“I can’t afford to have X-rays,” she said in a low voice. “I have no medical insurance and I haven’t worked since?. . .??since him. He took everything from me. My home, my job. Peace. I’ve not experienced a single day of well-being since I established an irrevocable link to him. He took?. . .??everything,” she whispered. “I was down to my last few dollars but I don’t even have that now. I had to leave my purse, my identification, everything when I ran from the hotel. And now I have nothing. Without ID I don’t exist. It’s as though he’s already gotten what he wants most. My death.”
Caleb’s mood blackened. He was seized with murderous rage. Not only for what was being done to her now—stalked, hunted like an animal and taunted with her own death—but also for what had been done to her before.
“You will not ever have to worry about money—or health insurance—again.”
He was surprised he could even get the words out through his tightly clenched teeth or that his rage wasn’t reflected in his statement.
She lifted startled eyes and then her cheeks turned a dull red. “I don’t need your charity, Caleb. You don’t owe me anything. I’ll make it. I always have.”
His temper spiked before he could control it. “You are not some kind of goddamn charity case. Do you even realize the prices you could command for what you do? That victims’ families would pay any amount to get back a lost loved one?”
Her eyes widened in horror. “I could never do that! What it would boil down to is blackmail. Hey, I’ll find your kid, wife, mother, loved one but, oh, by the way, my abilities don’t come cheap. Do you realize how?. . .??mercenary?. . .??that would make me? I couldn’t live with myself having money stained with violence and death. The mere idea is repulsive!”
“And so you suffer in silence. Alone. No one to comfort you while the victims are surrounded by family and loved ones. But who do you have, Ramie? Who picks up the pieces for you when you shatter and fall apart? I realize money isn’t a cure-all but it can damn well make living a little easier, and anything is better than you having to scrape by, going without, and being constantly on the run from some deranged lunatic who wants to break you down, piece by piece until there’s nothing left. No escape.”
She stared bleakly at him, telling him without words that he’d struck a chord within her, and he was kicking himself for being so blunt. His words had to hurt her. It brought back with startling clarity just how dire her situation was. And he saw something in her eyes that made him want to put his fist through the wall.
Defeat.
Her giving up and accepting the hopelessness of her situation. Damn it, but that had not been his intention. He simply wanted to let her know that she was no longer alone. No longer without someone to turn to. Defeat was simply the absence of hope and she needed that more now than ever before. He wanted to provide her a safe harbor.
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.”