Executive Protection by Jennifer Morey

Author:Jennifer Morey [Morey, Jennifer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Suspense, Thrillers
ISBN: 9780373278701
Google: dNvzAgAAQBAJ
Amazon: 0373278705
Barnesnoble: 0373278705
Goodreads: 18812430
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-12-31T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 10

The next day, Thad drove Lucy and Sophie to Rosanna’s house. It had been pure drama getting Sophie into the car. She didn’t want to leave. Thad was supposed to meet Darcy, but he’d called to push the time back so that he could go with Lucy to drop the child off. Just one look at Lucy confirmed that she felt the same as he did. Were they doing the right thing by taking her back to her foster mom? Lucy said Rosanna had sounded stable on the phone. Happy, revived, relieved. Layne was gone. She’d reclaimed her life and was eager to get Sophie back.

He looked in the rearview mirror as he had several times already. Sophie’s eyes were red but she’d stopped crying. Such a young mind didn’t understand what was happening to her. She was being yanked from one home to another, never having time to adjust, settle in and feel safe. He couldn’t shut off the nagging instinct to do something. The more time he spent with Sophie, the stronger that instinct became.

He pulled to a stop in front of Rosanna’s house and got out. Lucy did, too, and opened the back door.

“Come on, Sophie,” Lucy said.

“No!” Sophie whined. “I don’t want to go!”

Thad opened the other back door and retrieved Sophie’s overnight bag.

“We have to do this,” Lucy said.

“I don’t want to live here!”

“Out of the car, Sophie,” Lucy said in a sterner tone, but it sounded forced. She didn’t like doing this.

Sophie began crying again, but she climbed out of the car.

Lucy knelt down with her hands on the child’s shoulders. “I’ll come and see you.”

Thad walked around and stood over them, torn apart inside. A couple of tears ran down Lucy’s face.

Sophie cried, deep and genuine. This was more than a childish tantrum. Sophie was hurting.

When she reached her little arms up toward him, wailing unintelligible pleas, he dropped the bag and lifted her up into his arms. She cried against his shoulder while he rubbed her back.

“It’ll be all right, Sophie,” he tried to comfort her.

“Take me back home,” she sobbed, leaning back to look at him. Her wet face and sad, red eyes broke him.

He looked down at Lucy, who stood up and wiped her tears, crying outright now.

“Why can’t you take me home?”

Thad looked at her. “I would if I could.”

“Is everything okay?” a woman asked.

Thad saw Rosanna standing on the sidewalk, worriedly observing the scene.

“Rosanna’s here, Sophie,” Lucy said. She’d regained control, although it was obvious she’d been crying.

Sophie’s cries eased and she looked back.

“Hi, Sophie,” Rosanna said. “I baked some cookies for you. And I thought we could watch a movie together.”

Sophie turned back to Thad. Her sweet eyes heavy with innocent despondency.

“Lucy and I will come and see you,” he said, wondering what had made him.

“Promise?”

“Promise.” He kissed her temple, and then she hugged him, her tiny arms squeezing him around his neck.

Touched more than he could handle, he put the girl down, and she all but dragged her feet toward Rosanna.

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