by Terry Towers
The Proverbs 31 killer. Our father.
“But he didn’t.”
She shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes. “No, Tanner saved me. Thank God for Tanner. He killed him to save me. I know killing is a sin, but sometimes… our father was a very bad man. I never knew…”
But I did. Or at least I sort of did. Ever since I had the flashback a week ago, I was having continuous dreams about my father killing random women. Were they real or a figment of my imagination? I had no idea. Maybe more repressed memories.
“He kept his secret well.”
Tears began to stream down her face. I should have felt bad. My sister was crying so I should have. But I didn’t – not really. I felt nothing if I were to be completely honest.
“So then what happened?”
She shrugged. “Tanner’s old boss made a deal with him, and that was it. It was all cleaned up as if nothing ever happened.”
“Then why did you run and hide?”
“Tanner is in debt to his old boss. He was going to be required to keep training girls and oversee the new facility they are putting together here in the US. Tanner didn’t want to, so we left everything behind and took off into hiding. It’s so hard.”
“But you have each other, and you love him?”
The crying got harder, turning into sobs. “Leaving mother and you… I’m so sorry Rebecca.” She leaned over and gave me a gentle hug, and I tried not to stiffen in her embrace.
When she pulled back, I shrugged. Whatever. I’d been more angry with her than upset. I’d harboured several years of anger. “We managed. Though it would have been nice to have you around for her to preach her God bullshit to.”
She frowned. “You know, Rebecca…”
I put my hand up to her, stopping her. “I don’t need the God lecture. Thank you anyhow.”
Our gazes locked, and I knew we were good. I’d had a number of emotions towards my sister over the years, but now I just felt peace. We were good.
We talked a while longer, about everything and nothing.
A knock came at the door, breaking up our girl time. Tanner opened the door and stepped into the room. He looked from Emily to me and back again. “Is everything okay?” He looked straight at me again as if challenging me.
I stared right back. He didn’t frighten me, despite his attempt.
Kyle showed up at his side. “We’re all good?”
“Emily and I were finishing up. I’d like to speak to Tanner – alone.”
It appeared as though Kyle was going to object. He opened his mouth as if to speak and then seemed to think better of it. “Emily, how about you let them talk a few things out.”
Emily also seemed to be hesitant, but with a sigh, she got up from the bed and brushed past Tanner, following Kyle out into the hallway. After they left, Tanner approached the bed.
I cursed being so damned weak right now. I’d invited a snake into my nest and had no way to kill it. Damn, damn, damn. I didn’t like feeling this way – helpless.
“What would you like to talk about?” Tanner asked coming to a stop at my bedside, but not sitting down as Emily and Kyle had.
“You and my sister.”
“All right. What about us?”
My eyes narrowed at him. “I know what you are. You don’t fool me for a second.”
He smiled, crossing his arms over his chest. The mask dropped, and I saw the coldness in his stare. “And? You’re any better? I knew what you were capable of the moment I laid eyes on you years ago. Emily was in a toxic situation, and I took her out of it.”
I laughed. “Did you? Did you really? She was moved out of a family with a psychotic father to be with a psychopath who impregnated her. How long before you snap and kill her?”
Rage boiled in his eyes. “I would never do that.”
“What would stop you when you get bored of her?” I forced myself to sit up straight on the bed, refusing to show him weakness, despite every part of my body hurting.
“I’d never. I need her as much as she needs me.”
I smirked. “Let’s guess. She’s changed you? Made you a better man?” I huffed. “How cliché.”
“Believe what you want. It makes no difference to me. She’s with me, and it’s going to stay that way. I plan on spending the rest of my life protecting her and our baby.”
“On the run from some organization you screwed over.”
“Don’t worry. We’re off the map now, and once this visit is over, we’ll be off the map again. Your little boy toy couldn’t track us without luring us in with you.” He nodded towards my shoulder. “Nice trick by the way. Really convincing. Let me ask you this? If I’m such a bad person, why are you with someone who would shoot you, risking your life, just to lure us out?”
“That was my choice.”
“He made you think it was your choice…”
That gave me pause. What if this was all a game? Had Kyle played me all along?
“The fact that you’re considering it says it all, doesn’t it?”
His smile turned smug. Damn, I wished I could punch his smug fucking face. But I couldn’t. “You know nothing about our relationship.”
“Hmm. Two psychopaths in a relationship. I can see that going very, very well in the long term.”
“Like I said, things are different between us.”
“I know nothing about your relationship, that’s right. And you know nothing about what I’ve developed with your sister. So you’re going to have to trust that I do have her best interests and those of our child in mind.”
“What if I don’t?”
“You have no choice. As much as you hate to admit that you’re powerless with something, the fact is – you don’t.”
His words stung, because they were right. It angered me, but I was a realist. Emily was four years older than me. She was a woman who could make her own decision, and her decision was to be with him.
I sucked in a breath and released it. “You’re right. But I’ll tell you this. If you hurt her or that baby, I’ll fucking track you down and kill you, and the death would be worse than anything you could have ever imaged.”
He grinned then. “I wouldn’t expect anything less of the daughter of the proverbs 31 killer.” He turned and left the room, leaving me seething. But despite my anger - he’d bested me, I’ll admit it – I had a feeling he was being legit with me. He really and truly loved her, and if someone like him – a fucking flesh peddler - could figure out how to love, then surely there was hope for me and Kyle.
Right?
Chapter 27
One Week Later
Rebecca
“I have to go back.”
“I don’t want you to,” I protested tracing the hard lines of muscle along his chest and abdomen. The muscle flexed as my fingernail traced it. I couldn’t look into his eyes. If I did, he’d see the weakness in me, the weakness that had grown within me as my feelings for him grew. But unlike other times, the realization he’d made me weak didn’t anger me, it was becoming a fact of life that I could deal with – embrace even.
Kyle shrugged. “What do you expect me to do? It’s not like I’m calling in sick from my job at Burger King.”
“That’s what telephones and Skype are for. I don’t understand why you need to fly all the way to the UK just to confront your father.”
“Because that’s how it has to be. If I don’t go there and deal with this, then he’ll come here to send someone to retrieve us both.”
I smirked, finally looking up at him, my finger halting its progress. “You mean send someone like you?”
“Worse than me.” He grinned. “I’ve been growing a bit soft since meeting you.”
“You still managed to be able to pull the trigger.”
“That was…” His voice trailed off, “A means to an end and the end is finally here.”
Frowning, I went back to tracing the defined lines of muscle. “What if he doesn’t accept you failed?”
His body stif
fened under me. Poor choice in wording. Shit.
“I didn’t fail.” He was as touchy as I was when it came to being accused of failing – I should have known to be more selective of my wording since I had the exact same feeling on it.
“That’s not what I meant.” Looking up at him, I gave him a smile that said ‘I’m sorry.’ “What I meant was you didn’t accomplish the mission you were sent out on in the way you were ordered.”
“He’s not going to have a choice. I’m done with the Organization.”
“And what are you going to tell him?”
“That California agrees with me, and that I’ve decided that I want to pursue the psychology degree. I can convince him. He’s a heartless bastard, but I’m still his only child.”
I wasn’t entirely convinced.
“Hey,” he cupped my chin in his hand and tilted my head so I was forced to look into his eyes. My mind flashed back to the first day I’d seen him in class, the day that our eyes locked, and I’d been amazed by how intoxicating his eyes were. Even now, a little over a month since we’d first met, the beauty of his eyes enthralled me each time I looked within them.
But it was different now. Our masks were off, and we allowed each other full access to who we were without the mind-games and manipulation. It blew my mind it had only been a month since that day – so much had happened.
It was crazy, but it was true.
“What?”
His hand slipped to the back of my neck, and my body trembled. We’d fucked – no, correction, we’d just made love, and my body was on fire, ready to do it again. Kyle had claimed he needed to take things slowly with me sexually because of my injuries, but we both knew that was complete bullshit. We’d both allowed ourselves to let go and exposed ourselves – physically, mentally, and emotionally for the first time in either of our lives. And it felt so good.
“It’s going to be fine. Don’t worry.”
I huffed, attempting to shake his hand from my chin, but he refused to let me. “I’m not worried.”
“Bullshit,” he challenged.
“We both know I’m not capable - ”
He lifted his head and claimed my lips with his own, shutting me up. “We’re capable of a lot more than either of us thought possible.” He didn’t wait for me to respond, instead, he gently pressed me back onto the mattress and settled himself between my legs.
My pussy clenched in anticipation, feeling the head of his shaft rubbing along the length of my slit. “Yesss.”
“Yes.” His lips lowered to the side of my neck, nipping lightly. “Because of you I’ve learned something about myself that I never realized I was capable of.”
“Which is?” I already knew the answer. Regardless, I waited on bated breath for it.
“Yes, I’ve learned how to love.”
“Me too.” I whispered as his lips closed in on mine.
* TT *
Kyle
Home, sweet, home. Yeah, not so much, I thought as I stepped into my father’s mansion on the outskirts of London. My father liked his privacy, so his estate had a high cast iron fence surrounding it, and the nearest neighbour was a kilometer away.
After a long flight – slightly over ten hours to be exact – I was anxious to get this confrontation over with. I planned on having my ass back on a flight tomorrow morning.
The house seemed deathly quiet. Normally, there were servants and my father’s goons roaming about. Not so much today.
“Anyone home?” I called out heading through the two-story foyer, past the spiral staircase, and towards my father’s office.
“In here,” came a gruff reply from the end of the corridor. It was Flynn.
With a sigh, I quickened my pace, and as I approached the office, I noticed the door was open. Reaching it, I knocked on the wall and stepped in without waiting for him to reply.
“Kyle.” Flynn stared at me as I approached his large varnished oak desk. “Sit. We have a lot to discuss.”
I did as told without protest.
“I expected the next time I saw you that you’d have Tanner and that little whore of his in tow.”
“Things didn’t go quite as planned.”
“Meaning you’re not as good as you think you are.” It wasn’t a question. It was a statement.
“Meaning, Tanner is smart. He hid himself well, fully off of the grid, and didn’t take the bait.”
Flynn’s eyes narrowed at me. “Perhaps you didn’t try hard enough.”
With a huff, I shook my head. “It’s not a matter of trying hard enough.”
“It’s a matter of letting a flesh peddler outwit you.”
Anger boiled in my blood, and I had to grit my teeth to keep from answering with a snide remark. I never particularly loved my father to begin with, but now I realized I outright hated him.
Flynn chuckled. “Truth hurts, doesn’t it son.”
“He didn’t outwit me,” I growled, the hatred I felt for Flynn gleaming in my eyes.
“Yea. Well, I’ll be sending someone else out to complete that task since you couldn’t. I have an assignment that may better suit your… ability level.”
I straightened in my chair. “Sending someone else?”
“Yes, Cain.”
My fingers gripped the armrests of the leather chair I was sitting in. Images of Cain taking and raping Rebecca popped into my mind, looping through my head like an endless horror movie. “I already told you. He’s off of the grid.” I was attempting to remain nonchalant but could hear the anger in my voice. I only hoped Flynn took it as me being angry he was insulting me rather than my worry for Rebecca’s well-being. “It’s a needle in a haystack. The sister and mother know nothing. I couldn’t even lure him out. He’s impossible to find. It’ll be a waste of resources.”
“Cain was going out there to set up the facility for training in the states anyhow. Perhaps the sister will be the first one at the facility. If we can’t get Tanner and the little virgin, then we’ll take the sister.”
Not on your life. I’d kill my father and Cain and anyone else that attempted to get in my way. My jaw clenched as I attempted to keep my cool. The cold steel of the gun I had tucked into the back of my jeans reminded me it was there, and that I should use it – sooner rather than later.
My father grinned then, a wicked grin. “That’s just what I thought…”
Frowning, I didn’t speak but waited for him to continue.
“You’re protecting them. You had a taste of the sister’s cunt, and now, you’re protecting them, choosing them over your own flesh and blood.” He shook his head, frowning. “I had such high hopes for you, Kyle.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Why I was playing stupid was beyond me. My father hit the nail on the head, and now, I was at a crossroads. Either I do what I’d contemplated a million times before and shoot him here and now, or find a way to reverse this situation and make it work to my advantage.
As my mind rapidly spun through the scenarios, I heard the sound of heavy footsteps coming down the corridor towards the office.
“I had such high hopes.” Flynn shook his head, frowning as he pulled a revolver from under his deck and pointed it at me. “You’re my only child. It pains me to have to do this…”
Fuck!
Chapter 28
Rebecca
“A dog bit you?” Vanessa asked, arching a brow at me.
“Yup, that’s what happened,” I confirmed motioning to my bandaged leg beneath the hem of my shorts. Fuck, I was in hard knocks shape.
“What kind of dog was it?”
Oh dear god! I groaned inwardly. I gave her a weak smile as I hobbled over to my bed and plunked myself down. “A big one. I don’t know.” Raking my fingers through my hair, I sighed. “Like a Rottweiler or something. It happened so fast.”
“So how did you get away?”
“The owner came and got him.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh my god! So he was off his leash? How ir
responsible!”
“Vanessa.” I used my stern voice on her. “I’m really hurting.” Pulling my legs up onto the bed, I laid flat on it, closing my eyes. “And really tired. Can we continue this later?”
“Oh shit, I’m so sorry.”
“No worries.”
Kyle had left early this morning, despite my protests. I had a really bad feeling in the pit of my stomach about him leaving. I had this ominous feeling he wasn’t coming back – not because he didn’t want to but because he couldn’t. There were too many if’s and not enough answers.
“Would you like to have the room to yourself? I can go to the library or something? Or if you didn’t have breakfast or lunch then I could get you something.”
Oh my dear god! Why couldn’t Vanessa just be quiet? Her heart is in the right place. I reopened my eyes. “If you could go to Burger King and grab me some lunch that would be wonderful.” I forced a smile to my lips. “A Whopper and fries and Coke.”
“You’ve got it.” She seemed happy that I gave her something to do, and since Burger King was over a half-hour away, that would buy me a minimum of an hour of peace and quiet. It was a long weekend, and the dorms were pretty much empty. From my understanding, there was a wild all weekend party going on in the building next to us put on by one of the frats, so all remaining people were there. The place was a ghost town.
I watched her as she put on her shoes and opened the door.
Placing my head back down on my pillow, I closed my eyes again. An hour’s worth of peace and quiet. Tension immediately began to drain from me as I heard her open the door.
“Is Rebecca here?” A deep male voice said from the hallway.
“She’s… Ummm. She’s not - ”
“Oh, she’s available.” Dread filled me, and I slowly opened my eyes and stared at a massive man who pretty much filled the doorway. His expression was unreadable. I didn’t have to ask to know he was one of Kyle’s people or Kyle’s father’s people – it didn’t matter either way.
Oh fuck, fuck, fuck! My gun! But it wasn’t loaded, and the goon of a man in the doorway would be on me before I could even reach it. The gun was currently under my mattress and the clip in the drawer.
