Page 17 of Snowed Inn For Christmas

“What do you want, Joel?”I asked, getting to the point as my voice broke.

“Oh, Julie.I thought I had already made that clear.I want what’s mine.The only thing I’ve ever wanted was you.And in case you haven’t noticed—I always get what I want.”

“I’m not yours.I willneverbe yours,” I bit out with a strangled sob.

“See, that’s where you’re wrong again.But I get it.It’s hard being out on your own, trying to navigate a scary world while taking care of your daughter.You’ve done a great job with it, especially with handling that snowstorm you got caught in on your way up to that cabin.”

I covered my mouth tighter with my trembling hand as the tears rushed down my cheeks.Gage watched me carefully as his jaw clenched and his fists balled at his sides.I wouldn’t be surprised if Joel had put a tracking device on my car, in addition to the one he put in Uni, to keep track of where I went.However, I hadn’t had the time or the knowledge to look for one before I left.

“It must be scary being out in the middle of nowhere with no one to hear you scream for help.No one would even notice if you truly went missing.How terrifying it must be to feel someone watching you, but never know exactly where they are.”

My throat burned as bile rose from my stomach.He was a fucking monster.

“I won’t keep you on here for long.I wouldn’t want you to burn dinner,” Joel said dismissively.

My heart stopped in my chest as the color drained from my face.If he knew that we were making dinner, then that meant he could see inside the house.I pressed a trembling finger to my lips to keep from screaming.

“Oh, and Julie?”

There was a long, silent pause that made the entire room go quiet as he waited for me to respond.

“Yeah,” I replied as steadily as I could.

“I would be careful about leaving your daughter around a rottweiler.They’re known to be an aggressive breed.They can turn on children in an instant, and we wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to our sweet Daisy, now would we?”

Before I could say anything, the line went dead, leaving me in a stunned silence.

Just then, my phone rang again.I glanced down to see Patrick’s name on the screen, but couldn’t move.Gage grabbed it and answered it, holding it between his ear and shoulder as he wrapped his arms protectively around me.

“Yeah.We have a big fucking problem.Forget Plan A.We’re moving to Plan B.”

Ten

Joel

What a fucking idiot.