Chapter Two

Grace sat in the window seat in the family room, reading, when she heard her father’s footsteps coming toward her and stiffened. She hadn’t seen him that day, so she didn’t know if he was in a good or bad mood. He was okay when he was in a good mood, but otherwise, he was a violent monster.

“Ah, there’s my ugly daughter,” Emmet said when he found her.

Well, there was her answer.

“What did you need, Father?” she asked and braced herself for brutal denigrations and pain.

“I might finally be able to get rid of you.”

Grace didn’t show any emotion. She’d learned the hard way he would use it against her somehow. She waited silently.

“A business acquaintance I have needs a nanny.”

She dug her nails into her palms to prevent herself from showing excitement. He stood staring down at her, waiting for a crack in her demeanor. She would give him nothing, and she’d had years of practice. Even when he was hurting her, she tried her best to keep from crying out.

“I would have told him no, but he’s a bigwig in the community, and it would be great to have him as a friend. You’ll still be in town, so I can get to you whenever I want. If I get word that you are talking about me, I will bring you home and lock you in your room until you die. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Father.”

“Good. Get packed. It shouldn’t take too long since you don’t have a lot. Ugly little sluts like you don’t need nice clothes. Right?”

She nodded.

He yanked her off the window seat, squeezing her arm painfully. He shoved her violently toward the steps.

“Go.”

Grace ran up the stairs to her bedroom. She pulled a bag from the back of her closet and stuffed the few pairs of shoes, and the dozen dresses she had on hangers into it. She then emptied the drawers that held her undergarments before going into her bathroom.

She placed her bathroom items in another bag. She scrambled to find the food she’d hidden around her room and stuffed it in her shoes just in case he looked at her things.

If he knew she had food tucked away in her room for the times he locked her in for days, sometimes a week, she knew she would be beaten badly, and he wouldn’t let her leave.

The dress she had on hid the bruises he’d given her in the last few days. He was always careful to keep from hitting places on her body that people could see.

She dragged her things down the stairs, set them by the door, and then stood waiting.

It was at least thirty minutes before her father walked out of his office. She tightened her hands when he grabbed her face.

“Now, remember, if I hear anything, I will bring you back, and I guarantee I’ll hear. I already have a spy set up in his household, and no one can keep me from bringing you home.”

She nodded.

“Follow me,” he said and walked out the door.

She followed with her bags. The driver didn’t look at her. Her father’s staff knew better than to talk to her or be nice. The story of what happened to the last person who talked to her kept everyone quiet. Her father supposedly had him tortured and killed, and since she never saw him again, she believed it to be true.

The driver took her bags and put them in the trunk.

She scrambled into the car after her father and sat as far from him as she could. She stared out the window and watched the cars rush past them. She saw all the beautiful houses and the different people in other vehicles or on the sidewalks and was fascinated. She couldn’t remember if her father had ever let her leave the house. If he had, it was a long time ago. Since she was five, she’d been stuck in his house, which felt like a prison most of the time.

They pulled through tall metal gates and up a driveway to a huge door. The driver opened her door, and she scrambled out and stood off to the side. The driver took her bags out and set them by her.

When her father walked up the stairs toward the door, she struggled with her bags and followed quickly behind him.

Her father stopped her at the door. “I’ve been told he can be brutal, so you must be on your best behavior. If you think what I do to you is bad, piss this guy off, and you’ll see.”

She nodded her head as dread filled her. She’d been looking forward to living in a house that had laughter and was safe and where she didn’t wake up knowing her day would include pain and insults.

Grace felt sweat gather between her breasts and on her forehead when the door opened. The man standing there was several inches taller than her father and looked like he had muscles over muscles. One smack from him could kill her.

Her father shook the man’s hand.

“Thank you,” the man said.

“It’s my pleasure,” Emmet said. “She needs something to do. She’s a bit lazy. If she becomes a problem, call me, and I’ll come and get her.”

The man frowned. “We’ll see how it goes.”

The man turned toward an older woman. “Taylor, can you show our nanny to her room?”

“Yes, Sir.”

Grace picked up her bags and followed the woman. She felt freer with every step away from her father.

“I’m so glad Robert found you,” Taylor said. “I was helping take care of his daughter, and I have to tell you she has more energy than six puppies altogether.” She laughed and opened a door.

Grace couldn’t remember hearing laughter before and prayed she’d hear more. She looked around the room and smiled. It was very bright because of the two windows. The walls were a pretty blue. The curtains and the bedspread had a floral design that matched the color of the walls.

Her bedroom at home was a drab tan. Everything was the same dull color, and she had been forbidden to put anything on the walls, so they stayed blank.

She looked through one door and saw a bathroom of the same color, and there was another door she guessed was the closet.

“How about I help you unpack?” Taylor said.

“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” Grace said.

“Nonsense. You and I are going to see each other every day. I hope we can become friends.”

Grace felt her eyes fill with tears, so she turned her head away. She sniffed. “I’d like that very much as long as you don’t get in trouble.”

“In trouble for being friends?”

Grace nodded, carried her undergarments into the closet, and arranged them in one of the drawers.

Taylor pulled the shoes out, and the food Grace had tucked into them fell out. Grace felt her face burn in embarrassment when the woman looked at her in confusion.

“Oh, that’s nothing,” Grace said and stuffed the bars and fruit in one of the other drawers. “I get hungry a lot.”

Taylor grabbed her by the shoulder and then scowled when Grace flinched and cried out.

“Are you hurt?”

Grace tried to smile. “Not really. I bumped into a door. I’m very clumsy.” Grace didn’t think the other woman believed her. “Really.”

“Okay. We’ll leave it for now. I want you to know that I don’t care when you’re hungry. You come to the kitchen and help yourself to whatever you want.”

Grace’s eyes widened, and she nodded. “Okay.”

Taylor hugged her. “I’m so glad you’re here,” she said.

Grace hugged her tightly. “I’m so glad I have a friend.”

Taylor leaned back and smiled. “Yes, you do. I bet Mr. Crenshaw would like to introduce you to his daughter, Hannah. She’s very sweet but has a lot of energy.”

Grace giggled. “I can handle that.”

She followed the woman back the way they came. Grace was relieved to see her father was gone. Maybe if she wished hard enough, she’d never have to see him again.

“Mr. Crenshaw, Grace is all unpacked. What would you like her to do?”

“Bring her in here. I’ll tell her about Hannah’s schedule and then introduce them when Hannah is up from her nap.”

Taylor turned to her and must have seen the fear she tried to hide. “Hey, now. He’s a very nice man. I’ve been here twelve years, and I have never even seen him raise his voice in anger.”

“Even when you do something wrong?” Grace asked.

“Yes, even then. I can honestly tell you I trust that man one hundred percent. He’d never hurt a child or a woman.”

“It’s just that my father…”

“What did your father tell you?” Talor asked.

She shook her head. “Nothing.”

“If you need anything, come to me.”

Grace relaxed and nodded. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll see you at dinner.”

“Okay.”

Grace watched her walk away before she turned and walked into the office. She stood just inside the door and waited for instructions.

“Come on in, Grace. We’re not formal around here.”

Grace nodded.

“Have a seat.”

Grace sat on the edge of one of the chairs with her hands in her lap.