“I know what I want to ask.”
“I don’t know.” He didn’t want to hurt her feelings. The truth was, no other woman had even come close to being marriageable as none of them lived up to Bethan.
“That’s not an answer.”
“No woman has ever appealed to me to spend a great deal of time with.”
“You’ve only been interested in sex?”
“Yes, and that’s two questions.”
She shook her head. “No, that is an extension of the first one, just like this one. Will you consider marrying the right woman again?”
“Yes.”
“You may ask your question.”
“You’re sure? I’m not going to be targeted or shit?”
“No, go ahead.” Cherry smiled right at him, and that shit twisted his stomach.
“Why didn’t you ever go to the police?”
“Do you really think they’d have believed me?” she asked.
“You don’t have a record. You were clean. They should believe you.”
“Exactly, should, it doesn’t mean they would.” She crossed her legs, staring across the desk. “Why didn’t you just kill me?”
“Did you want to die?”
“No, I didn’t, but you didn’t have to save me. You didn’t know me. How did you know Marcel wasn’t setting you up?”
Elijah ran fingers through his hair. Standing up, he rounded the desk so that he was standing right in front of her. Reaching behind him, he grabbed the file from her. “Marcel knows not to mess with me. Your eyes gave you away. You were terrified.”
“You’re completely insane.”
“I’ve got a reputation for getting jobs done. You wanted to die, you’d be dead already. I’m not interested in giving second chances or even giving people firsts. You didn’t want to be there that day. I know what that’s like.”
“How?” she asked.
Gritting his teeth, he gripped the file tighter. “I didn’t want to be in the hospital the day my wife died. She was the first woman I ever loved or trusted with my life. I didn’t want to be there when they told me I had a beautiful healthy baby girl but they were sorry my wife didn’t make it.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“At the time a bunch of little punk-ass shits thought they could fight me for their territory. That day, I took care of business. I’ve not had to fight for anything else since. It doesn’t take long for people to work out I will kill to get the job done.” Elijah turned the file. “You stayed here for three months, why?”
Her gaze drifted over the file. “I don’t want to tell you.”
“You started this, finish it.”
“Twin brothers, older than I was and decided I was going to be their toy. Their father took care of it. Move on.” Cherry stood, making her way toward the door.
“Where are you going?”
“It’s getting late, and I’m tired.”
“You’re not going to share anymore.”
“I don’t need to keep looking at the file in my past. I know it off by heart.” She kept going, but at the door she turned around to look at him. “I stayed in five more foster homes until I was eighteen. The first two homes after the one you got there were never going to work. They were religious and wanted me to repent for being born. They didn’t force me. They hurt me in other ways. It wasn’t going to happen. The one after that was an elderly couple. They were amazing, but they couldn’t handle a teenager so I left. The final two houses were just a place to crash. It wasn’t always bad, and it wasn’t always good. I got over everything that happened. This, what you’re doing, it doesn’t change what happened.” She shrugged. “I’m going to bed.”
He watched her disappear as he stared down at her file. This was her past, and he needed to put an end to it as well. Closing the file, he took out the sheet with the details of the twins. He’d call Caleb and Henry. The twins would be his last call to make, and then he’d move on. Slamming the file closed, Elijah went up to his room.
Chapter Seven
Cheryl stared up at the cascading water while thinking about Elijah. No man had ever taken the time to care about her like he did. He was the first person that she knew who had made a file on her, intent on getting even with all the men who hurt her. She smiled even as the thought terrified her. Elijah wasn’t a man to be messed with.
Her body heated at the remembered touch of his hands caressing her. He knew what to do with those hands as he cared for her.
“I told you I wanted you in my room,” Elijah said.