Road to Freedom

by Piper Davenport

  I grinned. “It might make her work harder.”

  “How do you nanny harder?” Kade asked.

  Samantha grabbed the banana and jabbed a finger into my chest.

  “Ouch!” I cried. “What the he—”

  “Watch your mouth,” she snapped, jabbing her finger in again.

  Something no one other than a few close confidants knew was that my brother-in-law was not human. Kade was from an ancient Viking race that lived sometimes thousands of years and mated for life. When Samantha had been hired to work for Kade’s pharmaceutical company, they had discovered they were mates and had been together for a little over six years now.

  My FBI partner, Cole, had been recruited to handle security issues only humans could safely deal with. The Cauld Ane were susceptible to temperatures over sixty-eight degrees Fahrenheit and a rather plain, but deadly, flower called Red Fang. Cole had proved invaluable in situations the Cauld Ane couldn’t risk, and I had been attempting to assist with that, along with running my dealerships. It was becoming impossible to do it all, so I’d let my job at the FBI go and now had to decide if I was in with Cole, or staying in Savannah. It was a tough decision to make.

  “And you go anywhere near Mary,” Samantha continued. “I will hurt you worse than you’ve ever been hurt...capisce? Plus, I won’t heal you.”

  I raised my hands and stepped away from her iron finger. Ever since she’d been converted to Cauld Ane, she had superhuman strength. “I won’t go anywhere near Mary.”

  “Don’t talk to her, don’t even look at her.”

  “Kade, man, help a brother out?”

  Kade shook his head. “I’m with Sam, Dalton. Sorry. You’ve got a reputation and we need a dependable nanny.”

  Before I could protest, a knock at the door brought Alasdair and Mary. Samantha wagged her finger at me once more and then greeted the nanny.

  I sighed, albeit internally. Mary might be gorgeous, but my sister was right. I couldn’t get involved with anyone at the moment, and to lead Mary on might be fun, but it could be detrimental for my nephews.

  My phone buzzed and I pulled it out of my pocket. “Hey, Mama, how’s Dad?”

  Samantha grabbed my arm and I held the phone between both of our ears.

  “He’s still in surgery. It’s not good.”

  I sighed. My mom sounded tired and worried. “We’ll be there in less than seven hours, Mama. Okay?”

  “Okay, honey.”

  “Did you call Aunt Beth?” Samantha asked.

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “It’s early here. You know she’s not an early riser.”

  Samantha sighed. “Mom, she’d want to be there.”

  “I’ll call her,” I offered.

  “Oh, honey, that would be amazing. I should go. I need to ask the nurse if there are any updates.”

  “Love you,” Samantha and I said at the same time.

  “Love you both. See you soon.”

  “I’ll call Beth on the way to the airstrip,” I said, and helped Alasdair and Kade load the bags into the car. We took off for Savannah less than an hour later, hopeful our father would still be alive when we got there.

  * * *

  Andi

  “Mrs. Moore?” I called as I stood at the threshold of the waiting room.

  “I’m Melanie Moore.” A beautiful, older woman stood and rushed toward me with another woman in tow. Recognition flitted through my mind and my heart raced.

  “The doctor wanted me to give you an update.” I tried for a bolstering smile. “Surgery’s going really well, but it will be a few more hours.”

  She sniffed back tears. “Will... will he be okay?”

  I couldn’t answer her question because I didn’t know. But luckily, the other woman spoke before I had to.

  “Of course he is.” She smiled at me. “I’m Beth. Melanie’s sister.”

  “It’s nice to meet you,” I said. “My name’s Andi, so if you need anything, I’m typically over at the nurse’s station, but if I’m not, someone will find me.”

  “Thanks honey,” Beth said, and led Melanie back to the chairs.

  I headed back to the nurse’s desk where Laura was standing arguing with her doctor boyfriend, Mark Long... Jackass Doctor number two.

  “Hey guys,” I said, and stifled a chuckle when they jumped away like errant teens.

  “Hey, Andi.” Laura scowled at Mark. “We were just discussing a patient.”

  “None of my business.” Picking up a chart, I prepared for a long night, but before I got too involved with the busy work of the ER, my gaze was drawn to the people walking towards me.

  Holy crap on a stick, Dalton Moore was walking toward me with his sister, Samantha, and some unbearably gorgeous man who had an arm around her waist. When I saw Mrs. Moore, I didn’t really entertain the thought that Dalton would come, but it made sense. They were a tight-knit family. Mrs. Moore had been at every football game...as had I... until, well, until my brother was kicked out of school. Mrs. Moore and I had never officially met, and she was usually wrapped up in scarves and heavy coats, but Dalton had her eyes, and they were hardly forgettable.

  As Dalton drew closer, my breath left my body and I swallowed. For the first time in a very long time, I was rendered floaty by a man. In fact, the only other time I’d been mute had been when I’d met Dalton at a football game in high school. I was a freshman; he was a junior and the quarterback of the undefeated Raiders at Savannah Christian High School. There’d been a moment...a short moment my sophomore year, but a significant moment all the same, where I actually believed he was interested in me. But it wasn’t meant to be. That had been a long time ago, but he still made my legs feel like jelly. I’d often fantasized about what it would have been like if I’d married him (or someone like him) instead of Jeremy Roth. Good Lord, anyone would have been better than Jeremy. I stared back at my notes and tried to look busy.

  “Andi?”

  I looked up and nearly ran for cover. I couldn’t believe Dalton recognized me after all this time.

  “Andi Rivers, right?” He grinned. “Dalton Moore. You probably don’t remember me.”

  Oh, I remember you. I’ve only loved you for half my life.

  “Uh, hey. Right. Dalton. How are you?” I improvised.

  Oh, good one, Andi. You’re so smooth.

  “I’ve been better,” he admitted.

  “Yeah, your dad’s in surgery.”

  He smiled. “We know.”

  “Right.”

  He leaned against the counter. “Have you heard anything?”

  I shook my head. “Not yet. As soon as I know anything, though, I’ll let you know.”

  Samantha glanced at me before handing Dalton a bundle of toddler. “Hold Finn. Dr. Selliken is meeting me so I can find out what’s going on.” She kissed the big man holding the older child and then walked through the doors towards ICU. I remember seeing Dr. Moore’s name on a few documents, particularly in relation to research, so I knew Samantha used to work there.

  “How are you?” Dalton asked, bringing my focus back to him.

  “I’m good,” I said. “I need to get these charts done. Do you have any questions for me before I get back to work?”

  He shook his head. “I have a feeling Samantha will get more information than you can give me.”

  I bobbed my head up and down and struggled to find my voice again, forcing my mouth into some semblance of a smile. “You’re probably right. Your mom and aunt are in the waiting room. Do you want me to show you?”

  He studied me for a second and then smiled. “That’d be great, Andi, thanks.”

  I stepped out from behind the desk and walked toward the waiting room, assuming he’d follow. He did. As did the other man who still hadn’t spoken.

  “You’re here,” Melanie cried, and wrapped her arms around Dalton, kissing Finn. “I can’t believe you made it so quickly.”

  “Helps when your son-in-law owns his own plane
,” Dalton retorted.

  “Kade,” she said, and hugged him. “Thank you for coming.”

  “My pleasure, Mum.”

  “Where’s Samantha?”

  “Meeting with one of the doctors,” Kade said.

  Melanie held her hands out. “Come to Grammie, Liam.”

  He reached his arms out and went in for a snuggle.

  I felt like I was intruding on a private family moment, so I turned and walked back to the desk. I dropped my head on the desk in dismay.

  As I was staring at my feet, my phone buzzed in my pocket and I sat up with a sigh, seeing Aspen’s name on the screen. We were still besties, and I was currently living with her while I got back on my feet. “Hey, Aspen.”

  “Hey. Just checking what time you’ll be home. I’m heading out.”

  I glanced at my watch. Six a.m. “Early meeting?”

  “Yep.”

  “I won’t be home for a few hours.”

  “Okay. I’ll be super quiet when I come home then.”

  I smiled. “Thanks.”

  “You okay?”

  “Why do you ask that?” I asked, my voice pinched and thin.

  “Oh, no reason...other than that weird thing you do with your voice when you’re all discombobulated.”

  “You know I have a love-hate thing going with how well you know me.”

  She giggled. “Totally. Spill.”

  “Dalton Moore.”

  “What about him?”

  “He’s here right now.”

  “Is he a patient?” she asked.

  “Um, no. If he was, I wouldn’t tell you he was even here.”

  “Oh, right, Hippa whatever.”

  I smiled. “Exactly.”

  “Andi?” a deep, sexy voice called my name and even though my back was to him, I knew it was Dalton.

  “I gotta go,” I said, and hung up, turning to face him. He no longer had his nephew and was leaning across the desk. “Hey, Dalton. What can I do for you?” Desperate to do something with my hands, I picked up a chart and attempted to look totally in control.

  “Just wondering if you’ve heard anything.”

  I shook my head. “Sorry. Samantha will probably know something before I will.”

  He studied me for several, very uncomfortable seconds. “You doin’ okay?”

  “Just dandy,” I quipped.

  “You talk to your brother lately?”

  “No.” I almost threw up in my mouth. “I...need to get back to work.”

  “Shit, Andi, sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.” He sighed. “It’s gotta be tough knowin’ he’s in jail.”

  The emergency alarm sounded, cutting off any lame response I could give, and I rushed from the desk and back to the ambulance bay. I didn’t have time to dwell on Dalton’s comments, but knew I needed to get him out of my mind. The fantasy was officially destroyed.

  * * *

  If you liked the sneak peek of Bound by Sight, you can order it HERE!

  Unedited Excerpt ©2018 Trixie Publishing, Inc.

  PROLOGUE

  Quinlan

  Three Years Ago...

  I couldn’t breathe. My eyes flew open before I was fully awake, and I felt pressure on my throat.

  “Good morning, sweetheart.”

  I clawed at Michael’s arm holding me down, but he wouldn’t budge.

  “I’ll let you go if you promise not to scream.”

  I nodded frantically, still clawing at him. He released me, and I dragged in gulping breaths as I rubbed my neck. “What do you want?” I rasped. “How did you get in?”

  “I have a key.”

  “How the hell did you get a key?”

  “Sweetheart, I have access to you on a level you couldn’t even fathom.”

  I shivered, squeezing my eyes shut. “Michael, you need to go.”

  “I don’t think so.” He rose to his feet. “Get dressed. I’ll meet you downstairs. We’re going to have a little chat.”

  I slid out of bed slowly and rushed around the room looking for my phone. It wasn’t where I left it. Shit! I had no way to call my brother...or Knox. My bedroom was on the second floor and my window was over a cement pad, which meant I had no way out. At least for the moment.

  I pulled on clothes and tried to think of an exit plan. Michael and I had gone on the sum-total of three dates. Each worse than the previous and I had broken it off before it had even started.

  Truth be told, my heart had never been in it, because it had always belonged to another. Knox “Badger” McKellar had been mine since the first moment I met him. Ten years ago.

  I was fifteen and my mother had just died of cancer. Dad had been gone for years, so it was just my brother, Valen, and me. He was nineteen and had gained custody of me through the courts (a process that was started when Mom got sick).

  Valen had an opportunity to work as a mechanic while he finished up training, so he moved us from Amarillo, Texas to Savannah, Georgia. I’d met Knox my second day of Sophomore year, and fallen in love. Until recently, however, he hadn’t felt the same way.

  “Quinlan!” Michael bellowed. “I’m losing patience.”

  I forced back tears and took a deep breath.

  “Quinlan!”

  My body shook as I headed toward the stairs. It took me a second to move, but I stepped down, and then again, until I arrived in the foyer of my tiny townhouse rental.

  I squared my shoulders and walked into the kitchen where Michael sat on a barstool at my island...spinning my phone like top. I reached for it, but he snatched it out of my reach and tsked. “You and I are going to have a come to Jesus meeting. Then you can have your phone.”

  I crossed my arms. “I don’t know what you want from me, Michael.”

  “I want you to marry me.”

  “Are you insane?” I snapped.

  He slammed his palms on the island. “I’m not crazy,” he screamed, and he scared me so much, I felt like I jumped a foot in the air.

  “I apologize.” He took a deep breath and settled his hands in his lap. “That was ungentlemanly.”

  “Please give me my phone,” I whispered.

  He shook his head, sliding a manila envelope toward me. “You’re going to forget your biker scum associates and marry me. If you don’t, I will kill young Knox McKellar, and burn your brother’s club to the ground. He and his ‘brothers’ will be sent to prison for a very long time. Then where will you be, sweet Quinlan?”

  “I will not marry you, Michael. My brother and Knox can take care of themselves.”

  He rose to his feet and smoothed his shirt. “We’ll see. I’ll expect your answer in two hours.”

  Michael left, and I opened the envelope...that’s when my world imploded.

  * * *

  Six months ago...

  I stared down at my baby girl, Kinsey, sleeping so peacefully in her crib. I was currently sporting a new bruise under my right eye, and it was swelling, so it was a little tough to see her in the darkness. I laid my hand on her chest and felt it rise and fall with every breath, and I relaxed...sort of. I was doing this for her. At least, that’s what I told myself. He’d never hit me on my face before. He usually kept his beatings in places I could cover up, but tonight was different. His irritation had turned to anger, and I was in the path of that rage.

  I closed my eyes and said a silent prayer, hoping to God everything worked. I had started to put my plan into action a month ago. I had a go bag, I had money stashed. I was ready. And I was ready without help from my brother, or Badger. I didn’t want any of this to touch them.

  I just had to get through the next two days. Then Michael would be gone overnight, and Kinsey and I could disappear.

  Despite the pain in my body, I felt a lightness I hadn’t in a very long time. Sneaking out of her room, I headed downstairs and grabbed an icepack and a glass of wine. Flipping on the television, I settled in for quiet night, since I had at least two hours before Michael returned from whichever whore he visited to
ease the ache of his erectile dysfunction.

  I giggled quietly, then forced myself to stop. This was why I got hit. At least, why he hit me in the face this time. Technically, he didn’t need a reason to hit me, but me laughing at the fact he couldn’t get it up forced him over the edge and I’d paid the price.

  I’d figured out early in our marriage that if I didn’t seem scared, he couldn’t perform, which meant he left me alone most nights. I’d rather be beaten than have his dick anywhere near me.

  I shuddered. God, twice was enough.

  Sipping my wine, I channel surfed until I could barely keep my eyes open. Rather than hauling my butt up to bed, I settled myself on the sofa...awakening with a gasp when a smooth hand pressed against my cheek.

  “Waiting up for me, sweetheart?” Michael crooned.

  I stood without response, not wanting to be in a vulnerable position. He was a mess. His suit askew, his hair unkempt, dirt on his hands. Completely unlike him. I didn’t ask him why. Honestly, I didn’t want to know.

  “I’m sure you’re wondering where I’ve been,” he said, pulling a folded manila envelope from his inside jacket pocket. “I have a little gift for you.”

  God, I hated manila offerings from him.

  I clasped my hands in front of me and shook my head. “I’m good, thank you.”

  He dropped it on the sofa. “I’m going to clean up. Take some time to read that, then I’ll meet you in bed.”

  I stood frozen to the spot as he left the room, staring down at the envelope, knowing that whatever was in this was going to hurt. Taking a minute to bolster my courage, I took a few deep breaths, then opened the envelope. I was wrong. This didn’t hurt me. This destroyed me.

  Dropping the photographs of a broken and beaten Knox on the floor, I fell to my knees and covered my face, unable to stop the sobs from wracking my body. I didn’t know if he was dead...and I didn’t want to know. I had only a few minutes to grieve, as I was suddenly dragged up by my hair and my head tipped back to meet the eyes of Satan.

  “Whatever you have planned, sweetheart, cancel it. As you can see, I can get to your loved ones anytime, anyplace. Never fear, darling. He’s not dead. I made sure Harlan didn’t quite go that far. But if you leave, I will kill him...along with your beloved brother, so reconsider.” He released me by shoving me onto the sofa. “I’ll give you a moment to compose yourself and then you can come upstairs and undress for me. Slowly.”