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Just him and her. I couldn’t let that happen.
There were more guards patrolling the grounds closer to the house. The car pulled up outside, but this time I didn’t wait for the driver, shoving the door open myself before climbing out. I searched the darkened windows, finding no movement inside.
“Ms. VanHalen,” the driver called, motioning me forward.
I hadn’t even heard him climb out. I followed, my heels crunching on the stones as I made my way inside. My heels clattered on the concrete Floor, the sound jarring. But I didn’t care, all I was listening for was the sound of cries. “Sophie!” I called. “Sophie!”
I raced through the house, searching every room and headed for the hallway. But she was nowhere to be found. I shoved open the bedroom doors and search through each room, until I spun around, facing the drive. “Where the fuck is she?”
“Katerina.” The stony tone of my father sound behind me.
I spun, coming face-to-face with him and from somewhere down below, the small cry of my daughter came. I charged forward, pushing him to the side in a desperate attempt to get to her.
63
Kat
I raced for the doorway behind him, shoved it open and stumbled down a set of stairs in the gloom. My ankle buckled, leaving me to fall. I threw out a hand, bracing it against the wall as I lunged forward, not caring about myself. All I cared about was getting to that sound.
“Sophie!“ I screamed as I hit the bottom of the stairs and raced along the hallway.
And there she was, in the arms of a woman I’ve never seen before. Rage tore through me as I raced forward and snatched her out of the woman’s arms. “Get the fuck away from my child.”
“Katerina…” My father called behind me. “She’s been well taken care of; Leslie has made sure she’s unharmed.”
“Unharmed?” I took a step toward him, pressing her against my chest. “You mean apart from being ripped from my arms and abducted by complete strangers?”
“I didn’t want it to be this way.” He took a step toward me, lifting his hand to brush her face. I tore her away from his touch, as revulsion rose inside me. “You’re fucking lucky I don’t kill you right here.”
He never flinched with a threat, just stared at me. Then in a careful voice murmured. “I only wanted to have a relationship—”
I reacted by instinct, stepping forward, and lashing out. My palm hit his cheek, and my father’s head flung to the side. “You fucking dare do that again, and I will kill you myself.” My rage burned inside me.
He just lifted his hand, touching the sting on his face. “It seems like you’ve been spending far too much time with thugs and murderers, Katerina.”
“They may be thugs and murderers to you, but to me they’re family and far better than the one I had before. What, do we not want to talk about that, Daddy?”
His eyes glinted like stone. That’s all he was, cold, hard, all the way to his core. There wasn’t a hint of embarrassment as he answered. “I wanted to give us a chance to talk. This was the only way.”
“No,” I spat. “You wanted a chance to manipulate me again, and this was the only way you could get to me. You don’t seem to realise how much I despise you.”
“Despise, that’s a strong word, Katerina.” He took a step backward, looking around at the end living room that’d been built in the basement. “But we have more than enough time to work through this, together.”
I took a step backward, then made for the door, until the guard standing behind my father moved in my way. He closed the door, locking it with athud.
“What the hell is going on?” I looked at my father.
But he just held my gaze. “I told you, Katerina, I wanted a relationship with you and my granddaughter. This was the only way.”
“So, what, you’re just going to hold us prisoner?” I spat. Panic rose inside me, sending that sickening wave of desperation plunging to my stomach. My focus turned the ring on my finger, and the tracking device stuck against the inside of the band. “You can’t do this.”
“I can and have.” My father smiled at my daughter and in that moment all the years came rushing back to me.
Pain flared in the back of my throat. I turned, and lunged, stepping around the guard until I yanked the door. “Open this now!”
“That’s not going to happen,” my father said carefully. “Now if you’ll calm down, you’ll see I’m not doing this to harm you. He’s not good for you, Katerina. That thug you live with will only break your heart.”
Tears threaten to fill my eyes. “Did you forget the reason why I was at that café this morning?”
