“Daddy—”
He stroked his thumb over my bottom lip. “Listen to your Daddy, Ari. We won’t run. Have I made myself clear?”
I let out a shaky breath. Were we making the right decision? But what was I supposed to do? I couldn’t leave without Shaw. Blackmailing him to leave town with me could work, but that wasn’t the kind of relationship I wanted with this man. I wanted his love, admiration, and respect. If I did that to him, he might be in my life, but I would never truly have his loyalty.
“Please don’t let him hurt me.”
“I promise you I won’t,” he said. “I have to go to work. You stay here at home and don’t leave. Don’t answer the door. If anything happens, call me. Just to be on the safe side, I can phone in an anonymous tip that something might be happening on this street so the cops will patrol the area.”
I wanted to tell him all that was a temporary fix. If my father wanted to get his hands on me, he would get his hands on me.
“Ari, you’re going to be fine.” He chucked my chin. “You know why? Because this time, you have me with you to go through this. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
I nodded. He placed his lips on mine and kissed me. I didn’t bother to point out that he did things by the books. That he would never kill anyone, even when he was provoked. And killing was the only way to deal with someone like my father. Like a cockroach, he didn’t die easily and he would keep coming back until one of us was dead.
And this time, Shaw would be caught in the crosshairs. If I lost him…
Shaw went upstairs. The moment he left, my skin crawled. It was like my father was already out there somewhere, watching me. I ran up the stairs and darted into the bathroom, where he was brushing his teeth, and sat on the toilet. He raised his eyebrows but didn’t mention my weird behavior.
When he was finished, he turned to me. “Daddy has a job for you to do today while I’m away.”
“What is it?”
“I want you to make a list of all the things you like to do in little space. All the places you would like to visit one day. The foods you like to eat and add some toys to your shopping cart. Pick out a few movies you want to watch later. When I get home, we’re going to have a heck of a night with you in little space. How does that sound?”
Like he was trying to distract me, but it was worth a try. I couldn’t spend the day peeking out windows and startling at every tiny sound.
“Okay, Daddy. I like that idea very much.”