This Is War, Baby - K Webster Page 0,40
my mouth I wish I didn’t have the balls to say. “You’re only a child. I won’t hurt you like he did. I swear on my mother’s grave.”
A tear rolls out but she lifts her chin in defiance. “I’m not a child, War. I’ll be eighteen on the twentieth of next month. Besides, after what happened to me, I’m no longer innocent. I’m every bit woman.”
Forty-eight days.
Six Sundays. Six Mondays. Seven Tuesdays. Seven Wednesdays. Seven Thursdays. Seven Fridays. Seven Saturdays.
Eighteen.
“I don’t care if you’re eighty, Bay. I will never touch you without your permission.”
Her eyes widen and her mouth parts. “But you’ll touch me if I ask you to?”
After my flagrant display of my afflictions last night, I’m sure she’s confounded by my words. Hell, I’m fucking confounded by my words.
“After your birthday, perhaps.”
A small smile tugs at her lips which only further frustrates me. How can she be so pleased with my answer? I’m no fucking better than that bastard who stole her. I mean, I bought her for crying out loud.
“Let’s talk about your family,” I say in a gruff tone before stepping away from her. My eyes slide over to the glass and a tightness clamps over me at seeing her “B” on the surface again. The tightness is unlike anything I’ve ever known. It almost feels possessive.
A ragged breath escapes her. “I thought if maybe we wired them some money and sent a letter stating I’d run off with you, they’d buy the story long enough to help Mom. I know my Dad though. He won’t stop until he finds me.”
Anxiety explodes inside of me. The thought of people crawling all around my house in an attempt to steal her away makes me livid with rage. She’s the first shard of happiness in this goddamned world I’ve seen in over a decade. I can’t let them take her.
“But he’s not the problem. It’s Gabe. He’s already promised to come for me soon. In fact, I wouldn’t put it past him to already be stalking us now.” Her body shivers and I ache to hold her. “He’s kind of obsessed with me.”
I’m kind of obsessed with you.
I fist both hands and huff. “Gabe will never touch you again. I’ll kill that motherfucker if he steps one foot onto my property.” The words are technically a lie—the images of that man’s blood everywhere threaten to make me sick. But, if it came down to protecting her from him, a little blood might be necessary. Greta would really fucking hate me then. “I’m going to call my attorney to set up an arrangement of transferring funds to them without it getting traced back to me. You need to write down your address and your parent’s names. I’ll see to it they receive the money.”
She nods but frowns. “And how will I let them know I’m okay?”
That part’s easy.
I’m a computer genius.
I’ll run the source e-mail through so many encrypted servers, nobody will ever find out where it came from.
“I’ll give you a computer with an e-mail as long as you promise to never divulge your whereabouts.”
“I promise. But War, Gabe knows your name. He’s not stupid.”
I run my fingers through my hair in frustration. “Not my last name. Only the auctioneer had that information. I won’t let him take you.”
She chews on her lip and nods, but still seems unconvinced. I want to reach over and pluck her plump lip from between her teeth. To run my tongue over it to soothe the damage she’s caused with her nervous habit.
My cock thickens in my pants and I nearly jump for fucking joy.
“Come on,” I say with a grunt, not revealing the happiness that’s running through my veins. In these few moments with her, I’ve felt freer than I ever have. “Let’s eat some breakfast and then we’ll get started.”
TODAY HAS BEEN a long one. I’m exhausted. The food sucks. And I’m still donning a stupid robe. Yet, it’s also been productive. After I’d given War my information, he e-mailed his attorney and instructed him on how to funnel the money so that it appeared to have come from an anonymous donor. He’d also managed to order me a selection of clothes online. The man becomes one with the computer when he sits down at it. All of his anxieties seem to dissipate as he throws himself into whatever task it is he’s trying to accomplish.
All afternoon, I’d sat in a cozy chair in his office while he worked. His