Page 127 of Wicked Sins

As if I give a shit about what Wayne Bale thinks of my morality, my soul. As if I can’t bear the thought of him judging me.

Wayne stares at me in the rear-view mirror. “Maybe not yet, baby girl.” His eyes move to Joah. “But I’m sure it won’t be long now.”

Chapter Fifty-Three

Josiah

I’m not sure if the churning in my stomach is shame or disgust. Fuck, it’s probably a mash-up of the two. I’m standing beside Candy, the both of us watching as my father pulls off down the road.

Pack your shit.

Fuck each other.

I’ve never seen Dad like this. I mean, fuck, I’ve never even heard him swear. But it’s not the hypocrisy that’s sticking with me, it’s the look in his eyes.

I recognize it, because I’ve seen it in the mirror.

“He’s lying,” Candy says. A second later, she slips her hand into mine and squeezes. “He’s lying about everything.”

She’s right.

And I knew it all along.

I guess I was just trying to protect myself.

Protecthim.

A strange calm consumes me. I can’t explain it any more than I can keep it back. In a way, I don’t want to. I love not being in control anymore. Knowing that, no matter what the fuck I do, shit’s gonna keep happening.

“Let’s go inside,” I say.

Candy hesitates, and then nods. “We have to call the police.”

I walk up beside her and slip my hand over hers. She laces her fingers through mine and squeezes, and then moves closer and leans her head against my arm as we head for the door.

No. No police. They’d just complicate things.

This is something we need to sort out alone. Just us. As a family. I’m not sure where Dad went, but he’ll be back soon to take us to Happy Mountain.

I’m not fucking going back there. But that’s not something he has to know right now. Let him think we’re complying. He can even think we’re fucking each other right now, if that’s what gets him hard.

But it isn’t, is it? Young chicks, that’s what—

I know Candy won’t like what I’m about to do, but she’ll understand in the end.

This is all for her.

Forus.

I realized something back there in the car, when my father was being so crude and disgusting. He doesn’t understand what love is. He doesn’t understand how it transcendseverything.

Candy and I met for a reason. We fell in love for a reason. We’re destined to be together.

I just have to take care of something first.

Chapter Fifty-Four

Candy

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