Betrayal of Innocence (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 1)

“She will be all right eventually,” Justin assured Vanessa. “She just needs to let the tears flow. They will heal her.”

“You sound as though you know from experience,” Vanessa whispered, looking up at him with something akin to adoration in her eye. She made no apology for it, it was how she felt. “Does it heal people to let their emotions flow?”

“It has to. Going out of my mind with worry for you has resolved a lot of problems I had, I can tell you that much,” he assured her gently. “I have been a fool. A blind, arrogant, fool.”

“None of this was your fault,” Vanessa assured him.

“That isn’t what I am talking about,” Justin replied. “God gave me something precious; something I wasn’t even aware I was looking for until it arrived in my life and made me reconsider everything I thought I knew. I have tried to deny it, ignore it, and avoid it, but I confess I am beaten.”

Vanessa, who was still struggling with doubts and insecurities, stared at him helplessly.

“You are the something precious God gave me,” Justin whispered, easing her into his arms. “I didn’t realise just how important you have become to me until you were no longer there. The thought of having to spend life without you was one of the most awful things I have ever had to contemplate. I don’t ever want to feel that way again. Ever. So, from now on it is going to have to be you and me, together. I insist on it.”

“You insist on it?” she murmured.

Justin nodded slowly.

“But you are leaving soon,” she moaned, dreading the moment when she would have to wave him goodbye.

“We have to discuss that, but not now, Vanessa,” he murmured.

“But you have to go back to London,” she said quietly. “Don’t you?”

She read the answer in his eyes.

“I could come with you,” she whispered, her heart in the gaze she levelled on him.

“I don’t want you to make any decisions right now,” Justin replied reluctantly. “You have had a shock, and a fright. Don’t go rushing into anything you may regret later.”

With her hopes dashed, Vanessa stared at him and struggled to hide her disappointment. She wanted to tell him that she would follow him anywhere but daren’t risk embarrassing herself – not now. While he hadn’t rejected her, he hadn’t encouraged a deeper connection with her either. She wasn’t sure what to think.

He doesn’t need me, Geraldine does, Vanessa thought sadly.

Vanessa knew she had had a lucky escape. Her ordeal, while horrifying, had been brief, nowhere near the several weeks Geraldine had been down in the crypt, all alone, with only bones and Reuben for company. Vanessa wanted to cry at the thought of what her sister had endured and made a promise to herself right there and then that she would help her recover.

“Justin?” Niall murmured. He smiled apologetically at Vanessa. “Sorry, mate, but we have got to go. There has been a report of another kidnap.”

Justin glared at his colleague.

“This morning, I am afraid,” Niall added before Justin could tell him to go away. “It can’t be Reuben.”

“Good God,” Vanessa whispered. “Will it ever stop?”

“But it was Reuben who took us,” Geraldine added.

“Well, someone else has gone missing, and the circumstances around the disappearance bear all the hallmarks of Reuben’s work,” Niall replied. “That said, this missing person lives in Derbyshire, so it can’t be Reuben who took her.”

“So there is someone else snatching people?” Justin mentally groaned and shook his head in disbelief. He looked helplessly at Vanessa.

“You have to go,” Vanessa urged him with a reassuring smile. “This is your job. Just go and find those missing people. I know you can. We will be all right.”

Justin nodded grimly. There was so much he wanted to discuss with her, but now was not the time or the place.

“I will be back as soon as I can,” he assured her.

Vanessa doubted it but didn’t argue with him.

“We will be fine,” she said when he looked at her hesitantly. She wondered if he was going to order her to stay at home again.