Graham's Fiance (11 page)

He said the words in a cool, dispassionate voice as if he was just telling her that she had spilled a drink on the floor. It was all the more chilling because he looked so calm while saying these things to her. His black, pinstriped suit immaculate. His hair neat and perfectly in place from his recent haircut. He could have been talking to a cat about making a mess for all the emotion he was showing her.

A nearly paralyzing fear gripped Savannah. But she forced herself past it. She needed him to see reason.

“Graham, please. What are you doing?” She gasped and twisted as she tried to get herself into a sitting position. He didn’t help her.

“Did I tell you that I answer to anyone but myself?” He sneered at her.

“Graham! I don’t understand. Why are you doing this? I’ve done nothing but love you.”

“Are you sure you didn’t love that cop, Michael McGregor, too?”

His words froze her.

“I saw you kiss him.” He stood up suddenly. “Out in the open like you didn’t care anymore about who found out. I always suspected you were fucking him, but to see you practically let him maul you on a public bench—” he broke off suddenly, the muscles in his jaw flexing in anger. “You’re just like all the rest, and that’s why I’m doing this.”

Savannah’s eyes widened in her terror. “He kissed me! Nothing had ever happened between us before.”

The look he threw at her was filled with such disbelief, such hatred that she flinched back. Savannah swallowed.

“It’s true. I would never betray you. You said yourself that I’m different. I don’t do things like that.” Another attack of panic was rising in Savannah’s belly. She crushed it, digging her nails into her palms, biting the inside of her cheek, anything to distract herself from the fear. “Untie me, Graham. Please. Untie me and take me home so we can talk about this and sort things out.” She clenched her fists together in her lap.

Graham abruptly crouched down close to her, his face twisted in anger. “You don’t have a home with me anymore.” He looked over her body, his eyes cold and dismissive. “I can’t believe I ever thought you were better than the others. You’re nothing but a gold-digging humiliating slut. A dime a dozen.” His lips twisted cruelly as he shoved his face close to hers, spit flying. “I should have gotten rid of you long before now.”

She seized her opportunity, jerking up and sideways toward his head. Pain jolted into her arms as her fists connected. Blood spurted from his nose. Sprayed all over his suit.

“You stupid bitch!”

Graham slapped her once, twice. She flinched away from him, hunching her shoulders up to protect her face. Then he was gone. She lifted her head, looking frantically around. Then suddenly he was back, a long knife clenched in his hand as he came toward her.

“I’m going to finally give you what you deserve.”

Savannah screamed. Sliding frantically back on her butt, trying to get away from him. But he was too fast. He came at her, his civilized demeanor stripped away as the knife flashed at her in the moonlight. He slashed at her with the knife. She scuttled backward, trying to get away from him. Her back slammed into the edge of the boat.

“No!” The scream scraped her throat raw.

Gunshots. Red flowers blossoming in Graham’s chest. A startled look on his face as slumped where he stood. Savannah scurried to the side as he fell toward her, his body dropping to the deck where she had been only seconds before. Michael appeared out of the darkness, his gun raised, smoke rising from the barrel.

“Is there anyone else here?”

“I—I don’t know.”
Oh my God!

Michael dropped to his knees next to her. He gathered her into his arms. “It’s all right. It’s over now. You don’t have to cry anymore.”

Savannah hadn’t even realized she was crying. She clung to him while the tears rushed from her, sobs, her panicked breath. Her fingers clinging to the fabric of his t-shirt, her head falling into his chest. Her heart thumped madly in her chest.

“It’s okay. You’re safe now,” he murmured. “I promise.”

Savannah trembled and held on.

Savannah opened the door to her apartment and stepped inside. Just then, her phone rang. She smiled at the image that flashed on the screen.

“Hi, Michael.”

“You feel like having dinner out with me tonight?”

"Always."

"Liar." His amused tone widened her smile even more.

"Come over here and call me that to my face." Savannah dropped her purse on the table by the door, put her keys in the small bowl that already held the spare keys to Michael's apartment and his car.

"With pleasure," Michael said through the phone. "What time?"

"Dinner time, of course."

He chuckled. "Of course. I'll come pick you up at eight."

"See you then."

She hung up the phone, still smiling. Savannah put the cell phone down near her keys and went to her bedroom to change. It had been nine long weeks since Graham's death. Eight weeks since police divers scoured that part of the ocean and found the remains of two other women weighted down and rotting in garbage bags under the water. Savannah shuddered every time she thought that she had almost been one of those women. If it hadn't been for Michael.

With her husband dead, she had begun to slowly put her life back together, found a new apartment near her office, confessed to Samuel everything that happened between her and Graham. Her brother had understood, he had been angry on her behalf, and he had been there for her through the worst of it, through the nightmares she woke screaming from. Through the times she couldn't sleep from imagining Graham lurking over her with a knife.

And part of her healing had begun with Michael. He wanted her, he had even confessed to loving her; but he was waiting for her to share herself with him. He understood that she needed more time.

In the meanwhile, they dated, they talked, he came to dinner with her and Samuel. Despite the trauma of what had happened nine weeks before,
Savannah was finally happy again. Beneath Michael's rough charm and plain white t-shirts, he was a forceful man. Her flesh sang every time he touched her and her pussy ran wet. She was very much looking forward to submitting to him. When it was time.

For now, she lived in the modest comfort of her apartment, trying to forget about Graham and her dream that had come true. That dream was in the past, thankfully. Wealth. A rich husband. Diamonds and pearls. Trips around the world. A poisonous fantasy that had led her into a trap.

It was time for her to move on.

About the Author

Elizabeth
wrote her first romance novel at age fifteen when she discovered writing about boys was way easier than actually talking to them. Since then, her flirting skills and relationship techniques have helped hundreds of others find their mojo. After earning a master’s degree in secondary education from UNC, she worked abroad teaching English, bar-tended at late night clubs in Chicago, and continues various philanthropy projects that focus on empowering women. But she always returned to writing. Though she’ll forever be a free-spirit at heart, she now lives in Los Angeles with her two dogs. If she’s not working on her latest sexy story, you can find her reading, watching reality television, or indulging in her unhealthy addiction to rock concerts.

I LOVE to connect with my readers on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/ElizabethNelsonRomance

One Last Thing. . .
        

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Elizabeth Nelson

Other Elizabeth Nelson Books

Savannah’s Romance Series

Graham Victor

Graham’s Fiancé

The Katherine Flynn Series

Curiosity Killed The Kat (Book 1)

The Game Is On (Book 2)

A Date With The Devil (Book 3)