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ChapterOne
BUNNY
I stare out the window watching the snow start to fall while my Kindle lies forgotten in front of me. This is my favorite place to sit because from this spot, I can watch people come and go.
The small coffee shop on the corner has the most activity. People really are creatures of habit. I see so many of the same faces that I’ve even given some of them stories in my mind.
The only one I don’t much care for is Harris, at least that’s what I call him. He’s always flirting with the beautiful barista, and neither of them seem to mind the gold wedding ring on his finger. It’s shameful, isn’t it? But what do I know?
My mother has already gone through one new husband since she left the only man I’ve ever called my father: James O'Brien. He’s been there at all my earliest memories. I miss him, but more than that, I miss my brother Connor the most. I still dream of him, but as time passes, his face fades more and more from my memory.
I’m not even an O’Brien anymore. The life I once knew was taken away from me in one night while both my father and brother were out of the house. I knew that some of their business deals weren't legal, but I was kept sheltered to what they didn’t want me to see. I’m still a bit naïve, but they operated outside the law, and whatever they did paidverywell.
All of that changed in one night when my mother was pulling me out of the bed in a frenzied state saying we had to leave. She told me James was going to kill her, and although I didn’t want to think James would do that, their arguments could get intense.
When it got bad, I would always run to find my brother Connor. He’d either break it up or let me crawl into his bed and cuddle. Sometimes I thought they enjoyed fighting, but it scared me. I loved both of them, but they made the idea of marriage ridiculous.
The night before my mother pulled me out of bed, she and James had one of their worst fights ever. My mom was a drunken mess, and she was screaming about a whore he was with. My father tossed back that she had no room to talk. He wasn’t wrong. There were a few times I thought I saw her coming out of one of the rooms in the house with one of my father's men. Her hair would be tousled and her lipstick smeared.
During those times, I would go to Connor’s room and crawl into bed with him. I was so happy he was home because more often than not, during that last year, he was out working at night. Part of me wondered if he was with the whores my mother screamed about and that's why he was out so late.
The last night I was home, I tried to get into his bed, but he turned me away. He told me to go back to mine. I had no idea I’d never see him again. That next day he and my father were both out of the house all day, and when I went to bed that night, they still hadn’t returned. That’s when Mom woke me up and said we had to leave. I didn’t get a chance to grab anything except the small pink bunny bear Connor gave me on my thirteenth birthday. I always kept it on my bed. He always called me Bunny.
Mom was ready to go and had a car filled with things. When I saw a few bags filled with cash, I knew in that moment if my father didn’t want to kill her already, he would once he found her.
I lost count of how many days we traveled. We went from the car to a train and then a bus. It felt like it was never-ending until we finally landed here. I’d been heartbroken, but my mom moved on so easily.
She dated several men before marrying and then getting a quickie divorce because she had her sights set on another. Each one is richer than the last and it’s almost impressive how she can lure them in. I’ve been kept tucked away, so I often feel awkward when I talk to anyone. I’d die if I tried to flirt with a man.
Her newest one, Aaron, gives me the creeps. He stares too long and is always asking me questions and trying to talk to me. If it were up to me, I’d move out. I’m a legal adult, but it’s really not an option because I have no money, and I can’t even get a job. My mom has told me so many times that they’ll find us and kill me first to make her suffer before finally ending her life.
At first it was hard to believe her, but she started to tell me stories of the things that my father and brother did. It’s the reason I wasn’t allowed in the basement. That’s where they took the people that wronged them in some way or broke loyalty. She made me wonder if some of my memories weren’t what really happened. I never recalled them being cruel to me, but she’d pepper me with stories that had me questioning my own thoughts.
She said Connor was turning out to be worse than my father. I saw him snap at one of the guys that came and went from the home, and his whole demeanor changed. In that split second he became unrecognizable, but it was never directed my way. In fact, when he realized I was there standing on the stairs, it was as if a mask fell back into place, and he gave me a smile before releasing the man from the hold he had around his neck. The guy dropped to the floor but quickly got to his feet and bolted from the house.
“Oh!” I gasp, sitting up straighter when I see a white kitten alone and huddled up against a trash can across the street. It’s snowing out and below freezing. Without thinking, I pull on my boots and slip on my long coat. I’m only in my pajamas, but I’ll be fast. My mom will be pissed that I went out of the house alone, but I’m not going to leave the kitten out there. Aaron took her out, and I’m alone for the night in our townhome.
After disarming the alarm, I open the front door and grit my teeth when a gust of frigid wind hits me. The snow is turning to ice now, so I grab the rail when I almost slip on the stairs in my haste to get down to the sidewalk. My glasses fog up, and it takes me a second to see, but once I do I glance both ways to check for cars. Making sure it’s clear, I dart across the street to save the kitten.
“Hey, baby, are you okay?” I say as I lean down and pet it. “Are you stuck?” I see a small hook connected to the kitten’s collar at the base of the trashcan. “Why would someone clip you here and leave you?” Unhooking the kitten, I pull him closer to help warm him up. He doesn't seem malnourished and appears to be a healthy baby kitten. “Who would do such a thing to you?”
“Me,” a deep voice says, and then an arm wraps around my waist from behind.
My whole body stiffens right as a needle pricks my neck. That’s when the whole world goes black.
ChapterTwo
CONNOR
She looks so peaceful stretched out on the bed as I sit on the edge of the mattress. I didn’t want it to have to be this way, but I didn’t have a choice. Not anymore.
When I reach out and brush her hair away from her face, my hands tremble. It took so long to find her that I was beginning to get worried that I never would, and that wasn’t a possibility I was willing to entertain.
As soon as we planted Aaron, things fell into place. That’s all it took to get Vivian’s attention and force her to climb out of her hiding hole. Aaron created elaborate events with connections to places we thought Vivian might go. Eventually she showed up to a party with a ring on her finger, but once Aaron stepped in, that was over.
Today’s plan has been building for weeks, and he finally got Vivian out of the house and away from my Bunny. Vivian is going to have a rude awakening when she shows up for her getaway with Aaron only to discover my father waiting for them. She’s got lots of explaining to do on the money she took and the secrets she sold. James would have given her anything she wanted, but selling secrets to our enemies broke his trust, and there’s no going back.
Whatever happens with the two of them doesn’t matter to me, because all I wanted out of this deal was Bunny. That’s why I worked so hard to catch Vivian, so that Bunny would be my reward. She was always meant to be mine.
