Page 36 of Absolution
Now, all of that is threatening to unravel. I can’t allow her to ponder the ugly truth of what I did to her too deeply. If she confronts it fully, she might not be able to live with it. She might not forgive me.
“I can’t lose you,” I rasp.
Her eyes shine. “I don’t want you to lose me. But you have to tell me what you did. I can’t live as your pet. I’m supposed to be your wife.”
I grasp both of her hands in mine, anchoring her to me. “Youaremy wife. You’re mine, Abigail. And I’m yours. Nothing will change that.”
I fear that I taste a lie on my tongue, and I swallow against the bitterness of it.
“You put an app on my phone?” she guesses. “Is that how you found me?”
It’s so much worse than that, so much more invasive. At the time, I hadn’t experienced any qualms about my actions.
But now, I’m terrified of the repercussions.
“I tracked you.” The admission drops like a grenade between us.
“How?” She’s gone pale, and my fingers tighten to vises around her hands.
“When you were recovering from the car accident back in England,” I admit, the words dragging up my throat like razorblades. “I put a tracker in you while you were on painkillers.”
Her jaw goes slack with horror, and tears well in her eyes.
“You were never going to let me go,” she whispers. “I never had a choice.”
“I can’t let you go,” I say desperately. “I told you that I can’t live without you. You chose me. You love me.”
It has to be true.
Iron bands crush my chest, and I can’t draw any air into my lungs.
All I’d wanted was keep Abigail by my side, but now, I might’ve lost her forever.
13
ABIGAIL
My heart squeezes into a small, painful ball. Dane put a tracker in me, and it’s my worst nightmare realized. He truly does see me as nothing more than a wayward pet, a possession.
How can we build a life together if he doesn’t see me as an equal?
The pain of loving him cuts deeper than any knife, spearing me all the way to my soul.
Because even as the full horror of what he’s done crashes down on me, I still love him. My addiction to this man will be my ruin.
He’ll never love me the way I love him. I’ve known that he’s incapable of it, but I accepted his unique brand of obsession instead.
I’ve always been drawn to danger, to thrilling fear.
And now I’ve married the most dangerous man I’ve ever met.
“How could you do this to me?” I ask in a horrified whisper. “I’m not actually your pet, Dane. I won’t let you treat me this way.”
He tugs on my hands, pulling me closer despite my revulsion. His eyes are dark with desperation.
“I know you’re not my pet,” he says, deep voice ragged. “I did it because I was terrified of losing you. I never knew what fear was until the day I thought you might die in my arms.”
Tears blur my vision. “I have to have a choice. You have to let me choose you, or this isn’t real.”
