“Goodnight, Lanie!”
“Sleep tight, little one.”
“Welcome to the family!”
Their well-wishes ring in my ears as Axel carries me upstairs to his room. Unlike Auntie Gray’s bedroom, the furniture here is dark and heavy. Almost forebodingly masculine. It is at least very clean, so I have to give him that. Most of the men I know wouldn’t know how to keep house if their very lives depended on it.
But we don’t stop in his bedroom. Instead, he crosses to a closed door, which leads to another room, and my heart sinks at the sight of it.
Another nursery, just like Auntie Gray’s.
Carrying me to the pretty white crib, he lowers me down onto the soft mattress. “You’ll sleep in here, but Daddy will have the baby monitor, so if you need anything just call for me.” His lips curve as he strokes my cheek with something that feels almost like wonder. “Daddy is so very happy to have found you, little one. Sleep tight, and no getting out of bed on your own. I’ll be right next door if you need me.”
And with that, he grabs one of the monitors from the table beside the crib and heads back toward his bedroom. A single nightlight in the shape of a hot air balloon illuminates the darkness when he switches off the overhead light and for a long while I sit in the dark, staring at that single glowing balloon.
That’s what I really need. A hot air balloon to come and whisk me away from this nightmare I’ve somehow stumbled into.
Eventually, sleep claims me. And in my dreams, the balloon comes and rescues me and for one bright, shining moment, hope swells inside me.
But then the man operating the balloon turns, his dark beard parting as he grins down at me.
“You didn’t think you were getting away from me that easily, did you, little one?”
CHAPTER 12
MELANIE
Iwake to the feeling that I’m floating, and for a brief moment I almost think the balloon reallydidcome for me in the middle of the night. But that hope dies a painful death as I register the feel of thick arms around me, the warm, broad chest I’m pressed against.
Nope. No midnight rescue. I’m still here, withhim.
“Good morning, little one.” Axel’s voice rumbles over me as he lays me on another soft surface. Not my crib, because the pad beneath me isn’t quite as thick.
Curiosity pokes at me, prodding me to open my eyes and see what’s going on. But stubbornness wins the day, and I keep them closed, refusing to acknowledge him as I feign sleep.
“Oh, it’s like that, is it?” Amusement winds its way around his words. “Well, that’s fine. You don’t really need to be awake for this, I suppose.”
Fear slams into my chest at his words.
Awake forwhat?
The need to know overrides my stubbornness and my eyes fly open just as he presses on my lower stomach. “Ow! Stop it, that hurts!”
Something that almost looks like worry but can’t actuallybeworry because that would mean he actually cares about me fills his eyes as his lips dip down into a frown. “What kind of pain?”
Still somewhat addled from sleep, I blink up at him, not understanding. “Huh?”
“You said it hurts. What kind of pain is it, baby? Like a sharp stabbing or more like a dull ache?”
I open my mouth to tell him I was just being dramatic, that it feels uncomfortable but it doesn’tactuallyhurt.
But what if it did hurt? Surely they have some way of getting a person to a hospital, even with the roads closed.
He presses on my abdomen again and I cry out, curling up into a ball and clutching my side. “Ow! Stop, stop, ithurts!”
“Fuck.” The word is a low, harsh growl as he reaches a hand into his pocket and pulls out his phone, hitting a button before pressing the device to his ear as I writhe and wail on the pad. “Ford, it’s Lanie. I don’t know what’s wrong, I was trying to get her to use her diaper and now she’s crying and holding her stomach and saying it hurts. Could you? Yeah, that would be great, thanks.”
Shoving the phone back into his pocket, he runs a hand over my hair. “Shh, little one. Uncle Ford is on his way up to examine you. It’ll be okay, baby, I promise.”
