Angel sat in a chairin the corner of her daddy’s office.Her hands gripped tightly together, making her knuckles white.Her stomach felt like it was on fire, and it took tremendous effort to hold back her tears as she waited for her daddy and the man she dreaded seeing again.
The office door opened, and her daddy and the man walked in.They were talking like they’d known each other for a while instead of just meeting a few days ago.Her daddy looked around for her, then smiled when he found her, hovering in a chair in the corner.
He held out his hand.“Come here, baby.”
Angel didn’t look at the other man, she just ran to Thomas and gripped his hand.
“Baby, I know you’ve met Mr.Sanchez before, but the circumstances were not what they seemed, and I’d like you to give him a moment to explain what was happening.Can you do that for me?”
She nodded but tightened her grip on his hand.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Thomas said.“Let’s sit down.”Thomas indicated two chairs in front of the fireplace.“Have a seat, Derek.”
He led her over to the other one, sat, and pulled her onto his lap.She still hadn’t looked at the other man.
“Sweetheart, give him your attention.I swear to you, there is nothing to fear from him.”
Angel glanced up at Thomas before turning her head and looking at Derek.She got confused when he smiled gently.He didn’t look anything like the cold, brutal man she’d met before.
“Hi, Angel,” Derek said softly.“Can I call you that, honey?”
Angel nodded.
“Okay.Good.When your daddy called, I was ecstatic because I finally had a chance to tell you why I was really at the convent.I hated that you ran away from the only home you’ve ever known, and the fact that you were on your own terrified me.”
“Why?”she asked.
“Because the moment I saw you, I knew you were special.”
Angel’s brows snapped together.“Special?How?”
“You see, your daddy and I have things in common, and one of them is we’re both daddies.We both can recognize a little when we see them.Thomas is a lucky bastard to have found you.I’ve been looking for my little for years.”
“What would you have done if I had stayed at the convent?”
“I would have gotten you out of there, but not to marry you.I would have done it to protect you.You see, I’m a DEA agent, and we suspected the convent was being used to hide contraband and guns for a group of bad people.”
Her eyes widened.“But how?Who would do that?”
“Sister Mary,” Derek said.
Angel’s mouth dropped open.“Sister Mary?”
Derek nodded.“Yes.She’s not really a nun.She was placed at the convent just before you showed up.Sara, I mean Sister Sara, told me how awful Mary was to you.You see, when the Mother gave Sister Mary the job of being in charge of you, it made it very hard to do her job for the men who put her there.I bet if you think back, you’ll remember some things that confused you.”
Angel thought about it for a moment and then nodded.“Yes.I think I caught her a few times when she was talking.She would hide whatever was in her pocket when she saw me and then get angry at me.”
“It was a cell phone she was given to keep in contact with the men.”
“Oh, wow.She wasn’t supposed to have that,” Angel said.
Derek nodded.“I know.She was terrified of you saying something to the Mother.”
“If I had known it was a phone, I would have, but Sister Mary always told me she was praying, and I had interrupted her.Is that why she hated me so much?”
Derek frowned.“Honey, she is a vile, disgusting person who only cares about money.”
“Sister Sara and I talked about how Mary gained weight, and the rest of us were skinny.We couldn’t figure it out.How did she do that?”
