Page 58 of Mountain Man Daddy

“Right. Now.”

“He didn’t take me from here.” She frowned even though he uncrossed his arms to touch her face. He smoothed his thumb along her wrinkled brow. His compassionate expression gave her strength.

“Tell me.”

“I ran again. I saw the conservation officers and thought they were cops. I thought they might arrest you too, and I started obsessing about how I had ruined everything for you and that you’d be better off without me.” She drew in a quick breath and continued. “If I left, you’d get your peaceful mountain back. But then I got halfway up the mountain, and I knew I needed to turn back. By you being my daddy and me being your little girl we had an agreement, and I was breaking it by making decisions for you.” She clutched his wrist.

“I was running back, Daddy, I was, but then Prescott shot Rocky and grabbed me. I shouldn’t have run.” Tears pooled, and she began to tremble again. She was so tired and so overwhelmed, she couldn’t hold any of it in. He pulled her into his arms. “Rocky wouldn’t have been shot if I hadn’t have run either. He followed me and wouldn’t go home. And if he’d stayed with you, he could’ve protected you from Alex too.”

“I didn’t need protection from that half-wit con man, but honey, we’ll fix it in our way, I promise. Okay? I promise you can let go of all that guilt, but I have to get Prescott first.” He pulled her back so he could look her in the face.

“You’ll spank me?” she asked, chewing her lip nervously.

“Little girl, you will be taken over my knee and spanked as soon as this is over.” He gave her one of his firm looks that melted her all over and then wiped her wet cheeks. “And this time, I’m going to make sure you never run again.”

“I’m sorry…” He hushed her, but she continued anyway. “I never thought hearing I was getting spanked would relieve me.”

“That happiness won’t last long, little girl, but the burn on your ass will.”

“Okay, Daddy.” She smiled, and he pressed his lips to her head.

“Now roll over and go to sleep.” She turned over right away, and he planted a firm swat over the blanket. “That’s my girl.”

Avery fell asleep within minutes, finally at peace.

Chapter Fourteen

Prescott sat at the hotel bar like any other patron would, and Mike sat beside him, leaving his team behind at the door.

“Checkmate,” he said, and Prescott looked at him. His face was dead calm as he took a sip of his coffee.

“It’s about time, brother. I’d been worried this would never end.”

“If you wanted it to end, why didn’t you just stop?” Mike folded his hands on the bar top, keeping his cool. He needed answers, and he wouldn’t get them by throwing Prescott on the floor and cuffing him.

“I needed you to stop me.”

“Why? Why me?” Mike shook his head. He’d never understood the game.

“I’ve been killing her repeatedly for years. It started with you, and it had to end with you.”

“Her? You mean your mother? And how did it start with me?” Mike asked, anger and impatience suddenly lacing his words.

Prescott held two fingers up to the bartender.

“Two scotches.” The armed officers at the door readied, and Mike lifted a hand to hold them off. He needed to know.Damn it!This guy had been mind-fucking him for years.

“I killed her for us. Admittedly, at the time I almost killed you, too.” He kept his face forward toward the shelf of liquor bottles behind the bar.

“That paramedic saved you though. I had researched what gestational age you would be likely to survive and how to do a C-section, but I was ten. The knowledge hadn’t prepared me in a practical sense. Good thing the paramedics arrived when they did. We had no idea it was twins. Our mother didn’t believe in prenatal care.”

“What the hell are you talking about, Prescott? What do you meanourmother?” He was angry—angry enough that his neck heated and he felt his carotid artery pulse.

“You’re my brother.” Prescott faced him then, expressionless.

“You’re goddamned certifiable, Prescott. You don’t have a brother!”

“I do. One of the babies in our mother’s womb was you. The other? Lydia. It was kept quiet. No one wanted the story to affect your adoption, but it’s true.”

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