Page 5 of Tainted Obsession 1

“They drugged me somehow. And when I woke up, I was blindfolded and gagged. They didn’t talk to me,” I blurt in an awful rush of remembered terror. “All they talked about was how they were going to use me as bait to get to you. They wanted to kill you, George.”

I wrap my arms around his shoulders, pulling him closer so that I can feel his heartbeat against me. It quickens withanxiety for my distress, but his hold on me remains steady and reassuring.

“But who were they?” he insists. “I have to know, baby. It’s the only way I can protect us. I can arrest the men responsible, and we’ll be safe.”

I shake my head against his chest. “I don’t know. I’m sorry. I don’t know.”

His arms flex around me. “How did those men end up dead in that basement with you? Who called for the ambulance?”

Guilt twists my gut. “I don’t know,” I say again, useless. “I couldn’t see any of them. They said…”

“What did they say?” he prompts when I hesitate.

I force myself to sort through the jumbled memories of agony and fear. “There were two men with me in the basement and then a third man spoke. He asked if I was innocent. He seemed angry.”

A shudder races through me as the feral roar of rage echoes through my mind. Despite my residual terror, I know deep in my bones that the third man saved me. He killed his associates and set me free.

“Then one of them…hurt me,” I force myself to say, skipping over the part where they tried to violate me.

George doesn’t need to know about that. It would only upset him more.

I gingerly touch the aching spot on my forehead. “I blacked out. I don’t know what happened after that. The next thing I knew, I was here with you.” I hug him tighter. “You’re alive.”

They didn’t kill my fiancé. He’s warm and vital in my arms.

“You scared me, baby,” he confesses, a rare moment of vulnerability.

Guilt claws at me. “I’m okay,” I promise again. “I’ll be more careful.”

“I should keep you at the apartment,” he rumbles. “I never should’ve agreed to allow you to teach at the university.”

“We need the money,” I counter.

We’re saving to buy our own home back in Albuquerque one day. We’re partners, and I have to contribute to our future.

He grimaces. “I don’t want you going anywhere alone anymore. It’s not safe for you here.”

For a brief, selfish moment, I hope he’s going to declare that we’re returning to New Mexico.

But I can’t allow him to abandon his aspirations with the DEA. George has always wanted to be in law enforcement, to be a force for good in this world. I have to support that noble dream.

“I’ll be more careful,” I vow.

He pulls away from me, a small frown of disapproval twisting his lips. “Be honest with me, Evie. You weren’t going straight to the bus stop, were you? You were taking pictures again.”

The awful truth pierces my heart. I did pause to take some photos as I strolled to the bus stop. I’d promised George that I wouldn’t go out into the city with my camera like I would when I’d lived in Albuquerque. But sometimes, I see the perfect shot, and I pull out my phone to capture the moment.

“I just stopped for a few minutes,” I protest. “I didn’t wander through the streets or anything.”

But even as I speak, my cheeks heat with shame. This is all my fault.

My distraction cost me dearly. I let my guard down to indulge my art, and I made myself an easy target.

My dreams of being a professional photographer have always been foolish, and now, playing pretend almost cost George’s life.

“I won’t do it ever again,” I swear. “I’m sorry.”

He blows out a long sigh, and the frown mostly eases from his handsome features. “I know you won’t. I think you know better now and will take my warnings seriously. Won’t you?”