Page 97 of Daddy's Little Survivor

She let out a breath of air and snuggled into her Daddy’s side and waited for Miles to speak.

“Mom got pregnant with you after I left the house and started to work. I didn’t know she was pregnant until she gave birth to you. She called me asking if I could come home to meet you and I was on my way when they died. They didn’t think they were going to have another kid so they didn’t put in their will that they wanted me to have custody of you,” he explained. “Before I got there, the caseworker had taken you away and placed you in a home. I asked them where you were and said I could take care of you, but they told me they couldn’t tell me your name or where you were. I think it was because of my job. Before I could press them further, I got called back to New York for a job and had to leave.”

Monroe tried to wrap her brain around everything he said. Why wouldn’t the caseworker tell him her name and where she was?

“I never stopped searching for you. I promise you that. All my free time went to searching for you. By the time I learned your name, you had moved so many times and they had ‘messed’ up where you were at the time,” he said. “I tried my hardest to find you. I did. All the odds were against me because by the time I had learned your name, everyone knew my name and didn’t want to tell me anything. They were trying to protect you.”

“So how did you find me?” she softly asked.

She wanted to know what he did for work, but she wanted to know how he found her more. Monroe could ask him later what his job was.

“I got wind of Jared because my boss said he’d double-crossed him and needed to be taken care of. I learned everything I could about him before I went to Maine. I didn’t want any surprises. One day, I heard one of his bosses talking about a girl he had with him in his apartment and he showed me a picture,” Miles said. “I took one look and knew it was you. You look exactly like Mom did. I kept my cool because I didn’t want to tip them off that I was after them and Jared, but they started to talk about what Jared did to you and I made up an excuse and left.”

She didn’t know how to respond to that. He had taken one look at her in the picture and known she was his sister?

“In the picture, you had some bruises on you and I knew immediately he was beating you but then his bosses confirmed it and started talked about other things. Then they mentioned you had gotten away and I felt like I was back to square one with where you were. I had to go back to my boss and report what I had learned, and I told him about you,” he said. “My boss wasn’t happy I had an emotional connection to this but let me stay because I’m the best he has.”

He was the best at what? Before she could ask, he started to talk again.

“I watched Jared for a while to see if I could find out where you were and I needed to find the right time to take him out. He left the day after I learned all of that and I followed him,” Miles said. “Then I saw you and knew I had to protect you at all costs. I had this whole plan to lure him out to this countryside so I could kill him and then I heard he was after you by car and I knew I had to get there as soon as possible.”

“How did you hear?” Daddy asked.

Monroe watched Miles’ face as it turned slightly guilty before he masked it.

“I had one of my guys tap into her phone so if she made a call, I was notified and could hear things,” he replied. “Well, the microphone is always on so I could hear everything all the time. I just needed to make sure you were okay until I took Jared out.”

That was how he heard and knew they took the phone from her. Chills went through her body at how easy it was for him to do that. Who was he exactly?

“I know that was a lot to take in and I’m sorry I dumped it all on you after a traumatic event, but I wanted to let you know everything. I wanted to be upfront with you,” Miles said.

She tried to wrap her brain around everything he had just mentioned. He tapped into her phone so he could hear if she was in trouble or not. How much did he hear? Was he always listening?

“W-were you a-always l-listening?” she whispered, clutching her Daddy’s arm.

“I tried not to because I wanted to give you privacy but every once in a while, I would listen in to make sure you were okay,” he explained. “I never intended to do it but once Jared came to Springfield, I knew I needed some way to be able to protect you.”

“How did Jared find out where Monroe was?” Daddy asked. “Do you know how?”

Miles turned to Monroe. “Do you know a Mario Davis?”

She nodded her head. “He was my old boss.”

“Apparently, Jared was monitoring his phone and mail so when you messaged him, he knew it was you and tracked your phone.”

“I d-didn’t think a-anything of texting h-him,” she whispered.

“Not a lot of people do but you don’t have to worry about him anymore.”

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes. She didn’t know what to say to him. What did a person say to another person that was supposedly their brother?

“What do you want from her?” Daddy asked. “There must be a reason why you wanted to talk to her.”

Miles took a deep breath in and smiled at Monroe. “I want to get to know you. If I could have taken care of you while you grew up, I would have. If you want to start off as just friends and then move into a sibling role, we can, but I would love to get to know you.”

She thought about it for a second. Monroe had always wanted a sibling and now he was sitting down right in front of her.

Looking up at her Daddy, he leaned down so his ear was right next to her mouth.

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