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He reached down and slid a finger inside of her and her walls squeezed him. How? What was happening?
“I love a challenge,” he told her before he kissed her again, not giving her a chance to answer.
They continued fooling around, this time taking it nice and slow. By the time they stopped she thought she’d never walk again . . . and she didn’t care. The pleasure was worth the deformity. She was sure she’d never let him go. She’d be his willing slave for life. The thought didn’t scare her as it should.
She fell asleep that night tucked safely into his arms with a smile on her lips. She prayed the sun wouldn’t rise. She didn’t want to face the real world as she was perfectly happy in this fantasy land the two of them had built together.
Chapter Eighteen
Ella
It was odd how time worked. In some periods of a person’s life, time moved at a snail’s pace, in others you blinked, and it was a whole new year. That was how time seemed to move right now, as Ella was happier than she’d ever been before.
She had no job and she didn’t know if she was staying in San Francisco, but she couldn’t bring herself to care or worry. Not when she was with Bass. They weren’t officially a couple or anything, but they were . . . something. Since their night of lovemaking three weeks before she hadn’t spent a single night without him.
She was sore, could barely walk normally, and she absolutely didn’t care. She was happy. She knew the bubble would surely pop, but that didn’t matter. She wouldn’t regret a single moment of her time with Bass, who’d awoken her senses in every way possible. He’d shown her things about her body she hadn’t known existed. She’d never be satisfied with another love again. He’d set her free and ruined her all at once.
They were moving forward with the horse therapy center and though it wasn’t easy working with Rafe, he’d been respectful and listened to her ideas. She wasn’t sure what would happen when they finished, but she was proud to be a part of it. As a non-profit center, she didn’t have to worry about the money; it would be self-contained, and Rafe would be unable to accuse her of stealing from Nana Bee. That was a blessing. She would be a little sad when it was over though. She knew she’d have to leave.
There was no way she could stay in San Francisco anymore. After having Bass for a lover, she couldn’t run into him somewhere with his arms around another woman. And there would be other women. That was one thing she was sure of. He wasn’t a man who was alone for long.
She couldn’t think about that now. She was too happy and she didn’t want her bubble to burst quite yet. Of course, just because a person didn’t want that, didn’t mean it wasn’t going to happen.
Her phone rang.
“Don’t hang up,” her father said without uttering a greeting.
“Why should I speak to you?” she replied. She couldn’t imagine how he’d gotten her number, but hewasa criminal and that was what the man did. He got what he wanted, when he wanted it. She’d be a fool to think anything positive about him.
“Please, meet me for lunch. Let me explain myself. If you do this one thing for me, I’ll go away and never bother you again if that’s what you really want after we talk. Even criminals get to have their day in court. Please let me have my day.”
Ella knew that could be a trap. They’d be in a public place so it wasn’t as if he could do anything to her. Maybe she needed to do that so he could get his closure, say what he wanted to say, and then leave her life for good. He didn’t say anything for a solid minute as she thought about his proposal.
“Fine, I’ll meet you on the wharf.” She wanted to be in a public place where it was unlikely she’d get ambushed. They settled on a time and she left her home, wanting to get there early.
She didn’t trust her father and she already wanted the meeting to end as soon as possible. The only reason she was meeting him was maybe he had an ounce of truth left in him, and after she heard him out, he’d leave her alone and let her live her life. That was what she wanted more than anything else.
Her father arrived. He didn’t look like a man who’d spent years in prison. He looked like any other successful businessman in San Francisco. He’d been deceptive when she was young, and it looked like prison hadn’t humbled the man. She didn’t stand when he approached her table. He reached for her hand and she pulled back. She didn’t want to make a scene, but she wasn’t going to be cozy with the man who’d destroyed her life and the lives of many other people.
In defense of her father, it had been a joint effort between him and her mother to ruin her life. Why the two of them had ever decided to have a baby she’d never know. She could ask him, but what good would it do? The man was a liar. She might anyway even if she wouldn’t believe whatever answer he gave.
“Thank you for meeting me,” he told her as he took his seat.
“You insisted,” she said. She wouldn’t make a scene, but at the same time she wasn’t going to sit there and pretend everything was roses and kittens.
“Well, I appreciate it anyway.”
They were interrupted when the waiter came and took their drink order. Though Ella rarely drank during the day, she needed something to calm her nerves. She ordered a glass of red wine, then sat back and waited. He’d wanted this meeting, so the ball was in his court.
“I want to apologize to you for everything: your childhood, the rough time you’ve had as an adult, and the fact that you felt you needed to pay back a debt I incurred,” her father said.
She gazed at him for several moments, realizing she’d love an apology from him if she believed he meant it. The problem was she didn’t think he did. She didn’t know what any of this was about.
“Okay,” she said after a few more seconds. Their drinks were dropped off and they placed their food order. She was more than happy to take a nice long sip. What else was she supposed to say to his apology?
“I know it will take a lot of time, but I think the two of us can work this out, Ella. I want to have a relationship with you. It’s down to just you and me. Neither of us have other family and I don’t want to lose this last link to my humanity.”
There was a glimmer of hope inside of her at his words. But he seemed too sincere. She was very aware he was a master criminal. He knew how to make people trust him. Just because he was seeming to pour out his heart didn’t mean it mattered to him. This could be just one of his acts.
