Let Me Go
Authors: DC Renee
Tags: #love, #revenge, #desire, #passion, #lust, #kidnap, #go, #let go, #let me go
Copyright 2014 DC Renee
Published by DC Renee at Smashwords
Smashwords Edition License Notes
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respecting the hard work of this author.
Table of Contents
Dedication
Everything I do, all the important and even insignificant events in
my life, you are there with me, Babulya. Always and forever. I love
you.
And to my Deda. You are missed.
Acknowledgements
Where do I even begin? ? I have to thank my
family (immediate, aunts/uncles, cousins, and in-laws) for
encouraging me and telling me how awesome I am (even if I’m not),
especially my parents. They are my biggest fans and tell me I’m
remarkable even if I write faster than they read. A special thank
you to my sister, who is my muse, my co-writer, my most honest
reviewer, and I can’t write a chapter without her approval. A big
thank you to my mother-in-law, who literally likes everything I
post/write. And of course, have to thank my hubby, who tells me all
that time that I am going to be great and as long as I love
writing, then that’s all that matters.
I can’t forget to thank my friends,
especially those that are part of On the Same Page. They help fuel
my passion for writing and reading.
Thank you to my fellow FL’ers, who bore with
me when I began writing with only fan fics. Thank you to Jettie
Woodruff (an incredible author), who told me I needed to get my
stuff out there and shared her insight and connections with me.
Thank you to Jenny Sims (Editing4Indies) for helping me edit this
book. You went above and beyond to help me make this book the best
it can be. Thank you so much to my beta readers Lauren Duncan and
Jan Kinder. I valued all your suggestions! Thank you to Ashley
Miller for all your help and just being your amazing self. Thank
you to Rebecca Marie for your encouragement and support. Thank you
to Carrie Sutton (Graphics by Carrie) for the awesome teasers and
book promos. Thank you Suleika Santana and Vicky Stolte for
trusting me and letting me do my first author takeover at their
blog (All About Books), and another thank you to Suleika for her
amazing teasers as well. Thank you to Rachael Orman and Dreams Come
True Promotions for organizing all my book related promotions. you
to Mary Beth Witkop and Red Coat PR for all the feedback and
promoting. Thank you Amy Barbagallo and I Heart Romance Books for
pimping me out like crazy with no strings attached. Thank you to
the people in Sinfully Good Books for being a fantastic support
group. Thank you to Sinful Thoughts Book Blog (thanks Christine!),
Two ordinary girls and their books, and Author Groupies for letting
me use their blogs to get the word out about myself.
Thank you to everyone that participated in
the cover reveal, release day blitz, blog tour and ARC reads.
And the most important thank you is to all of
you, the readers! To the blogs/bloggers that helped me spread the
word and the passionate readers who found my book worthy of their
reading time.
Prologue
His
accuser. All he had to keep him company for the last six years was
her name and a vague image in his mind; those details had been
seared into his mind for him to mull over. He never got to see the
realization dawn on her face when she comprehended that she had
picked out the wrong guy. He wasn’t even sure if what she accused
him of had truly happened to her. Whether she had gotten the wrong
guy or had just focused on him and lied. He had a feeling it was
the latter. And it was that gut feeling that burrowed its way into
the depths of his soul and stewed there, waiting to erupt, waiting
for the chance to explode.
And now that chance was about to present
itself. He had planned it all perfectly. Finalized the details with
precision, thinking of every little thing that could go wrong. But,
then again, that was what he had done in his former life. He had
been a doctor, one of the best. He graduated from Harvard at the
top of his class, became one of the youngest doctors to lead a
department, and went on to lead several departments. He was
skilled; it was like second nature to him. The body was like a
puzzle, waiting to be put back together, and he was a master at
puzzles.
He was good looking, six feet tall with
shockingly black hair that he always kept short but messy, deep
green eyes, straight nose, strong jawline, and even perfect teeth,
thanks to braces in junior high. He knew he was a looker and always
used that to his advantage.
He had never had time for relationships, but
he definitely loved the company of women. Lots of women. He never
took advantage of a woman; his looks got him whatever he wanted or
needed. He justified his actions because he was always up-front
about the fact that he wasn’t looking for more than just sex. It
didn’t stop some women from calling him every name in the book. So
his womanizing reputation preceded him, but he didn’t care. He had
a fantastic home in an upscale neighborhood and the respect of all
his peers and friends. His parents, unfortunately, had died in a
car accident while he was still in college, but he knew they were
smiling down on him with pride. They had been wealthy, coming from
“old money” that he had inherited, but his career also helped
increase his worth. He was on top of the world until, one night
after a thirty-six hour shift, he was awoken from his much needed
sleep after only hours of snoozing by loud knocking on his
door.
Rape. One damn word changed his life.
He was accused of rape. He lived alone, had
no good alibi, and somehow his hair was found on the victim. How it
got there, he could only guess. She had positively identified him
from one of those line-ups like they show on the television. The
prosecution had a flimsy case, but it seemed like the jury was
hell-bent on convicting the good-looking, hard-working doctor. His
memory of what she looked like was fuzzy at best, but that was
probably his own imagination as the entire trial was a blur. His
mind was reeling the entire time at the realization of his
situation. He had the finest lawyers defending him and his sanity,
spending an absurd amount of money. But in the end it wasn’t
enough, he was still convicted of rape. Something he couldn’t ever
fathom coming close to doing. He had seen the ugliness of such a
crime numerous times in the hospital, and it left a person with not
just physical scars but mental ones as well. The trial and
subsequent prison time had left him with mental and physical scars
of his own.
He was sentenced to twelve years, and all
appeals were denied. He only served five years, getting out a year
ago on good behavior. When he went to prison, he was a normal, sane
person, never capable of truly hurting someone. But spending five
years in prison, while being labeled a rapist, was enough to make
anyone crack. The scars he now wore were the same as those he had
seen in the hospital, both physical and mental. Inmates aren’t too
keen on rapists, especially pretty-boy ones. And he learned that
the hard way.
During that time in prison, he held onto the
name of his accuser and that blurry image of her, his hatred
increasing with each passing day and each brutal violation to his
own body. She did this to him. And now she was going to know what
it was like to have her life stripped from her and humiliated every
day. Now, a year after his release, he was ready to make his move.
Mason Tredwell was ready to find Kat Gingham.
Chapter 1
Kat didn't think that her life could get any worse.
She couldn't find a job and didn't know where she was going to
live. She didn't know what she was going to do.
She thought
she had it bad growing up, but this seemed worse. She had been
abandoned in the bathroom of a gas station when she was only a few
months old. She was told there was a note attached to the blanket
wrapped around her that said, “Sorry, I just couldn’t take care of
you.” She wasn’t sure if that was from her parents, but they could
have at least dropped her off at a hospital or a fire department.
A gas station bathroom, really?
That was definitely a story
that inspired confidence. She was disgusted that her parents dumped
her at the first place they stopped even if they didn’t want
her.
She ended up bouncing around from one foster
home to another. But none of them were really that bad. There were
always other children, but each foster home was pretty clean and
she got lucky with the adults. She had heard enough horror stories
to know that her foster parents always took care of her. But she
was quiet and shy and could never really get attached to anyone.
She didn’t really keep in touch with any of her dozens of foster
siblings or even with her foster parents. And that was also
probably why she was never adopted. She was the one in the corner
looking so scared of her own shadow that no one wanted her.
She did pretty well in school. When she was
eighteen, she got a job as a waitress to help pay for college, in
addition to the tons of loans she was forced to take out. But she
did it. She graduated with honors and a Bachelor’s in Social Work
with a minor in psychology.
Go figure, the quiet one actually
wanted to help others
. She was actually able to land a job
pretty quickly after graduation and was doing great. She had a few
friends from school, but no one she was particularly close with.
She still couldn’t let anyone in. Not until Seth anyway.
Kat had been sitting at a coffee shop
reading. She was a bookworm and took every opportunity she could to
read. She read while she walked, while she watched television, and
even while she ate. As she sat in the corner sipping her frilly
coffee, entrenched in her book, she didn’t notice a guy approaching
her table.
“Mind if I sit with you?” She jumped at his
voice, almost spilling coffee on herself.
“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. It’s
just there are no more tables and I noticed this chair might be
open.”
“Sorry, I don’t mean to be so jumpy. I just
didn’t hear you,” she replied.
He smiled and she finally looked up at him.
My, he was handsome. Light brown wavy hair, deep hazel eyes, a
straight nose, good jawline, and very tall.
“Is that a yes?” he asked as she realized
she was gawking.
“Oh, yes. Sorry, yes.”
“What are you reading?”