Possessive Daddy Next Door

They stand and watch, but they don’t move a muscle.

I come around the bend and spot my phone up ahead. I grab it from the ground and keep running. I run until I get onto my property, and I don’t think until I’m all the way inside. Once the door is shut behind me, I lean up against the wall and burst into tears.

They come flowing out of me and I can’t stop it. I wish I could turn them off. I feel like such a baby, crying for no reason, but I can’t help it. I felt like I was going to die out there, really die for real. They could’ve hurt me if they wanted to. Nobody was around and nobody would’ve helped.

I got lucky. They spared me because of my name, but they want me to help them get Max.

They’re insane. They’re absolutely insane. They have to be crazy if they think anyone would help those bastards. It’s obvious what they want to do with him, and I can’t get involved in something like that, much less be responsible for it.

I manage to get myself under control. I call Max and he picks up on the third ring. “Well, hello there,” he says.

“Max.” I take a deep breath. “They’re in the woods. Right now.”

His voice changes. “Where?”

“I saw them. Hiking to your place. They stopped me.”

“Are you okay?” Anger flares in his voice, hot and wild. “Did they hurt you?”

“No,” I say. “No, they didn’t touch me. They just… they just…”

“What?” he growls.

“They wanted me to help them get to you.”

He’s quiet for a short moment. “Those fucking bastards,” he says.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen, I just… I was going to get someone to come with me but you weren’t working and Patricks is weird and I wanted to come and see you and—”

“Delia,” he says. “Slow down. You don’t have anything to apologize for. It’s my fault you’re in this mess.”

“I’m sorry,” I say anyway, feeling stupid.

“Listen, are you safe?”

“I’m in the manor. But I don’t think they want to hurt me. They know who my family is and I think they’re scared of us.”

“Good. Stay where you are. I’m going to sweep the woods and see if I can’t find them.”

“No!” I say, surprising myself with the force of it.

“Delia,” he says. “It’s okay. I can handle this.”

“No, this is what they want,” I say. “They want to use me to get to you. They’re trying to flush you out. They wanted to scare me.” It clicks in my mind in an instant, and I feel so stupid for not seeing it sooner. “They want to get you out of the house and on your own. They wanted me to run home and call you. Oh, god, I’m so stupid.”

He doesn’t say anything for a long moment, but then I hear him let out a breath. “Shit. I think you might be right.”

“Don’t go into the woods. I was just bait. Stay home, you hear me?”

“Fuck,” he says. I hear him curse some more but he moves the phone from his mouth. I can tell how frustrated he is. I know if I didn’t tell him to stay put, he’d rush off into those woods and get himself killed. Or maybe he’d win the fight, but then he’d have to run again, since he’ll have to murder those men to make this end.

“Max?” I whisper.

“I’m here,” he says. “I’m just… I’m angry. I hate this. I hate that I dragged you into this and now they’re using you against me.”

“But they won’t hurt me,” I say. “That’s a good thing.”

“I don’t know,” he says. “We can’t trust anything they said. Maybe they didn’t hurt you this time because they wanted to use you to flush me out into the woods. But next time?”

I shiver. “There’s going to be a next time,” I say.

“That’s right. There will be.”

“Come live here.” The words rush from my mouth. “Bring Tab. We have so much space. You could have a whole wing to yourself. I bet my parents wouldn’t even notice, I bet—”

“Delia,” he says.

“I’m serious. You’ll be safe here. And I’ll be safe here. And so will Tab. Think about it. I won’t have to go into the woods to get to you. We can stay in here until we figure out what to do.”

I can hear him breathing but he doesn’t speak. I want to touch him so badly, or at least see the look on his face.

His voice is low and slow when he answers. “How will you make this work?” he asks. “Your parents won’t allow it. And don’t tell me they won’t notice.”

“I’ll speak to my mother,” I say. “I’ll make her understand.”

He lets out a sigh. “I don’t know.”

“Trust me.” I bite my lip. “This is the best way.”