The Mistress: The Mistress\Wanted: Mistress and Mother (15 page)

“A therapist you mean?” Chrysander asked grimly.

“This is a very delicate time,” the doctor warned. “She is
extremely fragile, and remembering such traumatic events could cause an
emotional breakdown.”

His face twisted in sympathy, and he reached out to grasp
Chrysander’s shoulder. “This will be hard, but perhaps it is for the best. It is
good that her memory returned, even if it causes her such distress.”

Chrysander wasn’t so sure of that. With her memory regained,
she also knew that he’d tossed her out of their apartment, basically put her
into the hands of her kidnappers. She would also recall the cruel words he’d
thrown at her. And she would remember her own part in the whole mess.

He ran a hand wearily through his hair. Part of him wished she
would have never regained those memories. They had started fresh, without past
deceptions and betrayals. Something niggled at him even as those thoughts passed
through his mind.

Wouldn’t she have greeted her memory’s return with guilt? All
he’d seen in her eyes was hurt. Deep and horrific hurt. There was no guilt, no
embarrassment over the fact she’d stolen from him. Just distress so keen that he
still felt the knife deep in his chest from the tortured sound of her cry and
the memory of her stumbling away from him.

An uneasy sensation took hold of him. He couldn’t help but
think that there were things buried in Marley’s memories that he wasn’t going to
like.

Chapter 14

M
arley was only vaguely aware of the things
going on around her. After that first pass into oblivion, she registered being
carried into a car. She heard Chrysander’s worried voice as he murmured to her,
but she closed herself off from him, folding inward.

When she next awoke, she knew she was in a bed. As she looked
around the room, recognition sparked, and with it, a surge of fresh agony, hot
and raw, seared through her body and robbed her of breath.

He wouldn’t do this. Surely even he could not be so cruel as to
bring her back to the place they’d shared and the place he’d brutally shoved her
from.

She reached for the tears, expecting them to come, but
curiously all she felt was an odd detachment, a void of nothingness coupled with
the need to get out of this place.

When she sat up, her gaze flickered to a chair by the window
occupied by Chrysander’s sleeping form. He was slouched against the arm, his
clothing rumpled and the stubble of over a day’s beard shadowing his jaw.

She waited for the rush of anger, of fury, but again, she felt
nothing but overwhelming numbness and a need to escape.

She got out of bed, not paying attention to her own rumpled
clothing. It occurred to her that maybe she should change, but she couldn’t risk
waking Chrysander. No, she needed to be away. She couldn’t look him in the eye
knowing that he’d made such horrible accusations and then left her to the mercy
of her kidnappers.

Her thumb brushed across the thin band of her engagement ring,
and she wrenched it off. It felt cold in her hand. She gently laid it on the
nightstand beside the bed then turned and walked away.

On bare feet, she walked out of the bedroom and to the
elevator. Her stomach churned as she relived the night she’d gotten on this
elevator as her world crumbled around her, Chrysander’s accusation ringing in
her ears. How could he? It was the only thought that played over and over in her
mind until she wanted to scream at it to stop.

When she reached the lobby, she paused, realizing that not only
would Chrysander’s security people likely be manning the front entrance but that
also the doorman would never let her walk out as she was.

She turned and hurried for the back entrance. To her dismay,
one of the men she recognized from Chrysander’s detail was standing at the door.
She quickly ducked into a service entrance and made her way down the hallway
that housed rooms for laundry and building maintenance. A few minutes later, she
opened the door and walked out into the pale, predawn light.

* * *

Chrysander woke with a monster catch in his neck and
shifted in the too-small chair to alleviate his discomfort. He’d wanted to spend
the night with Marley tucked into his arms, but she’d resisted his touch at
every turn, becoming so distraught that he’d had no choice but to retreat.

He’d taken the doctor’s advice and phoned a therapist as soon
as he’d returned to the apartment with Marley. The therapist was due to arrive
this morning to speak with her. Chrysander just hoped she would be able to.

His gaze moved to the bed, and when he saw it empty, he shot to
his feet. He started to bolt from the room, but a glimmer of something on the
nightstand caught his eye. When he saw her engagement ring lying there, dread
tightened his chest. He ran from the room in search of her. As he went from room
to room, his panic grew. She wasn’t anywhere to be found.

Even as he hurled himself into the elevator, he dug out his
cellular phone. As soon as the doors opened in the lobby, he ran out and nearly
collided with Stavros.

He grasped the man’s shirt in his hands and pulled him up
close. “Where is she?”

Stavros blinked in surprise. “We haven’t seen her, sir. No one
has. She was with you.”

Chrysander pushed him away with a violent curse. “She’s gone.
Call your men in. I want her found immediately.”

He strode to the entrance to question the doorman, but he
seemed as baffled as the security man. He turned around to see several of his
detail gather in the lobby as they were questioned by an angry Stavros.

Theos!
Where could she have gone?
She was in no state to be wandering around New York, and the people who had
abducted her were still at large.

Worry settled hard into his chest. He turned to go out the door
in search of her himself when he saw Theron walk in.

“Chrysander,” he said in greeting. “I was on my way up to see
you. How is Marley?”

“She’s gone,” he said grimly.

Theron raised one brow. “Gone? But how?”

“I don’t know,” he said in frustration. “She’s disappeared. I
have to find her.”

Theron put a firm hand on Chrysander’s shoulder. “We’ll find
her, Chrysander.”

“There is something about this situation,” Chrysander said in a
hollow voice. “Something that doesn’t add up. I saw no guilt in her face when
she remembered everything. All I saw was complete devastation, as if she were
the one who was betrayed. She was so distraught that she had to be sedated, and
she becomes extremely upset when I get close to her. She isn’t herself right
now. I fear where she may have gone. Her frame of mind is not good.”

“I will help you, Chrysander,” Theron said quietly. “Do not
worry. We will find her.”

* * *

Marley shivered as she eased down onto the cold stone
bench and clutched her arms around her trembling body. She glanced down at her
feet but couldn’t summon any rebuke for having gone out in the chill without
shoes or a coat. The only thought she’d had was to get away as quickly as
possible. She couldn’t face Chrysander now.

Now she knew why she’d been drawn to this place. Her thinking
spot, indeed. Just hours before that last night, she’d sat here, afraid of how
Chrysander would react to her pregnancy. She’d been right to be afraid. He
didn’t trust her. He didn’t love her. And he’d left her to her fate with the
kidnappers.

She refused to allow the memories to roll back in her mind.
They simply hurt too much. At least now she realized why she’d chosen to forget.
All those weeks of living in fear as her kidnappers waited for their demands to
be met had paled next to the betrayal Chrysander had handed her when he’d
refused.

How could anyone be so cold? Wouldn’t he have been willing to
pay such a meager amount of money to free anyone? Even a complete stranger?
She’d never imagined him to be so heartless. But he’d cast her aside with little
regard for her. She’d been his mistress, someone to slake his lust and nothing
more. The fool was her for falling in love with him, not once, but twice.

A small moan escaped her lips, and she closed her eyes as the
ache built within her once more. Never had she felt so hurt, so utterly
lost.

Her hands closed around the bulge of her stomach, and the tears
that she’d thought locked under the ice began to well to the surface.

How could he be capable of such a despicable deception? He had
to know she’d remember eventually, and yet he’d spent weeks wooing her, making
her love him all over again. Pretending affection for her. And passion. The
question was, why?

Was it all an elaborate ruse to punish her? To make her suffer
more than she already had? She’d never imagine Chrysander to be so cruel, but it
just proved how little she’d known about the man she’d given herself to.

She sat there, rocking back and forth, her arms wrapped
protectively around her abdomen. The wind picked up, chasing a chill down her
spine, but she ignored the discomfort.

“Marley?”

Her name came out cautiously and sounded distant, yet when she
looked up, the man was standing just a few feet away, concern lighting his eyes.
She recognized him. Theron. No wonder he’d been so resistant to Chrysander
marrying her. He thought her the thief that Chrysander did. It was more than she
could bear.

She hugged herself tighter and looked down, determined that he
not see her tears.

He squatted down in front of her and put a hand on her wrist.
“I need to take you back,
pedhaki mou.
It’s not safe
for you to be out here,” he said gently.

She flinched at the endearment. It was Chrysander’s pet name
for her, and she wanted no part of it. She shook her head and pulled her hand up
in a protective manner.

He glanced down at her feet and swore under his breath. “It’s
cold, and you shouldn’t be out here in your bare feet. Let me take you back
home.”

She recoiled violently. “No.” She shook her head vehemently. “I
won’t go back there.” She slid to the end of the bench, the rough stone
scratching against her clothing.

Theron put a hand out to prevent her flight. “Marley, think of
your baby. Let me take you back. You’re cold.”

“I won’t go back to that apartment,” she said desperately. She
stood, prepared to bolt.

Theron look at her with regret. “I cannot allow you to run.
You’re clearly upset and are not dressed for the weather.”

Tears filled her eyes. “Why do you care? I stole from you,
remember? I’m just the harlot who snared your brother and tried to ruin his
company,” she said bitterly.

Theron’s eyes softened. “If I promise not to return you to the
apartment, will you come with me? I won’t leave you like this, Marley.”

She swayed, and he caught her as her knees gave out. He picked
her up and began striding away.

She stiffened in his arms. “Please, just leave me alone,” she
begged.

“I cannot do that, little sister.”

“I’m just your brother’s whore,” she said, allowing more of the
anguish in.

His grip tightened around her. “
Theos!
Never say that again.”

She turned her face into his shoulder, and hot tears flooded
her eyes. “It’s true,” she whispered.

She closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift away once
again. It was easy to flee from reality when it represented so much she wanted
to escape. She cursed that she’d ever regained her memory. Doing so had
destroyed her.

Chapter 15

C
hrysander strode into the Imperial Park
Hotel, waving off members of the staff as they hastened to greet him. The
elevator was being held open for him, and he got in and rode it to the top
floor.

A few moments later, he walked into the luxury suite usually
reserved for VIP guests. His brother met him in the sitting area, and Chrysander
scowled furiously at him.

“Why didn’t you bring her back to the apartment?” he
demanded.

“She became hysterical at the mere mention of it,” Theron said.
“She was set to run as far and as fast as she could. I had to promise I wouldn’t
take her back to the penthouse.”

Chrysander swore and closed his eyes. He brought his hand to
his face and pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers in a weary
gesture.

“She’s about to break,” Theron said quietly. “Bring your
therapist here to talk to her. Maybe she can help.”

Chrysander looked sharply at his younger brother. “You seem
concerned about her.”

“She carries my nephew.” His lips pressed together in a grim
line. “It is as you said. There is no guilt in her expression, her actions. She
acts as though she has suffered the deepest of hurts. It was uncomfortable for
me to see. I suddenly wanted to do all I could to shield her from such
pain.”

“Where is she now?” Chrysander demanded.

“Asleep,” Theron replied. “She fell asleep on the way here and
never stirred when I carried her up the elevator and put her into bed.”

Chrysander headed for the bedroom, determined to see for
himself that she was safe. He made his way through the dimly lit room and
stopped at the head of the bed. Even in sleep, her brow was creased in an
expression of despair.

He reached down and touched her cheek, tucking a curl behind
her ear. She didn’t stir. Her pale face lay against the pillow, framed by her
dark curls. Deep shadows smudged her eyes, and he could tell from the redness
that she had been crying. His chest twisted painfully at the signs of her
distress.

As he walked back into the sitting room, he pulled out his
cellular phone to call the therapist and have her come to the hotel. When he was
done, he closed his phone and turned to Theron.

“Where did you find her?”

Theron handed him a drink. “She was in a garden a few blocks
from your apartment.” He winced as he looked at Chrysander. “She was barefoot,
with no coat or sweater. She looked lost and unaware of her surroundings.”

Chrysander swore. “It has been so since she regained her
memory.
Theos mou,
but I don’t know what to do.”
He’d never felt so helpless.

“Do you still believe she is guilty?” Theron asked quietly.

“I don’t know,” Chrysander admitted. “I think sometimes that it
doesn’t matter.” He looked bleakly up at his brother, expecting to see
condemnation. Instead, Theron looked at him with understanding.

“When I saw her on the bench, it did not matter to me, either,”
Theron said softly.

The therapist arrived a few minutes later, and Chrysander
filled her in on everything that had happened since arriving in New York.

Despite the discomfort he felt over providing such personal
details to the woman, he wanted her to know whatever she needed in order to help
Marley. So he told her everything. From the confrontation he’d had with Marley
so many months before, to the present.

To her credit, the woman did not react. She took the
information in stride and asked to see Marley.

“She is resting, but you can go in and wait for her to awaken.
I don’t want her to grow upset and try to leave.”

The therapist nodded and followed Chrysander to the bedroom. As
they entered, Marley stirred. Chrysander automatically stepped forward, but the
therapist held up her hand to halt him.

“Leave me to speak to her,” she said softly.

Chrysander weighed his desire to be near her with the
therapist’s request. Finally, he nodded curtly and turned to leave. He didn’t go
far, though. He stepped from the bedroom and closed the door, but left it
slightly ajar so he could hear what was being said within.

There was a long period of silence, and then the slight murmur
of voices filtered from the room. The therapist did most of the talking at first
as she soothed Marley. After a long while, he could hear Marley’s trembling
voice, and he strained closer to hear what she said.

“I went to the doctor the day Chrysander was due back from
overseas. When I discovered I was pregnant, I was shocked. I worried how
Chrysander would react. I wanted to ask him about our relationship...how he felt
about me.”

“Go on,” the therapist encouraged.

Marley’s questions that night now made sense to Chrysander. And
then he flinched at her next words.

“He told me we had no relationship. That I was his mistress. A
woman he paid to have sex with,” she said hollowly.

He wanted to protest. He wanted to march into the bedroom and
tell her that he’d never considered her someone he paid to have sex with.

“Then he accused me of...” Her voice trailed off, and he could
hear a quiet sob rise from the room.

“It’s all right, Marley,” the therapist soothed.

“He said I had stolen from him. He said I took plans for one of
his hotels and gave them to his competitor. He told me to get out.”

“And did you steal them?”

“You’re the first person to actually ask,” Marley said
wanly.

Chrysander flinched. She was right. He hadn’t asked. He’d
judged and condemned her.

“I was stunned. I still don’t understand. I’d never even seen
the papers he threw at me. I don’t know why he thought I took them or how he
could even think such a horrible thing.”

The tears he heard in her voice felt like little daggers to his
chest. The tension grew until he felt he would explode. Dread skated up his
spine. What had he done?

“And then...” She broke off as sobs took over.

There was another long period of silence as the therapist
murmured words of comfort to Marley.

“Tell me what happened next, Marley.”

“I left the apartment, but I knew I had to come back the next
day after he’d calmed down so I could make him see reason and tell him I was
pregnant. I felt if I could just have the chance to talk to him that he would
see what a mistake it was.”

“And what happened?” the therapist asked gently.

Chrysander pushed against the door, his body tense with
anticipation.

“A man pulled a bag over my head and forced me into a car. I
was taken to another place in the city and told that I was being held for
ransom. I was terrified. I was pregnant and was so scared that they would hurt
me or my baby.”

Chrysander’s hands curled into fists as he fought the rising
rage within him.

“They sent two ransom demands,” Marley whispered. “He refused
both. He left me there. Oh God, he left me to those men. I wasn’t even worth
half a million dollars to him!”

Sobs ripped from her throat as she dissolved into tears.
Chrysander stood in stunned disbelief. Mother of God. He’d never received a
ransom demand. He hadn’t! His stomach boiled as acid rose in his throat. He
turned and laid his forehead against the wall and brought his clenched fist to
rest a few inches away. He felt wetness on his cheeks but made no move to wipe
it away.

A few moments later, the therapist eased out of the bedroom and
looked at Chrysander. He expected condemnation in her eyes but saw only a faint
sympathy.

“I’ve sedated her. She was nearly hysterical. She needs rest
above all else. Her reality is very painful, so she retreats. That same
self-preservation is what prompted her amnesia. Now that she no longer has that
protective buffer, she struggles to cope in the best way she knows how. Be
gentle and understanding with her. Don’t push her too hard.”

She patted him on the arm as she walked past.

“Call me if you need me. I’ll come at once.”

“Thank you,” Chrysander said hoarsely.

When she left, Chrysander turned and shuffled farther into the
sitting room and sagged onto the couch.

“Dear God,” he said bleakly.

“I heard,” Theron said with a grimace.

“She never stole anything.” Chrysander closed his eyes and
dragged a hand through his hair. “
Theos.
I never got
a ransom demand. She thinks...she thinks I left her to those animals, that I
didn’t care enough to pay half a million dollars for her return.”

Theron put a comforting hand on Chrysander’s shoulder. “There
is much we need to investigate.”

Chrysander nodded. His thoughts hardened as he turned from the
anguish over Marley’s revelation and forced himself to play back the events of
that night.

The realization, when it came, was so startlingly clear that he
cursed himself for not having pieced it together before. He’d been too angry,
too wounded by what he perceived as a betrayal by Marley.

“Roslyn,” he said tersely.

Theron raised a brow. “Your assistant?”

“She was there. Just before I found the papers in Marley’s bag.
She must have planted them.”

Another thought occurred to him, one that sickened him and made
him want to empty his stomach. Any ransom demand would have gone to his office.
His residences were highly guarded secrets. Marley had said that he’d ignored
ransom demands, but now he realized they could have been delivered and
intercepted. By Roslyn.

He stood and whirled around to face his brother. “You will stay
here with Marley. Make sure she goes nowhere and that she is well cared for.
I’ll send a physician over to monitor her condition.”

Theron also stood. “Where are you going, brother?”

“I’m going to find out if what I suspect is true,” he said in a
dangerously low voice.

“Chrysander, wait.”

Chrysander paused and stared back at his brother.

“You should call the authorities. If you confront her and gain
a confession, it won’t do any good. Only you will know.”

Chrysander clenched his fists in frustration, but he knew his
brother was right. He didn’t want Roslyn to get away with what she’d done. He
could make her life miserable, but she would still be free. He wanted
justice.

* * *

Chrysander paced the confines of his New York office as
he waited for Roslyn to arrive. He didn’t want to be here. He wanted to be with
Marley. Theron had stayed with her, and Chrysander simmered with impatience. Her
condition hadn’t changed. Even when she’d awakened, she’d been distant,
unfocused, there but not there. It was as if she’d gone to a place where he
couldn’t hurt her anymore.

He closed his eyes and tried to focus on the task at hand. When
he heard Roslyn enter, he stiffened. It was all he could do not to rage at her,
not to break her skinny neck. It took everything he had to smile and act as
though nothing was wrong, as though he didn’t loathe the very ground she walked
on.

“You wanted to see me?” Roslyn said breathlessly.

“I did,” Chrysander murmured. He let his gaze run suggestively
over her body even as his flesh crawled.

Her eyes brightened, and her stance immediately became
suggestive.

“I’ve only just become aware of the lengths to which you went
to try and get my attention,” he said with a chuckle. “Men can be thick, so you
women say, but I think maybe I was thicker than most.”

Confusion rippled across her face, and she struggled to retain
a look of innocence. She couldn’t be sure what he was talking about yet, but it
would soon be clear. He watched her body language, her eyes, the windows into
the soulless bitch that she was.

“Why did you not just say you wanted me?” he purred. “It would
have saved us a lot of trouble. Instead, I was trapped in a relationship I
didn’t want, though I appreciate the efforts you made to rid me of that
problem.”

Roslyn relaxed, and a cold smile flashed across her face. It
was strange, but Chrysander had never realized just how ugly she was.

“How did you arrange it?” he asked silkily.

He listened in horror as she outlined what she’d done to make
it appear as though Marley had stolen the plans. The kidnapping had been an
added bonus, but when she’d received the ransom demand at his office, she’d seen
her opportunity to be rid of Marley once and for all.

So anxious was she to prove her devotion to Chrysander, that
she didn’t realize she’d admitted to selling his plans to his competitor.

“So you stole the plans and gave them to Marcelli.” His voice
was like ice, and she flinched at his tone. Her face whitened as she realized
just what she’d confessed to.

“You then framed Marley, thinking not only would you have the
proceeds from selling me out to my competitor, but then you would have Marley
out of the way so you could move into her place.”

Her mouth opened and closed, and he could see the realization
settle in that he’d duped her and was furious.

“And then when the ransom demands were delivered to my office,
you destroyed them, hoping what, Roslyn, that they would kill her? Permanently
remove her from the picture?”

He was shaking he was so angry. She simmered before him in a
red haze. All he could see was Marley alone and frightened. Pregnant with his
child and vulnerable. Thinking that not only did he hate her but that he’d
simply left her to her fate. He wanted to weep.

Roslyn seemed to recover her composure, and she looked
scornfully at him. “You’ll never prove it.”

“I don’t have to,” he said softly. He pressed the small
intercom button on his desk. “You may come in now, Detective.”

Roslyn swayed as three policemen entered the room, their
expressions grim.

“You can’t do this!” she shrieked. “I love you, Chrysander. I
would have done anything for you.”

He shook his head and turned away from her rantings as she was
escorted away in handcuffs. He had no desire to listen to her. He wanted to
return to Marley.