Page 47 of Erotic Behavior (Observant Behaviors)
“Hoped?You don’t strike me as a guy who sits back and hopes.”
“You’re right.I did more than that.I had paid off a handful of their employees to update me on everything.Members of my security team were also working undercover.
“Nigel.”
“Not security, but yes, he worked for me.”
“Then what happened to Talia?”
“I still don’t know what went wrong there.The company insists they vet every candidate thoroughly, but clearly Miles got through.I have a friend who is working on the documents he provided.It’s possible they were fraudulent, but if Talia and Miles get married, there is nothing that can be done.Leo is doing what he can to keep me updated.She is safe, Raven.He won’t let anything happen to her.”
“Physically, sure, but what about everything else?I want her back, Beckett.If you are powerful enough to make all these arrangements, then the least you can do is get Talia back for me.She puts on a big act but she’s not strong enough to handle something like this.”
“Miles Carter is a dangerous man, Raven.I can’t risk you in the process of saving Talia.We need to trust Leo.”
She looked out the window, shaking her head slightly.I could see the tension in her body as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.
“Why me?Why did you pull me into all this shit?”
“My father had taught me never to let my enemy have an upper hand on me.I needed a wife and child, and you were the daughter of my enemy.Before I met you, it made sense to me.You needed money, I needed a wife.I had planned to tell you everything the first night we were together, but I took one look at you and I knew I couldn’t ruin things.Then time kept flying by and it had seemed irrelevant.I knew you and your father didn’t speak and I had fallen in love with you.I decided I wasn’t going to even tell him about you, just continue to fight him like I have for years.But somehow I underestimated his desire to keep tabs on you.I’m sorry for that.”
“You’re sorry for that?Only that?Beckett, you wanted to use me in some fucked-up game of chess against my father.You wanted me to have a child with you as part of a business deal and in the process, a crazy person basically kidnapped my best friend as part of it all.Now you are sitting here and the only thing you are sorry about is underestimating my father?”
I flinched at her outrage, even though I deserved every bit of it.She was right, I had so much more to be sorry for.The words just didn’t come to me fast enough.
I leaned forward and reached for her hands, but she pulled them away from me.
“You are right.I have a million things to apologize for and no excuse for keeping this all to myself.I should have trusted you from the beginning.”
“I get not trusting me with everything; you didn’t even know me.All you knew was I was the biological daughter of a man you hated.But these are things that had to do with my future and you made decisions about me as if I were some doll to be played with.How am I even supposed to forgive all that?”
“I’m not going to make any excuses.It’s moments like these that I realize I’m more like my father than I thought, and it makes me sick.I know it’s hard for you to believe right now, but I do love you, Raven.I lie in bed at night and hold you while you sleep, wondering how I ever survived without you.The only thing I ever feared losing was Ashlee and William, but my fear of losing you is more than that had ever been.You are my light, baby girl, and I’ll do whatever I can to prove that to you.”
A tear ran down Raven’s cheek, but her expression gave nothing away.Her normally expressive face was stoic as she stared at me, and I had no idea what she was thinking.It felt like a vice grip had a hold of my heart, and the only thing that could make it better was her telling me she’d consider forgiving me.I didn’t even need a full exoneration, heck I’d be suspicious if I got one.I was willing to pay for my shitty-ass decisions.I just didn’t know if she would give me a chance.
I reached forward and wiped the tear from her cheek.“I know this is a lot and you’ve already been through so much today.I will give you all the time you need to decide what you want to do and whatever that is, as much as it may kill me, I’ll respect your decision.”
Distance
Raven
WehadbeeninColorado for three days and kept our distance from each other since I still hadn’t figured everything out.I was curled up on the couch in front of the fireplace listening to music when I heard Beckett come in.His home here was larger than anything I had ever seen.The grandness of it was lost on me the first night we arrived.Exhaustion and the anger that still flowed through my veins set me up for a restless night of sleep once he settled me into the master.He slept with me that night and every night we’d been here.As much as my mind told me to leave him, I knew my heart would break into pieces.I loved him with every fiber of my being, but the betrayal of not telling me what me being here meant to him was like a living, breathing wall between us.He held me at night and during the day we spoke very few words to each other.I knew he was waiting for me to make the next move.I just didn’t know how to process it all.
The property had multiple buildings, different living spaces on each floor, and more guest rooms than any one person would need.On the lower levels there was a gym, an indoor shooting range, lap pool and even a rock-climbing wall, all of which I doubted Beckett ever got much use of.He spent the days in his office and I spent them wandering around the house.We shared meals, but otherwise did our best to give each other the space we needed.
“Raven, it’s Leo,” he said when I looked up and found him holding out his phone.“He’s getting Talia for you.”
I scrambled to my feet and reached for it without a second thought.
“Hello?”
“Hey, lady, how are you?”
“Damn, Talia, it’s so good to hear your voice.”
“I know.I feel the same.How are things?”
I looked up toward the door, and Beckett was gone, so I sat back down on the couch.