Page 106 of Short, Lethal & Claimed

“Stop,” Logan bit out as he stood there, struggling not to lose his fucking mind.

“You wanted to know,” Jill murmured softly with a careless shrug as she continued making her way around the foyer. “I took option B and he left Joshua alone.”

“You don’t have to do this, Angel,” Logan said, turning his head to watch her move.

“We’re going to finish this,” Jill said, shaking her head as she watched her fingertips glide over the peeling wallpaper. “I didn’t think it could get worse, but then Candy showed back up when I was fifteen and realized all the possibilities. She found men that were willing to give her money, drugs, and anything she wanted and all she had to do was make sure that Madison never found out.”

“Stop,” Logan said hollowly, but she simply ignored him and kept going.

“When I refused to do what Candy wanted, she threatened to hand Joshua over instead and just to make sure that I didn’t tell Madison, she made sure that I knew exactly what would happen if I told her. To make it easier, she started sneaking me water bottles filled with vodka and when that wasn’t enough, she gave me every drug that she could get her hands on.”

“I stopped caring. Stopped trying and just drowned myself in whatever she gave me until I was numb, but it wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough and when I found out that it was finally going to stop when my grandmother decided to take us in, I felt hope for the first time in my life.”

“It was finally over, but Candy had other plans,” Jill said with a humorless chuckle as she kept moving. “She decided to start messing with Madison, taunting her and making her believe that there was still time to save me and I played along, angry at the world, at Madison for not knowing what was happening, and letting me know that nothing was ever going to change. I snapped. I became a bitch, angry at everyone and everything.”

“When Madison found out about the drugs, I thought that was the end of it. Candy kept her distance to protect herself and I was supposed to get a fresh start, but it was too late by then. I couldn’t escape the memories, couldn’t be near a man without feeling my skin crawl, but none of that mattered when Ephraim came into the picture and I knew that Joshua was finally safe.”

“Angel…” Logan managed to get out as intense sadness nearly dropped him to his knees.

“After Candy died and I found out that all those things that go bump in the night were real, I focused on my family, taking care of Chris, helping with Joshua and Marc, and when that wasn’t enough, I started working at the shelter. That all went away when you sent Kale after us,” Jill said, looking up to meet his gaze as her eyes turned silver.

“I’m sorry, Angel,” Logan said hollowly.

Nodding absently, Jill said, “Then, one night, I overheard my father arguing with Madison about which one of them was going to turn me to keep me safe and I realized that they were about to doom me to my own personal hell. When they sent me packing, I started making plans. I got a fake ID and prepared to start over only I never got the chance.”

“Angel, I-”

“I’m thirsty, Mommy,” Caleb mumbled sleepily, forcing Logan to close his mouth as he watched Jill force a warm smile as she made her way over to the little boy waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs. Grinding his jaw, Logan forced himself to stand there and watch her as she picked Caleb up.

“Now, you know,” Jill said, kissing Caleb’s forehead as she made her way to the kitchen, leaving him standing there, rubbing his hands roughly down his face and-

It was time to go.

New Mexico

“They can’t bethis fucking stupid,” Jeremiah said, shaking his head in disgust as he stopped reading the test and simply wrotea large F in the middle of the paper before moving on to the next test.

Two tests later and he needed a drink. Wondering how anyone could be this fucking stupid, Jeremiah tossed the test on the coffee table and made his way into the kitchen. He grabbed a beer and a bag of chips before he headed back to the couch and debated just flunking everyone for the hell of it.

It was tempting, Jeremiah thought, sighing heavily as he dropped down on the couch and-

“For fuck’s sake,” he bit out as he glanced back at the front door only to sigh when they knocked again.

Praying that it wasn’t one of his tenants with another fucking sob story about why they couldn’t pay the rent, Jeremiah placed the beer and chips down and made his way to the front door when they knocked again. “I’m coming,” he bit out, ramming his fingers through his hair as he reached over and opened the front door and stepped onto the porch only to forget how to breathe when shimmering silver eyes met his.

“Oh, my God…” Jeremiah managed to get out on a hoarse whisper as he raised his foot to step back inside when a large hand wrapped around his throat and-

“Invite me in.”

CHAPTER 51

Cedar Hollow, Pennsylvania

She shouldn’t have told him.

For the past two days, she’d struggled not to lose her mind as she was hit with wave after wave of anger, each time worse than the last until, finally, a cold sensation that terrified her more than anything settled over her, leaving her with no choice but to-

“I like sleepovers, Mommy,” Caleb said with a heartfelt sigh as he shifted the large book in his lap.

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