Page 92 of Three to Fall

Shari gasped from beside me, and there was a rumble of disapproving words from Josiah’s men. Sun was starting to rise at the back of the shed behind us, casting a little light across the sharp planes of Josiah’s face.

His expression filled with fury.

“See? She’s a child,” I begged my husband. “Barely thirteen years old. She’s not old enough to be your wife. Not yet. Takeme back. Let me train her for a few more years until she’s old enough to make a good wife for you.”

“You know nothing about being a good wife, you fat, useless bitch. You couldn’t even give me a son. Your one responsibility, and you couldn’t even do that. Instead, your sister will. She will give me all the sons I desire until her body is as wasted and useless as you are.”

I shook my head. “No.”

It was a mistake. I knew it instantly, and so did Josiah. He’d seen a weakness.

Seen yet another way to make me pay for the embarrassment I’d caused him.

“Get up here, wife-to-be.”

I grabbed for Jacqueline, but Onith, Josiah’s second-in-charge, stepped forward and knocked me to one side.

One of the guys let out a growl but was instantly met with a gun to his head. I could practically feel the tension radiating from them as they battled to stay on their knees and do nothing.

Josiah dragged Jacqueline across the uneven ground and placed her at his feet.

We couldn’t help her now. Josiah’s men had all moved in tight around our group, weapons drawn and pressed to the backs of each of our heads.

But Josiah’s hate was aimed solely at me. He grabbed Jacqueline’s hair, controlling her with it. “Kneel properly for your Lord and Savior, woman! Did your mother teach you nothing? Are you as useless as your bitch of a sister over there?”

Jacqueline struggled, tears streaming down her face. But at least there was no gun to her head, like the rest of us. At least she would be alive while our bodies lay in a pool of blood and dirt.

I’d thought I could do this. Thought I could save us all.

I’d been wrong.

Josiah’s cruel eyes focused on me. “I don’t need you to teach her how to be a good wife. That is something only a man can teach a woman. Maybe I’ll start now. Right here. While you watch what your disobedience caused.”

No.

He reached for his belt, undoing it with one hand, the other never leaving my sister’s hair, even though she fought him every second.

“No!” I screamed.

He undid the drawstring and let the loose white pants fall at his feet. His long shirt covered him, but his hand went beneath, and I just knew he was stroking his cock, getting himself hard.

I only had one card left to play. One I hadn’t wanted to show, because the thought of it left me in a cold sweat.

But I wouldn’t let my sister suffer the same fate I had. Tears rolled down my face, and I clutched my belly. “Stop. Please, Josiah. I’m pregnant. It’s your baby. I’ve been pregnant this whole time.”

It distracted him long enough for him to loosen his grip on Jacqueline’s hair. He stared at me, his face a mixture of shock, and then smug pleasure.

Then a sweet, sweet pain, as Jacqueline drew the gun from the back of her pajama pants and pulled the trigger.

23

KARA

“And then, boom! Little Jax just went and blew Josiah’s balls off!”

I glanced over at X, busily telling the police his version of events, while the officer’s face paled in the early morning light, and he crossed his legs like his own personal area might need protection from the barely five-foot child sitting with two other officers and a blanket wrapped around her shoulders.

I sat beside her while we told the police everything in a much less dramatic fashion.

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