“Careful!” he snapped at her. “That vase is expensive. It will be coming out of your paycheck if you break it.”
She steadied the vase, not bothering to point out that she wouldn’t have knocked into the table if he hadn’t pushed her. Men like James McKenzie liked to blame everyone but themselves. She knew that. Her father had been that way. Everything had been her fault, never his. There was no reasoning with people like that.
She followed behind him, wondering what he was up to. She’d lived here for eight months now and he’d only visited once. And that was to threaten her. He’d spent some time arguing with Penny in her study then he’d found her on her own and told her that if she thought his mother was an easy mark then she was mistaken and if he learned she’d stolen anything from his mother or taken advantage of her, he would make her life hell.
She’d taken him at his word. Not that she would ever have used Penny. In any way. But people like him didn’t get that. They didn’t understand that people might care about each other without any sort of gain, monetary or otherwise, being involved. They only saw people for what they could use them for.
Again, he had a lot in common with her father.
When she got to the doorway leading to Penny’s study, she stared in shock. Macca’s father was like a wild man, pulling open drawers and dragging out documents. He went through them quickly then threw them to the ground.
“What are you doing?” she asked, walking forward. “You’re making a mess. You can’t do this.”
“I can do whatever I like,” he snarled back at her, the contempt in his face flaying her insides. There was something else in there. A look she’d seen in other men’s eyes. She was all too aware that she was on her own, in an isolated house, with a man who was more than capable of violence. “This is my house.”
“Actually, it’s Penny’s.”
“Yeah, well, we both know she’s not going to last much longer.” He stepped towards her and she had to fight hard not to back away. Never show the predator you were scared of him. “You know, I should have kicked you out as soon as she went into care. You haven’t been working, after all. Way I see it, you owe me, girly. And I’m sure we can work out a way for you to pay back your debt.”
She froze at his word
s. Shock and horror making everything around her go blurry.
But she made a big mistake. She took her attention off the evil in the room.
Idiot.
As soon as he grew close enough, he reached out and grabbed her wrist. His grip was so tight that she cried out in pain. He slammed her back against the wall and moved in close, grinding himself against her.
“Feel that?” he murmured, his hot, garlicy breath making her gag. “That’s all for you. After dear mama has gone, you’ll be working for me.”
“I-I won’t!”
“You will, you little bitch. Don’t pretend like you don’t want it. We both know what gutter you crawled out of. You should be pretty damn good at sucking men’s cocks, yeah? Maybe I should get a demonstration of that right now.”
She wasn’t able to breathe as he took a step back and reached for the zipper of his pants, tugging it down. Did he know? How did he know? Had Penny told him? No, she wouldn’t. It was probably just a guess.
“Get down on your knees,” he growled. “Show me what you can do with that mouth.”
She glanced down, horror filling her as she saw he had his pants and underwear pulled down, his cock was standing firm and erect out of the thick patch of pubic hair.
She gagged.
“No!” she screamed then acting on instinct, she shoved at him. She was barely aware of him tripping on his pants and falling back on his ass as desperation and horror filled her.
Run, Gigi. Run.
It was the only thing she was truly good at. Running. She took off, unaware of where she was going, not even hearing the roar of rage he let out.
She had to run. She had to get out of here. Now.
14
Macca drove towards his nan’s place. He’d picked up the package from the post office, and he’d also stopped to buy her a smoothie. She needed as many good nutrients as he could get into her. He’d bought some fresh fruit to make her some more drinks at home as well. As he turned onto the street towards his grandmother’s house, he was shocked to see a slight figure running towards him.
Who the hell. . .
He slammed on his brakes as he recognized the person. What the hell did she think she was doing? He’d told her to stay inside and now she was out, running around with bare feet? If she wasn’t careful, she’d roll her ankle again. He steered his car over to the side of the road, putting it into park before he jumped out and ran towards her.