“Thirty grand. That’s what it costs to get you clean.” My body prickles from being so close to him. So close to him and soenraged.“But you thinkmaybe this isn’t the right time.”
My voice is openly mocking, but he maintains a neutral expression.
I sense the vibration of his heartbeat. See the muscles in his face and neck clench and ripple as he fights for control. I watch how hard he’s trying to avoid this confrontation and I lean a few millimetres closer.
My rage is a thousand times worse than it was in the corridor at school. I want to hurt him, but Evie won’t thank me for laying into her brother. Not physically. She won’t understand that I’m doing it for her, to save her from this one-sided relationship, from the family member who will always be an anchor around her neck.
“Your offer to pay is very generous, but I think Evie and I prefer not to be in your debt. I’ll just—”
“You’re not in my debt,” I say, voice light as I retreat the tiniest fraction, seeing the relief ripple across his body. “I made your sister pay every fucking cent before we stepped foot on the plane.”
His breath is foul, coffee and tooth decay. It crawls into my nostrils, sinks into the lining of my mouth and throat, invading me with its bitterness.
“Do you want to know what she had to do to get you here?”
He shakes his head but the hairs on the back of my neck are bristling, my face contorting with rage. There is no way I can stop.
“She let me drug her into unconsciousness. Do you know what that was like to watch? Shebeggedme not to make her swallow, tears running down her face.”
He’s shaking again. When I poke him in the chest, he slaps my hand away. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“That was the deal to get you treatment. She let me knock her out, then use her all night however I wanted… and I wanted plenty.”
A surge of the same lust pumps into my veins, entwining with the rage until I feel bloated with power, suffused with strength. Ant huddles against the wall, dullness on his face. His hands curl into fists at his sides, then unclench, then fist again. Colour floods into his cheeks.
He wants to hit me.
Good. Maybe being a punch will knock this horrendous feeling away.
“Funny thing is, I didn’t even enjoy it much. But I loved watching how her jaw set when I handed her the spiked drink. Her throat worked so much to swallow it down, I almost took pity.”
My smile widens into a smirk as I add embellishment, spinning the truth into a lie, a tale designed to hurt him. Hurt as much as the knowledge I suspect he holds could hurt me.
“Most of all, I loved how when she woke up with my cum dripping out of every orifice, she said thank you.”
The fury hums across his skin, tensing every muscle.
“She thanked me for getting you into this fucking clinic you’re so desperate to leave. She thanked me for raping—”
His fist smashes into the side of my face, catching me near the ball of my jaw and exploding into a starburst of pain.
Joy ricochets around my body.
This is what I need, what I’ve been searching for. This mindless cruelty that tastes so much better than smashing some low-life dealers favourite squat to pieces. So much better than blindly raging at fate. A deserved punishment for what I did yesterday.
His second punch is harder, and I stagger, the vision momentarily dimming in one eye, coming back into focus when I snap my head to the side, gurning my jaw, grinning at the rage in Ant’s face.
“No wonder Addie hated your guts, you fucking psychopath.”
The blow of his words knocks me back, then his fist lands in my gut. I double over, only just getting a defensive arm up to block him as another blow comes my way.
He fights like a kid on a playground. Wild swings. Flailing punches.
If I bothered to retaliate, I could have him on his arse in a second.
But I don’t bother. I welcome the pain.
Another swing with his right fist. I block it with my face.
