Page 100 of Love Notes & Lifelines
A vision of her mother springs to mind. This is why she had so many jobs. All the pieces of her life click into place, and my gut twists and turns so painfully I nearly double over.
“Would you like to have a massage?” I ask.
She bites her lip and blinks slowly, but I give her time to collect her thoughts. “My shoulder is really sore,” she finally admits. “And my wrist…and my elbow.”
I’ve never experienced the term “seeing red” before, but I feel it in every fiber of my being today. It surrounds us like an angry aura only I can see.
“I’ve let them know. They’re the best, Stella. They won’t hurt you.”
She sighs, and the weight it carries could knock over an elephant.
“Okay?” I need her to say yes. I need to make this better. For someone who has spent years not needing anything, she’s the exception. I’ve never felt this out of control before. Anotherperson’s pain has never affected me so viscerally, and it’s all because of my love for this woman.
“Okay.”
We walk to the front door hand in hand, and Maria opens it as we approach. She’s my top-performing spa manager, so I’m not surprised to see her here. I’ve never asked any of my properties for this kind of thing before.
As soon as we’re in, she locks the door behind us, and Stella releases an audible sigh. Maria nods as if she understands, and Stella holds her battered arm in tighter to her side.
“Jeffry and Gretta have room twelve prepared for you,” Maria says serenely.
“Thank you, Maria. This is my fiancée, Stella.”
Stella isn’t beside me, so I glance over my shoulder. The sheer wonder on her beautiful face is blinding.
This property is my pride and joy. It’s the one that eased my fears about being successful, and it’s the first to put a Delacroix Farms property out of business.
“It’s pretty, isn’t it?”
Pretty is an understatement, but I’m the one who gets to give her this experience, this lifestyle. That knowledge makes my heart riot in my chest. I get to give her the world.
Who the hell has she turned me into?
“Yeah, it’s so pretty,” she says, staring at the chandelier overhead that was hand-crafted by a master glass blower and took over one hundred hours to complete.
As I lead her through the space, her gaze jumps from one detail to the next. The soft overhead lighting complements the cool tones that lend to the overall ocean theme beautifully. A sense of pride fills me like nothing before. I’ve always been proud of my accomplishments, but I’ve never once cared what anyone else thought.
I care what Stella thinks. I care what she feels and if she’s safe. I care about her happiness more than my own, and that might be the most shocking of all.
We enter a room tinged with the soothing scent of lavender. The lights are low, and candles flicker in the dark while the sounds of the ocean are detectable if you listen closely.
Letting go of her hand, I move to the first bed and fold down the sheet. “Get undressed, then lie face down. Take your time getting comfortable. They won’t enter without permission.”
“Take off…everything?”
The smile I offer her is as reassuring as I can make it. “It’s up to you. I’ll leave mine on so I don’t make my employees uncomfortable.” I drop my pants and remove my shirt. “But a lot of people, especially women, leave their underwear on. Whatever you choose, you’re completely safe here, you have my word. The masseuse maneuvers the sheet so you remain covered at all times.”
She nods, then shucks her shirt and tosses it to the empty chair.
I can’t breathe for an eternal moment.
There’s a bruise on her shoulder where he gripped too hard. A matching one on each bicep. But the one on the back of her neck floods my veins with ice. She’s wearing the fingerprints of a monster. To get bruises that deep, he was holding her neck hard enough to bring her to her knees.
Every ounce of willpower I have keeps my voice quiet and steady rather than bellowing and irate when I ask, “Stella, did he do this to you when you were together?”
Visions of her bruised and battered taunt my mind like a sick house of mirrors.
“Only once.” She glances away.
