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Slowly making her way to the kitchen, she was relieved to see a note on the counter next to a brewed pot of coffee.
Reading it, she smiled. Loch had to go into the shop to deal with the quick delivery of a vehicle he’d worked weeks on. She wondered idly about how many he had in restoration at a time since it always seemed he was delivering one to someone. Seeing as Braxton was supposed to be outside to watch the house, she decided to pour him a cup of coffee and grab a blueberry muffin Lorraine had sent home with them earlier that day.
Slipping on her shoes, she opened the door, shocked and terrified at the sight before her. Braxton was there alright. Blood dripping from his skull as he lay on the ground.
“Hello, Sage.” That voice. It was the sound her nightmares had consisted of for weeks.
“Wh–what are you doing here?” She couldn’t take her eyes off of Braxton’s lifeless body.
“I’m here for you.” Morgan stepped over the body and advanced on her. Dropping the items from her frozen hands, she tried to slam the door shut, but his foot jammed it, and he flung it open. Hitting her in the face, caused her to lose her balance and hit the floor.
“I’m not yours,” she tried to scream, dizzy from the knock to her head. Blood began dripping down her face.
“You are. Your father and I had an agreement.” He sneered at her.
“What kind?” If she kept him talking, maybe Loch would get there in time.
“The kind where I kept my mouth shut for what he did to that girl all those years ago, and he gave me what he couldn’t have.”
Sick to her stomach, she asked, “What are you talking about?”
Tsking, he laughed. “So naïve. That girl, his vicious sermons, so much hate for you. Your father is a bad man.” He laughed harder as her face paled, and he crouched in front of her.
“He wouldn’t,” she gasped. Her father couldn’t have killed anyone. Gulping at his nod, Sage shook her head back and forth. “He’s a man of great faith.” No matter how much resentment she felt for her father, she couldn’t believe he would do such a thing.
And yet…everything after that made sense. The lockdown, the hatred, the accusations of temptation.
“I’m afraid he did, sweet Sage.” Morgan attempted to touch her cheek. When she swatted his hand away, he countered with a backhand, causing her head to swim and stars to dance before her eyes.
“Don’t you dare touch me!” she yelled, incapable of tamping down her disgust for the man. “You’re no better than he is! You’ve been watching me since I was sixteen!”
With a predatory sneer, he reached out and snaked his hand around her neck, hissing out, “Your father wanted you for himself. He settled for someone else’s child. I. Got. YOU!” His words were punctuated by the tightening of his hand.
“No.” She shook her head, refusing to believe anything he said.
“I’d say you could ask him, but he took his own life just last night. After finding out about your mar
riage.” The last word was said with such hatred, she felt it to her bones.
Her heart cramped as shock mustered its way through her body. A chilling sense of doom rattled her teeth. “No.” The single horrified word seemed to bounce off the walls and echo around the room.
“Yes.” His grin was chilling. “That means you’re mine now.”
That was one thing she would never be. Straightening her spine, she spat out, “My father may have been a weak man, but I am no pushover. I will never be yours.”
Loch made quick work of presenting the car to Bill, a customer that had been recommending them for years. He took pride in giving the man back a perfect job every time.
Sirens in the distance caught his attention as he was leaving with Nox and Soph in tow. “What the hell is that?” his brother commented. The sheer noise was nearly deafening as they drew closer.
Seeing the barrage of police vehicles driving past the street Hogan Bros. was on, Loch had a bad feeling when one of them turned towards them. Recognizing Frank behind the wheel, the feeling intensified.
“Loch!” he called, barely stopping his cruiser. “Follow me!” He didn’t have time to ask what was going on before the man was turning around. Sharing a worried look with Nox, Loch climbed behind the wheel of his Cobra and peeled out of the parking lot like a shot.
It didn’t take long for him to realize they were heading to his house. Seeing Nox’s car behind his made him feel marginally better but didn’t wipe away the worry completely. His girl was at home, and while he knew Braxton would do everything to protect her, he also knew if the police were heading that way, all hell had broken loose.
The ordinarily fifteen-minute drive was cut in half as he came to a screeching halt in front of his home. A home he had planned on making the perfect refuge for Sage. The home they had planned on starting a family in.
He froze when it came time to leave his vehicle, to find out what was really happening. He didn’t want to believe harm could have come to his charming, beautiful new wife; he wouldn’t survive it. But it was all he could think of.
