That little shit.

“Protect yourself. He won’t let anyone else protect you from him.”

“But he’s bigger than me.”

“He may be bigger than you, but you’re stronger.” I could tell she didn’t understand. Even now, her shoulders shook with overpowering fright. If I couldn’t make her understand, I knew someone who could.

First, I needed to have a talk with her mother.

I found Maddie and led them both outside. Then from the trunk of my car, I dug out the basketball I felt the need to keep close. I spent twenty minutes showing them how to dribble and even how to dribble between their legs. It took Cassie a few tries while Maddie watched since her legs were too small to perform the trick. Once they were thoroughly distracted with dribbling, I slid back into the modest house and found their mother in the bedroom pointed out by the girls.

“We need to talk.” My voice was gruff with impatience simply because I had none. She was completely skittish thanks to her abusive husband and jumped at the sound of my voice. When she cowered in the corner with one glance at my expression, I forced myself to school my features into passivity, enough for her to calm. “We need to talk,” I repeated.

“What about?”

“Cassie. Did you know she is being bullied?” The regret in her eyes just before they shifted to fixate on the floor was answer enough. “Why are you allowing this to happen?”

“What did she tell you?”

“Probably more than she ever got to tell you because you’re a coward.”

“I told you. I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

“You do if you want to keep them,” I threatened without mercy. Failing to protect them was just as much abuse as if she had hit them herself.

“Don’t threaten me with my kids. You have no right to judge me,” she screamed.

“You think I don’t?” I could hear the malice in my voice. It matched the darkness of my heart.

“How could you possibly understand?”

“My father sold me for gambling money and expensive alcohol simply because he hated my mother.” I ignored the horror filled gasp that echoed around the room and the frail hand that trembled over her lips. “He not only hated my mother, but he also hated me for everything I didn’t provide him.”

“What was that?”

“Wealth.” She stared at me in disbelief, and I found myself looking away. I needed control over my emotions. This wasn’t about me. This was about Cassie and Maddie—two little girls who needed me to make their mother understand where her choices were leading them. “He was heir to a substantial fortune if he were able to marry and produce an heir.”

“But if he made a son, didn’t he inherit? Why would he sell you because of your mother?”

“Because he also needed to marry, and she refused to marry for anything less than love.”

Her frown deepened when she picked up on the tone of my voice. “Is that so wrong?” she asked defensively. I could tell she thought herself in love with Robert, her husband.

I held her stare and admitted something I never thought I ever would. “I blamed my mother for being selfish until the very moment I had what she couldn’t find with Mitch.”

She stared at me with disbelief. “You?” I didn’t react. I only stared. “Sorry,” she mumbled.

“Believe me. Falling in love was not something I wanted.” My lips twitched with the urge to smile. “She was very persuasive.”

“She’s a beautiful girl,” she said wistfully. “I suppose it makes sense given why you’re here and doing so much for perfect strangers. You are willing to kill for her?”

“No. I’m willing to not kill for her. She’d forbid it.”

“And you’re used to killing?” she questioned nervously.

“Yes. I might have even been born for it.”

“Money and death. That’s no reason to live.”

“Yes. Well, it’s a good thing I was saved before I figured that out for myself.”

“Oh, but I didn’t mean—”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m still here. The question is—do you want to be?”

“Of course.”

“Why?”

“Why?”

“I plan to kill your husband, Laurie. I need to know why it’s worth breaking my vow to her.”

For the second time.

I’d never admit that I was afraid to kill again—that I feared each time I took a life that I lost a piece of my humanity all over again.