Page 188 of Charming Deception

“No. It was never like that. He never hit me or anything. He just… wants something he can’t have.”

I suck in a breath through my teeth. “He won’t be back. He won’t bother you again. He’s not that brave. If he does… He knows I’ll come after him.”

She hesitates. “Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me. It’s my job. I’m your man.”

She stares at me, tears shining. “I feel terrible.”

“Megan.” I pull her into me, her head to my chest, and hold her tight. “I’m sorry I said that thing about the other women…”

“Is it true?”

I hesitate. I can’t stand to hurt her. But I can’t let him hurt her either.

And I can’t lie to her.

“Yes.”

“How do you know?”

“Background check. And surveillance. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I needed to know if he posed a real danger to you.”

She squeezes me tighter. “He doesn’t. Not anymore.”

The relief that floods me is heady. I feel dizzy. There’s so much adrenaline thudding through me, my cock is half-hard.

I take a deep breath and try to calm down. I don’t want my pounding heart to scare her.

I need to be her rock.

Her hero.

She peeks over my shoulder toward the two men who linger on the front porch. “Is Rurik in trouble?”

I sigh. “Baby. Why did you run off? You could’ve asked me for help. You should’ve asked me.”

“It was a mistake. I should never have come. I knew that as soon as I got here.” She sucks in a deep breath. “I knew he was lying over the phone.”

I tip her head up and look into her eyes.

“I’ve been ignoring his calls. I haven’t said a word to him since I left. Because the only way you can get rid of a narcissist is to cut them off. Stop feeding their bottomless need for attention. I know that.” She laughs humorlessly. “My dad taught me that. He was the same way with my mom. She eventually had to just end it cold to make it stop. And eventually… he moved on to someone else.”

“Baby… I’m sorry.” It’s the only thing I can think to say.

She deserves a better father than the one she got.

She breathes a soft, sad sound of surrender. “I got a call today from an unknown number, and I shouldn’t have answered it. Ever since our relationship went public, I get a lot of random calls. But this one was from a Manitoba area code and I just thought, what if it’s someone I know? And once he got me on the phone… He started laying into me about how wrong it was, what I did to him. That I had to come back. That I’d never find anyone like him. He actually tried to convince me that he was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

I can’t help it. I snarl in disgust.

She peers up at me. “Did you just snarl?”

“I think I did.”

“Well, don’t worry. I didn’t fall for it. I knew he was just trying to manipulate me, to get what he wants, which is more of my attention. So… I snuck out the back of Nicole’s building so Rurik wouldn’t know I left and went to the airport and waited for a flight on standby. I kept thinking what I was doing was ridiculous. That I wasn’t even going to get a flight. That I should just call you and tell you what was going on. But… I had this killer urge to come back here and face him. I feel like I ran out on him like a coward. And I had to tell him, to his face, that it’s over.”

“But that didn’t really work.”

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