A Beautiful Prison (14 page)

“It’s fixed now?”

Adelbert nodded. They stared at each other for a moment, and the other man turned and opened the liquor cabinet. He grabbed a bottle of thirty-year-old Scotch. The alcohol was nearly as old as Gavin. It had been his father’s, one that he had bought while away on one of his many business trips. Gavin didn’t know why he had saved it. After his father had died years ago he had gotten rid of the majority of his belongings. The memories of the isolation and loneliness had come back every time he had looked at Warren Darris’s possessions.

Adelbert didn’t say anything as he grabbed two glasses and poured two fingers of the amber liquid into each of them. He handed Gavin a glass and they both sipped on the smooth alcohol.

“Everything went well in New York?”

Gavin nodded. “It was quick, and I’m exhausted, but sleep isn’t something that I think I can do right now.” They sipped their Scotch in silence for several seconds. “Yeah. Darris Industries is now merged with Crowe & Barrett.”

“Excellent. That is a reason to celebrate.”

Gavin’s business dealt with investments on a consumer and corporate level. Once those papers were signed he had come right back, but she hadn’t been far from his thoughts or sight. Was he ashamed that he had watched her from his laptop on the plane when he had traveled for his meeting? No, he needed to know where she was and what she was doing at all times. She was his, and not just because he’d bought her. Their time together had been short thus far, but he had no intention of letting her go. Did he think she would try and escape as soon as he left? Yes, he did, but she wouldn’t have gotten far.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Gavin tossed back the rest of the alcohol and gestured for more. Once his glass was filled he took another sip. No, he didn’t want to talk about it, but Adelbert was very good at reading others.

“Not particularly.” The look Adelbert gave Gavin told him that it wasn’t an acceptable answer.

“The girl is very frightened.” He knew she was. He saw it every time she looked at him, but beneath that she was aroused and curious about what was happening between them. In fact, he saw that she leaned into him when he touched her. Did they love each other? No, it was far too early for emotions like that, and those kinds of feelings aren’t what they were made up of. People like them were a special breed. He had learned that a long time ago, accepted it, and now embraced it.

“Yes, I know.” He tossed back the rest of his Scotch. Maybe he should have enjoyed it slowly, but right now he needed to feel something other than the need to go back up there and take her the way he wanted to. “She’ll come to enjoy it here.” Although Gavin didn’t know much about her at first, it wasn’t hard to get the information he needed. He had money, and that meant he had connections everywhere. It had taken a little bit of time, but as soon as he had purchased her he had some of his associates gather what he had needed. He had found out exactly who she was, where she had lived, and what she had been doing in Fort Hampton. She had led a life vastly different, but strangely similar, to his. Although he had not been abused, they had both led solitary lives, and both had wanted to escape at some time.

“I don’t interfere in your personal affairs, but I think you need to speak to her and let her know that whatever reason you brought her here was to make sure she was safe.” Gavin hadn’t told the other man why he had brought Ruby here, but there was no doubt Adelbert was curious about what the truth was. “I spoke with her outside, and I can tell you and she are cut from the same mold.” He glanced at Adelbert. He knew about their conversation, and although there were cameras on the outer perimeter of the estate, and he had seen her looking so lovely amongst the flowers, he hadn’t been able to hear what they had said at that time. But Adelbert had called him and told him everything, and he wasn’t surprised that she had tried to reach out to his servants for help. “She says you harmed her, that she is a captive here.”

Although Adelbert and Drika were the closest people he had in his life, that didn’t mean he shared his darker desires with them. He hadn’t told them he purchased her at a sex-ring auction. Asking them to watch over her, to not let her run off and hurt herself, didn’t have them questioning him. They were loyal to him, and did as he asked without complaint or suspicions because to them he had saved their lives. Gavin didn’t think he was a savior in any sense. He had needed help at the estate as much as they needed him. It had been a give and take companionship, and it had worked out well for years now.

But Adelbert was an old soul, could read people as if he had walked in their shoes his whole life, and Gavin wasn’t foolish enough to think that he hadn’t picked up on something right away. In the past years when Gavin would bring women to the estate to try and sate his depraved needs, it hadn’t taken the other man long to question him, especially when the women that left had marks on their bodies. But he was never judged, never condemned by Drika and her brother. And then Adelbert had wanted to know the reasoning, and Gavin trusted him enough to divulge the sick, twisted needs that only certain acts could ease. The women had always been willing, well, until Ruby. But Gavin felt no remorse over buying her. If he hadn’t… he didn’t even want to think about what her fate would have been, or who she would be with right now.

That might have been the first time he had ever been to one of those auctions, but he knew the men that went there. They were like him, but also weren’t. They were cruel, had harems of females, slaves to do with as they pleased. Having her with him was much better for both of them.

“If she is not here of her own free will, no matter the likeness you two share, you must rectify that.”

Gavin set his now-empty glass down and stared at the man. “And would you have helped her escape if you had known this truth in the beginning?”

The other man was silent for a few seconds, and lifted his glass to finish off his drink. “It is not my place to interfere in the lives of others, especially the Master of the estate, but I knew that something wasn’t right with the relationship you had with the girl. This wasn’t like the other times you had female company over.” That hadn’t answered Gavin’s question, and so he waited for Adelbert to continue. “But to answer your question, yes, I would have helped her if I had known she truly wanted a way out.”

Gavin swallowed at the thought of Ruby out there alone. “I want her safe. I don’t harm her, not in the sense you are thinking.”

Adelbert nodded but didn’t respond. Gavin may have only had her for a couple of days, but the thought of her gone from his life was not something he wanted to dwell on.

“You must decide if you want a life where she has no choice, or if you want her to come to you willingly. Those two are vastly different, no matter how you try and twist them to fit together.” Gavin didn’t know how to respond to that. “I saw the way she looked at the flowers, and watched how she reacted to my words. I might not have known she was not here of her own free will, but I knew she was a prisoner to herself. She is a lost girl in here.” Adelbert placed his hand over his heart. Adelbert took both glasses to the sink and bid him goodnight, but Gavin stayed there for several minutes, thinking over what they had just spoken of.

He left the kitchen and headed back up the stairs. He pushed open the door to the room where Ruby slept and leaned against the frame, just watching her. She was curled in a ball in the center of the bed, still wearing the bathrobe, and her hair a dark mess around the white pillow. Yes, he might like pain, might thrive on it and yearn for it, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy her softness, or be gentle and easy with her. Those moments might be far and few between, but they were still present. Pulling the door shut and walking to his room, he contemplated showering and slipping in bed with her, but instead he stayed in his own room and let his exhaustion take him under.

I
t had been
two weeks that Ruby had been at Gavin’s home. With each passing day she was finding it harder to separate her need for freedom with her desire to be with him. He showed her two sides of himself that she couldn’t help but gravitate toward. The angry, determined, and so-dominant side called out to the part of her that she had always tried to hide. She wanted what he had to give her, even if it caused her to cry out in pain. And then there were the rare times she saw this gentler side, the part of him that she sympathized with. It was like she was looking at herself, this lost and lonely soul that didn’t want to be alone any longer. Had what he’d done been right? At first she had screamed and kicked out her response, wanted nothing but to escape and go back to her old life, but with each passing second she knew that she didn’t have an “old life.” She had just been moving through each day, hoping that things would look up. Well, things had looked up. Gavin gave her the desire she craved, touched her the way she only dreamed about, and provided for her in a safe environment. There was no one looking for her, no missing person report. She was all alone, with only herself to look after, and no one that cared. Well, no one until Gavin came along.

With every lash of his hand and thrust of his hips, he showed her that there was no disgrace in what they enjoyed, and that they had found a special kind of desire with each other.

“What are you thinking of, Princess?”

She glanced over at Gavin. They were in the sunroom, with her sitting in one of the wicker chairs and Gavin in the one across from her. He had a newspaper in his lap and a coffee mug in his hand. He watched her expectantly, and there was genuine curiosity in his expression. “You’re thinking of your home?” She sat up straighter. They hadn’t talked much about her personal life, but it was mainly because she didn’t want to, and thankfully he hadn’t pressed.

“Yeah.” She had to look away from him, because his blue eyes saw too much. But it was hard to
not
look at him, too.

“Look at me, darling.” When she had come here she hated the endearments he used, but now she knew that it was his way of showing that he cared, that she was special to him, and that made her feel good inside. He was wearing a pair of navy slacks and a light blue sweater which brought out the color of his eyes. She was used to seeing him in his three-piece suits, because since her time here that was what he mainly wore. “Tell me.” She glanced down, but quickly looked back at his face.

“I was just thinking how differently my life had turned out.” It was partially the truth. But when he leaned back further in the chair and continued to stare at her, she knew that he wanted more. “It’s just that no one is searching for me. No one cares that I am gone.” She looked down at her lap, not caring if he got angry over it.

“I would care if you were gone.” She snapped her eyes to his, and warmth filled her.

“I wanted to leave here so badly, to go back home, but I don’t have a home to go back to. My mother is a druggie alcoholic that did nothing for me except to try and drag me down.” She looked back over at him, but he had a stoic expression, as if none of this was surprising. He either didn’t care—which she knew was not the case—or he already knew all about her. “You know already?” Although she really shouldn’t be that surprised, she still was. As far as she guessed the men who took her couldn’t have known much about her, not if they targeted her from the motel. Most likely they had just spotted her, saw she was alone, and took their chance. But Gavin knew her name, so it was idiotic not to think that he wouldn’t look her up. But still, for some unexplainable reason it hurt that he was just now telling her.
But you didn’t tell him about yourself, Ruby.
You can’t be upset at him
.

“Come here, Ruby.” His voice brokered no argument, but she didn’t want to put up a fight. Ruby actually wanted to feel his arms around her, to know that she truly wasn’t alone in this world. She stood and made her way over to him. He immediately reached for her and pulled her down on his lap. Gavin brushed her hair away from her face, then cupped her cheek. His hand was so big that it encompassed the entire side of her face, and she couldn’t help but lean in. “Yes, I know all about you.” She didn’t say anything after that, but she had known, given the way he reacted. “It was imperative that I know everything about you, Ruby.” He leaned in and kissed her softly. This was the sweet and kind side of Gavin that she only saw glimpses of. Yes, there were many times he acted this way, but she could look in his eyes and see when he was at ease, and this was one of those times.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Ruby asked.

He put a piece of hair behind her ear, and seemed to scan her face with his eyes, almost as if he were searching for something.

“I know I haven’t been very forthcoming with information.”

“No, you haven’t.” Gavin said and smiled at her. He pulled her closer to his chest. “But I needed to know about you for obvious reasons, and once I found out I didn’t feel there was a need for me to inform you. You are starting to acclimate well here, and bringing up that I dug into your past wouldn’t have changed the situation. Besides, I didn’t feel that was imperative information for you to have, Princess.” At first she hadn’t felt anything but warmth at being in his arms, but after hearing all of that she couldn’t help the outraged feeling inside of her.