Page 30 of Mountain Refuge

“Once again, Gunther wasn’t there for any of this. Trenton took care of Lydia at home because I didn’t want her in the hospital. I stayed with Henry until he was released to go home. There was actually a clerical error when they made the birth certificate, and I was named as Henry’s birth father.”

Not that that mattered now. I didn’t have that document with us. Plus, I doubt a piece of paper would stop Gunther from claiming Henry as his son.

“By the time I brought Henry home, he was almost six weeks old. Trenton and I didn’t know what to do. We now had a baby to get out of the mansion too. A baby needed more supplies and care than a seven-year-old did. Trenton said that Gunther was so ecstatic about having a son that he was actually acting nicer. We decided to wait until Henry was a year old to leave. He would be bigger by then, able to handle more. Lydia would be eight by then too, so she’d be able to help out more.”

If only, if only…

“Then, three weeks ago, Gunther called us to his office again. We hadn’t been summoned there since the night I’d taken Lydia’s punishment. I didn’t know what to expect. As soon as we entered, though, I saw the look of horror on Trenton’s face… I should have run then. I had Henry in my arms, I had Lydia’s hand… I should have just run then.

“But we would have been stopped. We would have been caught if I’d done that. And yet, what I wouldn’t give to have spared Lydia that next hour.”

“Shit, man. You don’t need to tell me if you’re not ready.”

I shook my head. “You’re taking a risk protecting us. You need to know. You have a right to know why I’m risking your life too.”

Corbin hesitated but then nodded his agreement.

“There was a group of men in the office with Gunther. From the way they held themselves and the weaponsI could see, I guessed them to be gangsters or maybe even the mafia. Hell, I still don’t know what organization type Gunther was in. Not that that matters now.

“Lydia was instructed to walk forward for ‘inspection’,” my tongue soured at the word. “She looked at me and Trenton, but we couldn’t tell her no. She walked over to where Gunther stood with the group of men.

“This time, I paid attention to what was said.” Yet, there were times when I wished I hadn’t. I had that image of Lydia’s intended future permanently stuck in my head for the rest of my life. “And from the moment I understood what was happening, I was beyond horrified. Gunther was arranging Lydia’smarriageto the other boss’s son. Hislate thirtiesson.”

“The fuck!” Corbin’s exclamation was so loud it woke Henry, who started crying.

I reached for my son, rocking him to my chest to calm him. “Cor, it was disgusting. Apparently, the one boss wouldn’t do business with Gunther unless there was a family connection. They needed to be bound with more than just a handshake. Since his only adult child was male, Gunther offered up his daughter—who is still a little girl!

“The deal was struck. I watched them shake hands before ordering champagne to be brought out like it was an engagement party. Lydia was to go live with her intended husband at his estate. She would leave in the morning. Gunther instructed me to packherthings, just hers. I was not going with her. Then he stated like he was assuring me that the actual wedding wouldn’t take place until she was twelve. As if that would make me feel better about him selling off his daughter or the statutory rape that would follow.”

Corbin made a gagging sound. I wasn’t that far behind him.

“Trenton was outraged. I was so shocked I’m not even sure I uttered a single word during the entire meeting. He startedshouting that his sister was not one of his father’sinventoriesthat he could sell off. He called his father a child molester and a murderer. He told the other boss that he shouldn’t want to do business with his father because he would double cross them and cheat them out of their share.” I shook my head in shame. Henry had finally started to quiet down. “I should have seen it coming. I’d seen that look in Gunther’s eye before, that eerie calm that meant something bad was about to happen.

“Cool as a cucumber, Gunther picked up his gun and shot Trenton.”

“No!”

I nodded morosely. “He didn’t kill him, but he shot him in the shoulder.”

I didn’t know Trenton’s current fate, and that haunted me. Had he died while I’d kidnapped his brother and sister? As far as the law was concerned, Ihadkidnapped them. I was not their legal guardian. To anyone other than my children, I was just the nanny. The law didn’t take actions and love into consideration or the fact that I was the only father either child had ever known. If we were caught by the police, I would go to jail, and maybe for more than just kidnapping if that gun Gunther had with my fingerprints on it was also found. The children would go back to their psychopathic father. If we were caught by Gunther… Well, I doubted I would live long enough to learn what would become of my children.

I had to finish. I had to tell Corbin everything, to get it off my chest. “Lydia started screaming and that woke Henry up. He started crying. On top of the children’s hysteria, the other boss had pulled a gun on Gunther. His bodyguards pulled theirs and the other bodyguards pulled theirs.” I flinched, still hearing the piercing echoes. “Trenton was lying on the floor. I could see the pain in his eyes, but he looked right at me and yelled ‘run!’

“I’m still not sure how Lydia got to me. She had been acrossthe room next to Gunther. Then suddenly she was next to me. I took hold of both kids, and I ran out of the office. Seconds later, gunshots were fired.

“Other guards started running towards the office. In the chaos, I got the kids into my car. I had grabbed the diaper bag, which already housed a spare set of clothes for me and Lydia, and, at the last second, your postcard.” With a heavy sigh, I ended my story. “You know the rest.”

Chapter Twelve

Brooke

They’d been in my bedroom for over an hour. It annoyed me that I was excluded, but probably not for the reason it should. I didn’t like that Corbin was learning something about Adam that I wasn’t. To top that feeling off, I also didn’t like that Adam wasconfidingin Corbin, and not me.

Not what I would call rational feelings. Just a silly response that was not like me. I was not a woman who was prone to hysteria. Never had been. I made logical, sound decisions based on facts, not emotions.

It made absolutely no sense why it would hurt that Adam felt he could trust Corbin with his secrets and not me.

Lydia sat at the table, nibbling on the cinnamon apple crisps I made her. She was humming as she ate, swinging her little legs under the chair.

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