Daddy's Stepstalker (Daddy's Little Deviants)

“That’s my house.”

“And I’m sorry you have to witness this, but until my men get the flames under control, no one’s going close to that building.”

“How did this happen?”

“We’ll try to determine that after the flames are put out and my men are all out safe. Now please step back.” His tone softened, his face full of empathy. “Again, I’m sorry about everything, but we’ll see what we can save.”

What could they save? He was just being nice, wasn’t he? How could anything be saved in this inferno?

“Ari?” I turned, but he was no longer behind me. “Ari?”

He was nowhere to be seen. I turned into a wide circle, trying to spot him among the people milling the streets. Some had their phones out, snapping pictures and making photos for another shot at insta fame. I couldn’t even summon the urge to yell at them if they had nothing better to do.

He was gone.

The harsh words I’d thrown at him echoed in my mind. Good god, had I blamed him for something someone else had done? I wanted to go after him, and I had a pretty good idea where he would be heading, but I couldn’t leave. It would be too suspect not to stay put.

I dug into my pocket for my cell phone and pressed his number. “Pick up the damn phone, Ari,” I growled into the voice mail. “Don’t do anything stupid. You promised me. You promised us. Please. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said what I did. This isn’t your fault. I was just lashing out from shock. I’m sorry. Just don’t do it.”

Please don’t kill Judd.

The automatic voice came on, asking if I wanted to send the message or delete and record again. I stared at our home, the place that held most of our memories.