Page 5 of August 20

Jesus. Her feet were so big now.

He'd held those baby feet in his hand. Retold the piggy story more times than he could count, eliciting giggles from her when she was younger.

A hard contact plowed into his stomach. He grabbed Brooke before she could hit him again.

He grabbed both of Brooke's wrists to calm her.

"Skye, run!" Brooke struggled in his arms, fighting him as much as trying to break free. "Go."

At the outburst, he swung his gaze to the hallway and found Skye frozen in her spot, standing there and staring. Except now, she frowned at him.

He swung Brooke around until she stood in view of Skye. He needed to calm everyone down.

Through his tight throat, he whispered, "Tell her you're okay."

Brooke's body stiffened, and she jerked against his hold, only making him tighten his grip on her wrists.

"Do it." He leaned down, put his lips against her ear, and whispered, "Or I'll kill you."

All the fight went out of her.

Chapter Three

The man's hard body pressed against Brooke's back, keeping her on her feet. She stared at Skye, willing her to run straight to the back door and go far away until she was no longer in danger.

But instead of running, Skye gazed at the man without moving.

She wanted to scream her frustration. If she voiced her wishes, the man would kill her, and then what would happen to Skye?

Behind her back, the man squeezed her wrists, pulling her out of her panic. She had to save Skye first.

"I'm okay, honey. I'm surprised. Th-that's why I screamed." She swallowed hard, forcing herself to nod reassuringly. "H-he's an old friend, Skye. I'm going to catch up with him. Please go into the bedroom, pull out your boxes, and make sure we brought them all in from the car. Let me talk to my friend alone before he leaves."

Skye worked her lips together as if deep in thought. Brooke wanted to cry out and scream for her to leave the room before the man killed her. Or, worse. But she also wanted to protect Skye from the fear filling the room.

Finally, Skye followed her orders and walked out of sight. Needing her niece safe, she said, "Shut your door, honey."

Never had she shut Skye out of her life. More nights than not, the child slept in her bed because she was scared to sleep alone. It was just the two of them. They depended on each other.

Click.

As if that closed bedroom door would protect Skye, Brooke's chin fell to her chest, and she bit back a sob of relief.

The man let go of her and then grabbed her shoulders, turning her around before pushing her onto the couch. She landed on her ass and moved to get back up but stopped when he pointed for her to sit.

"Please. Take anything you want. Just don't hurt us," she whispered. "She's just a baby."

He dug in his pocket, extracted a piece of paper, and tossed it to her. She continued to stare at him, begging him silently with her eyes. He could do whatever he wanted to her, but he couldn't touch Skye.

He stabbed the air. She followed his finger to the paper. Picking it up, she watched him nod.

Her chest tightened. The idea of disobeying frightened her, so she unfolded the paper and looked at the writing. She blinked several times, trying to read the messy penmanship through her panic.

This is my house. You'll be taken care of as long as you do what I tell you. Try to escape or scare the girl, and I'll kill you.

She dropped her hands to her lap and raised her gaze. Her new employer owned the house. Unless there was a misunderstanding and there was a different house she was supposed to live in.

"I'm sorry. There's been a huge mistake. We'll leave. Right now," she whispered. "You can have the house back."

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