What They Deserve

THIRTY

7 months later
          
It wasn't supposed to happen. Ever. But it had and now he had to work harder than ever to keep his secret.

Like he always did, he moved on to the next city. He had started to look and watch for the next female to be punished, still on a metaphorical high for managing to take care of two women within days of one another. And as much as he had enjoyed it, it was probable that it wouldn’t happen again. Luck was on his side in that case and he didn’t think he’d get so lucky again. 

Despite that thought, there was a strange feeling of invincibility as he continued his search for the right one, never expecting to meet the beautiful woman that would change it all.
          
Bailey DeWitt was the most gorgeous lady he'd ever met; inside as well as out. Her caramel skin, amber eyes, and bouncy curls had attracted him at first sight. And then she'd spoken to him, unaware that she was hooking him.

Somewhere at some point in time, he'd seen something that said early love was bliss because you wanted it to work. But he felt this was just a fraction of the truth. Yes, it felt amazing to have the adoration, care, and affection of an amazing woman and he never wanted that to end. But trying to keep his past a secret was harder with her. He never had to worry about it before because nothing had even resembled a relationship. There had never been any deep and meaningful conversations, no real care to get to know one another. They were all too self centered to care.

With this woman, he desired to know her deepest secrets. What he hadn't counted on was that she wanted the same from him. So he fabricated a past, one filled with some crappy memories to explain away why he wasn't close with his family. He figured that would at least keep her from wanting to meet his parents. And much to his surprise, his story made her hate them just as much as he pretended to.          
          
Her voice was music to his ears and he could listen to her talk all day. But even more than talking with her, he loved to hear her laugh. Her genuine and caring nature was a balm to his injured soul. She was smart and talented and so much more. He couldn't believe how lucky he was that she wanted to be with him.
          
Despite his initial physical attraction to her, he'd never intended to even utter a word to her except to order his food. His focus had to be on finding his next victim. Falling in love was out of the question. But Bailey had approached him first and then the hunt for any potential victims was called off. 
          
He found that he wondered why she was interested in him at all. What did she see in him? What could she see in him? If she knew about his past, there was no way she would have taken a chance. She would have gone to the police for sure. And there was still the chance that she’d find out. Being in a relationship threatened everything he’d worked so hard to accomplish, but she was worth the risk.
          
Every day, for the past seven months, he asked himself those questions. Every day, he was thankful for her and tried to make her feel like a queen. Yet, his insecurities didn't bother him the way they should have.
          
She had made him a better person, helped him to grow. She continued to do so whether she realized it or not.
          
He didn't feel the need to punish women anymore. Or at least the call was so weak, he could ignore it. His search for the next punishment had ended the day he’d met her after all.

He still felt contempt towards the teasers, the ones that deserved to be punished for how they treated men. But now he didn't stalk them and give them what he felt they deserved. Instead, he tossed them a judgmental sneer and moved on. Now he spent his time with Bailey, enjoying life. There were times he even found himself daydreaming about their future, more so than what they’d already discussed.
          
If he had one complaint about her, it was her best friend. Sasha gave him an odd feeling. She wasn't a flirt, she didn't lead men on, but he disliked being around her. At first, he spent a lot of time dwelling on that feeling, trying to figure out what it was about Sasha that he didn’t like.
          
He didn't dare tell Bailey. He didn't want to risk his relationship with her, but he didn't go out of his way to be cordial to Sasha. That was fine. She responded to him in the same fashion. Their relationship was one of tolerance.
          
It didn't seem to be an issue though. Bailey would roll her eyes when the two were around one another, but she didn't press for them to become best friends for her sake. It helped that they managed to keep away from one another most of the time.
          
But there was a possible event he could look forward to regarding Sasha. It wasn’t too long ago that he had heard her telling Bailey she had been offered a job somewhere in Texas. He didn't know where, just that it was at least a long day's drive from them. He hoped she'd take the job and be physically out of his life. But until then, he had to just deal with her.
          
Instead, he focused as much of his energy on Bailey as possible. They spent most of their free time together, had gotten to the point in their relationship where they exchanged an "I love you" before leaving each other or hanging up the phone, and were discussing where they saw things going. While he was envisioning a simple ceremony followed by changing diapers, he kept that to himself. He wasn’t sure Bailey was quite there and he had no intentions of scaring her off.
          
All he knew was that he was happy and wanted to be with Bailey forever. He could only hope that she felt the same way or would come to.