Page 17 of Gideon

I looked up at the cold voice, knowing who I was going to see. Dave Kirkman was my worst nightmare, even more than skank one or two. Because they might hurt me inside, but this man could and would do a lot of damage inside and out. “Nothing,” I said, trying for casual, but even I could hear the tremble in my voice. “I’m just doing my laundry.”

“Yeah,” he said, “like every Sunday.” My heart started thumping again. This was bad. He was never here. How did he know? Had he been watching me?

I turned just as the washer finished and barely waited a second before yanking it open. The drying could wait, and I started stuffing it into grocery bags so it wouldn’t wet my dry clothes in the basket.

“In a hurry?”

I tried not to shiver. I really did. The last thing I wanted was to give this creep any idea he scared me, but I thought it was too late.

He stepped closer, trapping me between the machine and the door. “You haven’t been here this weekend.”

I nodded, trying to calm my frantic heart. The last thing I wanted was to pass out in front of him with no one else here. The very idea made me want to vomit, and I tried to breathe even though my guts were churning. “I stayed with a friend. From school,” I added, lying my ass off, which I hated.

“Yeah?” Dave said, coming even closer. “That’s odd, because you’ve been here nearly two years and I’ve never known you stay at a friend’s before.”

I was going to throw up. It was a real possibility. The idea he had been watching me so closely freaked me out.

“So, it was your friend’s husband that brought you back earlier in that fancy car, hmm?” He twisted a lock of my hair around his finger. “Because if your friends have money, maybe you can stay at their place. I have so many people wanting your apartment, as you know.”

My heart crashed against my ribs. It was an old argument. Unfortunately, it was also a fact. Dave took tenants without references and didn’t really care about piddly little things like credit scores. His own intimidation worked better than the government’s.

“I don’t want to give up my apartment,” I said, as reasonably as I could. “I was just visiting a friend.”

Dave pressed his chest to mine, pinning me against the machine. “I might need persuading.” I brought my arms up, hands pressed against his chest, and he laughed. “Best you can do?” He looped an arm around my waist. And of course, instead of struggling, of fighting, I just froze.

For about three seconds, as his head bent, and his slimy smelly mouth descended on mine. Then I brought my knee up or tried to. He was too close, so I pushed back.

“Let go of me,” I demanded, but he just laughed.

“Think you’re all that?” he grunted. “I’ve seen you. Swanning about in those sexy clothes, all prim and proper. Just begging for someone to take them off you.”

“No,” I gasped, but he laughed and lowered his head. I couldn’t move. I could barely breathe. Why had I insisted on leaving Daddy? I felt my top rip and closed my eyes.

Because when Dave had finished with me, no one would want me. Not even Daddy.

Not even the dream of one.

Chapter nine

Gideon

I cursed every mile I drove farther away from Abby, even though I understood. I was overbearing, demanding, bossy, but I also knew how to look after a baby girl, especially one as perfect and as needy as Abby. Not that needy was a bad thing. I knew she had a heart of gold already and growing up in foster care, she probably had gotten used to people letting her down. And I got that she was nervous. She didn’t know me. She didn’t know that I’d waited for her for what seemed like all my life.

And she wanted to trust me. I knew she did. She’d risked letting me take her to my home, but that might have been because she’d seen her landlord, which reminded me I hadn’t got the report on him yet. I would call Eric as soon as we’d finished here and see what he had for me.

I pulled into the parking lot ofKingdomand gazed at the building. The framing was complete and inspected. Electric, AC, and plumbing were nearly done, and Walker—as this was his baby—wanted us to firm up the plans for the VIP space. The top floor was going to have private booths, dedicated butlers, and servers, and came complete with a sliding roof.

We had also installed special sound dampening so the music would be heard in the booths, but that people could also talk and be heard. Plus, the whole building had to be soundproofed as a requirement for the permits. The only parking we had was valet, and it was included in the membership.

The area was perfect. But it needed rezoning for us and I was still amazed we pulled it off. Another outfit, technically a competitor, had been trying to move in for ages and I’d heard their board wasn’t happy they’d missed out because of us again.

The architect, Max, and Walker were there, and Walker narrowed his eyes as he saw me. “I’m surprised you’re here.” I grunted moodily as a reply.

Max chuckled at my obvious bad mood. “What? She’s washing her hair?”

“Fucking laundry for work tomorrow.” Although where the hell she was gonna do it in that tiny box of an apartment, I had no— And everything in me went cold. I’d spent some time waiting for the lock to be changed and looked to see if there had been any other repairs needed in the kitchen. She didn’t have a washing machine. Which meant she was going elsewhere to get it done. When she was tired. When shepromisedme she wasn’t going out. Where? I froze then pulled up my phone and googled. There wasn’t anysort of laundry facility within three miles, which meant her apartments had to have some sort of communal one. “Gideon?” Max asked, seeing my change in demeanor. My phone started ringing and seeing it was Eric, I answered immediately.

“Please tell me this isn’t an employee check,” Eric said without preamble, “because if it is, you need to stay clear.”

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