Matters Of The Heart Part 12

"You don't love me, do you?" he asked in the voice of a small boy. Suddenly he was the injured child, and not the man who had terrified her, and all he wanted was to be loved. This was getting very sick. He cuddled up to her like a two-year-old nestled at her side and put his head on her shoulder. She sighed as she stroked his hair and face.

She loved him, but the roller-coaster ride was taking her breath away. He continued to snuggle up against her, and she turned off the light, and moments later he was pulling up her nightgown and wanted to make love. She was so upset and overwrought, she didn't want to, but she was afraid that if she denied him, he'd start a fight with her again. And he was so expert at what he did that within moments, her body responded, even though her mind wanted to push him away, and her heart was totally confused. But her body suddenly wanted him. And he made love to her with such infinite gentleness and caring that there was no way to believe that this was the same man who had attacked her only hours before.

After they made love, she lay awake for hours while he snored. And she finally fell asleep, totally exhausted, at dawn. She had been crying silently all night, and she felt dead inside. He was killing her by inches. She just didn't know it yet.

Chapter 20.

Finn was already up when Hope awoke the next morning. She got out of bed feeling drained and beaten, and her spirits were as gray as the weather. She looked tired and pale when she met him in the pantry eating breakfast. He looked full of energy and cheer, and told her how happy he was to have her home. He even seemed as though he meant it. She no longer knew what to believe.

She was cautiously sipping a cup of tea, when he mentioned the wedding again. He suggested they go in to talk to the vicar in the village, and said they had to go to the emba.s.sy in Dublin to get permission for her to be married in Ireland. He was an Irish citizen, but she wasn't. He had already called the emba.s.sy to find out what they needed. And she realized that unless she was willing to marry him, she had to say something to him.

She set her teacup down and looked at Finn. "I can't," she said sadly, for reasons she couldn't begin to broach with him. "Paul just died. I don't want to start a new life right after something so sad." It seemed like a reasonable excuse to her, but not to him.

"You were divorced, you're not his widow," he said, looking faintly annoyed. "And no one's going to know the difference."

"I do," she said quietly.

"Is there some reason you don't want to marry me?" he asked, looking hurt. There were an increasing number of them, but she wasn't willing to discuss any of them with him. His many lies, the investigator's report, the two women whose deaths he had indirectly caused, his recent demand for money, and his attack on her the night before. All seemed good reasons to her to think long and hard before she married him, or not do it at all. But then why was she living with him? Things between them were not as they had been before, even in their best moments now. There was always an undercurrent of something wrong. Things hadn't been normal between them in well over a month, or more, ever since he'd asked her for the money.

"It's not a simple matter," Hope said patiently. "We have to get a prenuptial drawn up, sign papers, talk to lawyers. I've mentioned it to them, but it takes more than a couple of days. And I'd really rather get married in New York."

"Fine," he said, changing tacks unexpectedly, and for a split second, she was relieved. That had been easier than she thought. "Then how about you set up the account we talked about before? And we can wait to get married till the summer." It was back to that again.

"What are we talking about, Finn?" She remembered the amounts, but she was wondering if anything had changed.

"I told you I'd settle for four million dollars, although I'd rather have five. But that was before Paul died. Given what he's leaving you, I really think it should be ten." Hope let out a sigh as she listened. This was exhausting, and none of it made sense, or maybe it did. Maybe this was all it had ever been about. She felt like she was fighting for her life from the moment she woke up until she went to sleep at night. "I know you don't have the money from Paul yet. So let's do five now, and five after the money from Paul comes through." It seemed perfectly reasonable to him. He said it as though he was asking her to stop at the hardware store, or get him a subscription to a magazine. And he acted as though he expected her to do it, without question, and was sure she would.

"So you want five now, and five later," she said, sounding like a robot. "And what kind of arrangement when we get married?" She figured she'd get it all on the table now, instead of waiting for him to ambush her with it.

"I can have my lawyer talk to yours," he said pleasantly. "I think some kind of annual amount would be fair, maybe a signing bonus when we get married," he said with a broad smile. "And I guess these days people prenegotiate a divorce, in case there is one, alimony and a settlement." It sounded like a great arrangement to him, and the outrageousness of it didn't strike him for a minute. "And let's face it, Hope, I'm a lot more famous than you are, a rare commodity, and a h.e.l.l of a deal for you at any price. At your age, guys like me don't come along. I could be the last train out of the station for you. I think you need to keep that in mind." What he said to her was breathtaking, and it was the first time he had made an issue of his fame, and belittled hers. She was surprised, but thought it wisest not to comment on any of it, but it was shocking, even to her.

"Sounds like an expensive deal," she said quietly, as she poured herself another cup of tea, still stunned by what he'd said and what he was doing.

"I'm worth it, don't you think?" Finn said as he leaned over and kissed her, as Hope looked at him with eyes full of tears. He was insane. Even she knew it now. "Something wrong?" He saw the expression on her face and the sag of her shoulders, which seemed surprising to him.

"I think it's very depressing to be talking about money instead of love and the years we want to spend together, and prenegotiating alimony and a divorce. That's a little too businesslike for me," she answered, looking at him sadly.

"Then let's just get married and forget the prenup," he said simply. But there was no way they could do that. She was worth a substantial fortune, and Finn had nothing but debts, bills, and a lawsuit. She couldn't be that irresponsible. Without a prenup, she'd be completely vulnerable to him financially, and he knew it. The whole conversation made her feel sick. There was no way they could ever marry. Finn was in a very good mood. He thought he had her trapped.

In the end, to pacify him, Hope said that she would think about it and let him know what she thought. She didn't want to set him off by telling him there was no question of his getting the money he wanted, or her marrying him, and she didn't want to give it to him either. She thought about his demands all day, as she edited some photographs, went to the FedEx office, and went for a walk alone in the woods. She didn't see Finn again until late that afternoon. And he was as loving as he ever had been. The trouble now was that Hope no longer knew if it was about love or money, and she never would, he was slowly wearing her down, demoralizing her, and making her feel crazy and off balance. His financial demands were insulting and insane. She was trying to stay calm, but it was just too hard fighting with him all the time. He always had some obsession, whether it was getting her pregnant, getting married, or giving him millions of dollars for his own use. Hope was feeling overwhelmingly sad. The dream of love and trust that she had shared with him was crumbling in her hands like b.u.t.terfly wings. They went from one upsetting subject to another, and had resolved nothing so far. It was all about money now, and he had asked her to prove her love for him by putting five million dollars in an account in his name. That was a lot of love. And what was he planning to give in return, other than his time? Even Hope herself was well aware that she was getting screwed. Worse than that, she felt like she was trapped in a spiderweb of deceit. He was the spider and it was becoming ever more clear that she was the prey.

Finn invited her to dinner in Blessington that night. She agreed to go, for distraction in her despair, and for once not a single difficult subject came up. Not money, not babies, not weddings. She was depressed at first, and surprised that they had a good time together like in the beginning, and once again, it gave her hope. She was constantly ricocheting now between hope and despair. And she was having more and more trouble getting up each time she got knocked down. Ever since Paul had died, she was tired. And Finn was slowly beating her down.

But miraculously, for the next several days, just as she had begun to lose hope, everything seemed to be all right again. Finn was in a good mood. He was writing. She was starting a new book of photographs of Ireland, and enjoying some projects in the house. It was beginning to feel like the early days when she had first bought the house. And she tried to put out of her mind the outrageous things he'd said to her, and the money he had asked for. Just for now. She needed the respite. And then a letter came by FedEx from New York. She took it up to Finn and left it with him, and when he came out of his office again, he looked like a black cloud.

"Bad news?" she asked, looking worried. Given the expression on his face, it would have been hard to believe it was good.

"They're telling me that even if I deliver the book now, they won't publish it. They're going ahead with the suit. f.u.c.k. And this is one of my best books."

"Then someone else will publish it, and you may get a better deal." She tried to sound encouraging, but he looked incredibly angry.

"Thank you, Little Miss Cheerful. They want their money back, and I've already spent the advance."

Hope put a gentle hand on his shoulder, as he poured himself a stiff drink and took a long sip. He felt better when he did.

"Why don't you let me ask Mark Webber to handle this, and see if he can negotiate something for you."

Finn looked at her then with fury. "Why don't you just f.u.c.king write them a check?" She didn't like the way he had spoken to her, but she didn't say anything to him about it, and refused to react in kind. She didn't want another fight.

"Because a good lawyer can make a deal, and then we'll see what we have to do." She was trying to rea.s.sure him, without committing herself. It was hard to know these days where things were going to go with them. She was still hopeful, but realistically, less and less. Things weren't going well. It was all about greed now, getting his hands on her money, and covering up old lies. As it said in the Bible, their house was built on sand.

"Is that a royal 'we'?" he asked her in a nasty tone. "Or are you going to pay up, and stop making me hang by the neck about it? I need money. And I want my own account." She was already clear about that. He had been saying it for weeks.

"But we don't know how much you need," she said quietly. Hope always got quiet when she was upset, either angry or scared.

"That's beside the point. If you want me to stick around, I don't want to be accountable to you. What I spend, how much, and what I spend it on is my business, not yours." And yet he wanted her money to do it, but figured it was none of her business. It sounded pretty b.a.l.l.sy, even to her. "Let's be honest about this, Hope. You're forty-five years old, not twenty-two. You're a pretty woman, but forty-five isn't twenty-five or thirty. You don't have a living relative in the world, no siblings, no parents, no cousins even, your only child is dead, and the last person you considered yourself related to, your ex-husband, just died last week. So who do you think is going to be around, if something happens to you, you know, say if you got sick? And what do you think would happen if I walk out on you, maybe because I found a twenty-two-year-old? Then what happens to you? You wind up f.u.c.king alone, probably forever, and one day you die alone. So maybe what you need to think about, if you don't want to put that money in an account for me, is what your life is going to look like ten years from now, or twenty, when no one else is around, and you're all alone. Looking at it from that perspective, you just may want to give some serious thought to making it attractive to me to stick around." As Hope listened to him, she looked like she'd been slapped.

"Is that supposed to be a declaration of love?"

"Maybe it is."

"And how do I know, if I set up these accounts for you in the right amounts, that you actually will stick around? Let's say I do that, for five or ten million, and whatever you want when we get married, and then you meet the perfect twenty-two-year-old."

"Good point," he said, smiling. He looked as though he was enjoying the moment. Hope clearly wasn't. "I guess you pays your money, you takes your chances. Because if you don't put that money in the accounts, when Miss Perfect Twenty-Two-Year-Old shows up, especially if she's some kind of an heiress or a debutante, then guess who won't be sticking around to hold your bedpan in your old age." She couldn't imagine him doing that in any case, and the conversation they were having was beyond disgusting. She had never been so upset.

"So you're basically suggesting that I buy you, as an insurance policy for my old age."

"I guess you could say that. But look at the perks you'd be getting and already are. s.e.x anytime you want it, hopefully a baby, maybe even a couple of kids, if you take care of yourself. And I think we have a pretty good time."

"Funny," she said, the violet eyes shooting sparks, "you haven't mentioned love. Or is that not part of the deal?" She had never been so insulted in her life. She was supposed to buy herself a guy. If she wanted Finn, there were no two ways about it, she had to pay the price.

And with that, Finn came and put his arms around her. He had seen the look on her face. "You know I love you, baby. I just have to cover my a.s.s. I'm no kid either. And I don't have the kind of money you do. There's no Paul in my life." But now he wasn't in hers either. And Paul hadn't made his fortune so that Finn could spend it s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g around, or maybe buying himself a few blondes, no questions asked. The very fact that Finn had asked her for this kind of money disqualified him, or should have. But she didn't want to blow her top. If she did, she'd have to see it through, and end it with him, and she just wasn't up to it. She felt destroyed, and paralyzed by his abuse.

"I'll think about it," she said, looking somber, trying to buy time and put him off, "and I'll let you know tomorrow." But she also knew that if she didn't give Finn the money, their relations.h.i.+p would blow sky-high and it would be over. She hated everything he had said, the barely veiled threats to leave her for a younger woman, trying to scare her about being alone in her old age, reminding her that there would be no one to take care of her if she got sick. But was she truly ready to be alone forever? She felt like she was between a rock and a hard place and both were awful. Ending it or staying. And instead of telling her that he loved her and wanted to be with her forever, he was making it very clear that if several million dollars weren't forthcoming, sooner or later he'd be out the door when a better deal came along, so she'd better ante up, if she knew what was good for her and didn't want to wind up alone. He had certainly spelled it out. And she had no desire to buy a husband or lose him entirely yet. She was wandering around the house like a zombie, in a permanent state of silent distress.

Finn was in great spirits for the rest of the afternoon. He had delivered his message, and thought it had been fairly well received. He didn't know Hope as well as he thought. She was depressed and angry all day, and stayed busy scrubbing and polis.h.i.+ng several bathrooms on the second floor to keep distracted from the agonizing situation she was in. And Finn was affectionate with her. She wondered if that was what life would be like if she paid his price, which she was not inclined to do. But if so, would he always be sweet to her? Warm and loving as he had been in the beginning? Or would he still be jealous, threaten her if he felt like it, and ask for more when he blew the five or ten million dollars and needed the account filled again, no questions asked? It was hard to know what she'd be getting, if she decided to pay him what he wanted. If anyone had told her she'd be thinking about giving him the money, she would have told them they were insane. All she wanted was the old Finn back, the first one, but even she knew you couldn't buy that.

The whole conversation saddened her, and she went for a walk alone that afternoon to clear her head. Finn saw her go out, and decided that it was better to let her come to her own conclusions, on her own. She really didn't have much choice, as far as he was concerned. He was very sure of himself, and believed that she was firmly hooked. He had all the grandiosity and sense of ent.i.tlement of sociopaths, as Robert had said to her. Finn was certain that if Hope loved him, she'd pay up. She didn't want to be alone. He knew she loved him, and didn't want to lose him. To him the answer was clear. And he was sure it would be to her too. He was feeling increasingly secure and had made himself clear. He thought she might need to be pushed a little, and be reminded of the alternative again. But ultimately, unless she was willing to risk being a lonely old lady in a nursing home, Finn knew he was the better deal and she had no choice. And with him, she could have more kids. He had almost called it "stud service" when he talked to her, but decided that might put her off. The rest seemed okay to him. And as far as he was concerned he was worth every penny he was asking. Hope knew he believed that too. It all made sense to him, and he was sure she'd be sensible about it, and too scared not to. He looked jubilant as he sat at his desk and watched her back from the window, as she walked toward the hills. He didn't see the rivers of tears rolling down her face.

As Hope sat in a warm bath before dinner, she was seriously depressed. He had planted the seeds of some really melancholy observations, about what her future would look like without him. He was right. She didn't have a soul in the world, except him. If she left him, there might be someone else. But that was beside the point. She loved him, and had for a year, enough to want to marry him at one point and have a child. She wanted neither of these now. She just wanted to feel sane again and for things to calm down.

She had no one in her life except Finn. And saddest of all was that she had truly loved him, even if it was turning out that she was only a piggy bank to him. It was a lot to pay for a guy who was demonstrating that he only wanted her for her money, and was fabulous in bed. All she really wanted from him was his heart. And Hope no longer believed that Finn had that particular piece of equipment. It just wasn't there. Her eyes filled with tears as she thought about it. She had loved him so much. Why did it have to be so d.a.m.n complicated and turn out like this? She knew she'd have to deal with it soon. She couldn't stall him forever.

She decided to put a good face on it, and dressed in a nice dress for dinner. She put on high heels, brushed her hair back, added earrings and makeup, and when she got downstairs to the pantry where Katherine had left a tea tray for them, Finn looked at her and whistled. And when he pulled her into his arms and kissed her, he looked as though he loved her, but who knew now? She no longer believed anything. It was a sad place to be in.

They decided to make do with Katherine's sandwiches and a pot of tea, instead of dinner. And Finn looked animated as he started telling her about a new book he'd been thinking about that afternoon. It was for the second book due in his contract. He said he had almost finished the first one, but she wasn't sure she believed him, since his relations.h.i.+p to the truth had proved flimsy at best.

As they ate Katherine's sandwiches, Hope listened to him tell the story. It was about two newly married people who had bought a chateau in France. The woman was American, and the hero of the story was French, a very handsome older man. Finn said he was a dark character who had already had two wives who had mysteriously died. And what the hero wanted more than anything was a child. It was beginning to have a familiar ring to it, as Hope listened, but she figured he would spin it off eventually into one of his typically scary tales with ghosts, murderers, people imprisoned in bas.e.m.e.nts, and bodies hidden in the woods. It always intrigued her how he came up with the stories, which, for years, critics had said were the product of a troubled, brilliant mind. Initially he had seemed surprisingly normal, considering the twisted tales that he told. Now she was no longer so sure.

"Okay, so then what happens?" she said, listening with interest, trying to concentrate on this book. It was something to talk about, other than money, and as a result, it was a relief.

"She gets pregnant, so her future is a.s.sured, at least until she has the child. She's an heiress, and her father gets kidnapped later in the book." Hope smiled. It already sounded complicated to her. "As it turns out, she and her brother have been stealing money from their father for years. Her husband finds out and blackmails her, and asks her for ten million dollars. She talks to her brother, and they decide to call his bluff. They don't give him the money," he said, with a small evil smile at Hope, and then he kissed her neck.

"Then what?" she asked, with an odd chill running down her spine from his kiss.

"He kills her," Finn says with a look of pleasure. "First he kills her. Then the baby." She s.h.i.+vered as he said it.

"That's awful. How can you write that?" She gave him a disapproving look, and Finn seemed amused. "How does he kill her, or do I want to know?" Some of his books had been gory and perverted beyond belief. They were strong stories, but some of the details made her sick. They were always thoroughly researched.

"It's pretty clean. He uses an undetectable poison. And he inherits the entire fortune. Or her half anyway, then he kills the brother. And when their father is kidnapped later, the hero doesn't pay the ransom, because he's been a s.h.i.+t to him. So he lets the kidnappers kill him. One by one, he kills the entire family, and winds up with all their money. Pretty cool for a poor boy from Ma.r.s.eilles, don't you think? He even buys himself a t.i.tle that comes with the chateau." It sounded like Finn's fantasy to her, and some of his earlier lies about the house.

"And he winds up alone?" Hope asked innocently. The plot sounded pretty sick to her, but very Finn.

"Of course not. He marries a young girl from the village, who he was in love with in the first place. She's twenty-one, and he's fifty at the end of the story. So what do you think?" He looked pleased with himself.

"Pretty scary." She smiled, thinking of the twists and turns he described. "I think killing the pregnant wife is a little much and may upset your readers. Most people have sensibilities about those things."

"She didn't pay him the money," Finn said, looking straight at her, deep into her eyes. "The brother would have, but she convinced him not to. And in the end, he got the money anyway, all of it, not just her share, and far more than he originally asked for. The moral of the story is that they should have paid him when they could, before he killed them all." He was good at complicated, layered stories of psychological terror, and frightening murders of retribution.

Hope asked, looking him in the eye, "And that seems fair to you?"

"Completely. She had all the money, why should she get everything and he has nothing? And in the end, he's avenged, and the poor boy gets everything."

"And a lot of dead bodies in the bas.e.m.e.nt."

"Oh no," he said, looking offended. "They all had proper burials. Even the police never figure out they were murdered. They suspect it, but they can never prove it. There's a very clever French inspector, and in the end, Francois kills him too. Francois is my hero. The inspector's name is Robert. He buries him in the woods, and no one ever finds him." And as he said the inspector's name, the story clicked for Hope. It was no accident that the rich wife was killed, the poor boy wins, and the inspector had the name of the lawyer Finn had found on the piece of paper in her purse when she first came from Dublin. All the puzzle parts fit together seamlessly, and the threat to her was clear.

She looked straight at Finn then. "Is there a message there for me?" She didn't flinch as their eyes met, nor did he. He shrugged his shoulders and laughed.

"Why would you say a thing like that?"

"Some of the story seems a little close to home."

"All writers inspire themselves somewhat from real life, even if they don't admit it. And there are differences. The wife he kills is pregnant. You're not. You don't have a brother. Or a father. You're all alone. That would be a lot more scary. But very boring for the reader. You need layers, subplots, and more people to make a story work. I just found it interesting what happens to her when she won't give him the money. It proves that trying to hang on to it doesn't pay. You can't take your money to the grave." What he was saying to her was frightening, given their situation, but he said it with a smile, and he was clearly mocking her. But his message to her was clear. Pay up or die.

He didn't mention it further, and she put their dishes in the pantry sink, trying to act normal. They started talking about Christmas, which was two weeks away. Hope said she wanted to go to Russborough to get a tree the next day, and Finn said he would rather chop one down himself. He had an ax in the stable, which sounded ominous to her too. His story had unnerved her, and she suspected that was the point. Finn knew exactly what he was doing. The night before he had reminded her of how alone she was. And now he had told her a story he had created about a man who kills his wife when she doesn't give up her fortune to him. The message was extremely clear. And the hair stood up on her arms when she thought about it. They read side by side in bed that night, clinging to the appearance of normalcy, and Hope said nothing to him. She was thinking of his story and couldn't concentrate on the book in her hands. For an odd moment, she began to wonder if she should run like h.e.l.l, as Robert had said, or just pay Finn, and give in. If she didn't, he was right, she would be alone forever. And if she paid him, then what would happen? Would he be nice again, and calm down? Maybe if she gave him the money, things would go back to the way they were in the beginning and they would stop fighting. And Finn was right. He was all she had in the world. She didn't like the idea, but maybe she had no other choice. She felt cornered, beaten, and trapped. She was tired of trying to swim against the tides. She felt like she was drowning. Finn was too powerful for her. He was trying to destroy her mind. He almost had. She could feel it. He was winning.

"So what do you think about my story?" Finn asked her when she put down her book and stopped pretending to read it. She looked at Finn then, with a dead look in her eyes.

"To be honest, I'm not sure I like it. And I get the message. I'd like it a lot better if they all kill the poor boy from Ma.r.s.eilles. Then I wouldn't feel so threatened." She looked right at him as she said it.

"It doesn't work that way," he said cleverly. "He's much smarter than they are." And more willing to take risks, and cross lines.

"I'll give you the money, if that's what you want to know," she said bluntly. She had no illusions anymore. This was about survival. He had defeated her. She felt dead inside.

"I thought you would," he said, smiling at her. "I think it's a good decision." And then he moved toward her and kissed her ever so gently on the lips. She didn't respond. For the first time since she'd known him, she hated his touch. "I'll make you happy, Hope. I promise." She no longer believed it, or even cared. She was selling her soul, and she knew it. But being alone in the world seemed worse. "I love you," he said gently, looking pleased. She no longer believed that either. She knew exactly what he had done. He had terrorized her. And it had worked. "Don't you love me?" He had on his little-boy voice, and for a moment, she hated him, and she wished he would kill her. It would be so much simpler in the end.

"Yes, I love you," she said in a dead voice. He didn't know the meaning of the word. There was no coming back from what she knew now, or what he had implied that night at dinner. "We can get married next week if you want, if the emba.s.sy can get the papers ready. I'll call the lawyer in Dublin about the prenup." She sounded like a robot and felt like a corpse.

"Don't put too many teeth in it," he warned. She nodded. He had the upper hand now. And she was alone with him at the house. There was a stiff wind outside, and there was a snowstorm expected that night. She didn't care. About anything right now. He had killed something inside of her that night. Any hope she had of being loved. All she was buying was his presence, not his heart. The only heart involved was her own. And it was broken beyond repair. "We'll have beautiful babies, I promise. We can spend our honeymoon in London and see the doctor."

"We don't need the doctor," she objected.

"If you let her give you the shots, you could have twins or triplets." His electric-blue eyes lit up at the thought. It sounded frightening to Hope. It had been hard enough for her to have one baby when she had Mimi. She was a tiny woman. The thought of twins or triplets was terrifying, and then she looked at Finn. He owned her now. She had sold her soul to the devil, and he was it.

"Does he kill her if she has twins?" she asked him with wide, frightened eyes. And Finn grinned.

"Never. Not if she gives him the money." Hope nodded in response and said nothing, and a little while later, Finn wanted to make love to her, and she let him. The wind was howling outside, and this time, she just lay there, letting him do whatever he wanted, even the things she had never let him do before, and some of them she enjoyed. He was excited by everything that had happened between them that night, his bloodl.u.s.t had been satisfied, and his need to own her. She had finally surrendered, and it heightened his s.e.xual desire for her. He took her again and again. He owned her in every way now. And just the way he wanted, Hope was his.

Chapter 21.

Hope woke up at five A.M. A.M. when the wind smashed a tree limb against the house. The storm was in full swing. Finn had heard nothing, and as Hope awoke she felt as though her heart had been ripped out through her lungs. She was instantly awake and remembered everything that had happened the night before. Everything. Every word. Every sound. Every innuendo. Every nuance of Finn's story about the young wife the poor boy killed. She understood all its implications, what she'd done, and what he'd done to her the night before, to her head, not just her body. He had brainwashed her. And every fiber of her being was screaming. She had sold her soul to the devil, or planned to, and he was asleep beside her in the bed. He was worn out from their s.e.xual acrobatics that had only ended two hours before. Hope was still sore and knew she would be for days. And suddenly as she thought of all of it, she knew that as bad as being alone might be one day, this was infinitely worse. What she had just signed on for, and had been living for the past few months, was worse than death. She had bought her ticket to h.e.l.l the night before, and as she thought of it, she remembered everything Robert Bartlett had said too ... trust your instincts ... when you know ... run, Hope, run ... run like h.e.l.l ... when the wind smashed a tree limb against the house. The storm was in full swing. Finn had heard nothing, and as Hope awoke she felt as though her heart had been ripped out through her lungs. She was instantly awake and remembered everything that had happened the night before. Everything. Every word. Every sound. Every innuendo. Every nuance of Finn's story about the young wife the poor boy killed. She understood all its implications, what she'd done, and what he'd done to her the night before, to her head, not just her body. He had brainwashed her. And every fiber of her being was screaming. She had sold her soul to the devil, or planned to, and he was asleep beside her in the bed. He was worn out from their s.e.xual acrobatics that had only ended two hours before. Hope was still sore and knew she would be for days. And suddenly as she thought of all of it, she knew that as bad as being alone might be one day, this was infinitely worse. What she had just signed on for, and had been living for the past few months, was worse than death. She had bought her ticket to h.e.l.l the night before, and as she thought of it, she remembered everything Robert Bartlett had said too ... trust your instincts ... when you know ... run, Hope, run ... run like h.e.l.l ...

Hope slipped out of the bed by millimeters. She had to go to the bathroom, but didn't dare. She found her underwear on the floor, the dress she had worn the night before, a sweater of Finn's, she couldn't find her shoes, but she grabbed her purse, and slipped through the crack in the barely open door on bare feet. She ran quickly down the stairs, praying they wouldn't creak, but the wind and the sounds of the storm were so loud that it covered everything else, and she never looked back, fearing he would be standing in the doorway, watching, but no one stopped her. He was sound asleep and would be for hours. She found a coat on a peg next to the back door, and the boots she wore in the garden. She unlocked the door, and ran out into the night, taking big deep gulps of the icy air. She was freezing and it was hard to run in the boots, but she didn't care. She was doing just what Robert had told her, she was running for her life ... to freedom ... She had known the minute she woke up that if she didn't, he would kill her. He had made that clear the night before. And she didn't doubt it for a minute. Two women were dead because of him, she was certain of it, and she didn't want to be the third. Even if she was alone forever. She no longer cared. About anything. Except getting out.

She walked for miles in the storm, with snow blanketing her shoulders; her legs were freezing in the thin dress, but she didn't mind. Her hair was matted to her head. She pa.s.sed houses and churches, farms and stables, a dog barked when she ran past. She ran and walked, and stumbled in the dark. But no one followed her. She didn't know what time it was, and it was still dark when she got to a pub outside Blessington. It was closed, but there was a woodshed behind it. She walked into it, and closed the door. She hadn't seen another human on her route, but she kept expecting Finn to yank open the doors of the shed, drag her home, and kill her. She was shaking violently, and not just from the cold and the storm. She knew she had been s.n.a.t.c.hed back from the jaws of death by the hand of Providence and the memory of Robert's words. She dug in her bag, and opened the door of the shed a crack so she could see by the light of a streetlamp. She found the tiny sc.r.a.p of paper she was looking for. Finn had torn the one with Robert's numbers to shreds, but Mark had written them on a notepad in New York and given her the same numbers. She forgot she had it until that moment, and with trembling, frozen hands, she found her cell phone. His cell phone number was on the paper; she pressed the b.u.t.tons and listened while it rang. He answered in a deep sleep-filled voice, and her teeth were chattering so hard he didn't recognize her when she said h.e.l.lo.

"Who is it?" he shouted into the phone. There was a terrible shrieking from the wind, and he was afraid it was one of his children. It was just after six in the morning in Ireland, and after one in the morning on the East Coast of the United States where his daughters were.

"It's Hope," she said, shaking violently. She had had trouble saying her own name, and she could hardly speak above a whisper ... "I'm out ..." she said in a shaken voice, and instantly Robert was awake and knew who was calling. She sounded like she was in shock.

"Where are you? Just tell me. I'll come as fast as I can." He was praying that Finn didn't find her first.

"Thhe Whhhite Horse Pubbbb in BBBllesssington, south edge of town. I'm in the wwwoooddshedd," she said, starting to cry.

"Just hang on, Hope. You're all right. You're going to be fine. I'm coming." He jumped out of bed, raced into his clothes, and five minutes later, he was in his car, speeding south out of Dublin on slippery, deserted roads. All he could think of was that she sounded the way he had the night Nuala had stabbed him. It was over then, and he never went back, although he knew others did in similar conditions, and worse. He just prayed that Hope wasn't hurt. At least Robert knew she was alive.

The roads were icy, and it took him fifty minutes to get there. It was seven in the morning by then, and there was the faintest gray light coming through the sky. The snow was still falling, but he reached the southern edges of Blessington, and drove around looking for the White Horse Pub, and then he saw it. He got out of his car, walked around it, and saw the shed in the back. He hoped she was still there, and Finn hadn't found her. He walked to the doors of the woodshed, pulled the doors slowly open, and saw no one, and then he looked down and saw her crouched on the ground, soaking wet, with her thin dress plastered to her legs, and eyes full of terror. She didn't get up when she saw him, she just crouched there, staring at him. He leaned down gently and pulled her slowly upright, and as she stood up, she started to sob. She couldn't even speak to him as he put his own coat around her and led her to his car. She was frozen to the bone.

She was still sobbing when they got to Dublin an hour later. He had driven more slowly on the way back. He was debating about taking her to the hospital to have her checked out, or take her to his home and sit her in front of the fire in a warm blanket. She still looked terrified and she hadn't said a word. He had no idea what had happened, or what Finn had done to her, but she had no obvious injuries or bruises, except to her soul and mind. He knew it would be a long time before she felt whole again, but he knew from talking to her before that she would survive, and even recover, no matter how long it took. It had taken Robert several years.

He asked Hope if she wanted to go to the hospital, and she shook her head. So he took her home with him, and when they got there, he gently undressed her as he would have one of his daughters when she was a child. He rubbed her down with towels as she stood there and cried, handed her a pair of his pajamas, wrapped her in a blanket, and then put her in his bed. He had a doctor come by to look at her later that morning. And she was still looking wild-eyed, but she had stopped crying. All she said to Robert when the doctor left was "Don't let him find me."

"I won't," he promised. She had left everything there, and she had done what Robert had said. She ran like h.e.l.l for her life, and she knew with total certainty that if she hadn't, sooner or later, she would have died.

Robert waited until the next day to talk to her, and she told him everything that had happened. Every word that Finn had said. His pressure for the money. The outline of the story he had described to her, and the implications of it weren't lost on Robert either. Finn had almost succeeded in getting everything he wanted, but the golden goose had run away during the night. Finn had started calling on her cell phone within hours of her escape. He woke up early in the storm and couldn't find her, and when she didn't answer her phone, he started sending text messages. He kept telling her he'd find her, that he wanted her to come home, at first that he loved her, and later when she didn't respond, his messages were full of thinly veiled threats. Hope didn't answer, and Robert finally took her phone so she didn't have to see them. She shook violently every time one of them came in. Robert gave her his bedroom, and he slept on the couch.