As soon as Amanda mentioned the police I knew I shouldn't of said anything. I just presumed she'd told her already, or would at least want to. Amanda was right though, she did need to go to the police. They needed to at least be aware of the situation. Maybe there wasn't much they could do, but if he is here - and is watching her - then things could turn ugly.

The thought of him hurting her, laying a finger on her, makes my blood boil. It's a good job I'd finished my dinner, because my appetite had vanished as soon as she stormed out the door.

"So you were right then" jack spoke, but I had no idea what he was on about.

"Huh?"

"You said to me that night, you were worried she had reason to run the way she did the first time you met." He explained. "You were right"

I nodded, then leaned back, exhaling.

"Did she ever go to the police? Before like" he clarified, whispering so she couldn't hear us.

"No. Would you?"

He winced. Logically the answer was yes, but realistically it was no. What he did to her was terrifying, especially when Hope was involved. If there was no proof, then it would of only pissed him off more. She could of possibly ended up dead.

"They won't do anything you know" he said, trying not to piss me off.

"I know that, but at least if she talks to them something can be done if he's here"

"Yeah, but there's still no proof"

Who's side was he on here?

"Look Jack I know where you're coming from, but something needs to be done. He's dangerous"

Snapping wasn't the ideal thing to do right now, but the truth hurt. It broke me inside to know he could take her and Hope, hurt them, and god knows what else.

I was about to go find her when Amanda walked back through the door.

"She's upset, she needs you" she gave me a sympathetic look then went to check on Hope.

I stood to go speak to her, but not before apologising to Jack. "I'm sorry, it's just hard"

I left before he could respond.

When I reached the door, Daisy was stood - shivering to death - watching the cars below.

"Baby?" I called, hoping to god she wasn't crying.

But when she turned, she was.

I pulled her into my arms, and sat on her my lap on one of the balcony chairs.

"Shh it's okay. I'm sorry" I mumbled into her hair as I stroked it to calm her.

"You don't have to be sorry." She said, speaking into my chest. "You're both right though, I do need to go to the police. I'm just so scared"

"I know baby, but I'm going to protect you. I promise"

I grabbed her tighter. I felt my own tears brewing. We lay for minutes just soaking each others love, enjoying each other's warmth, until she lifted her head to look at me. Her eyes were glassy and bloodshot, her soft cheeks were red from where she'd rubbed her tears, and her lips were swollen from where she must of been biting them. Yet she never failed make my heart speed up, or make my body burn for her. She forever looked beautiful. Vulnerable or not.

"Take me to bed" was all she said, before gripping my face and meeting my lips with hers.

Tonight - whether she liked it or not - we were going to just sleep. I wasn't about to take advantage of her vulnerability. She needed comfort, but not in that way. Then tomorrow we would discuss what she wanted to do. I wasn't going to pressure her, it was her decision and I would stick by her no matter the choice she made.

I carried her in my arms, through the living room - completely ignoring whether Jack and Amanda were still there - and straight into the bedroom.

"Put these on" I passed her the pink pyjama set she brought with her. "I'm gong to check Hope, and say goodbye to our friends"

"Wait" she tugged my arm as I turned to move. "I don't want to wear pyjamas"

I chuckled at the meaning behind that before responding. "Well tough." I kissed her forehead and carried on towards the door.

"God you're such a gentleman" she whined.

"Get used to it baby"

The next morning came quicker than I thought.

I rolled over to expect Daisy's sweet peach scent tickle my nose, and her curvy body to mould into mine, but when I looked she wasn't there.

My eyes were half open, stinging from the explosion of light coming my way, but I blinked and widened them as soon as I noticed.

I shot up like a rocket. Panic set in when I touched her side to find it ice cold. She hadn't been in bed for hours.

The worst possible scenario made it's way through my head as I chucked a T-shirt on to search for her. I couldn't help thinking that Robert had taken her.

I darted across the room to the door, viciously gripping the silver handle. I stumbled as I opened the door to find she was cuddled up on the sofa with Hope. I presumed she must of woke up, refusing to go back to sleep, but she looked terrifyingly flushed.

"Hey, you okay?" I asked, tiptoeing over to place a chaste kiss on her lips.

As soon as her sapphires met mine, I could see how swollen and teary she was.

"She's not well. She's got a fever Nate."

I heard the panic before I saw it.

"I've called the doctor, he said to bring her in if I can't get it down in an hour." She looked up at the clock. "That was around forty minutes ago, and she's still boiling"

"Okay sweetie calm down, I'm sure it's nothing" I tried to reassure her, cradling them both in my arms, but I'm sure as a parent this is the most worrying thing ever seeing your child ill.

"Will you just watch her a second while I go get the thermometer" she lifted Hope into my chest. She had nothing but her frozen night dress on, and she was still scorching hot to touch. Her cheeks were Scarlett too.

Daisy placed the digital thermometer in the centre of her head - like the box said - and it flashed red. 38.6 was written on the screen, and Daisy instantly panicked.

"Okay I'm taking her to see a doctor" she stood as fast as possible, taking Hope out of my arms.

"Baby you need to get dressed, let's leave her on our bed a minute while he get changed"

She nodded her head, and dashed towards the bedroom.

I needed to calm her down, she was going to work herself up way too much. I understood this was worrying - I was worried too, and she wasn't even my child - but I cared about her too much to let her work herself into a panic attack.

As soon as we were ready, I raced towards the doctors surgery. Hope has started coughing now she's awake, and is complaining of a headache.

The doctor saw her immediately, being a child with a high temperature could mean all sorts so they wanted to check her straight away.

"Baby I'm scared" Daisy leaned into my chest as I smoothed my arm around her back. Her eyes were even more swollen now, bloodshot, and her face had become a statue. She was exhausted with anxiety.

My heart broke as they took lots of tests, and Hopes small, frail, body lay there just as exhausted as Daisy looked.

"Looking at her throat, and taking into consideration her symptoms, she has tonsillitis" the doctor said.

I felt Daisy's body slump into me as she finally relaxed. I hadn't noticed, but I did too. I was also extremely worried this was something more serious.

"So she needs to stay at home, plenty of fluids, and call us if she refuses to eat or drink" he informed us before discharging her from the room.

"Thank you so much" she said as she carried Hope out of the surgery.

It was then I noticed her body tense up again. She froze mid step as we walked to the car, her whole body became like stone. Her grip because more powerful, more protective, on Hope as her body trembled.

"Daisy what's wrong" I jumped straight to her, assessing her face.

She was still staring across the street, her breathing wheezy and her face the epitome of terrified.

I turned my head to meet her gaze, but the street was empty.

"Baby, you're scaring me"

"He was there"

When she finally spoke, my heart leaped into my throat. He as in him.

I pulled her towards the car, unsure of what to do. She could of just saw someone that looked like him, and panicked after everything that's happened these past few days. Or it could actually be him. The latter meant I couldn't drive us back to my apartment; he would know where I lived - that's if he didn't already know.

"Okay baby look at me" I said, pulling her face towards me as we got into the car. "We can't go to the apartment, he might follow us. Are you sure it was him"

She nodded in response. I noticed her hands shaking, her lip trembling, and she'd turned extremely pale. I hated seeing her look so terrified.

I sat for a minute, staring out the front window, wondering what to do. Where could I go? Where could I take us that wouldn't put us at risk?

In the end I decided to make a call.

"Jack I need your help"

By the time I'd finished talking to Jack, we'd hit the road. He was going to follow us and watch for any suspicious cars that could also be following us. It wasn't ideal, if it was Robert and he saw another car following us, it could trigger him to do something rational. But at the same time, it could cause him to stop following us.

"We're going to go stay in a hotel" I looked over to see Daisy was still in a panic. I really hoped this was a false alarm and not him. She was completely absent from the world; she'd shut herself off in panic. She didn't even respond to me. No nod, and no words.

The whole drive I was watching the rear mirror for anything suspicious, but there wasn't anything. The only car that stayed on track with us was Jacks. Maybe it was a false alarm or, if not, he decided not to follow us by some miracle.

When we reached the hotel I made a deal with the receptionist to let us in through a rear entrance. If by any chance he'd followed us without realising, and was in there, he wouldn't see us hopefully.

I realised as soon as we got to the penthouse, I needed to speak to Daisy about going to police. Maybe it wasn't the perfect timing, but this had triggered an alert in my head. If he was here, there's nothing stopping him taking them and hurting them. She needed to speak to somebody soon.

She settled herself on the bed, Hope cradled in her arms asleep, and pulled the king size duvet over her body. It was only afternoon, but the past few hours had mentally and physically drained them both.

"Daisy, can we talk a second" I stood at the end of the bed, anticipating whether to just leave it.

She turned her head and nodded, before placing Hope on top of the quilt. The doctor also mentioned not covering her in too many blankets and clothes to avoid the temperature rising.

"I know what you're going to say, and yes I'll do it" she whispered. "I'll go to the police"