Page 211 of Bona Fide

Demi looks away from us.

“Are we starting to see your pussy-ass mentality?” Marty taunts. “Having other people do your dirty work?”

She doesn’t respond, biting the inside of her lip.

“She was going to have Lockwood raped.” My eyes expand while Demi slowly turns her head to face my brother. “What else was there?”

“Much more,” she leers. Marty crushes my hand in silent comfort. He doesn’t want me to hear this but knows why I need to.

I need to see all the evil that Wade tried to keep away. Why he hates her so much other than what I know. What diabolical woman shared his last name that he tried to free himself from.

“Would you like a history lesson, little Shelton?” Hulk quips, staring at me.

“Tread lightly, Bishop,” Marty warns. “I don’t want this bitch’s sins on my sister.” Demi’s focus falls on me, a weak lift of her lips permeating off her face.

“Go for it,” she chants before wincing in pain. “Tell her about the badass bitch who could keep Wade Lockwood on his knees.” I raise my chin, silently telling her to bring it.

This is going to destroy me.

I can feel it creeping up my arms and spine. I can feel my vital organ suiting up to be jabbed and kicked over the past of the both of them.

“Why don’t you tell her?” the Hulk, Bishop, proposes. “Since you’re a mangled mess now, we’ll let you keep some of your pride.”

“Where do I begin?” Demi taunts. “Wade was always a fucking moron. A fucking hot one, but he was too easy, too ambitious. Like a twelve-year-old boy in a twenty-year-old body—” She stops, bowing her head into her chest in pain. “—he imagined a world...that could transform with his help and the assistance of other people of power. I wanted him...not only was he charming but the sex was fucking amazing.”

I clench my teeth together.

This. Bitch. Will. Not. See. Me. React.

“I got bored easily though,” she continues. “And one night I went to a bar with friends, came home, and he got upset that I was out late…” She shakes her head then slowly raises it to look at me. “Didn’t want me to get hurt—whatever. So, I wanted to see how much he cared, told him some guy tried to rape me. He went ballistic, drove up there, beat the guy almost to death—” A slow lift of her lips appears on her face. “—his daddy had to pay a pretty penny to get him out of jail for that one.”

“Let’s add attention whore to the list,” Bishop quips.

“Don’t get into your feelings because your dick is small, asshole.” She tries to readjust herself in the chair but doesn’t get far, grimacing in discomfort. “Fuck, I need something.”

“Like what?” Bishop asks.

“For my leg.” Marty and him chuckle like it was the stupidest and cutest thing she could’ve asked for.

Bishop taps her shoulder. “Just continue the story.”

Demi’s dark hair covers most of her face as she bows her chin down again into her chest. “I can’t.”

“Lockwood broke up with her,” Bishop discloses. “While she continued fucking his father and got pregnant. Kept the baby because Henry was paying her off and I let him keep it. Got back together with Wade after having to plead like she gave a fuck about his feelings. Our little Russian wannabe princess knew he was wanting to become governor then go on to be president. Then there was an abortion...it was Lockwood’s baby.”

Demi lets out a choked snicker. “He threw a fit, I think he cried. Then there was his sister.”

I’m stepping closer to her without realizing it until she’s suddenly a yard away.

“What did you do?”

Demi’s eyes trail back up. “Shoved pills down her throat, had her do lines of coke…” Her nostrils flare, still trying not to show how much anguish she’s feeling. “Meth was her favorite though.”

I ball my hands into fists. “For what?”

“Leverage. Then she died.”

A muscle in my jaw twitches. “How?”

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