Chapter 27 #3
“So I looked closer, and wouldn’t you know it but I was right.
” Montgomery bends to meet my gaze, and the chill that runs down my spine has nothing to do with the damp dress clinging to me.
“It was you. And on your lap was a child. A child who just so happens to have the same birthmark as me.” He raises his hand as if to remind me of it.
“When were you going to tell me I had a daughter, Mara?”
“Never,” I seethe, clenching my teeth. Emmaline squeaks as I hold her almost as tightly as Sullivan clutches my leg.
Never have I been so fearfully furious as I am right now.
He’s saying things just like he did in my terrible dreams from months ago.
This time there’s no Warren to wake me up and hold me and tell me I’m safe.
“She’s not yours. She already has a father. ”
“That mark on her hand says otherwise.” His lips form a semblance of a smile, but there’s nothing friendly in it. He glances down to her hand, and I want to pluck his filthy eyes out for daring to look at her. “Besides, who said I wanted to be a father to her?”
“Then why do you want her? Why take us?” And why bring us here if he was staying at the hotel in town? How did he even find this cabin?
“Because she’s mine, first of all. Nobody steals anything from Montgomery Blackwood. I can keep her and sell her off for a rich price when the time comes. Skin as pretty as her mother’s…”
My blood burns at his unspoken threat. I’ll fight him to the death before anything happens to my daughter.
“And as for you…well, how could I not take you right along with her? I’ve missed our times together, haven’t you?
” Montgomery hooks his cane around a chair, not giving a care for the harsh scraping noise as the legs drag across the floor.
“Now, enough of the pleasantries. Put the child down and take off that dress.”
Christ, the way my heart pounds against my ribs as my thoughts begin to race. Whatever I have to do once my dress comes off, my children’s little eyes and ears need shielded as much as possible from it. Sullivan is almost my shadow as he follows me to the blankets in the far corner.
“Do you think you can play with Emmaline for a little bit?” I ask. My arms tighten around her tiny frame, already missing her comforting weight before I’ve even given her up.
His eyebrows wrinkle as he thinks it through. “I can try. She’s real little, though. And I don’t have any toys.”
My heart aches for him. Of course a man like Montgomery wouldn’t care to give a child any toys. “Can you sing? She loves it when her papa sings to her.”
“Yeah,” he says with a bit of doubt. “I can do that.”
I press my face to Emmaline’s hair and fiercely breathe past the remnants of Montgomery’s coat and cologne until I reach her soft, baby scent. This is just for now, my darling.
Just for now.
A small, dirty hand tugs at my arm, and I crouch to hear Sullivan’s whisper. “I’ll take care of her, but who’s gonna take care of you? He’s not a nice man. Sometimes he gets mad even when I listen real hard and do everything he says.”
Hatred for Montgomery flares again, but I keep my tone mild.
“It’s all going to be okay,” I swear softly to both of them.
“Trust me. No matter what you see or hear, don’t look over there.
And stay here in this spot.” He nods somberly, and when I carefully lay my daughter down, she lets out a hesitant cry that quickly turns into a wail when I stand.
Sullivan anxiously begins singing, but the tune is drowned out by her cries.
Montgomery cuts a sharp glance to her. “Good God, make her stop.”
“I can’t,” I bite out as Emmaline’s crying intensifies with every small step I force myself to take away from her. My nails dig into my palms, and I press them in harder, imagining it’s Montgomery’s face. “She’s tired and hungry and wants to be held.”
“Then feed her. If that’s what it takes to make her stop.”
His clipped words ease some of the pressure bearing down on me.
It’s a small reprieve for us both, but I’ll take it.
Turning my back to Montgomery, I shrug the blanket around me and work my dress open.
By now, Emmaline’s back arches with the force of her cries, and of course poor Sullivan doesn’t know what to do. He’s just a child himself.
“I tried.” His shoulders slump in dejection as I pick her up and discreetly fit my breast to her mouth after a few false starts. “I tried real hard but I don’t think she liked it.”
“Oh, sweetheart, it’s not your fault. I promise.” Shifting my hold, I rub small circles over his thin back, and I have to tell myself the same thing. “Sometimes when she’s hungry, it’s hard for her to enjoy anything else. Even if it’s something she likes.”
“Yeah, sometimes it’s like that for me, too. But I have some crackers left over from yesterday ‘cause I knew I’d be hungry today.”
A sharp pang runs through me at how hollow his little voice turns. Montgomery probably uses food as a punishment for him.
But never again.
Not after today.
“Eat your crackers and then lie down,” I softly tell Sullivan. I wish I could tell him more, but I don’t dare to just yet.
“Turn around and let me see you.”