Page 39 of Winter Break

Cora is still staring at me, eyes wide, spine rigid.

I go to her and sit on the stool next to hers before turning her entire chair to face me. “That house does not belong to Vincent. It never did. It belongs to you, and he knows that. The person who should have been evicted after your mother died was Vincent Jones.”

She gasps.

“Granted, the state would have needed to assign you a guardian until you turned eighteen, but that only would have involved Jones if you’d agreed to it. Obviously, under the circumstances, you never would have.”

“That rat bastard!” she shouts.

I couldn’t agree more, so I don’t reprimand her for her language.

She seethes. “All this time he acted like he was doing me a favor, telling me he could put me out on the streets at any time if I chose not to obey his every demand. He terrorized me and beat me. Fuck him!” she screams.

I unfasten her restraints and lift her into my arms. “Straddle me, Little doll.”

When she does, I pull her close, chest to chest, and rub her back. “I’m so sorry, sweetness.”

“I want to kill him,” she growls.

I hug her tighter. “That won’t be necessary, Little doll.”

She leans back, frowning. “Why not?”

“Because I’m going to take care of it, Cora.” I won’t lie to her. That man is dead. But I’ll be the one to end him, not my Little girl.

Her eyes widen. “You’re going to, uh…?”

“Yes, sweetness. He can’t be allowed to stay alive. Every day that he’s still breathing is another day I have to worry that he might come here and do something to harm you. I won’t have it. He’s unhinged, Cora.”

There’s a knock at the door, and I rise from the stool, still holding my girl, to head for the front of the cabin.

“What if it’s Vincent?” Cora hisses.

“It’s not, Little doll. He wouldn’t be able to get this close to us without one of my brothers seeing him.” When I look out the peephole, I find Quinn standing on the porch.

After ensuring that Cora’s dress is tucked under her bottom and that she’s pressed firmly against me to conceal her nipples, I open the door and take one step outside.

Quinn nods. “Morning.” He glances toward Cora. “Nice to meet you, Little one. I’m Quinn. We’re all excited to have you join our pride.”

Cora flinches. “Thank you.”

He smiles warmly and turns his attention to me. “I just wanted to let you two know that I’m going to install a surveillance camera with motion sensors on the front of your cabin. Just a precaution.”

“Excellent idea,” I respond. “I guess you’ve spoken to Pryce.”

“Yes. It won’t take long. I’m going to do the same to all of our cabins. We’ll sleep better at night, especially after we’ve all found a mate.”

“Agreed.” My chest feels lighter with the knowledge that motion sensors will alert us to any movement outside. It will be especially necessary at night. I’m certain at least one of my brothers watched my cabin last night so I could spend the time devoted to my mate, but they can’t keep that up every night, especially not after all of them have bonded with their own Little girls.

“I’ll have this hooked up in no time. Go on back inside so Cora doesn’t catch a cold.”

“Thank you.” I nod toward Quinn and turn to shut myself in with my mate once more.

“Don’t you have to go to work?” she asks me.

“Nope. My pride brothers will cover for me for a few days so I can spend all my time with you.”

“What will I do when you return to work?”