When he arrived home that night, he promised it was all a misunderstanding
and he would make sure I never felt that way again. If I needed to be medicated,
he would find me the best doctor to prevent any further breakdowns.
“You’re too good to me, Jeremy.” I placed the plate of food I made before him.
“This looks great.” He cut into the steak I cooked to perfection.
“I just want to make you happy, Jeremy.” I cut off a piece of meat from my
plate and chewed.
“Just keep being sexy, babe, and keep that smokin’ hot bod to make everyone
envious, and we’ll be fine. You’re going to have to work double time to keep looking so hot.” He grinned, then took another bite of his meal. “If not, your cooking might be reason enough to keep you around.”
I should have left then. My head screamed, Run. It is not worth this. Start again on your own.
I couldn’t run away. I accepted this life before, and I could again. It wasn’t
all bad. I had a beautiful house, no money worries, and he was a very giving lover. I would accept this life and pretend I believed his promises because I had a plan of my own. I would be his happy housewife because, in the end, he was right – he would never hurt me again.
Just like that, everything went back to normal. Jeremy returned my credit cards and restored my access to our bank accounts. He even increased my allowance and talked about all the vacations he wanted to take me on. Jeremy pretended nothing had happened. He wanted everything to go back to the way it
was before, and I promised I would do my best to make him happy. But, this time, I would be smarter.
Twenty
Thomas was disappointed when I chose to go back to Jeremy. A month
after I returned, I lied and told Thomas I was going to leave Jeremy, but I needed to secure my future. He was key to the first part of my plan.
Step One – secure a good job.
Thomas was ecstatic I had ‘come to my senses’ and was leaving that ‘son of
a bitch’. When I left Jeremy, I would be added on full-time with benefits.
Thomas promptly sent me several manuscripts to work on. We agreed I would not be put back on the payroll until after the divorce. In the meantime, we kept
our original payment agreement. He assured me that my first year of paychecks
would reflect the bonuses I earned while I was still with Jeremy.
It was easy keeping my job a secret. I had plenty of time in my day to edit
and still take care of everything Jeremy expected. One of the perks of my editing job was meeting interesting authors with even more exciting backgrounds. One
of the first authors I worked with was Jack Winter.
I edited his books before my marriage and after. Jack seemed to still have dozens more on the back burner. Jack wrote 007-type thrillers, but edgier. His detailed novels came from years of undercover work as an FBI Secret Service agent. After my first edit of his latest work, he was so thrilled he said he owed me one.
I never had need for his services until my marriage began to crumble. With
my new plan, I greedily took Jack up on his offer. He once told me his specialty
had been surveillance. With nothing to lose, I told him my story and asked if he could find out how much of a cheat Jeremy really was. He agreed to help me.
After a month, Jack called and asked to meet me in person, so we could talk
about my issue. He picked a place in West Hollywood, where I had no chance of
seeing anyone I knew.
I had the driver bring me to one of the boutiques on Rodeo Drive. Walking
into the store, I called a cab. By the time I entered the store, grabbed the first thing off the rack I knew would fit, purchased it, and left, the cabbie was waiting.
When I arrived at the restaurant, my heart was hammering. Is this what Jeremy feels like when he meets them? You’re not doing anything wrong. This is not the same.
“Caitlyn?” Jack asked, standing and holding out his hand. “So nice to meet
you in person. I won’t lie. I was expecting a librarian, not a model.”
I gave him my most charming smile. “You flatter me, Mr. Winter.”
He was not the only one taken aback. Jack was in his late thirties. He wore a
