Page 29 of Daddy’s Protection (The Daddy Guard #3)

Cami staggered backward as the three men barreled inside.

Falling onto her bottom, she began to crab-crawl through the foyer. “Get out! This is our house!”

But the men didn’t stop.

Cami heard a door open and cast a quick glance to her left over her shoulder to see Iris had emerged from the bathroom.

“Hey! Who are you?” Iris demanded.

Lana was behind Cami, too. “I’m calling the police!”

Before she could retrieve her phone from where it rested on an entry table beneath a hanging mirror, the men lunged forward.

Cami screamed.

The other ladies did, too.

“Run!” Cami yelled.

With one of the large men blocking the phones on the table, the girls didn’t really have another viable option than to retreat deeper into the mansion. They had a landline in the den. It was probably their best bet, Cami figured.

But they had to get there first. And there was a long way to traverse in that big old house.

Cami twisted until she was on her knees and crawling forward.

She started to stand, but a hand shoved her hard on the back and she fell right back to the floor.

The runner atop the hardwood floor cushioned her a little, but her hands still hurt as they met the ground while she tried to catch herself.

At least she didn’t fall flat on her face. That was a small victory.

She started to crawl again but this time the hand behind her took ahold of her right ankle.

“Let… me… go,” she grunted.

“Yeah! Don’t touch her!” Iris said, running toward them.

Cami was aware enough to realize Lana was picking up a vase, lining it up to throw, but that was all she could notice. She had tunnel vision. Right now was just about staying alive. She didn’t understand who these men were or what they wanted.

All she knew is that she couldn’t allow them to hurt her or her friends.

“Daddy!” she cried out, as if that might make Isaiah and the other Guard members magically appear.

“No one’s coming to help,” one of the men growled.

“We just want you. Your friends can eat shit,” another one said.

The third released a cold laugh that sent a chill up Cami’s spine as he said, “Actually, maybe we should have a little fun with ‘em.”

Her blood turned to ice water. The situation was dire and a tightness in her chest told her time might be running out. These men were going to kill her—and hurt Lana and Iris.

Why, she didn’t know.

“What the—” the guy who held her ankle cried. “Oh shit!”

She writhed in his grasp and jerked free. Still on the floor but turning to face him, she saw his face was as white as a sheet. Terror filled his eyes. He opened his mouth, but a few seconds passed before she heard his scream.

When she did, it hurt her ears. It was so loud it probably rattled the windows, she figured.

The man was clearly afraid of something.

No, afraid didn’t accurately sum it up.

He was outright terrified.

His two partners stood straighter as masks of fear appeared on their faces. They were staring at something deeper into the house.

Cami turned again and followed their eyeline.

What she saw didn’t scare her. But it did shock her.

The ghost from the other night stood where the long corridor that ran from the front door all the way back to the den met the dining room. Her long, dark hair flowed behind her, as if wind was rushing all around. She was translucent, but even in her ghostly state, her beauty still shone through.

“Get out!” she cried. “Leave this house!”

From the left and right a man and woman appeared. Their clothes, like the woman’s, looked as if they belonged in the 1920s. His dark hair was parted neatly. He was classically handsome and possessed a suave quality.

The other woman had blonde hair and blue eyes. She was gorgeous but her expression was a tad mischievous.

“Leave this place,” she hissed.

“You’re not welcome here. You’ll not hurt these ladies,” the ghostly man stated.

“What the hell!” the man who’d been holding onto Cami yelled again. “Let’s get out of here!”

The three thugs spun on their heels and headed toward the front door. Cami scrambled to her feet and followed, more to shut the door and bolt it than to pursue the fleeing criminals.

When she got there, though, she saw Isaiah, Ace, and Jack running up the walkway.

“Daddy! They tried to attack us!” she yelled.

The three goons cried, “Oh shit!” in unison before they were punched and tackled.

The Daddy Guard had handled the problem.