Mila
IWASN’T LOOKING to make friends, but Hound somehow managed to overstep all my boundaries and take root like an old oak tree that had been in my life for centuries. Yes, I could remove him, but it would take power tools and manpower I didn’t possess.
Besides, I kind of liked having him around.
While Levi obsessed about finding the source of my threatening emails, Hound took it upon himself to make sure my needs were met. If I didn’t join the club for dinner, he brought me a plate. If I didn’t stop by the kitchen for breakfast, he grabbed me something on his way to the office. If I needed someone to vent my frustrations to, he listened with rapt attention.
Hound’s devotion to my personal well-being was both unnerving and… well, really welcome.
The Monday after Levi returned from the wedding, he created a temporary working space for me beside his desk, hooking me up with a spare laptop. While he searched for the sender of my creepy Bible emails, I spent my days internet stalking people Polly and I shared a connection with, trying to find the candidates most likely to morph into religious nut-job murderers so I could turn them over to Levi for further investigation. I was working my way down the list of possible suspects, when Billy the Bastard’s name came up.
“Do you know anything about this guy?” I asked, angling my screen toward Levi.
“William Dean Ortel, III,” he read aloud. “Nope. Sounds pretentious as fuck. I’d remember a name like that for sure.”
“He’s the guy who helped me get away from the compound.”
“Hmm. Where’d you meet him?”
“A school dance in Gallipolis.”
With a population of a little under 4,000, Gallipolis was about ten miles from the compound Levi and I had grown up in, nestled along the Ohio river. It wasn’t uncommon for teens to sneak out and visit the town, but those who got caught, paid for it. Even so, no number of lashings could seem to keep curious teens locked away indefinitely. I was only brave enough to venture out once, and thankfully no one in my small, rebellious group got caught.
“Yousnuck out?” Levi asked, sounding positively scandalized.
“Sneaked,” I corrected. “Just because we’re from the sticks doesn’t give you a pass on bad grammar. And yes. You left, then Toby left, and I was bored out of my mind. Anyway, Billy’s family is crazy-rich. They come from that old soybean money.”
Levi cocked his head to the side. “Old? Soybeans haven’t been around the US all that long.”
“I know.” Emotion caught in my throat. “Polly used to make that joke.”
His eyes softened.
I dropped my gaze, focusing on the corner of my desk until I got myself under control. “So, Billy…” I cleared my throat and tried again. “I was young and naïve, and he promised me the moon, the stars, and everything in between. He helped me get my GED and enroll in Ohio State. Seriously, he had that whole knight in million-dollar armor thing going. Yeah, he could be a spoon-fed egotistical jackass, but never to me. Well, not until I caught him bumpin’ uglies with a girl who was supposed to be my friend.”
“Bastard,” Levi swore.
I chuckled. “Yes. Billy the Bastard has been his nickname ever since. Turned out there was nothing knight-esque about him. The spoiled little douchebag was used to getting his way and didn’t take confrontation all that well. He thought I’d stay because I had no money and nowhere to go, but he grossly overestimated my ability to put up with his cheating ass. He pitched one hell of a fit when I walked out his door.”
Levi gave the social media profile on my screen his full attention. “He didn’t hurt you or anything did he?”
Not physically. “No. I’m pretty sure he thought I’d come back.”
“You think he’s a suspect?”
Clicking another tab, I showed Levi the latest news on my ex. “I don’t see how he could be. He was arrested for embezzlement right before Polly’s murder. He’s out on bail now, but I don’t think he’s allowed to leave the state, much less the country.”
“Wow. You really can pick ’em, can’t you cuz?”
I shrugged. “What can I say? He had a nice ass.” And he knew all the right words to say to make me fall head over heels for him. Just thinking about Billy still made my chest ache. He promised me forever. Silly me, I thought that meant we were monogamous, but apparently Billy believed he was still free to fuck whomever he wanted.
He taught me a lot about committed relationships, mainly, to avoid them.
“And how’d that nice ass work out for you?” Levi asked.
I flipped him off.
He chuckled before focusing on the screen again. “Entitled assholes rarely do their own dirty work. Billy the Bastard could have hired someone to follow you and take out your friend and client.”
