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The silence was soothing, and she soon found her eyes drifting shut. Oh, that was nice.

The truck came to a stop, and she tried to open her eyes.

“Easy,” he told her. “Just stay asleep. I’ve got you.”

He picked her up and carried her into the house. She kept her eyes closed, remaining in that half-asleep state.

In this place, with his arms around her, it felt like nothing could harm her.

He laid her down on the bed, and she mumbled to herself, not wanting to get up and put her pajamas on.

“I wonder if I should try and take off your bra,” he muttered.

She rolled onto her front, and lifted up the back of her shirt. He undid her bra.

Then she rolled back over and managed to pull her bra off without taking off her shirt.

He drew the covers over her, tucking her in tight. Ooh, she liked that. But she couldn’t sleep without Owly McOwlFace.

She tensed and tried to search around the bed for him.

“What’s wrong? Do you want Kevin?” he asked.

“Owly McOwlFace,” she muttered. “I need him. I can’t sleep without him.”

“Then we’ll find him . . . um, what is Owly McOwlFace?”

“My owl.” She thought that was pretty obvious given his name.

“Ah, here it is.” He tucked Owly McOwlFace under the blankets with her, and she let out a sigh of satisfaction.

“What am I going to do?” she muttered. “I’ve lost two jobs. I can’t afford to pay for everything. So many bills to pay . . . it’s impossible.”

Ammo ran his fingers through her hair and gently massaged her scalp. “Don’t worry about any of that. I’m here to take care of you. And from now on, that’s exactly what I will do.”

He would stop doing a half-assed job of taking care of her and completely take control.

When there was no argument from her, he nodded in satisfaction. It was about time she saw sense and came to accept that he knew what was best for her.

22

Aimee sat up with a gasp and stared around.

She couldn’t remember what her dream had just been about, but she had a feeling it had been more of a nightmare because her hands were shaking and her heart was racing. Oh, that’s right. It had been about fainting while at work at the grocery store. Thank God that was just a dream, because she wouldn’t couldn’t afford to lose another job.

Laying back in bed, she stared up at the ceiling. Hmm, it was weird though, because she couldn’t actually remember getting into bed last night.

She was tucked in so well that she’d barely moved. Which was unusual for her, because she liked to thrash about in her sleep.

Wait, she was tucked in? How had she tucked herself in? And these weren’t the same sheets that had been on the bed yesterday. These were fresh.

Had someone changed the sheets for her?

Who would do that?

Well, there was only one person, wasn’t there?

Ammo.