Sixes & Sevens (Seven Hearts Book 1) Read Free

an outlet for their less desirable emotions.
    Knowing if they put their heads together they could solve any problem, Marc looked forward to sharing the problem with the guys. After all, Jonathan was an actual genius, and Sean wasn’t far behind. They all had individual interests that just might help him figure out how to find Jaycee. He’d need to put his faith in them. It would take time, but he swore he’d find a way to see her again. Somehow he’d find a safe place for Jaycee, where no one would ever hurt her again.

Overmorrow (the day after tomorrow)
    January 1, 2016
    Jaycee took several deep breaths in through her nose, and exhaled through her mouth. She counted each breath. She could do this. Eighteen-year-olds were legally able to make their own decisions. She couldn’t repress her mental wince, sure the government wouldn’t stop her, but it didn’t mean her foster family wouldn’t try. Fighting to adopt her had been an ongoing crusade of theirs. She’d held out hope that when she turned eighteen in May, they would drop the subject. As a legal adult she no longer needed a guardian. It hadn’t made one iota of difference. The Smythes were determined to keep her. When they took her in, after she’d escaped her last foster home, she hadn’t had high hopes. While no one had beat her, or starved her, they hadn’t exactly treated her well either. Her first home had been a glorified work camp.
    Her last home, if it could be called that, had nine foster kids. There wasn’t room to breathe in their house, which constantly reeked of smoke, and often not of the tobacco variety. Throwing out most of her clothing had been her only option, nothing could remove the stench. Maggie Smythe, her new foster mother, didn’t smoke, and neither did her husband Ted; their son Roger, however…well, he’d been sneaking out to smoke cigarettes for years. Roger could do no wrong. He was the apple of his parents’ eye.
    “So why, with such a perfect little family, do they need me?” Jaycee had wondered. They hadn’t been able to have more children. Dreaming of raising a little girl had taken over Maggie’s life. While thirteen at the time, Jaycee was far from the little child they had hoped to take in, they’d been thrilled regardless.
    Have you ever looked at someone who didn’t have any obvious flaw, but you still felt that shiver of apprehension down your spine? That was Jaycee’s first clue this home wouldn’t be much better than the last. Roger paid her far too much attention, especially as her body started to develop, and became less childlike. Being his “sister” hadn’t deterred Roger from trying to barge in on her while she was changing, or from appearing somewhere below her, if she ever was stupid enough to wear a skirt. Now she only wore jeans; it was safer that way.
    Jaycee locked her door every chance she got, though it aggravated Maggie to no end. One of the woman’s favorite pastimes had been barging in on Jaycee, and attempting to dress her exactly like herself for some function. Maggie had treated Jaycee like a dress-up doll, or maybe more accurately a pet. Being shy, it had been hard for Jaycee to speak up for herself. Which meant she had spent a lot of time hiding. It was just easier if she couldn’t be found. In school, she had taken the hardest classes she could find, just so she would have more homework than the other kids. Summer school had been just another way to hide out. Ted had been a harder nut to crack. At first he just watched her, never saying much. Eventually, she had come to realize he was a control freak, except it wasn’t his will he wanted to enforce but his wife’s. As long as she conformed, he didn’t bother her much. The moment she stepped out of line…he could be extremely harsh. Ted’s favorite punishment was taken from the Asian neighbors he’d had as a child. He’d force Jaycee to kneel, with her arms in the air, for extreme amounts of time. It was made a harsher