Forever Is Not Enough [Council Enforcers 2] (Siren Publishing Classic)

guard this time.
    Percival tsked in her ear. “You’ve been a naughty, naughty child, haven’t you?”
    She didn’t bother to answer. Although the tone in her father’s voice sounded as though he was in a good mood, Jacqueline knew it was just the calm before the storm. All it would take was something small to send her father into a murderous rage. She looked over at Tessa, whose knuckles had gone white from her grip on the door. She trailed her eyes down to the pregnant woman’s belly and the small bump that held a tiny life in it then to Nico, who was peeping out from behind his mother. She knew she needed to do something to keep them safe. She had brought this all on them, and she was the only one who could take it away.
    “I’m so sorry, Father. I had no choice. Please forgive me.” Jacqueline stared directly into Tessa’s wide eyes trying to silently communicate and hoping the woman could forgive her for what she was about to do. “The shifter attacked me and forced me to help him. He was going to kill me if I didn’t.” The lies tasted bad as they rolled off her tongue. With her hands, she made a tiny shooing motion toward Tessa, trying to tell her to get into the safe room.
    Percival snarled and yanked the hair in his grip. When Jacqueline cried, Nico let out a roar that would have done Mitch and his lion proud.
    “You expect me to believe you’re here because they forced you?”
    “It’s true. I didn’t want to come. I just couldn’t stand up to the shifter. He was too strong.” She began to babble to take her father’s attention off the safe room door. “They haven’t been mean to me, but they’ve kept me in this basement, forcing me to find a cure for the rogue formula.”
    Jacqueline motioned for Tessa to go into the room again, but the tiny shake of the stubborn woman’s head caused Jacqueline’s stomach to drop. Tessa had no idea what Jacqueline’s father was capable of, but she did. She knew Tessa and Nico’s blood would be on her hands if she didn’t somehow get them to go into that room and lock the door. She couldn’t let that happen. “Take me with you, Father. I want to go home.”
    “Why should I? You ran from me. You betrayed me. What do you have to offer me to let you back in my graces?”
    This was it. If what she said next couldn’t get Tessa into that safe room without her, then nothing would. “I can give you Enforcer Ericson’s pregnant mate and cub,” she said, pointing toward Tessa.
    Tessa gasped, and Jacqueline saw tears welling up in her eyes. Percival snarled from behind her, and the grip in her hair was suddenly gone as he lunged for the door. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as Jacqueline watched Tessa shove Nico into the room behind her and pull the door shut. It closed with a thud just as Percival reached the handle, and Jacqueline held her breath until she heard the muffled thumps in the large door signaling the locks sliding home.
    Jacqueline stood tense as her father beat and raged against the door before finally turning around and focusing his attention on her. It was the first time she had laid eyes on him since she’d run, and what she saw shocked her. Her normally impeccably dressed, never-a-hair-out-of-place father looked as if he hadn’t slept or showered in days. His hair was disheveled, and she saw dirt, leaves, and bits of twigs in it as if he had been rolling in the woods.
    As her father stalked toward her, seething, Jacqueline closed her eyes, knowing he was going to kill her right where she stood. Instead, he continued past her and muttered one word, “Come.”
    The man didn’t even turn to see if she was following as he headed up the basement stairs. Jacqueline hurried behind him, unwilling to risk his wrath. At the top of the stairs, they turned toward the back of the house, and Percival led her to an open window. She realized he must have used the alarms going off as cover to get the window open without anyone knowing and shook her head. If her father had used even a tenth of his genius criminal mind for good, he could have made the world a much better place instead of constantly bringing misery to everyone he encountered.
    Jacqueline climbed out the window when her father motioned for her to and waited for him to come through. They were at the back of the house, which meant they were closer to the woods and escaping. She looked up to the roof where she knew Ben was and felt her heart being torn in two at the