“Why don’t you tell me where you are Ned.” I turned my glare back on the phone. “And I’ll come thank you personally.”
His response caused my fists to ball.
“Ask my daughter.”
I looked down at the letters I’d found and gritted my teeth. “Harper knows where you are.”
“Why wouldn’t she?” Ned stated flatly.
Don’t know why I was surprised. She lied about everything. Star and Riley grieved over their friend while Harper conveniently forgot to mention that Tico paid her a visit.
“She is my daughter.”
I scooped the phone up, growled, “Not anymore,” and hung up.
Harper’s time of playing daddy’s little girl was done. She was mine now.
And after tonight, she’d never forget it.
When I heardMrs. Benson yell, I knew I’d been found. I’m not sure why I came here, of all places. Before I’d even realized I’d left Mason’s house, I was standing in my yard next to the patch of black-eyed Susan’s marking my mother’s grave. All night long the only thing I could think about was how she used to smile at Daddy.
One minute I was laying in bed next to a snoring Mason, staring up at her bright sparkling eyes, and the next I was here. In the place where she died. It’d been a long time since I thought about that night – maybe it was too painful? Or maybe I didn’t want to remember the last expression I saw on her pretty face. Momma wasn’t worried about herself.
She was terrified for me.
Was history repeating itself? Had I turned Mason into the same monster Daddy became? Despite everything that happened, I still loved my father. Yes, he had a darkness inside him, but he was still the same man who checked under my bed before I went to sleep. The glimpses I got of that man were enough for me.
The problem was, I’d seen the same glimpses in Mason. That green eyed little boy was still there, fighting to be seen. Was my sweet prince buried so far under the beast I’d created that he couldn’t be pulled back? And if I did pull him back, would I lose the man who raised me?
That’s why I was hiding in here, because I knew eventually I’d have to pick a side. I even tried to convince myself that everything would be fine. I could tuck myself back into my shell of invisibility. But Mason would come for me. I knew that long before the door to the library was kicked open.
Except it wasn’t Mason that strutted in.
My heart dropped down into a dark abyss of dread as I sprang out of my chair. Instead of a pair of sparkling green eyes, I was met with cold, grey, soul-sucking ones. I could literally feel the heat drain from my body.
I guess Preston could see my change in temperature because he tipped his head and arched a brow. “Are you gonna faint?”
Maybe. Considering who I was staring at, it might be a good idea. I grew up with Preston. I’d seen some of the things he did. And trust me when I say, none of the rumors came close to what this man was capable of.
“Can you speak?” he said, taking two steps closer.
My answer was to jump away, smacking my back against one of the bookshelves. That didn’t accomplish anything, other than apparently amusing him. A cold chill coursed through my bones as a smirk spread across his face.
“I could have fun with someone like you.”
Oh god no.
“It’s too bad Mase claimed you.”
Yes, Mason! “Where is he?”
“He’s busy. So I’m going to take you home.” Preston’s glare narrowed, making me wish I could meld into the wood at my back. “Are you gonna give me any problems?”
I shook my head. He’d never met anyone more compliant than me. Daddy and Mason had different things that would set them off. Preston Whitley was a whole other breed of monster.
I’d follow him out, get in his car – backseat, of course – and not utter a single word. Which was exactly what I did. When I heard some banging and muffled cries echoing through the backseat, I kept my mouth shut. Nor did I say anything when he pulled over and popped open the trunk.
I didn’t even peep as he swung a tire iron and filled the air with the sickening sound of wet crunches. No, I sat where I was, staring out the windshield, while playing the best game of red light, green light that I ever had.
