I spread my legs, folded over to one side, pressing my nose as close to my knee as my aching body would allow, and changed the subject. “I was sore yesterday. I should have taken Sunday off. Maybe we can implement yoga back into my workouts.”
“Let me help you,” he whispered, but we both knew he wasn’t talking about stretches.
I barked a laugh. It felt just as hollow as it sounded. “I don’t need a friend, Luke.”
I needed a friend more than words could adequately express. But I wasn’t going to find it in a personal trainer who had no idea what the hell he was getting into. And I sure as hell wasn’t going to stand by while he fell down the rabbit hole trying to rescue me.
“Please. Do us both a favor and mind your own business.”
The muscles at the base of his neck strained, but very slowly, he lowered himself to the mat beside me and began stretching, too.
Then he watched for over an hour as I cried through most of our workout.
It hurt like hell, but the most painful part was knowing that, when it ended, I’d be forced to get Tessa and head back home.
“There she is,” he said as I pulled Tessa from her highchair.
I froze and set her back down, my entire body going on alert at the deep rumble of his voice.
He wasn’t supposed to be there. His BMW wasn’t in the driveway when I’d gotten home from the gym. And I hadn’t heard him come in. Which meant he’d been in the house the whole time. Oh God, what did I do that he could have seen?
The fact that I hadn’t known he’d been there sent chills down my spine. My job, as a mother, was to keep Tessa safe, and the biggest part of that was knowing where he was at all times.
I closed my eyes and sucked in a deep breath. My chin quivered as I plastered on a brave smile that had long since become the only one I possessed anymore.
“Hey,” I whispered, turning to face him.
His green eyes lit as they landed on me, raking down my body and up again.
I’d changed after I’d gotten home. And not into the baggy T-shirt and worn-out pajamas I craved. I kept those hidden in the back of my drawer for when he was out of town. If Walter was home, I had to put effort into how I looked. Hair, makeup, jewelry. There was no such thing as comfort or lounging. He’d settle for nothing but perfection, and after our showdown earlier that afternoon, I couldn’t risk pissing him off again. Not while Tessa was awake.
After my shower, in which my baby girl had pulled every toiletry I owned out of the cabinets, I’d tugged on a tight pair of white pants that accentuated my butt and a pink-and-white silk blouse I knew he loved. I’d donned the diamonds he’d given me at dinner on our one-year anniversary—not to be confused with the ones he had given me the next morning as an apology for having beaten me out of consciousness because he’d thought I had been flirting with the waiter. Though he often requested that set specifically. A quiet reminder. As though I could ever forget.
“Jesus, your face,” he breathed, striding toward me.
Walter Noir was handsome. There was no denying that. I’d thought I was the luckiest girl in the world after he had seductively slid his business card across the counter at the seedy diner I’d been waitressing at when we’d first met. He’d been wearing a fitted, black suit that cost more than my car and a smile so beautiful that it hurt to look at. With his dark hair, green eyes, and olive skin, I was awestruck immediately. He was captivating in every sense.
Seven years later, I was the captive one, he struck more often than not, and the hurt was now in my smile.
“It’s okay,” I replied as he lazily stroked his thumb over the cut on my eyebrow.
He nodded in agreement then pressed his lips to my forehead and murmured, “How was the gym?”
I fought back a gag as he let the kiss linger while sliding his hands down my sides and over my ass.
“Great,” I managed to squeak.
Thankfully, he stepped away, and my breath silently rushed out on a relieved sigh—until I realized where he was headed.
“Come here, baby girl,” he said, stepping toward Tessa.
Panic ricocheted in my chest.
When Tessa had been a baby, she’d loved her father. And, by all accounts, he’d loved her, too. He was kind and attentive, worrying over her every peep. It was the same way he had been with me while we’d been dating. However, I knew love could turn into something ugly with Walt.
After all, he’d loved me once, too.
He had never once laid a hand on his daughter, though he’d hit me in front of her enough that she feared him all the same.
Over the last six months, things had changed with Tessa. She’d turned two and become aware of the world around her. That world being one where her father was an extremely dangerous man.
The crying any time he picked her up had started shortly after her birthday, and it infuriated Walt to the point that I spent my nights wondering how much longer she’d be safe under the same roof with him. I’d die before I let him hurt her, and as the days passed, I feared that might just be what it would come to. Time was running out. There was only so long that I could blame her reaction to him on teething or whatever mystery illness I could come up with.
“Mama,” she cried, reaching out for me with both arms as he approached.
My pulse spiked as I stepped into his path.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” I tried to distract him by placing my hands on the lean muscles of his pecs and pressing myself against his front.
He arched a menacing eyebrow. “Can I say hello to my daughter first?”
I stood on my toes and ghosted my lips across his. “Well, you could, but she skipped her nap today, so she’s in a terrible mood. How about I put our girl to bed then properly apologize to you for this afternoon?”
His eyes heated as his fingers painfully gripped my hips. “What do you have in mind?”
With shaky hands, I reached behind me and took Tessa’s tiny outstretched arm. She calmed instantly, so I kept my attention on Walt and seductively purred, “I’d rather hear what you have in mind.”
He studied my face for a moment, his eyes inspecting the bruises I’d done my best to conceal with makeup. “You know, if you’d asked that question earlier, you wouldn’t look like this.”
“I know. Which is why I’m asking now.”
He held my gaze for a minute longer then murmured against my mouth, “Get her in bed. I have a few calls to make first.”
I nodded swiftly, jumping in surprise when he squeezed my ass.
He lifted his focus over my shoulder and cooed, “Night-night, princess.” Then he turned his eyes back on me. “I won’t be long. Go take a shower.”
I’d taken a shower less than two hours ago. But that was the one thing Walt and I agreed on—I couldn’t get clean enough. Not when his filth clung to me.
I kept the smile up as he left the room. Then, when he was out of sight, I sucked in a ragged breath and tamped down the overwhelming desire to vomit.
There was no time for that.
I had but one objective: keep Tessa safe.
I’d sacrifice my heart, my body, and my soul to accomplish it.
Tonight, it was my body.
I awoke the next morning to my phone screaming on my nightstand. Or maybe it was only ringing, but my head was splitting in half from the sound.
“Shit,” I groaned when the night before came flooding back to me. I slapped my hand around until I found the offending device.
I answered only to silence it.
“Mrs. Leblanc?” the man on the other end questioned.
I threw my arm over my face and sighed. “It’s Keller now, but yes, this is she.”
“Oh…sorry about that. Ms. Keller. My name is Detective Rorke, and I’m with the Atlanta PD. I was wondering if you would be able to come by the station today and answer some questions we have for you.”
“Me? You want to question me? I mean… I’m sorry. What kind of questions?”
He chuckled. “I’m sure it’s nothing. Could you be here in an hour?”
An hour sure as hell didn’t sound like it was nothing.
I slowly sat up, allowing my head time to adjust to being vertical again. “Uh…can you at least tell me what it’s in regard to?”
“I’d rather we discuss this in person.”
“In an hour? Right.”
“As soon as you can get here, Ms. Leblanc,” he added kindly.
“Keller,” I corrected then sighed. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Perfect. See you soon.”
As he hung up, I jumped out of bed and rushed to the shower.
I shouldn’t have rushed.
Three hours later, I was still sitting in an empty hallway at the police station, no closer to finding out why I’d been brought in than I had been on the phone.
When I’d arrived, Detective Rorke hadn’t been there, so a uniformed officer escorted me to a room that screamed Law & Order more than it did a friendly chat.
Staring at myself in what I was positive was a two-way mirror, I racked my brain for what they could possibly need to question me about. With not so much as a speeding ticket on my record, I was a rule-follower by nature. Trouble and I did not coexist.
After about an hour, a different officer came in and escorted me to a chair in the hallway. More than once over the last two hours, I’d stopped people walking by, trying to get to the bottom of why I was there. But, each time, I’d been shut down by a tight smile and some variation of, “I’m sure it’s nothing.”
But, as my eyes lifted and I saw Roman fucking Leblanc entering the mouth of the hallway, flanked by two men in suits, I knew it was definitely something.
I hadn’t seen him in the two years since the divorce, but it could have been a thousand years and I wouldn’t have forgotten him.
However, with that said, I didn’t exactly recognize this man, either.
The man I’d fallen in love with didn’t parade around at ten a.m. on a Thursday morning in a suit. Hell, my Roman had argued about wearing one to his own wedding. Regardless of where we had been heading, fast food or a funeral, you wouldn’t have caught him in anything but jeans, a T-shirt, and a tattered ball cap.
This guy, though, was wearing that power suit as if it had been custom-made for him. Which, judging by the way it hugged his every muscular curve, it probably had been.
I narrowed my eyes as he strode down the long hallway. It was definitely him, but not even the posture matched the man I’d vowed my life to. My Roman smiled with his whole body and could charm a popsicle from a toddler with nothing more than a wink. He was approachable, funny, laid-back, and gorgeous beyond all belief.
As I raked my eyes over him, I realized that, much to my dismay, the gorgeous part had remained intact, even if the hard set of his jaw and the resolute square of his shoulders tarnished it.
Power and money swirled in the air around him with every step.
I shouldn’t have been surprised. I knew he was successful now.
I’d seen the magazine covers.
I’d heard our old friends talking.
I’d received his checks.
This was the new Roman, and it was so fucking wrong that my heart went into mourning all over again.
Suddenly, his silver eyes landed on me and, with a whoosh, the air became too thick to breathe. It was okay because my breath was trapped in my lungs, unable to escape around the newly formed lump in my throat.
He blinked for several seconds. Then his shoulders relaxed and the façade dissolved, leaving the man I had fallen in love with beautifully exposed in front of me.
The hairs on the back of my neck prickled the same way they had when we’d first met.
Back then, I’d mistaken it for love at first sight.
Now, I took it as a warning.
“Why are you here?” I accused in a low voice.
Cocking his head to the side, he returned, “Why are you here?”
His words hypnotically washed over me. He’d always had that effect on me. No matter how wound up I’d get, Roman could calm me with nothing more than a touch or a whisper.
Until the day he’d abandoned me.
I focused on that memory as I shot back, “I have no clue. But I’m starting to think it’s probably your fault.”
The corner of his lips twitched in the most annoying—and sexy—way possible. He pressed his left hand to his chest and feigned, “My fault?”
My mouth dried as the ache in my chest clawed up my throat.
His ring finger was bare.
It wasn’t as though I’d expected him to be wearing his wedding ring after all this time. It was just that I’d never seen him without it. I’d given Roman that cheap gold band twenty-four hours after we’d met, when we’d gotten married at the courthouse without telling a single friend or family member.
He never took it off.
Never.
He’d still been wearing it as he’d walked out of the courtroom the day our divorce was finalized.
I swallowed hard and dropped my gaze to the floor. I couldn’t do this. Not today. Maybe not ever. There was a reason I’d left him. This shit shouldn’t still hurt.
And yet, it did. Agonizingly so.
“Yes, your fault,” I whispered, but there was no resolve in my voice even to my own ears.
Following my lead, he gentled his voice. “I have no clue why I’m here. And, quite honestly, I’m more confused now that you’re here, Lissy.”
The familiar nickname made my head snap up.
As a woman with the name Elisabeth, I had no less than a dozen nicknames. Beth, Liz, Ellie, Biz, Lizzy, Bee, Elle… I’d had them all over the years. Friends, family, people I’d just met—they all abbreviated my name.
But the difference was that Roman pronounced the S.
“I’ll take that,” Roman said, snatching my driver’s license from my hand after I’d been carded for wine on our first date. “Elisabeth with an S, huh?” He smiled, causing my heart to nearly pound out of my chest.
My cheeks must have flashed a million shades of pink, because his smile grew.
I nodded. “My parents wanted to make absolutely sure I never got one of those personalized pencils at the elementary school book fair. They’re evil people like that.” I shrugged. “Mission accomplished.”
He blinked at me for several seconds, sporting the most breathtaking grin I’d ever experienced. Then, finally, he reached across the table and took my hand. There weren’t sparks the way they flourished in romance novels or movies.
No. What I felt when Roman Leblanc took my hand was more than any poet, author, or screenwriter could describe.
It was the culmination of every emotion I’d ever experienced. The high of happy, the depths of sad, and the spine-tingling chill of ecstasy.
He continued grinning at me as my world flashed from black and white to screaming color all around me.
Then he smirked and replied, “They sound horrible, Lissy.”
Not Lizzy.
Lissy.
I’d lived twenty-six years of life before that night.
But, suddenly, I was alive for the very first time.
I knew absolutely nothing about that man.
But I knew he was mine.
And I was meant to be his.
As I snapped back to the present, anger spiraled through my veins. “Don’t call me that,” I hissed.
He shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants and rocked forward on his toes, but he issued no apology. He just stood there arrogantly grinning at me.
Such was life with Roman Leblanc.
And, as it turned out, life without Roman Leblanc, too.
“Mr. and Mrs. Leblanc,” a man’s voice called from the end of the hall.
Roman and I both looked in the direction as an older man with salt-and-pepper hair and a Santa Claus belly approached. “I’m Detective Rorke. I apologize for your wait, Mrs.—”
“Ms. Keller,” I corrected before he had the chance to go any farther. Standing in the hall with Roman was bad enough without someone else joining him in his little name game from the past.
“Right. Sorry,” he said, turning sideways in order to slide past Roman. “Let’s move in here.” He opened the door to the room I’d originally been in before they’d relocated me to the hall.
I stood and waited for Roman and his legal entourage to enter the small room, but he swept an arm in a grand gesture for me to go first.
Always the fucking gentleman.
I rolled my eyes and walked inside. Though I did it with attitude, so flounce might be more accurate.
I heard Roman’s deep throaty chuckle as I passed.
I wanted to give him hell, but more than that, I wanted this to be over with. So I kept my mouth closed and settled in a metal folding chair on one side of the table, being sure to give the chair next to me a hard shove, scooting it to the end farthest away.
Roman didn’t react, but I was positive he’d noticed.
“I see you brought your lawyers, Mr. Leblanc,” Rorke stated, opening a manila folder like he had all the time in the world.
Roman crossed his arms over his chest. “I was called to a police station with two hours’ notice. For questioning in a matter I wasn’t informed about. You’ll have to excuse my caution.” Judging by his tone, he didn’t want to be excused at all.
What I took from that exchange was that Roman got two hours’ notice. Meanwhile, I had barely been able to speed-shower, choke a bagel down, let Loretta out, and then apply makeup in the rear-view mirror on the way over.
I secretly hated him even more.
Rorke nodded, but he didn’t seem placated. “Innocent men rarely travel with two attorneys,” he said, poking the beast.
Roman’s eyes darkened as his face turned to stone. “Good cops rarely drag innocent people in for questioning without allowing them time to find proper representation.” His eyes pointedly flashed down to me then back to Rorke. “So, yes, I do travel with two attorneys, but now, I only have one. Mr. Kaplin is with me and Mr. Whitman will now be representing Elisabeth Keller.” He spat my last name, but that wasn’t what caused me to jerk in my chair.
The Complete Retrieval Duet Page 4