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What was she supposed to do now? She could barely move, and the splashing sounded like it was coming from the kitchen area. Good god, if she had a flood on top of everything, wouldn’t that just be the proverbial straw and camel?
Metal clanged onto the floor.
Roxie froze, her heart in her throat. Not a flood.Holy shit.Someone was in her kitchen.
Sinking her teeth into her bottom lip, she hauled herself up and ignored the fire shooting through her ankle and leg. She hobbled to her office door, which she’d left ajar, and peered out.
What. The. Fuck?
For the life of her, she couldn’t process what she was seeing.
Sheila. With a red gas canister in her hands. Dousing the kitchen with gasoline.
The woman looked up, and their eyes locked.
Roxie’s face warmed, and she felt light-headed as Sheila—herfriend—grinned back, a maniacal gleam in her blue eyes.
“Well, well, well. Looks like it’s my lucky day.” Sheila giggled, sounding like Minnie Mouse’s evil twin sister.
Roxie gripped the door as Sheila approached, leaving a trail of gasoline in her wake.
“You just had to have it all, didn’t you, Roxie?” The woman paused, shaking the gas can. Determining it was empty, she tossed it to the side. Then she slapped her hands together as if she were dusting off flour.
Roxie’s heart knocked hard in her chest. What the hell was going on?
As Sheila walked by the prep counter, she picked up a rolling pin. “You weren’t happy with just Jeremy’s attention, were you? No, no. Of course not. You’re greedy. Selfish.”
Roxie was at a loss, and her stomach twisted. Who was this woman coming toward her? Because it surely couldn’t be the same person she’d just had over for girls’ night. It couldn’t be.
Backing out of the doorway and into her office, Roxie slipped and put pressure on her right foot. Burning pain brought immediate tears to her eyes.Suck it up, Roxie, and focus!Her gaze shot around the tiny room in search of a weapon, a way out... anything. She spied her just-in-case golf club, but it was well out of reach. And Sheila kept getting closer.
“Then you had to go after Eli, too, didn’t you? Was he like an extra challenge? A bonus? He loved me, Roxie. He swore it. He was going to leave Poppy forme! But you couldn’t handle that, could you? You need all the attention, all the time. You had to go and throw yourself at him. You couldn’t stand to see me happy, could you?”
Holy. Fuck.
Roxie knew you couldn’t reason with crazy. Crazy would only hear what crazy wanted, but she had to give it a shot.
“Sheila, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I promise.” She truly, truly didn’t.
The other woman cackled, and the grating sound sent chills running down Roxie’s spine.
“Right,” Sheila spat. “Let me guess, you know nothing about turning Quinn and Cade against me. Gavin and Matt, too, right? Don’t bother lying. Iknowyou said something to them. Because you were jealous. Jealous of how they looked at me. Wanted me. Just like how Alex is jealous. But the difference is, Alex didn’t try to take anyone away from me. You did. You tookJoe. Howdareyou?”
Roxie tensed, and her eyes widened in surprise. Before she could take her next breath, Sheila rushed toward the office door. Roxie yelped and tried to push it closed, but the madwoman threw her shoulder against the wood, forcing it open.
Knocked off balance, Roxie staggered backward. Pain shot through her leg, and two pops in her ankle had her crumpling to the ground.
In a flash, Sheila was straddling Roxie with a hand clamped tight around her throat. Colorful spots danced in Roxie’s vision, but she bucked and thrashed, clawing at the hand holding her down. Her fingernails tore flesh, but she couldn’t get Sheila off of her. Holy hell, the other woman was a lot stronger than she looked.
“Guess what, Roxie? This ismylucky night. Not yours. Everyone will finally see you for what you really are. A greedy whore.I’mgoing to be the one everyone loves.”
Roxie’s lungs burned. The circles of color flashing in her vision grew. She gasped for air, but it was futile.
Sheila raised the rolling pin and swung.
Roxie tried to brace herself, but the rolling pin came at her like a bullet. Fire exploded in her head with a deafening crack.
Her vision faded, and everything went peacefully black...
