“Didn’t expect to see you today,” Gareth says as I walk into the kitchen after work.
My muscles tense, my bones tired from a double shift, and my eyes sleepy. I open the cupboard to get a glass and fill it with water. Last night’s activities dehydrated me.
He stands, stretching his arms above his head as if gearing up for a workout. He knows. The tension in the room is thick. Although there is silence, I’m deafened by the pounding between my ears, telling me to run. Gulping the water, I stand frozen, ready for a lecture.
“You’re just like your mother. She was a fucking slut, too.”
“Leave my mother out of it.” I’m no longer sleepy. My eyes are wide open and now my mouth. “My mother was lonely and you sick fucks took advantage of her.” I’m still confused about my mother’s past, but whatever happened, he won’t believe his brother was a rapist.
“Your mother was a little whore who couldn’t get enough of our dicks. She had both of us at one point and she came back for more.”
I try to block out the vile words spilling from his mouth.
“Why do you think I had a DNA test? You could’ve been anybody’s. Turns out you’re a whore just like her.”
Jack walks into the kitchen, stopping when his eyes lock on to me. His scowl tells me that he was the one who told his father where I stayed last night. “The wanderer returns.” He folds his arms across his chest and stands behind his father. “Your boyfriend’s gonna pay for thinking he can touch our property.”
“I’m not anybody’s property.” I slam the water down on the counter, then wince, wishing I hadn’t. “Kane’s been good to me. I care about him, okay?” I try pleading with them, hoping they can understand things from my point of view, though that will never happen. “Please don’t hurt him. This feud between you needs to stop.”
A loud crack causes my head to whip to the side. The blow from the back of Gareth’s hand leaves a burning sting. I cover my face with my palms, protecting myself from another hit.
“I say when this feud ends. And it doesn’t end until he’s dead. And you can die with him for all I care. You’re no niece of mine.” His other hand knocks the other side of my face, sending me crashing to the floor. My body hits the cold tiles, my head bouncing off the hard surface.
With weak limbs powered by adrenaline and fear, I scramble to my knees. Blood drips onto the cream stone tiles. I wipe my nose with my sleeve, leaving a red trail on the fabric. Copper fills my mouth, and I swallow it down, gagging and choking on a sob. “He’ll come for you for hurting me.” I pull myself up, using a chair as leverage.
Gareth laughs. An evil laugh that makes my skin prickle. “I really hope he does. I’ll be waiting.”
My legs shake beneath me, cornering the table, trying to get away from him and out of this house. Blood congeals in the back of my throat and my face hurts with the pain of a thousand stings.
Gareth grips my arm. I flinch. His touch burning my skin, his breath poisoning my senses, and his words piercing my ears through the pounding in my head. “Where do you think you’re going? On your knees and clean this fucking mess up.”
“Clean it yourself.” I spit a mouthful of blood in his face, which gains me another backhander, knocking me to the floor. This time I was expecting it, and throw my hands out in time before my head cracks against the stone.
“While you’re down there, you can lick my boot clean too.”
“That’s enough.” Jesse’s voice muffles through the siren in my head.
I crawl under the table to escape Gareth’s boot inches from my face.
“What’s with you?” Gareth snarls. “A few months ago, you were bragging about how you were going to use her to get to that son of a bitch.”
My heart plummets into my stomach. I feared that was the case. Jesse has always been kind to me. If it was Jack, I could have believed it of him, but not Jesse. Tears gather in the corner of my eye.Don’t let them see you cry. Crawling further under their large kitchen table, I spit out more blood onto the floor.
Jesse bends at the head of the table, holding his hand out for me. I ignore him, crawling out from under the wood and batting his hand away when he reaches for me.
I see Gareth at the other side of the table and make a run for it past Jack, who makes no attempt to stop me.
“You’d better run, girl. Run back to him. You’ve made your bed, now go lie in it.”
I run out into the cold night. Blood drips onto my clothes. I pull the keys from my pocket and clamber into my mini. With shaky hands, it takes a few attempts to get the key in the lock. I wipe my nose on my sleeve again, but my bloodied nose is the least of my worries.
Blinking away tears doesn’t help the fog clouding my vision. My head rages with the static sound of a hundred radio stations, but one station comes through loud and clear. Lilly’s voice.‘Don’t let Kane see you hurt. He’ll land himself back in jail.’She’s right. If he saw me, there’s no telling what he’d do.
It’s almost like they wanted to hurt me, so he’d come for them. Well, their evil plan isn’t going to work. I swerve the car, taking a right towards town. Towards Lilly’s house.
A pop sounds from under the car, then the steering stiffens. Not now, please. “Come on, old girl, don’t fail me now, please.” I tap the dash, but she slows down. I pull onto the curb as she grinds to a halt. She’s giving up.
My hands grip the steering wheel. Yaz is at work. I don’t trust Lucy or Marie. I’ve been here for months and have a pitiful number of friends to count on.
