Page 31 of Lacey's Fight

After a brief reprieve when they headed back to their room to change their clothes for the more formal evening meal, she’d had to have her game face on constantly. Dinner was more of the same; eat, talk, gather information, pretend you were every bit as excited for the ensuing auction. When the meal was done, they’d been ushered into another room where they’d been entertained by a small string quartet.

It was still comparatively early, but Lacey needed out of here. She needed time to decompress, process what she’d seen, and what she’d had to stand by and let happen without so many prying eyes on her.

“Come on.” Standing, he grabbed Lacey’s hand and pulled her up with him.

“Where are we going?” she asked, her voice so bright it was almost brittle.

“To our room.”

A couple of the men at nearby tables hooted and hollered, making Lacey roll her eyes and grin as she swatted at his arm. “Told you he can’t keep his hands off me for long.”

Ben merely gave a grunt. No one expected him to say much since he’d shut down conversation with anyone stupid enough to attempt to strike one up with him. Right now, he didn’t care about the façade or the game they were playing. He just wanted to get Lacey somewhere she could just be.

As he pulled her out of the room, he knew people would assume he was just a man, turned on by the reason for being here, who was desperate to get his wife alone for sex. That these men thought that way was sickening, but he couldn’t do anything to change it. Evil existed in the world, he knew that, it had stolen his wife from him, and it had marked this woman he was now carefully guiding through the large house in a way that was irreparable.

Lacey had scars, he did too. Together they were a disaster waiting to happen, but he knew both of them were one hundred percent committed to this case. Those girls might have to wait another couple of days, but they would be rescued and returned home. They would be free to try to find light in the world again like Lacey tried to do.

Only difference was that Lacey was light.

The light in her own life as well as everyone else’s.

But what happened when she used up her resources and her light went out?

What would happen to her then?

He didn’t want to, but he cared.

About her, about her happiness, about her peace, and about her future.

They might only be part of each other’s lives for a short time, but her strength, determination, and bravery had impacted him in ways he hadn’t expected when he saw her jump off the yacht into the ocean in the middle of that thunderstorm. There was something about Lacey that was almost impossible not to respond to.

It was that light.

Light to those trapped in the dark was a lure that couldn’t be ignored.

Ben didn’t even think she realized the impact she had on the people around her because she was so busy just being her bright, sunshiny self.

As he opened the door to their room and ushered her inside, locking it behind them, Lacey let out a soft sigh and walked toward the bed, dropping down onto it and curling onto her side.

Unsure what to do, Ben stood helplessly in the middle of the room. Did she want space? Did she want comfort?

Jemima had been a very even-tempered woman, she rarely lost her temper and rarely cried. On the odd occasion when something did upset her, all she needed was a little pampering, and she was back to her old self. Hugs, maybe some chocolate, a massage, and Jemima was usually ready to move forward.

“I hate that they’re down there alone,” Lacey said softly.

Making up his mind, Ben crossed the room, climbed onto the other side of the bed, and sat with his back against the headboard and his legs stretched out in front of him. “You know it was the only thing we could do.”

“We just stood by and let him hurt her.” The utter desolation in her voice was the saddest thing he’d ever heard.

“No, we didn’t. We did what we had to in order to make sure that girl lived. What do you think they would have done to her if we tried to stop them? They had guns, we only had our hands. We weren’t going to win. We’d have been tortured for information and then killed. Those girls would either have been killed if Amelia decided it wasn’t safe to continue or they would have been sold as per the plan. There was only one choice we could have made given the circumstances, and we made it.”

“I know,” she said softly. “I just hate it.”

“I know.”

Lacey rolled over so she was facing him now, although she remained curled on her side, her arms wrapped protectively around her middle. “I’m sorry I kissed you. I thought you knew it was part of the plan. I hope you know I would never …” Her voice wobbled, and he despised himself for putting that fear in her head.

“I know,” he said gruffly.

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