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“What? Lie to me about who you are? Forget to tell me you were already married? Agree to marry me for the money? Although that was my bad. I wanted you too badly and was willing to do whatever it took to make you mine. Move your things back into the spare bedroom. I won’t fuck another man’s wife.”
She wrapped her arms around herself and nodded. “If that’s what you want.”
“I’ll be back in a few hours. So help me, Freya, if you try to leave, I will hunt you down and hand you over to the authorities myself. Stay here with the doors locked.”
“So we’re your prisoners?” Her bottom lip trembled.
“Aye. Until I return, you are. And I’ll know if you try to leave.” He held up his phone, thankful that he had automatic locks installed on all the doors.
She hung her head. Soft sobs shook her slim shoulders.
“Do you understand, Freya?” He hated how defeated she appeared. There was no way she was faking her tears. If she was, then she was without a doubt the best actress on the planet.
“Yes.” She seemed to crawl right back into herself.
But he couldn’t feel pity, not after all the lies. “Good. I will be back shortly.”
Jasper grabbed everything he needed and headed to his SUV. He set the locks and the alarm on the house. He was the only one who could disable the system. He’d never given her the code, and now he was thankful for that. If she opened a door or window to escape, he would receive an alert on his phone. It wasn’t foolproof. And he had to prepare himself that when he returned, he might not find them here.
But it was a risk he had to take. Because he had to know if what she told him was the truth.
After he pulled out of the garage and was on his way to Denver, he contacted Asher.
“Yo. Look, I—”
“Shut up and listen.” He went into detail over everything Freya told him. All of it. The abuse, what she had been forced to do to survive, every last detail.
Asher whistled. “Damn, that’s a twist I didn’t see coming. What do you need from me?”
“Meet me at the bank. I should be there in an hour. I want you there when I retrieve the evidence, and we’ll review the footage together. If the proof is there and everything she said pans out, I need you to do your thing to get the charges dropped.”
“I’m on it. See you soon.” Asher hung up.
And Jasper prayed he hadn’t been played for a total fool.
24
Freya dissolved. The moment he left the bedroom they’d shared the last two weeks, she collapsed on the floor. Her sobs racked her frame. She needed to pull it together—for Maddie. She needed her to be strong.
But then, she’d experienced a taste of heaven, only to have the rug pulled out from under her. Just as soon as she started believing she might find happiness with Jasper, her entire world came crashing down on her.
Again.
It wasn’t fair. Hadn’t she already served her time in hell? Didn’t she deserve to have some peace and comfort?
She heard Maddie screaming for her. Freya wiped her eyes and had to force herself to stand when all she wanted to do was curl into a ball and cry her heart out.
She headed downstairs after checking herself in the mirror. Besides her haggard and tear-stained face, she didn’t look horrible. She’d looked way worse over the years. She left the room, headed down to the living room to Maddie. Her poor girl was howling, her little face red.
“Oh baby, I’m sorry for leaving you.” She rushed to the playpen.
“Mama,” she sobbed, holding her arms up.
“I know,” she soothed, lifting her up, and that’s when she caught the putrid smell emanating from her diaper. It was no wonder she was upset. Her daughter hated having dirty pants. She wasn’t one of those toddlers who could sit her their own filth. “Let’s go change your diaper.”
And then she was putting her down for a nap. While she slept, she would move all her things back into the bedroom she’d spent the first few nights in. And she’d pack them a go bag as well, just in case they had to leave on the fly.
Because she could no longer count on Jasper to save them.
