A/N: It's happening!

Chapter Four

Goodbye for Now...

Sam pulled up the address on the business card Mercedes had given him four months ago and got out hoping he would be able to run into her to speak to her, she had been on his mind since the night of the gala but whenever he would call her office her assistant would always say she was out. Their first assessment was postponed and he was offered to work with her assistant but choose to just wait for her to return but he started to worry and left work early to check on her.

When he entered her shop it was nicely decorated in black and gold with plush rugs and pillows on the sofas. There were tables with flowers and booklets with information about what all she offered, he looked around and admired how beautiful it was decorated.

"Hi, how can I help you?" A short Asian with dark hair and eyes asked with a warm smile, he recognized the voice and knew it was her assistant.

"Umm Tina right?" Sam asked returning the smile she gave him.

"Yes! How can I help you?"

"I'm Sam, Sam Evans and I was hoping to speak with Mrs. Tinsley." He said looking over her head hoping to see Mercedes but he didn't see anyone else.

"Mercedes and she still isn't in… I think it'll be another week before she gets back." Tina replied letting a deep breath and leading him over to the couch and offering him a drink which he declined.

"Have you seen her?" He asked after sitting down and unbuttoning his suit jacket.

"I haven't, but I have spoken with her and she noted that she should be back in sometime next week." Tina replied sitting in the chair across from him studying him silently and wondering why he wanted to see her.

"Hmm.. she hasn't been in for months and you haven't seen her?" Sam asked feeling a little off by her assistant not seeing her in such a long time.

"She usually takes umm time off to go retreats and stuff like that." Tina lied hoping she sounded convincing.

"Retreats and stuff huh… well, if you don't mind giving this to her when you see her I'd appreciate it." Sam said smiling and handing her an envelope. Tina stood when he did and smiled when he handed the her the envelope.

"I'll make sure she gets it Mr. Evans, I'm sorry you came down here without seeing her." Tina said walking him to the door and waved him off and waited before locking the door. She looked down at the envelope and caressed it before breaking down and crying softly for her friend and really hoped that Mercedes would come back in a week. She had begged Mercedes to leave and come live with her but she wouldn't… she would always say she couldn't.

"I pray she comes back..." Tina said aloud to herself and placed the envelope into her purse before resuming the work she had started on before Mr. Evans came.

…

Two Months Ago

Mercedes woke up feeling sticky and warm all over, her eyes were burning and her lips felt heavy. She had to blink a few times before she could see clearly, she looked around and saw Roderick walking into the room with sadden eyes. She could feel a cool breeze brush across her body and ran her hand over her body and realized she only had a sheet covering her body, her skin felt hot and extremely swollen and when she felt her beast she could feel teeth indents.

"How long this time?" She weakly asked trying to sit up but her lower body was too sore to move so she just laid back down.

"A few days, I had to clean you off while you were… I didn't want to involve any of the maids, I had to get the blood off of you Merc-"

"I understand don't apologize, can I have some water please?" She asked forcing herself to sit up letting out a groan and feeling tears burning in the back of her eyes. She smiled when he start to hand her the cup but stopped and held it to her lips instead so she could drink it, she took slow slips wincing as the water went down but thankful for cool drink.

"Mrs. Mercy, you need to get out before he kills you." Roderick said after placing the cup on the night stand and fluffing the pillow behind her head.

"Roderick you know why I can't leave… not yet at least." She said giving him a knowing look.

"You can leave, I've offered you plenty of places you can go and start over. You can't stay here any longer… Mr. Evans mentioned-" He stopped when he saw the sad expression on her face. He grabbed on of her hand and lifted her slightly using his other hand to keep the sheet over her body, he cradled her and walked her into the bathroom where he ran a bath with Epsom salt and oils to help her heal.

"I had to make the water a little warmer than usual for your bruising and I put some lavender and German chamomile for the inflammation. There's food waiting for you after you soak, your clothes are over there nothing too constricting and here take these." He said after lowering her into the water.

"What is it?" She asked taking the pills he'd given he and looking at them.

"The usual… you missed you pill because you were out." Roderick replied handing her a cup and waited for her to take the medicine he given her, she just took the medicine and handed him the cup and said thank you as he walked out.

The water stung at first but it quickly felt good and she eased lower into the tub, even though she lived in a massive home this bathroom was her favorite for many reason but the main one was that she spent most of her time in that particular bathroom. Shane granted her one of the guest houses to decorate and call her own, she painted the bathroom in dark red and accentuate the room with wood furnishing. It took five months to convince Shane to let her order the fixtures and tub, he gave her a lot of wiggle room but she had to beg for those specific things but he eventually gave in and gave her the go ahead.

"I just need a little while longer and I can leave." She said to herself rubbing her hands over her body to feel how bruised she was this time. She couldn't remember what happened and she didn't want to… it was better this way because that meant there wouldn't be any nightmares. She was careful about where she hid her birth control pills from Shane because he wanted a baby so badly but she refused to allow him that pleasure. Roderick always brought the pill to her in the morning with her breakfast and he assumed it was a vitamin and that's how she intended on keeping it. She let herself sink into further into the tub and allow the oils and salts do what they were intended to do and when the water finally became too cold she slowly rose and got out of the tub.

She struggled slightly but she managed to grab her rob but before she closed she admired her body, she was covered in bite marks and purple and blue bruises. Her body looked like it was painted poorly but she smiled when she looked at her curves, breast and ample bottom, she wasn't vain but she knew she had a beautiful body. Shane hated her showing her curves but she loved them and she was getting tired of hiding them, she had a full wardrobe that he didn't know about and would every now and then wear her dresses around when he went out of town. She wished he would go out of town again she knew he wouldn't not with her looking the way she did and her possibly telling or seeking help. She was trapped because of her stupid loyalty to her mother and if he didn't threaten to hurt Tina she would have left by now but she was his wife and he hurt her more than she could remember so he would have no problem doing it to her friend. She let out a deep breath and wrapped the rob around her body and slowly walked into the kitchen where she was met by trays of food, drinks and other goodies what caught her eye was the large floral arrangement that sat on the center of the table.

"Who sent those?" She asked picking at a fluffy pancake dipping into the syrup and moaning after the flavors of blueberries and maple mixed in her mouth.

"Mr. Evans, I got to it before Mr. Tinsley could and brought them straight here… he's called as well." Roderick said looking at his watch then back at her.

"Have you eaten?" She asked after fixing her a plate of just about everything that was presented to her.

"I have thank you."

"How much longer on this one?" She asked smiling at him.

"She's being induced tomorrow actually… first time we've had one over cook that's for certain." He replied smiling back at her.

"Well… I may not have any but I heard and forgive me for being crass, but I heard sex helps speed it along." She said giggling when he rolled his eyes as she sat down to eat her breakfast.

"What? Just seduce her a little, get her into the mood and I guarantee she won't need to be induced. In fact take the rest of the day off and make that happen and take these too… Shane can smell flowers a mile away." She said handing him the bouquet but taking the card out first.

"I'm not leaving you Mercedes." Roderick rarely said her full name unless he was serious. She sighed and shook her head.

"I'm pulling rank, you have today and the next few day off. Shane won't notice because he usually asks one of the maids to do whatever he needs so give me a hug and give your a wife one for me as well. I want pictures of your baby once she has him too." She said coming from around the table and pulling him into a hug, it hurt like hell but it also made her fell better. He was also so gentle with her and never made her feel afraid to be around him, she credited his kindness as the reason why she didn't always flinch around other men.

"I'll be back after she has him okay?" He said nodding and looking at worriedly. Mercedes smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

"Mercedes be safe and please call whenever you need me, here it's the key to the lock where I hide you pills." He said placing the key into her hand.

"Thank you and I promise to be here when you get back." She said wiping a tear away.

"Oh I sincerely hope you will have found yourself away from here before then."

"Go now before I become a crying mess." She said stepping away from him with the best smile she could muster. He was her only friend in that huge mansion she called home, Shane made the maid think she was a horrible bitch so they steered clear of her but Roderick never believed a word he said and always tended to her after he went into one of his abusive rages. He still remember the first time he found her curled in a little ball bloodied and bruised, he was about to beat the hell out of Shane but she begged him not to because she feared for her friend's and mother's safety.

"Bye for now."

"Bye for now." He always said that when knew he would be leaving for more than two days but this time he feared it could be his last time saying it so he did the one thing he promised he wouldn't, he was going to seek help for his friend.

The Present

Three Weeks later

Mercedes gave herself a once over before pressing the button to Shane's floor. She hadn't been out of the house since the night of the gala and for some reason this time felt different, she felt like her bruises were still visible and people could tell she was still in pain. The bruise to her face were completely gone and she only had a few on her stomach and the bite marks were fading, her pain level dropped from twenty to three mostly because her rib was still healing. When the elevator doors open she was met by his assistant Emma who was sporting watery eyes and a small vase of flowers.

"Oh sweetie, he told me you were coming today and I couldn't help but get you some flowers." Emma said pulling her into her arms tightly before running a hand over her cheek.

"Thank you Emma, is he in?"

"Yes and he's expecting you so I'll just keep these here for now and you can grab them on your way out." She said walking her to his door knocking then returning to her desk winking at Mercedes.

Mercedes let out a breath and walked in adjusting her blouse and hair before plastering a smile on her face. He was on the phone with someone and it seemed to be heated, she bit her lip listening to hi voice rise then fall only to rise again before he slammed his phone down and looked at her with a curt smile.

"Look, I need to go out of town for a few days and I think you should stay with your mother while I'm gone… I don't want you in that big house alone." He said walking over to where she was standing and placing a kiss on her cheek.

"I was actually thinking of going to check on her anyway so it works out, where will you be going this time?" She asked passively.

"Colorado, have a huge deal to close and when I do we can celebrate but putting a baby in you." He said smacking her ass, she let out a heartless laugh and nodded. Colorado my ass… Colorado meant Boulder and Boulder stood for Brittany.

"Well you better hurry and get back then." She said trying to sound like she really gave a damn.

"I'll call you when land I'm actually leaving shortly so let me know when you make it to your mom's okay?" He asked. She just nodded and started to head out.

"I'm gonna eat lunch with her in a little so I'll just call once we meet up, I'll need to go home and pack a bag first but it should only take ten minutes. I'll have Marie account for that as well, be safe and good luck." She said waving before walking out and stopping at Emma's desk to grab the flowers she'd gotten for her and promising to come visit her again soon.

When she got on the elevator she pulled out the note Tina had given her when she visited her earlier and opened it.

Mercedes,

I know this is very strange but if you need a safe place you can go here.

9874 West James Drive

-SE

There was a key in the envelope and a code attached to it for the gate. She wasn't sure but she felt this would be her only time to do this, she called her mother and told her she would be meeting her for lunch and that she needed to run him first but they could meet at the sandwich shop down the street from her house. She knew her mother would be leaving to go to Miami for a few weeks and with him going out of town as well this was her only opportunity.

She had a lot of time to think about why she was staying and none of them meant that much to her any longer so she told Tina that she was closing her shop for a few month but that she would be given a large paycheck to cover any all expenses she had along with an additional check just because, she also surprised Tina with an all expense paid trip to Hawaii for her and Mike to go one the following day. She acted as normal as possible packing her bag, she made sure to leave anything that make it seem she was running, she packed the essentials only before going to the guest house and grabbing the clothes he didn't know about and placing them into the shopping bags so it looked like she was returning them.

After she finished and loaded everything she looked for Roderick and saw him standing at the door waiting for her patiently. She walked up to him and smiled, he pulled her into a warm hug and released her with a nod.

"Don't you dare come back."

"I won't… not this time, I left you a little something in the guest house and please have Maria call Shane to let him know I left for my mothers." She said holding back tears.

"Goodbye Ms. Jones."

"Roderick." She replied and hurried to her car, getting in before waving at her friend and pulling off. I refuse to come back.

SOOOOOO... I promised she would get out soon! Now things are about to get really interesting!