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“You’ll be safe here.” Lucas sits back down.
“I need clothes. There wasn’t anything up in that room that I could wear.”
“We’ll bring you back some stuff today.” Seth clears off his spot. “And don’t go snooping around the house,” he adds.
Her cheeks pinken. “If it’s all right with you, I’m gonna go take a shower.” She doesn’t wait for anyone to respond before she climbs out of her seat and scurries back upstairs. Her asscheeks peek out beneath those damn pajama shorts as she runs.
“What?” Seth snaps at me when I turn my glare on him.
“Back off. She’s scared. She doesn’t know us, and this will be all the harder if we have to worry about her trying to run away because you terrified her,” I point out.
“She’s not going to be here that long. Hunter will have more information for us soon. Once we know everything about Vivian and what’s happening, we fix it, and the princess up there can go back to her ivory tower.” Seth frowns.
Most days I can ignore his grumpy nature, but this morning it’s taking too much energy and I’m already running on fumes.
“Just leave her be. I’ll stop at the store while I’m out and get her some clothes,” I offer.
“We’ll just keep an eye on her, make sure she’s not doing anything that can get herself hurt or worse,” Lucas announces, clearing his place from the table.
“I have a job this morning.” Dylan gets up from his chair, bringing his plate to the kitchen. “Who’s taking babysitting duties today?”
“I’m in the field today, too,” I answer, but I’d rather be here, watching out for her. I recognize that look in her eyes. The hopelessness, the fear. I know Seth thinks of her as some spoiled little bitch, but I get the feeling there’s a hell of a lot more to Seraphina Snow than we’ve seen.
“I’ll take today.” Colt drops his plate into the dishwasher. “I’m not starting a new project until tomorrow. Alexander’s here today too.”
Lucas nods. “All right then. You two have her, the rest of us have work to do.”
Checking my watch, I realize I need to get my ass in gear. If I can get my work done by this afternoon, I might catch a nap before Seth orders us all to the dinner table.
Something tells me Seraphina is going to be a bigger handful than any of us realize.
CHAPTER 5
Seraphina
It’s been hours since I left the men at the breakfast table.
I have no cell phone and there’s no landline in here either. No television. No computer. Nothing. I have no way of confirming anything they’ve told me. The voice recording sounded like Vivian, and I wouldn’t put it past her to do something this horrible, but I need to at least confirm these men are who they say they are.
They haven’t tried to hurt me. They’ve fed me and given me medicine for my headache. When I got out of the shower, I found a pair of leggings and a t-shirt laying on the bed for me. The shirt’s a little bigger in the chest than I need, and the leggings are a little long, but they are better than the pajamas I had on.
These clothes probably came from some other woman they had here, which only leads me down the rabbit hole of are these guys as safe and honest as they say they are?
I need to find out. Which means leaving this room.
Frustration burns my insides. My mother would know what to do in this situation. She was always the calming force. Of course, if she was alive, none of this would be happening. I’d be safe at home with my family, not hiding away in the forest with seven men who may or may not be my protectors.
But she hadn’t lived.
Dad grieved hard for two years after she passed away, and then he came home with Vivian.
I was shipped off to my first boarding school that fall. Nothing has been the same since.
I slip my sandals back on, then creep to the door, unsure of how much of my footsteps can be heard elsewhere in the building. It’s a mixture of industrial and residential. Some carpeting here and there, but mostly concrete flooring on the bottom level. Metal staircases and railings. It’s almost like they live in a factory.
Slowly, I turn the knob and pull the door open just enough to see out into the open space below. It looks empty. I let several moments go by, listening for anyone walking around or talking before I’m comfortable enough to open the door the rest of the way.
So far, nothing.
