Page 118 of Stone

The red dot appeared at his temple again, and I knew I had to make him leave. Robert would kill him if he carried on this way. If John died again, it would break me for good, and I knew I’d never come back from it. Constance needed me, and she needed her daddy alive. She was just an innocent baby.

I had to make him leave.

“I went to Bandit,” I bit out. “He put a gun to my head,” I tapped my temple, “right there. Then, he told me if I hadn’t left the compound by the time he counted to ten, he’d put a bullet in my brain. I drove Bessie there, and he made me leave her, said I’d taken enough pieces of you, so he made damned sure it washimwho took away the last piece of you from me.”

John’s eyes widened. “He wouldn’t—”

“Then he fired,” I cut in. “Missed my head by an inch. I felt the wind from the bullet, the whizzing sound as it passed me; it was so close.” I leaned forward. “I was pregnant, John,” my voice rose to a shriek, “I was fucking pregnant.”

He shook his head from side to side, shock sliding across his features.

“That club is evil,” I spat. “Thosemenare evil. What decent woman would want to be a part of that hellhole? What decent woman would step foot inside those gates? What decent woman would raise a child, a daughter, amongst thosedemons?” I looked him in the eye and jutted my chin up. “I wouldn’t let my dog live there, let alone a daughter. The only honorableperson left is Iris, and mark my words, it won’t take long for them to chew her up and spit her out,” my face twisted, “they’re disgusting pigs; they’re animals, and no decent woman should be subjected to them.”

The red dot danced across his head, and I knew I had to protect him.

And I went in for the kill.

“Go, John, and don’t come back. Stick to those sluts, like Tammi, who like wallowing in that shit. But a word of advice, if God ever gives you a daughter, keep her away from them before they chew her up and spit her out, too.”

I gave him one last lingering look, eating him up and committing him to memory because I knew I wouldn’t see him again for a long time. I was a prisoner here, and God only knew when I’d be able to find him and explain.

My inner voice chanted in my head.

I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.

The red dot swerved between his ear and temple.

“Go, John,” I whispered, a lone tear rolling down my cheek. “Please.”

He jerked his chin up, turned, and stalked to Bessie before getting into the driver’s seat, slamming the door shut so forcefully that I thought it would come off his hinges. The engine fired up, and he sped away fast, causing the gravel from the drive to kick up around the truck.

John never looked back at me, not once.

“Good job, Elise,” Robert crowed quietly. “Looks like you’re smarter than I thought.”

“When do I get my photograph,” I asked flatly.

“I’ll arrange it,” Robert replied. “And remember, I always reward good behavior.”

My eyes closed as I tried to control the ache in my stomach where my baby lived only a month ago. My arms felt emptywithout her in them. I yearned to smell her baby scent and to play with her little fingers and toes. The despair inside was like a dark, living creature eating away at my soul.

If I could get enough photographs of Constance and get to John, I knew he’d find her, or I could even go to a private investigator. I already knew Robert had the local sheriff in his pocket, but there were other ways. I’d never give up on my daughter. I’d never stop looking.

I intended to play Robert fucking Henderson at his own game and win. I vowed, there and then, that I’d find my baby, get her to safety, and then I’d make him regret the day he ripped my life apart for sport. Everything wasn’t lost yet. John was alive, and so was Constance.

The game was far from over.

And it was time to play.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Stone

The second I drove out of sight of Henderson’s ugly fucking mansion, I pulled Bessie over to the side of the road.

A red mist descended over my eyes, and I let out a bellow, smashing my fist three times into the steering wheel.

I couldn’t think straight, lava flowed through my veins and my chest burned to the point of pain. The look on Elise’s face, the anguish, the disgust, the pure venom. I got it. I boiled over at the thought of her going behind my back with Henderson, but I could understand it.

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