Page 8 of Mine to Keep

Chapter Five

Veronica could feelRobert standing beside her, absorbing every detail of their surroundings with professional judgment. They were in a rough area, surrounded by rough people. Did he understand where she’d brought him? His tension felt like a physical presence, absorbing all the air around her and sapping her strength. She so badly wanted him to keep adoring her and thinking well of her, but she needed him to know the worst.

Years of counselling had taught her the truth about herself. Olivia, her counsellor had helped her to realize that none of it was her fault. She was the victim of both systemic violence and bad people. Yes, she’d made rotten choices in her life, but nothing in her early years had taught her how to make the right choices. Or even to recognize what the right choices were when they came along. The first good thing that had happened to her was a vicious, street smart ten-year-old boy. And she’d seized that opportunity with both hands and held on tight.

Glancing sideways at her protection, she squared her shoulders and stepped forward into the room. It was a rundown meeting space in the basement of a church in Victory Square, one of the areas in Vancouver’s East Side with the worst drug problems. She caught sight of a good friend and made a beeline for her. Robert didn’t stop her from entering the room, as she was half afraid he might, but he dogged her every step.

“Veronica, my girl!” Serena crowed when she caught sight of her. “It’s been far too long since we’ve seen your face around here!” Serena ran a local shelter and had taken both Veronica and Allie in long ago when they had no place to stay. The two women had developed a quick and tight friendship, even though Veronica was still using back then. When Veronica had decided to get clean, Serena was one of her greatest supports.

Veronica’s back went up when she heard Robert’s snort behind her, but she ignored him, instead returning Serena’s tight embrace with one of her own. Veronica touched Serena’s long grey braid affectionately and smiled at the other woman.

She glanced over at her fierce protector, who was so close to her back, his shoulder was brushing her hair. She looked around and hid an amused smile. People were side-eyeing him nervously. He seemed as though he could fit in, with his grizzled appearance of scruffy grey hair, week-old beard, torn jeans and jacket. But his crossed arms, bulging muscles and “piss off” attitude were definitely intimidating. He’d definitely figured out they were at a narcotics anonymous meeting and he didn’t seem happy that she hadn’t warned him first.

Well he could suck it. If she’d told him they were coming to Victory Square after dark and meeting in a basement in an area known for gang shootings, he’d have either flat out refused or called in back up. Which might’ve scared off the other participants. Veronica was too protective of the program to allow that.

“You want to speak tonight, baby girl?” Serena asked gently, squeezing Veronica’s arm to draw her attention away from her giant, intimidating bodyguard. “We have several new faces in here that could really use a success story like yours.”

Veronica could feel Robert’s eyes cutting right through her, could feel the cogs in his brain moving rapidly as he absorbed every word Serena said. Time for the veil to fall, my friend. She turned to Serena and said, “Of course, that’s partly why I came. I was hoping I could speak. I-I feel the need to get some things out.”

She peeked up at Robert from beneath her lashes. His face was set in stone. He knew what she was up to and he hated it. He probably wished she was doing this in private. Maybe she should have, but she didn’t talk about her issues in private unless it was with Olivia. Not even to Jay or Allie. Some things were just too private. Too horrifying.

And then some things were meant to be shared, because they could heal others. It took her a long time to learn that. Years of resentment, seething hatred and two relapses before she was willing to speak out loud and share her experiences with the group. That day had been both wonderful and cathartic. She had been twenty-six. They had welcomed her and made her feel, for the first time, like she was understood. Like she was so much more than a broken-down junkie.

As she took her seat and Robert took the one next to her, she wondered if he would look at her as more or less than she was.

After the initial introductions, Serena asked the group if Veronica could speak first. Everyone kindly agreed. All eyes were on her, but as she spoke the only people in the room were Veronica and Robert. His eyes never left her face. Her lips formed words, her story, so familiar, yet so far in the past, flowed free.

“Hello, my name is Veronica…”

* * *

She wasquiet on the drive home and up to the apartment. Probably a good thing, because he was seething. He didn’t think he’d be able to keep his shit together if she started talking to him. Not that she’d been exactly chatty with him over the past three days, but she talked more than enough over those few hours in that shit church basement to make up for it.

He glanced at her serene face as she stood passively while he unlocked the door to her condo and did his usual security sweep. He wanted to shake her and smack the look off her face. And he wasn’t usually violent toward women unless they were trying to kill him. But this one was trying his patience. For days, she’d been on the verge of panic, pacing her bedroom, jumping at every sound he made and staring at him like he was the big bad wolf. Now, after forcing him to take her into the dark heart of Vancouver’s lower East Side and telling a gut-wrenching story of pain and loss, she was acting like life couldn’t be better.

In the space of an hour she’d turned his entire world and everything he assumed upside down. Him. A man that used to kill for money, a fact she would never learn, despite being so generous with her own life story. After leaving the military he became a hired gun in the middle East, telling himself he was working on the side of good. Until the body count became too high to stomach, even for him. He’d started his security company with the nearly two decades of mercenary money and skills he’d picked up overseas.

He stalked her into the kitchen, watching her every move. He was a born hunter with instincts honed to razor precision over years of war and practice. She’d been right to fear him before when he’d been casually observing her, waiting for the right moment to strike. He’d gone through her things, memorized the books she read, the TV shows she watched and the shampoo and conditioner she used. He intended to use it all against her. To woo her with the things she loved. To use the incredible chemistry brewing between them to force her slumbering body to wake up and smell the attraction.

But she fought back. She showed her claws in the form of a past she thought would drive him away. She was an orphan, a product of foster care and group homes. Sad, yes, but not that far from his own childhood. She’d been a prostitute, abused and used on the dark streets of a city she still loved and called home. So what? Who was he to judge? She’d used drugs. Still had cravings sometimes. Again, he didn’t give a shit. She was clean now and had been for over fifteen years. He admired her for her resilience. Hell, he was pretty sure she was stronger than most of the guys that worked for him.

What enraged him about her little stunt was the execution and purpose behind it. She put her life in danger by dragging them both into one of the worst areas of the city, an area where Jay Le Croix had enemies that could easily use Robert for target practice and snatch Veronica. An area, he was almost certain, she went to on a semi-regular basis without any form of protection, probably without Jay’s knowledge or approval.

Danger aside, what really pissed him off about her plan, was she’d done it to drive him away. To show him he wouldn’t want her when he learned the truth about her. That a man like him, the owner of a security company worth millions, couldn’t possibly want an ex-hooker, ex-junkie for a girlfriend.

She was wrong about him. Her stupid little plan had backfired. She was more his prey now than ever before. She’d shown him weakness and he was going to take advantage. She was a broken little bird and he was going to capture and keep her. He tracked her with his eyes as she dug a small container of gluten-free coconut ice cream out of the freezer, pulled a spoon out of a drawer and headed back to her room without even glancing at him.

Veronica was his to keep and she was going to find out the hard way.

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