Then the vision dissipated as quickly as it had formed.
Elise needs you now—urgently, the Goddess told him. Go to her. Before it is too late.
Chapter Forty-one
“’Scuse me, Miss Elise, but you got a visitor down here with a whole bunch of flowers.” The soft, drawling voice of Barney, the ancient doorman at Elise’s downtown apartment building, came clearly through her intercom.
James, she thought in exasperation. Couldn’t he even give me an hour before he had to come after me? But she knew the answer to that—her ex-fiancé was nothing if not persistent, especially when large sums of money were involved. And that’s all I am to him, she thought bitterly. Just a large sum of money he doesn’t want to see float out of his reach. Well too bad, James, this little wad of cash is gone.
Resolutely, she pressed the intercom button. “Tell him to leave, please, Barney. I’m not seeing anyone.”
There was a soft, indistinct mutter of male voices and then Barney replied.
“Sorry, Miss Elise, but he’s real persistent. Says he just wants to come up and tell you how sorry he is. You oughta see these flowers—they’re real purty.”
Elise ground her teeth. She’d always kind of thought it was cute what a hopeless romantic Barney was, despite his age. He was like a secondary character in a romantic comedy, going out of his way to get the two star-crossed lovers together. But right now she found his meddling annoying in the extreme.
“I’m sorry, Barney,” she said firmly. “But I’m just not interested.”
She was turning away from the intercom, congratulating herself for never quite getting around to giving James a key to her apartment, when Barney’s voice came floating out of the small, tinny, box again.
“Miss Elise, he says to tell you if you just listen to him for five minutes, he’ll tear up the prenup, whatever that means.”
The offer stopped Elise dead in her tracks. For the past hour, ever since she’d gotten home, she’d been pouring over her copy of the ill-fated document she’d so foolishly signed.
All this time she’d believed it was a standard contract, one to protect a rich man from a gold-digging woman. Since she had her own money and career and didn’t care about James’ wealth, she’d signed without hesitation, though it had hurt her a little that he thought such a document was necessary between them.
But it was more—much more than that. And sure enough, there was a clause that stated she was legally bound to James and had to go through with the wedding, no matter what. Even worse, it stipulated that their marriage couldn’t be dissolved for at least a year afterwards. Not only had she legally obligated herself to marry James—she was going to be stuck with him for a good long time afterwards.
Reading the document made her sick. James had been planning this for a long time—probably ever since he’d run that background check on her and gotten in touch with her stepfather.
He’d hand me over to Charles on a silver platter as long as he got paid enough to do it, she thought, and knew it was true. The depth of dishonesty and betrayal from a man she’d once believed she loved hit her like a brick in the stomach. But if James was actually offering to tear it up…
“Are you sure?” she asked into the intercom. “Are you sure that’s what he said, Barney?”
“Sure am, Miss Elise. He even got a copy of it with him. I can’t make heads ’nor tails of it, though—looks like a lot of legal mumbo-jumbo to me.” Barney cackled. “’Course that’s why I’m a doorman ‘stead of a lawyer, I guess. So what do you say? Should I send him up?”
Elise hesitated. Something in her gut told her to be careful—to be wary of this offer, which seemed too good to be true. And yet, if she could really get James to tear the contract up, she could save herself years of litigation and possibly hundreds of thousands in court fees.
“Miss Elise?” Barney asked again. “You there?”
“All right,” she said at last, against her better judgment. “Send him up.”
It seemed only a second later that she heard a knocking at the door. Jumping up, she ran to open it but a sudden surge of anxiety made her look out the peephole first. Nothing could be seen, however, but the bottom half of James’ immaculately tailored suit and a huge bouquet of deep red roses which obscured his face.
Elise sighed. She hated roses—they reminded her of her father’s funeral. But they were the first flowers James had ever sent to her and she’d never had the heart to tell him so. As a result, she was always getting bunches of them from him. Though from the look of things, he’d outdone himself this time—there had to be three or four dozen long stemmed American Beauties in the bouquet he was holding up.
Well, I’m damn well going to tell him what I think of roses now! she told herself. Sliding the bolt, she opened the door and held it wide. “Come in,” she said tersely. “But don’t expect to stay long.”
“Just long enough,” he murmured and Elise frowned, thinking that his voice sounded wrong somehow. What had happened to his accent?
“James?” she asked uncertainly, backing away.
“No, not James.” The roses dropped to one side and a different face from the one she’d expected appeared. Different, but horribly familiar all the same. “Hello, princess,” her stepfather said, kicking the door shut behind him. “Long time no see. What do you say we get reacquainted?”
* * * * *
“Merrick, is that really you?” Olivia’s face on the viewscreen looked cautiously happy and bewildered at the same time.
“Yeah, it’s me all right,” he snapped. “But I don’t have time for small talk.”
“I’m sorry. It’s just—Elise was so sure you were dead.”
“Sure enough to go down to Earth and see that fucking fiancé of hers?” Merrick growled.
Olivia frowned. “Well, yes, she went to see him. But only to tell him that the wedding—uh, joining ceremony—was off.”
“But she’s down there now, right? Down on Earth?”
Olivia nodded. “Yes, she is.”
“Do you have the coordinates? The place she’s at? I need to find her right now, Olivia. It’s urgent.”
“Well, she did give me a place I might be able to reach her.” Olivia frowned. “Her fiancé’s house.”
Merrick swore. “And you think she’ll be there instead of her own place? She does have her own place, right?”
Olivia looked troubled. “I honestly don’t know. I think so. Her fiancé has been really persistent about wanting her to come back home, but she’s been so broken up about you I don’t know if she’d spend much time with him. Here, let me get you the addresses she gave me.” Olivia’s face disappeared for an instant and then she returned and rattled off a string of numbers and words that didn’t seem to make sense to Merrick. He fed them into the guidance system anyway and punched in the coordinates.
“This is amazing,” Olivia said from the viewscreen. “Sylvan is going to be so happy!”
“Don’t start the fucking party yet,” Merrick growled. “I have something to deal with first. Something important.”
Olivia looked worried. “Is it Elise? Is she in trouble? I knew I should have gone down to Earth with her!”
“Don’t worry, I’m going to take care of her.” Merrick nodded at Olivia. “Thanks for the coordinates.”
“But—” Olivia started.
Merrick broke the connection. “Hang on, baby,” he murmured under his breath as he punched the red button. “I’m coming.”
Chapter Forty-two
“Well, well, princess…it’s been a long time.” Charles advanced on her, giving Elise no choice but to back away.
“Why are you here?” she asked in a voice that trembled much more than she liked. “Get away from me!”
“I just wanted to see you again, that’s all.” He grinned at her, showing teeth that were slightly yellowed with age. Other than that, though, he looked almost the same as he had that horrible day he’d attacked her. His hair had gone
from deep grey to a majestic silver, but it was still thick and full and the wrinkles around the corners of his eyes were barely noticeable.
Probably gets himself Botox or some kind of laser treatments, Elise thought, feeling sick. She was certain that most women would think her stepfather was quite handsome. But the very sight of him so close, even after all these years, still made her feel like puking her guts all over his shoes.
“Well, I don’t want to see you.” She glared at him, still backing away. “So why don’t you just…just go home and leave me alone?”
“Now, now, is that any way to greet me after all these years? And after I went to so much trouble to set up our reunion.”
“Does James know you’re here? He’s going to be angry when he finds out.” Elise wished she could get around him and run for the door, but her body refused to move when she told it. It seemed all she could do was keep backing slowly away—getting farther and farther from her only hope of escape.
“Does he know?” Her stepfather threw back his head and laughed. “Princess, the roses were his idea. Here.” Without warning, he threw the heavy bouquet directly at her.
Out of instinct, Elise fumbled to catch it, gasping as the thorns pricked and scratched her arms. But she barely felt the pain. All she could think of was that it was happening again—Charles was coming for her again and she was helpless to get away from him. “Leave me alone,” she tried to shout, but her voice came out in a whisper. “You already ruined my life, what more do you want from me?”
“Why, just another little taste.” Charles grinned at her in the awful, predatory way she remembered from her adolescence. “I thought having you that one weekend would be enough—that I could get you out of my system once and for all—did you know that, princess?” He shook his head. “But somehow it just wasn’t. I’ve tried everything to forget you and I almost thought I’d succeeded, until James called me up out of the blue.”
“You can’t be serious,” Elise protested.
“Oh but I am, princess.” Charles gave her a charming smile that made her cold inside. “You see, I had a little piece on the side who looked like you—a little anyway—and I thought I was content. But from the minute I heard that fruity British accent of his telling me all about what you’ve been up to these last ten years, I knew no substitute was going to be enough. I needed to have you again. You and only you.”
“Well you can’t have me.” Elise glared at him though her heart was pounding against her ribs. She was almost to her bedroom door now and she was forming a plan. If she could just get in and lock the door, she could call for help on her phone. Charles might have bought his way out of her rape back in her hometown, but Tampa was her city and she was a respected attorney. She knew a lot of officers on the force and if she called and said her stepfather was trying to rape her, dispatch would send a black and white with no questions asked.
“If not me, then who?” Charles demanded. “That pansy fiancé of yours?” He laughed. “Yes, princess, James told me all about how you were ‘saving yourself’ for marriage and I played along. But I knew you were really saving yourself for me. Weren’t you?” He pressed close to her suddenly, crowding her against the door of her bedroom with the roses crushed between them. Their overpowering scent, mixed with the alcohol on his breath, made Elise dizzy and nauseous.
“I’d rather die than let you touch me again,” she yelled. Lifting the roses, she pushed them into his face, hoping the thorns would do their job. She wasn’t disappointed.
“Ow, you little bitch! My eye!” Charles staggered back for a moment, just long enough for her to open the bedroom door. She fell backward into the room, landing on her back. Scrambling quickly to her feet, she slapped her palms against the white wooden door and pushed with all her might, expecting to hear the door bang closed.
But she never heard the bang. Instead there was a dull thump and the door stopped, just shy of closing. Elise’s heart sank as she looked down and saw the toe of her stepfather’s expensive Italian driving loafer wedged in the doorway. Grimly, she pushed with all her might, trying to keep him out. But Charles outweighed her by a hundred pounds, and he was determined to have her.
“Come on, princess,” he purred. “You know you want it—let me in.”
Tears sprang to Elise’s eyes as she pushed harder, but to no avail.
Like a scene straight out of her worst nightmare, the door slowly began to open…
* * * * *
“Where is she? Where the fuck is she?” Merrick shook Elise’s pretty boy fiancé like a rag doll, ignoring the shocked look on his face.
“What…who…?” he stuttered, looking stunned. Merrick supposed that was to be expected. After all, an alien space ship had suddenly materialized in the middle of his huge-ass house, effectively squashing most of the furniture and blowing out one of the walls. Of course, Merrick had done a quick scan to be certain there were no life-forms in the way before he made his jump—he hadn’t wanted to hurt Elise, though he didn’t give a damn about the rest of them. And he didn’t give a damn about property damage, either.
“Where’s Elise?” he demanded again, shaking the other male. “Tell me and I might let you live, you sonofabitch.”
“I…she…she’s…” James shook his head, apparently having a hard time getting the words out.
“What’s all this? My God, James, what’s going on?” A middle-aged woman with dark hair and brown eyes like Elise appeared, picked her way carefully through the rubble.
“Oh, Evelyn, I’m so glad you weren’t hurt.” James tried to smile at her. “This…this person is a friend of Elise’s. He wants to know where she went.”
“Well, where did she go?” the woman demanded. “I can’t find Charles, either. And what happened here?” She gestured at the crushed furniture and the demolished wall with the prototype ship sitting right in the middle of it all. “It’s a mess!”
“I happened here,” Merrick growled. “And I’m going to happen to both of you idiots too, if I don’t get an answer soon—is Elise here or not?”
“N-no.” James shook his head. “She went back to her apartment.” He looked at the dark haired woman, who was almost certainly Elise’s mother. “That’s where Charles went, too.”
“Oh, James, are you serious?” Elise’s mother looked upset and uncomfortable at the same time. “You know how those two are—they just don’t get along.”
Fierce anger surged inside Merrick. “And I bet you know why they don’t get along, don’t you?” he asked, glaring at Elise’s mother.
She shifted, looking even more uncomfortable. “What are you implying? I don’t even know you.”
“Yeah, but we both know Elise. And we both know what your mate did to her—only you chose to ignore it.” Merrick bared his fangs at her. “I should rip you to shreds for the pain you let him cause her.”
She shrank back, a look of horror on her face. “You…you beast! Get away from me.”
James put out an arm, as though to shield her. “L-leave her al-lone,” he told Merrick in a shaking voice. “N-neither of us has any idea what you’re talking about.”
“Liar.” Merrick gave both of them a nasty grin. “Lucky for both of you, I don’t kill females or fools. But I’ll make an exception to my rule if you don’t give me the coordinates to Elise’s apartment right now.” He turned his glare on James. “And they’d better be correct, you little fucker, or I’ll come back here and rip off your head with my teeth. Understand?”
“I…I understand.” James’ face was pale and sweating. “V-very well, here’s her address…”
Chapter Forty-three
“Get off me! Leave me alone!” Elise fought with all her might, kicking and scratching and clawing but Charles had her pinned to the bed, that awful, leering grin she remembered all too well plastered on his face.
“I don’t think so, princess. I came all the way across the country for this, I’m not leaving until I get another taste.” He leered at her, his br
eath hot and disgusting against her face.
“You sick bastard!” Elise craned away from him, her eyes searching desperately for any escape. Beyond the glass of her bedroom window, she saw a familiar black metal outline she hardly ever paid any attention to. But now it drew her eyes. Of course—the fire escape.
She lived on the top floor of one of the few apartment buildings in Tampa old enough to still have an outside escape, though she’d never dreamed she would have to use it. Could she even get the window open? If she could just get away from Charles, she would damn well try! She’d smash it open if she had to—but she’d have to get away from her stepfather first.
“Come on, princess…” She felt him groping between her legs, just as he had so many years ago. “You want it,” he panted in her ear. “You know you do.”
“No! No!” Elise shrieked, trying to wiggle out from under him. She managed to kick a wall with her foot but she knew it wouldn’t do any good—the old building had thick walls, and Elise had paid extra to have a corner apartment with only one set of neighbors. Next she tried to hike her knee into Charles’s crotch but he only blocked the move and laughed.
“Nice try. Now let me in, princess. Let…me…in.” He pried her legs apart and pawed at her panties, a look of animalistic lust twisting his handsome face into an ugly mask.
Elise felt the panic rising in her, sweeping away all rational thought. It’s just like before—I’m trapped. Can’t get away! her mind babbled. He’s going to do it again and I can’t stop him. Can’t…
Suddenly there was a huge thump on the roof overhead that seemed to shake the entire building to its foundation. Elise gave a gasp and Charles looked up, an annoyed expression on his face.
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