Текст книги "Grace Street"

Автор книги: Ella Dominguez

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Текущая страница: 15 (всего у книги 18 страниц)

19: Invested

Victor was still incensed about the reporter’s question about Anthony when he woke on Sunday. His visits to the Virginia Pen were to be strictly confidential. He had no doubt who had leaked the information. Fucking Anthony. He loved the spot light and if he had a hand in helping catch a killer, he sure as hell was going to make it known to the world.

His work in Cambridge was done for now until all the proper paperwork and particulars could be sorted out regarding their main suspect. Victor had pointed the detectives in the right direction once he went with his initial gut instinct and things were panning out. It was a huge relief, but that negative inner voice was still nagging him because he knew better than to assume things would work out. Especially when it came to anything related to law enforcement. It wasn’t like the movies or the books where everything fell into place in a few days and wham, bam, you got yourself a killer. It took time – more time than people on the outside really knew. It would probably be another month or longer until they could even make an arrest. If they were lucky. But at least for now they could keep an eye on the person in question.

The weekend wasn’t completely over yet and he hoped to get the chance to see Elsa later when he arrived back in Richmond. He had cancelled their weekend, but needed release after the frustrating last few days he had.

Back in Virginia, he drove straight to the brownstone and cleaned himself up before texting Elsa.

Mr.Black: Meet me at the Grace Street brownstone.

He looked at his watch and clocked the time – 2:25 p.m. She had forty-five minutes to get there.

Seating himself on the duchess chair, he peered out the window. The day was gorgeous. Thinking about his last interaction with Elsa, he shook his head, still unable to believe the balls she had to try and tell him he was ‘free to leave.’ He should punish her for that statement.

The more he thought about it, the more appealing the idea sounded, but what and how? He hadn’t planned it out ahead of time and all forms of punishment were to be carefully premeditated and not haphazardly doled out. Elsa and her fucking light. What a joke.

Still tired from the flight, he leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

He woke with a jolt when he heard her car pull into the driveway. He glanced at his watch. 3:35. She was damn near thirty minutes late. Standing, he moved to the window and flung the curtains aside to see her looking as beautiful as ever, but moving leisurely toward the front entrance.

Irritated, he seated himself back in the chair and crossed his arms over his chest. He heard her stumble in the front door and drop her bag. By the sounds of it, the contents spilled out and she cursed under her breath.

He listened as she scooped up the items, each second passing by slowly as thoughts of punishment returned. She was supposed to be ready and available to him within forty-five minutes. Was that so much to ask? Was she intentionally trying to elicit a negative response from him?

When Elsa came around the corner, Victor swore if she had anything less than an apologetic look on her face he would seriously lose it. She had left the door open and he felt the heat and muggy air float in, causing the air-conditioner to kick on. She lingered in the entry way, only infuriating him more. What the hell was she doing anyway?

Finally pushed beyond his limit of patience, his voice boomed, “Elsa, get in here.”

He heard the door slam and she peeked around the corner. The light from the bay window lit up her face and her stunning yet fearful eyes. Wobbly on her feet, she steadied herself as she walked into the living room.

He stood and took in every detail of her obviously freshly showered body. “Why the hell are you late?”

“Victor, I…” she started in but he didn’t care why. There was no reason that would suffice.

“Save it.”

He marched toward her and wrapped his arms around her body, her warm, damp skin clinging to him through the sheer fabric of her white dress. He hiked her dress up and dug his fingers harshly into her ass, making her gasp. In one motion, his skilled hands pulled the dress up over her head and he flung it to the side. Her bandages were still in place and though he wanted to cause her pain for having made him wait and for having told him to get out of her office, this wasn’t the way to go about it. He claimed her mouth and as he thrust his tongue in, he pushed her back toward the chaise and down onto it. Laid out before him, Elsa gazed up at him with fear vividly sparkling in her eyes.

Without speaking, he quickly rid himself of his clothing and stood over Elsa, allowing her to drink up his dominance. He was taking her and he didn’t need her fucking permission. She belonged to him. As he approached her, she turned her face to avoid eye contact, but he wouldn’t be denied. He placed his finger under her chin, forcing her to look at him.

“Rule number nine: eyes on me at all times,” he stated, spacing the words evenly.

His mouth found her breasts and he nipped at her pebbled nipples and pulled them to a point with his teeth. Elsa’s back arched, pushing more of her breast into his mouth. She carefully wrapped her legs around his torso and locked her ankles together as he slid into her unhurriedly.

As he plunged into her tight, wet depths, the pressures of work were forgotten. She was wet… so wet… and each slow thrust eased his tension and the smell of their mixed sex cleared his mind. When their tongues danced and twisted inside each other’s mouths, even her punishment was momentarily brushed aside. Elsa’s wordless moans breathed against his mouth pushed him over the edge. He had hoped he would last longer, back pressure was too great. His thrusts came quicker, deeper and harder until he hit her cervix and stilled. When he released into her, he opened his eyes to see her smiling up at him.

But the smile… it wasn’t real. He had seen her phony joy before – the first night he met her at The Brewery. She offered that same bullshit fake smile to the asshole that had his hands all over her.

Suddenly, his anger was back. Did she think he couldn’t read her?

Pushing himself off of her, he pointed toward the stairs. “Get cleaned up. You have ten minutes. Do you think you can comply with that request?” he asked acidly.

Elsa sat up and gritted her teeth, but held her words and moved quickly.

What the hell did she have to be pissed off about? He was the one who had been slighted by her lack of compliance.

As a wicked plan formed in his mind, he wondered just how invested she really was in this game. He would find out.

***

Elsa moved at double speed to wash her private parts. She was still shaky from the rear-end collision she had just been in. She wasn’t at fault, even so, there were laws and she prayed she wouldn’t get in trouble for leaving the scene of an accident. She left her insurance card and hoped that was enough. Her adrenaline was still surging through her veins. Not only because she had left before the police arrived, but because she knew there was going to be hell to pay. There was no way Mr. Black would let her being late slide. She leaned over the sink and splashed her face with water, ready to face her punisher.

As she descended the stairs, she tightened the strings of her silk robe and tried to slow her breathing and heart, but it was an impossible task with everything that had happened.

When she entered the living room, Victor was dressed and waiting by the bay window. He motioned for her and she approached cautiously. When he saw her nervousness, he smiled. He loved this. Elsa pushed her chin out and squared her shoulders. She would be the champion, she repeated.

When he saw her new found courage, he let out a disgusting, breathy chuckle. “We’ll see how brave you are when you find out what your punishment is, Ms. Cassidy,” he commented with a facile tongue. “We’ll also see just how invested in this game you really are.”

Her eyes nervously darted back and forth between his irises, trying to read his expression, but she could only see Mr. Black’s dark eyes flashing a firm warning in her direction.

Moving behind her, he kissed her neck tenderly and untied her robe, letting the soft fabric fall and pool around her feet. The cool air chilled her skin and goosebumps covered her entire torso. Victor ghosted his fingers over her upper arms and he ground his shaft into her lower back.

“Are you invested, Ms. Cassidy?”

Her body tensed and she woodenly nodded.

“Are you sure?” he asked in a sing-song tone.

God, would he just get on with it? How bad could it be? She immediately bit her bottom lip for thinking such a thing. The last time she let those words slip into her subconscious, she ended up having to watch Patrick have sex with another woman.

Again, she nodded.

Victor pushed her forward toward the window and stepped away to open the curtains widely, letting in the light.

“Do not move and do not speak, Ms. Cassidy. For any reason. Not even if someone comes to the door.”

What kind of wrinkle was this in the game? Elsa peered over her shoulder as Victor pulled the chair to the shadows and seated himself to watch the show.

Elsa stood like that for nearly twenty minutes wondering what kind of punishment this was to simply stand in front of a window until she saw the first group of people walk by on the sidewalk that was only a few hundred feet away. Her body stiffened and her natural response was to cover herself. She flinched and reached for her robe when she heard a tsk tsk behind her. She quickly straightened herself but lowered her head.

“Eyes forward,” he barked.

She slowly lifted her head to see several people pointing in her direction with appalled looks on their faces. Victor had stated he never repeated a punishment twice, but wasn’t this humiliation again?

Another person walked by, an older, well-put together woman who stood frozen as her eyes roamed over Elsa’s nude body. Both of their cheeks flushed simultaneously and Elsa felt the sudden urge to cry. She swallowed hard and held her ground. The woman promptly dug into her handbag and retrieved a cell phone.

This wasn’t good. Elsa’s legs suddenly felt weak. The woman talked feverishly to someone as two other people approached. Would this never end? She clenched her fists when her mortification turned to anger. God, she hated Mr. Black.

The group of three people finally dispersed and Elsa let out a sigh of relief. How much longer was she going to be put through this? Just as she was feeling better, she saw a police cruiser pull into the driveway.

Horrified at what was about to play out, she turned her head to see Victor gone. But she knew he wasn’t really gone. The cameras were rolling. The loud knock on the door made her jump but she stood steadfast. Victor’s words came back to her: this isn’t going to end well.

A louder bang on the door echoed through the entryway that was followed by a man’s voice.

“Open the door, Ma’am.”

When she didn’t respond, she heard the door knob jiggle and her mouth became unbearably dry. There were now several onlookers, some of whom were smiling stupidly at her. Fuck this. Just as she reached down for her robe, the door swung open and a tall, built Hispanic police offer came into the living room.

“Cover yourself and step away from that window, please,” he stated sternly.

Her body stilled. Do not speak. Do not move. Not even if someone comes to the door. She straightened herself and kept her eyes lowered. She truly had lost all common sense and the words ‘sanity’ and ‘dignity’ had been ripped from her vocabulary.

“Ma’am, did you hear me?” he said louder when she didn’t move.

Elsa’s bottom lip trembled and her body began to shake when the officer approached her and reached down to place the robe around her shoulders.

“Are you the owner of this residence?” he asked.

She shook her head.

“Where is he?”

She shrugged her shoulders.

“Listen to me, Ma’am. If you don’t step away from this window, I’m going to have to haul you in. Do you really want that?”

She shook her head and her eyes welled up with tears. But she remained exactly where Mr. Black had told her to stay and she pulled the robe off.

“This is ridiculous. If you don’t put that robe on right now and step away from the window, I’m taking you in. This is your last warning. I got a shit ton of paperwork to do and I don’t have time for this. Do you understand?” he said even louder than before.

She nodded. Yes, she understood what he was saying, but she also understood that Mr. Black’s punishment would be far worse. She pushed her chin out, ready to prove her investment when the man grabbed her robe once again, wrapped it around her shoulders and dragged her to the car. She no sooner got placed into the back seat when her body began to tremble. She hadn’t been to jail as an adult and she promised herself after the last time she was in juvie that she would change her ways. She had even promised her mother. Oh, God… her mom. Elsa hid her face in her hands, but held her tears.

Where the hell was Victor? Why hadn’t he come to her rescue? Because he was no knight in shining armor, she reminded herself. He was a soulless, lightless sadist… No. That’s what he wanted her to believe and this was all part of his game. He wanted this. He wanted her to doubt her judgment about him, but she would prove to him that she still believed in him…

When they arrived at the station all her memories of her time being booked when she was a teenager were brought back. It was all the same. The same paperwork, the same assholes asking the same questions. She tried twice to call Victor’s cell phone only to be sent to voice mail. This was insane.

Dressed in an awful, blue jumper that was at least two sizes too big, she was placed into a cell all by herself. Thankfully. She couldn’t bear the thought of having to be next to real criminals.

Where was Victor? Why the hell wasn’t he here to explain everything and get her out? Didn’t he realize she could lose her job over something like this? Is that what he wanted?

Three hours passed and she was losing hope that he would show up. Several times she was asked if she wanted to call anyone, but who would she call? She had no one near who could help. She considered calling Vivien, but she was too embarrassed and didn’t want to try and justify her actions of why she had been standing nude in front of a window for all of Richmond to see her. She didn’t want to explain that she had signed some stupid, fake contract that wasn’t even legal and that she was being held to ridiculous standards. And she sure as hell didn’t want to try and rationalize herself by saying it was all because she thought she could break through some sadistic asshole’s walls.

Finally after four hours, she was released and simply given an indecent exposure ticket and warned to keep her naked ass under wraps. They gave her some second-hand clothes to wear and she caught a bus with a voucher back to Grace Street. When she arrived, it was almost 10:00 p.m. She found the door unlocked and Victor waiting at the table eating as if nothing had happened and she hadn’t just spent the worst four hours of her adult life in a jail cell.

Too irate and hurt to speak because of his casualness, she went straight to the master suite to shower and wash the filth of the jail cell off her body. She felt miserable and alone and for the first time, she regretted having moved to Richmond. This wasn’t the life she had planned for herself. This wasn’t what she wanted. She just wanted to be cared for, cherished, and loved. All she wanted was a fresh start. But Mr. Black had stripped all that away. She crawled under her comforter and rolled onto her side and closed her eyes. She just wanted to sleep and forget about the fucking her investment.

She heard Victor walk in but she kept her eyes closed, pretending to sleep. The bed dipped next to her and his hand push the hair from her eyes, but she remained motionless.

“I have some food for you downstairs. Come and eat.”

She remained still.

“I know you’re not sleeping, Elsa. Come downstairs and let’s talk.”

Her eyes flew open and she glared at him. What the hell was there to talk about? He stood and tugged her hand, but she resisted. When she did, he reached down and brought her up into his arms and carried her down the stairs. She hid her face in his neck, not wanting to look into his beautifully deceiving and pitiless eyes. His smell was so intoxicating and his warm, strong body was so firm... Why hadn’t he come to that jail cell and taken her into his arms then?

He seated her at the table and pushed a plate of warm food in front of her. She didn’t want to give in but she was so hungry. Picking up her flatware, she brought a forkful of potatoes to her mouth. When she finally had the nerve to look up, Victor was watching her keenly and waiting for her response. She could only guess that he was expecting her to lash out like she had before, but she just didn’t have it in her.

She shot him a withering glance. “How could you leave me there knowing what I’ve been through?”

Silence.

“That was harsh, Victor.”

He shrugged his shoulders. “You were late.”

Elsa sighed and shook her head in disgust with his coldness. “You should know that the reason I was late was because I was in a car accident,” she whispered. His eyes squinted critically. “You don’t believe me? Go outside and look at my rear bumper,” she answered before he spoke.

Victor’s mercurial, green eyes sharpened as he sat forward. His mouth parted and a pained sigh fluttered past his lips. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me?” he clenched his teeth.

“Would the reason have mattered?”

Her question went unanswered and he sat back and sunk into the chair. There was an almost imperceptible note of remorse on his face as he reached a hand out to her.

“Now you know I’m invested, Mr. Black, and I’m not going anywhere.”

20: Clash

While Victor lay next to Elsa with his chest to her back, the names of his Chapters kept slipping through his thoughts, and the undeniable and dreadful facts of everything he had done to them all in the name of helping them. His recent ceaseless inward questions were maddening and eating away at the protective outer shell he had carefully created over the years. He thought by getting closer to knowing who the Cambridge Killer was, these thoughts would dissipate, but they only seemed to intensify.

Unwanted guilt weighed heavily on his heart for having allowed Elsa to go to jail. Of course he would take care of everything and have the charges dropped, but it wouldn’t take away the betrayal she was feeling. He was simply trying to make her see the danger in falling for him. Hell, he never expected her to really go through with it. He had never met anyone so fucking resilient to his methods. He was convinced that his punishment was exactly what she needed to see that he was a hopeless case, but what he hadn’t anticipated was the look of desolation on her face or the admission that there was a legitimate reason for her having been late.

When he observed her standing in front of the window, he found it admirable to watch her struggle. It was a redeeming quality for her to continue fighting against her own will and commonsense to accept his sentence even while knowing triumph was all but a fleeting memory. Her stubbornness and admission that she was still invested in the game was a shocking testimony of the depths of her loyalty for him and he began to wonder just what outcome she expected between the two of them. As he lay in the dark room pondering what it was she saw him, he was simultaneously lost and found in her as his breathing slowly matched hers.

Elsa wasn’t sleeping but wasn’t speaking either. She was waiting for something, but he had no idea what. She was hurt and angry, and could he blame her? She had proven herself worthy of his time and effort, but was he worthy of her? Fuck, no, he wasn’t. What did she think she was accomplishing by staying ‘invested’? It was infuriating that he couldn’t figure her out. The others were so easily readable. God damn her and her light.

Slowly she rose from the bed and began dressing.

Feeling rebuffed, Victor sat up on the edge of bed. “I haven’t dismissed you.”

“It’s after midnight. It’s Monday. I have to work,” she stated without emotion as she seated herself on the edge of the bed to put her shoes on.

Holding onto her shoulders, he turned her body toward him so he could see her eyes. Damn if they weren’t the most stunning ones to ever look back him… Sadness flickered in her chestnut irises and only a hint of the light she spoke about.

“Your light is diminishing,” he said quietly, knowing full well he was the reason why.

A momentary look of discomfort crossed her face before she stood again and pulled her coat on. “I’m sorry you’ve been hurt, Victor, but nothing you ever do is going to change who I am and no amount of malice you show me is going to douse my light.”

He sat stunned as she stared at him. How the hell did she know he had been hurt? Was he the one that was easily readable? He flashed back to his three-word confession: yes, I’ve loved. That statement in and of itself was enough to let onto his pain and he was pissed at himself for having said it. He fucking knew better than to do something so ignorant.

“What do you see when you look at me?” she asked as she seated herself next to him.

He said the first thing that came to his mind. “You’re beautiful.”

She shook her head. “I mean really look at me; deeper than my surface appearance. Am I unique?”

Her question left a burning imprint on him and he answered honestly while skimming his fingertips down her arm. “Absolutely.”

“Do you think I’m intelligent?” her eyes implored him.

“Without a doubt.” His hand moved to her back where he traced the vertebrae of her spine.

“Do you think I’m strong or weak?”

He offered a small smile and nodded his head. “Definitely strong.”

She regarded him with somber curiosity. “If I’m all those things, then what exactly are you trying to ‘help’ me be?”

With that one question, he ran out of excuses.

“I’m trying my best to please you, but I’m a direct reflection of you and your guidance, Victor. If you show me honesty, you’ll get honesty in return. If you show me kindness, then I’ll give you kindness and obedience. But if you show me nothing but heartlessness and cruelty, then what do you expect to get in return?”

A pain squeezed his chest. He had no answers for her.

As if tired of the silence, she turned and walked out without saying anything more, leaving him to sit in his lonely denial of what his life had become.

***

Elsa crawled into her bed with the overwhelming urge to break down, but she refused. She had cried enough. She forced herself to see the goodness in Victor even though it was a difficult thing to do.

She listed off his positive qualities in her mind: Sometimes kind. Occasionally gentle. Always brave. Then his negative: Constantly withdrawn. Habitually secretive. Repeatedly cruel. It was like a slap to the face when she listed them out because she knew which list was the most revealing.

She also knew what the smart thing to do was: run like hell.

Even so, she had gotten through to him. She could see it in his eyes when she asked what he wanted her to be. She was so close to breaking him down, she could feel it. She only hoped she could hold out and get through to him before she had a mental break down.

She woke late Monday morning and called out of work. She was still too mentally fatigued and knew it would be pointless going in. Digging into her backpack, she found the shredded, photocopied notes and attempted to patch them up with tape. When they were reassembled, she laid them out on her table but stepped away. She wasn’t ready to read them, not after what Mr. Black had put her through the previous day.

Most of the morning was spent laying on her couch in yoga pants and Victor’s t-shirt, listening to upbeat music to try and sway her mood in a positive direction. It wasn’t helping. Late afternoon she finally decided to eat even though she had no appetite. Seated at the table with a sandwich, her eyes drifted to the pages laid out…

Eight is still trying to figure me out. What a fucking joke. I can’t be figured out. Can’t she see who I really am? I’m Mr. Black: a man who enjoys the emotional and physical torment he causes. She will learn the hard way that there is no light in me…

Elsa pushed her chair back and tossed her food into a nearby trashcan. She just couldn’t read or eat anymore.

A knock on the door startled her and she promptly scooped up the papers and put them in her bag. Through the peephole she could see Victor holding two medium boxes in his hand. Hesitantly, she opened the door. She hoped he wasn’t there to talk about what happened because her feelings were still too raw to discuss and she feared she would confess herself to him.

He offered her a nervous smile as he entered. When he moved past her, she smelled not food but his signature cologne. Placing the items on the table he reached for her and hauled her into his embrace. His large arms felt so good around her, but the misery of the previous day still haunted her.

“You haven’t eaten all day,” he kissed the top of her head.

She nodded and opened the largest of the boxes to find pasta primavera. “It was a lovely thought, Mr. Black. Thank you.”

He skimmed a finger over the top of her hand. “It’s Victor.”

She shrugged. It was the same fucking difference as far as she was concerned.

Victor found her silverware and brought her a fork. She poked at the food and forced herself to eat a few bites. Seated across from her, he pushed a plain white box across the table.

She eyed it cautiously. “I don’t want a consolation prize.”

He sighed heavily and his eyes darkened with some unidentifiable emotion. He opened the box himself and pulled out a dainty, rhinestone encrusted headband. It was beautiful but looked like something she might have worn when she was a teenager.

“I thought it would look nice on you tomorrow night.”

Elsa drew her brows together.

“I made dinner reservations for you and your mother at Juniper’s downtown. It offers a wonderful atmosphere,” he gave her a crooked, boyish smile. “It would be good for your mom to see the best of what Richmond has to offer.” He dipped a finger into her food and pulled out a long noodle and slurped it into his mouth. Elsa couldn’t help but give him a smile when he was left with pasta sauce on his chin. She reached across the table and swiped it away with her finger.

The animation left her face. “You really shouldn’t have.”

He lifted his shoulders in a half-assed shrug. “It was the least I could do.”

Yes, the very least considering everything he had put her through.

“I can’t stay even though I’d like to. I have work matters to deal with. I hope you enjoy your day with your mother,” he stood to leave. When he opened the door, he turned to face her, “Elsa…” and shook his head regretfully. “I hope we can move forward after what’s happened.”

A suffocating sensation tightened her throat. There might just be hope after all.

*

The remainder of Monday was a blur. Elsa never found the nerve to read the journal she was so eager to get her hands on. Instead, she sulked all night thinking about having been put in jail and about Mr. Black having been ready to send his notes to a serial killer.

What the hell was up with that anyway? Was she such a wreck in Victor’s eyes that she needed to be analyzed and pored over? He admitted that he found her beautiful, unique and strong. Not to mention intelligent. Why then couldn’t he answer the damned question? What exactly did he want her to be – weak? So he could break her down and make her do his will? Holy hell, she was already doing everything he wanted.

Elsa tried to put it all out of her head. Her mother would be there the following day and she just wanted to enjoy the time with her.

Tuesday’s work day was actually productive for a change. She half-expected to show up and be called into her director’s office to be let go from her position or put on probation, but nothing happened. No one called other than the usual couriers to deliver more medical equipment for her to work on. She kept her mind busy with her multitude of tasks and it helped to take away the haunting memories of Mr. Black’s ruthless eyes.

When she received the call that her mother was at the airport, she almost sobbed with joy. She left work early and when she arrived and saw her mother’s serene face and soft brown eyes, she fell into her arms and finally broke down.

Her mother looked distressed as she held her tight. “El, what is it, honey?”

All Elsa could do was to shake her head. There were no words to explain.

*

Dressed and ready for dinner, Elsa looked up the address for the upscale restaurant Victor had made reservations at. Thankfully, her mother hadn’t probed her for any information about her break down. Her mother was only staying for the day and had to return to Massachusetts the following morning for work, so their time was precious but little and Elsa didn’t want to spend one second of it ruminating over Mr. Black and worrying her mom.

When they arrived at Juniper’s, Elsa mentally thanked Victor for the recommendation and reservation. He was correct in that it was a wonderful place. It was set against the river and the view was outstanding. Her mother was thoroughly impressed and chatty, and Elsa’s mood brightened instantly when she saw the smile on her mom’s face.

Just as their wine was being delivered, she heard Victor’s deep voice above her.

“Wine on a weekday?” he winked when she looked up. “You must be feeling brave.”

Elsa measured him for a moment. He was dressed to the nine’s in a tailored, black slim business suit that accentuated his slim hips and broad shoulders. His hair was a perfect mess and he smelled, oh, so clean and edible. The darkest-gray silk tie he was wearing reminded her of the tie he had worn the night he tickled her and she quickly averted her eyes for fear he would see right through her shame.