Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 93929 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93929 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
“I figured it’s that time.”
Eamon nods at me. Back in the day, he was like a monster lurking in the darkness. I was terrified of him the most. Not necessarily because he was the one with the hammer or the knife—that was his boys—but because he could’ve stopped it, but he chose not to. In fact, I think he encouraged a bit of cruelty from his children. It was his way of toughening them up, and the torture was meant to do the same to me.
It worked. It hardened me. It turned me into what I am now, which is broken in more ways than I can count.
“I know you didn’t want this marriage.” He glances back at his daughter. Beautiful little Caroline. “God knows why you would. She’s fine to look at, but what else is there?”
My guts clench. I bite back a retort. She’s got more spine and more wits than all your walking corpse boys have put together. “She’s a good match.”
“That’s the spirit.” He grins crookedly. “That’s what you should tell people. And listen, we’re family now. I lost one boy, but maybe I’ve gained another. You should come to dinner some time. My wife is a good cook.”
“I’d like that.”
“Wonderful. Tell my daughter to make it happen. Excuse me.” He walks off to speak to another group of people lurking nearby. His sons follow him. None of them bothers to speak to me. I’m just some kid they used to beat on back in the day. Doesn’t matter if their family works for mine. In their memory, I’m the punching bag.
“What did my dad want?” Caroline asks quietly. Her hands are folded in front of her. She’s playing up the shy, sad daughter angle really well.
“Nothing. Fuck him.” I put an arm around her shoulder and lean in close. “I’ve been thinking about you.”
She stiffens by my side. Her cheeks flush, and I didn’t even say anything bad. “What about?”
“How beautiful you looked covered in your brother’s blood. How badly I wanted to fuck you on that gore-covered bed. Think anyone would mind if I filled your pussy on top of his casket?”
“Finn,” she hisses, cheeks burning pink. My god, it’s the most attractive thing I’ve ever seen in my life.
“You’re not saying no.”
“You’re sick. That’s my brother down there.”
“And you’d let me fill your mouth with my fingers as I fuck you from behind right on top of his corpse. You’re as sick as I am.”
She looks up. For a brief moment, the grieving daughter disappears, and the real Caroline shines through. She’s sharp and terrifying, and it sends a thrill down my spine.
“Sicker, I bet.” She pushes off me and starts walking. “Take me home.”
Sweat drips off my body. I lean back and close my eyes as more steam fills the sauna. I sigh, stretching my legs, with only a towel wrapped around my middle.
I keep seeing Shane’s last moment. The anger and terror. I bet he would’ve begged if I had given him the chance. That’s my only regret—he didn’t suffer nearly enough—but that big bastard was tough to put down. I’ll give him that at least.
The door opens. A sudden inrush of cooler air hits me. Caroline slips inside wearing a dark blue bathing suit top and a towel around her waist. She sits at the far side of the sauna, putting as much distance between us as she can. More steam hisses out and she gets herself settled.
I watch my wife. She ignores me. All thoughts of her dead brother slip from my mind. It’s nice watching sweat bead on her smooth skin. It catches on the scars on her thighs.
“We should compare,” I say, stretching my hands above my head and arching my back. I like the way she glances at me, her lips pursed together.
“Compare what?”
“Scars. I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”
“I doubt that’s all you want to see.”
“How’d you get those?” I nod at her leg. “They’re neatly done.”
“Shane.”
“He must’ve gotten better as he got older.” I twist and show her an ugly, jagged, puckered mark on my ribs. “He stabbed me with a sharp stick one time. That hurt like hell. I thought it might get infected.”
“I don’t want to do this.”
“Show me more then.”
“I came in here to relax.”
“But you found me instead.”
Her eyes close and she sighs. “I’m the least lucky person alive.”
I smile to myself, thinking about what Seamus said to me earlier. I move slightly, getting closer to her. She watches but doesn’t say anything. I settle again.
“I understand, you know. Better than anyone else does. How it starts as a joke, or maybe a small punishment, and slowly it escalates, until one day you find yourself terrified to get out of bed.”
“Shane wasn’t even the worst one,” she mutters, nose wrinkled in disgust. “He did it because he enjoyed hurting me, but Redmond did it because he thought he was helping.”