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“You loved me. ” She saw the madness light his eyes.
“Did I say I loved you?” She had to buy herself some time. Rowdy would be awake soon, he would know something was wrong. Oh God, where was he?
He blinked at her question before a pout curled his lips. “That stupid neighbor broke in—”
“I never said I loved you, John. ” She fought to stay in control. “I didn’t want you to touch me. I was never yours. ”
He blinked back at her. “No. You were mine. ” His voice was almost childlike. “You were a good girl until they touched you. You wanted to be mine, because I knew you were a good girl. ”
God, he was insane.
“I have always belonged to Rowdy. ” She kept her voice calm, fought to still the hysteria rising inside her. “You knew I was Rowdy’s. Everyone knew. His cousins made sure of it. ”
Anger leapt to his features.
“They’re depraved,” he yelled back at her, his features contorting with fury. “They touched my mother. They made my father know what they were doing to her, and he told me about it. How they made her a bad girl. She wasn’t supposed to be a bad girl. She was my mother. ”
“Your father misunderstood. ” She was shaking, horrified. “They were just boys. ”
“He didn’t misunderstand. ” John shook his head furiously. “He would sneak and watch them and then he would punish me. He would come home and make me lie down while he punished me with what they were doing to her. He had to teach me not to be bad. Now I have to teach you, Kelly. ”
Oh God. She felt her stomach pitch with the horrifying knowledge of what he was talking about. How could a father do such a thing? Drive his own son into insanity in such a way.
“John, you have to listen to me. ” Her fists clenched in her shirt. Just a few more minutes. Surely Rowdy would be here in a few more minutes. “You have to leave. If you shoot me, Rowdy will hear…”
He smiled then. A confident, mad smile that sent terror racing through her mind.
“I took care of Rowdy already, Kelly. He won’t wake up until I’m gone. I’m going to take care of you, then I’ll punish him, just like Daddy punished me. He’ll learn not to touch what belongs to me. ”
She was going to throw up. The insanity that spewed from him was the most sickening thing she had ever known. Worse even than the attack she had suffered at his hands.
“Why?” Her voice trembled despite the effort she used to hold it steady. “He didn’t take what was yours. Why should you punish him?”
There had to be a way to get around him, some way to get to Rowdy. She could lock the bedroom door. There was a gun in the dresser, she had seen Rowdy put it in there. A big black pistol that she knew she could use.
“You are mine!” he snarled, his voice rising in fury. “I took you, I marked you. You wear my mark. ”
“I didn’t ask for your mark,” she yelled back, fury rising inside her. “I didn’t want you, John. Love is given freely. You can’t force it. ”
He shook his head as his eyes glistened with tears, his lips wobbling with some demonic emotion.
“You didn’t give me time,” he pouted. “You would have told me you loved me. ”
“I knew I didn’t love you. ” She edged back as his head turned from her. If she could get to the kitchen and he chased her, then she could use the hall exit to get back to the stairs. All she needed was a head start. “I’ve always loved Rowdy, John. Always. ”
“No! Mine!” he screamed back at her. “I’ll show you, you’re mine then I’ll kill you. ”
He lunged for her. Fury lit his expression as rage transformed his face and he rushed her. Kelly turned, sliding on the slick floor as she heard an enraged howl of fury echo through the house a second before the sound of two bodies impacting pulled her up short.
Gripped the door frame, she turned back, shock filling her as she watched Rowdy struggling with the smaller man. Rowdy was bigger, but the blood at his temple showed the earlier blow that was now slowing his reflexes.
The gun John had carried slid across the room as he fought to get to it. Kelly rushed for it, crying out in rage as a hand snagged her ankle, bringing her to her knees.
Her head turned as she saw the knife in John’s hand, and Rowdy’s reach to grab at his wrist as the other man aimed at her leg. She kicked out, breaking loose before scrambling for the weapon.
Her fingers latched onto the handgrip as she flipped over, bringing it up with both hands as she fought to get a clear shot.
The two men were snarling now, wrestling for the knife as she heard the sounds of sirens in the distance. The gun shook in her hand as she blinked back her tears, terrified that the deputy would manage to actually find a way to wound Rowdy with that knife. There was no way to shoot yet. No way to be certain if she did, that she would miss Rowdy.
