Page 48 of Scarlett's Mountain Man
“You may be blood-related to her, but she will never be your daughter. She is mine and Thorin’s,” I reply loudly, standing my ground.Maybe my voice will carry through the forest and catch someone’s attention.
I shouldn’t try being so brave, not when I don’t know how close anyone else is to saving us or whether Harold is armed.
“You’d better be careful with that mouth of yours. I might just sellyourbody to show you who you actually belong to and why you can’t back-talk to me,” he sneers.
A shiver makes its way through my body, and terror engulfs me. Juniper starts crying in my arms, and it takes everything in me not to take my eyes off Harold to help settle her.
Harold draws a gun and points it at my head. “You are going to be a good girl and come to me slowly. Don’t you dare try anything, or I will shoot you. Do you understand?”
Nodding, I briefly look around the forest, trying to see if anyone is close enough, but the hope dies when my eyes find Harold’s again.
No one is here.
Do they not want me here anymore? Was it just a show to give me hope?
I push the thoughts to the back of my mind as I take a small step toward him, everything in my body screaming at me to turn around and run away. But he has a gun, and I have Juniper in my arms. I can’t put her in danger. I also suck at being coordinated, and I am worried I’ll trip on a root and hurt Juniper in the process.
No.
I just need to have faith that Daddy is going to save me and get rid of Harold for good. I knew something bad was going to happen, yet Daddy didn’t listen to me. He told me I had nothing to worry about.
Harold, standing right in front of me, is something I was worried about, and now it’s true.
“Slowly walk toward me,” Harold spits at me. “Don’t think about doing anything stupid. Unless you want a bullet in you.”
I shake my head and take another hesitant step toward him. I don’t him to shoot me, and I really don’t want to walk toward him. It’s a lose-lose situation ,and there is no way out of it.
“Bitch!” he yells. “When I say slowly, I don’t mean molasses!”
I flinch and shield Juniper even more. If any of us is going to get hurt, it’s going to be me. Daddy can take care of Juniper if I’m gone. He’s done amazing so far, and I know he’s going to continue to take care of her. He can tell Juniper all about me and how we met.
I never thought I was going to meet the person I would spend the rest of my life with like that. After I’d just had a baby and had driven a couple of hours to get to safety and collapse in his arms?
Never crossed my mind, but I’m so glad I did. My life has been incredible ever since I met Daddy. I wish our time together could have been longer.
“Come on.” Harold moves the gun, and I stop moving, closing my eyes and waiting for him to shoot me. But the gun never goes off.
Arms wrap around my wrist and yank me toward them. Harold holds me against his body, his gun digging into my side. Juniper wails in my arms, and I can only hope that someone hears her and comes to rescue us.
“Walk.” Harold hisses in my ear. “Try anything and a bullet will go in your side.”
Nodding, I take a tentative step forward. I move my eyes around the forest, trying to see if anyone is there, but all I see are trees and bushes. Tears pool in my eyes as we head down the path, my fate seeming to be solidified with each step we take.
“Please,you don’t have to do this,” I whisper. “I promise I won’t tell anyone what I saw or what happened.”
“You are mine, and you always will be,” he growls in my ear as we get near to the clearing. “You are never getting away from me.”
The tears run down my face as he digs the gun even further into my side. His car is in the middle of the dirt road, door open.
“Get in. Make a sound and our daughter dies,” he sneers and pushes me forward.
I stumble, my body falling against the car. I hold Juniper tightly as I climb into the car and scan the area, trying to see if there is anyone to save us. But yet again, my shoulders drop when I realize no one is out there.
They really don’t care about us.
Harold shuts the door and rounds the car, but before he can get into the car, I hear a voice.
“Scarlett, close your eyes, Little One,” Daddy tells me.
