Page 26 of CurVy 13

Features similar to Tyler, but weathered in the best way, with shorter hair and a close-cut beard, softly peppered with greys.

I tried not to look.

I tried so fucking hard, it was obvious. This monster kidnapped a little girl and did God knows what to her…

He deserves to be in jail.

Or castrated—or both.

Scowling out the window, I growl.

“Pup?” Donnie pulls into my driveway and cranks the handbrake. He pulls his hoodie back, the fabric bunching around his neck, a masked face staring directly at me. “I don’t like this attitude. I hope you’re not going to do anything fucking stupid. I know I’ve been playing nice—”

“Nice?” I blurt out.

Unbelievable.

He snatches my neck and squeezes until my eyes bulge. I clutch at his wrist, fighting the tight band.

He leans in. Cigarette-laced breath slithers across my lips as he hisses, “Very. Very. Fucking nice, Pup. I have been a goddamn Romeo in comparison to what I could do to you. I thought we were on the same page.”

“He kidnapped”—The words breathe from a constricted throat— “a little girl.”

“There has to be a reason.”

“What could he possibly want with her?”

“My brother is not a paedophile!”

The passenger door flies open, the energy in the car freezing beside Tyler’s presence.

Tension hovers thickly.

Idles on action.

“Our brother is not a paedophile,” Donnie repeats, releasing my throat with a shove that pushes me into Tyler’s awaiting hands. And it’s crazy, but I cling to him.

Throwing my arms around this lunatic of a man, I bury my face in his shirt, feeling connected, as though we are in this mess together. I’ll demonise Donnie; it’s easier.

This is a trauma bond, Vallie.

It’s not real.

He is your captor, too.

He envelops me against his large, soothing torso. The cradling kind of movement to his embrace causes tears to rise behind my eyes. I hold those fuckers in.

Dipping his nose into my hair, Tyler murmurs, “Our brother is not a paedophile. Not after— Not because of… because of me. He wouldn’t. He couldn’t.”

What is he saying?

Because of him?

Whatever it is, it causes my arms to tighten. He lifts me, cradling me against him as he walks into the house.

The sound of the car backing away and roaring down the street sends a shiver across my spine.

We close the door.

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