Page 12 of Mad As Hell

Hate rolled through me like a thunderstorm. Lightning flashed in my veins at his comments. Yeah, I had tits and an ass, and I was healthy.

He paused at the door. “I’m leaving to go out of town now. Adam will be here to make sure you get back to school safely.”

I went rigid at the idea of being alone in a house with the demon who had been abusing my twin for years. “Do you even know what he did to Madelaine?”

“You mean their little dalliance?” Gary snickered and rolled his eyes. “Adam always has liked them young, and Madelaine was a needy little thing. Always throwing herself at whoever she thought might save her.”

“He started going into her room when she was thirteen,” I hissed, getting to my feet. “She was a child.”

He stilled and stared at me. “How could you possibly know that?”

Shit. If he didn’t know about Madelaine’s app and the files, I wasn’t telling him.

“She told Bex, and Bex told me,” I replied, hoping he bought it.

His eyes narrowed. “Interesting.”

I didn’t move—hell, I barely breathed in case he was watching for a crack in my armor.

“I’ll make you a deal,” he said softly. “Adam won’t touch you unless you become a problem. Do as you’re told, and I’ll make sure he knows you’re off-limits.”

“Fine.” I wrapped my arms around myself as a chill rippled down my spine.

Gary smirked at me. “That’s my girl.”

CHAPTER 4

MADDIE

It took over a week for the bruises to fade. I spent every day in my little room with nothing to do and no company, save for the silent woman who delivered my meals. It made me long for the days when Mrs. Delancey would make me food while I sat in the kitchen chatting with her.

The only sign my keeper could hear me was when I’d asked for something to read. Anything to break up the monotony.

The next day I’d gotten a copy of the Bible and Hustler.

Fucking hysterical.

My window to the world became my only source of entertainment. I counted how many animals I spotted scampering through the woods—eighteen deer, thirty squirrels, and three foxes.

As the sun set each day, I wondered if anyone knew I was gone. Hell, if they cared.

Bex probably did, but she might be the only one. Maybe Mrs. Delancey? She had been at the mansion when everything had blown up. For that matter, there’d been a lot of staff around for the party. Someone had to have cleaned up the blood in the hallway, and I had a feeling that wasn’t Gary’s first time getting violent.

On the twelfth day of my prison term, Adam showed up. His bulky frame paused in the doorway, his beady eyes raking over me in a way that made my skin feel like hundreds of ants were scurrying across it.

I forced myself not to jump up from where I had dragged the only chair in the room to the window. I gave him a cursory glance before looking away, like he wasn’t worth the effort.

In reality, the window gave me a blurry reflection of whatever he planned to do next. But much like running from an attacking dog would only get you bitten, I knew showing any sort of fear from his presence would be something for him to pounce on.

“Amazing,” he murmured, leaning a shoulder against the frame.

I didn’t bother answering. He wasn’t worth my words.

Undeterred by my silence, he stepped into the room. “The resemblance is absolutely uncanny.”

So Gary had told him who I was. Great.

“I mean, you’re a little curvier, but I don’t mind that.” Another step. “Your father said I wasn’t allowed to touch, which, I have to admit, is disappointing. You seem like you’d be a lot harder to break than your sister.”

---