Page 83 of Right With You
The door slammed, and I was alone again. My thoughts were muddled, my cheekbone throbbed, and my wrist ached. I didn’t know what to do. If I screamed loud enough, could I get someone’s attention before he got here to silence me? Were we anywhere near someone who could help?
My energy flagged, and I slumped down against the mattress and let the tears flow freely. Who was he talking about? Did he really believe I’d be with him again? This time, he was the one living in the fantasy and I was grounded to the here and now in the stark reality he’d forced me to see.
All of this had been real. Every moment with Luc I’d managed to trick myself into accepting as fiction so I didn’t have to fear the potential pain. But ithadbeen real, and yes, it’d been painful, but also so clearly worth it.
His face when I’d talked with him last night… my heart clutched at the memory. He’d been wrecked, and even though I’d been justifiably angry, I should’ve made sure he knew I just needed time.
Callum? He’d been an awful partner, and I’d learned hard, horrible lessons no one should have to learn. But that didn’t mean I was my mother, and it didn’t mean I was doomed to do it again.
And this man looking at me like kidnapping me would somehow bring me back to him?
He was deranged. That much was clear. And he wasn’t working alone.
Luc will find me.
The thought echoed through my mind, and my heart grabbed onto it with both greedy hands. Gosh, I hoped so.
Then I realized… he probably would. If anyone in the world was equipped to find me, it was Luc and the Saint Security team.
My friends.
He wouldn’t rest until I was found, regardless of our fight and my inability to speak to him last night. He wouldn’t let a mood deter him from helping me.
He’d been the kindest, gentlest, loveliest man to me. His buying out Callum had beenfor me, not to control me. I’d seen it late last night and I’d wanted to tell him I understood this morning. I’d been ready to explain I couldn’t have him do stuff like that, but that I could see how he’d thought he was doing something good.
I’d planned to accept his apology.
I still will.
People made mistakes, and in a relationship, it wouldn’t be all billowing pirate shirts and fairytale settings. There would be real pain, and no amount of wishing it away could prevent that. But as I sat here in this dingy room missing the chance to apologize and accept Luc’s apology, the pain of missing that part hit me like a blow.
I wouldn’t hope for fights, but when they came, I would look for ways to repair instead of run. Based on the way he’d handled owning his choice and sincerely apologizing, it sure looked like I could trust Luc to do the same.
We’d work together, be together. Equals. Partners. I’d be his just as much as he’d be mine. And that was no fantasy. He’d shown me this was what it would be like.
I shut my eyes against the beige room and mattress of unknown origin, and I promised myself I wouldn’t give up hope. I wouldn’t lose it and beg Callum to let me go or cave to whatever sick demands he had coming for me.
No.
I’d stay strong and keep the faith in a man I knew. Maybe we hadn’t been close all that long, but I believed he’d come for me. He’d find me.
And when he did, we had some things to discuss.
CHAPTERFORTY
Luc
Two officers combed through her apartment while I stood outside, stock-still, and waited. Everything in me wanted to bust in there and do it myself, but I didn’t have specific training in collecting evidence of an abduction.
This part wasn’t our forte.
The recovery?
Literally part of the job description from over a decade of service.
Yes, we hunted down terrorist organizations and disposed of their leaders. But we also recovered kidnapped Americans all over the globe.
We wouldn’t have to go far, I hoped. The fact there was a regional airport ten minutes from Elise’s apartment made me twitchy, but we hadn’t confirmed she had been taken. Not yet. Maybe she’d gone for a run and accidentally left her phone and forgot to lock the door since she wasn’t going to be home? Maybe she’d gone with a different friend and?—
