‘Anna, I did not sleep last night because I could not bear to let you out of my sight. I couldn’t close my eyes for fear of waking and finding you...gone. I have never been more content than when I held you in my arms last night, and when you fell asleep, it was all I could do to let you go.’ My breath caught in my throat as he continued. ‘I have never been a lonely person, but I feel that I shall never be complete unless I have you beside me.’ ‘Erich, I…’ ‘Anna, I want you to come with me.. ' That was over asking some guy to a dance or something. He pointed out that she had been kidnapped by a human trafficker and was on her way to the slave pens in Asia when we rescued her. We agreed it was a draw: he was wrong and he was right.I kept all that from Arti. It wasn't really something she needed to know. Well ... maybe it was something she should know, but I didn't want her to know. She was ... touchy, was maybe the right word. Touchy. Easy to get annoyed. Then she got weepy. And. She was horny as hell. Why in god's name had I left her? Ouch!Still, how can she give herself to someone so cheesy like that? Couldn't she see it? She was smarter than that, wasn't she?Maybe she wasn't. Maybe, no matter how much I wanted her to be the Charlotte I saw in my mind, the loving, loyal, sweet Charlotte, she would never become that. Maybe it was all an illusion. Maybe the dream was over. Maybe it had never even really begun. Maybe it was all just wishful thinking, on both of our. “Maybe,” I answered and explained our mission.“Well, depending on your point of view, you’re too early or too late. I’m rear and advance guard for a Confederacy operation run by a fella named Matthews. We were waiting for evacuation, and yesterday, he showed up here with boat load of medical types and a squad of Confederacy marines. They met with staff, then wheeled every possible vet into the mess hall and made them offers that not one of them refused. I know. I was one of them.“This was the.