Page 83 of Shattered Dreams

He yanks the collar of my jacket and jerks me to my feet. “A valiant attempt, but too little too late. You know,” he says, leaning over and whispering into my ear, “a little birdie told me someone set your lover’s apartment on fire. Such a shame he and that fucking mutt were trapped inside. I’m sorry he didn’t make it out alive. His mother will be heartbroken she’s lost another son.Her only remaining son.”

“No.” The word is a hopeless breath coming from the empty depths of my soul.

“Oh, yes. Thank you for the tip about Mallory’s watch. I was able to make the arrangements en route. Now, come. You have nothing left to live for. Donate your body to science and contribute to an important cause.”

I go because I’m hollow. These people took away the ones I love most in this life. Zane will never be the same. Lucille and Douglas will mourn Stella like they would their own daughter. Gage is dead, and Linc will hate me and blame me forever.

Rourke tenses, prepared for me to resist, but I fall in step, unable to fight. What do I have to live for? I was too late. I couldn’t save Gage and I don’t deserve salvation.

“Good.”

He pushes me into the SUV and slams the door shut.

I cower into the cushion, and he crowds me, pressing his body against mine. I whimper in fear. Disgust. Shame.

It’s all I’m good for.

Rourke sniffs my hair, the tip of his nose brushing the curve of my ear. “You make me fucking hard when you sound like that.”

His hand skims over my knee to the inside of my thigh, and I swallow back a cry.

Like jagged pieces of glass, the flashbacks tear into my memories. A dark hotel room, a hand between my legs, opening me, a cock pushing inside me and it hurts. God, it hurts. He’s big, and I’m not aroused. A hand pressing my head into a pillow. He orgasms, pumping cum into me.

He pulls out, and he’s ashamed.

Punishes me.

Hits me until I’m lying on the floor, and he finishes it, kicking my stomach.

He throws me onto the bed and uses me again.

The pain mixes together. I blank out until he’s done, and suddenly Ash is there, brushing the hair away from my tear-soaked face. “You’re a good girl,” he whispers.

And then he says to this man, “Senator Cook. I hope you’re a satisfied customer.”

“I am, and will be again. The night of Zane Maddox’s party. I want to fuck her while her brother thinks he’s going to rule the world. I want him to pay for every fucking thing his father ever did to me.”

“Consider it done.”

The memory dims, but the dregs linger, and I gag until I can’t breathe. “It was you.”

“Ah, you remember. I’ve been waiting, planning for the day I would have to claim you’re too crazy to be believed. And no one would have taken your side. Imagine, the word of a whore over the word of a United States senator. The entire ordeal would have been unpleasant, especially since you managed to convincethe district attorney’s office of your credibility. Just more proof money can buy anything.”

“Everything I told them was true. I was honest about the things I couldn’t remember.”

“The men you put away were wanted for other things. Your allegations were only another strike against them. I, too, have done things I’m not proud of, but I would never let you destroy a reputation I have worked so hard to build.” Grabbing a fistful of my hair, he turns my head, forcing me to meet his eyes, and when I do, he grips my chin. “Did you fuck Max?”

I blink. I didn’t expect the change of subject. “What? I don’t understand.”

“The question isn’t difficult, Miss Maddox. Did you fuck my son while you were hiding at the Crowne Royale? Did he lie in bed next to you and spread your legs? Did he push his cock inside you? I want to know if my son fucked the whore I paid to use.”

I shake my head, and my teeth start to chatter. “N-no. I couldn’t—”

“You couldn’t because in the dark, he reminded you of me. He reminded you of violence and pain. His voice brought back memories of blood, and you couldn’t let him touch you but you didn’t understand why. Now you do. Jerricka Solis isn’t the only one who can pick brains apart.”

“Max loved me.” I want to defend him. I want to defend what we had, even if that was a fragile friendship, a simple love that for me, wouldn’t have turned into anything more.

“My son would have thrown you into the trash where you belong if he’d known I had you first. I taught him to never,ever,be second best, second place. Every man in King’s Crossing can do better than you, but that won’t deter me. I will have you again. And again, and again, and after I’m finished, you’ll wish you were dead.”

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