Page 5 of Ruining Her (McKinley Ranch Duet 1)

Josh

As soon as I saw Emily’s name flash across my phone, my heart stopped momentarily. I’ve waited seven fucking years to see that name on my screen. I’ve never allowed myself to hope that it would happen, because hope is a fucking bitch who only ever disappoints.

Letting her go was the one selfless act I’ve ever done. I’ve never cared about anyone before her, and I haven’t cared about anyone the same way since. She took my breath away every time I saw her, made me murderous every time I watched another guy flirt with her. I wanted to destroy her and protect her all at the same time. It fucked with my already fucked-up mind.

Memories of Emily hit me like flashbacks as I speed through the bush on my dirt bike, towards the cabin. Our cabin, she called it our cabin. Like it was some secret hideaway of ours. When in all reality, it’s the place I took her one time, where I worshiped her before warning her to get the fuck out of this town, my town.

She took my warning. I haven’t seen or heard from her since. Until now. Of all the times she had to call, now was that time. Stopping five minutes down from where I know the cabin is, I cut the motor and signal for the rest of the guys to do the same.

“We need to walk from here. About five minutes away, down that direction…” I don’t even finish my sentence before Bray starts running towards where I pointed.

Fuck! If his impulsiveness gets Ella hurt, or worse, Emmy, I will fucking kill him. The urge to maim and murder is strong right now. My skin feels like a hundred ants are crawling all over me. I need the blood. I need the destruction. There’s one person who’s first on my list.

Sarah, never met the fucking woman, but she’s abducted Ella, my brother’s new wife. That shit will not fly with me. The fact that she’s a woman means nothing when she’s threatening my family.

I may be a cold-hearted bastard with a black soul, but I have developed a soft spot for Ella. I don’t know how, but as soon as she kneed me in the balls a week ago at Dean’s house, I took to her. She makes me feel shit I’m not used to fucking feeling. It’s different from the feelings Emily evokes though.

With Emily, it’s like I’m only ever alive when in her presence. She’s literally the other half of my soul, the light side, the good side. I remember when we first met, she said we would be best friends, some shit about being the Vegemite to her toast. She wasn’t wrong about us being each other’s match.

But she was wrong about us being best friends. I didn’t have friends, and I sure as shit didn’t have girlfriends. What I did have were the twisted mind games I liked to play on all the other spoilt little brats that went to our school.

I try to catch up with Bray, but that fucker is fast. I watch as he barges through the cabin door, before I hear the unmistakable sound of a gunshot. Fuck. As much as I want to look around the bush behind the cabin and find Emily, I need to make sure Ella is okay.

She has to be okay.

I wouldn’t say I care deeply for my brother, but I don’t hate him—which is a far cry from how I feel about every other fucker around here. I don’t want him to lose Ella after just getting his shit together enough to claim her.

As I enter the cabin, I see Ella against the wall. Dean’s already crouched down in front of her, untying her hands. I inspect her body from head to toe. She has dried blood on the side of her head—other than that, she looks okay.

Thank fuck. My eyes scan the room, landing on the woman currently on the floor; she’s trying to crawl towards the gun only a few feet away from her.

A calmness comes over me as a smile graces my lips. This, I’m going to fucking enjoy. Effortlessly picking her up by her hair, I pull her so her back is against my chest. She lets out a little cry—music to my ears.

If she’s seeking empathy from me, she won’t find any. I’m not capable of it. My mother had me tested, and according to the experts she hired, I’m a lost cause. A textbook psychopath, no empathy, no conscience. I agreed with their findings until Emily came along and made me second guess my own level of fucked-up-ness.

I may not have empathy for anyone else, but for her, I think I do. I made sure no one ever bullied or outcast her at school. I made sure she was surrounded by friends and was accepted. Without my interference, she would have been a loner, ostracized for being the poor scholarship kid.

I force my thoughts back to the whining bitch currently in my hands. I lean in and whisper in her ear so that only she can hear me.

“I would really fucking love to take my time with you, love. But you see, I have a girl outside waiting for me. So, as much as I want to slice your skin from your body, inch by inch, and listen to your screams and pleas, I can’t. I’d really fucking love to tarnish this perfect skin of yours with my knife. Unfortunately, we’re both going to have to settle for me twisting your scrawny little neck though. Because, like I said, places to be, people to see. You know how it is, right?”

She doesn’t get time to answer before my hands take hold of her head and I twist. I feel the moment her neck snaps as I let her body drop at my feet. Damn that felt good.

“I’ll be back to clean this mess up later. Don’t fucking touch it,” I tell Zac—Ella’s older brother and my own brother’s best friend.

Just as I’m about to walk out the door, I stop and turn around to see Ella’s wide eyes. Fuck, I should have taken into account who was here. Well, she’s bound to eventually find out how fucked up her new brother-in-law is anyway.

Crouching down beside her, I reach out and tuck her hair behind her ear. I expect her to pull away from my touch, to be afraid of me. She’d be wise to be afraid of me. I don’t know why Dean hasn’t warned her away from me yet.

“I’m really fucking glad you’re okay, sweetheart,” I tell her, kissing her forehead.

“Thank you. I’m really glad you’re okay too,” Ella replies.

I get up and walk out of the cabin, stepping over Bray, Ella’s other fucking brother, who’s currently on the ground with what looks like a bullet wound in his ass.

I make my way behind the cabin and call out to her. I know she’s still here. I can feel her.

“Emmy, where are you?” I wait, expecting to hear her reply, or see her blonde head pop up from somewhere. All I get is the sounds of birds and the rustling of animals scurrying away from me in the bush. Even those fuckers know to steer clear of me.

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