Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33811 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 169(@200wpm)___ 135(@250wpm)___ 113(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33811 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 169(@200wpm)___ 135(@250wpm)___ 113(@300wpm)
“I…I don’t have on a bra,” I murmur. I’ve never owned one. Luckily I’m small enough that it doesn’t matter, but the reason I’ve never owned a bra is because my father has never acknowledged me even going through puberty. He never spoke to me about becoming a woman or even getting my period.
Luckily, I heard girls talking about starting their periods in the bathroom at school in eighth grade. I hid in the stall a few times and listened to them until I knew what to expect. I even took some of the pads from the school bathroom so I would be prepared.
Brian thinks for a moment. “Okay, listen to me. I don’t want to make you more embarrassed than you already are here in the club. We’re going to leave now, but I’m not going to let you go back to that house, Lacey.”
I shudder. “I have to go home, Sir.”
“No. You don’t. Not ever,” he insists. “You will go with me, and I’ll help you come up with a plan.”
I shake my head. “I can’t do that. He’ll…” My voice trails off. What am I going to say?
“You said he’s not home now, right?”
“No,” I whisper as he helps me sit upright.
“And you’re sure he won’t come home tonight?”
“No. He won’t. He’ll be back on Sunday.”
“I will take you to your house so you can get some things. Then we’re leaving.”
I stare at him. “When he gets back, he’ll…”
“He’ll what, Baby girl? You won’t be there. He’ll never find you. You are not going to see him again. Not ever, Lacey.”
The thought of that makes me feel a sudden lightness before I realize it’s not practical. I don’t have anywhere to go or anyone to go to. I don’t have a job or an education or any skills. I can’t just leave.
Brian lifts my chin now that I’m sitting on the end of the exam table again. “Lacey, I’m going to help you. You’re not going back.”
“You don’t even live here, do you? Don’t you live on the island where Littleworld is?”
“I do.” He smiles. “Maybe you’ll agree to go back with me,” he suggests.
I gasp. He can’t be serious. “Sir…”
He taps my nose. “You don’t need to worry about that right now. One thing at a time. First, we’re going to go get your things. Then, I’ll take you to my friend’s apartment.”
My breath hitches. “Your friend’s apartment?”
He nods. “He’s not there this weekend, Little one. He lives on the island, too. He keeps a place here for when he visits the mainland. I stay in his place when I come.”
“Oh.”
“His name is Noah. You’ve probably met him here.”
I nod. I know who he is, but I don’t know him well.
Brian lifts me gently off the table and sets me on my feet before helping me into my sweater. He’s so very careful to make sure he doesn’t hurt my arm. He’s such a good person. I wish he were my Daddy. I’d die and go to heaven if Brian were my Daddy.
Chapter Three
I’m a ball of nerves when Brian pulls his rental car up to my father’s house. It’s not in a neighborhood. It’s outside of town off a dirt road. It’s a dump. More like a rundown cabin.
My father moved us here after eighth grade when he told the school we were moving. We did move. He didn’t lie about that, but we moved only a few miles out of town to this cabin. I would have gone to the same high school from this address. Instead I didn’t leave the cabin for many years—not until I started sneaking out when my father went away on weekends.
I don’t know where he goes. He has always told me hunting, but I think that’s a lie. I don’t think he hunts two weekends a month year-round. That’s not even legal.
But I don’t care what it is he does. I never question him. I’m just grateful he leaves me alone for two full days. I go to the Dungeon on Fridays when he’s gone, and I use his computer to research things. I never touch the computer when he’s home. He thinks I don’t know how to use it.
“It’s very dark,” Brian comments as he opens the car door. He leaves the headlights on and comes around to my side to help me out.
I panic when I realize he intends to come inside with me. “You can wait out here.”
He takes my good hand and leads me toward the front of the cabin without comment. I guess he’s not willing to let me go in alone.
I’m mortified when I open the front door. I keep the cabin as tidy as possible, but everything we own is rundown and broken or torn. He can’t see it in the dark yet, but I hurry across the room and turn on the lamp next to the couch.