AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Sadie, you’re in danger.”
My heart stops.
Donnie tightens his hold on me.
What. The. Fuck.
“You can’t just blurt it out like that,” Javi snaps. He turns to glare at Carter.
“What do you mean, she’s in danger?” Donnie asks, voice hard.
“Sadie, your father was in deep with a gambling ring. He stole money from a sports-betting operation, but they decided to go after you when they found out he was dead.”
“Fuck,” Donnie hisses, but it comes out as a whisper. I know he’s angry by the way his body tenses around me.
“I don’t understand; why would they come after me?”
How is this possible?
How did we not know?
I shut my eyes, focusing on the beating of my heart. Donnie stays perfectly still, gripping my waist hard enough to leave a bruise.
Carter sighs. “They think your father gave you the money.”
“Me?” I ask, dumbfounded. The only thing my father gave me was years of abuse.
“We intercepted a call between the brothers and your father prior to his death.” Carter pauses and I watch his Adam’s apple bob as he swallows.
“Sadie, your father agreed to trade your life to them to pay off his debt.”
Donnie wraps his arms around my stomach and pulls me closer to him.
“They would’ve sold you to the highest bidder—human trafficking.”
“Jesus, fucking Christ,” Donnie growls.
I sit silently, biting my lower lip to keep from crying. How could my father do this? Why did he hate me so much? What did I ever do to him?
The questions I’ve asked for years will remain unanswered.
“So, now what?” I ask, waiting for the ground to open up and swallow me whole.
Carter and Javi stare at me for a second as if they’re having second thoughts about telling me.
“Witness protection,” Javi responds.
“No way,” Donnie interjects. He pulls me off his lap and gently sets me on the seat beside him and gets on his feet.
Javi eases onto his feet and comes face to face with the love of my life. “You don’t want her to be safe?”
“Of course, I do,” Donnie sneers, “but taking her away from her family after what she’s been through”—Donnie runs his hands through his hair with frustration—“you can’t take her away from the people who love her and would do anything for her.”
Donnie bows his head, resting his hands on his hips. “You can’t take her from me. Not again.” He shakes his head.
“I understand how you’re feeling,” Javi said quietly.
That must’ve been the wrong thing to say because Donnie’s head snaps up to Javi.
