Page 101 of Corrupt Game

Confusion, betrayal and mistrust, anger, acceptance of what she couldn’t change and then finally giving up.

She should never have had to deal with that. It was completely unfair to her to have my traumas heaped on her to deal with. On top of her having to relive past horrors.

I wouldn’t have had to take off in most cases, but I never thought that she would take it like that. I’d done more than broken herspirit, I’d broken her. She’d lost hope that I would be there when she needed me. There had to be some way that I could make that up to her without crossing any boundaries or putting myself into a position that would make things more difficult.

The whole situation with Andrew’s death had brought down a shit storm of problems. There hadn’t been any way to help it, but I could have communicated much better.

I could’ve gone downstairs and told her I would be leaving for a few days. Would that have been so difficult?

“Fuck!” I watched the camera as she sobbed and then withdrew into herself once again.

She murmured something and I rewound, straining my ears to catch it. It was hard to make out, but it sounded like “Andy.”

That…was unexpected. I’d ask her about it in the morning. It might be a coincidence, but I didn’t much believe in them.

On the other hand, I’d already hurt her deeply. I wanted to fix what I’d done, make sure it wasn’t something irreparable.

A rustle behind me announced Rossi’s presence.

“When she fainted and I called the doctor. I had him run a panel on her which included a DNA sample,” he said.

I growled at the action.

“You were in the air, sir. We know she’s hiding something, but we don’t know what it is. Now, we can find her family through the system and see what secrets she’s been keeping from us. And if it’s simply something she’s embarrassed about, rather than a threat.”

“Let me know the minute you have those results,” I ordered.

“Yes, sir.”

My tone softened as I looked at Rossi, stern but concerned. “Thank you, Gregorio. You are always looking out for me.”

“I just hope that we can find out the truth before it’s too late,” he said.

“I care deeply for her. Secrets can kill, but I’m hoping that whatever Collette is hiding is trivial.” I got up and headed for the guest bedroom. “Get the car ready. We’re heading back to the cabin.”

The conversation was over for today.

When I walked into the bedroom my hands ached to touch her skin and pull her into my arms. I wanted to wrap her up and let her know that she will never be hurt by me or anyone ever again.

“Baby, I’m so sorry. I never meant for you to be caught between things. I had no idea that I would start falling in love with you. There’s more going on than I can tell you about. It’s super complicated.” I leaned over and moved a hair out of her face. “But know that my feelings are true and real.”

Why couldn’t I speak to her like this when she was awake?

In such a short time, she’d come to mean more to me than I could imagine. I’d never been tempted to tear up a contract before, but I couldn’t. Not yet, anyway.

So many other things were in motion that I didn’t feel comfortable having someone that I cared about out there where they could get caught in the crossfire. There were enemies that would take every advantage to take whatever they could from me that would cause me to do what they wanted.

She didn’t deserve to die.

I was going to do everything I could to make sure that she was safe even if it meant taking her back to the cabin and keeping her in the basement.

She snuggled into my arms when I picked her up and sighed in her sleep.

Chapter 33: Colette

Darkness surrounded me as I opened my eyes. The room was void of any presence but my own. I’d gone to sleep in a bed in the condo and woken up in the basement again

Anger welled up. I was tired of being put in a box. But it was part of our agreement, and I’d deal with it.

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