little angel who just asked me the playboy if I was here to save them.
I crouch down to her, tucking my gun in my back pocket at the same time so as not to scare them even more.
“Yes, baby girl,” I answer. “I am.” I nod and I know the fuckers behind me can hear every word I say.
Either they know something, or they did this.
I rise to my feet and glance over my shoulder. Looking back to Lilly I see the tear running down her cheek.
She reaches out and takes the edge of my shirt, holding on. She hangs her head down and then breaks.
I reach for her, holding her close and move inside where I can keep both of them safe.
I hold Lilly and she seems to cry her whole soul out.
I managed to get her into bed.
I got the two of them next to each other and held them both until they fell asleep. I get the feeling that Lilly only drifted off to sleep because of the drain of breaking down. I could see her fighting to stay awake.
Her little girl curled into me and fell asleep straightaway.
Will I save them from the monsters?
What did this child see?
I’ve always grown up on the principle that we don’t do violence to women. Not at all so I’ll be damned if I’m gonna walk out of here without spilling the blood of whoever did this.
I watch Lilly and again I think of what her story is.
She said she wanted to change her life and find herself. Make her life better. The passion with which she spoke that day now makes sense when I look at the baby next to her.
She’s dancing in my club for her. She agreed to do anything to make life better for her child. As I look at her I see it.
I see and I wonder when it was that I became so self-absorbed that I chose to ignore my instincts. Those gut instincts that told me she was in trouble.
But where did she come from? It doesn’t feel like she’s always been here, i don’t know that though so I shouldn’t assume.
What about her little girls’ father? Where is he?
I guess that’s a stupid question. Clearly, he’s not around.
Possessive as I am of her when I think of her with a guy, I imagine someone who loved her fiercely. Someone who wanted to protect her from everything. Someone who would make sure she gets her dreams, but most of all someone who made sure she knew how much she was worth.
I can’t believe some fucker messed her up like this.
I wait a little while then I fire off a message to Vincent asking him to bring the boys at about nine tomorrow morning. I don’t know what I’m getting into but I’m gonna need back up.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Lilly
My body…
It feels broken. It still feels broken and my face still stings.
My eyes flutter open and I see Rosie curled up next to me with her little stuffed pig. It’s then that I remember Christian. I have a vague memory of him giving it to her. He knows about Rosie now and I feel bad that I didn’t say anything before.
He looked so shocked when he saw her, as expected. Then he surprised me with his kindness. Both to me and her.
I never expected that. When I broke down it was for everything, but my tired, weary soul finally saw a moment of refuge. A moment of solace, if only for a moment, and it saw the person who could offer it. Him.
I remember thinking how gentle he was with Rosie. He’s possibly the only man she’s been around to show compassion. When he told her he was here to save us from the monsters something inside that had been long dead rose to the surface of my heart. It was hope. I felt it and it wasn’t based on something I needed to do to make it happen. It came from the mere fact that I had him.
Rosie heard me calling Brent and his thugs monsters because of what followed after that first knock at the door.
They kept banging on the door after that, but it was how they did it. They used something that I imagined to be a metal pipe and hit the door at intervals. They’d go away and come back with the same tactics and their vile words scaring me. Then to add insult to injury they kept sliding images from