Storm (Georgia Smoke #4)

• Two •

If the day ever came when she discovered all I’d done, it could be … bad.

Storm

As much as I wanted to get in the shower with Briar, her taking one alone gave me time to finish installing the cameras around the house. Just in the areas I needed to keep an eye on her. Until she wasn’t a flight risk. At least, that was what I wanted to believe. But right now, the compulsion to be able to see her at all times was fucking intense. I wasn’t sure that would ever ease.

When I heard her footsteps coming down the stairs, I did a quick scan of the living room. There wasn’t a door in this house I didn’t have a camera on now. The outside was already monitored for security purposes. I didn’t have to worry about adding anything more.

Although she had come on my dick, screaming my name, on the back porch, I knew she wasn’t going to forget the conversation I hadn’t wanted to continue. She would not be paying for anything. I had to make her completely dependent on me. Show her a life where she no longer had to fix her problems. I’d handle them all. As for a baby, fuck no I wasn’t ready for that. I wanted her all to myself. At least for a few years. But if it did happen, that kind of security where I had her locked to me would be helpful.

It was time I showed her the car and let her realize she didn’t have any money. Rip that bandage off. The sooner she accepted I was taking care of her needs, the better. Stubborn woman.

I turned toward her as she walked into the room. The shorts and crop top she was wearing didn’t ever need to leave this house. Sure, I was the one who had bought it for her, but now that I saw it on her, it was going to be for my eyes only. If I had to watch a man looking at her in it, I’d snap. Some bastard would die.

“I liked my shirt on you better.” Which would have been the case no matter what she had put on. Seeing her in my clothes had made this possessive, crazed monster inside me fucking purr.

She tilted her head to the side, and her eyes reassured me that she wanted this. Me. She wanted to be here even if she was scared to hand over her control. “I can’t wear your shirt all day.”

If she was handcuffed to my bed, she could, but I refrained from saying that. I’d said enough earlier to frighten her. If I could learn to control my damn mouth and stop saying the twisted things I was thinking, then she might relax.

“That’s a shame,” I told her.

A soft laugh escaped those perfect lips, and I really hated that I was about to upset her. It had to be done, but, damn, it made my stomach turn. I didn’t like her unhappy. I wanted her smiling and as close to me as possible. Once this was over, I’d make sure she was fucking full of joy from now on.

“Your car arrived,” I said before I could convince myself to put it off. I wanted this ugliness finished.

Her eyes lit up, and she looked toward the front of the house. “Is it outside?”

I nodded. “Yes. I had them leave it there. I’ve not seen it. I thought I’d wait to go out with you.” Liar.

The anxious expression on her face was slicing me open. Fuck, why did she have to make it difficult? I didn’t want to do this, but I had to. If I was going to tie her to me and have the time to make sure she never wanted to leave me, then this had to happen.

“Do you have the key?” she asked, walking toward the hallway that led to the front door.

“I told them to leave it in the car.”

Her pace picked up, and I followed behind her, dreading every step we got closer. Once this was over, I’d make sure she was reassured. Ease her fears. Promise her the fucking moon. Then, we’d go get Dovie and bring her here. I’d left cameras off the third floor of the house, which I was going to let Dovie have all to herself. It had two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a lounge room with a minibar, flat screen, and sofa. She could have her privacy up there and feel like she had her own space.

There was plastic taped over one of the car windows that had been broken. Briar rushed down the porch stairs and hurried to the driver’s door. I knew why she’d gone there first. The money had been in an empty tampon box under her seat. It was in my safe, but soon, it would be in a high-interest savings account for the day Dovie went to college—or whatever she chose to do. Briar didn’t need it anymore.

I held my breath for a moment, preparing myself for her reaction when she checked for the money and found nothing. I’d not even left the box. The sight of her entire body tensing as she began to frantically search the front of the car, then moving to the back, pulling out the boxes that had been ripped open and tossing her things—which Marty had strewn about so that it’d appear as if it had been searched—out of her way had me fisting my hands at my sides to keep from going to her and explaining. I couldn’t do that, but, fuck me, this was hard.

She moved to the other side of the vehicle with a stricken look on her face. I’d put that there. I never wanted to do it again. She jerked open the passenger door and began her search there, but I hadn’t found anything of significance there. I fucking hoped I hadn’t missed another money stash. I wanted her completely reliant on me.

Unable to stand back any longer and watch this, I made my way to the car. “What’s all missing?” I asked.

She stood up and placed her palms on the roof of the car. Her eyes met mine, and I saw the unshed tears glistening in them. I needed to be shot. Fuck that. I needed to be beaten to death. Moving quickly, I made my way around the car and gently took her arm, pulling her into me. Wrapping my arms around her tightly was the only small relief I was going to get from the pain in my chest.

“They took all the money. Everything. It’s all gone.” Her voice was hoarse.

“You don’t need the money. I’ll handle it.” Because I already was handling it.

She sniffled and shook her head. “No. This is my problem. Not yours.”

Fucking hell. I had known she was gonna do this, but still. “Your problems are now mine. I’ll handle it.”

She let out a sob, then buried her face against my chest. “I hate this. I hate being … vulnerable to …”

She didn’t finish that sentence, but I knew what she was going to say. She hated needing anyone. She’d never allowed herself to, and it was going to be a fight. One I would win.

I ran my hand over her hair gently before taking a fistful and pulling her head back so that she was looking up at me. Those eyes were supposed to be happy. I didn’t want to see her like this. Not when I was going to give her every fucking dream she’d ever had.

“You might hate it now, but you’re going to trust me. You’ll see that I can fix it all for you. No more worrying. No more running. You have me. You don’t need anything else.”

She sniffled again, and I massaged her head where I’d yanked at her hair. I didn’t want to hurt her. I needed to check that. My frustration with her not giving in to me made my temper flare, but I could control it.

“I was going to use most of that money to get Dovie help. She wasn’t born mute. Trauma took her voice. She needs to see a specialist and a therapist. She needs to get an education. All things that I was going to get for her.”

My girl had no idea. Not yet. I’d set up appointments for Dovie to see a specialist and therapist. There was a Catholic school thirty minutes from here that had a waiting list. It had classes for the hearing impaired. Dovie would be able to communicate with sign language there. The waiting list meant nothing for me. The priest was in our debt.

“All those things, I can handle them. Just trust me,” I told her.

She sighed and looked at my chest. “That is asking too much of you.”

I slid my fingers into her hair and cupped the back of her head, tilting it so that she had no choice but to look at me.

“Mine,” I growled. “All of you. Every fucking piece. I want it all. I’m going to fix everything because I want to take care of you.”

A tear rolled down her cheek. “This … this switch in you happened so fast. I don’t understand it, and that makes it hard to trust.”

I caught her tear with my thumb and then kissed it while she watched me. “Perhaps it seemed fast for you, but understand that since the night against your car, I’ve been hooked. I might have fought it, but you were in my head. The more I got to know you, the more I wanted you. Everything I’d assumed about you was wrong. And I’m sorry.” I lowered my mouth and pressed a kiss on each corner of hers. “I will take care of everything. I swear. Just trust me.”

She said nothing for a moment, and I was sure she was going to argue why she couldn’t do that.

“Don’t break me,” she whispered.

Smiling as her words sank in, I claimed her mouth with my own and enjoyed the saltiness from her tears, mixed with her sweetness. The worst part was over. Well, I hoped so. If the day ever came when she discovered all I’d done, it could be … bad.