Betrayed by Love by Lila Dubois Page B

heard you, heard you calling him Master and moaning as you came.”
    “No, no. I never came for him.” Thinking back she remembered those first few happy minutes. “I was blindfolded, I thought it was you.”
    “I know that, now, because Karen and Robert showed me the video.”
    The video. They’d told her there was one, but never let her watch it. Savannah had never wanted to, but she knew they’d kept it, in case she ever needed to press charges.
    “He told me he’d take the blindfold off the minute I left the room. He was supposed to explain why he was training you, then he’d turn on the audio so I could make sure you wanted this. I didn’t hear you calling my name, didn’t know it was me you were calling Master.”
    Savannah felt as if the earth were tilting under her feet, changing her understanding of who she was—and who Roman was.
    He met her gaze. “Later, when I couldn’t stand the idea of anyone else touching you anymore, I went back. I tried to get into the room but it was locked. Wilcox came out and told me you didn’t want me anymore, that you wanted a real man—that you wanted him. He pressed some buttons, made it seem like he was turning on the audio. I heard you, but I realize now, and I should have realized then it wasn’t me you were talking to.”
    “You thought I wanted to stay with him?” How could he have thought that—he’d known she loved him.
    “Yes. I was stupid, so fucking stupid. But I was so afraid that I wasn’t enough for you I believed it.”
    “But.” Savannah sucked in a breath as the implications of his words came tumbling down around her. She was afraid to believe him. If what he said was true then he’d been tricked, they’d both been tricked. “But that means…” She pressed her hands to her face as sobs racked through her.
    “Roman,” she cried out. “Roman.”
    “I’m here.” He scooped her up, holding her with strong arms. Together they sank to the floor, Savannah on Roman’s lap. He whispered into her hair as she wept. He made promises that he could not keep—he would never leave her, nothing bad would ever happen to her—but they were what she needed to hear. Words she’d needed to hear five years ago.
    When her sobs had faded to hiccups, she eased off his lap and look up into his face. There were tears on his cheeks. She’d never seen him cry.
    “All this time,” she whispered. “All these years.”
    There was nothing to say. They’d each lived in a hell of their own making.
    “I did this to you.” He touched her cheek. “I can never repay the debt I owe you.”
    “I never wanted to believe… I was so in love with you.” Savannah was afraid to admit it, afraid to acknowledge what she’d felt because it had almost killed her to lose that love.
    “My heard broke when I got home and you were gone. I tried to find you.” Roman picked up her hand.
    “I know. I should have listened, I was… I was hurt.”
    His jaw clenched, the muscles in his neck standing out. “I’ll kill him for what he did to you.”
    “It’s been five years.”
    “I don’t care.”
    Roman was tense, as if ready for a fight. Here was the man she’d wanted to see kicking in the door and rescuing her. She’s had dreams about that very thing happening for the first year. It was as if her subconscious had known there was more to the story and tried to rewrite her memory for her.
    “I realize this is new to you, but for me it’s old. My scars have healed.”
    “Have they?” He rolled up his sleeve to show her the welt on his arm from the cane.
    Savannah looked away. “I can’t talk about it anymore.” She rubbed her arms. Her skin felt sensitive, as if every inch of it was new—healing from a wound. “Thank you, for telling me. I’m glad what we had wasn’t a lie.”
    “I loved you. Losing you broke my heart. If I’d known why I lost you, what my pride cost us…”
    He turned his head away and his profile was as stark as that of a roman