Keep Me Safe

What was it she had said? She needed sanctuary. He’d make damn sure he provided her with anything she needed. And as far as her not accepting “charity”? She was just going to have to deal with it, because there was no way in hell he was leaving to chance any aspect of her protection, well-being and the financial support she needed so badly. Whether she liked it or not she was now fully under his care and protection and that meant in all areas. Not just her physical well-being.

And he wanted her to trust him. To believe that he would follow through with his promise, because once he made a commitment he always followed through. It would take her time to fully trust in his motives, to believe that he wouldn’t betray her. He knew it wouldn’t happen today. Or even the next day. But he was determined to slowly but surely win something so precious as her faith and trust in him.

He wanted to be someone she could depend on, perhaps the one person who hadn’t failed her in her young life. He’d be damned if he became just another statistic in the list of people who’d let her down, draining her capability to put her faith in another living soul.

That was all going to change. Starting now.

He had his pilot on standby because he had no intention of keeping Ramie here and vulnerable to attack even a second after they decided on a course of action. But just because he was determined to take over didn’t mean that he wouldn’t keep her fully apprised of his plans. True, he had no intention of taking no for an answer, but he’d at least offer her the respect he owed her and not keep her in the dark.

Because she feared the unknown, and he knew she was still grappling with whether or not she could believe in his ability to protect her. She had no way of knowing that he intended to utilize every resource at his disposal—no matter the cost—in his effort to ensure her absolute safety.

“Do you have anything at all?” he asked carefully, mindful of her pride and her potential embarrassment over her circumstances.

And yet color still stained her cheeks and once more shame darkened her gray eyes to the color of a storm.

“No,” she whispered. “Everything I own was in that hotel room and I dropped my purse when I fled because I didn’t want anything to interfere in my getting away.”

“Smart,” he said sincerely. “You did the right thing absolutely. Nothing is more important than your life.”

She blinked with obvious surprise over his statement and a string of obscenities burned his lips but he held them in check. She acted as though someone placing such importance on her life was an original concept.

Had the people she’d helped before expressed any gratitude? Did they, like him, have no idea what it cost her each time she delved into the twisted mind of a killer? How could the idea have been planted in her mind that her life wasn’t worth anything?

“Since you have nothing to pack, it will make our departure much faster,” he said matter-of-factly.

Again she looked confused. “Where are we going?”

“Home, Ramie. I’m taking you home.”

Sadness and resignation pooled in her eyes. “I don’t have a home.”

“You do now. I’m taking you to my home—your home now. I maintain very tight security since Tori was abducted. I thought I maintained high security measures before her kidnapping but it’s obvious I utterly failed in that area. My firm employs the very best money can buy. They don’t come cheap but they’re worth every penny if they keep my family—and you—safe.”

She stared at him, a stunned look on her face. “When I called you to ask for help I didn’t expect this, Caleb. I certainly don’t expect you to move me into your home. I just thought you could offer some kind of peripheral protection.”

“And that’s precisely what I intend to do,” he said calmly. “You staying in my home ensures your safety. It’s the safest place for you to be. My house likely has more security than Fort Knox.”

He smiled at the end, hoping to lighten the mood and make some of the seemingly permanent sadness in her eyes ease with his exaggeration. Well, except that it was only a slight exaggeration because to a normal person his security measures would be deemed extreme and over-the-top, but he’d be damned if anyone accessed his home or were able to get to his family. Never again.

He was rewarded by a tiny smile and he was fascinated by the dimple that appeared in one cheek. He’d never seen her smile. Even the slight smile transformed her entire face. It brushed away some of the fatigue that seemed permanently etched in her features and she suddenly looked as young as he knew her to be.

But then what had given her cause to smile over the last year and a half? And even before then since she’d been immersing herself in evil since she was sixteen years old. Had she been as somber as a teenager as she was as an adult? It was damn hard to be lighthearted enough to smile when every second of every day she wondered if she would die at any time.

He added that to his growing list of things he vowed to do for Ramie. He wanted to make her smile again. To be able to laugh and take joy in living instead of merely surviving. Life was supposed to be filled with both highs and lows, but hers had been a study in lows with none of the highs to balance it out. Not many people could survive such an existence, but in his limited exposure to her, he’d learned that if nothing else, she was a survivor. Far tougher than she gave herself credit for. A normal person would have crumbled under the pressures she faced years ago. Or they would have simply given up and made it easy for a killer to find them, accepting the inevitability of their death. No matter what Ramie said or even thought, Caleb knew she simply wasn’t capable of giving up.