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I file that information away for later.
“This still doesn’t explain why you targeted my family. I was two years old when they died. How in the fuck could I have stolen anything from you?”
“I’m getting to that,” he replies. “But first, I want to refresh my memory of the handy work my boys left on this beautiful body.” He pulls the two pieces of the dress apart, exposing Cat’s torso. There are six scars on her stomach and chest and he traces every one with his fingers, looking at them with glee and sick pleasure in his eyes. “A work of art, if I do say so myself.”
My blood boils, heating me from the inside out. Rage surges through me and my arms tense, the sockets in my shoulders threatening to pop as I struggle against the ropes binding me. Cat squeezes her eyes closed, a whimper slipping through the tape. When she turns her head toward me, her face is red and her eyelids slide open. For a moment, I stare into her eyes before moving my gaze to Whisper.
“When I get free—and I will, one way or another—I’m going to kill you slowly.”
His eyes lift to mine and one side of his mouth curves up. “That’ll be a neat trick, considering your current lack of control of the situation.”
“Remove your fucking hands from my wife or you’ll lose them.”
I need to calm my shit if I have any hope of getting Cat out of this. I’ve failed her once. Doing so again is not an option.
“I believe I like them where they are,” he taunts. “Actually, that’s wrong. I like them better right here.” He yanks the cup of her bra down on one side and wraps his filthy hand around her breast. He squeezes it so hard, the parts that stick out between his fingers are red. Cat screams and thrashes against the table.
“Jimmy!” I roar, jerking and pulling, but all it does is dig the rope further into my skin. Maybe if the rope digs in far enough, it’ll loosen enough for me to slip free.
He lets Cat’s breast go and she stops moving, her eyes still pinned on me.
“Actually, my name is Nico, named after dear old Dad. I was the apple of both of our parents’ eyes.” The look on his face turns to loathing. “Until the day you were born. I was six. The moment they brought you home, you became their new favorite. I hated you from the moment I saw the way they looked at you. I tried and tried to regain their attention, but it was always you they flocked to.”
“I was a fucking baby.”
He leans over Cat and yells. “It didn’t fucking matter!” His eyes flare and he takes a deep breath, seeming to calm himself. “They were my parents first and you got in the way.”
He picks up the knife again and moves the tip down Cat’s stomach. She stops breathing, too afraid to move in fear it might sink inside. He slips it underneath the band of her panties and easily slices it down the center of the silk material.
Jimmy continues talking as he watches his handy work. “I used to slip into your room at night and drag a stool over to your crib. I’d watch you sleep and pray you’d never wake up, but every fucking morning, you’d wake the house with your cries.” His lips curl in disgust. “One night, I decided I was done praying and would take care of it myself. Mom caught me right as I shoved the pillow over your face. They never trusted me around you after that, but it didn’t stop me from trying a few other ways to get rid of you. I put bleach in your bottle once, but Mom smelled it before you had any. And there was one time, right after your first birthday, you managed to climb out of your crib. You were in the hallway, wobbling toward the stairs. As your helpful big brother, I was going to help you down them, but the stupid nanny found you first.”
I’m not even listening to what he says. My sole focus is on what he’s doing to Cat.
My body vibrates in the chair, my chest pumping, and sweat coats my skin. Cat’s panties have been cut away and the bastard uses the flat part of the knife to press it against her pussy. How in the fuck he hasn’t cut her already, I don’t know.
“The scar you have on your thigh, right above your knee. That happened when I pushed you down on a fork I purposely placed on the floor. You were supposed to land on your fucking head so the tines punctured your skull, but I was still an amateur killer at the time.” He shrugs.
“What do you want, Nico?” I ask, using his real name. Everything he’s told me so far could be lies. Even the birthmark on his arm and the scar on my thigh could have been fabricated. But deep down, I know it’s all true. This man may be unhinged, but he’s smart. Too smart to not have all the facts. “Leave my wife out of this, and I’ll give you whatever the fuck you want. Money? Me dead. Whatever, you can have it.”
From the corner of my eye, I see Cat’s eyes widen with panic at my words.
“You think I want your money?” he asks with laughter in his eyes. “I’ve got plenty of my own. There’s something you don’t know about me, Hunter. I’m smart. Really fucking smart. So smart I was able to break into one of the most prestigious IT colleges in the nation and give myself a free pass through college. After I graduated, I started my own company with the money I had filtered off one business after another. Can you guess the name of the company?”
My gaze is flat as I stare at him without answering.
“Monroe Security.”
Motherfucker.
So that’s how he’s been breaking into our house without setting off the alarm.
“So what I want is more than you’re willing to give,” he says, while I still process what he just revealed. “Which is why you’ll sit there and watch me take it from you. I thought your kitty Cat was the last thing you had to offer. But then you gifted me with the pleasure of knowing you may have another little one on the way.” His grin is pure evil. “Isn’t it fucking grand that I can take another child from you before it’s even born?”
He presses harder on the knife and this time it does cut into Cat. She screams, the sound, even through the tape, is ear-piercing.
“Goddamn it!” I roar. “Fucking stop!”
The bastard laughs. “I wonder how long I can fuck her with a knife before she bleeds out.”
