“Four days and you’re just calling me, Brook?”
“Hey, I was waiting it out and seeing if your number-one girl was with them. I don’t know if you’re interested in her cousins or not.”
“They could be used as bait to get Susanna back. Plus, their dad and uncles may be looking to have a few words with them.” Casper knew what they would do to them. Those sick bastards would beat them like they usually did. They were scum. He’d saved Susanna from that. Her life was better with him even though he smacked her around a bit, too. A woman needed to know her place.
“I can grab them whenever you want. Just say the word.”
“You know what? Give it another few days or a week. I want to see if they meet up with Susanna. Those women are tight, and they would never give up their cousin’s location, but maybe they could lead you to my woman.”
“Sounds like a plan. I’ll keep you posted.”
Casper disconnected the call and sat in the home office. He didn’t want to go back to bed and back to the bimbo who he’d tried to replace Susanna with. Susanna was not replaceable. She was perfection, and he would have done anything to make her stay and learn to abide by his rules. She needed discipline, she needed training, and if he had more time with her, she would have been his perfect woman right now.
He became aroused just thinking about her body and her beautiful face. Her long golden locks, her exquisite emerald-green eyes, and the way she catered to his desires and command. What had gone wrong? Where had he lost her trust and her eagerness to please him?
He reached into his desk drawer and opened his secret compartment. He pulled out her picture and stared at it.
“My sweet Susanna, come back to me. Your punishments await.”
Chapter 6
“I don’t need help.” Susanna reached back to try to unzip her skirt. The truth was that she got it on no problem this afternoon when she left for work and knew she would have a problem tonight taking it off. But she figured one of the girls would be coming home. They all lived together in a huge house with plenty of privacy and space.
She really just wanted Monte to leave her, but he was not budging. The man was relentless, and the way he looked around the house as they walked inside made her feel like he was snooping. He had that investigative sense about him. She felt guilty because she knew damn well she wasn’t innocent of a lot of things in her life.
Their fingers touched, and she jerked her hand away. He in return pressed against her.
He whispered against her shoulder and neck. “Let me help you. I promise I won’t bite.”
“Quit saying stuff like that to me.” She felt the zipper go down, and his hands caressed her hips.
“Nice panties.” His hands began to move up the back of her blouse. She jumped away from him and nearly stumbled out of his reach. He crunched his eyebrows up at her, but she had to move before he saw the scars on her back. Although they were faded, they were still very noticeable.
She clutched her skirt and her blouse against her body.
“Please leave.”
He stared at her as if he were trying to read her mind. It gave her such an uneasy feeling. She wasn’t a trusting person. She feared that her past would always haunt her and her cousins. She just wanted to work and be left alone. Why was she even allowing him or BJ to get so far with her? Why did she let them kiss her? They were an indulgence she couldn’t afford.
“I’ll wait right outside your door, so if you need me, I’ll be there.”
“You should wait downstairs in the living room.”
“Why, when your room is huge, like your own apartment?”
He was right. Each of their rooms was like a small apartment, and years ago they were cottages. They decided to merge the multiple cottages and make it one huge house, but they still had a wing to themselves. When Alexa and Sally came, they would have their own places behind Susanna’s.
He seemed to get her drift, but he still wasn’t budging. Then she heard his cell phone go off as he closed the door.
As quickly as she could, she undressed and threw on a pair of shorts, a tank top, then a T-shirt so she wasn’t showing off too much skin.
She looked in the mirror and was amazed at how red her cheeks were and how great her coloring looked. Monte did that to her. His soft caresses and his whispered words against her skin made her wanton and needy.
She didn’t want to go downstairs. She didn’t want to face the temptation.
Why can’t he just leave me alone?
* * * *