"No! Leave her alone, please! She's my dog. Please don't hurt my dog."
"You know what I think?" he asks before turning and smashing Elias's television. "I think youloveyour brother."
He swings at the shelves above me, and I cover Arcadia with my body as Elias's prized hockey memorabilia and broken glass pummels my back.
"I don'tloveElias. Idespisehim. He's not even my real fucking brother!"
Miles scoffs. "Well, I hope not. I saw the way he looked at you. He definitely doesn't look at you the way someone should look at a sister."
"Miles, I just want to leave with my dog!Please."
"What will you do for me?"
"What? I—"
He puts the weapon in my face, tapping the side of my head as he punctuates each word. "I said…What. Will you do. For me? If I promise not to bash this little bitch's brains in right now, what will you do for me?"
I swallow hard, tears pooling in my eyes. "Whatever you want."
"Elias fucked my fiancé," he says. "I want to fuck his little sister on his bed."
"And…and then you won't hurt my dog?"
"And then I won't hurt your dog."
"Okay…" I nod, standing slowly with one hand on Arcadia's collar. "But…I don't want her to be in the room."
He steps aside, leaving a clear path between me and the door. "You can let her out, but don't try to run."
Without taking my eyes off him, I slowly make my way toward the door, ushering Arcadia into the hallway before closing it behind me.
I breathe a sigh of relief, but I still need to come up with a plan to get us both the fuck out of here.
There's a hockey stick mounted on the wall to my left. I could grab it, but he's bigger than me and has the fire poker.
His gaze follows mine. "Don't even think about it. Take off your clothes and get on the bed. Make it fast, or I'll use the fire poker instead."
In my head, I'm swinging, but I know it won't go in my favor. Looking at the bed, I notice something shiny atop the comforter—a shard of glass, likely from one of Elias's shattered frames.
It's a decent size. Still, I don't think I could stab someone—I don't think I'm capable of it.
I guess we'll find out.
But just as I reach for the hemline of my top, the front door opens and slams shut.
"What…the hell happened in here…?" Dax asks.
"What the fuck?!" Elias yells as Arcadia starts going crazy. "Nolan—check the cameras. I'm going to go look upstairs."
"I'll check the back," Dax says.
I literally watch the blood drain from Miles's face. I can see his hands shaking as he clutches the fire poker.
He'sterrified. He's fucking terrified of Elias, and it makes me so goddamn angry, I could scream.
"We have to hide!" he whispers, panicked. He opens the sliding door behind him and steps out onto a small balcony overlooking the backyard.
"You fucking pussy!" I shout. "You were pretty fucking tough a few minutes ago when no one was home and it was just you, a dog, and a woman, weren't you?"
