It’s like getting manhandled by fuckingBatman—in agoodway. His voice is a deep, gravelly whisper, and my cunt immediately went to aching. God, I’m deranged. I struggled, for absolutely no other reason than to make him grip my wrists harder, and his muscular thigh pressed my hips into the side of the car.
“You kill me, and they’ll find out who you are. I promise,” I smiled, barely able to catch my breath as I stared up at the canopy of trees. “I might be clueless…but my brother isn’t. Neither are my friends.” His hand slid down through the back of my hair and around my throat. I felt the warmth of his breath through his mask, and it danced over my neck until I locked up.
“I’m not scared of you,oryour friends, Little Doe. I asked you a fucking question.”
My chest heaved up and down and I swallowed around the pressure of his palm as his body bore down harder…to the point I could barely breathe. “I dunno what the fuck you’re looking for, Bruce Wayne. I’m busy. So, if you’re not gonna help, then get the hell off of me, so I can dump this bitch and go home.” He stilled, and I saw it pretty clearly. I’ve stumped him. I guess he thought I’d be like sweet Natalie, or nosy Lydia. Maybe he thought I’d beg for my life. That shit’s not happening. I curled my back and pressed my ass into his cock…and it twitched.
He growled into my ear and pushed off of me, backing away as I turned and swung my arm, hoping to catch him in the jaw…I wasn’t fast enough. He raised his hand and dangled a set of keys—Lydia’s keys.
“What the hell are you doing?!”
He backed up another step. “Drag her west, until you see a big fallen oak. The root hole is deep. You’re welcome.” The keys raised and I dared a step forward, wide-eyed.
“Don’t!”
Too late.
They flew from his hand and landed somewhere far behind me in the woods. My head darted from that direction, back to him as he turned and started running off.
“Have fun getting home.”
It wasn’t until that point that I realized…I would have had a hard time getting home regardless. The idea was to get rid of the carhere. In the woods. But…I don’t have another car to get me the hell out of Witherle.
“Gaaaaggghhh!”I screeched, pulling at my hair and kicking Lydia’s head, because—well…because it felt like the right thing to do. Now Ireallyhate her.
Okay. I’m begging Sev for a spa day. Fuck that, I’ll force her. I need a blowout, paraffin wax on my feet…hot towels on my calves and a clay mask on my face. She won’t say no. I know she won’t. I’ll even bait her into thinking I’ll open up about any of this absolute chaos that I call my current life. Truthfully…it would feel so good to trust her with it. It would take so much off of me, but…now that they’ve tied the knot…I feel like she’d be obligated to tell Malek. I also don’t want her sick with worry. I don’t want her feeling guilty for what happened when I went upstairs with Jonas to keep him from blowing her head off. I don’t want any of that. I just want my sister, dude. And as odd as it is to say…I want my brother, too.
Breathe a word about that…and I’ll give you the Lydia treatment.
It took me twenty minutes to figure out how to string the bitch up. I looked down at the awkward angle of her legs and shifted on my feet, thanking Christ that it’s her and not me. Looks painful.
“Oh,Lydia…” I bent down, snatching one of her shoes off and turned it over. “My darling…you have such good taste. Everton must have paid yourealwell to be a nosy twat.” I grabbed her other heel and stacked the prettyLouboutinsup on the roof of her car. “Can’t let these go to waste. Thanks, peaches.”
Then came the agony of dragging her prissy pantsuit ass through the woods. The rope did make it easier, but not by much. Seven Grey has to be in impeccable shape to have done this as a one-woman circus. I found the hole Batman mentioned about half an hourafterI talked myself outta the idea that he was playing me like a deck of cards. Lydia’s body thumped about four feet down. I raised the shovel I dragged with me and started beating the huge muddy root with the edge until clumps of dirt started breaking off from it and landing on top of the body. Might be the only win I get tonight aside from my pretty new shoes.
The woods are so quiet…
I don’t hear bugs, animals…the telltale sound of a twig snapping with my fuckingherocoming to see if I did this right. Just…nothing. Nothing except me and my spiraling head. I dropped the shovel and plopped down, raising my knees and rubbing circles into my temples while a headache started blooming between them. I need help.
In more ways than, one…yes, I know. Get fucked.
The only reason that this worked out so well for Sev is because she had the means and the resources to actuallydoall of this. I don’t have help. I don’t have a morgue. No secrethideaway to push a car off a cliff. No strategy, just…rage and inexperience. I need someone. I want…I wantDec. I hate that I want him here. It scrapes my nerves and makes me feel weird. But it also feels right and I can’t explain the way he makes me feel safe. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and opened his contact, my thumb hovering over the call button.
“Don’t do it, Bridget…” I whispered, gnawing a hole through my bottom lip. “How in the fuck am I gonna get back?” I guess I really don’t have any other choice. I rang Simon instead. Two rings and voicemail. I tried again…straightto voicemail. My jaw dropped open as I stared down at the screen. “Oh my—fuck you, Mr. Frodo!” I waited for the beep, and tried to reel in my irritation, lest I find out the hard way what the truth is about that lampshade. “Okay, is this your way of teaching me a lesson about cleaning up my own mess? Geez!” My phone slapped to my thigh, and I went back to massaging my temples.
Ping.
Mr. Miyagi: Yes.
“Aaaaggghhhh!”
My high-pitched growl echoed through the woods, and I plopped onto my back, blowing leaves off my face when they floofed around me. If I started walking, it would be nextweekbefore I even made it back to my own car. Call it the tax of my own fucking pride…but I see no other choice.
By the time I made it back to Lydia’s car, I was inching my way towards a mental breakdown. I’ve got way too much going on here. Too many pieces on the board…no idea how to play the game. I’ve never been much for games, anyway. I’m a bit of a sore loser. Any thrill I had earlier tonight is long gone now. I dragged the stupid shovel and stumbled out of the shrubs, nearlyweeping when I heard the sound of incessant dinging from the open driver’s side door.
“Oh, you’reshittingme!”
I tripped over my own feet trying to make it to the car, and behold…Batman was, in fact, playing me. I only thought he’d thrown those car keys. He had taken the key off and waited until I was out of sight before leaving it in the ignition. It took more than an eight-point-turn to get out of the spotI thought…I’d leave this damned car in. I really need to work on my plans before I just call them to action. What was once a really nice car, aside from half of Lydia’s blood supply staining the seat, was rattling and steaming from the hood the entire way back to Everton. The back lot was empty now and I parked the bitch right in the spot I’d taken it from—along with her short little life.
