"What happened to you?"  I can tell he's trying to estimate just how much of a threat I am with a bad leg.

I lift the cane and swing it around once. He has to take a step back to avoid getting nailed in the face. "War happened to me."

Our eyes meet and something in my face must let him know that a bad leg isn't going to save him from the beat down the rest of me would give him.

When his eyes come back to mine, I smile. He glances over at Rissa. She's moved behind me. 

I hold out my hand to her. "Go back and sit in the car with Jonah, angel. I'll be there in a minute."

As she walks back down the driveway, Jonah steps out and opens the door for her. Andrew watches with rage filled eyes and then he looks back at me. Then his eyes dart back over to the Bentley at the curb.

Yeah, I'm here and I've got money too.

"Rissa told me that you'd given her the house as an incentive not to talk about you to the press. But hear me now, I have no such incentive. And if I see you near her again, talking will be the least of what I'll do to you."

"You're trash. You've always been trash and I don't know what you've gotten into lately," he gestures at the car, "but you'll still be trash when that finally runs out. Rissa knows that and I do too."

I chuckle. "What I'm into? It's called having a wealthy father with a guilt complex. I guess you'd know all about that. And it'll be hard for me to run out of billions but I'll certainly give it a try. Maybe I'll start by buying the biggest engagement ring out there and putting it on Rissa's finger. Either way, stay away from her."

I turn and walk down the drive. Jonah holds the door open so I can climb in next to Rissa. When we pull off, Andrew is still standing out front staring at us.

Rissa turns to me. "Why did you tell him that? That there was someone else. Now he'll think that we're … It'll only make things worse. He'll never leave now."

"It doesn't matter if he does because I wouldn't let you go back there anyway. The man is obsessed with you. Not that I can blame him since I am, too. We have a lot more in common than I would have ever thought."

She lets out a sigh. It sounds so defeated that it hits me right in the middle of the chest. "Don't say that. You are nothing like Andrew."

"It's true. Not that I want to claim anything in common with that bastard but I understand exactly what's going on here. I know what it's like to be consumed by thoughts of you and because I do, I can't let you go back to that house. There's a reason he told you to stay there and it's not just to keep you quiet. It's to keep you under his control."

"So now I'm going to stay at your house and be under your control?" Her eyes flash in the dim lights of the streetlamps as we travel over the quiet streets.

"Haven't you learned by now that if there's anyone in control between the two of us, it isn't me? You have the reins here, Rissa. You always have."

She trembles as she absorbs my words. I pull her closer and she tucks into my chest burying her face into my shirt. I run a hand up and down her back, until her shivers stop. After a few minutes, she lets out a soft sigh and I look down to see that she's asleep.

"I told him all that angel, because it's true. You are mine now." I look out the window, allowing the words to resonate in my soul as I speak them out loud. "And I'll never let you go."

*   *   *   *   *

The pain starts before I even open my eyes. It’s all over me, slicing through my bones and brings me from dreams to reality in an instant. It’s raining outside. I don’t even need to get up and check. This bum leg of mine is better than any meteorologist at predicting the weather.

Placing one hand on the mattress beside me, I push over onto my side and breathe shallowly through my mouth. I can tell already that this is going to be a rough day. When it starts this early, it’s always a rough day. I glance at the clock. It's three in the morning. I didn't even sleep for two hours this time.

After our midnight tussle with Andrew, I brought Rissa straight upstairs and got her settled. I'd made a joke that at least the guest room was clean now. 

Rissa had just laughed. "Well, at least I know that for sure."

She was so tired that she didn't even chide me when I helped her out of her clothes so she could sleep more comfortably. She'd just sat there as malleable as a child as I drew her T-shirt over her head and helped her out of her jeans. She wasn't trying to entice me and her lingerie was just plain white cotton. Nothing seductive. But the sight of her rounded curves in the plain cotton was the sexiest thing I've ever seen.

If she hadn't been tired, I'm sure she'd have noticed my erection pressing against the front of my slacks but she just curled up on the pillow. Then she'd placed her hands under her cheek and gone right to sleep. So trusting. Especially after the restrained violence of the scene with Andrew, it was an honor that she trusted me that much.

I walk slowly toward the bathroom. By the time I get there, I’m already a little shaky and slightly nauseated. My stomach rolls as I toss back four pills with a cup of water. If Rissa weren't here, I’d take a few more and spend the day in a blissful fog but the idea of her seeing me like that … No, that’s not something I ever want her to see. For some reason she still looks at me like I’m some kind of hero and I’m not ready to see that change.