Read Caught Up In You 5: No More Denial (Edgeplay) for Free Online Page B

day. Technically it’s compensation for all the putting out you already did.”
    I shake my head at her. “You can rationalize anything, can’t you.” It isn’t a question.
    She waves me on. “Go ahead and open it. If it offends your delicate sensibilities I’ll let you return it. Promise.”
    I rip it open. There’s a folded piece of paper along with a laminated gift card. I hold it up but don’t recognize the name. “What is this?”
    Rochelle snatches it from me. “Oh, holy Mary, Mother of God. It’s only nirvana. That’s a gift card to Rothchild’s, the premier spa in Manhattan. The waiting list is like four months long, yet he booked you an appointment for this afternoon. And it’s for two .” She makes a grab for the card.
    “Down, girl.” I snatch it away. “I really can’t accept this.”
    “I told you—”
     “Rochelle, I don’t want to lead him on or give him false hope. I need to make it on my own. It’s tough enough to turn away from his generosity now. Breakfast is one thing, but letting him pamper me as though we still have a future is another.”
    Her face falls but I refuse to relent. Heaving a dramatic sigh, she rises and heads down the hall. “Spoilsport. I see your point, even if I don’t agree with it.”
    After she goes into her bedroom, I fish out the other piece of paper, my hands shaking. After last night, what is really left for him to say?
    The note is simple and unsigned.
    Baily, check your email.
    “Bossy,” I mutter, then reach for my tablet. “Okay Simon, what do you say?”
    Pulling up my email account, I see my inbox is full of messages from Connor. A lump forms in my throat as I read the oldest one, from yesterday morning, titled Where the hell are you?
     
     I read each message. The tones range from panicked to irate. I can tell when the personality shift happened and Dom Connor took over, because the notes become terse. It happened shortly after I called, when he discovered I left voluntarily.
    The newest one guts me. He sent it about half an hour after he left the previous night. It’s one line and reading it steals the breath from my lungs.
      Do what you have to, but so will I.
    He won’t give up on me. Deep down I knew that, but seeing it on my screen is like a formal declaration of war, and I know I’m on the losing side. Doubts surface, but I shove them aside ruthlessly. Struggling with decisions is new territory for me. Usually, my course is clear, even if it’s not what I want. And I’ve prided myself on always doing the right thing. But now, I don’t even know if there is a right thing.
    I can’t cave in to him though, no matter how tempted I am.
    My tablet pings and another message appears in my inbox. There’s a video attachment and I hold my breath while it downloads. My hand is shaking but I tap play.
    Connor sits behind a massive desk, his fingers steepled in front of him. Behind him the New York skyline is visible. I know that view, it’s from his apartment. So he stayed in the city after all. His eyes are hard, but it’s the dark circles beneath them that tug on my heartstrings.
    “Baily,” he begins and his voice is even rougher than usual. “I’m sorry I hurt you. Believe me when I say that is the last thing I ever wanted. I thought I was protecting you from the truth. The reality of my memory is ugly, so harsh I hid it from myself. I’d take the hurt from you if I could.”
    His expression softens and I see pain etched in every line of his handsome face.
    “I want you to know I don’t blame your grandfather for his part in what happened to me any longer. I did for the longest time. He was the inside man and I trusted him. Back then I trusted everyone. He was the one who took me through the tunnel, then to his truck, and delivered me into the hands of my abusers.”
    I can’t help but picture it. A little boy with dark blue eyes, believing he was in for some sort of treat, and my strong, handsome grandfather leading him