Free Predator - A Stand Alone Suspense Romance by Michelle Horst

I still slept through the night. Damian is already halfway to the door by the time I realize that the knocking is coming from there. He peeks through the curtain and then opens the door. An older man almost falls into the room, and I scramble to get to the corner. I squash my knees to my chest and try to make myself as small as I can.
    Damian comes to stand right in front of me. It looks like a casual move, but I can’t see the man now and that means he can’t see me.
    “My sweetheart,” the man coos at the girl.
    Tears burn in my eyes at the emotion weighing heavy in the room.
    “Daddy?” Her voice sounds broken and I press my mouth against my knees to keep from crying.
    “Everything’s going to be just fine, Sweetheart,” he repeats Damian’s words to her and she starts to cry, relieved, heartfelt sobs.
    It feels like something just died in me. I’m not sure what it was, but I feel lost without it.

    I don’t realize I’m rocking myself until Damian touches my shoulder. The man left with his daughter and it’s just the two of us again.
    “Cara,” his voice is neutral again and I press my face into my arms. “We have to go right now,” he says as if it should matter to me.
    “No one came for me,” I whisper to my legs. My breath is hot on my thighs.
    “Cara, look at me.” I don’t, not until his hands clamp down hard on my shoulders and he pulls me up against him. His face is inches from mine and his breath is hot on my skin.
    His eyes seize mine. “I came for you.” His voice is filled with emotions I have never heard before. “I came for you,” he says again and this time his voice is gravelly, filled with an emotion I can’t place.
    He presses me hard to his chest and his arms are like steel bands, clamping me to him. I breathe him in and I get lungs full of sweat and blood. I breathe in the scent that’s Damian.
    He doesn’t hold me for long but it’s still comforting. He steps away and starts to clean the room and bathroom. I start to strip the beds the same way he did back at the motel we stayed in. I can’t comprehend everything that’s happened in the last twenty-four hours.
    Once we’re in the car, he looks at me. Okay, it’s more like a two minute stare. At first I used to look away but now I try to meet his eyes. “Bruises are almost gone,” he whispers.
    “Yeah.” We never have any real conversations. I’ve learned that’s he’s not the talking kind.
    When we’re home, Damian goes straight for the shower. I hang the clothes I got the day before. I should wash them, but I couldn’t care less at the moment.
    I go stand in front of the window and stare outside.
    I think of the feeling of loss I felt back at the motel. I think it was hope. I lost hope that I’ll belong to someone again. I lost hope that I’ll see my parents again. I know they’re dead, but for some reason I always had hope until the stark reality was staring me right in the face. No one came for me back in that hospital. Sure, Uncle Tom stopped by, but then he left me all alone in a world I didn’t understand.
    No one is coming for me and it’s the saddest thought. I know Damian said he came for me, but that’s not the same thing. Damian is just another person passing through my life, here one day and gone the next. I am a mess he’s being paid to fix.
    I have no friends, no family, and the thought leaves a wasteland where my heart should be.

     
    Damian~
    Why the fuck did I hug her?
    I’m pacing the floor in my office, trying to get my shit together. I’ve made two huge mistakes today; I hugged her and I showed her that I actually give a fuck. That can never happen again. Whether I care about her or not – it doesn’t matter. What matters is keeping her safe.
    To get my mind back on the job, I decide to watch the fourth memory card. I’ve managed to watch the other three in the past two weeks, and it’s been much harder than I thought it would be. Watching her being beaten like that, I have no