I deleted the message thread, locked the phone, and placed it back exactly where she’d left it.
By the time Stella returned, I was already seated, flipping through my notes.
They were messy. Abbreviated. My handwriting reduced to quick strokes and shorthand.
My observations weren’t entirely professional.
No.
My sweet girl was a rare find.
And she was mine.
???
The dot crept steadily closer to my house, but I resisted the urge to stand and greet her. I had given George the night off, preferring the quiet. A small smile touched my mouth when she didn’t ring the doorbell immediately.
6:52.
She was early.
I took a long, slow sip of my scotch, savouring the amber liquid as the warmth slid down my throat. Years of self-control made moments like this manageable, but a man still had his limits.
Five weeks of encouraging Stella to reveal herself piece by piece had been… excruciating.
My suspicions had been correct. She never knew that she had been targeted.
Eventually, she had told me about the videos and the destruction that followed. The humiliation. The collapse of everything she had thought stable. She’d looked so small when she spoke of it, head bowed, fingers twisting around the strap of her purse as she tried to sink deeper into the couch, as though disappearing into the leather might spare her from reliving it.
The shame didn’t belong to her.
It never had.
No one would ever take advantage of her again.
Well, except for me.
But I wasn’t here to break her.
I was here to give her what she truly needed.
A man who understood her. A man capable of meeting every one of her needs without the degradation she had endured before.
The bell rang.
I finished the last of my drink and set the empty glass on my desk as I left the office, straightening my cuffs as I moved down the hall.
My Friday night was looking very promising.
When I opened the door, she looked momentarily surprised to see me, but she stepped inside willingly.
“Hi,” she said breathlessly as she moved past me.
“Good evening, Stella,” I replied, closing the door behind her.“How was your week?”
Those green-yellow eyes flicked up to meet mine before darting away again.
Interesting.
