The Tycoon's Pregnant Mistress (The Anetakis Tycoons #1)(50)

Chrysander’s hands curled into fists as he fought the rising rage within him.

“They sent two ransom demands,” Marley whispered. “He refused both. He left me there. Oh God, he left me to those men. I wasn’t even worth half a million dollars to him!”

Sobs ripped from her throat as she dissolved into tears. Chrysander stood in stunned disbelief. Mother of God. He’d never received a ransom demand. He hadn’t! His stomach boiled as acid rose in his throat. He turned and laid his forehead against the wall and brought his clenched fist to rest a few inches away. He felt wetness on his cheeks but made no move to wipe it away.

A few moments later, the therapist eased out of the bedroom and looked at Chrysander. He expected condemnation in her eyes but saw only a faint sympathy.

“I’ve sedated her. She was nearly hysterical. She needs rest above all else. Her reality is very painful, so she retreats. That same self-preservation is what prompted her amnesia. Now that she no longer has that protective buffer, she struggles to cope in the best way she knows how. Be gentle and understanding with her. Don’t push her too hard.”

She patted him on the arm as she walked past.

“Call me if you need me. I’ll come at once.”

“Thank you,” Chrysander said hoarsely.

When she left, Chrysander turned and shuffled farther into the sitting room and sagged onto the couch.

“Dear God,” he said bleakly.

“I heard,” Theron said with a grimace.

“She never stole anything.” Chrysander closed his eyes and dragged a hand through his hair. “Theos. I never got a ransom demand. She thinks…she thinks I left her to those animals, that I didn’t care enough to pay half a million dollars for her return.”

Theron put a comforting hand on Chrysander’s shoulder. “There is much we need to investigate.”

Chrysander nodded. His thoughts hardened as he turned from the anguish over Marley’s revelation and forced himself to play back the events of that night.

The realization, when it came, was so startlingly clear that he cursed himself for not having pieced it together before. He’d been too angry, too wounded by what he perceived as a betrayal by Marley.

“Roslyn,” he said tersely.

Theron raised a brow. “Your assistant?”

“She was there. Just before I found the papers in Marley’s bag. She must have planted them.”

Another thought occurred to him, one that sickened him and made him want to empty his stomach. Any ransom demand would have gone to his office. His residences were highly guarded secrets. Marley had said that he’d ignored ransom demands, but now he realized they could have been delivered and intercepted. By Roslyn.

He stood and whirled around to face his brother. “You will stay here with Marley. Make sure she goes nowhere and that she is well cared for. I’ll send a physician over to monitor her condition.”

Theron also stood. “Where are you going, brother?”

“I’m going to find out if what I suspect is true,” he said in a dangerously low voice.

“Chrysander, wait.”

Chrysander paused and stared back at his brother.

“You should call the authorities. If you confront her and gain a confession, it won’t do any good. Only you will know.”

Chrysander clenched his fists in frustration, but he knew his brother was right. He didn’t want Roslyn to get away with what she’d done. He could make her life miserable, but she would still be free. He wanted justice.

Chrysander paced the confines of his New York office as he waited for Roslyn to arrive. He didn’t want to be here. He wanted to be with Marley. Theron had stayed with her, and Chrysander simmered with impatience. Her condition hadn’t changed. Even when she’d awakened, she’d been distant, unfocused, there but not there. It was as if she’d gone to a place where he couldn’t hurt her anymore.He closed his eyes and tried to focus on the task at hand. When he heard Roslyn enter, he stiffened. It was all he could do not to rage at her, not to break her skinny neck. It took everything he had to smile and act as though nothing was wrong, as though he didn’t loathe the very ground she walked on.

“You wanted to see me?” Roslyn said breathlessly.

“I did,” Chrysander murmured. He let his gaze run suggestively over her body even as his flesh crawled.

Her eyes brightened, and her stance immediately became suggestive.

“I’ve only just become aware of the lengths to which you went to try and get my attention,” he said with a chuckle. “Men can be thick, so you women say, but I think maybe I was thicker than most.”

Confusion rippled across her face, and she struggled to retain a look of innocence. She couldn’t be sure what he was talking about yet, but it would soon be clear. He watched her body language, her eyes, the windows into the soulless bitch that she was.

“Why did you not just say you wanted me?” he purred. “It would have saved us a lot of trouble. Instead, I was trapped in a relationship I didn’t want, though I appreciate the efforts you made to rid me of that problem.”

Roslyn relaxed, and a cold smile flashed across her face. It was strange, but Chrysander had never realized just how ugly she was.

“How did you arrange it?” he asked silkily.

He listened in horror as she outlined what she’d done to make it appear as though Marley had stolen the plans. The kidnapping had been an added bonus, but when she’d received the ransom demand at his office, she’d seen her opportunity to be rid of Marley once and for all.