Page 102 of Killer Kiss

Eddie was smarter than that. He knew I could take a beating. Fuck, between him and our old man, I’d come back from more injuries than I could count. Concussions. Broken bones. Cuts so deep I’d had to take myself to the hospital for stitches.

Until Eddie had worked out hurting me didn’t get him what he wanted.

That was when he’d started hurting Mom instead.

And that was something I just couldn’t bear.

Bile rose in my stomach at every memory of him hurting her, his fists slamming into her cheek, bruises on her frail arms and legs from him punishing her because his attacks on me had stopped being effective.

I got out of bed and hastily threw on some clothes. Following Eddie to his car, I got into the passenger seat silently, hating him with every ounce of my being while he revved the engine obnoxiously.

My gaze flickered up to the worried, age-lined face in the window, watching us from around the curtain.

“Wave goodbye to Mommy, then,” Eddie taunted. “You know she’s up there worrying about her golden boy.”

His voice reeked of childish jealousy, which was just baffling, considering the way he’d treated her for the past few years. He raised his middle finger at her through the windshield, and the curtain quickly fell back in place.

We drove in silence, Eddie’s anger seeping into the air around us, charging it with aggression that soaked into me.

Fuck him.

Fuck this whole shitty life.

I hated all of it. Every. Last. Bit. If it weren’t for Mom, I would have packed my shit long ago and left.

But there was no chance of leaving her behind. Not knowing what Eddie would do to her when he realized I’d run. He’d made that clear on the one occasion I’d tried.

My mom had been in the hospital for a month after that.

I’d learned my lesson.

Eddie made the rules. The rest of us just followed.

“Where are we going?” I questioned.

He didn’t answer.

We drove until we were well out of town, on unfamiliar roads I was sure I’d never been down. The woods grew thicker the farther we went, and the roads became steeper until we were curving around bends and taking dirt tracks up a mountain.

Nerves suddenly picked up in my belly. It had been years since Eddie had last tried to kill me. I realized I’d somehow become relaxed about the possibility. He didn’t hurt me anymore, not when he knew the bigger pain came from hurting someone I loved. All he had to do was threaten Mom and I did whatever he told me. Even if I didn’t like it.

My heart rate picked up, thumping against my chest too hard, sending a surge of adrenaline through my body. I looked down at my phone, but there was no cell reception.

Fuck.

Getting in this car with him had been a mistake.

I tensed every muscle, waiting for some indication that this was it. The place he’d finally kill me.

It would happen sooner or later. There was no doubt in my mind about that.

The day I died; it would be at his hands.

I swallowed down the fear as the narrow dirt road opened into a clearing and a house came into view. “Whose place is this?”

Two other cars were parked in front, and Eddie parked right at the steps, his car in prime position. “Get out.”

There was no point refusing.

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