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And then he reaches us, and I still can’t see his face. His hand shoots up, reaching for his cap. He removes it at the same time as he raises his head and looks me straight in the eye.
“Privet, printsesssa.” Hello, princess.
“Papa?” I blink at him as my heart stops beating in my chest. He looks like my father, but not like my father. Ten years have passed since I last saw him. He has aged. He has scars on his face that I don’t recognize. But it is him.
He nods and holds out his hands. “It’s me, Jessica.”
“But you? I saw you?” I stammer.
He steps closer toward, placing his hands on my face. “I survived, printsessa. But I won’t survive much longer if I don’t get out of this alleyway. Can we go inside?”
I shake my head, unable to process the enormity of what is happening. This can’t be true. Ten years. Where has he been?
“Jessica!” he snaps and breaks me from my daze.
“What? Inside? Sure,” I say as I stumble toward the keypad and place my finger on the screen. The door clicks open and I walk inside, my father and the bearlike man following me.
As soon as the door closes behind us, I turn to him again. “Is it really you?” I blink the tears from eyes.
“Yes, printsessa,” he smiles at me and holds out his arms and I fall into them. He smells different, yet familiar. he's different, but the same.
“Papa,” I sob against his neck as he wraps his arms around me.
We stay like that for a few seconds, but then he pulls back from me. “We have to go, Jessica. There isn’t much time. Let’s get your things.” He takes my hand and starts to walk toward the elevator.
I shake my head. “No. I can’t leave. The boys…” I stammer.
His face changes in front of my eyes from one that I recognize to a face full of anger and venom. The man I remember was always full of kindness and compassion. But, I suppose witnessing what he did, and looking for me all this time, has changed him. “Those boys are waiting to sell you off to the highest bidder. Have you learned nothing these past years?” he snarls. “How do you think I found you after all this time? They have been reaching out far and wide, trying to find the Wolf so they can sell you back to him.”
His words feel like a knife to my heart. I step back from him, shaking my head from side to side. “No. They wouldn’t,” I insist.
“They would, and they have, Jessica. Open your eyes. I have looked for you for ten years, and now I finally find you. That’s no coincidence, printsessa,” he says, his voice softening again. “Now, let’s go and get your things and get out of here. It would be best if you leave them a note, so they don’t come looking for you.”
“But won’t they come anyway? If they really intend to hand me over to the Wolf?”
He scowls at me. “We are running out of time. I am your father. That is all you need concern yourself with right now. I’m sure you have hundreds of questions for me, and I’ll answer them all. But right now, we have to move.”
I swallow as I blink at him. The thought of leaving the brothers feels like a knife twisting in my heart. But this is my father. He would never lie to me. He would never put me in danger.
Twenty minutes later, I have my backpack containing my laptop, a change of clothes, and a few toiletries slung over my shoulder. I place the small handwritten note on the center of the kitchen table, propped up by the vase containing the flowers the twins had bought for me a few days earlier.
I stare at the note. I’ve kept it short and polite. My father insists I don’t leave any clue as to the fact I know they were planning to hand me over to the Wolf.
Hey Boys. Thanks for everything. It’s been a blast, but it’s time for me to move on. I’m better off on my own, after all. Please don’t come after me.
Love Jessie x
I stare at the note as the tears roll down my face. This feels so wrong. Only a few hours earlier, I had believed they were my new family. I had believed that they loved me.
“Come on,” my father orders from the doorway and I turn to look at him. My real family. For a moment, I am torn between my old world and my new one.
“Printsessa,” he calls softly, and I realize where I need to be.
“Coming,” I say as I wipe the tears from my cheek and turn away from the life and the home that I stupidly thought belonged to me. He holds out his hand and I take it.
Then we walk to the elevator and I walk away from the Ryan brothers for good.
Chapter
