Page 58 of Obsessed Mr. O’Brian

My bad luck may rub off on Artur and Lola. Artur barely survived the accident thirteen years ago, and now his daughter was put in unnecessary danger because of me.

I even told her to run away in a New York City public park. What kind of stupid, horrible person tells a three-year-old girl to run off alone, barefoot and terrified, in one of the easiest places to kidnap a child?

Lola is better off without me. Artur can protect her better than I ever could.

I can’t stay. I have to leave.

It’s all my fault. Everything is my fault. It always was. Always will be.

I have to leave.

Artur grabs my wrists, pulls my arms tighter around his waist, and holds my hands captive against his stomach.

“Hush, my angel. You’re not going anywhere. You’re mine. All mine,” he growls.

Even as I berate myself for not letting go, I hold him so tight my shoulders cramp. Lola rubs her face against us, smearing wetness on our pants. Her tiny fingers pinch the back of my knee in her attempt to force me to stay.

It doesn’t matter what they want. I can’t risk them getting hurt because of me. I need to leave.

So why isn’t my body moving?

People in uniforms converge on the scene. Blue-and-red lights flash at the bottom of the hill. Artur pries Lola off our legs and forces me to take her.

Even with her face buried between my breasts and her arms wrapped around me, the world remains muted. Artur hugs me. My heart hurts too much to feign a response. I have to leave them. I’m too much of a liability.

He kisses my forehead. I train my gaze on his suit front.

A drop of my father’s blood soaks into his white shirt. The stain represents my impact on his life.

He turns away to address someone else, but the fog in my brain is too thick to focus on who it is, so I stay standing with a sobbing three-year-old in my arms in the middle of one of New York City’s busiest public parks.

I can’t leave them here. I have to make sure they’re somewhere safe before I go.

I know it makes no sense—Artur has more power and money than any human being should ever have—but it’s the only way I’ll be able to let them go. I can’t abandon them here. They have to be somewhere safe and familiar.

Home. I’ll take them home, and then I’ll leave.

The world blurs. My thoughts shut down. I move through the motions like a robot.

A door closes behind me. Silence fills the space. I stand alone in a fancy foyer.

Artur and Lola’s home. It was going to be mine, at least for a little while, but now I can’t be trusted to stay. Disaster will find me no matter where I go.

Even though my suitcase is just down the hall, I don’t dare retrieve it. Stepping deeper into Artur’s home is too hard knowing I’ll just have to leave it.

I turn around and freeze.

Artur leans back against the front door with his arms crossed over his chest. Lola stands beside him with her thumb in her mouth and his pantleg in her fist.

All the numbness fades. Pain, fear, and adrenaline rush through my body, and I shake like a leaf in the wind.

“You’re not leaving, Millie,” Artur growls.

“I have to,” I say.

“No you don’t.”

“Yes I do!”