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A tear runs down Anne’s cheek. She brushes it away quickly with the side of her fist.
“Could you guys be a little more sensitive? You’re talking about her father.”
“Aw, shit. Forgot about that.” Tex actually looks a bit guilty. “It’s nothing personal, kid. Your daddy’s pissed off a lot of people. We just happened to be the only ones good enough to get to him. If it wasn’t us, it would’ve been someone else eventually.”
“I want to go home,” Anne whispers.
“When this is over, I’m sure they’ll let us go and I’ll make sure you’re safe,” I promise. “Right?” I look back and forth between our captors. They don’t meet my eyes.
Riot is the first to respond. He crouches down, getting on level with Anne. “Nothing is sure in this life, but so long as you and your nanny behave, I’ll do my best to make sure you get out of this. Do you trust me?”
She starts to nod, then shakes her head. I half expect him to get mad, but he just chuckles.
“Smart kid.”
Ghost motions to Riot. “Watch her for a second, will ya? I want to have a little chat with the nanny.” He takes me by the arm and leads me away from Anne, who is watching us with wide, blue eyes.
“I’ll be right back!” I hope.
Ghost boxes me in, putting his back to the others and getting close enough for a little privacy. I don’t want to notice the rich scent of cologne clinging to his skin under the leather, dust and remnants of their fight, but I do. “Look, I’m going to be straight with you because pretending this is a fun little adventure is bullshit that won’t help anyone. Her father is a walking corpsethat hasn’t gotten the message yet. I don’t know how you feel about your boss, but it would be in your best interest to work with us until this is over. Keep his daughter calm and out of our hair, and I’ll do my best to get you through this.”
Hearing him say out loud that they’re here to kill Victor nudges something deep inside me that feels an awful lot like hope. “I hate him.”
“Excuse me?”
“You asked how I felt about Victor. I hate him. I—I won’t help you hurt anyone, but don’t worry. I’ll take care of Anne. She’s a good kid. Nothing like her father.”
Ghost cocks his head and considers me for a long moment. “If you hate him so much, why do you work for him?”
“I… I’m here for Anne.”
He reaches out and tilts my chin up, searching my face for the truth. “Fair enough. So long as whatever you aren’t saying doesn’t fuck with our goals, you don’t owe me shit.”
When his hand drops away, it’s all I can do not to take a step towards him.
Ghost turns away. "The house is secure. Don’t know about you guys, but I feel fucking exposed up here. Grab the girls and let’s get them downstairs. I want to hear what’s going on with Cooper and Kane."
Tex and Riot grunt in agreement, and before I know it, Riot slings me over his shoulder like I don't weigh a thing. I let out a surprised gasp, followed by an equally surprised squeak from Anne when Tex gives her the same treatment. I wiggle a little.My stomach aches where Victor punched me and this is putting pressure close to the bruise.
“I can walk, you know.”
Riot pats my ass. “Why walk when you can ride?”
“I don’t ride bikers.” As soon as the words are out of my mouth I hear how it must sound. “I mean?—”
“I get it. You’re too good for assholes like us. It’s your loss, Fran.”
What? “My name is Jessica.”
“Yeah, I know, but you’re the nanny. Get it? The Nanny?”
Anne, bouncing on Tex’s shoulder, looks over at me, confused. The whole situation is so bizarre that I almost laugh in spite of seeing a bloody handprint smeared down the wall behind her. The house looks like a warzone, my tormentor slash boss is probably going to end up dead, and one of the men responsible is cracking nanny jokes.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Seriously? Fucking classic TV. It’s going to be hard to explain some of my nanny fantasies if you haven’t seen the show.”
“You could always keep them to yourself,” I grumble.
