You are Mine by Lisa G Riley

I wake up every morning happy that
you’re in my life; thrilled that you chose me and we chose each
other, and knowing that I must have done something really right to
be lucky enough to be able to say that you’re mine.”
    He tightened his arms around her waist even
more, and she rested her cheek on his head, continued to stroke. “I
know, darling; I’m right here. I’ve got you.”
     

Chapter Seven
    Brickman tossed a set of keys on the
catch-all table near the front door and continued down a short
hallway that lead to the living area of the small Ranch-style house
he’d been forced to hunker down in on the northwest side of
Chicago. Avoiding capture meant staying under the radar and that
precluded living lavishly, as was his usual custom. He sighed
forlornly. So, no, he couldn’t scoop up a penthouse apartment on
Lake Shore Drive for the short time he planned to be in the city.
It also meant that he couldn’t allow some do-gooder to throw a
wrench in his plans by doing what she saw as her moral duty by
telling the police what she knew.
    He sat on the sofa and tried to relax with
the glass of wine one of his men had set up for him. He leaned back
against the cushions and congratulated himself on his genius. He’d
left the bugs in Rose Patterson’s house instead of having them
removed when he’d left town two years before. He smiled with
satisfaction and mumbled, “Bravo, Alex, bravo,” conveniently
forgetting that he’d been on the run before he even left town, and
that even if he’d been able to afford to give those bugs a first,
let alone a second thought, he hadn’t had time to dismantle
them.
    One of the two men he’d positioned in
Chicago had called him as soon as they’d heard Rose talking on the
phone to the CPD. She’d said she had some information to share,
though she didn’t think it would help them much. Well, of course he
couldn’t let that happen and had dispatched her killer
posthaste.
    His only concern now was Ida. She’d been
contacting her sister all along. Oh, she’d sworn that it had only
been this one time because she wanted to share the news of her
pregnancy, but he knew better than to trust information given under
extreme torture, which of course he’d had to administer to Ida.
She’d also denied having any contact with her parents. She could
very well be telling the truth, he thought as he crossed his legs
and made himself more comfortable on the sofa, only time would
tell. He was having the calls she’d made from her cell phone
backtracked. In the meantime, he was now satisfied that she
wouldn’t be sharing information regarding him with anyone ever
again.
     
    IDA lay motionless in the dark, afraid to
move for fear she’d set ripples of severe pain in motion across her
body. She thought about Brickman’s latest beating and the reason
he’d meted it out, and tears rolled down her cheeks. “Rose,” she
whispered miserably, knowing without having been told that her
sister was dead. “I’m so sorry.” When she’d mailed her the letter,
it really had been the one and only time she’d contacted anyone
since she’d been on the run with Brickman. She’d only wanted to
share the news of her pregnancy with someone, and in the letter
she’d begged Rose not to tell their parents. She’d tried to explain
to Brickman that Rose knew nothing except about the pregnancy,
though of course she now realized that the postmark would have
given away her location. That information was probably what Rose
would have given the police and Brian.
    Brickman would not listen to her, but she
thought he hadn’t even heard her. He’d been so busy screaming his
fury as he’d beaten her. He’d completely lost his sanity and the
one name he’d repeated over and over again was Brian’s, making her
realize that not only was he obsessed with Caroline, but he had an
unhealthy jealousy of Brian.
    Her thoughts tortured, Ida cried some more.
Her parents would be devastated. Thanks to her they’d