Page 112 of Receiving His Mercy
“He was never bad to me,” she told him. “Well, not all the time. It’s difficult to explain. I think he was infatuated with me, he put me up on this pedestal. But he could have turned so easily. He could be violent and cruel. As soon as I saw that cruelty, it broke those rose-colored glasses I had been wearing. I realized the man I thought I was in love with wasn’t the same man in front of me. And I told him I wanted to leave.”
“And he just let you?”
“Not at first,” she whispered. “He grew angry. See, did love me. Or what he thought was love. He tried . . . he tried to keep me. And for a while, I thought he wouldn’t let me go. That was . . . scary.”
Scary? He bet it was fucking terrifying. And he wanted to know who this bastard was. And then he wanted to slowly murder him.
“But one day, when he was away, his men took me to the airport and put me on a plane. And I left. I came back to the states and I haven’t been out on assignment since. I haven’t heard from him. I know he’s not looking for me. But I haven’t been ready to go back out into the world until now.”
“You just left?” he asked, surprised. That seemed an odd change of mind.
“Yeah, I thought I was going to have to find a way to escape. I really thought I was a prisoner. After I told him that I wanted to leave, he put a guard on my door. They followed me everywhere.” She put her hand on her stomach as though the memory was making her ill.
He'd kept her there against her will.
“That fucking bastard!”
“I don’t know why he changed his mind,” she whispered. “He worked for . . . a very powerful man. If he wanted to keep me prisoner, he could have. But after he left, I was told to get into a car and his men drove me to a small airport.” She swallowed heavily. “I thought I was going to my death, you know.”
Fuck. Fuck.
Just when he thought that she couldn’t have anything more to tell him that would have his guts twisted in a knot . . . boom! There was something else.
Getting up, he started to pace.
“This is why I wanted to wait to tell you,” she said. “I’ve already piled on too much. You’re going to think that I’m too much work.”
He stilled. Nope. He wasn’t having any of that. Striding over to her, he picked her up and held her against his chest.
“You listen to me, Caren Stanford, you are never too much, understand? No matter what happens, no matter what’s in your background, you are never too much. And I want to know everything that has happened to you or does in the future. Understood?”
“Yeah,” she whispered.
“Good. I’m glad you told me. If you had kept this to yourself then I wouldn’t have been happy.”
“I know. I don’t want to keep things from you. But I also want to make sure you’re happy and safe and healthy, too. And this guy I got involved with . . . he’s a terrible man who works for a very dangerous man.”
“How did you meet him?” he asked.
“I had been taking photos in Tanzania. Such a beautiful place and the people are so kind and welcoming. I’d finished my assignment and I was taking my guide out for dinner as a thankyou. This man stopped by our table. He was so charming and sweet. He said that he’d spotted me from across the room and just had to talk to me. In hindsight, I should have taken note of my guide’s reaction. He was terrified.”
“But he didn’t try to warn you against talking to this guy? Going with him?”
She shook her head. “He asked me to dance. This charming, gorgeous man and I was so . . . flattered. I hadn’t been in a lot of relationships. My work schedule made it pretty impossible. Most men didn’t want to have a relationship with someone who might take off for weeks at a time with little warning. Who couldn’t call them regularly. I’d actually given up on finding someone to call mine. I was happy to just go to Club Slade when I went back to London.”
“Club Slade?” he asked.
“The BDSM club I belonged to in London. It’s a good club. A really great reputation. The owners care about protecting their members.”
He nodded. “Right. What happened next?”
“When I returned to the table, my guide was gone. I was surprised and I tried to find him. He helped me. Looking back, I now realize that he probably had his men run my guide off. But I truly had no idea at the time. He gave me his phone number and asked me to go out for breakfast the next morning. And then the romance really started.” She shook her head.
“I still can’t believe how naive I was. On our second date, he tried to give me diamonds. I felt uncomfortable with that and turned him down, telling him that if he wanted to buy me something, to donate money to the local orphanage. And he did. He took me there the next day and gave them a large amount of money. God, I was so stupid. So caught up in the experience.”
“You shouldn’t blame yourself,” he told her. “It sounds like he knew what he was doing.”
“It was just so quick. I don’t even know why he chose me. Out of everyone there, why me?”
