Page 47 of Copper

But I have to get Ruby. I can’t leave her down there with him. Pearl will contact Aaron, and he’ll come. I trust he’s on the way and will help me. With Pearl contacting Aaron, there’s no use me going back for a dead phone.

I creep down the stairs and pause only a few seconds as my eyes adjust to the darkness. Nothing seems amiss in the living room or dining room. He must be in the kitchen.

Of course, he’s in the kitchen. If the door is locked, there’s no way police can get in from the outside.

I tiptoe to the kitchen, looking around for a weapon on the way. Grabbing nearby candlesticks off the dining room table, I silently push the door open.

I’m silent and slow, but he’s still there waiting for me. Geoffrey jerks me into the dark kitchen and pulls me so hard that I fall forward to the island counter when he lets go, hitting my head. The candlestick holder skitters across the room.

His hands fist my hair from the back, and my eyes flick around the room. In the moonlight, I can barely make out Ruby curled into fetal position on the floor two feet from me. Did he hit her? My blood boils, and I grip the kitchen counter until my fingertips hurt.

“Hi, bitch,” Geoffrey breathes in my ear.

He jerks me back with him as he shuts the kitchen door, propping a chair under the antique knob so the door can’t be easily opened. How the hell will the police get in with the impossible kitchen door and a chair against the door to the dining room?

Fear grips my stomach at the realization that I’m trapped in a kitchen with Aaron’s innocent daughter and a mafia thug with a bunch of dead friends and nothing left to lose. “What are you doing here? What do you want from me?”

“I want my money.”

“You can’t be serious. Your boss is dead. Your coworkers, or whatever they were, are dead. Why aren’t you on a flight to Guatemala? Why are you here for money you know damn well I don’t have?”

He lets go of my hair, and I grimace as he pushes my head forward when he releases me. Something pointy pushes against my shoulder, and warm liquid runs down my back. It takes me a moment to realize it’s my own blood and that Geoffrey has a knife.

I turn around and frantically look for another weapon. Unfortunately, Aaron stores the knives on the other side of the island, and I’d never get there in time.

Geoffrey points his knife to just under my chin just as loud banging and kicking sounds fill the silence in the kitchen.

“Lucy?” Aaron’s voice yells from the other side of the back door, and I nearly sag with relief. Only Geoffrey’s slimy hands hold me against the counter. “Fuck!” Aaron yells, hitting the door one last time.

I know he’s notified his staff. They’ll get in eventually. Geoffrey turns his head and smiles an evil grin at Ruby, and fear that it’ll be too late when they get in sinks into my stomach. I slap his face so he looks back at me, and I hit him as hard as Beck slapped me for fun. “Look at me, asshole. If you’re going to pick on someone in here, you pick on me. Don't you look at her again!”

He belts me across the face and Ruby screams my name from somewhere near the floor. I hold my hand out, silently telling her I’m fine. My cheek stings, and my ears ring. But I know Geoffrey’s cornered.

Unfortunately, a cornered and desperate man doesn’t make the best decisions.

He pushes me to the floor, and I slide until I’m a foot from Ruby. She reaches out, and a tiny hand runs over my shoulder. “Lucy?” she pleads.

But there’s a look in Geoffrey’s eyes that I know, even in the dim light of the kitchen.

Aaron’s given up on the back door, but frantic footsteps come from the entryway as I hear the front door open so hard it hits the living room wall. Aaron’s in the house. Geoffrey grips my throat, and my eyes bug out of my head. The door between the dining room and the kitchen rattles, but the propped door on the old brass handle is holding. “Lucy! Fuck. Lucy, answer me, baby!”

“Daddy!” Ruby frantically screams so I don’t have to.

My shoes squeak against the linoleum as I squirm under Geoffrey and he reaches to the button of his pants.

Aaron stops rattling the knob and nothing but silence is on the other side of the door. Did he leave to find another way in?

“Your boyfriend thinks he’s going to interrupt us. Maybe he will,” Geoffrey says, slapping me across the face again. I see stars, but I’ve taken worse from my husband. “But not before I fuck you bloody. I’m going to take out every dollar you owe out of your pussy, bitch. Then, I’m going to take the little girl and get a nice price for her. I have friends that’ll pay for that young of a girl. Murphy knew them, but he’s gone. Guess I’ll have to deal her in Chicago myself. I’ll find the other one, too. The price I’ll get for both of them will more than pay your debt.”

Over. My. Dead. Body.

Summoning all my strength, I ram my head into his jaw as hard as I can, hoping it buys me time. Geoffrey rears back as my forehead hits him so hard that something cracks in his mouth. My reward is a punch across the face, knocking me dizzy yet again. While I’m out of it for a split second, he takes the time to unbutton my pants.

I turn my head and spit blood from my mouth, not caring if I still have my teeth. My eyes lock with Ruby’s wide, four-year-old eyes that are so full of fear I want to cry. Those eyes do it, though. They keep me going. I won’t let him hurt her. I just need to keep him busy until her dad can get to us.

“Close your eyes, Ruby!” I yell as Geoffrey fumbles with my jeans. “Don’t you open them until I say so or Daddy says it’s OK. Do you understand?”

Only sobbing. No yes or no. She’s little and terrified, but if Geoffrey’s going to sexually assault me in this kitchen, she’s not going to fucking watch. She squeezes her eyes shut and covers them with her little fingers.

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