Page 27 of Secret Baby Daddies
“She’s at least calmed down a bit in her older years.” Luc shuddered. “She was terrifying when we were young.”
“She had to be. We weren’t exactly easy on her.” Maddox pulled me down a plushly carpeted hallway and pointed out their rooms. “Our parents were big believers in helping others. They collected little orphan kids and expanded the house over and over again to make room for everyone.”
I stopped walking. I tried to imagine my dad turning his mansion into a home for orphans but I couldn’t. Because he would never inconvenience himself for a bunch of kids he didn’t know. He didn’t even do that for me.
“And it was…happy?”
Luc studied me and I suddenly felt like a bug being pinned to a display, like he was stretching me out and studying exactly why I worked the way I worked.
“What do you mean by happy? Was your childhood happy?”
I clenched my hands into fists and nodded down the hall.
“Which one of these will I be staying in?”
“Yes, little one, our childhood was happy.” Jace pressed his hand to my back and led me to a room which took my breath away. He seemed to notice my awe and pushed me farther inside. Massive windows lined the opposite wall and I had a view that was almost enough to make me cry. Beyond the in-ground pool and basketball court there was a massive greenhouse. Beyond that was a pasture where cows moved about freely. It was a little slice of heaven.
“Maddox and I were the only biological kids. When Luc came, though, we became brothers almost instantly. We always got along with the other kids, for the most part, and we still talk to some of them. Luc was different, though.”
I tore my eyes away from the view to look back at Luc. He slowly raised his gaze from the floor and when it met mine it seared right through me. I opened my mouth to say something but I felt inadequate. What could I say? I didn’t even know if there was something to say. I might’ve felt like an abandoned kidmy entire life but I wasn’t. I had a home, access to anything and everything I could ever want. Shame crashed into me like a tidal wave and I had to look away.
“Do you need anything?” Luc’s voice was low, so low that it was a strain to hear him. “We’re right down the hall if you do.”
I pushed my hair out of my face and shook my head.
“Um, no. I think I’ll just go to sleep, actually. If that’s okay? I know Ginger made food but—”
“You’re fine, little bunny.” He looked me over and nodded. “Get some rest.”
CHAPTER 22
Harley
Like hell was I going to tuck myself into the cloud-like bed and curl up like I was planning on nesting there. Seeing the wealth around me and knowing what it meant…I had to go. It didn’t matter that their parents had been good and decent people. It didn’t mean Jace, Luc, and Maddox were. They’d basically kidnapped me. That wasn’t a good sign of how they used their money and power. So, I had to leave before I ended up like my mother, drunk and reaching for a bottle of pills.
I sat on the side of the bed and waited. I didn’t want to get caught sneaking out like a petulant child. I wanted to make my big escape and never look back. Truthfully, I wanted to travel back in time and stop past me from going to that party.
Time crawled by and I cursed the screen of my cellphone every time I looked at it and the time barely changed while the battery indicator sure did. I knew I was being stupid by going out into the night with a dying cellphone, no idea where I was, and a lump in my throat over it all. I just didn’t care enough to stay put. I could almost feel the walls closing in on me.
The walls of the house were thick enough that I couldn’t hear a single thing outside of the room I was in, so I couldn’t tell if everyone was in bed for the night or not. I just had to chance it. I crept out of my room like a thief in the night and tiptoed my way down the hallway and then down the stairs. I held my breath and hoped there wasn’t an alarm when I pulled the front door open. Nothing.
Oddly enough, I felt a mix of elation and disappointment over not being caught. I ignored the self-destructive part of me that wanted to be kept locked away with the men. That part of me was an idiot.
Closing the door behind me and creeping down the porch steps, I let out a sigh of relief that I’d made it to the driveway.Then I heard a creak from the porch behind me that had me spinning around.
Luc leaned against the porch railing where I’d just passed by in just a pair of low-slung pajama bottoms. He rubbed his jaw and then shook his head.
“Bad girl.”
I panicked. Turning and sprinting away, I had no hope of making it very far. I was a curvy girl who didn’t exercise regularly. I was strong but I wasn’t fast and my endurance was shit. On the other hand, Luc looked like he ran marathons in his downtime and could lift a fucking van. I was already caught pretty much, even if I was still running.
I glanced over my shoulder and saw Luc slowly leaving the porch, his body moving like an apex predator as he watched me. The moment he actually came after me made me scream and run even harder. I could hear his footsteps getting closer and closer. I felt his breath against my neck a second before he locked his big arms around me and took us both down. He rolled us so I was cushioned against him when we landed but then he rolled, pinning me to the ground with my back against his front. I turned my head to the side and caught my breath as he grabbed a fistful of my hair and growled at me.
“Very, very bad girl.” He hesitated with his mouth against my ear. “Did I hurt you?”
Somehow my wires were crossed. This man had just chased me down and tackled me but all I felt was aroused. His big body stretched out over mine and I could feel his erection pressing through the thin material of our pajamas and it was lighting me on fire. I roughly shook my head as I pushed my hips back against his.
Luc swore and pressed his open mouth into my neck.
