Lily tried not to jerk away from the other woman’s hand on her arm. “You’re more than welcome. Remember to moisturize the area three to four times a day, more if needed, and no exposure to the sun, okay?”
The mother’s eyebrows lifted.
Lily smiled. “I know, I know. You’ve heard this all before, but that doesn’t mean I can’t remind you again.”
“Sure, I understand.” She turned to her daughter. “Time to go, Heather.”
The girl ran over and flung her arms around Lily’s waist. “Thank you, Lily.”
Every muscle in Lily’s body tensed, and she forced herself to relax. It’s a little girl, for God’s sake.
“So, I take it you’re done for the day,” Heather’s mother asked as Lily walked them out to the now deserted reception.
“Yeah,” said Lily. “I squeezed you guys in. I should have been done over an hour ago.”
“We appreciate you making time. I’m sure you have better places to be this late on a Friday.”
Lily offered them a smile. “Nah, not really. I’d much rather have been helping Heather.”
The little girl beamed, and Lily’s gaze flicked down the palm-sized birthmark which started on the girl’s chin and spread down her neck. The months of laser therapy were helping to reduce the port wine stain, but it still stood out against the girl’s pale skin.
“We’ll see you in six weeks,” she said.
“Thank you. Goodnight.”
She let them leave and then went back to her office. Everyone else had gone home for the night. Lily wrote up her notes, and then shut down the computer and all the equipment.
Picking up her purse, she finally left the office.
“Goodnight, Dwayne,” she called to the elderly man who cleaned the building after hours. The older man didn’t even look up from his mop, but simply raised his chin to acknowledge he’d heard her.
Lily Drayton’s laboratory was located on the fourth floor of the building—well, laboratory was probably a little steep a name. It was more like a beauty treatment room, but with more technology. But what she did wasn’t just about beauty, it was about treating the person inside. While she could never cure a patient, she could make them feel better about themselves, allow them to walk with their chin held high, and that was the most important thing. If only she could find something that would have the same effect on herself.
Her car was parked in the underground garage linked to the building. She caught the elevator to the bottom level and stepped out. The place was deserted, everyone else having gone home to their families hours ago.
Except tonight the underground lot wasn’t empty. Parked in a spot near her own car was a black BMW, all of its windows blacked out.
Lily frowned and slowed her walk. She didn’t recognize the vehicle, though that didn’t mean anything. The owner might be in the building somewhere attending a late evening meeting with a colleague, or perhaps conducting an affair, and using the deserted office as a rendezvous point. The building shared the space with numerous businesses, so she had no way of knowing who the car belonged to.
Despite all her internal reassurances, the position of the car bothered her. The lot was empty, so why park so close to her car? People always acted as though they were on buses, positioning themselves at a comfortable distance from others, yet this person had chosen to park right beside her. She was sure the BMW hadn’t been there that morning; surely she would have noticed.
Lily hesitated, wondering if she should go back into the building and ask the cleaner to escort her back down, but then she shook her head at herself. She couldn’t do that. She was standing only a few yards from her car now. Turning around and running away simply because of a strange car was ridiculous.
Clearing her throat and plunging her hand into her purse to retrieve her keys, she kept going. She gripped the keys between her knuckles, so she could use the metal end as a weapon if needed. Perhaps she was acting crazy, but her instincts were on high alert. Her heart pounded, every muscle tensed, all the hairs on her body standing on end. She twisted her head from side to side, trying to spot someone lurking in the numerous dark shadows in the parking lot, but she was alone.
No one would miss her if she didn’t go home—there was no one there to miss her. No one would even think something might have happened to her until she missed the next day’s appointments, but then she realized it was Friday. She didn’t have any appointments the next day. It was going to be just another day spent on the couch, accompanied by whatever she’d decide to binge watch on Netflix, and a chilled bottle of Pinot Grigio.
But she reached her car and quickly unlocked the door, before sliding into the driver’s seat. Quickly, she pulled the door shut behind her and hit the button to lock all the doors. She exhaled a sigh of relief, and gave herself a shake. What was wrong with her? Getting spooked, alone in the dark like a child.
Plugging the key into the ignition, she brought her reliable Ford to life. The old engine grumbled around her, and she slid the gear into reverse and twisted in her seat to pull out of the space.
A woman holding a baby against her chest staggered out of the dark. Her dress was torn, her hair ragged. Black eye makeup streamed down her face. The woman lifted her arm toward the car, her eyes beseeching, in a gesture Lily couldn’t mistake as ‘help me.’
“Oh, my God.”
She’d been right about there being something bad happening in the garage, only it hadn’t been her it had happened to.
Not thinking any further, she slammed the brakes on, and shoved the shift stick back into park. Someone needed help, and someone with a baby, at that. Had the poor woman been raped? She’d certainly been attacked. How could anyone do such a thing to a woman and child?
Just as she opened the car door, her senses clicked into place and she reached over and grabbed her cell phone from her purse on the passenger seat. The woman needed help, the police needed to be involved, and most likely the hospital too.
She swung open the car door and jumped out. The woman was crying as she staggered toward Lily, the baby wrapped in a blanket and held tight.
Was the baby even alive held in such a way?
“Help me,” the woman sobbed as she stumbled toward Lily’s car. “Please, there was a man ...” She glanced around frantically, as though she expected her attacker to come launching out of the dark toward her.
“It’s okay,” Lily said. “It’s just you and me. I’ve got my cell. I’m going to call the cops, okay?”
She glanced down at the phone and realized she had no cell coverage. Shit. Of course she didn’t below ground.
“We need to go into the building,” she said, taking a couple of steps toward the woman. The woman cowered away in response.
“It’s okay,” Lily tried again. “We can use a phone. We can get you—”
Something hard and heavy connected with the back of her head. Pain shot through her skull, white light flashing in front of her eyes. Her legs crumpled, and she dropped heavily to the garage floor. By luck, the way she’d fallen meant her arm had cushioned her head, and she was conscious enough to register her relief. If she’d hit her head again, she was sure it would have caused permanent damage. She became aware of someone else nearby, a large, menacing presence.
There was movement above her, and she blinked, trying to bring the scene into focus.
Her attacker stepped forward, toward the woman and baby.
No, she cried in her head. Leave them alone. Don’t hurt them.
She heard a rustling, and, instead of attacking them, the man handed the woman something.
“There’s the rest of your money,” he grunted. “Now get the hell out of here, and forget you ever saw anything.”
What? Lily screamed silently. What the hell is happening?
The woman’s voice now. “It’s already forgotten.”
Then the woman opened her arms and the baby hit the floor with a crack, landing only inches from where Lily had fallen. Li
ly would have screamed if she’d been able to connect her brain to her mouth.
Her eyes sought the baby, wanting to know if it was alive.
Her heart tripped over itself, her vision turning grey at the edges, slowly creeping in.
No, no, no. This couldn’t be happening to her.
The man stood over her, his presence threatening in every way—his size, the stench of stale cigarettes, his heavy breathing. He leaned down and hit her again, the smack making her head rock, pain spearing through her skull and down her spine.
Her last thought before the darkness claimed her ...
A doll. The baby is a doll ...
Get your copy of Defaced now from Amazon, or jump into the whole ‘Monster’ trilogy with the boxed set!
About the Author
Marissa Farrar has always been in love with being in love. But since she's been married for numerous years and has three young daughters, she's conducted her love affairs with multiple gorgeous men of the fictional persuasion.
The author of more than thirty novels, she has been a full time author for the last six years. She predominantly writes paranormal romance and fantasy, but has branched into contemporary fiction as well.
If you want to know more about Marissa, then please visit her website at www.marissa-farrar.blogspot.com. You can also find her at her facebook page, www.facebook.com/marissa.farrar.author or follow her on twitter @marissafarrar.
She loves to hear from readers and can be emailed at [email protected]. To stay updated on all new releases and sales, just sign up to her newsletter! https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/g0x9r0
Also by the Author
The Bad Blood Trilogy
Shattered Hearts
Broken Minds
Tattered Souls
The Monster Trilogy: A Dark Romance Series
DEFACED
DENIED
DELIVERED
Dark Codes: A Reverse Harem Series
Hacking Darkness
Unraveling Darkness
Decoding Darkness
Merging Darkness
The Mercenary Series:
The Choice She Made
The Lie She Told
The Trust She Gave
The Trap She Faced
FOR HIM
THE COMPLETE SERIES
Copyright © 2019 Marissa Farrar
Warwick House Press
Edited by Lori Whitwam
Cover art by Marissa Farrar
License Notes
This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of these authors.
Publisher’s Note
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
For Him: The Complete Series Page 49
