She would never be satisfied.
Not if she wanted to live her life. Not if she wanted to still be a mother to her children.
That bleak certainty pushed down on her, threatening to cut off Sophie’s air supply.
“Daddy.”
Her eyes had filled with tears by the time she lifted her chin to regard his handsome face again, but he was already fading, his presence disappearing before her eyes like a specter.
“Daddy, don’t go.”
Jared’s brooding blue eyes drilled into her, his knowing expression still evident, even after the arms which pinioned her had evaporated.
“Come back to me,” she implored frantically. “Even if it’s just in a dream. I need you, Daddy. Come and rescue me.”
But Jared was gone.
And Sophie was lost.
Trapped in a world where, superficially, she had everything she had ever desired—a nice home for her and her children, a job she relished, and a selection of good friends, most of who knew nothing about the abduction.
Nothing about Daddy.
Yet Jared’s dark fantasy persisted—if only in Sophie’s head.
As the room around her began to morph into consciousness, she recognized the truth.
Daddy would always be there in her head, taunting and tormenting her, murmuring things that left her breathless and needy.
Making her offers that she didn’t want to refuse.
Chapter One
Jared
Jared watched her. He eyed Sophie intently as she left the restaurant, observing the way she batted away the roaming palm of the guy who accompanied her. Jared’s gaze wandered over her date again, his eyes narrowing. A guy like that didn’t deserve Sophie. She was special.
She was his.
He blew out a breath, shifting in the front seat of his car as the couple crossed the road a few feet in front of him.
How long had it been since he’d been with Sophie? Since he’d spoken to her, caressed her? Jared’s cock roused at the memories, although they were painful. Losing her had been the hardest lesson of his life, yet years since she had walked away from him, it still tore at him inside.
As the couple climbed into a cab, Jared’s mind was still caught in the web Sophie had spun, and unthinkingly, he flicked on the engine and followed them.
This is what he had done ever since she’d shimmied out of the restaurant, abandoning everything they had forged together—everything he’d done for her. He’d scrutinized every aspect of her life since that day—where she went after work and which schools her children attended. When she’d delved back into the sordid world of online dating, he’d been waiting. Hacking into her accounts was easy, but reading the exchanges she shared with strangers was much more difficult. Her words should have been for him—as they once had been.
Jared had followed her on numerous dates with multiple losers. She tended to frequent the same places, and they always ended the same way—Sophie going home alone. This was the first time she’d climbed into the back of a cab with another man. Jared’s gut clenched as he considered what that might mean. When the taxi turned left, he followed, shadowing them as they pulled into a quiet cul-de-sac. There was only one isolated house he could see from the main road, and that was the one the cab pulled up to. He parked at the entrance to the street, watching as Sophie and her latest suitor stepped out. She glanced around, pulling the corners of her coat tighter as the idiot paid, and even from this distance, he could see the anxiety in her eyes.
No one knew those eyes better than Jared. He was her Daddy, after all.
He waited as the guy guided her up the path toward the front door, anger pulsing through him at the way his rival tried to embrace her. Sophie shrugged the stranger away, glancing around again. It was as though she could sense Jared was close and knew he was watching. They had been so intimate once, maybe she did? The thought buoyed him as he slipped from the car and quietly wandered the sidewalk in her direction.
As he neared, he could finally hear the exchange taking place on the dimly lit doorstep.
“I’m not sure about this.”
Sophie sounded flustered, a tone Jared recognized, one he had inspired enough times. It was the sound of duress.
“Don’t be silly.” The guy’s tone was curt and dismissive. “We’re here now. Come in for a coffee, and we can get to know each other a little better.”
“No, I…” She hesitated, stepping away from him as he fiddled with the key in the lock. “I’ve changed my mind. I think I’ll just call another cab and go home. Maybe we can do this another time?”
Her final remark was a half-hearted sentiment if ever Jared had heard one, and a surge of pride rose in him. Sophie didn’t want this moron. That much was obvious, and while she might have come home with him, evidently, she had no intention of staying the night. Jared veered off the path toward the side of the house, and from his proximity, her nerves were obvious. Her fidgeting little movements and the way she caught her lip between teeth conveyed that message. Anyone who knew her would be able to tell. Hell, even a stranger should have noticed the signs, but if this one did, he refused to accept them.
“No.” His tone had hardened further. “That’s not how this is going to go.”
“Please, I—”
“Let me tell you how this is going to go.”
The stranger shifted on the porch, blocking Sophie’s exit with his body. She was so diminutive, he seemed to loom over her, and while Jared couldn’t see the expression on her face, he could well imagine it—large brown eyes, the potent combination of fear and indignation flickering in them.
Jared blew out a breath as the thought threatened to overwhelm him, though his ardor was quelled by the snarls of Sophie’s unworthy suitor just ahead.
“You’re coming inside with me, and I’ll make us some coffee.”
“I don’t want coffee.” She sounded tiny now. “I’m going home.”
“Are you not listening, Sophie? I said you’re going inside. Don’t make a fucking scene. There’s no one here to hear you, anyway.”
Jared inhaled, his hand balling into a fist around his car keys as he crept across the grass toward the porch. He had no idea who this guy was, but his days were numbered if he was going to threaten Jared’s little girl.
“Stop it, please.”
Jared reached the side of the veranda, hiding behind the brickwork as he listened.
“I don’t want this. I… I’ve changed my mind.”
“You’re nervous.” His false laughter rang out into the night air. “I understand that, but it’s no reason to bail out on me now.”
“It’s every reason.” There was his Sophie. Jared could hear the defiance in her voice, and his lips curled at it. “We talked about this, Mike. We talked about consent, and if I’ve changed my mind, the answer is no. I’m going home.”
“No, you’re not.” The loser’s voice had dropped an octave. “You’re staying with me, and you’re going to do the things you promised. Hell, you’ve been leading me on for weeks. I can’t bear women like you.”
“It’s not like that.” Her tone had morphed into panic, and Jared’s heart sped up at the resonance. He’d had few qualms about inspiring the emotion from Sophie in the past, but witnessing it from another man was intolerable. “I’m just not sure. I need time.”