Page 8 of Vengeful Lies

Cade loved his mother, and he harbored a lot of guilt over how he’d treated her those last few months when she remarried Jake and Jax’s dad. Because of his anger, his younger brothers had also treated their mom badly. That was on him, and he’d vowed after her death to be a better role model.

As much as he loved his mother, Essie was his daughter, and she was only a little girl, virtually nothing more than a baby. Nothing was more important than her, and he would do anything to protect her.

Including backing off and leaving his mother’s name forever tarnished.

September 1st

11:58 A.M.

They’d been driving in circles for so long, switching vehicles multiple times, that Gabriella was completely turned around and could no longer figure out where they were or where they might be going.

It didn't help that with each vehicle change, she’d been shoved down into the same cramped position between the front passenger seat and the back seat, crammed in between the legs of the man occupying the back seat.

Forced to sit as she was, she was painfully aware of the fact that the man’s legs were spread and there was a bulge in his pants. One she was sure that sooner or later she was going to be made to address.

From the smirk on the man’s face, he knew it too.

And he couldn’t wait.

At some point, maybe after the third vehicle change but she couldn’t quite remember anymore, all the men had removed their ski masks.

That wasn't a good thing.

Gabriella knew enough to know that.

If they were okay with her and Essie seeing their faces, it meant they weren't worried about either of them being able to give the cops details on their descriptions.

Because they weren't going to be talking to any cops.

They wouldn't be able to.

They’d be dead.

Still, if there was a chance, however miniscule, that she could save Essie’s life, or at least buy enough time for Cade and the others to find them, she was going to take it. Nothing was more important to her than that little girl’s life.

If she didn't make it out of this alive, she wouldn't be leaving behind anyone important. Just a biological father who probably didn't know she existed, a biological mom who cared more about drugs and alcohol than her child and could have already put herself in an early grave, foster parents who had been ambivalent toward her, and an ex-husband who didn't think she was good enough because she couldn’t produce him a child.

The closest thing she’d ever had to a family was Cade’s family. They’d accepted her immediately and without reservation. Watching them, she’d learned what unconditional love looked like, and for that, she would be forever grateful.

In return, she had to repay them by doing everything in her power to save Essie.

“Gabby, I have to pee,” Essie wailed in desperation. It wasn't the first time the little girl had asked, but both previous times, the men had refused to stop the vehicle and let her find a bathroom for the child.

Since she’d been Essie’s nanny for almost four years, she knew what that tone meant.

It meant they had about five minutes at the most before she was going regardless of whether she was sitting on a toilet or not.

“Okay, cuddle bug,” she soothed, mustering calm she definitely did not feel in an effort to keep the little girl’s terror to a minimum. Then she mustered a little courage and looked at the man whose legs she was sitting between. “She’s desperate. If you don’t let her go, she won’t be able to hold it more than a couple more minutes.”

“I'm not sitting in a car filled with urine,” the man in the passenger seat snapped in irritation. “Let the kid go to the bathroom.”

“I'm not stopping now,” the driver snapped back. “It’s three minutes tops until we get to our location. The kid can hold it.The kidbetterhold it,” he added, and she heard the threat in his voice even if it passed over Essie’s head.

If Essie didn't hold it, she was going to be punished.

“Baby, can you hold on just three more minutes?” Gabriella looked over at the terrified little girl, wishing she could pull her into her arms. But the couple of times she’d tried she’d been rewarded with a hard slap to the face. Not that she minded being struck, she’d take anything to protect her little charge, but each time she got hit, Essie got progressively more agitated. Now she reached out a hand to the girl. “That’s not even as long as it takes to count to two hundred. Can you wait that long, baby?”

“Not a baby.” Essie huffed. If there was one thing the little girl hated above all else, it was being treated like she wasn’t the big girl she believed herself to be.

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