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The wood splinters but doesn’t crack all the way.
I draw back and swing again, over and over, driving the blade into it until the door finally shatters around the mechanism and I can kick it open.
Harold stands at the bottom of the stairwell, as if he’s just rushed down it, eyes wide, dark bruises mottling the side of his face. “Mr. Barker, what are you—”
“Where is she?”
I storm across the foyer and down the hallway, scanning the living room and dining room to either side, and then on through the kitchen, searching for signs of the only woman who has ever made my heart beat like this. Returning to the front of the house, I find Harold still trying to stumble after me.
His hands shake as he runs them through his unkempt hair. “I thought—”
I get up in his face, so close that I can see his pupils dilate with his fear. “You thought what?”
“I thought she was with you.”
Staggering back a step, I tighten my grip on the axe handle. “Why the hell would you think that? I sent her here to visit with you, but she never came back.”
His eyes widen more, his lips trembling. “Oh, God.”
He collapses to his knees, gripping the banister to keep himself from tumbling completely over.
I stalk back over to him and grab his arm, hauling him up. “What the hell happened?”
Why would he think she was with me?
Jade eyes so similar to hers scan the shattered remains of the door. “They came earlier today…”
“Who came?”
He locks his gaze with mine, the fear there sending a chill through my blood. “Armed men. I don’t even know how they got into the house, but I woke, and they were there, standing over my bed with a gun in my face. They told me The Beast wanted her back, and they took her from her room.”
Fucking hell.
I shove him back and release my hold, watching him tumble onto the last few steps, then collapse at the bottom of them, burying his face in his hand.
“What have I done?” His tear-filled eyes dart to me. “Where is she? Who has her?”
The same questions I would be asking myself if I didn’t already know the answer.
I back away from him slowly, keeping my eyes locked on the man who created this situation, who set the ball rolling, trying not to take out my rage on him now when it’s more important to save it for who it should truly be directed at.
“Someone who’s going to hurt her.”
His head whips up, and his concerned gaze meets mine. “What do you mean?”
“I would never hurt your daughter, but there are other members of my family who very well might.”
“Why?” Harold’s voice cracks on the word, the emotion overtaking him fully. “I’ve done everything you’ve asked to try to fix this. To try to correct the mistake I made. What else can I do?”
Fuck…
He has.
He’s done everything asked of him. Repaid the financial debt. Offered to work off any other perceived ones. Even sent his only daughter up Barker Mountain to The Beast. Yet it hasn’t been enough to appease the Barkers, which only means one thing.
This has never been about him at all.
That realization stops me dead in my tracks.
