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“No matter how much it hurts me?” she asked him then, her voice hoarse, filling with tears as realization began to wash over her. “Does that matter, Sax? Does it matter at all how much it’s going to hurt me?”
Chapter Two
“She has to be the most stubborn, independent, irrational woman I’ve had the misfortune to meet. ”
Sax slammed the file drawer in place, ignoring James’ mocking snort behind him as he slapped the file he had pulled out on the desk between them.
He was irritated, horny as hell, and damn if he wasn’t suffering from a guilt trip of major proportions.
No matter how much it hurts me? The words wouldn’t leave his mind, ricocheting in his head as he fought against the pain he had glimpsed in her eyes.
“You act like you’re surprised, buddy,” James laughed as he leaned back in the chair in front of Sax’s desk and watched him with amusement. “You’ve been chasing her for three years and just figured that one out?”
Sax sat down heavily in his own chair and regarded the other man with a frown.
“I don’t appreciate the amusement you’re finding at my expense, James,” he snarled back. “Dammit to hell, she enjoyed every minute of it. Drenched my fingers when she came and still had the nerve to try to guilt me out of her life. I should tie her to the damned bed for a week and fuck her until she’s too tired to guilt or deny me. ”
James chuckled at that one, not that Sax could blame him. Sax had been making that same threat for three years now.
“Vince is out on bail,” Sax sighed then, worry and fury clashing at the thought of all the ways he could hurt Marey. “He disappeared within hours. If she doesn’t ease up on the stubbornness, he’s going to kill her. ”
It was his worst nightmare, that Vince would attack her again, taking her from him forever. It was hard enough waiting on the sidelines all these years, certain she would give in eventually. But now…Sax knew the waiting was over. The question was would the fragile bonds of emotion between them survive the dominance rising inside him? He was sick of waiting. And he was sure as hell sick of her denying the very thing he knew both of them craved.
“Vince will self-destruct eventually,” James agreed. “All we can do is watch her, Sax. Daniel will look for him, Drew Stanton owns the security agency she’s using—he has priority watch on her. The sheriff will keep a closer eye on the house during his patrols, and when he comes up for trial, Caleb will make certain he spends plenty of time behind bars. The members of The Club won’t desert her. We watch out for our own, you know that. ”
Caleb Embers was the prosecuting attorney assigned to the case, and a member of The Club. Sax was well aware of the fact that if Vince made it as far as trial, then Caleb would fry his ass.
“Keeping him the hell away from her until he gets to trial is what worries me,” Sax bit out. “She’s so determined to deny us both that she could end up giving him the opening he needs. I swear to God, James, I can’t understand her. It’s as though she thinks she has to deny herself. As though she’s paying penance for something that only she’s aware of. ?
??
“Or terrified of a pattern repeating itself,” James suggested then. “She put her life on hold for her parents. When they died, she wasn’t a teenager any longer. Loneliness can do strange things to a woman, Sax. She married the first man who offered and learned within weeks the mistake she made. I have a feeling you’re something Marey couldn’t bear losing. So she’s going to fight you harder. ”
Which was no more than he expected. But damn if it wasn’t grating on his nerves.
“Tell you what. ” James leaned forward in his chair, watching Sax with a knowing glint in his eyes. “Let’s head to the house for dinner. We’ll have a drink and see if Ella has any ideas how to break her friend’s control. She knows Marey better than anyone. If anyone knows how to find her weakness, it’s my wife. ”
Sax tapped his fingers against the leather arm of his chair. He was right. And Ella would help too. She was worried as hell over Marey. She would make a great conspirator.
He moved quickly to his feet, ignoring James’ amused laughter as they pulled on their suit jackets and headed for the door.
“So, who’s your third lately?” Sax finally thought to ask his friend as they neared the door.
James snorted. “Ian came out of hiding. I think he’s running though. Damn if he’s not desperate to get as far away from his own house as possible since Dane’s daughter moved in with him. Have you seen her?”
Dane Mattlaw had been Ian’s best friend while he lived abroad in his younger days. The older man had been a steadying influence, while also helping to develop some of Ian’s sexual tastes in the high-class brothels they frequented before Dane’s marriage.
The daughter was a vixen. Not that Ian had introduced any of The Club’s members to her.
“Mattlaw will kill him. ” Sax grinned when James’ comment finally registered. “If he’s running from her, then he’s a little too interested. ”
“Too interested and denying it too hard,” James laughed as they left the office. “Watching him fall is going to be fun, Sax. He’s a little too superior in his attitude toward the rest of us after our marriages. We’re all cheering for her. She’s going to put a hurting on that boy that will bring him to his knees and make him cry for mercy. ”
That reminded Sax much too much of what Marey was doing to him. Damned woman.
* * * * *
“He’s driving me crazy. ” Marey stomped into Ella’s house hours after the kitchen interlude, ignoring her grinning friend as she made her way to the kitchen and the wine Ella kept in steady supply.
