Tender Mercies - By Kitty Thomas Page 0,14

was only because Lucas had used them to torture her.

“. . . She’s afraid of dogs. So if you have one, I’m just saying.”

“Dogs?”

“What can I say, my puppy really likes pussy.” He laughed again.

Asher’s knuckles turned white as he gripped the edge of the table. Bile rose in his throat.

“Of course she acts afraid of dogs, but she seems to enjoy it once he gets going,” Lucas continued, unaware of how much Asher wanted to kill him.

“Hmmmm. I still think a million is too high. I might offer half a million. You know that’s the going rate.” He held this breath, wondering if he’d pushed his feigned disinterest too far.

“Three quarters, and I’ll send the paperwork over for you to sign tomorrow evening.”

“Done.”

He snorted with disgust as he disconnected the call. His skin crawled just thinking of that girl with Lucas for so long. When he looked up, William was standing in the doorway holding a cup of coffee, an excuse to stand there and eavesdrop.

“How much did you hear?”

He crossed the floor quickly and placed the mug of steaming liquid on Asher’s desk. “Most of it. I apologize, sir.”

There was a look in William’s eyes that said he had a strong opinion but wasn’t going to be stupid enough to share it.

“You may as well just say it.”

“Well . . .” William hesitated only a moment before plowing through his prepared commentary. “If you’ll excuse me for saying it, are you sure you’re ready to bring a pet into the house? And one so . . . damaged?”

Asher stared hard at him, and William looked away, pretending his interest had been drawn to a vase of lilies.

“Is that all?”

“Perhaps you could take her off the island. Set her free.”

William always did have such a soft spot for pets, be they animal or human. He’d worked for Asher before they came to Eleu, and it had become clearer over the years that he only barely tolerated his employer’s perversions. The fact that he’d kept the secret of what had happened to Darcy that night spoke of his loyalty in the face of his distaste.

“Absolutely not,” Asher said. “In the first place, she’s costing me a lot of money. No way in hell am I parting with that kind of cash only to set her free. This isn’t Thailand, where you pay to release birds for sport. And those birds are never truly set free, are they? They’re trained to fly back to repeat the process all over again.”

William looked at the floor.

“She’s wired for this. As I am. If she wasn’t, she wouldn’t have come here. Setting her free won’t change who she is. If this wasn’t in her, she wouldn’t have made it past the scrutiny of the customs agents––”

“––But if she’s broken––”

“If she’s broken, she’s in far greater danger out there in the free world than she is in here with me. She’ll only end up with someone else who will hurt her. She no longer has the tools to pick well, and even if she did, she’ll never trust herself again. She’ll get desperate and lonely someday and fall prey to another abusive asshole.”

“This won’t bring Darcy back.”

Asher suppressed a growl. “I know that. Do you think I don’t know that? I don’t have any illusions I can fix her. I just need . . .” He searched for a word or sentiment he couldn’t bring himself to say. Still, the word stole into his mind and bloomed into full existence in the silence of the room––forgiveness.

Four

Grace jolted awake with that awful sensation of falling, triggered by the door slamming against the wall. A bit of light spilled into the dungeon, and she huddled farther into the corner, trying to disappear. Sometimes she fantasized about shrinking down so tiny he couldn’t see her, then hiding in the crevices between the stones.

He’d given her a tattered mat to sleep on and one old blanket with holes the dog had chewed into it. She squeezed her eyes shut tighter, trying not to think about the dog. Though Lucas slept in a warm, opulent room that stood as the crown jewel in a warm, opulent home, he kept her underground like some dirty little secret: cold, without clothing, barely fed.

He flipped a switch and the naked bulb overhead snapped to attention. Opening her eyes, she could see the barest smirk playing across his lips. “Good morning, pet. Did you dream about me?”

Dreamed about stabbing you to death, she thought.