Shipping company? God, I know that name sounds familiar. How do I know it? I rack my brain in an attempt to trigger any kind of memory. Then it hits me.

Catherine Williams.

Elizabeth’s friend. That’s her husband.

Fuck.

Could this implicate Elizabeth in all of this? She saw Catherine regularly. I internally debate whether I should ask Turner if she’s involved or not. If he doesn’t have anything on her, I don’t want to make him suspicious and start looking either. I decide I’d rather know up front than be surprised when shit hits the fan.

“You know Elizabeth was friends with Henry Williams’ wife, right?” I hold my breath, hoping he’s not about to drop a bomb on me.

“Yeah, we know, but I don’t think you need to worry about her. From what we can tell, Catherine was kept in the dark about everything.”

I breathe out a sigh of relief. “So what’s next? What do you need me to do?”

“Just hang tight. There’s enough food in the pantry to last you a couple weeks. Of course, I hadn’t planned on you bringing someone with you, so it might not last as long. Try to stay there and keep a low profile. Hopefully everything will be over by then.”

“Got it, sir.” After I hang up, I turn to go back in the cabin and see Elizabeth standing in the window watching me. Shit, I hope she didn’t hear my conversation.

“Hey, sweetheart. I didn’t know you were up already,” I say once I walk in and close the door behind me. Striding over to her, I give her a kiss. She smiles warmly up at me when I pull away.

“Who were you talking to?” she asks. She doesn’t sound accusatory, just curious. I don’t want to lie to her, so I decide to try to avoid it all together.

“Nobody important.” I shrug hoping to convey the nonchalance that I don’t feel. She arches an eyebrow at me, but not in that sexy way she does when she’s being feisty. No, she’s pissed and I have a feeling she’s about to unleash on me.

“Cal did this shit to me all the time and I’m not going to take it from you too.” Her hands go to her hips and I know this is about to get bad real quick.

“It’s really not a big deal. It wasn’t anyone important,” I say calmly. I need her to relax. The last thing I want to do is upset her.

“What? Because I’m a woman I don’t need to be involved in a man’s business? I want to know, dammit!” Her hands are balled into tight fists and the vein in her neck bulges out as she yells at me.

“You think that’s why I’m not telling you?” I shout back. “Let’s get one thing straight. We are not equals. You and I,” I gesture between us, “aren’t even close to being on the same level.” Her mouth drops opens and she looks affronted. I lower my voice and continue. “You are so much better than me. You’re so far out of my league, and not just physically, but intellectually. This has to do with your safety, not some preconceived notion that I think you’re below me. As soon as it’s safe, I’ll tell you everything. I promise.”

She looks down and shakes her head while her eyes are closed. “I’m sorry. I know you’re nothing like Cal, I just—”

“Hey,” I say gently as I lift her chin up with my finger. “It’s fine, but I don’t want you to ever feel like you’re not good enough. I want to share everything with you. My heart, my soul, my life, all of it.” My name. “But if it’s going to put you in danger, I just won’t do it. Okay?” The back of my hand runs down her cheek as I stare into her eyes. I need her to believe and trust me.

She bites her lip and nods, tears filling her eyes but not spilling over. My mouth crashes into hers, wanting my actions to back up my words. The sweet taste of her lips mixes with the salty taste of her tears as they run down her face.

“I can’t tell you who he is, but he owns this cabin. I just wanted to thank him and let him know we made it last night.” It’s not much information, and it’s only partially true, but I wanted to give her something.

“God, I’m so sorry for—” I cut her off by sealing my lips over hers again.

“You have every right to want answers. Don’t ever apologize for that,” I say between kisses. I know she has terrible self-worth and has a lot of doubts about herself. That’s to be expected when you never show your true colors to anyone and become whatever it is that the man you’re with wants you to be. She lost herself being married to Cal, but I saw the real her, and it’s my job to help her see it too. I’ll spend every day reassuring and proving my love for her.

I pick her up and her legs automatically wrap around my waist so I can carry her effortlessly. When we reach the bedroom, I toss her on the bed, which makes her giggle. Her laughter dies when my eyes move up every inch of her body, burning the image into my brain.

“My God, you’re perfect.” I brace myself on top of her and kiss her.

She kisses me with everything she has, only stopping to say, “I thought you were dead.” The raw emotion in her voice is hard to miss. I loop my arm around her back and hold her tighter. “I didn’t think I’d ever feel this way again.”

“I know, sweetheart, but I’m here. I’m right here.”

Our kissing starts off as a slow burn, but quickly ignites and soon we’re frantic to feel each other’s skin. Removing her clothes quickly, I make sure not to miss a single inch of skin with my lips. She’s so responsive to my touch; arching her back when my tongue swipes across her clit, sighing when my mouth latches onto her nipple, pulling my hair when I get close to where she wants me most, and screaming when I can’t hold out anymore and give in to her. Watching her build up to her climax ever so slowly and then come spiraling down in a state of ecstasy is the best fucking sight I’ll ever see. I’ll never grow tired of watching her like this.

Later that night when neither of us can move another muscle, I’m almost asleep with my arm wrapped around Elizabeth. In the silence, I hear her soft voice. “I’m scared.” This small confession breaks my heart especially since there’s nothing I can do to take that feeling away.

“It’s all going to work out,” I try to reassure her.

“You don’t know Cal. You don’t know the things he’s capable of.” Her whole body stiffens with her last statement. My hand runs up and down her arm in an attempt to soothe her worries. “He’s not going to just let me go.”

Rolling over onto my side and moving her off of my chest, I look at her. I hold her cheek with my hand and stare into her eyes. “He can’t hurt you anymore, okay? You’ve got me now and I won’t let him come near you.”

“I’m trying really hard to trust you—and I do—but I have no clue what’s going on or what you have planned and that bothers me. I’ve spent most of my adult life in the dark, and I don’t want to do it anymore. So as much as I’m trying to roll with the punches and accept your reasoning for being so secretive, it doesn’t exactly set my mind at ease.”

I let out a slow sigh. “I understand. I really do. I don’t blame you for feeling this way. Do you think I like keeping things from you?” She doesn’t answer, she just stares at me. “It eats at me daily. I hate it.” I really don’t know what else to say to her that I haven’t already. I don’t like keeping her in the dark, but at this point she’s just going to have to have some faith that this will all work out. And I hope that when she finds out who I really am she doesn’t take off running.

Neither of us says anything else. I roll back over on my back and hold my arm out for her in invitation, nervous that she’ll reject my affection. She hesitates, but eventually snuggles up to my side, but the small pause doesn’t go unnoticed and worries me. I hope Cal goes down soon because I don’t know how much longer I can stomach feeding her bullshit.