Page 49 of Lacey's Fight

Those soulless blue eyes sparked with wicked intent and even before he spoke, she knew what he was going to do next.

The same thing he always did.

Torture her in the way he knew he could inflict the most suffering.

“But I missed your body more.”

* * *

August 7th

3:17 A.M.

Time to face the music.

Ben’s steps slowed as he approached his and Lacey’s room. After running he hit the gym for a while, taking out all his frustrations on the punching bag. It felt good to let go of everything else and just pummel the defenseless bag until some of the clouds in his brain disappeared.

He still had no idea what he wanted or what his future looked like—whether it remained as it was or whether Lacey had any part in it—but one thing he did know was that it was time to apologize to Lacey for the way he’d been treating her since they met. Grieving or not, there was no excuse for the way he’d lashed out at her, punished her for making him feel anything but guilt.

Jemima would have been ashamed to see him act that way, his parents and sisters would be too, and his team and their families. He was ashamed of himself.

So apologizing was not only the right thing to do but what he wanted to do.

Easing open the door to their room, he was a little surprised Lacey hadn’t locked him out. He stopped short when he saw it was empty.

The covers on the bed were messed up like Lacey had spent some time there, but she wasn’t there now. The couch was also empty, and the bathroom door was open, there was no light on inside, so he assumed Lacey wasn’t in there either.

Still he went to check, scanning the luxurious ensuite and finding it predictably empty.

Where was she?

Had she decided to go out for a walk?

Ben knew she hadn’t been in the gym because he’d just left, maybe she’d decided to go for a run. He knew she was like him and when she was stressed she wanted to work out that extra energy. The grounds were large, she’d have plenty of peace and quiet out there.

Surely she wouldn’t go looking for the tunnels again.

He was ninety percent sure she wouldn’t do something so reckless. The auction was over now. The wheels were already set in motion for the raid, there was nothing to be gained. The one thing she wanted more than anything else, even more than having The Master apprehended, was for those girls to be saved.

She wouldn’t do anything to mess that up.

Now one hundred percent sure that Lacey wouldn’t have gone looking for the girls, he wondered if maybe she had gone looking for him. She was at heart a sweet woman who didn’t like confrontation and people being angry with her. Chances were that she’d been worried he was gone so long and decided to find him, talk things out. Knowing her she was probably worried about him and how he had handled having sex for the first time since Jemima was murdered.

All he had to do was wait, and when she couldn’t find him anywhere she’d come back here. If he went looking for her there was every chance they would cross paths. The estate was large, and he had no way of knowing which direction she’d be going.

Wait, all he had to do was wait.

Taking a quick shower, Ben expected Lacey to be back by the time he was done, but when he’d toweled off and thrown on a pair of jeans and a shirt, the room was still empty.

A bad feeling began to grow in his gut.

What if Lacey wasn’t out trying to find him?

What if she wasn’t just running off steam or getting some fresh air?

Only ten minutes had passed since he’d returned to the room, there was no need to panic. For all he knew she’d only just left when he’d arrived, so she could still be a little while. Even if she was gone for a couple of hours, it didn’t mean anything was wrong.

So why did his gut continue to scream at him?

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