Page 46 of Toy

“You’re welcome, my little lamb.”

The voice sent a chill down my spine. It wasn’t Danny. It was my father.

I looked up. Our eyes locked onto each other, mine wide with apprehension and his narrowed with disdain.

I wished my fear wasn’t so palpable, but I could tell from the flickering triumph in his gaze that I was doing a poor job of hiding my inner turmoil.

His features relaxed into a smile, but his ominous aura remained. “Come on, little lamb. Get up.”

He didn’t forcefully drag me to my feet like the other men did. He simply held out a hand and helped me pull myself up. Then he guided me out of the cupboard and into the main part of the cabin. There was a large wooden table with several chairs around it in the center of the room.

“Welcome back,” he said, staring down at me. He reached out to touch my hair. “It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?”

The candlelight cast flickering shadows over him. His hairline had receded even more over the last decade, but his face was exactly the same. In that moment, as he caressed my head while staring down at me with that assessing gaze, all I could think was: this is my father. It was almost impossible to recall the monster that lurked behind the mask.

I clenched my jaw, forcing myself to remember that it was there. That cruel, unrelenting beast.

“We need to talk, don’t we?” He cocked his head to the side.

Terror washed over me. My knees almost buckled, but I steeled myself and remained upright. I didn’t want to show him any weakness.

“Fine. Let’s talk,” I said, wishing my voice didn’t come out so squeaky.

He nodded to one of the chairs. “Sit.”

I did as he said. He took the chair across from me. A benevolent smile lit his face as he studied my own. “You look so much like your mother now that you’re older. It’s amazing.”

“Are you going to kill me the same way you killed her?” I bit out.

“I didn’t kill her,” he said, the cold smile still fixed firmly on his face.

“Not directly. But you staged the so-called terrorist attack where she was shot,” I said, narrowing my eyes. “I’m guessing your mafia friends helped you with that.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Ah. So you’ve been doing your research.”

“Not really.” I shook my head. “Tom Anderson mentioned the mafia connection when you sent him to kidnap me.”

His upper lip curled with distaste, and he sniffed. “I really thought Tom would do better. Never thought he’d get himself killed.”

I shrugged and didn’t respond.

“Now, speaking of Tom,” he went on. “I see some things don’t change, considering who killed him. You’ve been whoring around with Mason Ashwood again.”

I gritted my teeth. “You don’t get to call me a whore anymore, Father.”

The smile vanished. He slammed his fist down on the table, making me jump. “You’ve been corrupted by the outside world. They’ve told you that you can speak to men like this. It’s disgusting.”

I scoffed. “You mean the outside world you told me no longer existed?”

“A necessary lie to protect you and the other girls.”

“Protect?” I sneered. “What a load of shit. You held us all as captives. You used us as sex slaves. You tortured us.”

He held up a palm. “I allowed you to fulfil your true destinies as women.”

I wrinkled my nose. “You don’t seriously believe that shit, do you?”

“Of course I do.”

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