Paul shook his head. He was as perplexed as Destin was. “She wasn’t ready.”
“Naw, man, she was getting into it. If we hadn’t arrived at her house when we did, we might’ve convinced her to come to the ranch.”
Paul tapped the driver on the shoulder. “Head back to the hotel.”
“Dude. That was fucking hot.” The cabbie twisted around. “Are you sure you don’t want to try and get her to come back?”
“Stay out of this and listen up. You didn’t see anything. Are we straight on that?” He couldn’t blame the guy. If he’d been driving the cab, he would’ve pulled it off the road and taken a front row seat. He dug into his wallet and forked over a hundred dollar bill. “Are we straight, dude?”
“Sure, sure. Straight as an arrow.” The cabbie turned back, then pulled the car into the street. “Back to the hotel. No problem.”
When Paul turned toward his brother, he didn’t bother keeping the disappointment from his tone. “I guess she wasn’t the one.”
Destin was still staring at the front window, although no one was there any longer. “Do you think that was her husband?”
He didn’t want to believe that. “I don’t know, but it makes sense. She’s a cop and living in the suburbs.”
“Fuck.”
He couldn’t have agreed more with Destin. But what could they do? They’d never interfere in a marriage. No matter how much they desired the woman. His heart sank more the farther they got from the house.
“Come on, man. We can’t just let this drop.”
Georgia was everything they’d talked about having in the woman they’d share. Her beauty was unquestionable, but it was her spirit that had grabbed hold of him and tied him up as surely as chains would’ve done. She was proud and strong, perhaps a little bullheaded, but didn’t that make for the perfect submissive? Tonight she’d shown that she was a natural sub. All they needed was more time to teach her, to bring her around to the way they wanted things. Once they did, she’d grow to accept and love her place with them.
But something besides her husband was holding her back. She’d bristled when they’d tried to find out what that awful pain she held inside was and he hadn’t wanted to push too hard. The agony he’d seen on her face when he’d asked was worse than any physical ache. It ran deep, tearing at her soul, turning her into another woman, one who saw the world through shaded eyes.
“Paul, we have to stay in Atlanta. At least a couple more days.”
He considered Destin’s idea and wanted badly to say they would. But he had a better sense of things like this and knew that his brother, as much as he hated it, would understand. “No. We can’t stay away that long.”
“Dutch can handle things a while longer.”
Dutch Michland was their right-hand man, both in running the ranch and in handling matters at the club. But as capable as Dutch was, he could do only so much. His authority was limited.
“It’s not yet time for her. Pushing her won’t do any good. And the husband? Hell, you know we won’t break up a marriage.”
“So we’re supposed to forget about her? I don’t think I can.” Anger colored Destin’s voice.
He hated making his brother see the sense of it. “Trust me. If it’s meant to be, if she’s not already involved, she’ll come to us. She knows where to find us, and after getting a taste of what it’ll be like with us, she’ll need to find us. If she can. Besides, even if she’s not someone else’s wife, if we push her now, we could lose her for good. The most important thing is that she’s not ready. We’ve waited this long for her, we can wait a little longer.”
“How long are you willing to do that?” Destin slumped against the seat, defeated.
“As long as it takes.” He turned to stare out the window and watched the city lights stream by as the cab flew down the highway. Betraying his own words, he made a silent vow.
If she doesn’t come to us within a year, we’ll come back.
Until then, he’d find out if she was married or not. If she was, then they’d have to move on without her. But if she wasn’t, if life had finally brought them the woman they’d yearned for, then nothing would stop them.
Chapter Three
Present day
Georgia had given up. No one, not even the detectives assigned to the multiple murder case, had managed to solve it. The few leads they’d had were gone, investigated, and found to be of no value. After having the police captain, as well as Mack and her father, sit her down and tell her to stop searching for the killer, she’d finally given in. Dr. Roberts had backed the idea, too, then had suggested that she take a break from police work. For a while.