Read Hiding From Danger (Danger Incorporated Book 2) for Free Online Page A

soon as I turned eighteen I started looking for them.”
    “Jesus, how old were you?” West came to stand behind her pulling her back against his strong frame. She couldn’t allow herself the luxury of being weak though. She jerked out of his arms and went to the coffee pot, pouring two mugs.
    “Eight. It wasn’t like you’re thinking. The foster family I finally ended up with was actually pretty nice. I have no horror stories of neglect or abuse. They just weren’t my family and I was always aware of that. They’d had foster kids before me and they would have more when I left. They send Christmas cards though.”
    At least they had before she’d disappeared out of Chicago. The Warner family were lovely people and they’d done their best with a house full of dysfunctional children who often acted out their troubled psyches, but it had been more of a group home than anything. Gigi had fond memories of Karen and Stan but she’d never made the mistake of thinking they were mom and dad.
    “What about your father?”
    Gigi shrugged. “What about him? I’ve never met him and at this point I don’t want to even if I knew where he was. My mother didn’t have any other family, at least none that I know of. I assume the state would have tried to send us to them if they existed.”
    West’s hands were wrapped around the mug, the knuckles white. Clearly he hadn’t been exaggerating when he’d said he was at the end of his patience with her. But telling this story after so many years of keeping it hidden wasn’t exactly easy.
    “So you left your foster family when you turned eighteen. Is that how you met this Alan guy?”
    “I didn’t meet Alan for quite awhile. I was too busy trying to make ends meet. I worked every crappy job you can imagine from waitress, to hotel maid, to fast food clerk. They all sucked but they paid the bills. When I met Alan I was working nights as a cocktail waitress. He was there with some friends. I later found out they were his employees. He didn’t have many friends and certainly no close ones.”
    “Employees? He ran a business?”
    “A very successful business. He owns several nightclubs in the Chicago area.”
    “Sounds…glamorous, I guess. So then what?”
    “He was charming. He asked me out and he treated me really well. He took me to fancy restaurants and bought me presents. I was overwhelmed honestly. No one had ever treated me that way. He swept me off of my feet.”
    Young, dumb, and impressionable, Gigi had fallen like a ton of bricks.
    “But things changed?”
    “I’d ignored all the red flags. He liked to choose my clothes and shoes. He wanted to know what my schedule was every day. He had to be in complete control at all times. I hadn’t had anyone in my life pay that much attention to me. I thought that meant he loved me. It was only later that I saw it for what it was. He used to call me ‘doll’ and that’s what he truly wanted. He wanted someone he could dress up and show off but then put back on a shelf for days or weeks at a time. He was constantly harping at me about my safety. He thought there was danger around every corner.”
    West slammed the mug down on the counter and began to pace the tiny space. “Did he hurt you? Tell me the truth, Gigi.”
    “Some hurts aren’t physical.”
    The wounds that Alan had inflicted had been deeply psychological. It was only in the last two years that she’d been on her own that she could see him for what he was and what he’d done. He’d turned her into an emotional cripple dependent on his approval for every little thing.
    “I’ll still kill the bastard,” West vowed, his hands curled into fists, his green eyes cold and flat. The man in front of her was a far cry from the playful, tender lover she’d seen up until now. This man was the soldier turned cop underneath, stripped raw of his every day civilized veneer.
    “He isn’t worth your effort.” She gripped the mug between her hands, the heat penetrating