Cherished: A Masters and Mercenaries Novella (15 page)

“Master?”

She was still here. He hoped if he ignored her she would disappear, but the world wasn’t that kind.

“Don’t call me that. How did you find me?”

“There was a nurse at the hospital who told me you’re working in Dallas now. I had a friend look you up. You were on the white pages on the Internet. I didn’t do anything illegal, Mast…Will.” Tears clung to her eyes, perfectly placed and perfectly fucking fake like the rest of her.

He bet if Bridget cried she would get red and blotchy and he would have to soothe her. He would have to hold her to calm her down, but only after he’d protected his balls because his Bridget got angry first.

When had he started thinking of her as his? When had he started spending large parts of his day plotting how to get her in the right mood, how to make her happy or to calm her down when someone cut them off on the freeway or to soothe her when she read something crappy about her books?

He’d never had to do that with Starr. Nope. She was always right there to please her Master. Never said a harsh word until he found she’d been lying to him the whole time. “Why are you here? The last time we talked I believe you called me a freak who abused you.”

Thank god for Karina talking him into going to Sanctum, and to Kai for listening to him, or he likely would have gone back into the closest, so to speak.

She turned her gorgeous face up to him. He could see the perfection there but suddenly she was so much less appealing than Bridget’s sweet face—even though she was probably mad as shit with him, but she was wrong about that. This was his problem. It was his right to keep her the hell out of it. He didn’t even like the fact that Starr knew Bridget existed. “I’ve had a lot of time to think, William.”

“Yes, I’ve heard jail can do that for a girl,” he drawled.

She sniffled and nodded. “You’re right. You’re always right.” This was the point when Bridget would shove her middle finger his way and tell him to fuck off and then he would playfully chase her down and spank her. Starr merely stood and lowered herself into a submissive pose. “I’ve had time to really understand what you want from me and what I need. I was scared. I was scared of how much I felt for you. Of how much I loved our life together.”

“I was scared of how close I came to getting syphilis. How many other dudes were you doing?” Damn it. Bridget was rubbing off on him.

She shook her head. “There was only Terry. He forced me to be with him, and now I understand why. I am submissive and he abused my submission. He took it when he didn’t earn it. I can see now that you saw my true nature and tried to rescue me.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? Let me get this straight. He forced you to sleep with him. He forced you to sleep with me. He forced you to aid and abet in the murders of four women. And he forced you to do everything you could to pin it all on me, including pumping heroin through my veins and stuffing me in the back of my car. My knee still aches from that. Thanks a lot.”

She wouldn’t meet his eyes, preferring to keep her head down. “Yes. That’s what I’m saying. He used my submissive nature to force me to do his will.”

“Are you going to use that in court? My submission made me do it? Let me tell you something. That’s the biggest load of crap I’ve ever heard and it goes to prove that you’ve learned absolutely nothing. A submissive is strong. She’s as strong as her Dom.” Like Bridget was strong. “You made the choices you made and you’ll pay the price. You had every opportunity to tell me what was going on. I would have helped you. I would have made sure that dickhead boyfriend of yours stopped before he killed four women. Four. That’s on you and that will not go away, and it cannot be explained by crying and saying you’re not responsible. I do not love you. I will not help you. I will, in fact, be getting a restraining order against you.”

Her head came up and he saw the minute she dropped the act. “Please. I can’t go back to jail. I can’t. It’s horrible there. I’ll do whatever you want. I’ll be the little doll you seem to need. I did it before and I’ll do it again. Please testify in my favor. You can do anything you want to me, Will.”

His stomach rolled. “Get out of my house. I really am getting that restraining order. If you want to have any hope in a court of law, you better not show your face again.”

She stood and her mouth became a flat, angry line. “I should have known you wouldn’t help me. You fucking freak. You make me sick.”

He opened the door for her. “The feeling is mutual.”

She strode past him, angry tears in her eyes.

And he was left staring at the door across the hall. He didn’t owe Bridget an explanation. He’d handled the problem and while they were in Hawaii, Mitch would get the restraining order in place.

He thought briefly about moving, but abandoned the idea. He liked being close to Bridget.

He needed to be close to her. Fuck.

He crossed the space between their places and knocked on the door.

Nothing.

He tried his key. Yep. She’d used the deadbolt.

Fuck and double fuck. If he tried to talk to her tonight, she would likely tell him they were through. He had to figure out what her next move would be.

Probably leaving for the flight without him. He wasn’t sure of which flight it was or which private airport. Bridget had handled all of those details. He only knew when the car was coming to pick them up.

But someone else knew.

Sneaky. He had to be sneaky if he wanted to get her back without having to tell her what an idiot he’d been.

The good news was, he’d perfected the art of battle when it came to Bridget Slaten.

He had to pray he could win the war.

Chapter Eight

It had been too easy. The door to the sedan opened and she slipped out of the car that had come to pick her up. It was late, the sky dark all around her.

God, she missed Will. It had only been a few hours and she felt the loss.

She’d heard him knock the night before and had thought about opening the door to see if he would actually talk to her about what had happened. She’d decided to leave it be. He’d been plain with her. He didn’t love her. Never would. The most she would get out of him was a few more weeks.

Should she have taken them? She looked at the private jet. It had been years since she’d been on one. She was kind of proud of the fact that she could afford first class now on her own, but she definitely couldn’t have this.

She’d wanted to share this with Will. She’d really wanted that last couple of days with him.

“Ms. Slaten, would you care to board? We leave in five minutes. The other guest is already in place,” the driver said, gesturing toward the stairs that would lead her to the plane.

She nodded and started up them, her mind on Will. What was he doing? He’d obviously decided to let her leave without him. Maybe he was with Starr. Maybe he’d knocked on her door to tell her that he was happy he had his serial-killer-helping ex-submissive back. Maybe he was far too busy screwing her right now to even think about the fact that he’d seriously fucked Bridget over.

Guest? She looked back at the driver to ask him about the other guests. There was supposed to be seven other guests. Serena and her husbands, Chris and his Dom, and Ian and Charlotte Taggart were supposed to be on that plane. The McKay-Taggart crew was coming out to talk to her father and ensure security for the wedding. It was precisely why her dad had sent the big jet.

Shit. She looked at the freaking plane. It was the smaller of the two her dad used. Damn it. There had been a mistake. She and her sister called this one the love jet because it was the one their dad used when he escorted his mistresses around. It came complete with a bedroom.

She groaned as she walked up the stairs because the driver had taken off. She would have to get answers from the pilot or the attendant. They couldn’t fit everyone in this stupid plane.

And she still hadn’t figured out what she was going to tell her sister. The day was turning into one massive cluster fuck and she wasn’t even looking forward to yelling at someone.

Her cell trilled, signaling a text was coming through, and she pulled it out of her bag as she entered the plane.

Shit. Speak of the devil. Her sister. Damn, but she hated the fact that she’d let Amy down. She touched the screen to read the message.

Can’t wait ’til you get here. Frankie is fabulous. You’ll love him like I do. And we both love your guy. So sweet. Have a great flight and give Will a big kiss for me. I know this is a fake engagement, but after talking to him, I think it should become the real thing. That man is a keeper. See you soon.

Bridget frowned. When the hell had Amy talked to Will?

She stepped on the plane, ready for some answers.

“Hello? Does anyone realize this is the wrong plane? Where are we going to put the seven of us and the baby? He can’t go in the damn cargo hold.”

A polished and perfectly made up flight attendant greeted her with a glass of wine in hand. She had to give it to her father; the man did know how to fly. Oh, he’d gotten there on the backs of the little people, but he wasn’t chintzy with the good wine. “Ms. Slaten, it’s a pleasure to have you with us today. Your sister is a favorite of ours. She’s asked us to take excellent care of you and we’re happy to do so. Dinner will be served once we reach our cruising altitude and you’ll find I’ve already turned down the bed. Our flight time is seven hours and fifty minutes. I’ll make sure you’re awake an hour before we land. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Yeah, I need to know where everyone else is.” She took the wine though. She would need it to get through the whole shebang. Maybe if she stayed drunk for the next week, it would fly by.

The flight attendant shook her head. “The other party went out on the larger jet about an hour ago. Your sister changed the plans last night. This is her gift to you. Privacy. Enjoy.”

She shook her head as she made her way into the luxurious lounge. To the back of the plane would be the kitchen, bar, study, and bedroom complete with thousand thread count sheets.

Yeah. Why had Amy thought she would need privacy? Well, at least she knew now when Amy had talked to Will.

“How did you know her phone number, Daley?” She wasn’t a complete idiot.

He stepped out of the hall that led to the bar. He looked utterly delicious in slacks and an open-necked white dress shirt. “I called Serena last night and told her I wanted to set up a surprise for you. She was willing to help. Do you like the wine? I made sure they had the Sauvignon Blanc you love.”

She took a drink because it was not the grapes’ fault and they shouldn’t go to waste. “You should leave now.”

She heard the thud as the airplane door was closed and sealed. Well, that was her fault for almost being late. He’d used that to his advantage, too.

He stared at her with big, gorgeous dark eyes. Stupid eyes that made her want to melt at his surprisingly attractive feet. She normally didn’t like feet, but his were the exception. “I understand you’re angry, but you don’t have any reason to be. That woman means nothing to me.”

She’d meant enough to him to blow up their evening. “She did once.”

“And she doesn’t now. She has no effect on us whatsoever. I understand why you locked the door.”

That surprised her. Now that she thought about it, he was very tolerant of her emotional reactions. “What? You’re not going to accuse me of being childish?”

“No, I’m not. You often overreact to situations, but once you calm down, you see reason. I’ve gotten used to it. You’re a passionate woman. It’s one of the things I like about you. You needed to show me how you felt. Well, I understand. I can promise you that it won’t happen again. I’ve taken steps to make sure she never bothers us again.”

“I would like to know why she was bothering us in the first place.”

His jaw tightened. “She’s a former submissive of mine. It didn’t work out, but I make it a habit to not talk about my relationships. I would give you the same courtesy.”

Anger welled. He thought he’d seen her overreact? “So you’re lumping me in with the girl who tried to pin a couple of murders on you?”

His face went white. “How do you know about that?”

He thought she didn’t know? “We talk in the club. Everyone knows, Will. Every single person in that club knows that you fell in love with a perfect sub and she turned out to be a crazy bitch who was using you for the man she really loved. It’s a juicy story. You couldn’t expect that no one would tell it.”

His face went blank, but not before she’d seen the startled hurt in his eyes.

Damn her mouth. She never knew when to shut up. But wasn’t she in the right? He was the one who told her it was none of her business.

He nodded. “I’ll see if I can stop the plane.”

He moved past her and she rushed into the study to get away from him. She couldn’t freaking breathe. He hadn’t argued with her. Hadn’t violently protested that her account was wrong. Maybe she was right and he did love that crazy woman.

It was good to have it out. She wasn’t anyone’s rebound girl. She strode into the bedroom because she wasn’t going to watch him leave now that she’d called him out.