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“I took pictures of what he did to me….every time for the last couple of years,” I explained. “I created an email I could send them to, then I deleted them from my cell. Can we use those?” I bit my lip nervously as I looked up at him.
“How many pictures are there?” Hunter asked as a hint of anger slipped into his tone.
“Quite a lot,” I shrugged.
“We can definitely use them. Write down the login for the email address and I’ll send it to Nico. He can speak with the attorney he appointed and see where we should go next.”
“Okay,” I nodded. “I need you both to keep me updated though. This is my mess, Hunt. I’m not leaving you guys to deal with it.”
“We’re dealing with it together,” Hunter assured me. “I just don’t want you to worry too much, okay? You’re both safe here. He has no idea who we are or how we know each other. He can’t find you.”
“I know. You’re right,” I agreed. I didn’t add that nothing would stop Frank and Edward if they wanted to track us down though. I knew them well enough to know that. They always got what they wanted.
***
“Thanks so much for this, you guys. She’s in heaven,” I told Kai and Hunter as the three of us stood behind Willow. She was at the glass of the Lion enclosure, staring absolutely mesmerized by the lioness and her three cubs who laid out lazily in the sun.
She had been mesmerized just like that by every animal she saw. She bounced excitedly between enclosures, reeling off facts that blew mine and the guys minds, then when she saw the animals she just went quiet, watching and taking in every single detail.
“Sshh, mommy,” Willow whispered. “We don’t wants them to run away.”
“I don’t think they can hear us through the glass, pumpkin,” Hunter told her, but kept his voice low anyway.
“Can you see the spots on the cubs Kai?” Willow asked as she grabbed his hand and pulled him right up to the glass. “See them? All lion cubs is born wiv spots like that, but when they gets older, they loses the spots.”
“I can see them. I didn’t know that, sweetie. You’re so smart,” Kai told her as he ruffled her hair.
“Do you thinks there’s a daddy lion in there?” Willow asked as she stretched up on her tiptoes to look around the large enclosure.
“I’ll bet there is. Why don’t we go on the treetop walk and see if we can spot him?” Hunter suggested and when Willow looked to me, I nodded in agreement. I was exhausted, having already walked the long distance around most of the huge attraction. But I couldn’t deny my child when she was so very happy.
Two hours later we were heading back to the car after a thrilling day for Willow. She had delighted in each and every animal she had seen, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before she was begging us to bring her back again.
“Want to check out the gift shop, Willow?” Hunter asked as we approached it en route to the car park.
“Can we mommy?” she asked as she looked to me, around Hunter, whose hand she was clutching.
“Okay, but only one stuffed toy. You already got so many new toys this week from the guys,” I gave in. Nico had ensured I got my paycheck, sending it to Kai so he could give it to me in cash, so I had a little money to treat her. I wanted her to have something to remind her of how much fun she had that day.
“Wow!” Willow cried the moment we walked into the store. She was surrounded by shelves and tables stacked with toys and stuffies. “How many dollars can I spend mommy?” she asked excitedly, and I flinched at the question.
“No limit, sweetie. Just look around and see which toys you want. Hunter and I will treat you,” Kai told her, and she hurried off with an excited squeal.
“You shouldn’t have said that. We’ll never rein her in now,” I laughed. “She’s gonna want everything.”
“Why’d she ask that?” Hunter asked, looking genuinely confused and curious.
“Edward controlled every cent. I didn’t have much spare very often, but I tried to save what I could to treat her every now and then. It was never much, but occasionally I could let her loose in the toy aisle at the grocery store and I’d tell her how many dollars she could spend. It’s just what she’s used to,” I shrugged. It sucked, but I had always done the best I could for her. Thanks to Frank’s orders that we look the part, she always had nice clothes and I always made sure she got good meals. Birthdays and Christmas were trickier, since Edward refused to waste money on gifts. I saved what I could to make sure she always had something to open. She had never been disappointed, and I had just been thankful she was so young and unaware of what others received in comparison.
“You did an amazing job with her, Maddie. She’s such a great kid,” Hunter told me, and I realized I was looking at the ground, embarrassed by what I’d told him. He wrapped his arm around me when I looked up and smiled a little.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “She really is.”
“Come on, let’s go see what she’s found,” he said as he herded me over to where she and Kai now stood looking at a huge wall of stuffed Lions. Kai already had a gorilla and an aardvark toy tucked under one arm.
“Which one should I gets, mommy?” she asked as she looked up at all of the choice before her.
“You can’t decide?” Hunter laughed as he released me and stepped forward.
