Page 14 of Guarding Fable

Tears fill my eyes again. “Because Papa thought he could gain something out of it. That’s all he needs to sell off one of his twin daughters.”

“Twin? You mean there’s another angel out there?”

I chuckle, but it ends on a sob. He wraps his arms around me and crushes me to his chest.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

I shake my head and wipe away the tears, embarrassment filling me. “No. It’s just that I don’t know where she is. She’s the one who came up with the escape plan.”

His eyebrows shoot up. “Escape plan?”

I nod. “We live in upstate New York. We haven’t left the estate in years. The moment we heard about the planned wedding, Destiny started plotting my escape. She’s a genius math person. Whatever you call that. She’s also a bit of a hacker.”

Understanding lights in his eyes. “So, she got you out of the house to save you. Where is she?”

Tears fill my eyes again. “I don’t know. She was supposed to follow me. Then, one of my father’s men found me. I think he was tailing me since Maryland.”

His arms tighten for just a second, rage fairly vibrating off him. “He’s the one who left you in the snow?”

I shrug. “That part, I’m kind of fuzzy about. I remember recognizing him at a WaWa, and booking it out of there as soon as I could.”

“He didn’t follow?”

“Not at first. He didn’t know I got out of there. I told one of the workers my ex was following me, and I needed a back way out. She helped me.”

“He was your ex?” Irritation tinges his voice, and I have to bite back a smile. Even with the horribleness of my situation, hearing jealousy from Leo makes me feel better.

“Absolutely not. I only saw him twice in my life when he was with my father at the estate. It didn’t take him long to catch up and cause me to wreck. That was about the time the snow started. I hit my head in the wreck, I know that, and I remember running. I don’t know what happened to him, though.”

He nods. “I’ll get Frank to start working on it.”

“I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry about?”

“I brought this to your doorstep.”

“And I thank God for that.”

I open my mouth twice, then snap it shut. I clear my throat. “My family is horrible.”

“Including Destiny.”

I shake my head. “No. She’s the best.”

“And we need to find out where she is. Where were you headed?”

“We bought a house under assumed names.”

He gives me a look.

I shrug. “I told you Destiny was a hacker. So, we have new identities, and she used them to buy the house. I don’t have the address, though. It’s…what does she call it?”

“Off the grid?”

I nod. “I know it sounds horrible, but we wanted to make sure he couldn’t find us.”

“No problem.”

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