Now that he had assessed her needs, he felt better. There was nothing here he couldn’t deal with. He had the supplies he needed and enough basic first aid training to care for her, though he would have to monitor her closely. For now, there was no reason to seek help elsewhere, and for that he was glad. It was just another among a series of signs and events, all of which he now believed were nothing less than destiny leading them to this moment.
Lacie was meant to be his. He had always known that, but she hadn’t, and life had certainly thrown a few curveballs in the way. Her brother Brian, for one. Brian shouldn’t have warned him off Lacie. They’d been like brothers from the moment Brian stood up for him on the first day of school, when all the other kids were making fun of him because his clothes were old and dirty and not the right size. They could have been real brothers if Brian had just been able to accept the truth.
He hadn’t wanted to leak their location overseas. He still felt bad about that. But he couldn’t take the chance that Brian would continue to try to keep them apart. And he’d paid his debt, hadn’t he? The explosions he’d rigged as a distraction had backfired and nearly taken him out, too.
It was Fate’s way of intervening. And now it was giving him the opportunity to show Lacie the truth, to finally get her to see what had been right there in front of her the whole time. She had made a grave mistake in trusting Shane Callaghan, and in giving herself to him, but Craig would forgive her. He would show her the error of her ways, and she would know who truly loved her.
He ran a warm bath as he pondered the events of the last twenty-four hours. Fate was a funny thing. He had been so out of his mind with jealous rage when he’d viewed that video recording of her and... him. Thank God she’d been at work when he saw it, or who knows what he would have done.
God, she made him crazy in a hundred different ways! But he loved her. Loved her so much. And after he’d had a chance to calm down and think through things, he knew that if he was to have her, he would have to be smart about it. The brute force method was accomplishing nothing more than pushing her further into Callaghan’s arms.
He shouldn’t have yelled at her in front of Callaghan. That had been a mistake. But he’d been so angry! If only he’d waited until he’d calmed down and then talked to Lacie, surely she would have seen reason. She never would have done what she did.
It was defiance, he saw that now. A need to prove that she was her own person. He of all people should understand that about her. As sweet as she was, she needed to feel that she had some control over her life. For as long as he could remember, someone was always telling her what to do – her parents, her overprotective brother, her interfering little sister. And, if he was honest, even him sometimes. But only because he loved her.
Unlike other teenagers and young adults, though, Lacie had never rebelled. As the oldest and only boy, Brian had been wild; Corinne got away with everything because she was the baby. But Lacie? She was the good girl, the responsible one. These last few weeks were nothing more than Lacie finally asserting her independence, of flipping everyone the proverbial bird. It was a bit delayed, perhaps, but inherently overdue.
Once he realized that, everything fell into place. He knew then what he had to do. Oh, he wanted to spend a week making Shane Callaghan suffer for what he did, the fucking dog, but he couldn’t blame Lacie. Callaghan was a pro, after all, and Lacie... well, she was not exactly schooled in seduction. It was a well-known fact that good girls were attracted to bad boys, and there was no one better than his sweet, na?ve Lacie.
How could she not be taken in by Callaghan’s smooth lines, slick car, and extravagant dates?
He blamed himself, really. He should have been more aware of what was going on, found a way to show Lacie the truth before things got too far. Well, he sighed, what was done was done. And now he was going to make everything right.
Craig tested the water, making sure it wasn’t too hot, mentally chastising himself for not thinking of something bubbly and sweet-smelling to add in. Lacie always smelled so good – her hair, her skin, her clothes. Maybe next time he drove into town for supplies he’d pick up something nice for her to use. Something soft and feminine, just like her. Yeah. She’d like that.
He shut off the water, and set towels within reach of the tub and returned to thoughts of his good fortune. He couldn’t have planned it better, really. Everything had come together so nicely. Lacie’s meeting had run late. Her sister probably thought she was with Callaghan. No doubt Callaghan thought she was with Corinne. Lacie had lost her phone, so neither of them could confirm or deny their theories before it was too late.