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I don’t know how long I’m left alone, only that it isn’t long enough to pull myself back together. I’m still a mess when my dad walks through the door.
“Get up.” His words crack like a whip.
Ignoring him, I pull my knees up and rest my head on them, refusing to look at him.
“Don’t make me repeat myself, Zoe.”
I laugh scathingly and wipe tears from my eyes. “Or what? Who even are you?”
As his arm shoots out toward me, I try to dodge him but to no avail. My dad all too easily wraps his hand around my upper arm and hauls me to my feet with no effort at all.
“Don’t embarrass me,” he spits.
I wipe the spittle that hit my cheek away. “Why? Are they going to give you a daddy of the year award?” I taunt. I almost hope he’s going to hurt me because if he does, my stupid heart will have to stop trying to force my head to make excuses for him. “You fucking disgust me.” Not only do I put as much venom into the words as I can muster, I make sure spit flies from my mouth on purpose.
There’s a fleeting look of disappointment and hurt in my dad’s eyes, but I ignore it. I have to. It’s too late for him to change my opinion of him now. He’s nothing but a… wait a second.
“You cheated on mom!” The wordsfly out of my mouth as soon as the thought registers.
It’s the only logical reason for the PDA I saw between him and Irina.
“We don’t have time to discuss that now, baby girl.” Regret coats his words.
I hold my hand up. “There’s nothing to discuss. It’s a simple yes, or no. Did you cheat on mom?”
Anguish dances in his eyes as the hand he runs down his face lands on the shoulder of the leather cut he’s wearing. Fucking traitor.
“I did,” he confirms.
Just as I decide to rip into him, Irina joins us. “It’s time for the punishment, and Rusty says Zoe has to be there.”
When she mentioned the punishment earlier, I thought I was the one who had to be punished. But now it sounds like it’s someone else who’ll be on the receiving end.
My dad avoids Irina’s attempts at holding his hand as we walk back. I know it’s because I’m here and I kind of want to tell him it doesn’t matter. There’s no way I could think less of him than I do right now.
As we return to the room I stood in naked not too long ago, Rusty calls my name and points at the chair next to him. “Since you belong to our new VP who isn’t able to be here right now, you’ll take his seat.” His boom brooks no room for discussion, so I do as I’m told.
Once everyone is seated, all chatter dies out, and a heavy silence falls across the room. As I look around, I spot Adam, the guy I lost my virginity to. When our eyes lock, he gives me one of the most sinister smiles I’ve ever seen, and mouths, “Fuck you, Princess.”
I shouldn’t be surprised after our run-in at the cemetery, yet I am. There’s indifference, hatred, and then whatever feeling Adam harbors for me. A chill spreads across my skin, and my hair rises at the reminder of just how far outside my comfort zone I am.
“Bring in the prisoner,” Rusty shouts.
His words cause a stir among the other Reapers. They start chanting his words, some even bang their fists on the tables.
One of the Reapers I saw the night they took me drags another guy into the room. His hands are held together by zip ties that look to be digging into his meaty wrists. Every step he takes makes chains rattle, and when I look down, I discover why. His feet are shackled together by a metal chain. His face is swollen and completely covered in bruises and cuts, most still leak blood.
It’s not until he comes closer that I think I recognize him as the guy who pulled me from the wrecked car, and dropped me onto the glass shards littering the asphalt.
“You don’t look too good, Johnny,” Rusty says gleefully. “Why don’t you take a seat? You must be tired.”
As the Prez points at a chair, one of the women scurries over to help Johnny. Or so I thought. The moment he goes to sit down, she pulls the chair away from under him. The man groans in pain as he falls on his ass.
“There we go,” Rusty laughs. “Now you’re sitting.”
The room erupts into laughter as everyone else joins in. They sound like a pack of hyenas to me, and I guess that’s a fair comparison, considering they’re getting a kick out of preying on someone who’s defenseless and weak.
I don’t feel sorry for Johnny, far fucking from it. He deserves everything he’s getting.
