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She had cleaned theht into the wounds while Cassie stood tre More painful than actually receiving the wounds But she knew she couldn’t afford the infection If she got sick then there was no way she could protect her baby

Her hand treht of the agonizing flight down the apartet to the basement Out of habit, she had pulled into the back of the apart lot It was rarely used and she had feltthere

The back door was hard to open froh, and she couldn’t afford the precious minutes it would have taken to put Cassie down to open it The basement door was easier and it had a bolt on the inside She had slid the thick bolt ho to the line of washers and the often-open smallShe and Cassie had barely h the door The car had only been a few steps ahead The doors were still unlocked and, thankfully, she kept her keys tucked in her jeans pocket rather than carrying a purse

The past two years had been horrifying Terrance Grange never gave up He was like a pit bull, his jaws claive her any peace At first, she had prayed that if sheto the police, stayed quiet and hid, he would leave them alone But he wanted Cassie His men had o free, do whatever the hell she wanted He didn’t give a dahter

The perverted bastard She knew exactly why he wanted her baby, and she would die before she would allow it But what if she did die and he still ed in her chest at the thought She wasn’t strong enough to fight e was at cutting off every avenue of escape she could find He killed the people who tried to help her Killed the her with nowhere to turn

Had he paid off Dash Sinclair?

As he talked to the waiter, Elizabeth moved slowly fro a small row of teddy bears behind the counter, obviously intent on picking one out Would he buy a teddy bear for a child he was going to betray?

She took a deep breath God, she wanted to trust him Wanted to believe he could help her, but she had learned better over the past two years Had learned she could trust no one but herself

She eased Cassie fro in despair at the painful thinness of her little girl’s body Then she glanced out at the parking lot, fear streaking through her They could die out there What the hell was she supposed to do?

“I’ll get her” She jerked around, her eyes wide, arirl

Dash watched her so with heat and anger It was still, understanding, as he gripped Cassie beneath her thin arms and lifted her easily from Elizabeth’s

“Don’t hurt her” She couldn’t stop the plea For the moment, she had no choice but to trust hi into her heart “Please don’t hurt her”

Gentle are eyes stared down at her with a hint of compassion

“Get the stuff froot Cassie a stuffed bear to make up for the one that was destroyed And soet to our destination We need to leave now” His voice wasn’t gentle It was cool, dark, deep It stroked over her shattered nerves, surprisingly enough, stilling them

Shehim, terrified he would si for her Her body was tense, every ht when she reached the bar