To Be Yours Again-Chapter 209 Just his cleaner

And the answer echoes loudly and painfully through her head. Because she is his cleaner.

He didn’t tell her who he really was because she was just his cleaner.

She sucks in a breath, wrapping the bathrobe tighter around herself against the winter chill and this distressing news.

Why did he keep this from her?

Because she is not good enough for him, of course. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

She is only good for one thing....

Her stomach lurches at his betrayal. How could she be so gullible? Feeling raw and wounded by his dishonesty, she wipes away the tears that spring to her eyes. She’s been in denial.

Her relationship with him has been too good to be true.

Deep down she suspected this. And now she knows the truth.

But he never made any promises to her. Those were all in her head. He’s never told her he loves her...He’s never pretended to love her. Yet in the short time she’s known him, she’s fallen for him. Fallen from a great height.

I am a fool. A misguided fool in love.

She closes her eyes in anguish as hot tears of shame and regret course down her cheeks. Furious, she dashes them away and begins to dry herself briskly.

This is her wake-up call.

She takes a long breath, she’s cried enough. Her deepening anger gives her momentum. She’s not going to cry over him. She’s mad at him, and at herself for being so stupid.

In her heart she knows that her fury is masking her hurt, and she’s grateful for it. It’s less painful than his betrayal.

She drops the robe on the floor, grabs the bag of clothes off the blue chair, and empties the contents onto the bed.

Thankful that she had acted on impulse to bring her old clothes, too, she tugs on her pink panties, bra, her own jeans, her Arsenal FC top, and her sneakers. That’s the extent of her own stuff. She didn’t bring her coat, but she grabs one of the sweaters that Lorenzo...Don Lorenzo, bought her, and the blanket that Mona had grabbed from the Hideout.

Julio and Tomas will be arrested, and surely once the police establish the extent of their crimes, they’ll be incarcerated and those brutes will no longer be a threat to her.

She can leave.

She’s not going to stay here.

She doesn’t want to be with a man who has deceived her. A man who will cast her aside when he tires of her. She would rather leave than be sent away.

She has to get out. Now.

Swiftly she downs the two tablets Mona has left for her. Then, with one last glance around the elegant bedroom, she opens the door a crack. There’s no one on the landing. She slips out of the room, closing the door behind her. Somehow she needs to find her way back to the Hideout to retrieve her money and her belongings. She cannot leave the house the way she came in, Mona might be in the kitchen. She turns right and heads down the long corridor.

*************

*LORENZO*

The Jag skids to a halt by the old stables. I fling open the door and abandon the car, flying into the house. I’m desperate to see Danica.

Mona, Jessie, and the dogs are in the kitchen. “Not now, boys,” I instruct the dogs as they leap up to greet me and be petted.

“Welcome back, sir. The police gone?” Mona asks. “Yes. Where is she?”

“In the blue room.”

“Thanks.” In haste I make for the door.

“Oh, sir...” Mona calls after me and there’s a waver in her voice that brings me to a halt.

“What? How is she?”

“Shaken, sir. She threw up on the way over here.”

“Is she okay now?”

“She’s had a bath. And she’s changing into fresh clothes. And...” Mona glances with uncertainty at Jessie, who goes back to peeling spuds.

“What is it?” I demand.

Mona pales. “I kinda mentioned how wealthy you are.”

What?

“Shit!” I race out of the kitchen, along the west hallway, and bound up the back stairs toward the blue room with Jensen and Healey at my heels. My heart is pounding.

Fuck. I wanted to tell her. What must she be thinking?

Outside the blue room door, I stop and take a deep breath, ignoring the dogs, who have chased after me convinced some new game is afoot.

Danica’s had a horrific scare today. Now she’s in a place she doesn’t know, with people she doesn’t know. She’s probably utterly overwhelmed.

And she’s going to be really fucking angry I didn’t tell her...

I knock on the door, briskly. And wait.

I knock again. “Danica!” There’s no answer.

Fuck. She’s really pissed off with me.

With caution I open the door. Her clothes are scattered on the bed, her robe discarded on the floor, but there’s no sign of her. I check the bathroom. It’s empty except for the trace of her scent. Lavender and roses. For an instant I close my eyes and inhale. It’s soothing.

Where the hell is she?

She’s probably gone off to explore the house. Or she’s left.

Shit.

I storm out of the room and bellow her name down the corridor. My voice echoes off the walls hung with portraits of my ancestors, but it’s met with a resounding silence.

Dread seeps into my bones. Where is she? Has she passed out somewhere?

She’s fled.

This is all too much for her. Or maybe she thinks I don’t care....

Fuck.

I pace down the hallway, throwing open each door, with Jensen and Healey as my wingmen.