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A tactic to get me to talk. To admit to whatever Rylan’s accusing me of. I’ve been playing this game long enough not to fall for Dr. Hatchett’s trap.
When I give her nothing, she continues, “She informed me you’ve gone missing. You and her best friend. The girl we’ve been discussing in your sessions. I knew you won’t arrive today, but Leighton…” I hear her shuffling her notes and still keep my mouth shut. “Yes, Leighton June Irvine. Is she with you?”
I’ve anticipated this. Have considered Rylan would approach my closest confidant to try to coax the truth out of me.
Even if I wouldn’t have suspected Rylan, I still wouldn’t have admitted the truth to Dr. Hatchett. Telling her I took Leighton to save her would put my psychiatrist between a rock and a hard place.
On the one hand, she’ll believe me when I tell her Leighton was in danger. I’ve been her patient for years. Ever since I started seeing my own patients. If I ever decide to incriminate my daughter, Dr. Hatchett would take my word for it.
She’ll understand, even.
On the other hand, there’s the law. She’s legally bound to go to the authorities. About not only me, but Rylan as well.
Yeah… No.
“She’s here. We haven’t gone missing.” I lower my voice, glancing over my shoulder. “Not in the sense you imply.”
Leighton might draw the wrong conclusions from the tidbits that’d filter into the room. I won’t allow a misunderstanding to ruin what we’ve built together over the last three days.
I step outside, ambling toward the pool. The water is blue and sparkling under the Malibu sun. The infinite landscape ahead of us blankets me with a sense of security.
Leighton isn’t in danger here. She’s the safest she’ll ever be.
The privacy of the land and the two guns I store inside the house guarantee that.
“Is she okay? Miss Irvine?” Dr. Hatchett’s concern is evident in every word she says.
She’d witnessed parts of my obsession no one else had. I hadn’t divulged the full extent of my madness to my psychiatrist. Hadn’t mentioned to her that I’d built a safe house for Leighton.
I’d never give her a reason to suspect I’d do anything to hurt Leighton.
“Leighton is perfectly fine.” The orgasm she had on my dick would suggest she’s more than fine. A piece of information Dr. Hatchett has no business hearing about. “This trip was a spur of the moment, that’s all.”
“Oh?” More silence. More baiting.
Two trained psychiatrists like Dr. Hatchett and me, our brains could spar like this all day. She wouldn’t hang up until she was sure Leighton was unharmed. I would never elaborate on where I am and what Leighton and I are doing.
Unacceptable. My woman is in the other room. In a trance. Unsupervised. Uncared for. Her mind could delve into dangerous places. It could convince her I’d left her for good.
The damage to her sanity could be extensive.
“I told her I loved her. Couldn’t hide it anymore. Couldn’t let her go to New York.” Half-truths always sound better than full-on lies. “I pulled her into a room away from Rylan and confessed. Then we eloped. That’s the whole story.”
“I see.”
“It was impulsive and wrong. When Leighton said she felt the same”—sort of—“I had to move. Everything happened so fast, and the last thing I wanted was to drop that bomb on Rylan out of nowhere. We left the house to buy us some time. I assure you, I plan to return and sort everything out.”
Once Leighton realizes there’s no other man for her. That our mutual obsession is the best kind of sickness for two souls like ours.
“I understand, Marcus.” Dr. Hatchett’s impressed voice soothes me. She doesn’t ask where we are, doesn’t pry. “Would you like me to call Rylan? She’s worried, and I don’t mind diffusing the situation.”
Worried. Right. More like, worried about tracking down her next victim.
Years of friendship mean nothing to my daughter when it comes to me.
She’ll lose her shit when she finds out Leighton and I are in love. That we eloped. She’ll take it out on Dr. Hatchett.
Unless I find her first. She’s my only child. My beloved baby girl. I’m the only one who can talk reason to her.
