Page 133 of Prey

I fell back against the wall with a small cry.

“What the hell did you do that for?” the tall one asked me.

I pulled my lip back and snarled at him.

He took a step closer to me, and I cowered back.

Grabbing my hair, he pulled me up until I looked him in the eyes.

“We were being nice. But any kindness you might have gotten from us is off the table because of that little move.”

They were being nice.

I spat on him.

He pulled away from me, and when he turned his angry eyes toward me again, I closed my eyes and braced myself for another slap.

Tires crunching beneath the gravel outside saved me from what was sure to be another blow.

Stephen moved to the window and looked out.

“Well, look at that. The bastard showed up.”

Who showed up?

Did he mean Roman?

But how?

I knew, even as I hoped it would be the case, that they weren’t stupid enough to let Roman know their location.

I didn’t know who showed up, and the anticipation of a third stranger made my knees weak.

I might have fallen down if I hadn’t braced so much of my weight against the wall.

I heard the car door slam and then hurried footsteps toward the cabin before the door opened and revealed the last person I ever would have expected.

I blinked, just to be sure he wasn’t a figment of my imagination, but he was still there.

And he was looking at me with a panic-stricken expression on his face.

He cautiously looked at the men who took me before anger overtook his expression.

“What is the meaning of this? Why the fuck do you have my daughter chained to the wall?”

My lips trembled. “D-Dad?”

His expression softened, and he walked over to me, grabbing one hand and inspecting the chain.

He looked back at the men. “Let her go.”

I was so relieved that the newest arrival wasn’t someone who wanted to hurt me, it took a while for my brain to catch up to the situation and for me to realize he was talking to these men as if he knew them.

How could he possibly know them?

Stephen shook his head. “Yeah, that’s not happening.”

“Why? Why the fuck would you do this when we’ve been protecting you from that fucking psychopath.”

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