Page 97 of Claimed By the Villain
“Bastard!” he shouts, swinging at me, but I dodge easily.
“You know what I figured out, Martin? You told me a dozen times that anger was weakness. You were wrong. Anger is only weakness for those without a working brain. You’re the weak one. The coward. A son of a bitch who tried to hurt his own sister.”
“I’d never hurt Jackie.”
I grab the back of his head and smash my knee into his face. “Lying son of a bitch. You were going to kill her.”
“Yeah, no point denying it. I wanted the bitch dead.”
“Your sister is mine. Even before, when I was just protecting her, I’d have died for her. Now that she’s my wife, I’ll turn the world upside down to make sure no one ever hurts her.”
He laughs, blood dripping from his mouth and nose. “She’s not yours anymore, and I doubt she still loves you. She knows the truth now. Jackie will never forgive you for killing our father.”
His words cut deeper than I’d like, because I know they’re true. And worse, I can’t tell her I regret sending her father to hell.
I remember the day I discovered it was her father, the man who was supposed to be my guardian, who’dsold meto those pedophiles.
I’d grown suspicious Zimmer wasn’t just some common criminal because there was always an endless flow of money into their house. One day, I followed him.
I saw him negotiating over a girl they had kidnapped. I freed her and killed everyone—almost everyone. Zimmer, I gave special treatment.
The disappointment of realizing the man who’d fed me, who had children of his own and had pretended to give me a home, was hurting other children ripped me apart.
That wasn’t the only reason I tortured him, though. I wanted to know if there were more kids locked away at that time.
I’d already decided to kill him, but I wanted answers.
And then, delirious from the torture, he confessed, without me even asking, that he regretted selling me to the pedophiles when I was a child. Worse: he said God had intervened and brought me back to them, because if something had happened to me, his wife’s heart would’ve been broken.
I shake my head, remembering how I spent over twenty-four hours “working” on that bastard. Used every skill I had to make him suffer.
I enjoyed his screams. I don’t regret causing them.
“She loves me,” I say, even though it’s not nearly a strong enough argument. I killed Jackie’s father, and now I’ll kill her brother too.
How could she keep loving me after that?
“Yeah, I know, bastard. I heard you say that shit. I saw with my own eyes that she always loved you. In fact, I witnessed how much Mom and Jackie loved you. You, a miserable littlekiller since childhood. Why do you think I suggested to my father that he sell you?”
I step back, stunned by his words.
He laughs. “I always knew what he did for a living. I’m the one who told him you’d make good merchandise.”
“When they took me, you were only fifteen.”
“But I already hated you, damn it. I tried to kill you so many times, and you always survived. Or do you think all those ‘accidents’ after you came to live with us were coincidences?”
“You’re the one who took me there, bastard.”
“Yeah, but I saw you as a pet, a little animal. Didn’t take me long to regret it. I wanted you dead because I couldn’t stand hearing Mom talk about how handsome, smart, and organized you were. The little killer prodigy full of virtues.”
“If you hated me so much, why didn’t you try to kill me again once we were adults?”
“What do you think? Money, of course. You made a fortune as a hitman. You were always better at it than me, and stupid enough to split it with me.” He tilts his head “Actually, I always wondered, was it because you felt guilty for killing our father that you kept my pockets full, paid for Mom’s treatment, and gave Jackie every comfort?”
“Guilt? I don’t know that feeling. I shared everything because you were my family.”
He laughs harshly. “The pathetic little orphan who, even after nearly being literally fucked because of me, still gave me money.”
