all those three had done to her, she still felt loyalty to her family’s business. That either made her the biggest chump on the planet, or an extraordinary woman.

  His protective instincts had kicked in tonight, and now he had time to analyze why. He was falling in love with his wife. Merrick wasn’t sure how he felt about that. She was a beautiful woman. No doubt about it. And she was incredible in bed. But great sex wasn’t enough to sustain a relationship for very long, let alone a marriage.

  He had vowed this would never happen again. He’d never fall in love again. If you loved someone, they got hurt. You got hurt. And the pain never went away.

  But how the fuck was he supposed to stop it? Did he even want to stop it?

  Lynda was a special person, even without the sacrifice she’d made for those three assholes. She was kind and talented. She gave him his space and didn’t push her way into it. She gave him plenty of sex.

  She was trying very hard to make this a real marriage, but what the fuck did that even mean? What constituted a �
�real” marriage? Who the hell knew if there was such a thing?

  Were they both doing enough in this relationship? Could they make this marriage work, despite all the baggage they each brought to it? Hell. What did he know about sustaining a marriage? He and Theresa had only been married three years. It was a pathetically short time, in the grand scheme of things.

  Thinking about Theresa inevitably brought on the guilt these days, and this evening was no exception. He hadn’t told Lynda anything about her, or about that time in his life. The months following Theresa’s death had inexorably changed him.

  He should tell her, but dear God in heaven how was he supposed to find the words? What was the perfect segue into that conversation? Especially after the way she’d reacted tonight when he’d told her that her uncles would never bother her again.

  It was better if she never found out about the events surrounding Theresa’s death. She didn’t need to know, and after what her uncles had forced her to face down today, she probably wouldn’t want to know. He was only protecting her, after all.

  And a man needed some secrets. Everyone did.

  Right. Just keep telling yourself that.

  Merrick forced his concentration back to the immediate issues, but he couldn’t think of one more thing to be done for damage control. This wouldn’t make the press unless the bodies were found, but Merrick wasn’t worried about that.

  The others had been found eventually, but the cases were dead. No ties to him or the men he’d hired existed, and this would end up the same way even if the bodies were found. No one would ever trace this back to him, despite his relationship to their niece. Merrick knew people who would make sure that Todd and Dean took the rap for this, if it came to down to the necessity of pinning it on someone.

  Merrick was done for the night. He closed his laptop and went in search of Lynda. He knocked on her door but there was no answer, so he slowly opened it. She wasn’t at her desk. He peered into the bathroom but it was empty.

  As soon as he walked into her bedroom, he caught her scent. He turned on a small lamp and smiled. She was sound asleep, dressed in a tank top and shorts, curled up on top of her comforter with her laptop next to her.

  He closed the laptop, went back into the hallway, opened the door to his suite, and pulled back his covers. Then he returned to her bedroom, lifted her off the bed, and carried her into his room. She barely stirred. He laid her on the bed and crawled in next to her.

  Merrick wrapped his arms around his wife and drifted off to sleep, hoping she’d been forced to relive the last of the horrible memories in her past. He believed she deserved some happiness in her life from this point forward, and he was determined to help her achieve that.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Lynda spent a lot of time on her designs during the next two days, while Merrick was in his office, buried in a project that he was being very secretive about. That was fine with her. She needed time to process everything, and to decide whether she wanted to stay married to him.

  It wasn’t that the idea of hiring killers made her think he was going to hell, or would be punished for such behavior. Her moral conscience wasn’t that high. It was rather that his confession made her wonder what else he was hiding in his past, and what it might mean for her, or for them as a couple.

  Now that the reason he’d married her no longer existed, would the pre-nup matter? Even if her father and Dean were found and extradited, that didn’t mean Merrick would recover the company’s assets. If the money was gone, it was gone. Even he couldn’t work that kind of magic.

  Granted, he might want to stay married to her for other reasons, but she wasn’t sure fabulous sex was enough to keep her in this. Liar. Lynda had been battling this contradiction in her emotions for two days. It wasn’t easy to admit she was falling in love with Merrick. She wasn’t even sure why she felt this way.

  For at least the tenth time that morning, Lynda mentally ticked off the reasons. His looks, his dick, his strength, those hard muscles, and those intense eyes. Okay. Those were all great reasons, but they were only superficial ones. What was it about the person inside that she liked so much?

  He had stood up for her. More than once now. He hadn’t been pissed off after finding out she’d lied to him about the fictitious teen boy story. He hadn’t thrown the story about Rey back in her face. He wasn’t cruel to her. In fact, he’d gone out of his way this past week to be especially gracious. On the surface, he seemed to be trying to make the best of this marriage. And he certainly didn’t dislike her. Quite the opposite.

  And now for all the reasons she shouldn’t like him. He wasn’t a warm person, or at least he wasn’t toward her. Well, to be fair, some of the time he was warm toward her. She didn’t know if he was warm toward others, so that cool, detached demeanor might be business as usual for him. He didn’t mistreat the staff or his security detail, but he wasn’t overly friendly with them, either.

  She’d seen him smile, but not laugh. At least not at anything humorous, like a joke they had shared together. She couldn’t help wonder whether his distant personality was the reason he’d never married. Then again, he might have stayed single by choice. Some people simply did. It didn’t mean there was anything wrong with them. She’d never given a shit about marriage.

  Despite there being reasons not to like Merrick, she enjoyed his company. It was nice to be with a man who stuck up for her. It was wonderful to see him show commitment toward things he believed in. His aura mesmerized her when he was in what she liked to call “full power mode”.

  Lynda sighed as she glanced at the time. She would rather sit here and muse about her husband, but she had to get ready for this damn fundraiser.

  She’d been offered a maid on her first day here, but had declined. She’d been dressing herself since she was a toddler, and would continue doing so without help. The dress Merrick had bought for her was perfect. She had to admit he certainly knew what looked great on her.

  Lynda had taken a shower earlier. Her hair was done, as were her nails. She put on the cobalt blue underwear that matched the dress, then imagined him peeling it off her before they fucked again. Her pussy grew moist just thinking about it.

  They hadn’t made love since the day her uncles had come over. Lynda wanted to forget that day, and wondered if she ever would. Were they really dead? She hadn’t asked Merrick any more questions about that night, and he hadn’t volunteered any information. Maybe it was better this way? Ignorance was bliss, right?

  She had to admit that the dress looked stunning. Once she was dressed, including new shoes, she was so busy admiring the finished product that she didn’t see him come into the room at first. When she caught sight of him, reflected in her mirror, she smiled and turned to face him. “Damn, you look good in a tux.”

  He really did. It was white tie tonight, so he’d gone all out. She couldn’t stop staring at him, and wished now they didn’t have to go. She was so hot for him again it was ridiculous.

  His gaze roamed over her, that sexy grin widening, until she could hardly breathe. “Lynda, I’m speechless. You look incredible in that color.”

  “Thank you.”

  He gazed into her eyes with lust and love, and her heart pounded. How could she have even contemplated not wanting to stay in this marriage? Was she out of her freaking mind? No one had ever looked at her like that. No one. And she liked it. Hell, she loved it. She loved his power and his strength, and she loved the fact that he wasn’t afraid to do what he wanted, damn the consequences.

  If that made her bad, then so be it. But one thing was clear as she admired her handsome husband. She did not want to walk away from this marriage. She did not want to walk away from Merrick. She wanted to stay. She wanted to make this relationship work.

  “I wish we didn’t have to go.” His words mirrored her thoughts. Lynda smiled and started to walk toward him, but he held up a hand. “Hold on. I have one more thing to give you to wear tonight. Turn around and face the mirror.”
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  She did as he asked, then watched him pull a flat velvet box out of his jacket pocket. He placed it on her dresser, opened it, then retrieved what had been inside and palmed it. When he moved behind her, he held up a pair of exquisite earrings that matched the color of the dress.

  “Are those real sapphires?”

  “Yes. Would you like me to put them in for you?”

  Oh, what a question! She giggled. “I do love it when you put things in for me, Merrick.”

  He smiled, then expertly put an earring in each lobe. “And now the crowning touch.” He help up a matching necklace, but it didn’t sport only sapphires. It was laced with tiny diamonds that sparkled. She could only stare at him as he draped it around her neck and then fastened the clasp. “There we go. Now you’re ready.”

  “Merrick, I don’t know what to say.”

  He kissed her neck, and she moaned softly. “Say you like the jewelry.”

  “I love it. Thank you.”

  “My pleasure.” He held out his arm. “Shall we do this?”

  ****

  Lynda recognized quite a few people at the fundraiser, but quickly realized she only knew them because their names and faces were constantly in the press. She also quickly realized why Merrick steered her from group to group, and never let anyone monopolize her for very long. Every single person there only wanted to know one thing. Why had none of them known she and Merrick were dating seriously enough to consider marriage?

  Lynda hadn’t paid attention to the gossip on the Internet for over a week. Doing so stifled her creativity, and the rest of the time Merrick had kept her busy in bed. It was a huge disappointment to realize that most of these people hadn’t moved beyond that damn question.

  More than one person rudely sized up her abdominal area as they complimented her on the dress, but Lynda wasn’t fooled by their words. They were trying to determine whether she was hiding a baby bump.

  After the third one, she started saying it out loud when their eyes drifted south. “I’m not pregnant. Don’t believe everything you read online.”