Page 16 of Cruel Master

A weak, vulnerable woman was useless to a man such as myself, but a woman with absolutely no softness was not desirable either. Angel was the best of both. Strong but beautifully hungry for affection.

I loved this. Having her in my space, naked and dependent on me. The reminder of her there, on my computer screen is enough to have my cock hardening in my pants. Still, at the same time, there’s a pang in my chest. The high-protocol BDSM life could be fun, but the truth of the matter was that she and I weren’t part of that.

The truth of the lifestyle all relied on the trust between a Dom and a sub. For us, trust had been broken, all but erased. Her lies and her betrayal burned in the back of my mind on a constant low heat until it was ready to drive me to the brink of madness. Yes, I wanted her. I desired her. Craved her, but more so than just her body.

Evangeline Price was the woman of my dreams. In my core, I wanted to devour and corrupt. Now, though, things were different. I hated that. Hated her for that.

We weren’t a true Dominant or submissive. We weren’t true Master and slave, and we wouldn’t be until she finally opened up and told me the truth. Until she trusted me enough to let me into her deepest parts. Not her pussy but her fucking mind and heart. Until we had that trust, this was all just like shadows dancing on the wall. A pseudo-relationship watered down.

“Gaven!” Angel called my name on the screen. “I want to talk.”

I leaned to the side, watching as Angel continued to glare at the camera—through it. In my pants, my cell buzzed, alerting me to a call.

With a sigh, I withdrew the device, glancing at the screen before answering. “Belmonte,” I barked into the receiver.

“Damn,” Archer said, “for someone who asked for a favor, you sure sound grouchy.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose between my thumb and forefinger, forcing back the dull throb beginning in the front of my head as much as I could through sheer willpower. “Just tell me what you’ve found,” I ordered.

“Don’t need to,” Archer replied. “I just sent you a file. You’ll be able to see what I’ve found for yourself.”

I grabbed the mouse and clicked away from the cameras. Angel could shout for me all she wanted, but I was the one in control here. I would give her my attention when I saw fit. Pulling up the secured email Archer would have used, I found the file waiting for me. “I see it,” I said, opening the folder and then scrolling to the file attached.

“It lists everything your girl has been up to for the last five years—or at least what I could find. Funnily enough, when I talked to Scarlett, she said she recognized her.”

“Hadrian’s woman?” I clarified.

“Yup.” Archer popped the last part of the word, and the sound of his fingers tapping across a keyboard filtered over the background.

“She recognized Angel?” I sat up straighter. What would an ex-international thief have been doing to run into my wife?

“She said she met her in some bar in Cabo,” he replied. “Scar said they didn’t talk much, but she had a feeling that the girl was running from something. She’s got good instincts like that. Kinda funny, though, that she would have come that close to someone you’ve worked with.”

“I wouldn’t say that I’ve worked with the Scarlett Thief,” I replied dryly.

Archer chuckled. “No, of course not. She hates your guts.”

I hummed. No doubt if Miss Scarlett had known that Angel was running from me, she would have helped her. I scrolled down the line of dates, photographs, and timestamps collected on the document before me. Cabo. Italy. Fuck, even China. Angel had been all around the world in the last five years, it appeared. Another country pops up and I scowl.

“She was in Australia two years ago.” Rage surfaced, as well as the old memory. I’d almost fucking had her then. Two years ago, I’d gotten a tip from one of my many contacts. A woman matching her description had been seen in the Sydney area. I’d sent men ahead, but once I’d gotten there myself, the woman in question had disappeared. I’d never truly known if it had been her or another ruse. The information in the file, though, along with CCTV footage told me that I’d been close. Because of my delay, though, I’d missed my chance to have her two years earlier. A curse worked its way up my chest, but before it could slip free as I turned my attention to other points in the file.

“There’s nothing in here about the men she’s fucked.” The words were vile on my tongue, but I needed to be sure. I needed to know just exactly what she’d been up to, and who she’d been involved with. The doctor hadn’t seen any signs of childbirth or recent sex, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t played around while she’d been overseas.

“That’s not a mistake,” Archer confirmed. “It looks like your girl was pretty much on lockdown. She’s practically lived the life of a nun for the past five years. Any man I’d found her with on CCTVs hasn’t been confirmed. Some of them are dead, married, or … well, let's just say they play for a different team.”

“What about the man she’d been with in Queens?”

“Yeah, I got him too.” Another email popped up on my screen as he spoke and I switched my focus as I opened yet another new file and scanned the contents.

“Ronald Wiser,” Archer said. “He’s a bit younger than her usual clients, but—”

“What’s his job?” I interrupted.

“Scientist—boy’s practically a genius, at least on paper. He’s into the research of progressing the medical field. As of now, though, since you picked her up—there’s been no sign of him on the map. He’s disappeared. His mother filed a missing person’s report last Friday when he didn’t show up to work for several days or respond to any of her calls.”

“He went underground,” I determined.

“That’s a good assumption,” Archer replied with his agreement. “Don’t really know why yet though.”

---