Page 30 of Trick or Trouble
His tone was gentle and reassuring.“Conrad is no longer a licensed psychiatrist, sweetheart.In fact, he’s moved to California and is presently working at a McDonald's slinging hamburgers.”
The words hit Darcy like a hard punch, sending her mind reeling and her vision dimming.Her eyes closed, and her chin dropped to her chest.Was it possible?Conrad—reduced to a school kid’s job?The man who had once tried to control her every thought, every breath, every scrap of self-confidence?
For years, it had haunted her—knowing that he was still out there, destroying women behind his licensed facade.And now he was busted?
Relief tore through her entire body.Fierce, painful, yet healing.Her throat wanted to release a jagged scream of triumph, to laugh hysterically, and spring around the room in a victory dance.Still, the past didn’t let go that easily.Memories cut into her like shards of glass—his voice whispering in her ear, the lies, the deprecations, his grip on her mind.She rode the maelstrom with her face pressed into Logan's throat, trembling violently.
He stroked her hair, murmuring, “He’s gone, baby.He can never hurt you again—or any other woman in a professional capacity.” He coaxed her chin free and kissed her, steady and tender, until the floodgates cracked.The tears rushed out—hot, raging, cleansing.For the first time, the bars of her invisible prison broke and fell away.
Conrad hadn’t just stolen her peace of mind; he’d stolen her trust in other men, her belief that justice existed for the guilty.The family of his wife, the one who had committed suicide, had tried for justice—and gotten nowhere.The courts had dismissed her death, shrugged at the trail of complaints from broken women.
Darcy had finally given up hope and adamantly ordered Amy to stop following him for her sake.She’d walled herself into a prison with invisible bars, which were no less confining.But now...now she could feel the weight of that prison falling away.She gripped the front of Logan’s shirt tightly in her fists and held onto the man who had brought her this gift as the noisy tide of tears swept Conrad out of her life.
Logan's breath whispered warm against her ear.“That’s it, baby, let it go.”
At last, her grip loosened, her hands fell away, and she sagged against his shoulder as the sobs tapered into shudders.“Tell me everything,” she ordered fiercely, swiping at her tears.“How did you find out?”
He kissed her temple, weaving his fingers through hers.“Last Monday, I got in touch with some colleagues of mine and asked about Conrad Templeton.As it turns out, they knew exactly who he was.The law may not have been able to touch him, but the medical licensing board could.There were too many complaints to ignore.They revoked his license in the states of Kansas, Iowa, and Missouri, shutting down his practice.He left the area.When he attempted to establish a new business in California, a background check nailed him.He won’t be able to practice in any state legally by the time they are through with him.”
“Thank God,” Darcy replied fervently.“Still...I pity any woman who is foolish enough to get involved with him.”
Logan nodded, his voice purring with satisfaction.“At least, he can’t hide his personal, selfish agenda behind a degree.That’s wrong on every level and undermines all the good psychiatrists and therapists who truly want to help people.”
She turned to face him, sudden awareness in her gaze.“This was personal for you, too, wasn’t it?”
“As a therapist, yes, but it became personal as soon as I realized he had hurt you,” he admitted.“I’m falling hard for you, little witch.You’ve put a spell on me that I don’t want to wake up from.”
She shifted uncomfortably then.“You might want to rethink that in a minute.”
His eyes narrowed.“Oh?Why?What have you done?”
She bristled and huffed.“Why should it mean I did anything?For all you know, I could have been kidnapped into the sex trade at one time...or my dad arrested for exposing himself on Main Street...or any number of things that make me so broken you would be glad to have me out of your life.”
Amusement twitched his lips upward.“You’re stalling, little witch.You might as well come clean.”His tone dropped low like an evil comic book character.“I have ways of making you talk.”
Darcy knew one of those ways, and it didn’t bode well for her backside.“Well...uh...”Her eyes slid away as a guilty flush reddened her cheeks.
“Just for the record...there's no mischief you can get up to that will make me love you any less,” Logan added in a liquid caramel drip tone.
Darcy’s heart skipped a beat.He’d used the L word.
Fine...she’d tell him.
“Okay...I do have a good camera.I dropped it off at Rib’s the Friday before Halloween after it slipped from my hands, and a lens busted.I’ve never gotten out of my car to take pictures until Halloween weekend.”
Boom—done.
And just like that, the Alpha Male Academy graduate was back, his voice lowering to that dangerous level.“You lied to me?Here I was worried for three days that you might decide to use Uber after all and not tell me you had a case.Knowing you had a good camera would have helped when you didn’t call.”
Her stomach lurched.“I didnotlie to you; I just didn’t tell you everything.Twenty-four hours and one fabulous meal do not equal trust in my world,” she insisted, folding her arms defensively across her waist.“And for the record, I never asked you to worry about me.”
He studied her for a moment, then held up four fingers.“Four days,” he corrected.“We knew each other for four days before we went to lunch.”
Disbelief dripped from her tone.“Seriously?You stalked off like a drama king after the silent drive from Hell’s Alley to take me home.We didn’t talk forthreedays afterward.”
A flicker of amusement lit up his eyes.“To be fair, I didn’t talk for the first ten minutes of that drive.After that, you were snoring, and I didn’t want to wake you.”
She fidgeted in his lap, her indignation draining away, his teasing ignored.The fire of her complaint faltered, replaced by uncertainty and suspicion.“You could have called.”
