Mama always said if she could see the carpet, then my room was clean enough. All I could see was the brown carpet. It was clean to me.
He returned in less than ten minutes. He took a brief look around with flared nostrils then rushed for me. His fist slammed into my stomach, and when I crumpled over with a groan, he kicked me down with a foot to the shoulder.
“You’re fuckin’ terrible, you know that? Can’t even clean a goddamn room! You won’t amount to shit! Just a worthless excuse for a fucking son! Drop some goddamn balls already!”
He turned rapidly, shutting the light off and storming out of the room.
When he was gone, I laid on the floor, doing the one thing I had refused to do before.
Cry.
Chapter Two
KELLY
The morning of Cane’s party.
I thought I had made it perfectly clear when I told that little bitch to stay away from him, but she ran right to his office, seeking even more attention. She was young and naive, yes, but I didn’t give a fuck.
She’d crossed the wrong person, and since he didn’t want to stay away, it was up to me to leave him no choice but to stay away from the entire Jennings family.
I’d sent Mindy a text, hinting at things about her husband. I asked her things like what they were up to for the day, to which she replied that she was helping her daughter pack up, while Derek was going to go out to run errands to prepare for their car ride to her college.
I didn’t want to do this, I really didn’t, but the USB in my hand was searing hot. I lifted it out of my palm and twirled it in my hand, parked across from the Jennings’ home. Derek’s truck was parked there, and the minutes slowly ticked by before I saw him leaving the house.
There was something about Derek that fascinated me. Maybe it was because of his size, and how masculine and buff he was compared to Cane’s lean, smooth build. He was, at best, a very intimidating man—one even I wouldn’t want to piss off. I knew how he felt about his daughter—knew all about the great lengths he would go just to protect her—so this had to be done to settle it all.
He pulled out of the driveway, drove out of the neighborhood, and I followed him. One thing I noticed about Derek was that he had a bad habit of keeping his windows rolled down at home. I hoped he did the same when going out.
His first stop was at a home supply warehouse. I waited a beat, driving around the parking lot as to not seem too obvious, and watched him walk to the entrance of the store. When he was gone, I drove back to where his truck was and parked two spots over.
His windows were slightly cracked.
Perfect.
In a flash, I unclipped my seatbelt, grabbed the sticky note I’d written on just moments before arriving at the Jennings house that morning, placed it on top of the USB flash drive, and pushed out of the car, hustling toward his truck.
There was just enough space above the window for me to push the USB through. Mindy had mentioned he had to stop by the police station to sign off on some paperwork at his desk. I’d hoped he would make it a priority to see what was on the flash drive. I walked to the driver’s side, slid it through the crack, and it landed on the seat perfectly.
With a smirk, I walked off, and made it my mission to leave another copy of the flash drive on the Jennings’ front porch.
It was only a matter of time before her parents would watch it, because on the note were words only a fool would ignore.
If you want to protect your daughter, watch this immediately and take action.
Stop him before it’s too late.
Chapter Three
KANDY
There was a point in my life when I used to think my Nana Alexandra was psychic.
She once told me that my future would be unique. She never explained how, just said I would probably end up with a very unusual, thrilling life. If she hadn’t passed away when I was ten, I would have asked her just how that very night.
When it came down to it, I figured she was right. Perhaps she meant I would be different in the sense that I didn’t like ordinary things. I didn’t really care for boys my age, or Barbie dolls when I was little, or even pop stars and boy bands.
The bar had been set after meeting Cane at the age of nine, and after having him to myself for more than a day, I doubted I would ever go back to younger guys after getting a taste of someone so patient and experienced.