"I hate to hear you talk about all women as if they were fine ladies instead of rational creatures. None of us want to be in calm waters all our lives." Jane Austen, "Persuasion"

A/N: Trigger warning for assault at the end of this chapter.

Ten Years Ago

The start of Belle's third year and final year of law school couldn't have been more hectic. She was finishing up her bar required classes, working several days a week at Midas & Gold, and balancing a new relationship on top of it all.

William Gold was her boyfriend. It was a thought that still had the ability to make her squeal like a school girl into her pillow even several weeks into their clandestine courtship. They kept their distance at work, Belle trying her best to keep from blushing every time he looked her way. Being under Mallory's watchful eye made her nervous, so she'd been able to rein herself in. The weekends were another matter. She'd taken to spending most of them at his place, shrugging off Ruby's demands for an explanation of where she was spending her time by saying she needed to study and was pulling long hours at the library.

"What's his name?" her roommate demanded one Friday evening as Belle was heading out.

"Who?" Belle asked, feigning innocence. She knew she could trust Ruby to keep her secret, but there was something fun about keeping it all under wraps. No one but Graham knew anything about her relationship with Liam, and she liked it that way. Part of her wanted the world to know, but the other part was enjoying having him all to herself with no questions asked.

"The guy you're obviously screwing," Ruby said, arms crossed against her chest. "It's early in the semester, Belle. And no one studies this much, not even you."

Belle hefted her bag on her shoulder, shrugging nonchalantly. "It's a busy semester," she said by way of explanation. "My internship eats up a lot of my time. The weekend is when I get my reading done."

Ruby arched an eyebrow at her, crossing the room in a few quick strides of her long legs. Before Belle could react, Ruby had pulled her heavily laden bag from her shoulder.

"Tell me, do you usually bring an extra pair of panties to the library?" she asked knowingly, grabbing the pair out of Belle's bag and twirling it around her index finger. "I didn't realize law school readings were quite so exciting."

Belle snatched the underwear out of her roommate's hand, stuffing it back where it belonged.

"Fine," she admitted. "There's a guy."

"Yeah," Ruby agreed. "I'd noticed. You're not exactly great at hiding things."

Belle chewed on her lip for a long moment silently pleading for Ruby to let it rest. But of course, her friend had other ideas.

"Spill," she demanded. "Who is he? And why on earth would you hide the fact that you're getting laid from me?"

Belle fixed her friend with a pleading look. "It's complicated."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Ruby asked before her eyes widened with a sudden thought. "Oh my God, is he married? Is he a professor? What have you gotten yourself in to?"

"No," Belle exclaimed. "He's not married or my professor. It's just someone I work with and I don't think it's the best idea for that to get around."

"Oh," Ruby said knowingly, crossing her arms against her chest. "Intern rivalry getting a little too friendly? Is it that David guy? He was cute."

"It's not David," Belle said with a roll of her eyes. "It's an attorney, not an intern. Can we leave it at that?"

Ruby narrowed her eyes at her. "Why are you so nervous about this? Don't you like the guy? Are you embarrassed? Come on, Belle, it's not like I'm gonna go telling people about your sordid sex life. Just tell me who he is!"

"Fine!" Belle huffed. "But you have to promise not to tell anyone. No one, Ruby."

Ruby crossed her fingers over her heart, bouncing on the balls of her feet excitedly.

"It's Mr. Gold."

Ruby looked puzzled for a moment. "Mr. Gold? As in Midas and? Belle are you fucking your boss?"

"It's not like that," she insisted, grabbing Ruby's hand. "We're together. He's my…boyfriend."

It was the first time she'd called him that to a third party and Belle could feel the pleased blush staining her cheeks at the words. She only hoped Ruby would believe her when she said he wasn't taking advantage of her.

"Wait, isn't he the guy who was a complete jerk to you when you first started?" Ruby continued.

Belle let out a sigh. "Would you believe me if I said that was mostly him just awkwardly flirting?"

Ruby rolled her eyes. "So you're dating your much older boss," she stated.

"Yep," Belle agreed, glad to have finally shared the news with someone.

Ruby stared at her for a long moment, processing the information.

"Is the sex good at least?" she asked finally.

"God, yes," Belle breathed. "Speaking of which, I've got to get going. He's expecting me at his place."

"Fine, but when you get home on Sunday, I want details!" Ruby called after Belle's retreating back.

Belle was anything but a liar, and the sex was indeed fantastic. She found herself seated in Liam's breakfast nook the following morning, stretching out her pleasantly sore muscles from the night before. She was wrapped up in one of Liam's dress shirts with several depositions spread out on the table in front of her and a cup of tea at her elbow.

Belle had always been an early riser, a fact she didn't share in common with her new boyfriend. She knew Liam would sleep the morning away if given the chance, so she'd settled in to get some work done. It was while she was rereading a familiar deposition that she found a nugget of information she couldn't wait to share.

A rumpled looking Liam finally surfaced an hour later, wearing nothing but his bathrobe and looking delightfully disheveled.

"What are you doing up so early?" he asked, trailing a hand over his stubble as he made his way to the coffee pot.

"I couldn't sleep so I was looking through the file for the Glass case and I found something I think we should pursue," Belle answered, still flipping through the file obsessively.

Liam made his way over to the kitchen table, coffee mug in hand. He placed a whiskery kiss against Belle's neck that made her giggle and swat him away.

"And what's that?" he returned in his sleepy brogue that was almost distracting.

"The housekeeper, Johanna Morgan? She said briefly that she believed there were two people in the house the night of Leo Blanchard's murder."

Liam didn't respond, just looking at her as though waiting for her to say something groundbreaking.

"So, there might have been someone there besides Sidney," she exclaimed as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "We have witness testimony that someone else was there."

Liam didn't look convinced, settling into the seat opposite Belle at the table.

"What we have is an old woman on the verge of senility saying there may have been another person in the penthouse. That's not much to go on."

"But it's something," she shot back. "If Sidney wasn't alone, it could prove his innocence. I don't think he pulled the trigger and neither do you, you said so yourself."

"It doesn't matter what I think. What matters is that we provide Mr. Glass with the best defense we possibly can. Unfortunately, at the moment, it appears an insanity plea is the best we can do for him. The evidence against him is…"

"Circumstantial at best," Belle cut him off. "Why are you fighting this? We should talk to Johanna again. We should see if there's anything else she remembers."

"Other than her clear memory that Sidney was in the apartment that night with murder weapon in hand? Everything Ms. Morgan has said is damning for our client. We should focus on getting Glass the shortest sentence possible, not chasing phantom men who may not exist!"

Liam pushed his chair out from the table, stalking away back toward the kitchen. It was the first time he'd ever shouted at her and she certainly wasn't going to let it stand.

"You told me that our job was to provide reasonable doubt," Belle pointed out, following Liam to the kitchen and leveling him with a glare. "Another person in the penthouse is just that."

"Belle, please," he rasped out, still not looking at her. "You're a wonderful student, but I do this for a living. Can you just trust that I know what I'm doing?"

"But Sidney tried to plead guilty!" she countered. "You yourself said he could have been attempting to cover for someone. Why are we not pursuing that someone?"

"Sweetheart," he said placatingly, finally turning to look at her. "This is an extremely delicate case. Leo Blanchard was a very public figure. If we go off on tangents looking for people who may not even exist on the word of a less than reliable witness, the District Attorney's office will tear us to shreds. They want someone to answer for Blanchard's murder to appease the public. Our best option is to get Mr. Glass the lightest sentence possible."

Belle shook her head. "So what?" she scoffed. "This is all some political game and you're going to let a probably innocent man go to jail and a killer walk free all for what?"

"To make life easier for everyone involved," he spat back.

Belle nodded, blinking tears out of her eyes. Maybe she was young and idealistic but she thought it was the job of a defense attorney to make sure their innocent client didn't go to jail. Here Liam was accepting it as inevitable just to appease the most people.

"So you really are as morally bankrupt as people say," she ground out. Liam looked up at her, stricken. She knew it was probably unfair of her to say. He was doing his job the best way he knew how. But it hurt to put your faith in someone and realize they didn't deserve it.

"Belle," he began, but she cut him off before he could try to apologize. She didn't want to hear it at the moment.

"I think I should go," she said flatly. "I'll see you on Monday."

She darted down the hallway to his bedroom, pulling on her jeans as fast as she could and not even bothering to change out of his shirt. She could return it later. Right now, she just wanted out of the apartment, regardless of the walk of shame she'd have to do to get home.

"Belle, please," he called after her. "If we're going to work together we can't let our professional disagreements extend to our personal relationship."

"This isn't a professional disagreement," she said, rounding on him. "It's being a decent person and the fact that you can't see the distinction is horrifying."

He stepped back as though she'd slapped him, rendered silent by her words.

"By all means," he said coolly, standing aside and motioning her toward the door. "I wouldn't want you to compromise yourself any further."

Belle pushed her way down the hall, not glancing back as she strode out the front door of the penthouse. She didn't want to fight with Liam, but she refused to compromise her principles. If he was going to bury evidence that could help Sidney, he was wrong and she wasn't afraid to tell him.

November 1, 2014

He spent the night in the back of a black sedan parked across from Belle's house. There was no way he was leaving the vicinity, knowing that Jones was on their scent. It was too dangerous and he'd be there to head off any threat. Other than a few trick-or-treaters and older teenagers darting around causing trouble, it had been a quiet night. But Gold knew better than most that that could change in the blink of an eye.

He knew he should have explained himself better to Belle, but she'd been so angry and rightfully so. He'd completely shattered her faith in him, a faith that had lasted long past his supposed death. In one evening he'd managed to destroy everything Belle thought she knew about her life and he would never forgive himself for that. The only thing he could cling to was that his actions were necessary. Belle and Lizzie had to be protected at all costs. Her momentary distress was worth it if it saved her life.

It hadn't helped that seeing her up close for the first time in so many years had left him breathless and stumbling over his own words. She'd always possessed the ability to completely unman him and that certainly hadn't changed. She was more beautiful now than she'd ever been, shaking off the awkwardness of youth and emerging as a strong, confident and independent woman. She was everything he'd ever wanted and now, despite the truth finally being out and the fact he was currently camped outside her front door, she was further from him than ever. At least when he'd been dead to her, she'd remembered him fondly. Now he'd broken those fragile memories beyond repair. She would truly hate him forever.

As dawn began to break beyond the horizon, Gold reached through the partition to rouse a lightly dozing Mr. Dove.

"Thank you for service this evening, Dove," he said, his eyes still trained on the house across the street. The gutters needed a good cleaning. "But I can take it from here."

"You should get some sleep, sir," came the man's deep voice from the front seat.

"There's no time for that," he grimaced. "I need you to find Jones and keep an eye on him. I'll watch over Belle."

"And if she objects to that, sir?" Dove asked.

"I'll simply have to better explain the severity of our situation," he snapped. "Now if you'd please track down Mr. Jones."

Dove nodded, climbing out of the front seat of the car and rounding the front. It was then that Gold noticed a tiny figure stomping toward the car from across the street. If he'd thought Belle was angry last night, it had nothing on how irate she looked this morning. How someone could look menacing while wrapped in a fluffy pink bathrobe, he had no idea. But Belle somehow managed it.

"Bloody wonderful," he sighed.

Belle fell asleep curled around her daughter, clutching her close to her chest as though forces beyond her control might rip her from her arms in the middle of the night. When she awoke the next morning it was with bleary eyes and an aching head. For a few blissful moments, before reality set in, it was just another day. But soon the memories of the night before caught up with her. Liam was alive. Graham had spent the past nine years helping him lie to her. The two men she'd always depended on in her life had betrayed her completely.

She curled back around Lizzie, burying her face against her sleeping daughter's hair and breathing her in. She wasn't sure what Liam wanted from her, why he had decided to surface again after so many years. She had a sinking suspicion he wanted her child. But she'd be damned if she let anyone take Elizabeth away from her.

Liam had mentioned something last night about their being in danger, that his return was an effort to protect them. She knew Liam had his share of shady dealings in the past. It was one of the things she'd had to come to terms with when she was falling in love with him. He had secrets, but she'd always known in her heart that he was a good man. Now she didn't trust her own memories of him. Who was to say Liam wasn't lying, using this all as a ploy to get back into their lives? She couldn't trust him and she only hoped she could trust herself.

With a sigh she extricated herself from Lizzie and climbed out of her bed. It was a Saturday and her world had been turned on its head, but life went on. Her daughter would wake up soon and she needed breakfast.

After setting the coffee pot and popping a few frozen waffles into the toaster, Belle pulled on her bathrobe to head out into the chilly fall morning to collect the paper from the front lawn. It was only as she was turning to head back inside that she noticed the black car parked down the street and the familiar large, hulking shape of Mr. Dove.

"Oh, he has some nerve," she gasped out into the cold air. Her grip tightened around the newspaper in her hand, crumpling it as she set off across the lawn toward the big man.

"Where is he?" she demanded. "Is he too ashamed to show his face so he has you tailing me instead?"

"Ms. French," Dove said in his soothing baritone. "It's a pleasure to see you again."

Belle ignored him, darting around his hulking figure to bang on the tinted windows of the back seat. A moment later, the door opened to reveal Liam, looking pale and exhausted.

"You think I wouldn't recognize Mr. Dove just because you shaved his head?" she demanded, the anger that had been simmering since last night boiling up once again.

"He didn't shave it," Dove mumbled. "It's been a long nine years."

"Please get in the car, Belle," Liam said, motioning to the warm interior. "We shouldn't have this conversation out in the open."

"What are you doing here?" she asked between clenched teeth, ignoring his request. "I asked you to leave me alone."

"And I'm very sorry, sweetheart, but I can't do that. Not until I make sure you're safe."

There was that word again. Safe. But if Liam really had a thought for protecting her, he never would have left nine years ago. He would have stayed by her and raised his child. He would have been here.

"Leave, before I call the police," she stated, marveling at the cold evenness of her own voice. Inside she was filled with turmoil, but she would present a stoic façade to Liam. She wouldn't break down again.

"Please don't do that, Belle," he pleaded. "I'm so sorry for everything that's happened, but I need you to trust me right now."

"Trust you!" she scoffed. "Up until a few hours ago I thought you'd been dead for the past nine years. How can you possibly ask me to trust you?"

Liam rubbed at the bridge of his nose, taking his time as if choosing his words carefully. She couldn't let him manipulate her. She knew first hand how convincing he could be. She'd seen him at work in courtrooms, in conference rooms, in the bedroom. She wouldn't let him talk his way out of this.

"Because if you don't," he stated finally, "You and Elizabeth could both be in terrible danger."

Belle just shook her head, refusing to believe him.

"We have been just fine for the past nine years all on our own. We didn't need you then and we certainly don't need you now."

Liam hung his head looking sad and dejected. It was nothing more than what he deserved but some small part of her almost felt sorry for him. He'd done this to himself. He'd missed out on the miracle that was their daughter and he had no one to blame but himself.

"I am being honest," he rasped out, looking up at her with eyes filled with pain. "I swear to you. I swear it on Bailey."

His words were like a jolt to Belle's heart. Bailey, his son, a boy she'd thought might one day be her stepson. She hadn't known him well. Usually when she slept over at Liam's it was weekends when Bae was with his mother. But she'd loved him all the same. And she knew Liam had loved him more than anything. No matter how despicable she thought him now, she knew Liam would never disparage his son's memory.

"Liam," she began, but she wasn't sure what to say.

"Will you please get in the car?" he ground out, shifting aside to allow her to sit next to him.

Belle hesitated. She didn't want to be alone with Liam. She didn't want to give him the opportunity to explain himself. But at the same time, if there was even the slightest chance he was telling the truth and that Lizzie was in danger, she couldn't risk it. She needed to know everything.

She shivered in the cold autumn air, pulling her bathrobe tighter around her for both warmth and security. Then she scooted onto the seat next to Liam, slamming the door shut behind her.

"Okay," she started. "Say I believe you and Lizzie and I are in some kind of danger. Why? What did you do and how does it concern us?"

Now that she was sitting right next to him, she could clearly see how the years had impacted Liam. His eyes were more lined, but more than that they held a strain she'd never seen in them before. While they were once open and warm, now they were shadowed. This wasn't the same man she'd buried nine years ago.

He was thinner too; the expensive fabric of his suit cut close to the body and revealing the hard leanness of him as though he'd spent his time in anything but luxury. She couldn't help but be a little glad for that. She'd been mostly miserable without him. It was only fair that he was as well.

She briefly wondered what he saw when he looked at her. She was changed from the 24-year-old optimist he'd known. Did she look different to him? Was he disappointed in what he found? Did she care either way?

Liam seemed to be collecting himself, trying to figure out how best to proceed. She wasn't inclined to give him that time.

"Well?" she prompted. "I'm here. You have me cornered. What is your great and terrible secret?"

"I made some powerful enemies before I left Boston," he said haltingly. "I managed to anger the wrong people and they ordered a hit on me. The accident, it was an assassination attempt. The tires on my car were shot out. I was supposed to have died that night, would have, if not for Mr. Dove and Dr. Whale. Bae was just collateral damage to them."

He said the last part bitterly and that small part of Belle's heart that still beat for the man in front of her twisted at the words.

"I knew they wouldn't rest until I was dead and I couldn't put you in that kind of danger, Belle," he continued, pleading with her for understanding. "I'd already lost my son, I couldn't lose you too. So, because the opportunity had presented itself, I made the split second decision to let the world think I was dead, including you. It was the only way I could see to make sure you were safe."

Belle stared at Liam, her mouth open slightly at his confession. He honestly thought he'd done the right thing by her?

"And took away any choice I had in the matter," she pointed out. "If you'd been honest with me, I could have come with you. I would have waited for you. I would have known that you were alive out there somewhere. But you couldn't even give me that?"

There were tears in Liam's eyes now and Belle looked away, not wanting to see them.

"It was too dangerous," he said, shaking his head. "If you'd had any information on my whereabouts, if anyone even suspected that I was still alive…" he trailed off, leaving the end of sentence to Belle's imagination.

"Then why are you back now?" she demanded, still staring resolutely out the window at the quiet street. "If you being here puts me in danger, why did you come back?"

"I've been busy the past nine years trying to bring down the people who wanted me dead," he explained. "It was the only way I thought I could ever return to my life, return to you. My investigations brought me back here, to Boston. I didn't mean to stay, but I had to see you, just once. When I found out about Elizabeth, I couldn't leave until I knew for sure if she was my child."

"Well now you know," Belle said stiffly. "You are the father. Congratulations. You can leave again."

Liam shook his head again and Belle shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple," he said, sounding truly sorry. "In the course of my investigations here I found that I might not have covered my tracks as well as I'd thought. There are people who believe me to be alive and somehow they know about you and Lizzie."

"What are you saying?" she asked, fear prickling up her spine at his words.

"That these same men who tried to kill me years ago might try to use you and our daughter to lure me out of hiding."

Now it was Belle's turn to shake her head.

"Why would anyone do that?" she demanded, her voice growing frantic. "Only a handful of people even know about us. No one knew you were Lizzie's father. Why would they come after us?"

"Someone figured it out," he said sadly, staring down at his hand clasped in his lap. "I did all I could to protect you from afar. I had Graham positioned to do what I couldn't. But I failed you, Belle. And I can't leave until I set things right."

An icy, leaden weight had settled in Belle's stomach and she glanced at her house across the street, thinking of the precious little girl within.

"How do you plan to set things right?" she asked, almost dreading his answer.

Liam sighed, shifting away from her and still not meeting her eyes.

"I'm going to kill the men who want me dead," he said firmly.

Belle let out a gasp, fear and anger and guilt all swimming in her gut until she thought she'd be overwhelmed by her own emotions.

She shook her head, arms clutching around herself protectively.

"You're not the man I fell in love with."

"No," Liam agreed. "I'm afraid he no longer exists."

She couldn't help the tears that spilled over her cheeks. She was afraid, so afraid, for her daughter and herself. And now she was afraid of the man who sat beside her, of the things he would do in her name.

"Please don't let your hatred for me cause you to gamble with Lizzie's safety," Liam said softly. "Once this is taken care of, once I know you're safe, I'll leave and you never have to see me again."

If only it was that easy. If only she could hate him. Yesterday, Belle had been in love with the memory of the man she'd known. Today she found him alive and well and so different she couldn't begin to understand him. But she couldn't hate him. She felt numbness, a phantom tingling like there should be something there but all that was left was a feeling of loss more all encompassing than what she'd known that day nine years ago. Liam hadn't returned to her. She'd just lost him all over again despite his presence beside her.

"What should we do?" she asked, her voice hollow to her own ears.

"You can't stay here," Liam returned. "Is there a friend you could possibly stay with until I can set up a safe house?"

"Ruby and her grandmother," Belle said succinctly.

Liam nodded. "I'll keep a look out. If anything changes, I'll let you know."

With a stiff nod, Belle climbed out of the Cadillac. She needed to wake Lizzie up, pack and make arrangements with Ruby. If there was the slightest chance someone would want to hurt her daughter she wanted to be as far from it as possible. Before she headed back to the house, she bent over, giving Liam a hard look.

"If anything happens to my daughter because of you, you better believe you haven't even begun to see my hatred."

Liam's face was impassive as she slammed the door and headed back to the house.

It was perhaps a little early to be so far in his cups, but Gary Stone's life had taken such a detour lately it hardly registered. The bar was all but empty at 5 in the evening. Normal people had jobs and families, a reason to stay sober, but not Gary.

In the course of a few short weeks he found himself dumped, fired, and now employed by the lowest common denominator, a man he would have looked upon with the utmost loathing less than a month before. Now that man seemed to hold his entire fate in the balance.

But Gary wasn't a monster. Down on his luck, sure. Desperate, you better fucking believe it. But he couldn't purposely hurt Belle. He couldn't kidnap a child.

The man from the bar, Jones he told Gary to call him, had been in contact just like he'd promised. He'd given Gary instructions to bring both Belle and Lizzie to a specified address by Sunday night. If not, there would be consequences.

Jones had said no harm would come to them. He just wanted to use them as bait, to draw out some old foe. But Jones was also clearly insane. William Gold had been dead longer than Lizzie had been living. When his plan didn't work, who knew what he'd do, how he'd take out his anger?

Gary was angry with Belle, hurt by her. But he didn't want her harmed.

On the other hand, Gary had no money and no prospects. On top of that he'd seen the look in Jones' eye when he pulled that knife on him. If he didn't deliver, the man would surely kill him. Not to mention the shadowy employer that apparently backed him.

What the fuck had he gotten himself into?

He ordered another bourbon, downing it in one large gulp. It was already Saturday afternoon. He had 24 hours to make his decision.

In the end, Gary's decision was made for him. In the fortuitous way that had seen him through all the dark days of his life, the answer was plopped in his lap so easily he suspected divine intervention.

A chance glance out the window of the bar showed Belle walking briskly down the darkening street outside, coat wrapped around her and head bent against the howling November wind. Maybe he could talk to her, convince her to come with him. He could leave Lizzie out of it. Maybe Belle could explain to Jones firsthand that William Gold was long dead and this was all some sort of misunderstanding. He could walk away, life and integrity in tact.

Gary stumbled to his feet, ambling out onto the street and following in the direction Belle had gone. He realized they were only a few blocks away from the diner run by Belle's old roommate. She was probably headed there now.

He shuffled quickly after her, his longer strides catching up to her with ease.

"Belle!" he exclaimed, her posture going rigid at the sound of his voice.

"Gary," she said, turning to look at him warily. "What are you doing here?"

Gary eyed the street around them warily. It was dusk, the light rapidly fading, but the sidewalk was far from empty. He needed to speak to Belle somewhere more private.

"I need to talk to you," he said, his hand coming out to grip her shoulder. Belle stepped away, shrugging off his hand.

"Are you drunk?" she asked, eyes narrowing. "Gary, what the hell?"

He ignored her question. What he had to say was too vital for distraction.

"Belle we're all in danger," he blurted out. He didn't think he imagined the way her face paled at that. "There's this man named Jones. He wants you and Lizzie but I can't kidnap a little girl, Belle. That's not me."

Belle started to back away but Gary followed closely behind her.

"If you just come with me you can tell him yourself that Gold is dead," Gary explained, sure that she'd understand if he could just tell her what he knew.

"It was you," she rasped out. "You're the one who did this. Somehow you found out about Gold and you told the wrong people, didn't you Gary?"

Gary shook his head. "They said they'd pay me just for information. I didn't know this would happen."

Belle's face was a mask of outrage.

"How could you?" she spat. "Because of you I could lose everything!"

"No, Belle," he continued. "If you just come with me, we can fix everything."

"I'm not going anywhere with you," she declared, turning on her heel and striding away from him.

Gary was growing frantic. Belle was his one chance at surviving this. He couldn't let her get away.

"You have to come with me!" he insisted, grabbing her arm once again. Belle spun around, kicking him hard in the knee before sprinting off down the street.

A few passersby turned to look at them and Gary tried to give them one of his winning smiles.

"Women, right?" he said cajolingly before setting off at a run after Belle. Size and speed were on his side and he caught up to her at the mouth of a narrow alley between two buildings. Grabbing Belle around the waist, he hauled her into the alley, pressing her against a wall.

"You have to listen to me," he growled.

Belle scrambled against him, letting out a loud scream before he covered her mouth with his hand. Her eyes were frantic and wild, staring up at him like a frightened rabbit. He could feel her heart beat against his chest. She was so small, so fragile, in his hands.

Despite that, she swung her legs out angrily, trying to catch him in his most sensitive anatomy. Gary just pressed against her harder, pinning her body against the alley wall.

"I'm so sorry, Belle," he cried, tears blurring his vision. "I wish you'd just married me. None of this would have happened."

Belle's nails scratched against his arms as she tried to shake her head free from his grip, but it was no use. He had her trapped.

"I'm sorry," he repeated. Belle's beautiful blue eyes stared up at him pleadingly and Gary looked away, unable to face her. Then he pulled her away from the wall, slamming her head back against it with force.

Her eyes rolled back in her head and Belle's limp form collapsed against him.

"It's okay," Gary cooed, gathering her up in his arms. "Everything is going to be just fine."

He'd bring her to Jones and when she woke up, she could explain everything. If Jones got violent, Gary trusted he could protect her.

Everything would work out just fine.