Kian (Undercover Billionaire, #1)(70)

She was afraid he might show up later, so she planned on removing her spare key and turning out all the lights. She knew if he was determined, that wouldn’t stop him, but maybe he would understand she needed a little bit of time. That wasn’t asking too much, in her honest opinion.

Once more she’d forgotten to leave her porch light on and to set her alarm system, which was sure to tick Kian off. Then again, she often pissed the man off. Tonight seemed off, though, and a shiver traveled down her spine as she carried Lily while she fumbled in her purse to pull out her key.

As Roxie walked into the house, another shudder passed through her, and she couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her. She was grateful when Lily stayed asleep and decided to let her sleep in her clothes that night. She didn’t want to take a chance of waking her. Roxie needed a few minutes to herself. Maybe a nice hot bath.

The moment she sank down into the tub, she couldn’t help but think of what had happened after her last bath when she’d walked into her bedroom. A shudder passed through her when she realized she hadn’t grabbed the key on the front porch yet. But did she really want to? Would it be so awful if Kian showed up and took her mind off her worries for a single night?

The bathroom door was open, and there wasn’t a sound in the house, so she knew Kian hadn’t shown up. She’d left the party almost two hours earlier. If he’d been planning on stopping by, he would have done it by now.

Maybe she just couldn’t make up her mind about what in the world she wanted. When her bathwater began cooling, she decided to get out instead of adding more water. She hadn’t eaten anything at the party, and her stomach was growling. Slipping on her robe, she decided to dress later, and she headed straight for the kitchen.

When she walked into the small area, her heart began thundering in her chest. She’d never been afraid before in this house. It was in a quiet neighborhood, and in this town, in general, there wasn’t a lot of crime. But sitting on her butcher’s block was a knife she didn’t remember putting there, and crumbs. Roxie was sort of emphatic about cleaning her messes up, and though she was racking her mind to try to remember if she’d been in a hurry and left a mess, she couldn’t remember doing so. She would have taken a moment to clean up.

Maybe Kian had shown up. But he’d never before made himself at home like this. She had to be growing paranoid, that was all. Still, she walked through her house, first checking her bedroom to see if she was going to find him lying on her bed. Then she walked to Lily’s room. For some reason, her stomach was tight as she neared the door and pushed it open.

When she did, Roxie’s heart lodged up into her throat, and she found herself so terrified, she now understood what people meant when they said they were frozen in fear. Her limbs were unbending, her heart stalled in her chest, and her skin ran cold as a chill froze her entire body.

A man was sitting on Lily’s bed, holding her in his arms as he rocked back and forth. The only light in the room was a castle night-light, casting eerie shadows across the man’s demonic face. He looked away from Lily’s sleeping pink cheeks and straight into Roxie’s terrified gaze. There was something so evil about the look in this man’s eyes, Roxie knew if she survived this, she would never forget that manic stare.

He raised a finger to his lips as he continued rocking, and though only seconds had passed, it felt like an eternity before Roxie was able to take in a breath. She had to remain calm so she could at least try to save Lily. She had to get the man away from her niece—from her little girl.

“Wh-what do you want?” she asked, her voice barely audible in her utter fear.

“Shh,” he said before the most evil laughter spilled from his filthy lips. “You don’t want to wake the child, do you?” he said.

“No. Why don’t you lay her down and we’ll go to the living room and talk?” Roxie said, trying to keep the terror from her voice as she forced herself to keep a calm tone.

He smiled as he looked down at Lily and then ran one of his filthy hands across her forehead. He leaned over and licked Lily’s cheek, and Roxie’s bile rose in her throat. She couldn’t throw up now. She had to keep her wits.

“Pretty, pretty girl,” he said as he leaned back. Thankfully, Lily was sleeping through all of this. If she woke up, she would scream bloody murder, and Roxie had no idea what this man would do to her.

Roxie was searching around her for a weapon, but she was in a child’s room. She had nothing she could grab. This was every parent’s worst nightmare, but something Roxie hadn’t even considered happening. She should have, especially with the way her sister had died.

“I failed,” the man said, an evil smile lifting his lips. “But don’t worry, I’ve come back to finish the job.”

He stood, Lily hanging limply in his arms, and Roxie was terrified he’d already killed the child. But she groaned as she tried to get more comfortable, and Roxie let out a relieved breath. She still had a chance to save her.

He set Lily down, not taking his eyes off Roxie as he whispered, “I’ll come back to you soon, child.”

The way he said those words would give Roxie nightmares for the rest of her life. He leaned over and picked up a giant knife from the foot of Lily’s bed, and what little color was left in Roxie’s body completely disappeared. She was going to die tonight. There was nothing she could do to stop this huge man from killing her, and what was worse, she wouldn’t be able to save Lily.