Page 127 of Sinful King
Sean entered a second later, his gaze bouncing around the destroyed living room. I couldn’t be sure if my father did this or if Lauren had put up her best fight, but what I did know was when I got my hands on him he wouldn’t leave alive.
“Brynn…” I brushed her back and walked through the hallway, checking rooms until I found one that had to be hers, the pink bed sheets and fairy lights giving it away. “Tell me what happened.”
I set her on the bed and got down on the floor in front of her, wiping away the free falling tears.
“D-D-Daddy hurt mommy,” she whispered.
She’d said so on the phone, her frantic little voice screaming for me to come help.
“Take your time. I’m not going anywhere.”
“I heard them screaming and things breaking, but but but I was too scared to leave my room, so I called you because you said you’d always show up for me.”
And I was so grateful she’d remembered and trusted my word enough to act on the promise.
“Did you guys ever go back to Pittsburgh?”
She shook her head.
“Mommy said not to tell you because you’d be upset and I didn’t want to make you mad at me.”
I dropped my head and wiped the tears before they could fall.
“Remember how I said you were my favorite girl?”
She nodded when my eyes met hers again.
“That means I could never be mad at you. Not until you’re a teenager with an attitude too hard to handle.”
Attempting to calm us both, I smiled, and it seemed to work because she smiled back. Until my husband’s presence loomed behind me and the expression in Brynn’s eyes morphed into pure fear.
My heart couldn’t take it, gone was the innocent little girl who’d smiled at him, took his money, while boldly asking questions.
“I would never hurt you,” he said so softly.
Her gaze flicked to mine and I nodded.
“He’s telling the truth. In fact, he’s been my biggest protector since we were young. He’ll never break a promise, right baby?”
“Never.”
“I’m going to take you home with us, okay? And then we’ll check on mommy.”
She nodded.
I prayed for Brynn’s sake Lauren made a full recovery, but in case she didn’t I needed to plan for the future.
“Blair…” We were in the elevator now; she was in my arms, whispering in my ear. “D-Daddy said your name. He yelled he wanted to hurt you over and over.”
Instead of responding, I held her close and kept doing so all the way back to the apartment. She’d fallen asleep during the ride and didn’t wake when I laid her down in the guest bedroom, leaving the door slightly ajar and the bedside lamp on the lowest setting in case she woke before the sun came up.
Sean was in the kitchen and before I could open my mouth, he was on me.
“I already have everybody on high alert,” he murmured into the top of my head, arms wrapped around my body. “Every property he owns has someone sitting on it. He can’t leave the tri-state without me knowing.”
Appreciative for all he’d done while I took care of keeping Brynn calm, I let out a sigh of relief. But it wouldn’t last. I would get antsy and that wasn’t good for anybody.
“Lorcan is with Lauren and Liam is bringing—”
