“I’m gonna move my hand and the next time you scream, I’m gonna cut off a fuckin’ finger,” I tell her as I pull my knife from the back pocket of my jeans. “Why?”
I slowly pull my hand away from her mouth and wait. She sniffles a few times before looking at Christian.
“He did it. He’s lying to you, Tide. He set this whole thing up,” she says as Christian mouths behind his gag.
“Why?”
“Why do you think? You stole his girlfriend. You fucked her and waved it in his face!”
“He didn’t do this,” I say softly as I listen to my son screaming behind the gag.
“He did. He set it all up.”
“Then why did he give you the money?”
“To keep my mouth shut,” she says quickly. I shake my head, a sick smile tugging at my lips.
“You know what’s funny? There was only one hundred and fifty thousand missin’ from his account, and that money went to you. You know what else is funny? That’s the exact amount the motherfuckers were paid to take her. You think that’s a coincidence?” Anger surges inside of me because I know she’s sitting here lying to my face. I can tell by the look on hers. She did this. How could she fucking do this? What kind of sick bitch is she?
“I swear I didn’t do this, Tide. Why would I?”
“Because you wanted him back. You knew you weren’t gonna get him back, so you figured you’d get rid of the competition. Make it easier on you,” Bane tells her as he steps up next to me.
“That makes sense,” I add.
“You think I would do something like that, Tide? Do you really?” She cries now as I bring the knife to her cheek.
“You left your son. You left me. You were angry and jealous. Yeah, I think you did this,” I tell her as I drag the blade down her face. Blood bursts to the surface as she screams and cries harder.
“I didn’t!”
“Tell the fuckin’ truth, or I’ll fuckin’ carve your ass up right here in front of your son!” I demand her as I drag the blade up theother side of her face. She screams louder when I pull away and wait.
“Fine! I fucking hate her! I hate that she got what I wanted. I hate that she was in the middle of all this. All I fucking wanted was you, Tide! That was it!”
“So you sent her off to be raped and killed? That make you feel better?”
“I hate her! I hate everything about her. So yes, I thought I’d get rid of her. If she wasn’t around, then there was no one else to hold your attention. You could have looked at me again.”
“We were never good, Beth. Never. We were fuckin’ toxic, and you know it. But the day you walked? The day you left me with a kid, I didn’t know how to raise? Well, that showed me the real woman you were. You were nothin’. You were fuckin’ trash, and there was no way in hell, Mylah here or not, that I would have fucked with you again.”
“What do you wanna do here, Tide?”
“I want her dead.”
Chapter 30
Mylah
The girls came over. The other old ladies. They wanted to bring us housewarming gifts. It was super sweet of them. I love that we can all spend time together and get along. I know not all of the girls do, but I’m blessed to be one of them who does.
Now I sit here watching the clock tick. Tide snuck out sometime last night when I fell asleep. At first, I was pissed. I was angry that he’d do that on our first night in the new house. Then I had so many bad thoughts. Is this what my life is going to be like now? Is he going to disappear in the middle of the night without a word? The girls reassured me that it doesn’t happen often and that he would be home as soon as he could. That doesn’t stop the bad thoughts from lingering. I can’t live like that. I can’t worry about where he is at all hours of the night. It’s not healthy.
I shove out of the chair that one of the girls brought over and walk to the window, looking out. The backyard is perfect for the dogs and for a little one to play in. I smile to myself when I hear the front door close. I spin around quickly and walk through the kitchen and out to the living room to see Tide. There’s blood on his hands. I look from his hands to his face before looking back once more. What did he do?
“Are you okay?”
“I am now. Come here,” he says. I walk toward him, and he pulls me into his arms, pressing a kiss to the top of my head before just holding me here. I sigh and relax into his hold, loving how he can just calm me inside.
