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I took them, stashing them under my pillow before giving her a bright smile. He did this regularly so I was used to not eating every day.
“I appreciate it.”
“Do you still have bottles of water?” I had a mini-fridge in the corner for water, and Estelle checked it without waiting for my reply. “You still have some apples in here too so make sure you eat those.”
“I’ll be fine, I’m used to it. Go and enjoy your time off.”
“I wish you had a phone so I could check in with you,” she said instead, her brow creasing. “I don’t want to leave you here on your own for so many days.”
“I like being on my own. I get to plot murder and other fun stuff.” I reached out and took her hand, giving it a small squeeze. “I’ve got lots of books to read and a pile of DVDs to keep me entertained. I’ll probably sleep through most of tomorrow thanks to my lack of sleep last night too.”
“You’re a sweet girl, Penn,” she murmured, breaking the rule about using my proper name. “You’re the daughter I always wanted.”
The damn woman was making me feel things. I didn’t love anyone, but I loved her.
“And you’re the mother I’ve always wanted,” I replied with a small smile. “Now get going, I have plans of world domination to figure out.”
“Be good, I beg you,” she groaned before stepping back and walking towards the door, giving me one last glance before shutting it and making the lock click into place.
Silence immediately hit me and I couldn’t help but let out a huff. I was going to be bored as hell by mid-afternoon tomorrow but I hadn’t wanted to burden Estelle with that fact.
Telling her wouldn’t change anything.
I read one of my romance novels for an hour while muttering under my breath about fictional men being like mythical creatures, then I stripped naked and flipped the light off, deciding on getting an early night to catch up on the missed sleep from last night.
* * *
The next week dragged slowly. Estelle stopped by after two days as promised, managing to sneak me more protein bars. I spaced them out through the rest of the week, not wanting to eat them early and end up hungry later.
My windows were locked which was annoying since I was hot and wanted to open it to let the breeze in. I hadn’t snuck out in close to a month so I missed the cool, evening air on my skin.
I was wearing a white tank top and denim shorts, my hair tied up in a messy ponytail to try and cool me down. Luckily the sun was gone which meant the house would start cooling naturally. I’d already had a cold shower but that hadn’t helped.
It was almost midnight when I heard it.
The sound of footsteps coming up the stairs.
No one was supposed to be here and I doubted Estelle would risk coming back to check on me before she was allowed. It was possible that Dad was already back but then I heard laughter, my back going straight.
I didn’t recognize the voices.
I bailed from where I was sitting on the bed, moving to sit in one of the window seats that were hidden behind the curtain. At least I was out of direct eyesight if they opened the door.
“This fucker’s loaded!” some guy chuckled, doors opening and closing along the hallway as they inspected the house.
My heart started beating faster the closer they became. They could trash the place for all I cared, but I didn’t know what their intentions were.
Maybe they were crazy rapists that were fresh out of prison?
I was hidden enough that when my door opened I got a good view of them without drawing attention to myself. The first guy had a cocky swagger to his step, his dark brown hair spiked at the front to keep it off his face. He was wearing all black, a mask in his hand that he must have been wearing before entering the house.
He smirked as he opened my bedside drawer and pulled out some of my panties.
“Dude, he’s got himself a woman. Either that or he’s collecting trophies. He probably gets shitloads of pussy.”
I fought a gag, studying the other man as he walked in. His dirty blond hair was sticking up at weird angles and his feet were silent as he walked across the room.
At least he seemed to do a better sweep of the room before relaxing.
