Page 41 of Like An Animal
I just hope Cheryl is okay.
Four Years Later
“Mommy!”Lottie shrieks as she runs out of her classroom and straight over to me. She throws her arms around my legs, looking up at me with her adoring brown eyes. They sparkle with love and innocence as I stroke her hair.
“Hey! Did you have a good day?” I ask as I push the hair out of her face and she grins big.
“Yes! Can we get ice cream?”
She is always asking for some sort of frozen treat. Sometimes it’s popsicles or sherbet. Other times, it’s ice cream or even ice cream cake. She has a massive sweet tooth.
“Maybe after dinner, baby.”
Honestly, I don’t even know if we’ll be in Kentucky at dinner time. I got the divorce papers drawn up and ready for Kyle. He knew this marriage was just to hide me and Lottie from anyone that would be looking for us. If Jeremy is searching for me, he’ll be looking for a single woman living alone. The Jephthah will be searching for a single mother and her small child.
No one expected me to be married to a nobody accountant in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky and living like a dutiful housewife. That has never been me and that’s the point. As far as the public is concerned, Lottie is Kyle’s daughter. He knows that’s not true though. It would be impossible. I didn’t meet Kyle until I moved to Louisville as a pit stop. I struck up a deal with him and he knew there was an expiration date. That day has come.
Why?
Because I spoke with Mr. B and Jeremy has skipped out on his probation, which means he’s headed here. Maybe he knows where I am. Maybe he’s just starting his search. I won’t be here to find out. Me and my child will be leaving before he can track us down.
CHAPTER 18
THE SHADOW
One Week Ago…
If it wasn’t for Massimo, I wouldn’t have noticed the discrepancy. There’s enough time between every photo or video I’ve received from the person who is supposed to be keeping an eye on Bronwyn that I never noticed that every image has her in one of three outfits…and my woman never wore the same thing more than a handful of times.
“What the fuck is going on?” Xavi drags in the individual I’ve been dying to see as I sit in my chair, one leg thrown over the other, and I hold a kitchen knife in my hand, my preferred weapon of choice. Xavi tosses the man to the floor before binding his wrists behind his back with a single zip tie.
“Hello, Hector,” I mutter and he looks up, his face draining of color.
“Jeremy.”
He knows he’s in deep shit if I had to fly out from New Jersey to Grove Hill to check up on him.
I stand to my feet, slowly walking over to him, before leaning down to be closer to my target. “You forgot to say hello. You wouldn’t want to be rude, would you?”
A lot has changed in the past five years. I’m not the same man I was when I left. I’ve become hardened and my name is now one that breeds fear. I was going to wait another year to come back and reclaim what’s mine, just until my grandfather hands everything over to me, but considering I haven’t had any proof that my little ghost is perfectly fine in half a decade, my timetable was pushed forward.
“Wha-wha-what are you doing here?” he asks, his voice shaking with fear.
I press my knife against his cheek and he screams in terror before the blade even touches his scruff. Such a baby.
“Don’t waste my time by pretending you don’t know why I’m here.”
His eyes widen in fear. “The-the girl?”
I look up to Xavi as he leans against the closed door. “What do you know? He’s not as dumb as he wants us to think he is.”
Xavi chuckles. “Clearly. He just has a death wish. Everyone knows you’ve done worse than cut up an ugly rat like him for just talking to her.”
That is a pretty well known fact in our circles, but he’s not close enough to know how feral I get when it comes to Bronwyn. I become like an animal where she is concerned.
“Please, please, don’t hurt me.”
His desperate plea falls on deaf ears before I dig the blade into his cheek. Blood oozes around the knife as it cuts through layers of skin and flesh until it clinks against his teeth. The little bitch screams as he thrashes against the restraints.
