If this was what he needed, I’d give him everything.My body.My soul.My trust.I’d surrender to him completely.
There were no desperate grunts.No carnal declarations of want.The only sound was that of our ragged breathing and our bodies becoming one.
Too soon, I felt that familiar warmth building low in my core, spreading through me like a fire I couldn’t extinguish.And I didn’t want to.
Henry sensed it, too.
He released one of my wrists, trailing his hand down my frame and bringing it between us, rubbing my clit.
“Let me feel you, baby,” he pleaded.
I couldn’t deny him.So I let go, both of us finding our release together.
Breathless and spent, he collapsed onto the bed and pulled me close again.As if he couldn’t stand being apart.
For a few long moments, we just lay there.His heartbeat gradually steadied beneath my palm, but the tension didn’t leave his body.
“Want to talk about it?”I traced my fingers over his chest.“Did Blake find something important?”
“He did,” he replied with a sigh.
I waited, but he didn’t continue.
I lifted my eyes to his.“If you’re worried I’ll be upset you confirmed Victor was cheating on me, don’t be.I know he was.Honestly, I looked forward to the times he went out of town.It meant I could breathe.”
“This isn’t about Victor’s mistresses.”
I furrowed my brow.“But you said Blake found Schaffer’s files.The women he sterilized for Victor.”
“He did.”
“Then…?”
“It wasn’t just a few, like Schaffer claimed.”His voice was barely audible.“There were a hundred and forty-seven.”
My stomach dropped, an unsettled feeling trickling down my spine.“I-I’m not sure I understand.”
Henry pushed out a long breath.“Victor wasn’t cheating on you.Not the way we thought.I could be wrong, but I find it hard to believe he had that many mistresses.”
“Me, too,” I admitted.“So what do?—”
“I think he was trafficking those women.And that’s why he paid Schaffer to sterilize them.”
The room tilted as a myriad of thoughts and questions consumed me.One louder than the others.
“Your daughter,” I began reluctantly, unsure I wanted the answer.“Did he… Was she…”
“She wasn’t in Schaffer’s files,” he answered.
Relief hit so hard that I sank into him, relishing in the warmth of his body against mine.He pressed a kiss to the top of my head, smoothing his fingers through my hair.
“But I think she figured out what Victor was doing.Or she got too close.”
I met his gaze.“What do you mean?”
“I tracked the disappearances and compared them to Sarah’s travel history.”He swallowed hard, grief sharpening his features.“For months before her death, she visited every city a week or two after each woman went missing.And that’s not all.”
“What else?”I prompted.
