Epilogue

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"Close them Princess

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"Close them Princess."

"They're closed Aaron!"

"You too bunny." Anastasia's infectious giggles vibrate through my ears

"They're closed daddy." I stumble over something, lurching forward.

Aaron quickly grabs me by the waist, steadying me up. "Got you baby."

"If I fell, I would have killed you."

His deep voice caresses the back of my neck. "It's worth it, I promise." I clutch onto his hand tight, trusting him in every way.

We're led down a set of stairs, so many I know he's taking us into the basement of our three storey colonial set house. "Have you got Stasia?"

Even though she's four now, I wouldn't let her walk down these concrete stairs by herself. "Yeah, I'm holding her. Don't worry."

I released a small sigh of relief. Being a mother meant constantly worrying over every little thing. She pricked herself on a thorn yesterday so I hired a gardener to remove all the prickly bushes in the vicinity.

"One more step." He lifted me up, one arm under my ass for support. I yelped, clinging onto him with all my strength

"Shouldn't we be waiting for Caitlin to come back from school?"

"She already knows what it is, she's been helping me out." Oh god. That gave me hope for something nice and safe.

"Okay, stay here and don't remove the blindfolds until I say to."

We're set on the ground, Stasia blindly reaches for me, grasping at my leg instead. I hear shuffling in the background, then a quiet growl.

"What the fudge was that?"

"Okay, take them off." I let the silk tie slip away from my eyes. Stasia pulls her down so it rests around her neck.

I stare at the small cage, completely in shock, mostly terrified. My fingers nip at my skin just to make sure this is real.

Yep, there are three baby tigers sitting right in front of me.

"Kitty!" Stasia sprints forward until I grab her and hold her back. She wrestles in my arms, but I'm not letting go.

"Aaron, why have you got tigers in our basement?"

"They're ours. I bought them a week ago, saved them actually. They were being sold for their fur, but I managed to buy them all in time."

"Why?" I screech. The tigers jump up at the sudden noise, scratching at their cage. Stasia finally goes still in my arms, conflicted between her desire to play with them and fear of sharp claws

"Princess," He walks up to me, gently grabbing my arm. "You know I would never harm you, right?"

"Of course."

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