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She rubbed her arms to get some warmth into her system. Desmond always had the ability to make her feel ice-cold and repulsed.
“Adrienne, I had no idea,” Peter said immediately. “This comes right from the top. And we’re thinking blackmail is involved, or else how did he just get to walk out of prison in broad daylight? Are you okay?"
After Desmond’s case, for which he was sentenced for racketeering, extortion, kidnapping, and a laundry list of other things, Peter had put on his best suit, meaning one that actually fitted him properly, and asked her out. She accepted the invitation to dinner as a new acquaintance and made that abundantly clear to him.
“I’m perfectly fine, Peter.”
“Adrienne, listen to me. You need protection. I’m not taking any chances. The man is obsessed with you. You’re the only reason he’s out. He’s been talking about coming toclaimyou again. Your divorce is probably what prompted him to get out.”
Adrienne pinched the bridge of her nose, a tsunami of a headache threatening to burst from her eye sockets.
Desmond was supposed to leave her alone. But she had been subconsciously expecting him to show up. He thought he had her right where he wanted her. He was wrong. But she couldn’t deny that the main reason she was packed and ready to leave and go hide out in her father’s cabin was because of him, no matter how brave and unbothered she pretended to be about his release.
She had given herself twenty years of freedom—the length of his prison sentence—before she thought she would have to deal with him on the off chance he still wanted to come after her. But now he was out, and she had run out of time.
Desmond Morton was a criminal disguised as a successful businessman; and not the kind that Miriam read about in her secret obsession with romance books.
He was weak, pathetic, and a coward. He sold his soul to the mafia for protection, and he would have anyone assassinated if he were threatened by them. That was his nature.
Except, he would send his goons to do his dirty work for him. She might have respected him a little more if he took care of his own dirty business, but he hid behind his henchmen, who were all currently serving life sentences.
Desmond was slimy and unscrupulous because, even among the worst of the worst, there was honor, and he had none.
She didn’t think he would harm her. But she believed Peter when he said there had been talk of him 'reclaiming' her.
Reclaiming her?
He never had her in the first place. He dangled something that belonged to her in front of her face, then showed her a marriage license. All she had to do was stay married to him for three years, and he would give her what she wanted more than anything in her life.
He was obsessed with her.
She couldn’t stand a strand of hair on his head.
It still pained her immensely that she had fallen for his proposition. But at that point, he’d been harmless, infatuated with her, and promised her that one thing—that one priceless thing—that belonged to her and was now his through a cruel twist of fate.
Her father had just died. She’d been desperate, vulnerable, and stupid, and like the hyena he was, he swooped in and promised her he would give back what he took from her father if she met his conditions.
She had to marry him, and on the night of their honeymoon, he would give her the item back. All she wanted was to feel that precious possession in her hands.
During their engagement, she was forced to attend an array of social events with him. There were images of her still lurking around on the internet where they were pictured together, with his hand on her lower back and the smile on her face undeniably fake.
She gave him millions of dollars to get out of debt. And she used that as a bargaining tool—that he could only kiss and touch her on their honeymoon. It bought her some time.
They’d gotten married. The night of their honeymoon that she paid for rolled up, and he got arrested right there in the hotel room, straight from their reception. She had still been wearing a white silk dress.
For the next three years, he played with her. Holding that possession over her head and knowing she would do anything to have it back. And then, one day, she decided he wasn’t going to do that to her anymore.
She wasn’t going to give him that power over her anymore. She divorced him because it was clear he was never going to give her back what belonged to her.
“Adrienne, where are you? I’m sending over a few bodyguards. They’re ex-SEALs—you don’t get better than them.”
“I don’t need any protection from anyone. I’m fine. I’m going where no one will ever find me. Trust me.”
"Adrienne, you need some sort of protection. You can’t be alone. Stop being so stubborn.”
“Peter, thank you for looking out for me. But I’m fine. I’m not afraid of him, and I won’t hesitate to shoot his balls off if he comes within sight of me.”
Peter groaned on the other side of the line, but he knew better. Maybe she was being silly. But she wasn’t going to let him think she was scared of him.
