He had treated her like a princess.
Literally.
He had given her a beautiful room to live in, gorgeous handmade clothes, the best books to read so she would be able to make polite conversation, and plenty of hobbies to occupy her time. He had wanted her to become well-rounded, good at art and music and sewing, all the things a sophisticated woman should be.
Tillie had thrown it all back in his face.
So really, she had left him no choice. What had happened to her was her own fault. If she had behaved like the princess he treated her as then they could have been happy together for the rest of their lives.
It really hadn’t had to end this way.
Carefully, he knelt and laid Tillie out. She should be found soon. Since she was of no use to him then he was happy for the police to find her and notify her family. He wasn't a monster after all, just a man looking for love.
Stumbling on the ‘Happily Ever After Club’ had been a huge stroke of luck. All of those women were just as desperate as he was to find their other half. And what better place to find the kind of elegant, classy, mature woman he was looking for than a forum where women who dreamed of being princesses were searching for the perfect princely gentleman?
Those womenwanteda man who would take care of them and treat them like the beautiful fragile flowers they were. He had thought that would make things so much easier, but so far, he was two for two.
He didn’t understand it. When they were talking online everything went so smoothly. They got along, their world views seemed to align, they seemed to be looking for the same things in a relationship. The women weren’t immature. They didn’t spend their time hanging out in bars and nightclubs. They were respectable and he thought that he had developed a real connection with them.
Then once they met in person it was like they changed into completely different people. He certainly didn’t change.
One day he would get it right. Maybe even today. He glanced over his shoulder at the limousine. He really should get back to her.
He said his final goodbyes to Tillie, arranging her just perfectly, smoothing her hair, and rearranging her dress. She may have failed as his princess, but she still deserved to look her best.
Then he gave her one last kiss. He was going to miss her, he’d had high hopes that she was the one.
Time to go.
He was halfway back to the car when he saw one of the back windows was open.
His anger spiked immediately. He thought he had given her enough sedatives to knock her out for several hours. Once he had picked her up in the limousine and made sure she was safely locked away behind the bulletproof glass, he had driven to a quiet location then gotten in the back with her and requested that she swallow a couple of sleeping pills.
In case she had been uncooperative he had taken a gun with him for added incentive. Georgia had taken the pills without offering much protest. At least he thought she had.
The sneaky thing must have only pretended to swallow them and then spat them out once he got back in the driver’s seat. Then she had just pretended to fall asleep while waiting for her chance to run.
Annoyed, he looked about, judging which direction she would have been most likely to run. He didn’t like this. Playing games, tricking him, that wasnotrespectful. He had expected better from Georgia. He really had. She had seemed so serious about wanting a successful relationship and a man who cared about her, who made her feel special, who treated her like a queen.
And already he had done that.
He had remembered her mentioning how much she loved Snow White when she was a child and had that beautiful dress made especially for her. How was this a display of gratefulness?
She would learn to be grateful.
She would learn to respect him.
She would learn to be the obedient wife he expected her to be.
If she didn’t, she would wind up like Tillie.
Deciding on the way he believed Georgia had most likely fled, he headed off in that direction. He knew her. He should be able to figure out what she would do without much hassle.
Abruptly he froze.
Georgia wouldn’t run, she would hide. Find some place to tuck herself away and then when he walked off, she would run in the opposite direction.
He was not falling for another game.