He had avoided looking for women who were too strong because he had thought it would be too much work to break them down and teach them just what place a woman should possess in life, but maybe that had been his mistake. He had purposefully chosen women who lack self-confidence, who were eager to please, who he believed he could easily persuade to meet him and then once he had them here in his little castle he could dominate without fuss.
What if he tried something different?
So far, he had four failures. In his mind he had already discounted Mila Drake as the woman he was searching for.
He wanted a challenge. He wanted to take a woman he knew was strong enough to be his other half, then mold her into the perfect wife. It was now so clear to him, if the woman wasn't strong enough then all he would end up with was a shell. A woman who might outwardly do as she was told, but inside was crumbling away into nothingness. He didn't want to wake up one morning and find that the woman he had groomed so carefully was nothing but a useless pile of flesh.
For the first time he realized he needed more. He needed someone who would never break. They must be teachable, but they must also be resilient, so that in forty years from now when he was old and grey, that woman remained by his side.
He already had an inkling who this woman was.
Mila had babbled almost non-stop about her sister. A cop. Never in a million years would he have ever dreamed that he would consider bringing a police office here. But he had been looking at things all wrong.
A cop would be kind, caring, and compassionate. They wanted to help people and were willing to risk themselves in the process. They were strong, and they were also obedient, used to following orders, taking their place in the chain of command.
A potentially perfect combination.
Mila’s sister could be just the woman he had been looking for.
He was excited. He wanted to run and grab her immediately, but he couldn’t. If he was seriously going to contemplate bringing a police officer here, then he was going to have to play this smart. Smart and different from the others. The sister wouldn’t be on the dating website, he wouldn’t be able to lure her with a story that appealed to her personality and a name that meant Prince Charming.
If he was seriously going to bring the woman here, he was going to have to straight up abduct her.
Abducting a cop would be no easy feat. She would probably be armed, she would know self-defense tactics, and she would likely be more aware of her surroundings and the people in them than the average person. It would be difficult but not impossible. Especially if she was distracted.
What better distraction than a dead sister.
He had no more use for Mila anyway. She wasn't what he wanted, looking back on it now, she never had been. There was no point in keeping her here any longer, working with her, trying to see if she could fulfill his expectations. She was a failure. Although he supposed not a complete failure since she had managed to help illuminate to him what he was really wanting in his woman.
May as well go and get things over with, there was no point dragging them out. The quicker he got Mila disposed of, the quicker he could make a move on getting the sister. And the quicker he got the sister here, the quicker he could begin her training. And the quicker he began her training, the quicker he got what he wanted.
Abandoning dinner, he grabbed his black mask and put it on then headed for Mila’s room. Her head snapped up when she heard the door open and the book she had held clutched in her hands tumbled to the floor.
She started to rise but then stopped midway up, her face full of fear and uncertainty. She didn't want to make him angry by breaking the rules, but she still wasn't sure what was expected of her in every situation. He liked her eagerness to please, it was too bad things weren’t going to work out between them, but he had given it his best shot.
“You may stand,” he gave his permission.
Mila straightened quickly, wincing a little at the movement, her muscles must still be aching from her punishment.
“Remove your clothing,” he instructed as he locked the door behind him, he didn't really think Mila would make a run for it, but he felt better knowing it was safely locked.
She hesitated, a little burst of fire lighting in her green eyes. She didn't want to do as he told her. She wanted to fight him, but her common sense told her not to. She probably believed that if she played along and did as he wanted then she would stay alive until her sister got here, and she would be rescued and reunited with her children.
But she was wrong.
On so many levels.
She wouldn’t be alive in just a few minutes from now. And although her sisterwouldbe coming here it wouldn’t be to rescue her, it would be to take her place.
“I said remove your clothing.” He took a threatening step toward her.
She hesitated again but then quickly slipped out of the green dress he had put on her earlier and let it drop to the floor.
As he stood there looking at her naked body, her long legs, her flat stomach, all that white skin that he knew was every bit as soft as it looked, he felt his body stirring with desire.
Now it was his turn to hesitate. He wanted her. He wanted to touch her and taste her and come inside her.
He took a deep breath and controlled his desires. Being the perfect husband was just as much about controlling himself as it was about being in control of his woman.