Page 75 of Daddy's Little Survivor

I’m watching you. He’ll be dead soon and so will the bodyguard. - J

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

MONROE

It felt like her body temperature dropped as the words sank into her memory. Jared was watching her and he had just threatened her Daddy and Ezra. This was exactly what she didn't want to happen.

Jared was coming after the people she cared about now and she didn't want them to get hurt. If they died and she survived, guilt would eat her up and possibly drive her to suicide. She didn't want to be away from her Daddy and the thought of him dying made her heart hurt.

She stood frozen as she stared at the text message. He was here. How did he know she now had a bodyguard? The only logical reason was he was here in the city.

“What's wrong?” Ezra came running into the room.

Monroe's breathing picked up and she continued to stare at the phone. She had thought with the bodyguard here, she would have been safer, but she wasn't. She thought she would still have some time because he was still in Maine but once again, she underestimated him.

It was almost like her staying with her Daddy for the past several weeks had just made her forget about the past six years and how dangerous Jared really was. It was like she had been living in this fantasy, this amazing fantasy she never wanted to leave, and Jared had just popped it.

“Breathe,” Ezra said as he stood in front of her.

She tried to breathe but it felt like everything was closing in on her. Blackness was creeping in the corners of her vision and her lungs felt like they couldn't fill up with air. She felt her hands shaking and she balled them up into fists to try and stop it.

She vaguely felt Ezra's hand on her shoulder as he pushed her down to sit. A whimper escaped past her mouth and she shook her head. She didn't want to be touched right now but at the same time, she wanted nothing but arms to wrap around her and ground her.

“It's okay. Take a deep breath. Hold it. Now let it out,” he instructed her.

She tried to follow his order, but it was a lot harder. The last time she had a panic attack, Daddy was with her, and he just had a way with his words. Or maybe it was just his voice. She loved listening to his voice; it calmed her down. This was different because her Daddy wasn't here right now.

Monroe felt her breathing slowly start to even out but then her phone went off again and a cry escaped. It was him again. She didn't want to look at the text but at the same time, she needed to see.

“I'm going to call your Daddy,” Ezra said.

“No!” she forced out.

She had to do this on her own. She couldn't have her Daddy drive back from work when she knew he had a busy day ahead of him. She didn't want to worry him and if he knew, he would drop everything and come home. Monroe couldn't do that to him because he had stacked all these meetings for today so he could be with her tomorrow.

“Then follow what I say,” he replied. “What's five things you can hear?”

“You, the air conditioning, whatever you're making is boiling, birds outside, and my shaky breath,” she responded.

“Good. Now four things you can touch.”

“You, the couch, my pants, and the table.”

Monroe felt herself slowly start to calm down.

“Three things you can see.”

“My hand, the table, you.”

“Are you feeling okay now?” he asked.

She just now realized he was sitting on the floor between the couch and the little table. It made her feel safer that he was below her and not looming over her. He must have known it would help her feel safer in a way.

Monroe nodded her head. Her breathing had evened out but she felt shaky, jittery, and like she couldn't control it at all.

“I need a verbal answer,” he told her. “An honest answer. How are you feeling?”

He had changed up the question and she didn't appreciate it. It was different and she knew now she couldn't lie. Before she could have gotten away with saying that she did feel better and okay because a minute ago, she didn't. But now she had to say how she felt and she felt drained, jittery, scared out of her mind, and she didn't know if she wanted to voice that.

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