Page 42 of Tore Up

There was an immediate flicker of realization in his eyes. I held my hand out, palm up, toward Oz. The freshly sharpened blade was warm as he placed it in my hand.

“I didn’t,” he gasped.

The mocking grin on my lips didn’t meet my eyes. “I should warn you, for every lie, I’ll slice off one of your fingers.”

If his face wasn’t covered in shades of blue and purple, I was sure it would be pale. He said nothing.

“This is vengeance,” I told him.

“He raped my sister.” His words had more force this time than before.

Rage that I’d kept just beneath the surface began burning inside my veins. I wrapped my fingers around his wrist and sliced off his thumb. He retched while crying out. I released him and stepped out of the way.

“Hard lesson to learn,” Oz said to him as he put an unlit cigarette in his mouth. “Let me guess … you didn’t do well in school.”

“She’s pregnant. Not a lie!” he sobbed.

I wiped the blade clean on his shirt. “I’m aware. She had her ultrasound today,” I told him, then patted the back pocket of my jeans. “I have the photo she gave me in my wallet.”

The darkening in his gaze glinted with hate. He didn’t like knowing I had seen her or spoken to her. I’d use that to torture him further.

“She’s in my house, you know. Sleeping under my roof. I can see why my brother wanted her.” I glanced over at Oz. “Gorgeous, isn’t she?” Although Oz hadn’t actually met her yet.

Oz nodded. “Smoking hot.”

Ares was breathing faster.

I smiled as I said, “Those freckles over her nose? I think that’s my favorite thing. Damn adorable.”

He tried to move again, as if he could break free.

“But back to my brother. She willingly spread her legs for him,” I said, enjoying the way his body trembled at my words.

He didn’t want to hear this, which meant that was exactly what he was going to be taunted with while I cut him up into pieces.

“The spy gear you had on your sister’s phone was incredibly helpful. All the phone calls between those two? Well, you know; you heard them. Just how much she liked my brother. How she wanted to be with him.”

He tried to growl, but it came out more like a gurgle.

“She was innocent and naive,” he spat out. “I made sure to keep guys away from her. It was me who kept her safe. She needed me. She needs me now.”

With a sardonic curl of my lips, I shook my head. “That’s just what you told yourself. The sick obsession you have with her. Living in the same house. Growing up together. You were her brother, but you wanted her. Watched her shower. Beat off to her naked body. All the while, she was clueless.”

His eyes were watery—either from the pain or perhaps the understanding that he was going to die down here. “I took care of her. They used her and gave her no attention. She had to clean and …” He struggled to speak. His voice came and went. “They treated her like an unwanted burden. I understand her. She’s starved for affection. It’s why she was so easy.”

I’d heard the phone calls and the cruel things the other sister had said about Halo. But I hadn’t been sure that her father and stepmother were equally as cold. It seemed that they were.

“So, you’re saying she has daddy issues,” I drawled, knowing it would infuriate him.

His jerk against the chains this time was harder. Almost impressive for someone who had blood running down their arm the way he did.

“She needs me,” he choked out.

I leaned close to him, giving him a piercing look. Making surehe heard me correctly. “No. She hates you. She’s disgusted by what she heard on those phone calls between you and Carina. When she found out you’d watched her in the shower, she ran to the toilet and threw up. Heaving over and over.”

He loathed me and every word I spoke. I reveled in it. Perhaps this was part of his hell. Dying with that image in his head.

“Since she found out you had shot and killed the father of her child, she’s started having nightmares. She screams at night in horror. Often calling out my brother’s name.” I ran the tip of the knife down the side of his face, making sure to slice the skin as I did so. “But don’t worry. I go take care of her. Soothe her.”

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