“The little whore grew up.” The low whisper sent ice through my veins. I knew that voice. It had been years since I’d last heard it, but I knew that voice. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t turn around.

“Not gonna say hello to your daddy?” Marco asked. He was not my daddy. He was my mother’s husband, but he wasn’t my daddy. He had been my tormentor.

“If you get any closer, I am going to scream at the top of my lungs,” I warned him, still not turning to look at him. I didn’t want to see his face. The nightmares he starred in had just begun to fade. I hated that face.

A low, menacing laugh sent dread through me. “No, you won’t. Do you want all these people to know what a little slut you are? I’ll tell them all. How you seduced me. How you wanted sex from your own stepdaddy. Bet that rich little boyfriend of yours don’t know what a whore you are. Or maybe he does,” Marco said, and he touched my hair.

Bile rose in my throat. I was going to be sick. I tried to find my voice, but I was frozen in fear. Just like when I was a child.

“Maybe he likes stupid little sluts. With a big ass and big tits. Guess that’s his thing.”

I closed my eyes and cringed. No. He would not do this to me. I wouldn’t let him. I was stronger now. I was grown. The little girl was gone.

“Took me a while to find you. But I’ve been watching you for a week now. I know where you live, where you work. Too stupid to drive a car yourself. Not surprised.”

My body broke out in a cold sweat. Why was he here? Why did he want to find me?

“Your momma’s dead. Not that you care. You ran off and never came back. Worthless bitch,” he said, as he fisted his hand in my hair and tugged hard.

I had to get away from him. But I couldn’t find my voice. This had to be a nightmare. He wasn’t really here. This couldn’t be real. I needed to wake up.

“Not even a tear for your momma? Stupid whores don’t care about their mothers. But you loved your stepdaddy, didn’t you, girl?” He pulled hard on my hair again.

“Let me go,” I managed to say through the terror gripping me.

He laughed. “Took a long time to find you, girl. I ain’t leaving you now. Did you tell him I had you first? That this body was mine first? That you walked around with those tight clothes on, taunting me, inviting me to touch you?”

My stomach rolled over, and I bent forward, feeling the sickness start to overtake me.

He pulled my head back with another jerk of my hair. “You’re gonna walk out of here with me, and I won’t tell him any of your dirty secrets,” he said close to my ear. His breath smelled rank, like sour milk.

I reached up to cover my mouth, afraid I was going to throw up all over the groceries in front of me. I couldn’t scream while fighting to keep the contents of my stomach from coming up. Closing my eyes tightly, I prayed that if there was a God and he cared at all, he’d save me. I hadn’t been prepared for this.

Maybe there was a God, because, suddenly, I felt Marco let go of my hair. I jerked around and saw Captain with a look of fury on his face as his hand clamped around Marco’s arm. Now that I could see Marco, he looked significantly older.

“You walk out of here and don’t look back, and I’ll let you live,” Captain said in a quiet, hard voice.

Marco tried to jerk his arm free. “You want to get arrested for assault?” His voice was high-pitched.

Captain didn’t look fazed. He continued looking at Marco like he was the lowest form of creature on earth. “You scream, and you won’t see another sunrise. Try me, old man. Fucking. Try. Me.”

I believed him. There was no smirk. No smile. The expression on his face was that of a man with no soul. He was cold, and he was making sure Marco saw that, too.

I backed away.

“You go on and get your groceries, Reese,” Captain said. “I’ll walk this worthless shit outside. He won’t be back. I can promise you that,” he said without taking his eyes off Marco.

Then he began walking with his hand still gripping Marco’s arm.

I stood and watched until they walked out the front door. Then I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called Mase. I was about to shatter, and I wasn’t sure I could make it to the door before I did.

Mase

I broke every speed limit imaginable by the time I got to the ranch. Momma had gone back to get her as soon as Reese called to tell me what had happened. I had kept her on the phone while texting my mother to get to the store immediately. All Reese had been able to say was that her stepfather had been there.

And that River Kipling had been there and forced him outside.

She was terrified, and I wanted to get my hands around her and hold her. If I had thought for a second that sick, pathetic excuse for a human would come to find her, I’d never let her out of my sight.

My head kept jumping to the worst-case scenario. What if River hadn’t shown up? Fear consumed me. I couldn’t think about that. I hated River, but I owed him one now.

My momma’s truck pulled into the ranch just before I did, and I stayed right on her tail until she parked. Then I jumped out and ran for Reese. The moment I opened the door to Reese’s side of the truck, she launched herself at me and began sobbing while holding me in a death grip.

My momma didn’t know the details, but I knew that after seeing the reaction from Reese, she could guess easily enough. I looked at her over Reese’s head. “I’m taking her to the house,” I told her. She’d have to wait for an explanation.