Page 62 of Did My Heart Love Till Now?

Sofia jumped and grabbed my arm. Nick glimpsed at his watch and furrowed his brow then huffed.

I looked back over my shoulder and saw the picture had shattered on the wall over the bed’s headboard. I pressed myself to the floor once again. “Give it to me.”

“Wait!” Nick whispered loudly. He wrote a note and folded the paper, hung a pen on the edge, then tossed it over to me.

I showed Sofia. She nodded, wiping her tears away.

“Joey.”

He poked his head around the end of the bed. I tossed him the paper. He opened it cautiously and read it silently. He glanced at Nick, and I then nodded once. Nick motioned for him to put the paper in his pocket. He shoved it in then gave a lazy thumbs up. Nick took a deep breath and pointed to himself and held up a single finger. Then, he pointed at Sofia and held up two fingers, me and held up three, and finally four when he turned his attention to Joey.

I grabbed Sofia’s hand and gave it a light squeeze then pressed a small kiss to her lips. Nick lifted his chin at Sofia then jerked his head toward the door. Sofia started to crawl on her elbows behind her brother.

CRACK!

Another shot came through the window causing Sofia to yelp. I placed my hand on her to let her know I was behind her. One by one, we crawled across the large master bedroom low to the floor, then out into the hallway.

Nick sat back on the wall, taking a deep breath. “This way. Stay low.”

We filed behind him down the long hallway, staying as flat to the floor as we could. He turned a corner to the right then reached in his pocket. We listened intently as the gun continued to break the window in the other room. Remaining crouched, Nick fidgeted with the lock on a door until he got it unlocked and turned the knob. He pushed the door open and crawled in.

When I rounded the corner, he was standing in the middle of a completely empty room, padded by thick black and red fabric attached to the wall. He helped pull Sofia to her feet.

“You okay?” He enfolded an arm around her.

She nodded wordlessly.

Joey and I stood. He crossed his arms over his chest as I studied the walls.

“No one will hear or see us in here. It’s fine. I have a tamper proof doorknob.” Nick placed his hands on his hips and stared at me. “I don’t think anyone’s out there.”

Joey arched his brow.

“What do you mean?” I matched Joey’s expression.

Nick glanced down at his watch and bobbed his head then pointed to the ceiling.

CRACK!

“See? I started timing the shots and though they weren’t hitting the same target exactly, I think something is on a timer out there and I know someone’s controlling it.”

“How’s that even possible?” Joey scoffed.

“We have some really fucking smart engineers who work for us.”

“Wait wait wait!” Sofia huffed. “I know dad wanted me dead but what the hell is going on? What was that and why was dad saying that about us? How does he know where we are?”

I placed my hand on her lower back. “We think there are cameras all over the house but don’t know where and that’s how we know your father can see us.”

“How the fuck are we supposed to get off this property?” Joey started to pace, fists clenched to his side.

“We have two cars in the garage and—”

“No.” I shook my head. “We’re taking mine.”

Joey came to a stop, lifting his hand to his chin. “They could have a tracker on any of them.”

“We don’t have a choice but to chance it, Joey.” I sighed.

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