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She swallowed past a lump in her throat and then blurted out everything that had happened with Jay. “I’m so scared, Leandro,” she whispered. “I don’t know what to do. I can’t fight him for custody and win. If he takes her away from me, I won’t cope. But he’ll do it. He’ll do it to punish me. Oh, God. I should never have gotten involved with you,” she groaned, even as she dropped her head forward and pressed it to his chest.
He wrapped his arms around her, stroking her back. “That’s not the answer,” he said, simply. “This bastard doesn’t get to dictate how you live your life.”
“But he does. If it weren’t for Harper, I’d be free of him, but I’ll never be free. He’s in my life, it’s just how it has to be.”
“No,” Leandro said, and with such confidence that Skye almost believed him. Except…
“You don’t know what he’s like,” she said. “He won’t give up.”
“You don’t know what I’m like, so I will tell you, Skye. I do not like bullies. I do not like men who think they can treat women like garbage. And right now, unfortunately for your ex, I happen to be in the mood for a fight.”
She stared at him, not understanding.
“How long will it take you to pack a bag?”
“Pack a bag?” She was back in parrot mode.
“You’re coming to stay with me.”
Her jaw dropped. “No way. I can’t.”
“Harper too.”
“No,” she shook her head. “That will only make things so much worse.”
His nostrils flared. “Skye, do you trust me?”
She blinked up at him, the question strange, and the answer stranger. Because she did trust him. Though they’d only known each other a few days, in a thousand little ways, he’d shown her that he was worthy of trust, he’d shown her that he was decent and good.
“I don’t understand. Why?”
“Because I can,” he said after a moment. “Let me help you, Skye.”
Leandro in action mode was a hurricane of activity. He made calls while Skye packed a suitcase for herself and Harper and when they emerged twenty minutes later, Alec was standing grimly on the footpath holding two white devices.
“You were right,” Alec confirmed to Leandro.
“About what?” Skye asked, clutching Harper’s little hand in her own.
“Do these belong to your parents?”
She frowned. “I’ve never seen those before in my life. What are they?”
“Surveillance cameras. He’s been watching you.”
Skye stared at Leandro and then, out of nowhere, nausea assaulted her. She turned quickly and vomited into one of her mother’s favourite potted plants. The thought of Jay setting up cameras so he could watch her made Skye feel sick, but it was so much worse because what if this wasn’t the extent of it? What if there were more cameras? What if they were in her bedroom? Leandro’s hand patted her back, his perfectly tailored shoes just visible.
“How could he do that?” She whispered, when she’d recovered.
“It’s very easy,” Alec said with sympathy. “He would just have needed to hook into the Wi-Fi signal and then he could monitor the cameras from anywhere.”
“I can’t believe it,” she groaned.
“Would he have the Wi-Fi details, cara?” Leandro asked solicitously.
She thought about that and then remembered a day over a year ago when he’d been collecting Harper and had said he needed to download a big file. He’d asked for them then. “Yes,” she whispered. “But Leandro…he’s had them for over a year.”
“Then he has probably been watching you for as long.”
