Page 53 of No Mercy

I gave myself a mental shake and smiled when I realized that I’d reached the top of the stairs and was just standing there in fear. So far I hadn’t heard a thing to indicate that anyone was in the house other than me. Maybe I hadn’t closed the front door all the way and a breeze had pushed it open. I had been involved with three little boys at the time. I laughed softly at myself and went to Sam’s room first, since it was at the far end of the hall.

The door was open, as well as the curtains, so the room was light and sunny, and since his closet door was open it was easy to see that no one was there. There was no one hiding in the bathroom or the room that had been mine when we’d first moved in. The other two bedrooms were completely empty. By the time I made it to the bedroom that Rock and I shared, I’d let down my guard. The room was located at the opposite end of the hall from Sam’s. The door was open, but the room was dark because I hadn’t opened the curtains that morning.

I figured that I may as well open the curtains while I was there, even though we were heading into evening. A little fresh November air would do the room some good. I made my way to the window and pulled back the drapes, glancing out to see that Sam and his friends were still sitting beneath the tree. Johnny and Nolan’s mothers would be there soon to pick them up. I pushed the window up, immediately feeling the rush of cool air enter the room.

I swung back around to leave and came to a dead stop, my breath catching when I saw the bedroom door begin to slowly move forward until it revealed one of the club girls hiding behind it. I searched my memory, but couldn’t recall her name. I recognized her as the woman who’d been serving up liquor in the Phantom Riders’ clubhouse the night Rock had brought me there. I recalled how hungrily her eyes had followed Rock as we’d walked through the room. She’d made it obvious that they had a history.

She had been one of the reasons I’d blown up after seeing Rock’s bed.

Before I had a chance to ask her why she was there, I noticed what she was holding in her hands. I gasped, my eyes rounding in fear. The knife she was clutching tightly was a large kitchen knife with a long serrated blade. Her grip so tight that her knuckles were turning white. Knives had always petrified me, for this very reason.

She was between me and my only avenue of escape. It didn’t matter anyway, because I was frozen in place. There was a look on her face that warned me that she might not be in her right mind, that maybe she was high on something, because her eyes looked glossed over. She stepped out of the shadow and shoved the door closed.

“Who are you?” I pulled my gaze away from the knife. “What do you want?”

Her grin widened, but it was in a slow, scary way. “I want what’s mine.” The lack of emotion in her voice supported my suspicion that she wasn’t herself. “What you’ve taken from me.”

I thought about the kids, praying that they remained outside as directed. “And what would that be?”

Her shrill laughter rang through the room, leaving me covered in goose bumps. “My man, you dumb bitch!” She stepped forward, waving the knife in front of her. “Rock and I had a good thing going until you came back. You and your brat!” She spoke the words with such loathing that I flinched.

Oh, God. It didn’t surprise me that Rock had slept with this woman, probably more times than I wanted to know about. Club girls were there for all the men, to be used for sex anytime they were needed. They knew the score and shouldn’t expect anything in return. She was delusional if she thought that her time with Rock had been special. I almost felt sorry for her, because it was obvious that she thought herself in love with him.

“I’m sorry−”

“Don’t speak!” she hissed out, taking another step closer. “You come back and everything changes. But I’ll tell you, bitch, Rock still wants me. He took me the other day in the back room.” Her eyes rolled back for a second, and she visibly shuddered as if reliving the moment. “When he fucks me…”

I shook my head, because I didn’t believe her. I couldn’t. She must have recognized the pain of betrayal on my face because her expression became a sinister mask of twisted delight, and her words were meant to strike through my aching heart.

She threw back her head and laughed madly. “You don’t like the thought of his hands on me? Too fucking bad! Rock knows how I like to be fucked, and I know what he needs. We’ve been together a long time and he always comes to me. Always wants me.” She jabbed her finger into her chest. “Me! No one else! I’m his favorite!” Her eyes narrowed. “And you’ve ruined everything!”

I moved slowly to put the bed between us, shifting my gaze around the room for some kind of weapon, anything that would give me leverage. Then it occurred to me that the prospect that was supposed to be watching over us was nowhere to be found. He’d been right out front. Had he let this woman walk right on past him because she was a club girl? She must have told him some kind of story about why she was there. I thought about screaming, but knew that if I did it would draw the kids inside, and that’s the last thing I wanted.

I tried to keep my eyes on hers and not the knife she was holding. I needed to remain calm, because I sensed that she was on the cusp of losing it completely. I swallowed hard and took a deep breath for courage. “Rock isn’t here now. Why don’t you wait until he comes home and then we can talk to him together? Figure this out.” I hoped that reasoning with her would calm her down and make her act rational.

“Talk? Bitch, I don’t want to talk. Rock and I don’t talk. Our relationship is physical. We show each other how we feel when we fuck.” Her laughter had a sharp edge to it. I swallowed nervously at the desperation filling her eyes. “I know he’s not here, and he won’t be back until late. Gives me plenty of time to get rid of you and your brat. By the time Rock returns, I’ll be waiting for him in this bed.” She ran the tip of the blade against the spread. “I’ll make him forget all about you.”

It was almost impossible to school my expression not to reveal when it occurred to me that whatever she had planned for me, she planned to do to Sam. And I couldn’t let that happen. I searched my mind for a solution. “Then I guess there’s nothing else for me to do but pack a bag and leave.” I held my breath, praying that she was crazy enough to consider my suggestion.

“You’re a fool if you think I’m going to fall for that,” she hissed, taking another step forward. “No. I want you gone for good. And your brat.”

Oh, God! She was so close. I thought about scrambling across the bed, but the presence of the long, lethal-looking knife made me hesitate. One good lunge and she could bury that blade into me, and it would all be over. At the very least it would hinder my ability to stop her from whatever she had planned. Then she’d go after Sam. No, I needed to get the knife away her, which meant facing her and getting physical. I’d do anything to protect Sam.

“You’re crazy if you think I’m going to just let you hurt my son.Rock’sson.” Maybe putting it into perspective would give her cause to think. “You think Rock will want anything to do with you if you hurt Sam?” The sudden look of contemplation on her face gave me hope. “Rock loves Sam. He’ll kill you himself.”

A minute ticked by, then another, as she continued to gaze off into space without blinking. Finally her tight expression gradually relaxed, and a look came into her eyes that told me she’d reached a decision. “I’ve never wanted children, but I could make an exception for Rock’s son. He’ll need a mother for the boy.”

She lunged and I threw myself across the bed, screaming out unintentionally. I thought I’d gotten away until I felt her hand in the back of my shirt, and then a searing pain when she cut me with the knife. Screaming, I quickly twisted onto my back, and suddenly she was on top of me, straddling my waist. She raised her arm to bring the knife down, and I reached up to grip her wrist in an effort to stop her. Her madness and determination made her freakishly strong. It took both my hands to keep her from plunging the knife into my chest.

“You bitch!” she ground out, her expression twisting with her effort to overpower me. And she was winning. As the blade came closer I knew that I had to do something quick to get the upper hand. “Rock is mine!” she screeched.

Something wet dripped onto my face, and I realized that it was my own blood. My arms were shaking, my strength giving out, when I made the decision to release one of my hands and punch her as hard as I could in her face. The momentum of my punch caused her head to snap back and she lost her balance, slipping to the side of me. Her scream of outrage rang through the house. I wiggled out from under her and hit the floor with a grunt. I quickly rolled and started to get to my feet but I wasn’t fast enough, and she was running on pure adrenaline fueled with malicious intent.

Her objective was to kill me.

She wasn’t the only one high on adrenaline, and my one and only thought was to get away from her and to my son. I managed to crawl to my knees, but the next thing I knew she was jumping onto my back and forcing me back down onto the floor. With a grunt I twisted beneath her and reached for the hand with the knife, screaming and screaming. I knew I was fighting for my life. I used my fists and tried to buck her off of me, but it all ended with a single, smooth thrust of the knife. I sucked in my breath, my gaze locked on to the half-smiling, satisfied eyes of hers.

I’ve heard it said that your life flashes before your eyes when you’re about to die. So many things became clear to me in that moment as I lay there crippled with the knowledge that this was the end for me. The children’s laughter that was carried up to the window and inside the room by the fall wind, the downstairs door crashing against the wall as someone pushed it open with uncontrolled force, and then someone stomping up the stairs. And finally the evil, satisfied laugh of a woman who’d obviously lost her mind.

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